PC Gaming Video

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
I think you just missed the reference is all.

I'm Pele, hahahaha, gooaaaalllll!

Family Guy! I got it now :laugh:!

:thumbsup: :laugh:

 

[microAmp]

Originally posted by: MyStupidMouth
PC gaming isnt Dying.

It was headed that way, this link, if those numbers are true. Sales went up from 2005 to 2006 but from 1999 to 2005 it did nothing slide downwards $800 million.

I hope PC gaming doesn't die but it didn't look good for a while, sales wise.

 

[apoppin]

here's a little thread i made that shows PC gaming is having a resurgence and in fact the next gen console is more in danger of dying

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=31&threadid=2033611&enterthread=y

from that thread:
the *latest* from the NY Times
--in part

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/23/techn...1178164800&en=5f1d4ecb15d930de&ei=5070

PC Games, Once Down, Show Signs of Rebound

Like other gamers drawn to the PC, however, he said the attraction went beyond convenience and cost. He said computer games seem more sophisticated than console games and offer a greater sense of accomplishment. ?It?s not just killing unlimited enemies on a screen,? he said.

Not so long ago, PC titles were the mainstay of video gaming, but they have slumped in recent years, overshadowed by a new generation of game consoles. Now they are showing signs of a comeback.

Most prominent has been the strength of one of the most popular video games ever for PCs, World of Warcraft, a role-playing online adventure game that now has more than eight million subscribers.

But retail sales of other titles are on the rebound as well. PC manufacturers and chipmakers are promoting the game-playing prowess of ever more powerful computers. And Microsoft has inaugurated a program aimed at making PC gaming more attractive, incorporating console-like features and easier online play.

There is also considerable buzz about Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, a long-awaited game due in June from id Software, the creator of the blockbuster hits Doom and Quake in the 1990s.

Anita Frazier, an industry analyst for the NPD Group, a market research firm, noted that in the first two months of 2007, domestic retail sales of PC games reached $203 million, a 48 percent increase over the $136.8 million in the period a year earlier. She noted that these figures do not include revenue generated by PC game sales online, or online subscriptions to play PC games.

?Yes, it does look like a fluke, doesn?t it?? Ms. Frazier said. ?Rest assured it?s not.?

She said the bulk of this surge in sales is rooted in the role-playing video game genre that, itself, grew 43 percent over the same period last year. ?The robust performance we?re seeing in PC game sales can be tied to several key titles across several genres,? she said, ?but we?d be remiss not to address the continued success of World of Warcraft.?

The upsurge comes after some recent reversals. Over all, retail sales of PC-based games in the United States exceeded $970 million in 2006, an increase of about 1 percent of sales the previous year of $953 million, which represented about a 14 percent drop from $1.1 billion in 2004.

By contrast, according to the NPD Group, retail sales for console games in 2006 were $4.8 billion; another $1.7 billion was spent on games for hand-held devices like Sony?s PlayStation Portable.

?I think with three consoles out in the last couple of years, it?s natural to focus on consoles,? said Todd Hollenshead, chief executive of id Software, which was a pioneer in first-person-shooter games for the PC but today makes games for PCs and consoles. ?There?s a lot of excitement, a lot of marketing dollars and a lot of hype for consoles.?

In an arena where the console makers market their wares heavily, he said, ?we don?t have any champion of the PC game business to step in and leverage those sorts of marketing dollars.?

But that may change with new initiatives by several companies to use PC gaming as a showcase for their technologies and services.

Under the rubric Games for Windows, Microsoft is instituting a number of measures to raise the profile of PC games in retail stores while lowering barriers that have made buying and playing games on computers less attractive.

Last month, it announced that it would soon extend its Xbox Live online gaming and entertainment network to include games played on PCs, a program it is calling Games for Windows ? Live.

...

Another move, he said, is to permit gamers who are more comfortable playing games with Xbox controllers than with keyboards and mice to use their Xbox controllers, wired and wireless (by way of a special $20 U.S.B. wireless adapter) with their PCs.

?One of the greatest barriers to PC gaming is user interface, controllers,? he said.

In the meantime, as the latest generation of consoles are among the most powerful ever made, PCs, including notebook computers, can continually outstrip consoles in sheer power and speed. Computer development cycles, the rates of adopting faster and more powerful technologies, are always much faster than those of consoles, whose core components cannot be upgraded like PCs?, said Abizar Vahkaria, the worldwide head of gaming at Dell.

?Gaming actually started on computers and has been evolving on the PC for a very long time,? he said, noting that Dell is deeply committed to designing and building computers that cater to gamers? needs and desires. ?What we do at Dell is work with all of the game developers and publishers and do all we can to deliver a world-class experience with gaming.?

An example is Dell?s XPS 710 H2C, a hulking desktop tower that looks as if it could have been snatched from the machined clutches of ?The Matrix.? Under its black shell, gamers can order, for instance, super-powerful hardware like an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Quad-Core processor and Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX graphics cards with SLi dual graphics technology.

....

This month, Hewlett-Packard executives unveiled an ambitious set of development initiatives to improve the video-game experience ? from the networks they are played over to the computers developers use to create games and the PCs players use to enjoy them.

For now, what the company has to show are prototypes, like wrap-around display screens for gaming that resemble giant visors. But Rahul Sood, chief technology officer for Hewlett-Packard?s global gaming business unit, said new products would be ready later this year.

For computer makers, catering to gamers is more than a niche pursuit. Worldwide, where video games amount to a $36 billion industry, ?the PC is, no doubt, the gaming platform of choice,? said Michael Arzt, senior vice president and general manager of the American office of International Cyber Marketing, the organizer of the World Cyber Games, a major video game festival.

And that market extends from professional gamers at high-end computers to those at more humble PCs.

?Not everyone wants to lay down the money for a console and a big-screen television to make it work,? Mr. Arzt said. ?The thing about the economics of the PC,? he added, is that ?everybody needs a computer.?

 

[Chaotic42]

Other than Supreme Commander and a little SimCity 4, there's nothing for me anymore in gaming.

 

[apoppin]

you only need *one* GREAT game at a time

'05 ... and especially '06/'07 - so far - have been great gaming for me ... i expanded from "FPS only" to include RPGs and hybrids

there is *so much* to look forward to in PC gaming ...

--consoles, too i guess

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Wait, why shouldn't Halo 2 be in there? It's new to PC this year correct?

KT

Because 1) It came out for the Xbox 360 first. 2) The purpose of the OP's video is to demonstrate the interesting upcoming titles for the PC. Since Halo 2 was a console only title for the first year of its life, it hardly fits the bill. 3) Halo 2 was a steaming turd.

It interesting video, makes me slightly interested in Hellgate, though I doubt those scenes were ingame footage. Infernal looked pretty good too, but hardly ingame footage.

There were a lot of shooters in there, and while the PC is the best platform for a FPS, if you want to show the resurgence of PC gaming, include some more variety. There are more than shooters coming out in 2007, they just aren't hyped as much.

 

[apoppin]

to be fair ... he DID say 'A little something'



PC gaming is no longer in any iminent danger of dying ... quite the contrary ... it is making a real comeback in every way
:thumbsup:

 

[microAmp]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Other than Supreme Commander and a little SimCity 4, there's nothing for me anymore in gaming.

No more Hearts of Iron 2: Doomsday? They have a $5 booster pack now, I believe anyhow, that helps out on production building, such as you can have brigades already attached to land units instead having to building them separately and attach them later.

More here, if you are interested.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Wait, why shouldn't Halo 2 be in there? It's new to PC this year correct?

KT

Because 1) It came out for the Xbox 360 first. 2) The purpose of the OP's video is to demonstrate the interesting upcoming titles for the PC. Since Halo 2 was a console only title for the first year of its life, it hardly fits the bill. 3) Halo 2 was a steaming turd.

It interesting video, makes me slightly interested in Hellgate, though I doubt those scenes were ingame footage. Infernal looked pretty good too, but hardly ingame footage.

There were a lot of shooters in there, and while the PC is the best platform for a FPS, if you want to show the resurgence of PC gaming, include some more variety. There are more than shooters coming out in 2007, they just aren't hyped as much.

think of hellgate as 3d diablo.. there's tons of gameplay footage around (gamevideos.com)

oh, OP did you put Enemy Territory: Quake Wars in your video? that's another big title coming out

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Because 1) It came out for the Xbox 1 first.

fixed.

 

[fallensight]

The only salvation for PC gaming right now is MMOs. NEarly everything else is availibly on either the 360, PS3 or both. Being a PC gamer for many years, and having only picked up 1 console game in the last 3 years, I find myself looking at the the lines of games comming down the pipes, and see myself going back into consoles for the next gen games. It just will end up being more cost effective.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: fallensight
The only salvation for PC gaming right now is MMOs. NEarly everything else is availibly on either the 360, PS3 or both. Being a PC gamer for many years, and having only picked up 1 console game in the last 3 years, I find myself looking at the the lines of games comming down the pipes, and see myself going back into consoles for the next gen games. It just will end up being more cost effective.

highly doubtful

those PS3/xbox360 games are gonna look really 'dated' next year
--and no DX10 games will run on 'next gen' consoles

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: apoppin
those PS3/xbox360 games are gonna look really 'dated' next year

What is in Dx10 that will make games better?

 

[apoppin]

wait and see

basically better visuals with less "overhead" --and ultra high resolutions and textures


... or search google for details ...

the nextgen console games simply cannot compete ... next year

 

[Nightmare225]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Wait, why shouldn't Halo 2 be in there? It's new to PC this year correct?

KT

Because 1) It came out for the Xbox 360 first. 2) The purpose of the OP's video is to demonstrate the interesting upcoming titles for the PC. Since Halo 2 was a console only title for the first year of its life, it hardly fits the bill. 3) Halo 2 was a steaming turd.

It interesting video, makes me slightly interested in Hellgate, though I doubt those scenes were ingame footage. Infernal looked pretty good too, but hardly ingame footage.

There were a lot of shooters in there, and while the PC is the best platform for a FPS, if you want to show the resurgence of PC gaming, include some more variety. There are more than shooters coming out in 2007, they just aren't hyped as much.

think of hellgate as 3d diablo.. there's tons of gameplay footage around (gamevideos.com)

oh, OP did you put Enemy Territory: Quake Wars in your video? that's another big title coming out

I'm working on an edited version which will have almost none of those annoying credits, and yes, one of the games I'm adding is ET: QW.

If only Premiere Pro wasn't acting up and giving me errors with rendering, my new vid would be up already...

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Modeps

Originally posted by: apoppin
those PS3/xbox360 games are gonna look really 'dated' next year

What is in Dx10 that will make games better?

Nothing really, but video cards continually advance.

Geometry counts, shaders, resolutions, color precision, and textures will continue to rise on PC while the consoles stay static.

It always works out this way in the long run.

 

[Fenixgoon]

DX10 is supposed to be more efficient and allows for more impressive graphics. i'd love to know how much more efficient it is, because that's always good news

 

[Ichigo]

Apparently graphics on consoles don't get better as time progresses. Unfortunately most people on here don't even have a console by which they can state their case. Anyways, it isn't true. So let's keep things factual, alright?

 

[Schadenfroh]

Two words:

Dragon Age

 

[EvanAdams]

Yes PC Gaming has the best logos. heh
Do you make logos for a living?

For me right now I am deciding between PC and 360. Because I have a HDTV and dont have any uptodate PC hardware, I'm quiting on the PC. Nomatter how desperatly I want to play supreme commander, C&C (with a mouse), and all the relevant FPS.

 

[Aikouka]

Personally, I didn't like that it was just a bunch of videos spliced together. As just about every one of the games shown aren't out yet, it's understandable, but it just feels like a cheesy hack-job like that for some reason.

 

[Nightmare225]

The edited vid is up. Includes more games and annoying logos have been removed.

http://www.gametrailers.com/umwatcher.php?id=62480

 

[Smilin]

Nice Video.

 

[fallensight]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: fallensight
The only salvation for PC gaming right now is MMOs. NEarly everything else is availibly on either the 360, PS3 or both. Being a PC gamer for many years, and having only picked up 1 console game in the last 3 years, I find myself looking at the the lines of games comming down the pipes, and see myself going back into consoles for the next gen games. It just will end up being more cost effective.

highly doubtful

those PS3/xbox360 games are gonna look really 'dated' next year
--and no DX10 games will run on 'next gen' consoles

given the consoles dont use DX anything that wont matter. Just look at game sites. Most games are being developed for either the 360 or the PS3, and will be later ported to PC. As much as I dislike that, it IS the way things are happening. As far as 'dated' goes, the game devs are just getting to know the new consoles. Take a look at games from 2000 for the PS2 and God of War 2 and see what the difference time makes on what they do with the games.

 

[apoppin]

*except* PC gfx are gonna take a *leap* and the current consoles can't follow
-next year

you *will* see ... or you are blind