Out of the Blue

Spot On Top retailers to nix PC games? Is a GameSpot article with a bunch of quotes reflecting on the future of PC games at retail based on the latest spate of rumors casting doubt on their ongoing viability. Here's a bit: "Statistics from a recent SEC filing of GameStop supports her comment. In documents filed with the SEC last month, the company revealed of its retail sales for the thirteen week period ending November 1, 2003. The company reported just seven percent of its total sales were PC games, compared to 64 percent of revenues coming from console games. Year-on-year percentage of sales derived from PC game accessories dropped two percent in the same 13-week period."

A follow-up on yesterday's EA Image of the day is that the photo was actually originally shot by Dave Martindale of Radical Entertainment.

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40.
 
Spellforce Demo out!
Dec 16, 2003, 17:37
40.
Spellforce Demo out! Dec 16, 2003, 17:37
Dec 16, 2003, 17:37
 
Woot! Links up at rpgdot.com it's also up at 3dgamers.com


"Physical reality is consistent with universal laws. Where the laws do not operate, there is no reality."
- Mr. Spock
"And then, suddenly and without warning, it turned into a real-life case of hungry, hungry hippos."
- Stephen Colbert
39.
 
Quake Level Name Generator
Dec 16, 2003, 17:18
nin
39.
Quake Level Name Generator Dec 16, 2003, 17:18
Dec 16, 2003, 17:18
nin
 

"Mouldy Old Brownies"


AH-hahahahahahaha...


http://www.kraftwerk.com/
38.
 
Tsk Tsk Thurm...
Dec 16, 2003, 17:14
38.
Tsk Tsk Thurm... Dec 16, 2003, 17:14
Dec 16, 2003, 17:14
 
He's the 'honkey in the woodpile', imagine that.


"Physical reality is consistent with universal laws. Where the laws do not operate, there is no reality."
- Mr. Spock
"And then, suddenly and without warning, it turned into a real-life case of hungry, hungry hippos."
- Stephen Colbert
37.
 
Re: PC over console?
Dec 16, 2003, 16:47
nin
37.
Re: PC over console? Dec 16, 2003, 16:47
Dec 16, 2003, 16:47
nin
 
I've talked to people about Morrowind, KoToR, and Halo, and they look at me in amazment and say, "They make those for the PC??" Theres a definite lack of PC marketing.

Good point. PC Marketing keeps to itself. They advertise in gaming mags, but you're not going to pick one of those up unless you're a gamer to begin with (IE you'd already know if was coming out).


http://www.kraftwerk.com/
This comment was edited on Dec 16, 16:47.
36.
 
PC vs. consoles
Dec 16, 2003, 16:40
36.
PC vs. consoles Dec 16, 2003, 16:40
Dec 16, 2003, 16:40
 
The biggest advantage I see currently PC games having over consoles is the mod community. This extends the shelf life of PC games considerably (witness Half Life, RtCW Enemy Territotory, and the more-recent Unreal2 with XMP release). And there are quite a few other games where the developers release tools to the community (I have played LOADS of RPG/adventure scenarios for Warcraft 3). This is something that consoles cannot emulate, not easily anyways.

The closest I see is the XBox. I am curious to see what Bioware/Microsoft does with console version of KOTOR. Bioware did say they would be releasing unspecified content for KOTOR on the XBOx, though I have yet to see or hear anything tangible. On PC version, it is as easy as downloading a patch (like the latest Warcraft patch Blizzard released today that has two more missions for the extra Orc campaign).

May be Valve is on to something with their Steam delivery system (assuming they get the bugs worked out). If Steam is made to work properly and becomes successful, the need for retailers, and even publishers, decreases dramatically.

Additionally, (jumping on to the other hot thread of the day) one would no longer need download sites like FilePlanet and IGN, as Steam could just as easily deliver demos. Of course, if this is to be successful, we would need competing delivery systems, not just one Steam.

Just my random thoughts for the day
This comment was edited on Dec 16, 16:45.
You cannot make anything fool-proof. The fools are too inventive

GW: Tr Gandhi (Ra), Shiva Sung (Mo), Mangal Pandey (Ne), Rana Pratap Singh (Wa), Boddhi Satwa (Ri), Bhagat Singh (De), Bahadur Shastri (Pa)
Avatar 11944
35.
 
Re: death to PC gaming!
Dec 16, 2003, 16:32
35.
Re: death to PC gaming! Dec 16, 2003, 16:32
Dec 16, 2003, 16:32
 
Retail stops stocking PC games...big developers stop making PC games...small PC game developers, who can't afford to pay console manufacturer's licensing fees, continue making PC games. Games that don't have a third of a million dollar introduction movie. Games that have to sell themselves by word of mouth, on their own merits, direct to gamers.
Ultimately the casual piracy that goes hand in hand with PC gaming will kill it unless the game makers bind the players tighter to them. I'm interested in the on-line aspect of a game like In Memoriam - I presume this is an inherent anti-piracy device as well as a game feature. There's simply no possible way to play the game without on-going interaction with the people who made it. Nice. (In Memoriam, French made (I think) adventure game that uses web sites and email to further the story.)

34.
 
Re: PC over console?
Dec 16, 2003, 16:32
34.
Re: PC over console? Dec 16, 2003, 16:32
Dec 16, 2003, 16:32
 
You might also want to throw marketing in there. I know of dozens of console commercials off the top of my head, but rarely see any for PC games. Hell, I've talked to people about Morrowind, KoToR, and Halo, and they look at me in amazment and say, "They make those for the PC??" Theres a definite lack of PC marketing.

33.
 
Re: Ugh
Dec 16, 2003, 16:26
33.
Re: Ugh Dec 16, 2003, 16:26
Dec 16, 2003, 16:26
 
Sorry, just needed to vent.

No need to apologize.

I know I've had months like that. Feels like I'm ending one of those right now.



-TPFKAS2S
http://www.braglio.org

-TPFKAS2S
Avatar 10139
32.
 
PC over console?
Dec 16, 2003, 16:07
32.
PC over console? Dec 16, 2003, 16:07
Dec 16, 2003, 16:07
 
I think there are several reasons that PC games don't make
any money. Consider consoles' ability to(for the most part)
be a viable platform for 3-5 years and never have you 'need'
to upgrade to play newer games. I mean, if I only had to
spend $180 on computer parts that would last me 3 years,
I'd sure as heck be a happy man.

Also, the aforementioned 'instant gratification' factor
plays a big role.

There are a couple things I could see that would help spring
the PC gaming industry back up again.

1. Nicer, kinder publishers. This will never happen.
Still, it would be great if publishers allowed the dev
team's name on the front cover and supported a patching
process a few months AFTER the game was released(instead of
dumping them immediately afterwards). It'd also help if
they stopped believing every game they published needs to
sell a million copies and released a more limited initial
supply of games and *shock and amaze* publishing more
as demand grows.

2. Rentals. I remember PC game rental stores at the
beginning of the 90's, but where did they go? I think the
piracy issue is pretty much null at this point with DVD+/-R
media cheapening. Anyone who wants to pirate a game for a
console or a PC probably can. Games also take up less
shelf-space these days. It would be great if Blockbuster
started offering these.

I think overall, the retailers and the publishers need to
get their heads out of their asses and actually learn a
bit about PC gaming. God forbid some of them might have
to learn something other than Microsoft Office and
Solitaire. They seem to be getting more out of tune with
their customer base as time goes on.

-Hyatus
"da da da"

31.
 
Ugh
Dec 16, 2003, 15:44
31.
Ugh Dec 16, 2003, 15:44
Dec 16, 2003, 15:44
 
Doing one of my rollouts today, and some genius back at Network Operations decided it would be a REALLY smart idea to do a major update on the Netw. Ops database.

Yes, however (ofcourse), their update totally fucked up all the rollouts since the new servers could no longer talk to the database. Hehe, oops. >:(

So I'm sitting here five hours just twiddling my thumbs until at 1.30pm I get the call that they've furnished a workaround, and I can go on. Ofcourse, still having to upgrade all the workstations, plus having 2+ hours of work left on the server means I'll never get this office done today.

So what do the funny fuckers say? Oh, you had a day off scheduled for tomorrow, right? How about you go back to that office and finish it then?

If I get my hands on that fucking damned fucker from network ops I swear I'll fucking choke him with his own dick.


Sorry, just needed to vent.

Creston

Avatar 15604
30.
 
Console gamin'
Dec 16, 2003, 15:11
30.
Console gamin' Dec 16, 2003, 15:11
Dec 16, 2003, 15:11
 
I will admit to not being the biggest fan of console gaming. My few attempts at trying a shooter on a console were horrific due to the low quality of the graphics and the controls.

But, consoles are quite a bit of fun for one particular type of game to me: American football.
-Sphinx
29.
 
Re: Retro Color Settings Retain
Dec 16, 2003, 15:03
fds
29.
Re: Retro Color Settings Retain Dec 16, 2003, 15:03
Dec 16, 2003, 15:03
fds
 
It's supposed to be permanent, the site tries to give you via JavaScript a cookie called "style" and sets its value to "alt"

Disable your web filters or fake the cookie.

28.
 
Re: death to PC gaming!
Dec 16, 2003, 14:49
28.
Re: death to PC gaming! Dec 16, 2003, 14:49
Dec 16, 2003, 14:49
 
PC gaming is also much more expensive relative to console gaming

Huh? How's that? PC games are always cheaper than their console counterparts. Perhaps you mean the hardware side of things, which is fair.

If pc buyers only buy bargain bin titles and/or warez them then the stores will make no money on them and not carry pc titles at all. free market is where its at baby.

Well I won't comment on the desirability or viability of free market economies, but part of a free market are the ideas of supply and demand. And if the demand for a game that is a couple years old drops, but the supply is still there, then the price drops correspondingly.

PC users don't mind doing a bit of scut work to learn a game if, in the long run, it improves their experience.

I'm not sure I'd agree with that generalization. More often than not a lot of "great" games (Deus Ex, any RPG game, etc) that have hit the PC over the last few years I've glazed over because they don't have that instant gratification factor, but rather take some time to get into them. I'm more the DOOM-ish fire it up and start shooting type, and I don't own any consoles (although this is probably more due to financial reasons than anything else).


PZ
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading: J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King"
Listening To: Sam Roberts - "We Were Born In A Flame"
This comment was edited on Dec 16, 15:14.
PZ
------------
27.
 
Re: death to PC gaming!
Dec 16, 2003, 14:43
nin
27.
Re: death to PC gaming! Dec 16, 2003, 14:43
Dec 16, 2003, 14:43
nin
 
whilst consoles give you Secret Weapons Over Normandy (the Britney Spears of flight sims).

Classic!

http://www.kraftwerk.com/
26.
 
Re: death to PC gaming!
Dec 16, 2003, 14:22
26.
Re: death to PC gaming! Dec 16, 2003, 14:22
Dec 16, 2003, 14:22
 
I'm sorry but there are some genres that just can't be translated as well to consoles. Looking Glass/Ion Storm games fit well into this catagory. System Shock 1/2 are (arguably) the finest computer games ever created. Deus Ex 1 was in the same league but look what happened when the developer tried to convert this into something playable on the Xbox... DX2. IMO this game has one of the most poorly constructed, most confusing interfaces I've come across. It was clearly constructed to allow gamepads to be used as a controller and has lost the finess of the original.

Most of the other genres are of the sim variety... flight sims, "life" sims, etc.

The biggest difference between consoles and PC is the users. To make a broad generalisation console users want instant gratification, action, colour, noise, etc. PC users don't mind doing a bit of scut work to learn a game if, in the long run, it improves their experience.

As for games that have been fun over the last year or so, I can immediately think of BF1942 (and the mod scene, Desert Combat is great), Tron 2.0, Call of Duty, IL2:FB and HL and Quake mods, my personal favourite mod is Firearms for HL. If I really thought about it I could probably name a few more....

This comment was edited on Dec 16, 14:24.
25.
 
Re: death to PC gaming!
Dec 16, 2003, 14:15
25.
Re: death to PC gaming! Dec 16, 2003, 14:15
Dec 16, 2003, 14:15
 
"As far as I'm concerned, you only really need a PC for RTS and FPS games, since those games such without a mouse."

That line is to funny! I would also add that to play simulatiors or play online with more than 16 players you need a PC, that applies to FPS, sports game, racing games etc... So the only thing you need a console for is to play fighting games, 3rd person games like devil may cry and platformers like mario sunshine. Everything else has to be downgraded to playable on a console. By downgraded i do not mean less quality i mean less players online, lower rez, smaller maps etc...

You see that kind of logic does not get very far in here! Despite what i just said i still think console gaming is as good as pc gaming just 2 different worlds with different games.

You should just have put that you prefer ps2 gaming cause of the lack of QA on the pc that would have made more sense at least to me.

I smell another 100+ post thread, time for some X2 before i get an urge to educate all those kids.

This comment was edited on Dec 16, 14:19.
Avatar 19242
24.
 
Re: death to PC gaming!
Dec 16, 2003, 14:14
24.
Re: death to PC gaming! Dec 16, 2003, 14:14
Dec 16, 2003, 14:14
 
Actually, I kind of agree with the original poster. There really isn't much that's being done on PCs nowadays that can't be done on consoles...

Please. If you want a flight sim, the PC gives you IL-2, one of the best ever made, whilst consoles give you Secret Weapons Over Normandy (the Britney Spears of flight sims).

23.
 
Wooden Ferrari
Dec 16, 2003, 14:11
23.
Wooden Ferrari Dec 16, 2003, 14:11
Dec 16, 2003, 14:11
 
This is the guy who made that Wooden Ferrari: http://www.sambarcroft.com/pages/Livio/livio.htm

22.
 
Re: death to PC gaming!
Dec 16, 2003, 14:11
22.
Re: death to PC gaming! Dec 16, 2003, 14:11
Dec 16, 2003, 14:11
 
I'd have to agree with several other posters. The consoles and the huge market potential therein is eating away at the viability of PC games as a source of income. I wouldn't say its because a console can do the same things a PC can; my machine is showings its age, and it beats an Xbox hands down (I just borrowed HALO from my roommate, and it looks worlds better, not to mention plays faster than on an Xbox). If anything, someone could argue that consoles are detracting from PC games just because they make more money that their PC counterparts. It's a travesty yes, look at the price we have to pay, but the fact that it makes more money to the producers and developers appears to be the only thing that matters. Don't agree with me, think about several of the large cross-platform games; HALO, ONI, DX:IW, et cetera... Myself, all I can hope is the pendulum swings back to PC games being more profitable. I can dream, can't I?

21.
 
Re: death to PC gaming!
Dec 16, 2003, 13:51
Brym
 
21.
Re: death to PC gaming! Dec 16, 2003, 13:51
Dec 16, 2003, 13:51
 Brym
 

This comment was edited on Sep 25, 01:40.
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