I mean in the last year what console FPSs have been designed primarily for the console?

CoD4, SoF: Payback, Area 51: Blacksite, Halo 3, Turok, GRAW2, R6: Vegas, Bioshock, Conflict: Denied Ops, The Darkness, possibly UT3. I'm sure there are more, I just can't think of them at the moment.

As for shooters that were clearly designed for the PC, that's limited to the Orange Box, STALKER, Crysis and ET:QW. Hellgate: London isn't really a shooter, as most of the guns use some sort of autoaim.

As for upcoming shooters, Rage has already been announced as a multiplatform release, meaning that the 360 is most likely the lead platform. Alan Wake is also a multiplatform release (and not a shooter), so 360 is most likely the lead platform. R6: Vegas 2 is being designed for consoles. Condemned 2 is designed for consoles. Project: Origin is designed for consoles. Frontlines is designed for consoles. Far Cry 2 was originally a PC exclusive, but was inevitably announced as a multiplatform release meaning that the focus has likely switched over to the 360 as the lead platform.

On the bright side, STALKER: Clear Sky should be a PC-exclusive.

This comment was edited on Feb 16, 18:41.

I haven't read the article, but it's kind of dumb how so many different people are now writing articles trying to justify why PC gaming is dying or why it isn't.

There will always be market for PC gamers, and there will always be games. Until you can swap out the GPU and CPU and upgrade the memory on your console every other year to get an even better experience, PC gaming will be around.

Sooner or later, the console gamers will not put up with the supposed 10 year life span that Sony (and Microsoft, to some extent) are expecting to pull out of their consoles. PC games already look unbelievably better than what any console game can offer, and they're wanting people to be ok with these same graphics 8 years from now?

I have a 360 and it's pretty fun, but nothing compares to a quality PC title.

Well two things. First, it seems most of the console FPS games are designed for Generation Y. I think that much of Generation X (the baby-boomers kids, and the first gamers) still finds it rather hard to get into a console Shooter.

Think you might have your generations mixed up, the X generation also refered to as the "baby bust" generation because of the small number of births followed the baby boom generation which Im a part of and yes I was drinking beer and playing Tank on the Atari 64.

So..the major advantage consoles have are..the ability to play while seated on a couch?

If PC gaming is declining, consoles for the most part have never risen above the mediocre. Certainly not in my favourite genres. Turn based strategy, RTS, FPS, tactical FPS, simulations.

The flood of sports titles, JRPGs and occasional shiny car game mean consoles never need to worry about a decline since there isn't anywhere lower to sink to.

I suppose when people talk about a decline, they're talking about sales, not the actual quality of the games.

I held out for years before i gave up.

The absurd notion that people would actually embrace playing the genre with a gamepad was simply beyond belief.

Well two things. First, it seems most of the console FPS games are designed for Generation Y. I think that much of Generation X (the baby-boomers kids, and the first gamers) still finds it rather hard to get into a console Shooter. I know that of the 20 or 30 gamers I know at my office, not a one thats 30+ has ever played console Gears of War, or console Bioshock. There is one guy who is like 22 who plays primarily consoles and we are always telling him to invest in a good PC and learn mouse/keyboard use because he'll find it's FAR more enjoyable lol.

Two, I have to disagree that 'most' FPSs are designed for consoles. I mean in the last year what console FPSs have been designed primarily for the console? Gears of War? Um... maybe Bioshock, maybe. It does have a bit of a 'consolitus' feel. Maybe CoD4, though I would argue the series has long been a PC series, and that CoD4 is a PC game ported to consoles and released simultaniously. Of course theres also Halo 3, but like just about every other console FPS, it blew.

But for PC we've had UT2, TF2, HL2-Ep3, ET:QW, arguably Portal, Hellgate: London (it's Diablo 2 for FPS fans,) S.T.A.L.K.E.R, and Crysis.

Now, several of the above came out for consoles as well (though many at a later date.) But it really cannot be argued that they were all designed on and for a PC.

And in the next several years we've got HL2-Ep3, Id's project, Alan Wake and more PC shooters to look forward to.

This comment was edited on Feb 16, 11:21.

he puts "Spore" as one of the reasons?

I side with the guys at PA...I getting more than a little tired of seeing an unreleased game being hailed as the second coming. From all the media I've watched the game DOES have some novel ideas but overall its simply a mashup of several standard genres, none of which do anything particularly interesting or different than whats already been out for years.

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I am a Blues Nazi.

Humm, PC gaming is open, yeah I'm loving the new linux/mac port of DirectX. Digital distribution? Oh, they mean BitTorrent! MMO's? Yeah, they are keeping the keeping the PC market buoyed, but the will eventually work on a console. Cutting edge? How can anyone think that porting a console game to the PC constitutes cutting edge? No one said that PC gaming was dieing, but you can't deny that it is being relegated to secondary or even tertiary status. This article smells of delusion and/or desperation. Spore? Give me a fucking break.

All I know is that I watched the WoW Tundra commercial on my large screen and so wanted to begin playing WoW on it, tucked back on my recliner vs. hunched over a desk... If console gaming could give me that I'd be all over it.

Uhh. You could just hook your computer up to your large screen TV, get a wireless keyboard and mouse and do that. That has been possible before the first X-Box came out...



Alternating Logo (GreaseMonkey script):
http://www.ualr.edu/szsullivan/scripts_/BluesNewslogo.user.js

PC gaming dead? Console gaming doesn't seem much better.

I looked hard at purchasing a Xbox360, half the top selling games were also available on PC.

Perhaps the problem is gaming in general.

Admittedly, Spore is a stupid "reason" that PC Gaming isn't dead. Hell, it even looks like a Nintendo Wii game!

But the other points have varying levels of truth to them, with mods being the best by far imo. Strategy games and shooters are far superior on PC, true, but they are still viable enough on consoles that if a developer wanted to abandon PC gaming for consoles, they could. Thankfully, they aren't... yet.

As far as there being no "war" between platforms, I can only say that there is a huge difference between console gaming and PC gaming; much more so than there is between a 360, Wii, and PS3. PC games, when developed correctly, are superior to the vast majority of console games (excluding fighters and sports games) simply becuase of the "no-limits' environment the PC provides. In my opinion, of course.

All I know is that I watched the WoW Tundra commercial on my large screen and so wanted to begin playing WoW on it, tucked back on my recliner vs. hunched over a desk... If console gaming could give me that I'd be all over it.

they forgot Indie gaming.
Dwarf Fortress > Halo/cod4 anytime.

Sins of a Solar Empire / Stardock does not agree with you.

Unfortunately, practically every other developer does. There are still glimmers of hope from outside the U.S. but they are far from enough to save PC gaming.

As for market saturation leading to risk-taking, I certainly hope that's the case but as Hollywood has shown, the general populace is very, very easy to please.

There was a time when publishers took risks and developers made games that appealed to niche audiences. That time is over.

Sins of a Solar Empire / Stardock does not agree with you.

Creston

There was a time when games were a helluvalot simplier in design.

Games cost too much to make. When the market is big enough, which it obviously will be relatively soon, there will be enough money floating around for the return of original, risky content.

There was a time when publishers took risks and developers made games that appealed to niche audiences. That time is over.

Exactly!

Many here are probably to young to remember when games where developed by people that actually loved gaming and it was less about the money and more about the game.

Be fucking happy that gaming as an industry is growing

Why would I be happy that the industry is growing? All that means is that publishers make more money and games get dumbed down to appeal to the masses. End of story.

I think there's a general misconception when people talk about PC gaming dying. We are not talking about profits or player base. We are talking about games. There was a time when PC games took full advantage of a computer's inherent strengths. There was a time when games were designed for actual gamers. There was a time when publishers took risks and developers made games that appealed to niche audiences. That time is over.

If PC gaming "survives" only through generic MMOs, Sims expansion packs and half-assed console ports, then the very things that made PC gaming great will be dead.

This comment was edited on Feb 16, 01:40.

That was a weak "article" if you want to call it that. The last "reason" isn't even a reason, and one other is simply "Spore", a game that isn't even out yet!

I've got this new article that I've written. I hope you all read it. It's called: "8 reasons why articles that reinforce the idea that there is some sort of "war" going on between PC gaming and Console gaming are stupid"

Jesus fuck people, as long as there are PCs there will always be PC gaming. Consoles just control the market right now. End of story.

Be fucking happy that gaming as an industry is growing

This comment was edited on Feb 15, 23:40.