PC gaming is dying
It's an unfortunate fact, but PC gaming is dying. While unfortunate, it makes sense. 5 years ago, at least for me, PC gaming was where the serious gaming was at. There were lots of great games and the PC gaming rigs were fun to build and stay up to date on the latest and greatest. It was a great market for PC game makers, PC hardware makers, and most importantly, the gamers. Yeah, the consoles always had some great games, but it always seemed like PC gaming was king.
Two important things are happening: (1) Serious PC gamers are getting older, getting jobs and serious relationships and just don't have the time to spend keeping up with PC gaming and (2) The younger folks, en masse, don't have the dedication or need to keep up a formidable PC gaming rig.
Consoles are easy and cheap. Consoles are easy because they are pre-build, pre-packaged, and the games are not designed to exceed the capability of the system. They're also cheap, for the same reasons why they are easy. And, from an operations standpoint, they're plug-and-play, you open the box, plug it in, and you're gaming. The level of entry is very low.
PC gaming is not so easy and not so cheap. Hardware just keeps getting faster and more expensive and game manufacturers are constantly pushing the envelope and forcing you to upgrade every 6 months if you want to keep up. Using a pre-build system for PC gaming is a joke, so you need the skills and motivation to build and maintain your own system. This makes it really easy to fall behind the trends and not be able to play the latest and greatest games. With PC gaming, the level of entry is pretty high, in both price and needed technical skill.
Even though you still have PC gamers shelling out the cash and time to keep up with the latest PC gaming trends, gaming in general is reaching a wider, less tech-savvy and less hardcore gamer, audience and the consoles are winning out. Now that the console numbers are increasing, the PC game makers are following them and spending their time, effort, and money where the money is, and that's with the consoles. This means fewer games are coming out for the PC, and nearly all the good games are coming out for consoles only.
This isn't so bad. It just means we, as gamers, need to follow the games, and they're heading for the consoles.
Two important things are happening: (1) Serious PC gamers are getting older, getting jobs and serious relationships and just don't have the time to spend keeping up with PC gaming and (2) The younger folks, en masse, don't have the dedication or need to keep up a formidable PC gaming rig.
Consoles are easy and cheap. Consoles are easy because they are pre-build, pre-packaged, and the games are not designed to exceed the capability of the system. They're also cheap, for the same reasons why they are easy. And, from an operations standpoint, they're plug-and-play, you open the box, plug it in, and you're gaming. The level of entry is very low.
PC gaming is not so easy and not so cheap. Hardware just keeps getting faster and more expensive and game manufacturers are constantly pushing the envelope and forcing you to upgrade every 6 months if you want to keep up. Using a pre-build system for PC gaming is a joke, so you need the skills and motivation to build and maintain your own system. This makes it really easy to fall behind the trends and not be able to play the latest and greatest games. With PC gaming, the level of entry is pretty high, in both price and needed technical skill.
Even though you still have PC gamers shelling out the cash and time to keep up with the latest PC gaming trends, gaming in general is reaching a wider, less tech-savvy and less hardcore gamer, audience and the consoles are winning out. Now that the console numbers are increasing, the PC game makers are following them and spending their time, effort, and money where the money is, and that's with the consoles. This means fewer games are coming out for the PC, and nearly all the good games are coming out for consoles only.
This isn't so bad. It just means we, as gamers, need to follow the games, and they're heading for the consoles.
posted by Joe at
10:29 AM
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