PC isn't dead. I could of thought so before, but ever since I embarked myself in PC gaming, I can definitely say that PC gaming is well alive. There's really only the PC fanboys who think consoles are the devil, these are the people to blame for the rumor of PC gaming being dead, because they tend to spread it around like a disease.
Consoles are just much more accessible to most people, as you don't have to worry about as many things as when you game on PC, even simple things like "Will my PC be able to run this game?". With a console, you just take the disc, put it in and it works. Can't have any easier than that.. Since they're easy to use and accessible to anyone, it isn't a surprise that they got more popular or talked about than PC gaming over the years.
But in terms of power, consoles will never match a good PC, the only thing it lacks is optimization.
PC gaming is alive,IT'S ALIVE. :p Before I had a PC to game on perhaps I thought it wasn't, that it was a dying thing. But then my view started to change once I found out about Steam,once I found out so many people were using their PCs, so many people were building PCs just for the gaming purpose. I don't know if it has ever been weak as I wasn't always intune with the PC gaming world. But I know that for now and the forseeable future I will be gaming on my computer.
PC isn't dead, never will be. The PS3 and 360 are some power machines but do we really need all that processing power to have a good time?
Neah, the PC isn't dead at all and it won't become for years to come because it offers a key factor "the freedom of choice". What I mean is that you can make your own build that suits your needs be it for gaming or other activities, to stuff it full with tons of programs that may change your overall gaming experience or keep it nice and simple. It offers the ability to make hardware and software optimizations that will give your rig a big advantage and on the same time it offers multitasking, allowing you to do lots of other things while you are playing a game.
Besides, the PC isn't generarily viewed as a gaming console because of the millions of things that you can do on it and diversity is undoubtably it's prime perk. Considering the tons of things you can do on a PC that you can't on a console(or not to the same degree) and at the same time offering the possibility to play the games that you are willing to invest for, will certainly assure it's success for years to come.
Can't agree with Michael Pachter. PC isn't not less than any console. In fact a good gaming PC is better than any console. I realized it when I moved from my Xbox360 to PC. I miss the exclusives but the fun remains the same.
Michael Pachter is just a statistician and I dont know whether he plays games that much. As far as PC games is concerned some of the games that are exclusives to PC really stands out. What about Starcraft II? Its an awesome game. Also in future we will see Witcher II and Diablo III. Diablo II has been popular for at least 10 years and still the game does not show its age. What developers need to do is to create games that make similar impact what Diablo II did. Think about DoTA. Although it was meant to be addon, it created a revolution in pc gaming. What PC needs is innovative games enough to create revolution.
Except for few exclusive games, a gaming PC is as good as any console imo.
The PC is not dead... or will be for a very long time...
I have not seen very enjoyable RTS games on the PS3, XBox 360, etc...
and I have not seen CoH on the PS3 nor the 360... only on the PC...
Very interesting discussion topic here, especially for PC gamers like me. This has occupied my mind for a couple of years now and I would say PC gaming is in Coma. It has become really hard to be a PC gamer these days. First of all, to name a few problems, we have to wait much longer for the PC version of popular games. Some of the best games around for example Uncharted or Heavy Rain are console exclusives titles. The games are becoming so big and they always need upgrades software like dual core, top graphic cards, Rams etc. Also where I live, there are a lot of faulty PC copies around but xbox and PS3 gamers can play all top games without any problem and......
No, it's not dead. Because at the very least, I'm still playing PC games. :)
about the piracy, i must say that b4 steam... i used to buy games but than it really broke my heart to find that i buy games n just because i dont have an internet connection i could not play the games("as i leave in africa a place where an internet connection wuld be like a link to heaven"). im not much into consoles n the last console i played was a ps2 n hated it so just to suggets that the pc is dead feels like a spear through my heart n as for piracy i think developers shuld find a better way to protect games coz there is no way ill spend my money on a game tht need an internet connection to play.
I don't think PC gaming is declining. It just that consoles fan base are now larger than before. Right where I live, the most popular games are PCs like WoW, DoTA and Counter Strike.
I love how Pachter remove WoW out of the equation to prove his point. Brilliant douchebaggery!
The fact that World of Warcraft alone can almost compete with Xbox Live (considering that WoW is a game compared to a service that lets you play many games), not to mention the millions of other games. Basically, Blizzard has kept the modern PC gaming alive (Starcraft, WoW, Diablo, etc).