Is PC gaming doomed? Apolyton 2008 edition

[DrSpike]

What?

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by DrSpike
What?

Ask Asher he knows what LoTM really means and can state clearer and more precise the resonating yet ambiguous nature of multifarious yet heterogeneous as opposed to homo-erogenous Afrodiziak's


Hope this helps

[conmcb25]

Everything is now crystal clear Gramps

[Asher]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


I think it was clear from my above posts, that when I said "losses matter" I was not implying that they were still taking a loss on each machine sold, but was referring to the overall overall position over time of the 360. Note, the earlier quote which I was DISAGREEING with, the one that quote that said that MS would not make another console. It did not say they wouldn't SELL another console, cause of losses. Rather that they wouldn't develop another one. Clearly the decision to develop or not is based on life cycle profitibility, NOT on the the question of whether one has reached the point where additional sales earn incremental profits.

Now I disagreed because I do think A. the 360 could become net profitible if they sell enough machines at a net profit (and gain revenues from SW) to pay for both the sunk development costs and earlier losses B. Cause they may see the Xbox 720 (or whatever) as likely to do better, due to both a growing market, their certainty they wont repeat the 360s manufacturing issues, etc C. Cause this isnt really about making money from games, its about winning the war for the living room. Ergo, I am sure there will be another MS console. BUT, I think its possible they will modify their strategy somewhat in response to the overall financial performance of the 360 so far. One possible response might be to attempt to lengthen this generation, so as to gain more of those incremental profits they ARE (as you say) making on each box, before launching a new box. However there are enough other strategic factors involved, most of which I admit I dont have the knowledge to judge, that I couldnt begin to guess whether or not they will do that. Another possible response would be to try to expand the market to casuals, so as to make more sales, (each of which is profitible,of course). I think we are in agreement that what they have learned about that market by watching Nintendo has encourage them to think there is money on the table there for Xbox. Whether they saw that in the context of a 360 that was doing as well as or better than MS expected, or at a time when they had concerns about its financial performance, is difficult to say, without knowledge of exactly what they expected (and no, quotes from them afterwards saying everything is fine wouldnt be evidence on that). I suspect that while they didnt expect the manufacturing problems and associated costs, SW sales may well exceed their expectations. So net-net, Im not sure exactly what their state of mind was.

Now I think most of the above was pretty clearly what I was speculating about.

NOW, can we get to PC gaming?

Desperation spinning -- the worst kind.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Asher


Desperation spinning -- the worst kind.

Incisive answer. Have you considered running for Vice President of the US? You're even into hockey.

[Asher]

For somebody who insists they want to talk about PC games, you keep not talking about PC games.

[Traianvs]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
Really, I can't think of anything a PC game can do better than a console except complex strategy games like Civ (Revolutions was fun, but hardly as compelling as its more robust PC cousins), EUIII, RTS games, etc. And I guess MMOs are best on PCs, because the vast amount of keyboard shortcuts needed can't be handled via a console controller. But the shrinking size of the PC games section in stores is an obvious and ominous sign.

In a few years, PC games probably won't even be sold in stores, it will all be download-based.

FPS and RTS? I don't see how you can properly play those on a console. A mouse and keyboard are essential for quick and accurate movement.

[Asher]

FPS has moved to the console. Get with the times. Does anyone even play those on the PC anymore?

[DrSpike]

RTS games are still quite lame on consoles though. SC2 on the PC should give it some legs when it's released.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Asher
For somebody who insists they want to talk about PC games, you keep not talking about PC games.

just responding to your spamming

[El_Cid]

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20666

The Gamers Bill of Rights gets some needed definition imho.

"Stardock claims the document "is still being discussed with various publishers" with the intention "to provide more precision in what is and isn't acceptable." Still, the company says it has received "an amazing level of support from the publisher and developer community."" - from article

it would be interesting to see just how much the current industry wants this? I thought the whole idea was to push people towards console gaming? At least that what it feels like to me.

[lord of the mark]

interesting news in Sept NPD. Spore sold over 400K units in the US, which made it the 3rd selling SKU after Star Wars the Force Unleashed for the 360, and Wii Fit. If you dont count Wii Fit as a game, the Spore was second only to SWTFU(360).

[Asher]

Considering how epicly terrible The Force Unleashed was, that's a damning indictment for Spore.

[El_Cid]

Well more of the biggest AAA(ie the publishers with the most cash to burn) titles now always advertise on TV.
The marketing industry people know that TV advertisments = lots of sales.

It doesn't reflect on the games quality at all of course, but modern games publishing isnt about that, it's about sales only.

So make a standard s**t game, give it good graphics(or better yet use "graphics not indicitive of actual gameplay" in your advert) and spend 50% of the budget on a good run of tv adverts. Profits secure.

Welcome to the wonderful world of modern gaming

[Traianvs]

Originally posted by Asher
FPS has moved to the console. Get with the times. Does anyone even play those on the PC anymore?

I know that FPS has moved to the console. What I don't understand is how you can efficiently strafe and aim at the same time without a mouse/keyboard.