I find this kinda amusing, seeing how if pc gaming is becoming the largest gaming platform, then why are the gamers being treated like second-class citizens, getting games way later than their console counterparts, and a large portion of those are horribly unoptimized. at the very least the pc versions should be available from digital distrobution on the same day as the console versions with the retail version coming out later.

PC > Console

Largest gaming platform - is that why they made installing BF2 and getting it to work such a PITA?

Yeah, I completely agree. PC gamers have stuck by the devs for so long, and we just get left in the dirt everytime a console comes out. I love gtaiv. But look how long it took to come to pc...

Battlefield Bad Company... BF2 was one of the biggest games on the pc and still is, and we weren't even invited to the BC party. #@^&*%

Go to walmart or gamestop, EB games. PC games are miniscule compared to the console games.

If the developers would take pc gamers serious, and quit playing games, they would see that the PC Rules as a gaming platform. Consoles are just for "part time" gamers.

Aren't they the ones that make Madden? Didn't the stop releasing Madden to the PC last year?

It was the one game I buy every year. Play it for like a month and then shelve it till next year when I buy the new copy.

The millions and millions of more games sold for the consoles each year as opposed to the PC say "hi." PC gaming won't ever become the largest gaming platform again unless you consider a console a "computer."

you think their losses has to do with them redirecting valuable resources into the DRM department, only to realize their losing more money than they're saving?

I have to admit, when i was younger i did torrent games, but i never had the intention of buying them because i was poor and had no money. BUT BECAUSE I DID TORRENT THEM THEN, and I have money now, I totally want the business to benefit for great games. if i want to try a game now, i demo it. i think it worked for their benefit as well as mine. sorry for my little life story, i live my life on tangents

I Don't know about you guys, but why should PC gamers care about EA. Installing Spore for some of us was hell, Need For Speed Undercover was a disaster, unless you like bad frame-rates, and they took away Madden and Tiger Woods from PC. If EA wants my well earned money I suggest they stop with the DRM because it doesn't stop pirates it just gives them a challenge, and also they could think about making PC games for PC and not just port them from consoles. The Keyboard and Mouse are the most flexible input devices you could use for a game and it seems they forgot about it, not everyone has a gamepad.

tis because "mum and dad" dont want to spend a $#$#$%^^ load of cash on a console when they can spend a bit more on a computer for "homework", then the kids nag for a video card, then its a gaming system, then upgrades and so on - its the widest platform for everything - ofcourse its the biggest.

I cannot honestly say I am surprised a negative comment about the state of PC gaming gets a vote down. The numbers, however, tell the real story.

PC Gaming software retail sales for 2008 were at $700 million. Even if you think that retail sales only account for 1/3 of all sales (not even close to realistic) that would put PC gaming at $2.1 billion for the year. Console software sales easily eclipsed that mark in December 2008 alone + about $600 million. It isn't even close.

Like I said, PC gaming will never be the largest gaming platform again, ever. Even if you consider each console to be a separate platform PC gaming is still pathetically far behind compared individually against the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii. Oh, the graphics look great, but the game sales don't. The game sales look awful.

tayb is right the PC will never be #1 again. But I think this is a good thing for PC gaming notice how 99% of the junk games only make it to the consoles?

ROFL!!!!! You use retail?1 LOL!!! What numbers from retail? NPD? NPD sucks period. They don't count sales worldwide, and in the US they only count a few retail stores.

Then you forgetting about MMOs. Add a few billion from those alone. PC gaming is not far behind either console, and is in fact equal if not GREATER them then. Oh and I'm talking comparing PC to a single console, you can't compare one platform to many others.

Like you said "The numbers, however, tell the real story. "

Most of games on consoles are junk designed for kids, i have a ps3 so far i see no titles that interest me, i like rpg's and rts which only seem to show up on pc so far this year i have bought 20 games for my pc.

So many people are waiting for wc3,starcraft II,sims 3 they will sell big i will buy all 3 once they are out.

oh how are you so wrong my friend. Ask valve how many games they've been selling. just go ahead. just ask them. digital distribution is the future, and guess what? pc has been there forever.
and another flawed part of your argument is that you picked the busiest time of year. EVERYONE knows shit sells like ten fold on holiday season. do you remember the steam sale? do you remember how epic it was? do you even HAVE steam? imagine how many games digitally they sold compared to the limited, and possibly 'sold out' copies of retail...

lol. using npd #'s and ignoring digital distribution. hahaha i bought fallout 3, far cry 2, mass effect, and COD 4 all through steam. yeah pc gaming is down,lol just tell that to the millions of tf2, CSS, WOW, and guildwars players. you fail.

lol waiting for wc3? u a little late there pal? u mean d3? cuz i for one cannot wait for diablo 3

"EA CEO John Riccitiello said that he’s seeing the console lifecycle slow down a little bit, perhaps with this generation riding for longer than the usual four to five years."


NO s--- its slowing down ... consoles can't afford to move fast any more theya re gettign to expensive while the ahrd ware is gettign harder and ahrder to make better perfect example of this is teh 360, you think this thing had some rocky ehating issues .. teh next xbox will eitehr ahve to be ina pc sized case to keep heat down , or they are gonna have to wait till chip manufacture gets down to 15 nm (which liekly wont happen for a while. I hoenstly cant see next gen hardware fitting into a box the size of the 360 or even the size of the original xbox

the modern video cards them selves are getting massive now , but well pc gmaers could care less how big thier pc case is , as the bigger is better any way (more room to cram in extra hard drives any way )

i thinkt eh next round of consoles if the come in even a 8-10 year streach will still be
A: BIG they will be huge decks as the limits on how small chips can get , is hit
B: pricey as all mighty hell i bet in ten years tiem you will see consoles at 1000+ dollars where as a deccent gaming pc will stil range at 1500 - 2000
C: HOT RUNNING , even with big chasis i think next gen consoles will still run hotter than hell literally ,and most likely the xbox 720 and the ps4 will likely both ahve overheating units getting returned

dont get me wrong i like consoles and pc gaming both ... but i think it is clear that soon it will be time for one to go bye bye .... and more and more it is lookign like this wilbe consoles. perhaps they wont disappear soon (after all they stillahvearcade machines today even) , but liek teh arcades consoels will fade thier usefulness fadign also , as more and more hoems get high end computers not to mention could gaming beign able to make it unnessicary for high end gaming to have a high end machine. i'll miss my consoles hell i might still buy them .. (i do still palyt eh arcades when i go to the movies these days) but poitn is the game market and namely teh console market can not continue as it has been doing and expect to live. somethings got to change if they are going to save consoles

I believe tayb isn't that wrong. I've got many friends in various game companies (Eidos, Ubisoft, EA, A2M-which doesn't really count though) and all agree, PC gaming is sadly, slowly dying! Not that I like it, I don't own a console and won't buy one before they stop making some quality games for PC. But as a PC gamer, I need to face the facts, of course, we, as gaming adult consumers, form the most of the PC game sales but consoles have the simplicity that soccer moms need. No drivers, no upgrades, and now, most consoles offer more attractive DLC than PC. I sure wish that the PC would get back up and attract the game developers, but I doubt that the mouvement towards increased console game production will be reversed, and that even though no console will ever be able to rival a PC on graphics/speed/capabilities... Not only that but we all need to realize that developing for a console is alot simpler, all same old hardware!

counting just retail sales is retarded ...

plus these are retailslaesin US not the world over


yopu look athe braoder nubmers and you can see world wide the pc is actually doign better than ALL 3 consoles combined. ther are many countries taht this or that console sells like sh-- in but for some reason pc sales are still good , those folks buying pc's in those countrie s buy games for thier pc's as well. also dotn forget moeny from MMO's MMO's coutn for a large part of game sales in many countries. rad my earlier post, sure the current consoles are doign great and so is the curent console market.. but eventualy consoles will nto be able to deliever teh performance in the same price range or package size they previously did.. and at that time you will see consoles start to suffer , as thier rising prices quickly match pc's as well as their chassis size ( eventually consoles will ahve tog et larger to vent heat and allow better air circulation to thier even hotter components.

again i say .. look at the problems witht eh 360 , and imagine the hardware we will be seeign 2 more generatiosn down teh line ... heat will bea major factor in waht a console can and can't do.

Ps. oh also dont forget steam, Direct 2 Drive, and Digital river's digital sales.

Games started on PC and they will end on PC

ATI's HD4770 will bring back those who deserted to console...

let's face it, PC gaming? expensive graphics addon that could buy an entire console... thank God for competition...

Wow did all of you guys forget to read. Seriously. I'll quote myself.

I addressed digital downloads RIGHT THERE.

Everything I said, including that, was spot on.

Even if you conclude that digital downloads account for 75% of PC software sales you are talking about 2.8 billion in YEARLY SOFTWARE SALES. The three big consoles, combined, equaled that in DECEMBER ALONE.

Then if you want to trade each console as a separate platform PC gaming is still fourth or fifth behind every next-generation console and possible even the PS2. It just can't compete.

And yes. I have Steam. I purchased L4D last weekend and The Orange Box the weekend before for $9.99.

Wasn't EA one of the companies bitching last year about how piracy "forced" them to focus more on the console as their platform of choice?

+1 pc gaming..

Wow, did you guy forget to read?

I think Steam is at 2 million customers now and if they are like me they buy a couple games a month just from the weekend sales alone. So Valve is at around 20-40 million a month and that's just minimum. Blizzard stated they make about 1 Billion per year just off WoW. You figure in the other digital services, MMO's, and retail... were looking at around 6-8 Billion at the bare minimum for PC. I believe one company did a study and found that PC alone does as much as all the console platforms combined on average. There was a down turn for a bit but there is begining to be a balance in hardware and games. Steam is doing a lot for new PC Gamers as it makes gaming available for everyone.

Who pays $600-700+ for a good gaming rig?
Who spends money every time a new gen GPU comes out?
Who updates their rigs every 6-8 months?
We gamers do!
The least they could do is get id of DRM and make more NATIVE PC games. Develop for PC first then move on to console (btw me thinks their taking advantage of the superior CPU/GPU power of the PCs to run their bloated code; if they do it the other way the consoles will suffer lolz).

I have a PC suitable for gaming. I spent $1300 and it is only passable for most of the new stuff. In the meantime my TV is twice the size of my computer monitor and is hooked up to my surround sound. I end up preferring my Xbox 360 almost 100% of the time over my PC. PC has some incredible games that aren't on consoles and will always be the RTS platform of choice but it just simply isn't economical for most people. Surely you all understand that is a valid point. I'm not anti PC by any means but its just logical. Most people don't build their computers either and I am sure most of you will agree that's the only way to put together a gaming rig.

^^My rig is only about 6 months old by the way^^