"Are consoles taking over gaming, or just catching up?"

[cYn]

An article on Arstechnica:

Our PC guy steps away from playing his MMO betas to talk about why the consoles are taking away all the good exclusives, and why it shouldn't bother PC gamers.

The predictions that PC gaming is on the way out seem to be fairly common these days. It's an argument that's easy to support with a seemingly endless stream of statistics showing console ownership on the rise and a shrinking number of PC exclusive A-list titles. Hell, this morning 360 owners are already playing the Bioshock demo, and us PC gamers are hoping they haven't forgotten about us.

The article

Somewhat relevant to Miktars posting of the ESA reports. The report says $6.46 billion went to consoles and $0.97 to PC gaming. Which is confusing when you see the thousands of PC gamers piling into Rage. I'm sure a smaller percentage of console gamers would make the effort to join a thousand plus other console gamers to LAN. The markets are quite different though. In the US there is more access to broadband, why go out when you can stay in and network. Console to PC gaming ratio is probably very different in more developed countries than in SA.

[Miktar]

Consoles were always the dominant gaming market, since the Atari, NES, SNES, Genesis, etc, etc, etc... I actually dislike articles like this, because they're always written from the perspective of PC gamers who never looked beyond their own video-card into the broader market.

Btw - in South Africa, PC and Console gaming is 50/50 split, right down the middle. We've looked at the figures recently, and it was quite surprising.

In the US, I would hazard it to be more 70 perhaps 80 vs 30 or 20 in favour of consoles.

It is almost impossible to buy PC games in gaming stores anymore in the US.

[dawid22]

Personally I have throughout the years always stuck to consoles. Seeing it as an "upgrade" every 4-5 years made sense to me. Also, walking into a shop and then first having a look to see if you system can run the game is just too much hassle for me. I want to walk into a shop, pick the game I want to play, pay for it and go home to play it. I have finished Half Life 1 and Tomb Raider 1 on PC, but that's it.

I see a PC as work. However, those that enjoy PC gaming I have nothing against. It's actually quite cool that we are gonna have PC/360 connectivity in the future and actually think that it will help the PC and console market. PC gaming will never die, well, I don't think so.

[Miktar]

My final thought:

"Are consoles taking over gaming, or just catching up?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_console

Neither: They're continuing to dominate globally, as always.

[kHayne]

Meh. IMO there is no divide, because consoles today are, in effect, pc's.
They have harddrives. Variable peripherals, including mice and keyboards. They're networkable, and connectable to the internet. You can run various applications on them these days rather than just games. They're multirole (play dvd's/blu ray).
Theyre simply branded computers catered towards fulfilling primarily entertainment purposes.
Hell the 360 is essentially a Directx 10 minitiaurized pc.
The line between consoles and pc's is very blurry.
Traditionally 'PC' gamers (and heck, I'm one of them) who get all defensive about consoles cornering traditionally PC niches such as FPS's and online gamers, probably need to wake up and smell the coffee, sooner or later. All it means for us is cheaper platforms and less upgrading, after all, while still experiencing the type of gaming we appreciate.

[Miktar]

SEGA Genesis had a modem.
SNES had a mouse and keyboard.

Btw: The 360 doesn't have DX10, kHayne.

But yes, the line is very blurry these days if you look purely at hardware. Consoles have always been about purpose, not the actual stuff under the hood.

[cYn]

Yuh I found the article a little confusing. The NES was huge in it's day and PC gaming didn't really compete then(I was an avid fan of both at the time). I also had an Atari console years before PCs were popular, even for word processing etc. I think perhaps he is the one that is confused? Ben Kuchera has only recently gotten into PC gaming, he normally focuses his attention on consoles. He seems to have all of the new platforms and a Sony Bravia : /
Weird.

[Miktar]

He wrote a confusing article because he didn't have a clear image of what he wanted to say. Basically, it's what we call a "fluff piece".

[X-Ploding_Shoes]

I think the more important question here is...either way...so what?

Does it matter what dominates what market? PC gamers should realise that just because the consoles have bigger sales, that doesn't mean the Four Horsemen are gonna come knocking on your door, asking for your Graphics card.

[Necropilise]

Ya , i agree the consols have all ways been a bigger buy and pc gamers are just over there pc and should get a consol in the post with a good game so then they no how cool they are

[cYn]

Ya , i agree the consols have all ways been a bigger buy and pc gamers arejust over there pc and should get a consol in the post with a good game

Translation please.
I have no idea what it said, but it sounded inane.

[loonydaboss]

i think that consoles will take over the pc gaming market... XBOX 360 ROCKS

[Miktar]

i think that consoles will take over the pc gaming market... XBOX 360 ROCKS

Here are a few tips for using the NAG forums:

1) Don't say dumb ****, or people will think you're a dumb ****.
2) Keep the 'thing X ROCKS!' to a bare minimum, because it makes you look stupid.

Finally:

Console games have been outselling PC games for decades. Try to know what you're talking about.

[kHayne]

I could give a rats ass about overall PC sales, really. It's simply a delivery mechanism that I use because, up until now anyway, titles like Bioshock only existed on pc.
Anyone who clings to any one platform because of some misplaced loyalty or fanboyism is an idiot. None of it matters. All that matters is, 'can i play X on it', where X = your poison.
"System Shock 3" (effectively) = Xbox, so now I am Xboxen. Tomorrow WoW2 might be PC, and then I'll be PC. The day after, Final Fantasy 27, and I'll be PS5.

[Miktar]

It's good to be a gaming whore. :P

[Oeaks]

Taking over gaming? Didn't consoles start gaming?

As far as I'm concerned Consoles will always be better for gaming because consoles are designed just for gaming, where as a PC is used for a variety of things.

[ReinHer]

I'm very neutral in this matter. I don't think either is better. As long as the person who plays it is happy at the end of the day it is awesome.

[Stoffel]

I have to say that im sick and tired of this 'war' going on about PC and consoles.
I would like everyone to go sit down, think about what they like best : PC or console, then you should sit on your backside and play your games. Stop worying about who's going to win cos no platform will win. this argument has been going on for years and will in, many years from now, stil be raging on.

I choose PC cos I like it, the system requirments is irritating but it does not bother me, and the games are cheaper. I like consoles too but I dont have one...

[Necropilise]

sorry about that i meant that people that play computer some times think consols are a waist of time but they not .

[Miktar]

There does seem to be a strange phenomenon, in that PC gamers who started gaming on PC, usually end up being quite snobbish towards console games.

I have yet, in my experience, to see a console gamer act the same way to PC gamers, except when provoked.

However, almost every PC gamer I've met who has seriously also tried consoles, agrees that both provide great gaming experiences - you just gotta be a bit open-minded.