I was just looking at some Wikipedia articles for fun and noticed a few things. These are just my thoughts. Most of the Copy and paste I have done here is just to show the titles of the games, their sales numbers, and their release dates. Some of this you may have heard before, some you may not have. Read it and let me know what you guys think.
These are the three top selling PC games of all time. Yes, the Sims franchise is a money making monster. But I also notice the numbers for Half-Life 2 being pretty solid. The year it was released was not very long before the "new" generations of consoles were released. This plays into the whole common thought that Consoles dictate PC gaming booms and busts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_PC_video_games
Here are some more from the list that fall in line for that period of time before the "next generation":
These are a bunch of good games from around 2004-2005 and they performed pretty well in terms of sale. Most of the current Gen consoles came out late 2005-2006. Although there are some notable exceptions, there seems to be a gap of a few years after release of these consoles before we have some more successful PC games. 2006-2007 seems to be an important turning point.
Now we all know that the 6 million units sold of The Sims 2: Pets really shook up the PC gaming industry (Sarcasm) so let me just talk about the game that people often forget about. Crysis.
I think Crysis partially helped the PC gaming industry grow. This game was notorious for being hard to run at high settings on a computer and really had people excited about overclocking and performance like never before. This may have pushed consumers into buying more expensive hardware in larger quantities, which in turn made hardware manufacturers churn out better hardware (Video cards mostly). Nvidia was in a good position at the time thanks to the 8800 series. The 8800GT 512MB ended up being one of the best budget cards ever released. ATI was in a different position at the time. The 2000 series came out right around 2006-2007. It had flopped and had been a disaster. The new architecture did not prove itself and was disappointing compared to initial expectations. The 3000 series had some redeeming qualities thanks to the low price of the 3850 and 3870, and the performance of the 3870x2. However, ATI still was second to Nvidia. Nvidia continued to ride on the success of the G92 of the 8800GT and 8800GTS 512MB and come out with the 9800GTX which was just an overclocked 8800GTS (G92) with a die shrink.
Bottom line, it was likely if you were going to play Crysis well, you were going to do it with an Nvidia card in 2007.
I believe that Crysis sent ATI back with a mission to come out with some killer performance cards, but for a good price. Enter the R700 Architecture (4800 Series) which debuted June 16, 2008. The 4850, 4870, and 4870x2 were simply beasts for a cheap price. I personally had two 4850 that were pencil modded to allow them to perform within 1-5% of the 4870, and I ran them in crossfire. Why did I buy them? For Crysis.
The 4800 series shook up the graphics card market, which is very important to the PC gaming world, and forced Nvidia into an arms race with ATI. When Nvidia released the Fermi Architecture they started a power struggle that has resulted in the greatest thing PC gamers can dream of. CHEAP, POWERFUL, EFFECTIVE video cards!
At the same time, consoles were chugging along quite successfully. We all know the story... The 360, Wii, and PS3 are running ATI/Nvidia chips from basically a decade ago by now. They are ancient machines that are struggling to keep up with the rapid arms race that developed between Nvidia and ATI, despite the specialized programming. This has allowed for recent ports and such to be viable on the PC.
And of course the titles that are PC exclusives... (perhaps a company waiting for the right hardware to be on the market)
Of course I am neglecting to mention that Steam has had a huge impact on PC gaming, making it easier to buy games and not look people in the eyes when you want to buy a game.
According to the PC Games Digital Downloads: Analyst Report, from leading market research company, The NPD Group, during the first six months of 2010 (Jan.-June), 11.2 million PC Game full-game digital downloads were purchased online compared to 8.2 million physical units purchased at retail during the same period.
The first half of 2010 is the first time period in which sales occurring via digital download comprised the majority of total PC game unit sales. However, games sold at physical retailers continue to maintain a greater share of dollar revenue at 57 percent versus 43 percent from digitally downloaded games. This is attributed to a higher average selling price at retail.
And Indie games have really started to take off on the PC.
But I do think that the hardware side of the equation helped a decent amount as well. Steam and the more powerful hardware hit at just the right time to make PC gaming arguably the best option nowadays, depending on the game. Which brings me to my next point on the PC gaming boom and bust.
Right now we are in a golden age of PC gaming, just like what I would consider the time around 2004. I can't say for certain that PC gaming will take a huge hit from the next generation consoles, but I do expect it to.
If the same attitudes that influence people to buy an iPhone apply, I expect Consoles to make a huge dent in the PC gaming audience yet again. And yes, I do think PC gamers are poached by the consoles. I have been tempted by the Xbox for its wonderful online experience before. Here are some attitudes that I am referring too.
1. Consumers like products to just work.
A lot of times people give up on Android because they have a bad experience and they don't see the potential. They just want the god damn thing to work. Apple picks up a lot of customers this way. While Steam has made that much better for PC gamers, there is still almost always a problem when building your own PC. Of course valve is addressing this with the Steam boxes
2. Friends are buying them.
The Next Xbox and PS3 will pick up a lot of users inevitably just because they are going to buy it no matter what. And just like with an iPhone and iMessage, you will want to chat/game with your friends. So you are going to buy one and you are going to use it. You are going to be locked into that ecosystem before you even know about the product. Steam hasn't really made that next step yet imo, although it could. It also is a "gotta have it" item, like the iPhone. So expect a lot of people to pick the consoles up for that reason.
3. Developers see the above trends, move their efforts towards those systems
The ecosystem of iOS is a huge selling point. Why do developers make things for it? Because a lot of people buy those new products. Same thing applies to Consoles.
So yes, I believe that Consoles will take PC gaming slightly out of the limelight. We may even go back into a dark age and major video game developers will avoid the PC because of piracy issues. But here is what I really want to say about all of this.
Relax. PC gaming will come back up eventually in some form. Although the common technology and gadgets have changed since last generation (Smartphones, tablets, smart watches, social networks, etc.) I still believe there is a HUGE market in the first world for traditional console and PC gaming. And the 3rd world will embrace it even more I suspect. There is a clear Boom and Bust cycle for PC gaming.
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