It's not the Dev's fault. Here are your two options for making a PC game.
1. Make it with normal DRM, and have everyone in the world pirate it weeks before it comes out. Thus making zero dollars.
2. Make it with DRM that would actually stop someone from pirating. Then have everyone in the world call you the Anti-Christ for actually wanting to pay for the game instead of pirating it. Thus making zero dollars.

" If they made games that didn't look like console games in high resolution, I think more people would buy PC games.  It's insulting when Uncharted 3 looks better than PC games, when it should be PC games making console kids cry for better graphics. "

What gets me about PC gaming is that Microsoft started development on the Xbox 360 in 2003 therefore it must be based on the PC tech of around then. So why does it feel like the technological jump feel so big about a year into the current gen of consoles?
So are PC developers just lazy and don't aim to squeeze the best from the hardware? Or do the consoles ultimately drive the progression because of it's focus on console generations?

" @nintendoeats said:

" So what exactly do you think that devs and publishers should do? "

stop making bad games and invest in exclusives that are not mmo's. "

For me, one of the defining traits of the computer is the inclusion of the mouse, an analog device that lets you be able to control rates as well as direction (unlike a digital button).  Having an analog device is huge.

" Pc gaming is not dieing. "

" @Entus said:

"Haven't checked Star Wars but just checked my SC2 folder and it's 8.59 gigs, not close to 15. "

...how?  It's almost 13 gigs on my mac. "

" @Mu5hy said:

" @Slaker117 said:

" @Mu5hy:  Dude, how are PC games 20GBs? Are they not bothering to optimize memory anymore? "

"*Call of Duty®: Black Ops requires an initial hard drive space of approximately 24GB to download and install the game via digital download (8GB of compressed files, 8GB of decompressed files and 8GB of installed files). Upon installing the game, 16GB (compressed and decompressed files) may be deleted from the hard drive. Please make note of where the compressed and decompressed files are being saved on your hard drive in order to later locate these temporary files for removal."

So then you only have to download 8GB~. Saying that the games are 20 GB+ is kinda untrue.
 

" @Entus said:

" @Mu5hy said:

" @Slaker117 said:

" @Mu5hy:  Dude, how are PC games 20GBs? Are they not bothering to optimize memory anymore? "

"*Call of Duty®: Black Ops requires an initial hard drive space of approximately 24GB to download and install the game via digital download (8GB of compressed files, 8GB of decompressed files and 8GB of installed files). Upon installing the game, 16GB (compressed and decompressed files) may be deleted from the hard drive. Please make note of where the compressed and decompressed files are being saved on your hard drive in order to later locate these temporary files for removal."

So then you only have to download 8GB~. Saying that the games are 20 GB+ is kinda untrue.

Did you read what you quoted of me?  You have to download 24GB, then you can install the game, then you can delete 16gb.  You still had to download 24.  You're left with an install folder of <10GB, but you downloaded 24. "

"Did you read what you quoted of me?  You have to download 24GB, then you can install the game, then you can delete 16gb.  You still had to download 24.  You're left with an install folder of <10GB, but you downloaded 24. "

So if your 8GB of compressed files turns into 8GB of decompressed files.... where is the compression?  why wouldnt you just download 8GB of decompressed files, install your 8, delete 8.... initial hd space is now 16. 
 
edit :  Also, airline food.

Where are these topics claiming PC gaming is dying? I never see them but instead I see this exact same thread once a week.

" @Jimbo: I'm not talking about WoW Subscriptions, I'm talking about retail boxes that people buy.  SC2 sold over 3 million, and Cata sold over 3 million.  That's 6 million people going into a store to buy a physical product.  When was the last time a PC game did that?  That's how you fuel the economy. "

I think it's important to remember what makes PC games unique in the first place, it isn't just the mouse and keyboard. It's the open-ness of the platform.  
 
I see people pointing out the "Big franchises" on the PC, and how they're being migrated to consoles, however; 
 

• Garry's Mod is not on consoles
• Minecraft      is not on consoles

As an owner of every system and a decent gaming PC, I have o admit, most of my purchases are for my PC.  And as far as that goes, I don't believe there is a time when being a PC gamer has been better.  I get most of the AAA titles, I get literally thousands of indie games, foreign games with translations... the list goes on and on.
 
The only thing the PC is missing is those console exclusives that are made by first and second party developers and I think the Indie Scene alone outclasses whatever handful of exclusives that the major console makers get.
 
I do want to leave you with this though.  All it would take is HP and Dell including halfway decent graphics cards, something mid-range that could run most contemporary games, then PC would have the biggest install base of any other platform and suddenly PC is where most gaming would be.  That's all it would take.

I think it's more complicated than that, developers barely has enough money to port the game to ps3, they aren't going to put any effort for the pc version at all. They are just going to throw it all together and hopefully your pc can handle it. Any profit they make from it, it's like a bonus because most of the cash comes from the console port. However if they put a bit more effort and it shows, then pc gamers will buy more games. It seems digital distribution is keeping pc gaming alive these days and there seems to be more and more options these days for that.

 It's insulting when Uncharted 3 looks better than PC games

Also what confuses me about the affinity towards consoles is how people are rabidly awaiting the arrival of the PS4 or Xbox 720 as if they will bring amazing futuristic graphics. Erm...they'll be $300-$400 machines. PS3 and Xbox 360 were the largest relative hardware leaps ever, leaps which will probably never be seen again, and they turned out to be not much stronger than upper mid end PCs of the time (The PS3 had to be priced at $600 and Sony had to lose $400 per unit for it). All signs are pointing to Sony and MS being less hardware focused in the next round due to their early failures and the success of the Wii, and the Kinect sets a precedent for Sony and MS to actually start earning money off of hardware sales and not losing it, so next gen probably won't even be as much of a leap. At best, they'll be playing what current $600-$800 gaming PCs are already playing at - 1080p 4xAA 60fps in most mainstream titles.
  
This probably stems from a lack of hardware knowledge and at least a tiny bit of fanboyism. I think if anyone knew they could already be getting a next gen experience on PC, and if money wasn't a huge issue (it's not even really an issue if you consider the money you save on Steam in the long run), they'd all be switching. Unfortunately PC doesn't really have a centralized company or marketing campaign behind it to tell them about all this - there's no Kevin Butler for PC. The lack of marketing and lack of hardware knowledge is probably what's stopping more people from going PC, not the development choices.

PC gaming is dying, but its undeniable that XBL and PSN are definitely cutting into the pie.  

PC gaming is DEAD
RIP PC Gaming
 
It's all cause of pirates jacking games, DRM, and costume quest being consule only
 
In the future no one will use PCs obviously, there will be one thousand consoles each with their own stupid motion control device and each with exclusives that basically do nothing but rob other consoles of titles.  What a UTOPIA.

" @nintendoeats said:

" So what exactly do you think that devs and publishers should do? "

stop making bad games and invest in exclusives that are not mmo's. "

I just want to say that even if you do get rid of most piracy in pc gaming, it isn't going to increase sales of pc games at all. Pirates are pirates and they aren't suddently going to buy things cheaper on steam, rather look for another way to pirate games. So the piracy arguement that all pc sales is not as high is because of them isn't totally true. By making a good pc port, even though there are those who pirates things, it's going to sell more to those who actually wants to buy the game. Most ppl on this site aren't pirates for pc games, they buy most of their games on steam. Also they released some numbers in the other thread, pc gaming is doing alot better than they realise.

PC gaming isn't "dieing" it's stagnating. There's no growth, what is the motivation for someone who wants to get into gaming to choose PC? 

• PC hardware is A LOT more expensive if you want the top of the line stuff. 
• PCs require technical knowledge to get going and maintain. 
• Games developed for PCs have a tendency to be unreliable since the hardware is so varied, and the developers can't test every combination. 
• The openness of of the platform also means it's more prone to cheats/hacks. 
• PCs are still marketed as work stations.
• I'm sure there are more, but you get the idea...

If devs don't know how to make money, then it's dieing....  
 
PC gaming this year has made a giant increase, the most sold PC game happened this year, and it wasn't even a game, you were required to have 3 games prior too.

" @Gamer_152 said:

" Firstly, I don't think PC gaming is dying, I think it's alive and well. However, your argument doesn't make sense; people not being able to make money off of something any more is the exact definition of an industry dying. "

Actually that is the exact definition of competition. If a firm fails to make financial profits and is forced to exit the market that means it failed to compete with other firms in said market. "

Steam did not help new game sell.
 
It just created this precedence  for people  to wait for new steam game sales.
 
I strongly believe steam sales are not really helping developers.
The rabid people who buy CoD/WoW/Halo on Day1 are what helping developers stay in business.
 
Please don't kill me.

" @KaosAngel said:

 It's insulting when Uncharted 3 looks better than PC games

All of Uncharted 3 shown so far is an in-engine pre-render similar to those used in Uncharted 2. The actual game will undoubtedly be the same 720p 0xAA 1xAF mess that Uncharted 2 was. Not to mention PC games that feature natural environments are often actually explorable and not just corridor crawls (linear pathway through jungles wtf?) "