| Foamer said: Looks like the midway point of the usual cycle has been reached. At the start of each console generation, consumers flock to the shiny new stuff, closely followed by developers and publishers keen to cash in. In the stampede the PC gets relatively neglected and a lot of people start pronouncing it dead- funnily enough the most vociferous group seems to be former PC gamers desperate to validate their new console purchase. The PC just keeps trundling on though, making plenty for companies savvy enough to exploit the vacuum left by the developers who are now concentrating on consoles. PC tech keeps on evolving however whilst the consoles obviously remain static and start to look increasingly out-dated. Eventually a tipping point is reached where the tech available either reaches a low enough price or is powerful enough to completely outclass the consoles, and consumers start coming back the other way, again closely followed by developers and publishers. That time now seems to be here. The difference now of course is that it's so much easier to get into PC games than it ever was before and DD is a goldmine for publishers and developers of all sizes. It's never been a particularly bad time to be a PC gamer, but the next few years could certainly be one of the best. |
Exactly. The trends are only proving that PC is the platform of the future. PCs are almost a necessity nowadays, and they keep getting cheaper and more user-friendly. But with consoles it's the complete opposite: They're getting more expensive and more complex.
Digital Distribution is saving us from hunting patches, installation problems, etc... PC is stronger than ever, and the fact that PC was the only platform to grow last year proves it.
