Thanks for the compliments on the list. I'll keep it as updated and current as I can.

I just recently moved like two months ago and in my new setup I don't have my 360 next to my cable modem, so I have to spring for the wireless soon. It's possible my yearly expired somewhere in this timeframe. I'll be back soon so don't fret. Just sharpening my skills at GTA IV and Virtua Fighter 5 Online in the meantime...and playing Boom Blox.

Very minor update, but still going to make some cry. Unfortunately Left 4 Dead has been slightly delayed from September to November and that's straight from Valve themselves so it's concrete as of now. I cringed when I read this myself. I'm just too hyped for this game after seeing those gameplay videos. Let's hope they stick with November, because i'd hate for this to slip into next year.

because it means only one genre is highly successful, and people spend alot of money on one publisher rather than spreading the love with multiple games.

and you misunderstood the second part, all I was saying is that games on the PC don't sell nearly as well as consoles, and there aren't that many PC versions of titles that sell good. (CoD4 only sold .5 million I think) ALSO: do you know a site that does PC games sales?  Last I remember I saw that CoD4 only sold about .3 million (on PC)

I do agree that there are more PC exclusives... and I mean, who doesn't like pirates of the carribean online? and diner dash 3? you can't really compare cheaply developed games to the multi-million dollar developed games like the console exclusives. And the conversation then comes to "well, all 360 games are on PC, that means they aren't exclusive" when you make the arguement of assassins creed being on PC meaning that the PC does get high-dollar exclusives. well, guess what? Assassins creed in multiplatform.

Truth be told, if the 360 controller was a mouse and keyboard, publishers would move pc games to consoles because that's where the money is. They only release games on PC to squeeze the last bit of money they can get out of a game, it isn't their primary way to make the money back on dev. costs.

I also think it's funny how you mention 2 successful MMO's and The Sims. The Sims is one of those rare games that NEVER stops selling. It's a freak of nature. So I guess you could say that you helped my arguement by mentioning those games, because, again, they hamper sales of other PC games. But, sure, you could say that any game that sells good is competition; that's not the case with the sims. WoW and The Sims are the only blockbusters on the PC  and they are the only games that are selling good. Last I saw, 14000 PC games (that 10$ collection of flash games you can get at wal-mart) was in the top ten selling PC games.........

Now on to digital distribution.

I'm just not convinced  it is as big as you think. 15 million  steam users..... vs 12-15 million or so ps3 owners and 18 million or so 360 owners...... Boy, you think Valve would be printing nintendo quality money since they don't have to worry about console sales, since their console is used by 1/3 of the world.

I probably left alot of unanswered questions......I am too tired to finish......... but just know this: I wouldn't be arguing if I didn't think I was right.... And in no way am I anti PC, I love the PC and still (on occasion) buy games for it.

I don't think you've realized the magnitude COD4 is doing on PC. COD4 sold 383k in the last 2 months of 2007 in North-America (retail only), it was still 6th placed last week on NPD's weekly PC charts. It is currently still 2nd placed on Steam, and has been released on several Digital Distribution services. It is still on every fucking PC top10 chart in Europe. COD4 is doing a Sims/WoW performance, what more could they need? Ah, and unlike Sims/WoW, COD4 is selling on alot of DD services.

And taking to Doug Lombardi, Valve's marketing director, in a recent interview on Shacknews:

"NPD, god love 'em, they release a US retail sales report, and people take that and say that's the world picture. And it's just not true. It's not like NPD is trying to be evil. Their job is to report North American sales data. They're doing their jobs. But people are taking that and discounting.. in Germany for example, retail sales of PC products crush all other games, with the possible exception of the DS. It certainly kills all of the next-generation consoles. So if people were looking at that and factoring it in, if people were looking at WoW's subscriptions alone and factoring it in, looking at Steam sales and factoring it in.. Just look at what Popcap's doing--Bejeweled and Peggle and all this stuff--they're not in that NPD data.

If you go around and you look at all these different things that are happening on the PC, and you add them together, my hunch is that [the sales numbers] would actually be much larger than all of the consoles put together. Again, minus the DS, because the DS is this crazy thing by itself. But talking purely in terms of the Wii, the PS3, and the 360, if you added those together and looked at the whole picture, I'd bet you PC would be even, if not bigger than those three systems in terms of the money that's changing hands and the opportunity for doing business."

You could have visited the PC exclusives thread to see how many awesome games are coming this year: http://vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?start=0&id=11503

But I'm so keen on comparing, let's do a 2008 exclusives PC vs 360 then?  I will only mention PC games that are/will be +80% (AAA exclusives are on green):

STRATEGY
Starcraft 2
Empire: Total War
Sins of the Solar Empire (88% on Gamerankings)
Disciples III: Renaissance
Panzers: Cold War
Jagged Alliance 3
Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor (95.7% on Gamerankings)
Battleforge
Worldshift

RPG
Dragon Age
Space Siege
King’s Bounty: the Legend

ADVENTURE
A Vampyre Story
The Immortals of Terra: A Perry Rhodan Adventure
Still Life 2
Love

MMORPG
World of Warcraft: Wrath of Lich King
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

FPS
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
Battlefield Heroes
Zeno Clash
Cryostasis: The Sleep of Reason
Fallen Empire: Legions

SIMS
SPORE
Storm of War: Battle of Britain
Microsoft Train Simulator 2

RACING
Trackmania United Nation Forever (83.2% on Gamerankings)

PUZZLE
Audiosurf (85.3% on Gamerankings)
Trials 2: Second Edition (83.3% on Gamerankings)

ACTION
American McGee’s Grimm

Ofcourse this is merely an estimation, we won't know how good most of them will be(or the ones I didn't mention). 

Some games sells better than others. Nothing new here. You should remember that PC games' sales aren't as fronted as console games sales: they will instead keep selling for years.

That's 15 millions 10 months ago. Who knows how many people are there now. And Steam is not the only Digital Distribution service, there are dozens today, and more will keep coming in the future. 

@shio

I just have a quick question in regards to the lack of data with distribution services. Is there a specific reason they aren't being tracked by anyone? I would think Valve themselves could release that data rather easily since there wouldn't need to be any estimations, just cold hard facts. Why is it they don't release numbers themselves? 

Shio, I have a PC and LOVE COD4 on it. Although COD4 is doing very well on the PC side of things, it is still outsold by the console version. Not only that, it is ONE game. If you look at other highly anticipated PC titles like UT3 and Quake: Enemy Territories, they practically bombed in the retail sector. The PC market just hasn't been doing that good lately when it comes to game sales. That is a fact. Despite that, I will still always buy a game for PC (ESPECIALLY FPSs) over the console if given the choice. It does help that I have a really high end PC though.

It's most likely because of Retailers pressure. Retailers do not want people to know Digital Distribution is increasing and is taking more and more sales from them, so they're trying to make others be oblivious of that fact.

Valve still needs boxed retail either way.

Activision has not mentioned COD4 PC sales figures anywhere, so we can't be sure how it's selling compared to consoles. What we do know is it's currently selling at Sims 2/WoW pace if we look at several PC top10 charts AND it's selling great on Digital Distribution services (currently 2nd placed on Steam). So it might be safe to say it is actually outselling both Sims 2 and World of Warcraft.

UT3 did bomb, but the game itself got so much bad rep for being 'consolized' (you know how many PC gamers are picky about that). It also bombed harder on PS3.

Quake Wars did not bomb though. Sure it probably didn't sell much, but the game was low-budget with pretty much no advertisement. The game also probably used several assets of Quake 4. From the developers themselves: http://www.splashdamage.com/node/95

Splash Damage Announces Growth Plans

London, England – February 8, 2008 - Splash Damage™, one of the leading developers in Europe, today announced plans to double the size of its London-based studio. The company is currently seeking to fill key positions across all development disciplines.

Building on the success of the critically acclaimed Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars, Splash Damage is now actively staffing up for its next project – an unannounced multi-platform title - with vacancies in core roles such as art, programming, and design.

"This is a great opportunity for new people to join our vastly talented team and get in on the ground for our next genre-defining game," said Paul Wedgwood, owner of Splash Damage.

The PC market is not doing bad, it's actually increasing. But it's in a transition phase from retail to online, and trackers aren't ready to make detailed reports on online sales. NPD did make one though:

Online subscriptions exceed $1 billion a year in the US market, more than the entire US PC retail market (which is $910 millions), and it is still not counting revenue from micro-transactions(like Battlefield Heroes will be doing), digital distribution (such as Steam), or advertisement (Battlefield Heroes again).

 EDIT: please don't ask or reply about PC sales anymore, the thread was unintentionally derailed. Sorry.

 Sorry man.  Me and shio have already caused enough damage, but I'd like to say two more things:

1.  It's the PC gamer in me speaking out, not the ps3 fan. :P

2. Isn't that the entire point of an exclusives thread?  If it's just to let people know what games are on the system, why not include all games?  Or maybe just the exceptionally good ones?  The fact that you point out the exclusives in particular says something.

My ps3 exclusives thread was created primarily from a sales perspective.  Games sell consoles.  Games that can be found only on that console all the more. After all, this is a sales site. :P

@shio: I'm sure CoD4 will have a spike this week.  It's only $40 on Steam.  I was finally going to pick it up, but then I realized I only have ~$30 in my bank account. Hopefully I'll be able to get it this Friday when I get back from trip before the sale is over.

Edit: Oh, and those numbers you requested.  A quick google returned these (I don't have time to search more, I'm leaving for Houston in 3 hours, lol):

200 million PC gamers (from MS themselves)

15 million Steam users

about that first part: I said HIGHLY successful.

oh wow, i don't even need to respond to most of it, you just supported me for half of my points.

Bolded: you supported my claims

Italics: WTF?

Underlined: added

but seriously, I love the PC, and I hope it will rebound. But right now, I can't believe it is going well.................

and for the love of god please don't respond, I hate reading and re-reading so much! It isn't unhealthy!