You don't need a high end pc to play the biggest games on the pc. Let me break down the sales charts for the last 2 years of games on the pc.

1. Sims
2. WOW
3. Sims:Random Expansion Pack
4. WOW:Random Expansion Pack
5. Sims:Random Expansion Pack
6. WOW:Random Expansion Pack
7. You get the idea

PC is dead its just with all the fuss about the Next-Generation its hard...thats why we need a PC forum too...Because I have played Unreal series for years and Doom...I even played Sims Online....that game was trash with reviewers but it was cool....I love PC Games..considering at this time of age you need a computer and why not purchase games on the PC and they look considerably better than console games....PC ROCK ON YOU ARE THE STRONGEST LINK!!!!! m/

Thats a tad bit misleading Chuckd :P There is such a large number of games on the PC that only a few mega hits ever reach the charts, I never bought either sims or WOW :)

Still the idea you need a super powerful rig to play PC games is  really a myth. 

Those who don't think we need  a PC presence here because they don't play games on there PC, I could say we don't need a PS3 or X360 forum/discussion because I personally don't  own them, PC games exist, that is a reality, people on this site play them, thats all that is needed for there to be a Forum and discussions about PC games.

In the future gaming on the PC should get even easier if this "Games for Windows" idea works, lets hope it does and that they scrap any user payment ideas.

It's a good thing you don't need to spend anything like that kind of money then.

Not everyone owns an Xbox360 or a PS3. Whats your point Warlord?

@Pretty Much Everyone,

Ok, I think somewhere along the way you guys missunderstood what I was saying. I was not saying that everyone needs to enjoy PC gaming. Just that it makes no sense to ignore the existance of the PC when talking about games that are coming out for a console and the PC. I fully understand that some people have a hard time getting into PC gaming, but realize that there are also people who have hard time getting into console gaming. Essentially all that I am asking is for people to stop dismissing the PC as unimportant when we are talking about sales. The PC market DOES have an impact, even if you want to say there are lots of pirated games for it, all that means is that people who can get the game pirated are for sure getting the PC version....the PC market definately matters to sales (and thus how many consoles can be pushed by a game) and thats all I am asking people to take into account.

@Sinha,

First of all, I never requested a section of the site for the PC games (but I do like the idea), just that they not be ignored when we talk about games that are available on it as well. You also have to realize there is a big difference between the cell phone gaming market and the PC/Console markets. But sure, if there is a game being released on multiple systems, then there is no reason we should not try to take into account the fact that the game will be on all of those systems.

As for making special sections for cell phone gaming and browser gaming, I would say sure start them up but if nobody posts in them (likely) then we should probably kill them. PC gaming has a much much bigger population than the other two, and they also spend a lot more money on games collectively.

@The Price discussion,

A lot of people really have no clue how to spend there money when it comes to building a computer. Some go to the Dell's & Gateway's for the ease and warranties, but some buy pre-builts local, and many buy parts and build from the ground up. Obviously the group that is going to save the most money is going to be the group who builds there own. And unknown to a lot of consumers is the fact that pretty much all computer parts come with 1 year manufacturer warranties now days. And a lot of memory comes with lifetime, and Seagate HD's are 5 year warranty standard.

Now if we are going to build a PC it really depends on what your purpose for the PC is. I can price from newegg a computer simply designed to browse the internet and play low end games for about $190 in parts after shipping.

Now if you want to go the extreme gamer route you can spend about $2500 dollars and get a very nice very fast, and very long living computer (long living in PC world is max 5 years). And right now it seems very likely that dual 8800 Ultras are going to last that long functionally.

But onto what most people call budget gaming but is actually more like smart gaming. For a computer that should last you two years no problem you spend around $800.

Now a lot of people are freaking about how thats more than a PS3 etc..Well to put it simply you can do a hell of a lot more with a PC than a PS3, and parts don't just simply cease being useful when you want to get a new computer like a new console. Looking at the "budget gamer model" your monitor, keyboard/mouse, tower, hard drive(s), and often times motherboard/memory can be re-used in the next build. At which point you are looking at processor and video card upgrades.

Besides, pretty much everyone has a computer now days, its practically a given. So its a matter of if you want to spend the extra cash to make your computer gaming worthy. Most people don't go for that barebones $190 computer I mentioned above. It is essentially bottom of the barrel (but sadly still far better than the average family computer). So what you are actually talking about is spending an extra $200-300 to give it the extra memory, CPU, and GPU it needs to play games. In essence the price is pretty similar to a PS3, except you aren't paying all at once AND you are going to be getting hardware upgrades along the way.

Be honest now guys, everybody who has a gaming PC was at least going to get a PC for other uses even if they didn't want a gaming PC. The difference here between the PS3 and the PC is that at least the PC owner chooses what technologies he wants/doesn't want and isn't stuck with a bunch of stuff he doesn't need. Its also not very fair to say that PC gaming costs $800 when we are going to get a $500 computer at least anyways. In truth the gaming portion only got us to spend an extra $300.

Now if I am being fair I I should say I have a very warped view of computers, they are essential to my lifestyle in MANY ways.

Currently in my home there are 2 laptops, 6 desktops, 2 servers, and a hacked TiVo unit (completely legit btw).

The two laptops are acers Core 2 Duos 2.1ghz iirc with Radeon x1600 Mobilty, most of the desktops are fairly old but all with current $60 VG cards and at least a gig of memory. One of the desktops my main has an 8800 GTS with an AMD X2 5200+, the servers are a webserver which is just a barebones, and the file server which has 6 HD's which total 1.5TB useable storage (1.8TB actual). And the TiVo has a 750GB hard drive in it. I also have a large shelf of computer parts with probably half a dozen hard drives, 3 or 4 motherboards, a couple processors, empty towers, some older VC's, and a stack of memory....sadly I actually have static bags and proper storage for pretty much everything except the stack of floppy drives. I live in a computer world, and I use my computers every day. This is why the PC games being ignore is frustrating to me, you are essentially saying "you don't count".

PS - If you are wondering about all the desktops, it is because we have 3 people who live here who use their PC a lot, and the others are for when we have friends over (which is common).

How's your electricity bill?  

 lol, its up there =P And I didn't tell you about the 7 TV's in addition to the 8 monitors =P Luckily all of the monitors are turned off when not in use saving a lot of power honestly.

Actually the funny thing about the file server is that its in the basement near the power box because I had to put two fans in it...here let me dig up the link...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999612

These bad boys move 84 cubic feet per minute! But oh my god they are loud as hell....they were the only thing that brought the heat down since I used 6 hard drives for the raid =P And I still have hard drive coolers on the hard drives (its a big case). 

Because Halo on the PC is nothing special at all, really. By the time it came out for the PC it already sported outdated graphics, had limited online modes and wasn't as sophisticated as many other FPSs out for the PC; hence the lower reviews for the PC version.

Halo for consoles was something else when it first came out, but otherwise, for a PC gamer it really is nothing spectacular, graphics- or gameplaywise. 

Honestly, I think Halo was alright for the Xbox, but for the PC? I can easily list a dozen games on the PC from the same timeframe that could tear Halo PC a new one. 

If you were a Halo fan, though, the PC version was undoubtedly better, because it had 16 players and plenty of maps. I played it a bit...definitely not as good as other PC shooters, but good for Halo at the time.

 Shhh, the halo fanboys might hear you and then this thread will explode with hatred =P

Seriously though, Halo fans really really take offense to this, and I have played the game despite what people may of heard lol. But PC shooters were seriously a cut above the rest at the time, and to some degree still are but that gap is closing.