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[sunnysideup]

There are so many indications pc gaming will be the dominant gaming platform in the coming years. At the expense of consoles.

* pc is easier than ever to get into, whether you are building your own or buying a laptop.

* Huge social media presence and zeitgeist. Pc gaming has an huge presence in social media. And its growing every year. In games media it is already dominant.

* An whole generation of kids being fostered into pc gaming with minecraft, roblox, fortnite etc. They will continue to game on pc as they grow older.

* Extremely strong growth in developing countries.

* Crossgen development on console, delayed next gen adoption on an software level. It is going to make lesser pc even more valid. And in two, three years its going to be very cheap to buy an pc that vastly exceeds current consoles.

* Most if not all games, including previous exclusives available on pc. Games sell systems, pc has all of them.

Everything points to pc being the dominant platform going forward. The only hurdle is the bitcoin miners driving up gpu prices. But i dont think that will matter much in a year or two. When low end pc hardware will exceed consoles anyway.

 

[Max_Po]

No ..

op tried..

Spoiler

 

[SlimySnake]

Pc is easier to get into? Where have you been the last 9 months or so?

 

[Same ol G]

No ..

 

[sunnysideup]

Pc is easier to get into? Where have you been the last 9 months or

Gpu prices will come down at the same pace as consoles become available.

Only by then, low end non-mining pc hardware will vastly exceed consoles capabilities.

 

[captainraincoat]

…it always was
PC is just getting more console type games now

 

[DJTaurus]

Just No…. people still don’t look at those steam metrics. They still think that PCMR or PC hardcore gamers are the majority

 

[cyberheater]

Yep. My teenage kids have no interest for consoles. All their friends are on pc also. The community is strong and helped by apps like discord.

 

[sunnysideup]

Just No…. people still don’t look at those steam metrics. They still think that PCMR or PC hardcore gamers are the majority

When ps5 becomes videly available you will be able to buy a cheap as shit gpu, apu, laptop that plays all games at a standard higher than ps5.

 

[cormack12]

Oh my god. It's 2006.

 

[sunnysideup]

Oh my god. It's 2006.

only reverse.

 

[nightmare-slain]

Look, I have a PC and it’s great. It’s never been this popular. But it’s expensive and too much hassle for most people. It will always be the best platform for people who want the best from their games. It’s for the gaming enthusiasts who want best graphics + performance and don’t mind paying a premium and making a little bit of effort to set it up.

Consoles are aimed at people who don’t mind lower quality visuals/performance, don’t want to have to think about setting it up, and want to spend as little as possible.

it’s good that more games from Xbox and ps are coming to PC but it will always be a platform for the enthusiasts.

 

[NahaNago]

It isn't even the dominant platform on this gaming forum yet. Most news outlets cover all things console versus pc as well. Why do you think so many youtubers cover console gaming even though they are pc gamers? I do think pc gaming will dominate in the future but how far from now is the question. The most dominant platform is mobile anyways.

 

[Bernd Lauert]

Only if you ignore mobile. Mobile is the #1 gaming platform and it will only expand its lead.

 

[Lanrutcon]

Brave opinion.

It's pretty obvious consoles are shifting towards becoming gaming PCs (after PCs failed to introduce "consolised" versions of the platform). I figure the distinction between console and gaming PC is just going to become muddier as the generations go by.

Except for Nintendo, obviously. They'll still be selling overpriced plastic jank in 2090 bundled with Mario XIV: Blood Reckoning Sunshine.

 

[Thesuffering79]

Yep. My teenage kids have no interest for consoles. All their friends are on pc also. The community is strong and helped by apps like discord.

Discord is like the the killer app on PC. You can share so much and communicate while in-game so easily. The community it develops is huge.

 

[kingpotato]

None of your bullet points are new phenomena.

You could buy a Dell 20 years ago and game right away.

Streaming is important, but I think the console manufacturers realize this and will be pushing better streaming features mid gen at any rate. Look how Sony launched their new console with a camera designed for streaming.

Kids love games and will play those games on any platform including a cell phone.

Are there really more gaming PCs than smart phones in developing countries?

Console cycles have always existed, so has the incremental improvement potential of PC.

PC has a lot of games, a lot more than all of the consoles for sure, but you have to pirate to play Nintendo games and there is no guarantee you will be getting Sony games until they're played out on playstation first.

Crypto isn't going anywhere either.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

A couple of Sony exclusives coming is going to change fate of a platform?

 

[sunnysideup]

Look, I have a PC and it’s great. It’s never been this popular. But it’s expensive and too much hassle for most people. It will always be the best platform for people who want the best from their games. It’s for the gaming enthusiasts who want best graphics + performance and don’t mind paying a premium and making a little bit of effort to set it up.

Consoles are aimed at people who don’t mind lower quality visuals/performance, don’t want to have to think about setting it up, and want to spend as little as possible.

it’s good that more games from Xbox and ps are coming to PC but it will always be a platform for the enthusiasts.

Pc is only significantly more "expensive" when consoles are new. When you need an high end pc to play the latest games. But 2-3 years into the generation its really not that expensive. Pc hardware moves on, and prices come down, where as consoles stand still.

And its really not the enthusiast choice any more. Pc is already mainstream. And its only going to grow.

And its not its not that much of an hazzle. Especially for most people who have no standards.

 

[sunnysideup]

A couple of Sony exclusives coming is going to change fate of a platform?

All xbox games as well. Including fallout, doom, skyrim 2 etc.

 

[Bonfires Down]

In terms of revenue PC is already larger than consoles I believe. In terms of traditional AAA games, nope, and it won’t be. I don’t think anybody would expect a new God of War or Uncharted to sell 20 million on PC.

 

[LazyParrot]

Nope, it's gonna be mobile. In terms of player numbers PC already dominates the non-mobile space though, if only because consoles aren't all that popular in Asia outside of Japan. There are probably more PC gamers in China alone than there are PS4 and XBO owners on the entire planet.

 

[Shubh_C63]

I mean logically its hard to argue against this but...console people prefer consoles and corporations will never aim to raise PC more than their storefronts margins.

 

[Sentenza]

Maybe in a better time where hardware prices weren't inflating so bad.

I do think that PC is currently the best gaming platform available by a landslide if you are enthusiast about this hobby.
But it's also a terrible moment to jump in given the current scarcity.

 

[twilo99]

If the cloud thing works out we won't really need to buy all that powerful hardware to play most games anyway...

 

[Fredrik]

Yep. My teenage kids have no interest for consoles. All their friends are on pc also. The community is strong and helped by apps like discord.

Yeah I see this among younger coworkers as well. Everyone plays on PC.

 

[lh032]

lol PC is not easier to get into.

All you need to do is install a game and updates on console and play it.

If you have any technical issue playing a game on console, its likely the game itself is the issue.

If you encounter any technical issue playing a PC game, you better pray you are not alone, otherwise you will be enjoying that troubleshooting from several discussion forums.

And the most important cons about PC gaming is that, it is extremely expensive, and it will be even more expensive moving forward.

- Gaming PC/ PS5 owner here.

 

[lh032]

When ps5 becomes videly available you will be able to buy a cheap as shit gpu, apu, laptop that plays all games at a standard higher than ps5.

there is no such thing as cheap laptop, gpu or apu that play games better performance wise compared to a console.
The price of PC parts is going to kept on increasing, you are delusional if you think that way.

Furthermore, console will always have better optimization than PC, assuming both have similar specs.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

PC has been the dominant gaming platform around the world for decades. The number of gaming consoles pales compared to the number of PC's used for gaming.

However I have bad news for you OP, the dominant gaming platform going forward is mobile.

 

[Team Andromeda]

PC has been the dominant gaming platform around the world for decades. The number of gaming consoles pales compared to the number of PC's used for gaming.

So why isn't that born out in games sales data?. I think it was back in the 90's when the PC was far more dominant and where many PC developers didn't have to bother with the consoles or never ported their games to the consoles themself's.
Long gone are the days when the likes of Infinity Ward, id, Epic didn't worry about consoles versions and if they did they were handled by outside developers.

 

[Mike Zhang]

I agree.
There are already some good gaming laptops. If you don't want build a pc just go buy a laptop and you don't need a subscription to play online games

 

[luffie]

OP is dreaming. PC will not be the dominant system because of power, you are a gamer, most people aren't.

The most dominant platform will be the most brainless and straightforward to use, that is mobile. This is why people at microsoft etc doesn't beat Apple, because Apple doesn't need to win on power, they win on the "braindead" easy to use.
People keep on laughing at Apple users being stupid, but they keep on missing that Apple users never buy Iphone because it has "more" power than Samsung.

A majority of people don't buy console by looking how many teraflops they can run, they buy because playing on consile is braindead easy. Insert disc/download, pick the controller and play. That's why Sony and especially Nintendo is laughing to the bank, while Xbox is bleeding money and crossing their fingers hoping it'll work because they have marketing dept that thinks like op.

 

[Sentenza]

lol PC is not easier to get into.

All you need to do is install a game and updates on console and play it.

That's... Exactly how it works on PC as well 99% of the times?
Most of the "tinkering" that can follow is about optional stuff.

 

[bitbydeath]

All xbox games as well. Including fallout, doom, skyrim 2 etc.

Those were already PC games.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Isn’t pc the main platform now. Even kids want them. Every streamer, even if they are using a pad is playing on pc When I look. I dunno maybe I’m clueless, but I thought PC was the biggest for a long time.

I mean, no kid is playing roblox on a console. Or mine craft for that matter.

I think OP nails it to be honest. Yes components are fucked at the minute but so is every console.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

PC is easier to get into in one way since just about everyone has a laptop or PC at home. Consoles no.

As amazing as it seems, ebven though gaming has exploded the past 20+ years, console sales havent really moved at all. Revenue has due to mtx, but hardware units havent. The hardware pie got bigger due to people going PC and mobile.

But a key factor is how good your PC is at home to run quality games at quality settings. I know I cant with my 3 year old laptop with a Ryzen 2500U with Vega Mobile gpu. I can run old games at shit settings and res nice. But thats just about it.

I tried playing the Fantasy General II Demo. I dialed back the settings as low as possible and it was running about 20 fps.

 

[mansoor1980]

 

[Derift]

lol a decent graphics card is around the same price as a next gen console...

 

[Fredrik]

That's... Exactly how it works on PC as well 99% of the times?
Most of the "tinkering" that can follow is about optional stuff.

Yeah I don’t quite see where the complexity talk comes from. Overclocking maybe?
Even mods are easy now with drag and drop mod managers.

 

[prinz_valium]

It already is

 

[yurinka]

PC is easier to get into in one way since just about everyone has a laptop or PC at home. Consoles no.

As amazing as it seems, ebven though gaming has exploded the past 20+ years, console sales havent really moved at all. Revenue has due to mtx, but hardware units havent. The hardware pie got bigger due to people going PC and mobile.

But a key factor is how good your PC is at home to run quality games at quality settings. I know I cant with my 3 year old laptop with a Ryzen 2500x with Vega Mobile gpu. I can run old games at shit settings and res nice. But thats just about it.

I tried playing the Fantasy General II Demo. I dialed back the settings as low as possible and it was running about 20 fps.

Well...
-PS4, PS5 and Switch are breaking gaming history records
-Console sales have been growing these 20 years and will continue growing
-The entry price point is lower in consoles, getting a console and some service to get games like GP, PS Now, PS Plus, Gold, etc. is lower than getting a gaming laptop
-Last year Steam only had a few million active users than PS4, consoles also had Xbox, PS5 and Switch
-Most top selling games make their biggest amount of money on PlayStation, not in PC
-Many Steam users don't have a proper mid/high end PC capable of running the most recent AAA games on decent conditions
-Mobile is aprox. as big as console and PC combined in terms of players and revenue

 

[LazyParrot]

So why isn't that born out in games sales data?

Because the vast majority of PC gamers globally don't play the kind of games that end up on Western sales charts. Many of these games never get a Western release, and most of them are F2P or subscription based games that wouldn't "sell" at all, even if they did come out here.

 

[Shubh_C63]

PC is still too costly and I like PC.
Physical games on consoles can be returned. You get a set graphics throughout 4-6 years which can't be said for PC.

Put it this way, the "house of blockbusters" games will always remain with consoles period.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Because the vast majority of PC gamers globally don't play the kind of games that end up on Western sales charts. Partly because many of them never get a Western release, and partly because most of them are F2P or subscription based games that don't "sell" at all.

That's a bit of a cop-out and I remember back in the day when NCsoft were the talk of the town If PC is really so dominant why it is the console versions of the same game tend to sell the best?

 

[muteZX]

PS5DE .. 349 euro /black friday, autumn 2021/ or gaming PC for 3000 euro /12c CPU, 32 giga RAM, PCI4 SSD, at least Nv3080 .. maybe it will hold for 3 years, for God sake/.

PC will be dormant .. there I fixed it for ya ..

 

[HawarMiran]

No. The time consoles stops being the dominant platform will be, when game streaming is out of infancy. Stadia showed we are years off.

 

[lh032]

That's... Exactly how it works on PC as well 99% of the times?
Most of the "tinkering" that can follow is about optional stuff.

Yes you are right, but I don't like the tinkering part. However that is not the main reason why I choose a console.
Games runs stable for me on console than on gaming PC for some reason.

I hate it when games does not work right on my PC, I have to diagnose my hardware, checks my software etc..., its a hassle.

 

[LazyParrot]

That's a bit of a cop-out and I remember back in the day when NCsoft were the talk of the town If PC is really so dominant why it is the console versions of the same game tend to sell the best?

Because most PC gamers have fundamentally different tastes from console gamers. I know it's hard to believe if you spend a lot of time on console centric boards like this one, but most PC gamers only play PC exclusives. They don't play console ports or multiplats at all.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Disgusting

 

[IDKFA]

I love PC gaming, but it won't be the major gaming platform anytime soon.

First, it's too expensive. Graphic cards cost almost as much as a console. If you want an amazing GC, then you're looking at over a grand. That's just the graphics card.

Then there are other aspects, such as installing drivers etc which most of the public wouldn't have a clue about.

Console gaming is so popular because it's cheaper and is plug and play.