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[Maud'Dib Atreides]

consoles are moribund folks

ill be looking forward to virtual reality indie gaming in the next 10 years

[feminazi]

i'm actually one of the few dums who got win8 and as far as i can see from the store, the problem aint advertising on the store, it's just how the customer base is so far. i haven't boguht a thing from it yet. downloaded the netflix app though.

here's what it looks like


radiant defense seems like the first non-xbox branded game that looks like it did well on the store. hopefully they post a gamasutra article. 

[zalzane]

I even wonder if consoles will still be around in 10 or 15 years. Now that powerful computers are common, integrated graphics systems are gaining in power, and tablets/phones are becoming viable platforms. I am not sure how much longer the old 5-8 year console cycle tradition can be maintained.

I can't see consoles going anywhere soon. They have so many benefits over PC when you're trying to appeal to a large audience, it's almost crazy to think PC gaming could ever succeed for the greater market. The requirements of a PC gamer and a console gamer are also very different, and each platform tends to keep to itself without trying to appeal to both sides.

That's kinda why I'm really excited to see the steam box. It could end up being the endgame market-destroyer that can wed the requirements and needs of PC gamers with that of console gamers.

[feminazi]

lol either the search bar is broken or they pulled great big war game off the store. good job just right when i heard about the game! (edit: oh it's RT specific not 8, how many people actually own a surface)

[s0]

it's almost crazy to think PC gaming could ever succeed for the greater market.

it already does in most of europe

also

the sooner the degradation of the PC platform begins to destroy them.

you do realize most people use pcs for other things than gaming and the vast majority of pre-build computers still comes with windows installed, right?

[zalzane]

it's almost crazy to think PC gaming could ever succeed for the greater market.

it already does in most of europe

I had no idea this was the case. I have no solid numerical information to support my point other than sales figures, but console gaming has a much larger "social appeal" than PCs do. With a console, it's a lot easier to have friends over, fire up a game, and socialize and that has huge appeal for the latest wave of "new gamers". This is why fps games tend to sell so well with these demographics, the games are easy to learn, easy to play, and easier to play with friends when they come over to your house to hang out.

That's not to say that "social gaming" doesn't exist on the PC, it just has a very diminished presence compared to consoles.

you do realize most people use pcs for other things than gaming and the vast majority of pre-build computers still comes with windows installed, right?

There are two major markets who purchase pre-built computers; consumers and businesses.

Your average consumer uses a computer for several functions:
-Internet access for facebook/email/entertainment
-Word processing
-Very basic image and video editing

Almost all of these uses can be fulfilled by a tablet. Not only can a modern tablet perform (most) of those tasks, it's mobile, generally more simple to use than a PC, and can be used as a status icon in a social context. With all of that in mind, there is very little reason for the average consumer to purchase a PC over a tablet. The sad fact of the matter is that the average consumer simply doesn't need the extra features a PC offers. Tablets have really taken off in the past year or so, and it has shown in the sales of PCs[1].


The second major consumer of PCs are businesses. Businesses use PCs for a wide variety of purposes, ranging from specialized computing and logistics to word processing, excel, and powerpoint. The majority PC applications in business tend to lean on the latter set of usages. There are several alternatives to microsoft office already available on tablets[2], and the "rule of cool" seems to have influenced many businesses into switching out PCs and laptops for tablets. Here's a good example of the kind of stupid buzzword bullshit you'll see some managers use to justify their switch to tablets[3].

The number of businesses replacing work laptops with tablets is growing at a fairly mean rate[4], and I have no doubt in my mind that they will eventually replace laptops entirely.

Although, I can't really say much on cubicle workstations being replaced with tablets, it's likely in the future one of the major tablet manufacturers will come out with some kind of competitor for cubicle workstations, considering what a lucrative field that is and the low-processing-power requirement for most cubicle workstations.


So yes, PCs are dying. It's only a matter of time until mobile devices end up completely replacing them for most mainstream use, and in the far future it's likely they will become a niche product only owned by hobbyists and only used for legacy/computationally intensive applications.

[1] http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pc-market-sees-biggest-sales-drop-since-2001-2012-10-10

[2] http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tablets/office-suite-alternatives-for-android-tablets/334

[3] http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/29/how-tablets-are-transforming-business-intelligence/

[4] http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Tablet-Adoption-Growing-Among-Small-Businesses-227690/

[feminazi]

how about we jsut call tablets PCs since it's pretty much the same thing

[Blademasterbobo]

god youre annoying zalzane

[Dragonmaw]

PCs aren't "dying" and your post is full of misleading information. There are a million factors that can be attributed to the decline in PC hardware sales. For example, the widening gap in processing power vs applications that require higher processing power. Software is lagging behind hardware and it shows.

Workstations offer many benefits over tablets. For example, I would find it rather annoying to carry around a 24" tablet (the size of my monitor) with me wherever I go. Furthermore, you can't lose desktops. Further furthermore, the mouse/keyboard interface is astonishingly precise and easy to learn for most people, and while touchscreen interfaces are cool, you aren't going to be able to get that kind of precision unless the screen is REALLY big. Further further furthermore, even if hardware sales are slumping, PC software sales have actually been rising each year. The software division of HP is the only division that actually turned a profit in 2011, for example.

Also:

That's not to say that "social gaming" doesn't exist on the PC, it just has a very diminished presence compared to consoles.

Facebook's gaming API basically created "social games." If you are referring to the fact that "games are not social on PC" then I beg you to look at any MMO or high-profile multiplayer titles because those are very much social-oriented games.

PCs will never die. At least not until we have sweet VR cyber-eyes and shit that let us bypass size restrictions on hardware.

[gimymblert]

Pc will simply evolve, tablet is the new personal computer, however it doesn't mean all need to be touch screen ONLY. I bet on new "format" for doing more of the same. Internet speed is rising for exemple, cloud computing will be a thing, even if it is using a server locally based (for business).

[zalzane]

god youre annoying zalzane

amazing post 10/10, keep up the good work!

PCs aren't "dying" and your post is full of misleading information. There are a million factors that can be attributed to the decline in PC hardware sales. For example, the widening gap in processing power vs applications that require higher processing power. Software is lagging behind hardware and it shows.

I really hope you're right on this part, it really kills me to consider that the PC may disappear within the next 20-30 years. The sales drop can be attributed to a wide variety of causes, but 10% is no small number, but then again that number is just for one year. It was kind of bitter sweet, hoping that windows 8 would spur consumer purchases in new desktops, but ironically enough its release has had the opposite effect I think that next year's sales will numbers will be a huge help to discovering if this is just a natural trend or an indicator of diminishing PC popularity.

Workstations offer many benefits over tablets. For example, I would find it rather annoying to carry around a 24" tablet (the size of my monitor) with me wherever I go.

Damn right, workstations are amazing and it would suck huge ass to have to switch to a modern tablet. Right now in the business sector, tablets are replacing laptops, not workstations. However as tablets get more popular, I cant help but believe that someone will think up a workstation-replacement solution, especially as fewer of most company's devices are running windows.

However I have to agree that it's going to be very, very hard to ever replace the corporate workstation, especially for programmers and engineers who use complicated tools and programs that would not transfer well to a tablet. Perhaps it's even possible that they'll never be replaced. I know I sure as hell don't want to make it so my employees can unplug their cubicle computers and make off with them.

Facebook's gaming API basically created "social games." If you are referring to the fact that "games are not social on PC" then I beg you to look at any MMO or high-profile multiplayer titles because those are very much social-oriented games.

I don't mean this kind of social, hell, I would even debate that facebook's "social" games just use the word social as a marketing buzzword, but that's irrelevant. One of the biggest issues with the PC is that you can't plop it down in the living room, attach 4 controllers to it, and play games with friends without going out of your way to buy gamepads and finding games that actually support PC multiplayer from the same machine using gamepads. For consoles, this allows them to be dragged into the face-to-face social context at parties, hangouts, and general get-togethers. While PC games like MMOs are social by nature, that kind of online-social interaction and bond building doesn't appeal to everyone as much as the face-to-face stuff that consoles can enable (think the COD/BF3 audience).

[Blademasterbobo]

page 2 snypa

[feminazi]

windows launch sales aren't the sign of what the market wants, just what internet nerds care about. people will buy a new tabtop or whatever with windows8 preinstalled on it and it'll be fine

[gimymblert]

Nerd are still on ms dos interface, but saying the pc is there to stay is unlikely as many technological windows are opening to change computing and man machine interface: 24" screen? flexible screen! SOLVED

[Dragonmaw]

I'm not debating that PCs will be around FOREVER just that there are still many technical hurdles to overcome.

Also the saying "PCs are dying" has been around for longer than most people on this forum have been ALIVE.

[zalzane]

oh yeah, there's definitely some huge hurdles that have to be crossed before PCs really become depreciated, but it's going to happen, at least within the next 20 years.

It's just a matter of time till stuff like what Gimmy says happens and some mega-nerd makes something cool like a phone/tablet that can emit a laser keyboard or have a flexible screen.

[Dragonmaw]

it was still a bad post

[crowe]

Guess what they already did have a touchscreen that can emit a laser keyboard or have a flexible screen

it's still shit because no tactile feedback, puzzle solved

[Nathan Cash]

Hey! I'm new here and wanted to introduce myself. I am from Derek's Mossmouth/Spelunky forums and that is where I heard of Tigsource. I have lurked for a bit and everyone here seems awesome. I am a programmer myself (Html, Css, C#, GML) and have experience in Unity, XNA, and Gamemaker. I am only 15 and hope that won't be frowned upon here. Everyone here has been a huge inspiration to my game development. Anyways I live in Texas and my favorite Indie game is.... Spelunky? Well that's all I can think of to say.

[gimymblert]

That's why I told about "format" not technology, what happen to apple was not technology but format. Ipod was the right format for MP3 with itunes, iphones was the right format for "smartphone" (basically a glorified PDA). Technology helps but format is what makes sense, and I see a huge race toward format, steambox and steam's big screen is proof of that, motion control was too, social and casual where format push too. The pc (as we know it now) is dying because there is this boom in format.