PC Gaming is dying alright...

http://www.cnet.com/news/playing-games-on-the-pc-is-making-a-comeback/

Why can't people just admit that it's not dying, it's just not aligning with how you think it should.

Can "Steam games" mean anything else? I would find it hard to believe darthspudius thought I was talking about all games available on Steam.

First there is no end to PC gaming. PC gaming isn't dying. PC games have always been the underdog for the industry. Consoles have always stood for the masses. Because its cheaper and simpler for the average player. PC can be complicated when one has to edit ini files tweak config files to maximize the games performance per PC specs. PC wasn't for the average joe blow. Its has and will always be designed for those who like to tinker and tweak anything and everything they can to sqeeze every bit of power they can. PC games have been made to push the hardware boundary.. Before the internet some pc gamers found it a challenge to reverse engineer games code. Through trial and error we managed to tweak files to our pleasure. Once internet was available they shared this knowledge now branded as aka pirates, hackers.

Still I can see the AAA Master Overlord game companies pushing more control over PC markets to restrict our ability to tinker and tweak the product we bought and owned. So more and more of these publisher and developers are focusing on Consoles where they have control over its masses.

I too hate DRM. DRM has been around since I've started PC journey in the 80s. But back then hex editing or modding games you own was the norm. PC market was small and wasn't noticed by these AAA Master overlord game publishers.

Today AAA master lords of PC gaming doesn't want us to modify tweak molest there products. They have bought off all our old ips and changed or close them down if they didn't get what they wanted from the old fans. And you know what guys its there right to do what they want with the product they own. I agree with them. I say however don't make PC games then. Stick to consoles. PC is for creative thinkers tinkers breakers crackers smackers. The void growing for PC games by AAA brands is obvious. They're leaving and I say good riddance. I prefer the indie games because PC gaming has always been about indie. The minute an indie becomes AAA, kiss it goodbye.. EA and friends gobble them up and shit them out.

Nightcraw1er buying a legit boxed copy doesn't guaranty a return refund once you cracked open the box for PC games or disk movies.

Fear not gamers PC games aren't dying. AAA overlord games are packing there bags and leaving pc for consoles.

I enjoy both box and digital copies. I try to get both if possible. :)

Thanks(sarcasm) to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, dating websites and other websites, this is not the case anymore. The PC and a internet connection is now very appealing to a large percentage of Earth's population, unfortunately. I miss the 90s.

True. But I don't support those sites and I don't buy many new games because of this mentality.

You don't buy new games because my mentality or the mentality of the people who are using PCs now because of such websites?

Hmmm I don' t buy games because of what I see the direction of how games are being made. How they're being distributed with promises and given us less than what we where expected. I don't use or bother with those sites for personal reasons. But I agree with you that these tools are designed for the masses.

When it comes to new games, there are very few on my wishlists. Too many new games try to appeal to so many different kinds of people to a point nothing about these games are appealing to me. I'm also not fond of mainstream culture so for me, when something becomes mainstream, it turns to shit. And most new games today, offer very little value for the price. There are a lot of new games today that cost you over $150 for the amount of content you got in a game during the 90s that cost $40. And yes, I'm aware, there is inflation going on but people's salaries have not gone up since then. They have gone down... And since then, the cost of living has skyrocketed to insane levels.

LOL

And how the producer/distributer knows if one pirates a game and/or doesn't play it at all?
The answer: they can't and don't know jack shit, it's all assumption in their greedy corporate heads that leads to inventing grossly inflated figures of "loss revenue" because of "rampant piracy" bullshit.

1a) NOBODY is FORCING you to do anything. Last I checked, there was not a Bethesda EMPLOYEE standing behind ME holding a GUN to my HEAD saying "play this game or else!". Maybe things are different in ITALY? Even if you buy the game, NOBODY is FORCING you, whether you play it or not is still your CHOICE

1b) You talk about game not being able to run due to DRM - this not what the KingofGnG mean AT ALL. Which means that either you did not understand, or you are skewering the point to fit your purpose.... Which creates a pointless discussion.

To answer your question, if a game I bought do.not work for whatever reason I do one of two things -
A) if my system fits the requirements I work with support people and look for solutions online, if things still do not work I ask for a refund and play something else
B) if I took a gamble and my system did not fit the requirements, I will wait until I upgrade

2) if you where right, there would be no piracy of DRM free games, let's look at pirate bay, shall we?... Buy the way, you should really dislike gOg, as all you get is a license to play the game...
Board meeting conversation:
"Fallout 4is really popular, and did you see the numbers of illegal downloads and seeds? Players really liked the game! Next time we must try to capture those players also, this was a step in the right direction, but to reduce the number of illegal copies of games, I suggest that next time we use a system where part of the game I stored on a server we control"

Every single download and seed reinforce this, yes they cannot see that you personally have pirated, but there are ways to see how popular a seed is - and every single number there is increasingly ammunition for this mentality.

The best way to support DRM free is NOT by pirating, but boycotting completely the games.

The devaluation of physical copies is a fact now, since there isn't any fundamental difference in most cases between buying a physical copy and renting a Steam copy, sometimes it's basically the same thing like with the new Fallout.

It reflects the consumption model of the gaming industry today and is in fact more akin to the old C64 days of uber-cheap cassette games that basically came with nothing except the cassette itself. Those games were cheap, easily stored and shoveled out much like games on Steam today.

Games are supposed to be paid for and forgotten, that's why you probably have 10 times more games in your Steam account than you will ever play. Physical copies just get in the way. Take up space. Who can have 100s of game boxes lying around? Not a lot of people.

Publishers want your money. How you experience the game isn't a major concern to them. Keep everything bare-bones and as cheap to publish as possible and cash in. That's what they did back in the day, that's what they do now.

There was a period of a gaming golden age, with big beautiful boxes, lots of extra content and a real feel of a polished product in you hands - but that too was to be able to sell those games for a lot higher price. After all, making lots of easy money was always the plan.

Easy. Monays. Making big beautiful boxes and extra content within was a way to charge a premium for those games. And for a while that worked. And make no mistake, it was a premium price.

Back in 1990 you'd pay $50 for a game which is the equivalent to more than $80 today. That's like a collector's edition today and those go for $80+ anyway. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The delivery model has changed, but basically publishers are just trying to shovel out as much as they can, as fast as they can, as cheap as they can.

Yup. And there are some GREAT DRM free or steam release games. PC gaming is FAR, FAR from dead. There is just too much money to be made from that one really good jackpot.

Steam is DRMshop. Origin is far worse, but they are absolutely not needed and impose restrictions on users that go outside the law.

If Steam would sell milk it would:

- tell you, milk is not sold, but the exclusive non-transferable revocable right to drink it is given to you
- require you to drink milk only when it allows you to do it
- every time you drink - it will observe that
- try to get exclusive rights at trading milk world-wide
- prohibit drinking milk in many countries
- you can't give milk to others, even to try - he will confiscate everything you purchased from it
- when you drink milk, you will get achievements
- when you drink milk, it will tell the whole world what you are doing
- tell you to sell your refrigerator, because it now includes that functionality. Why would you even think about purchasing elsewhere, anyway?
- taking milk with you on uninhabited island - bad idea. There is a chance, you can't drink it, if you have no internet
- tell you its rights and conditions are far more important than your wishes or needs. You can try to argue about that, but at a chance of loosing everything you purchased
- steam decides if you are allowed to make cocktails out of it also sometimes - which cocktails
- if you try to pour the milk from packaging into better formed bottle, you will also be confiscated everything you purchased there
- your friend or child tried to drink the milk without realizing all of the above? All above and its you problem.
- if that happens, it will not give you the money back
- if steam closes - you can't access everything you purchased and its your problem
- got a problem when trying to drink milk? Bottle does not open? Wait a few weeks for first response.

There are two ways:
1. GOG!
2. Purchase on Steam, but play from "somewhere else".