I'm having trouble with a decent title that grabs peoples attention. Sorry guys, I guess that lame one will have to do.

After literally a minute ago posting a comment on the Alice: Madness Returns wishlist posting, I realized through what I said that, "I don't own my store bought, physical copy of the game.". In more than likely a year or two, EA will decide to end the servers for Alice, and it will be unplayable...which got me to thinking...
(I also realize it is ludicrous to expect companies to run servers on 30 year old games, I just mean my SINGLE PLAYER GAME that SHOULD NOT require internet does just that, require internet.)

Gog is possibly the best website for any gamer period. DRM-Free shouldn't even be a problem, and I'm glad that these guys are on the forefront whereas the majority blindly follow Electronic Arts', Ubisoft's (I realize they've revoked it now), and Activision's DLC and digital media copy protection garbage, and call it "the wave of the future", as Jim Sterling so elegantly puts it.

That however, isn't the point. (To be clear, why would I argue about DRM on the website that doesn't have it?). My biggest problem is that gog, no matter how hard they try, with immense support in every fashion, won't be able to procure the licenses for every game we want. So how on Earth can I show my children and grandchildren the video games of yesteryear and how my passion for this once archaic and niche medium and build a bridge between generation gaps? What about people who met and spent the rest of their lives together on gaming, what if their children expect the same when it isn't there?

Now, let's put the fact that the video game crash is happening right now and that the industry is probably not going to come back and have giants go down in flames and realize that in the future, we'll recall these games and say, "Hey, do you remember that game?", only to have your friend agree and wish he could PLAY it. Copies of these games will become just like old ones too, few and far between (hopefully not priced through the roof like every drooling moron does on ebay. "Earthbound for the SNES. Super RARE." even though there are a few HUNDRED THOUSAND copies floating around the united states...) and will not be sold forever. I wish companies had back catalogs. Gog essentially is a back catalog and what every game seller should be, offering you the entire gaming experience, but they cannot turn water to wine and build Rome in a day.

How do you feel about it? I mean, PC is already left behind console gaming, as well as the fact that we probably wouldn't have games if it weren't for Steam and Gog. Would you want a world where you have to accept video games as usual and outdated technology and not a form of art which gave you something no material possession could?

Quick note,

If you are going to debate my post, by all means do it! I enjoy having my perception challenged and you learn new things by being corrected...however think about it, and read and UNDERSTAND what I posted. I have seen on every forum I've been across, people who think they're the cat's pajamas using straw man as a form of hierarchy and internet genital growth (I mean the size of their ego, not what you thought you sassy thing!) to downtrodden the original poster and stroke the aforementioned "use a better analogy than genitals". Folks, this is the internet. Nobody is going to think you're a handsome intelligent stud or a foxy Cleopatra because you have a five star rep on a forum and have some form of control you don't have on real life.

I also do realize I am not a very nice poster and like to point out other poster's...judgement lapses. Again, internet.

The writing's been on the wall for a while now, that the big publishers want to move to a system where games are online F2P, monetized through microtransactions. It's gaming as a service, not as a product. You will no longer own your games, but you'll rent them, and if you did own them, you'd "own" them as much as you'd own the space the game would take up on Origin or Steam or Apple's servers.

That being said, PC gaming isn't dead, and there's no evidence to suggest that there's a crash happening right now, at least not like it was back in 1983.

Every developer and company is losing money. EA stocks are worth barely over $1 as opposed to $11 some short time ago. Sony's only profitable division is Sony Pictures. You notice the lead developers and designers jumping ship? Biowares founders left Bioware. Studios that put out new intellectual properties are shut down because it didn't sell over $3 million, and apparently that's bad. Microsoft doesn't make first party games anymore. All of these companies are losing money by the boatload, and this is factual. Nintendo, the big N's profit margin has decreased heavily since the silent treatment of games for the Wii. The crash of 83 was a result of techies not understanding big business since companies then were formed out of garages. This is much, much worse. And the fact that most people don't notice it is alarming. We're talking about this either being the death of the industry, or a rebirth.


PC gaming isn't dead, but it's severely overlooked, and that means that with time, it could be dead.

I wouldn't go that far.

I am of the school of thought PC gaming won't die. Big companies start and collapse, these things happen. That being said all industries suffer similar effects, especially with the way the economy (both world and individual countries) has been fluctuating constantly over the last few years.

When my country's dollar sells well over the American dollar and stock drops across the board (Dow Jones for example) have been hit hard due to many economic issues as of late. So one can't really blame stock drops solely on another "gaming crash". If anything one can blame the stagnation of new innovative ideas in favour of same formulas being rehashed over and over.

That all being said, PC gaming will never "die", so long as there are people of all places from small indie developers to crowd funded projects willing to push to make a game that others enjoy. It may go through bumps and rough patches, but like anything that is worth creating, playing, sharing and enjoying it will be around for many, many years to come. However, this is simply my view on the matter, and you are entitled to think and feel however you choose.

:)

a) as long as videogames are developed on computers, PC gaming will not die.
b) generally accepted definition of 'Death of videogames' is big publishers not releasing them on PCs. But that's not PC games dying, that would actually mean that indie developers would grow and take their place on PC market.

The very notion of PC gaming dying out completely is just silly.

To the other points: Yes, you're right, big studios are losing money. Why? Because budgets on modern AAA titles got so incredibly huge for no good reason. They'll either cut down the budget of their big games, in which case they'll stay afloat, or they'll go down. So what? There's tons of profitable indie studios which will be happy to take their place. Indie production is not as polished as AAA production, you say? It would if those big boys went down.

recent games like FTL show that PC gaming is far from dead. Also, modding. Also, Chris Roberts's game will be PC only.
We can say with greater accuracy that console days may be over soon, PC is here to stay :D

The publishers have found a solution to this problem that they find very convenient: HD remakes. After all, that's most probably why e.g. Sony dropped PS2 compatibility for later PS3 models, just so that old PS2 (and even PSOne) games can be resold to PS3 gamers as remakes. I understand you can also buy lots of older Nintendo games from Wii online store.

In a way, GOG is in the same market, except that GOG is not trying to prevent you from playing your old games that you might have already. They are offering an extra 3rd party service to those who either don't and can't find certain old games anymore from second-hand market, and those who might have the old games, but can't get them to work on modern systems, or find it too inconvenient to do so.

I'm in the school thought that things will balance out in the end. As long as there is a demand for PC games, it will be provided even if it is not through the big publishers. So what if the big publishers decide to ignore the PC, maybe it is for the best to allow some fresh blood to come in. The big publishers could stand being taken down a peg or two.

Dear FTL lover, would you mind explaining to me what's so great about it? I must have been doing something wrong, because I found it to be a rather dull and repetitive experience.

Something is wrong. I must know.

It is a rather dull and repetitive experience. Some people like hunting achievements and ... well generally going for unlocks, and FTL is the kind of game for those people. However, there's ton of them and a game like it proves that PC gaming is not even remotely dead.

How about you? I don't know, there are games like:
Zeno Clash
Amnesia
Gratuitous Space Battles
Jamestown

and more and more and more

It's just a recent example. If you don't like it it's no big deal because we can't all love all the games, right? Any recent indie game or title that was kickstarted can be used as an example.
I love FTL because it's unforgiving, it's not about achievments, it's about your personal story and how you got to the end of game or perished in the process.
Seems to me that you completely missed the point of FTL. I hope that there's a mod that removes achievmments from that game since thay are completely unnecessary

You still didn't try any mods? Please do so! Also, I played the game 40-50 times so far, all with the default cruiser. How can I put it, I don't feel the need to try out new ships right now?
On the mod forums you'll also find a ship editor which will let you edit your starting ship so give it a try. But watch out for the mods, you may even find one of mine one day ;)

link
http://www.ftlgame.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2959