PC games making a comeback

Sales of PC games seem to be poised for a sales resurgence in the U.S., reversing an almost decade long decline. In 2006 sales increased to over $970 million, a 1% gain over 2005, when they fell over 13%. So far this year the trend seems to be continuing, with January and February figures showing a 48% increase over the same period a year earlier.

The biggest reason for the improvement in 2006 seems to be the 43% growth in sales of PC role-playing games. While consoles, starting with the PS2, have come to dominate such genres as first person shooters and driving games, the more complex controls and interface of role-playing games tends to give the PC an advantage.

PC games will also be getting some help from hardware vendors. Besides being the parent company of Alienware, one of the first computer retailers to specialize in gaming PCs, Dell is also now selling high end gaming computers. Hewlett Packard, on the other hand, is working on prototypes for new hardware, like a display that wraps around the user, and plans to have some new products available for sale later in the year. Microsoft is also targetting the gamer market with a new USB adapter for connecting XBox controllers to a PC.

Microsoft's new Games For Windows program should also help drive PC game sales. Besides offering Games For Windows - Live, modelled after the popular Xbox Live, the program is intended to allow Windows Vista users an easy way to determine if a game at the store will work on their computer by using Vista's built in System Assessment Tool (the same tool Vista uses to decide which features your hardware can support) and comparing the results printed on a software box. Other requirements for the Games For Windows program include compatibility with Xbox controllers and Widescreen displays.

Sources:
The New York Times
Next Generation
Games For Windows

Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 24 Apr 2007 19:28

Advertisement - News comments available below the ad

11 comments

borhan9

This is great news to my ears :) I have always like PC Gaming over Consoles, mind you i own a PS2. I love the interaction i have with my PC when playing a game. The good thing about gaming on a PC is if it does not work you can configure something that can make it work even if that is getting a new graphic card. The user friendly way it is to upgrade and update PC's is why i have gone to PC's and am not looking back. Mind you the Wii has caught my eye ;) Only because of the active use the user has with the console controller. Well done PC games :)

24.4.2007 21:45 #1

webe123

I aqree. There will alays be a console market, but to me some of the BEST games that have ever been made were not on a console at all.

Games like Thief: Deadly Shadows were REALLY screwed up when they tried to port it over to a console and they are NOTHING like the Thief 1 and 2 games that are PC only!

I would take PC over consoles because you cannot only upgrade everything, but you can also usually configure a PC game to run on your PC (even make cheats and cracks yourself) and on consoles you cannot.

24.4.2007 23:13 #2

rihgt682

Wish They would release games on pc first. Like Gears of War. it's always consoles first and than pc. Consoles are good for couple things but I'm a PC game. World of warcraft.

25.4.2007 09:46 #3

Moomoo2

Half Life 2 and its mods (see: Counter Strike Source) are doing pretty good still, aren't they?

Which has more players online, CSS or Halo2?
CS 1.6 or Halo 2?

Heh.

I own a PS2 and an Xbox and still play the majority of my games on PC.

25.4.2007 10:35 #4

ChromeMud

I've done PC gaming and it was great fun but after a
a few years I got bored of upgrading hardware and
tweaking graphic drivers to compete with faster
PC's online.
Hackers don't help either when they're crashing the
server or hacking the game to gain advantage.

Now I play consoles online and it's a breath of fresh
air in comparison.Voice is standard,graphics are now
good enough for a good telly.Just pop in a disk and go,
no more blue screen,no more locking up the cpu because
of overclocking,no more upgrading graphic drivers.
My PC is now a computer and not a games machine.
PC's may have the state of the art in graphics processing
power over consoles but most people who want fun would rather
buy a Wii as it's cheaper and arguably more fun for your buck.
Everyone should try the PC gaming route but don't be suprised
if you buy a console for your gaming urges a few years later!

25.4.2007 11:07 #5

ZippyDSM

Gee I wonder why prehaps removing used PC games from retail chains has forced people to buy new thus pad sales....*sigh*

25.4.2007 15:56 #6

CTerrian

This is very good news.
I'm still waiting on Duke Nukem Forever to be released. <g>

27.4.2007 03:29 #7

afterms

I would love to see these games ported to PC/Linux!

27.4.2007 06:33 #8

phaser1

Many games, folks don't realize, stem from older PC games. Look at the Need For Speed series. It first came out on floppy disks. Half-Life, Doom, Unreal, and even Quake were original PC games. Leisure Suit Larry is even from the older days. Yeah, I know the games all to well. My first PC was a Color Computer 3 with a 300 baud modem. Space Quest was my first series of games I ventured into.

Somebody stated earlier "you can always tweak/modify your PC to get games to work." I'd like to take that comment a step higher. With the consoles, you are restricted to the onboard video card. However, with PCs, you can spice the game's environmental appeal with better, more aggressive video cards. My Alienware PC's Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT looks way better than what the Xbox 360 puts out. Water actually looks like water, even down to the reflections of it, say in the lower level of a room in the game F.E.A.R.

What's the deal with Command and Conquer: Tiberium Wars on the 360? That game is mouse/keyboard demanding. Reminds me of when the consoles put out copies of Roller Coaster Tycoon. What the heck? That's crazy.

Consoles are great, don't get me wrong. I own everyone of them, minus the PS3 and the new Xbox Elite system. Yeah, I even have an old Atari, Sega Game Gear, NES, Super NES, modded PS1 and PS2, and so forth. I'm only 37, before you go into thinking I'm as old as the hills. Consoles are great for two-player gaming. Whether on the PC or console, Gauntlet is a great example of this. Even the split screen racing is better on the television set, unless you own a 25 inch computer monitor.

If you think about it, computer games came back when the 360 was introduced. The 360 is nothing more than a PC in a small shell with limited upgrades (unless you are the be-all-you-can-be-modder). I think the online presence makes for a good dividing line between consoles verses PCs. The 360 seems to domonate in the online arena compared to the other consoles. At the same time, the PC is right there beside it. Fire up Quake 2 or 3, and I'd bet you'll still find PC gamers out there playing it.

Phaser1 (aka Digital9x)

27.4.2007 06:59 #9

borhan9

Quote:What's the deal with Command and Conquer: Tiberium Wars on the 360? That game is mouse/keyboard demanding. Reminds me of when the consoles put out copies of Roller Coaster Tycoon. What the heck? That's crazy.This is my exact reason i do not buy certain games that are suposed to be for PC should not venture onto a console period. One Game that I am a Die Hard Fan about is the Championship Manager series. I first started playing this game on PC and it was great takes a lot of resources if your computer can not handle it. But i build my computers specifically for that game alone and build everything else around it.

I went and ventured out and bought the game for PS2 one year and then realised i can not play it the way i like and the graphics to read the test on the screen is really bad. So i went and returned the game and got the PC version and everything was back to normal again.

27.4.2007 12:21 #10

ZippyDSM

ya but most PC games have been corrupted by the "console" mentality of less is more.....

27.4.2007 12:40 #11

AfterDawn: News