Analysts respond to November sales

Last month was a record-breaking one for US retail gaming revenue, but what lessons are being pulled from the numbers?

Last month was widely expected to show significant growth in the US gaming industry, but when the retail-tracking NPD Group yesterday released sales data for the month, the figures far outstripped already-rosy analyst projections. According to the NPD, the month saw US retailers sell more than $2.63 billion in gaming hardware, software, and accessories, a 52 percent spike over the previous November. Even without December, typically the biggest month of the year for game sales by far, 2007's US industry sales are already up 5 percent over the total 2006 haul.

In an investors note heralding the news with exclamation points, Wedbush Morgan Securities' Michael Pachter acknowledged that the industry was outstripping not only its previous performance, but also his own projections.

"Year-to-date, industry sales are up 27 percent (including PC), tracking well ahead of our 19 percent [growth] estimate," Pachter said. "In order for our forecast to be right, December software sales would have to be down year-over-year (this is highly unlikely), so there should be significant upside to our growth estimates. Should December sales be up a modest 10 percent, overall industry growth will approach 23 percent for the full year."

Activision scored big, thanks to strong sales of Call of Duty 4 (more than 2 million units sold on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3), the continued success of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (1.9 million sold across platforms in its second month), and the publisher's recently announced merger with Vivendi Games.

"Activision ascended to become by far the largest publisher of console and handheld video games with over 67 percent greater sales than its top competitor," Wilson said, factoring Vivendi game sales in with the Activision total. "It is set up to have by far the best holiday season sales."

The simExchange prediction market analyst Jesse Divnich released his own assessment of the figures, saying that a slowing US economy and reduced holiday shopping activity were to blame for the conservative November sales forecasts. Among the titles that surpassed the prediction market's expectations, Divnich was most impressed with Rock Band.

"Rock Band, up against an improperly executed marketing campaign, supply constraints, and hardware bugs, still managed to beat market expectations by ringing in 311,909 units sold in November, well above the market's expectation of 152,000 units," Divnich said. "We consider this a significant achievement for Harmonix, which despite large barriers managed to break into the music peripheral genre under a new intellectual property, which clearly could have been marketed better to consumers."

As for titles that didn't sport great performances, Divnich noted Manhunt 2 for the Wii, saying its sales of under 19,000 copies "should not be considered a victory for those groups who protested its release, but rather a victory for industry and gamers who did not fall for the market hype of what can only be described as a poorly executed title."

He also pointed to Crysis, which actually beat the simExchange's expectations with sales of nearly 87,000. However, Divnich said it had a long way to go before it could be called a success, and its performance "suggests that the best PC titles are those that can be readily available to a wider market by having lower hardware requirements."

97 Comments

  • nate1222

    Posted Jan 7, 2008 6:23 pm PT

    For a while, I considered PC gaming. I had my panties in a bunch over the half-assed backward compatibility and cost of current consoles. I'm glad I snapped outta that.

    PC gaming has a DAMN LONG WAY to go before it gets a market share anywhere near consoles. The system requirements hold it back quite a bit. On top of that, most consumers don't know a graphics card from an UNO card. And a decent graphics card, say GeForce 8600GTS, costs damn near as much as a 360. Go after a GeForce 8800 (if you can find it in stores) and you might as well buy a PS3.

  • jeffreyc4848

    Posted Dec 29, 2007 4:01 pm PT

    well the GeForce 8800GT also cost twise as much as an xbox 360 just for the card to have good graphics

  • siiixon

    Posted Dec 21, 2007 6:58 am PT

    re demi_veritaz: yeah right that's why it only sold 90000 copies, and this is why they already TRY to sell crysis at discounted pricing, crysis is cool eye candy but a really boring as game... and who wants to buy eye candy when it come down to it.. i sure as hell not...i want to have fun playing

  • demi_veritaz

    Posted Dec 20, 2007 10:29 pm PT

    Crysis is probably the best fps I have ever played..maybe equal to the half life series..Yeah..
    The steep hardware requirements? So what? How else would they have developed that game without using a beefy rig to render those massive and detailed landscapes. Crysis simply wouldn't be Crysis without the tech to support it.
    You could easily run crysis on a 500 dollar system. Would you be running it on high? No, but you could manage to get a lot out of the game regardless.

  • rockatanski

    Posted Dec 20, 2007 5:07 pm PT

    Holy Crap!! Crysis only sold 87,000 ???? Oh man, if that's not an indication to hold back Far Cry 2 for another 3 years because of steep system requirement insanity, then I don't know what is!!

  • Fists1

    Posted Dec 19, 2007 1:19 am PT

    nytemarex just because your too unco-ordinated to use controllers doesnt mean that a game would flop on consoles and the PS3 has supperior power to all but hardcore gaming systems that cost 2 or 3 times as much

  • md206

    Posted Dec 18, 2007 6:32 pm PT

    If you ccan play crysis at medium settings and above then you voted for it as game of the year.....If you didnt you must be mentally inequipped>>>noob

  • Slayer420

    Posted Dec 18, 2007 7:16 am PT

    nytemarex - while I agree that it would be difficult, maybe impossible to do.. you pointing out an 8800GT made me laugh.. you realize that the cost of that card alone is almost as much as the entire console. I would certainly hope it would outperform a 360/PS3 with that in mind.

  • dey4gotaus

    Posted Dec 17, 2007 7:31 pm PT

    i like how crysis always gets its own paragraph whenever its mentioned : ]

  • dcmdream

    Posted Dec 17, 2007 5:12 pm PT

    I would love to see Crysis be ported to the 360! Yes, I know it would take alot of work to do, but you would be suprised to see what developers can and will do for lots of $$$$$$.
    They would sell millions of coppies .

  • nintendokid

    Posted Dec 17, 2007 12:16 pm PT

    Wanna talk about console, talk about console. Wanna talk PC, talk PC. Don't compare the two. Console and PC are not the same. Would you PC hobbyists be happy if someone spewed out "Apple and PC are the same"? Didn't think so.

    The market, industry, culture, and target consumer base is so different that you can't and shouldn't put "PC" and "console" in the same sentence, ever. That would be like including BMW and Mercedes when you are talking about Toyota and Honda.

  • Zoomer30

    Posted Dec 17, 2007 11:11 am PT

    I think all the toys from China just dripping with lead helped video games, games are safe.

  • MasterChief725

    Posted Dec 17, 2007 8:05 am PT

    Finally, after years of EA treachery, Activision has bided its time, and is now on top!

  • nytemarex

    Posted Dec 17, 2007 6:24 am PT

    planetkyle Well I can see you're not from Earth. If they put Crysis on 360/PS3 there will be numerous problems.

    A) They have to dumb down the graphics tremendously, probably equivalent to medium high (not high) settings at the most on a PC. B) The physics engine will be reduce immediately in order for the processor to keep up. If you see the Crysis tech demo, you see that the physics is immense compare to other games. That's WITHOUT the PhysX. The 360/PS3 cannot handle that immense physics calculations due to its limitation

    C) Crysis does have X360 controller support and I tried it. OMG, I don't know how you console gamers can play FPS with it. It's horrible. I switched back to keyboard and mouse IMMEDIATELY. There are too many function that the controller can handle. So, should they put it on the 360? Sure if they dumb down the gameplay. graphics and physics. Don't forget, the GeForce 8800GT is the equivalent of a 360 and PS3 together, check the specs of it.

  • shappy1010

    Posted Dec 17, 2007 3:25 am PT

    This has been a great year for games in general. Although console games are still overhyped commercial monsters (Halo 3) PC gamers can enjoy bright gems like the Witcher from smaller software houses coming more and more to the market. This is probably what it will go to, not unlike the movie industry. Looking for more intelligent games one has to look to the PC and maybe to smaller software houses, Bioware seems to have gone down the console path, such as Lucasarts did a long time ago, console games continue to be dumb down (Oblivion, Bioshock, Mass Effect) for a larger audience. It is getting a little better though (Mass Effect is a lot better then Jade Empire), so in time, perhaps console gamers will be become more critical and the market will change for the better.

  • metzenlord

    Posted Dec 17, 2007 12:22 am PT

    Ok i've got a 3RL Xbox 360, PS3, and PC capable of running Crysis in high settings...that said, I just love the easyness of choosing a game and then just throw it on the ps3...

    BUT, for a console to beat a PC, that comes down to what you use to frag ppl, there is nothing like a Razer Lachesis or a Copperhead (or your logitech fix for that matter). The day you can play games on a livingroom with a keyboard and a laser mouse, confortably, that's when im gonna worry about PC gaming dying. I can frag all my friends in Halo 2 and 3, but I know that with a mouse, they could never get a frag out of me.
    You can say what you want about graphics, but the life of PC gaming is on the mouse and keyboard. And NO THE WIImote AINT BETTER, LOL.....

  • JackfnBurton

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 11:30 pm PT

    You know what I tell my console gaming friends a PC is? A console you can upgrade and customize to your heart's content. That's not completely accurate but considering most people I know have never even SEEN the inside of a PC that's good enough. A 360 using friend of mine is always complaining his graphics don't look as good as they do on my PC. Well, of course they don't - I spent a lot of money and acquired a lot of technical knowledge over the years to MAKE it that way. My machine isn't even state of the art any more, I told him. You ought to see Bioshock on a REALLY **** machine. High end PC gear isn't pricey for nothing and all that time spent learning to build and tweak definitely has it's rewards. To each their own, I do what suits me, you do what suits you. Every platform has it's pros and cons, we're all gamers so their no reason to hate. That said, I wonder where we'll see Crysis in six months sales wise - I never bought it because the demo had the 'been there done that' feel for me. I don't have any numbers to back this up but I would think hardware requirements were less important to many than game play. Some people love Crysis, others - like me, never took the plunge because you sort of feel like you've played the game before. It's a beautiful and innovative game but not enough to keep me from feeling I've been there before.

  • planetkyle

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 11:07 pm PT

    Bring Crysis to XBOX 360 and they will sell over a million copies. That game looks great. The developers who want big sales team up with Microsoft/Sony and get the job done. Console gaming is where its at.

  • SalarianChemist posted Dec 16, 2007 5:52 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    SalarianChemist

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 5:52 pm PT (hide)

    If Crysis was brought to the Xbox 360, it would sell over one-million copies, just like other great games such as Mass Effect, Forza Motorsport 2, Bioshock, and so many others.

    1st/3rd Person Shooters almost always end up much better on the Xbox 360 than the PS3. The Xbox 360 versions have better graphics and online features, and the Xbox 360 versions have better controller functions--Rumble, better Analag Triggers, and better Analog Stick placements.

    Considering that Microsoft allows 3rd part developers to receive special bonuses for releasing a game as a console exclusive, but Sony doesn't...and then considering that the Xbox 360 has outsold the Playstation 3 by about ten million systems, and it would be a really foolish business decision to to anything other than release Crysis as a console exclusive for the Xbox 360.

    Simple: Let's see Crysis on the Xbox 360

  • rodman1

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 5:35 pm PT

    In light of Crysis never coming to console is not true. Crysis in DX9 with the DX10 hack looks damb good, infact most of us who played it used DX9 graphics with a few DX10 goodies. I could not play Crysis in full DX10 path becouse of frame rate issues. They could get Crysis to look pretty damb good on a console becouse it looks pretty damb good on a PC in DX9.

    Tell you what console guys. You give us Halo3 and we will give you Crysis. Deal? Oh and of coarse PC sales of Halo3 might be less than 50,000 so you may lose a little money on the deal. But hey Crysis will sell 1,000,000 on the 360, lol.

  • PutU2REM

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 4:37 pm PT

    People talk about how expensive PC gaming is, but I've been using the same, ~$1K computer for at least 2 years and up until recently, I've been able to get detail levels comparable to that of a X360 or PS3 at playable frame rates.

    You people need to lower your standards.

  • ClayMeow

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 4:35 pm PT

    PC Game sales numbers are incomplete because it doesn't include digital downloads, which is becoming increasingly popular. For example, Valve doesn't release any sales numbers from Steam, which not only offered The Orange Box, but also other big sellers like Bioshock, COD4, ET:QW, etc. Until Steam and other digital download services provide sales numbers, nobody will ever have a true picture of just how strong the PC game market is.

  • K_M82

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 4:18 pm PT

    PC and console are almost the same. The difference is only in control scheme and in the PC you need to install a game (not a difficult thing, just follow the on screen instruction). These days you don't have to worry about compatibility issues on the PC. My friend play bioshock with geforce 6600 (that GPU was released in 2004). PC game these days can adjust automatically to your hardware and give the best performance possible (you don't have to fiddle with the option if you don't want to). You still need to update your driver (especially your GPU driver) but if you can write a comment in this article you can download and install a new driver (step 1 go to your GPU manufacturer web page, step 2 download the latest driver, step 3 double click the driver and follow the instruction). Because of the unified driver you only need to download the latest driver and don't have to worry about your GPU type only the GPU chip maker (ATI/AMD or Nvidia). For all you console gamer out there: don't be afraid of the PC. If you have $800 you can buy a great gaming PC that would last 3 years, just don't be shy to ask some help from people that know PC well. For all you PC gamer out there: don't hate the console. Because of the console we now have RTS like World in Conflict (also being developed for the 360). A simple RTS that is still very fun to play. And thanks to Microsoft more titles that normally only released on console can now be released on PC (Devil may cry 4 among other).

    PC and console are becoming more similar (in terms of hardware and programing). Who knows, maybe in the not to distant future all we need is a holodeck for all our entertainment needs :-P.

  • tionmedon

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 2:25 pm PT

    pc rules,here`s why better res.i have gears of war both pc &360
    360=1080p
    pc=1200-enough said

  • Troutman9

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 1:55 pm PT

    Jasonfinger basically said it all. That's my opinion too. The "market" has shown to game developers, producers and respective companies what the "magic formula" to make big bucks is: make really good games.

  • thekodaman

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 1:49 pm PT

    Hardcore_PC_gmr. The reason why this generation of consoles (at least the PS3 and maybe the 360) will last 5 years is because of software updates which allow developers to squeeze everything they possibly can out of the hardware. All of this is because of built-in harddrives which the last generation notably lacked.

  • SKiLL_SS

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 1:44 pm PT

    joeypui

    Bought this PC a several months back, when prices was very high... (stupid of me actually, but my older pc had died..)

  • im-a-roustabout

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 11:34 am PT

    Pc gaming imho has got to be a wallet burner. Is it me? Or is it just because I don't regulary play PC games, but it seems like every time a new pc comes out you gotta update your graphics card. I have a nice computer and I don't even think it could handle crysis

  • DavidRI

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 11:08 am PT

    Avid pc gamer here, but I think it's time for me to buy a Wii

  • Jasonfinger

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 9:45 am PT

    COD4+Crysis made big money. Ok game designers, we showed you what a good game can do for your bankrolls. Please stick with these concepts in a 1st person shooter and keep giving me high quality games and I will give you more of my money. Don't you dare cry that your game sucks in sales when the world has showed you what we want but you were to pressed on getting the game done and out....

  • blingbling4

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 8:39 am PT

    how many copies has cryisis ended up selling so far?

  • monoheredia

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 6:36 am PT

    my opinio es la misma que joeypui I spent about $750 to get super high graphics. No need for that $3000 or $1700 for hardware.

  • HardCore_PC_Gmr

    Posted Dec 16, 2007 1:37 am PT

    Hi rodman1,

    I know what you mean, and actually, these numbers are not new.

    But here is the point, who said that PC gaming sales should be higher than console gaming sales. It is something like comparing apples and oranges.

    PC gaming is a niche market not a mass market like console gaming. And needless to say, it does not make PC gaming bad.

    PC gaming has also lots of advantages over console gaming. For example, for the next generation consoles, it is said that their life cycle is even more than 5 years which is something that i dislike. I do not like the idea of using the same hardware and API (Application Programming Interface) for more than 5 years instead of using the latest technology. Why do you think Crysis will not be ported (or will be ported with reduced quality) to consoles which are in their very first years of their lifecycles?

  • joeypui

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 9:13 pm PT

    SKiLL_SS,

    I spent about $750 to get super high graphics. No need for that $3000 or $1700 for hardware.

  • pudgeman007

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 8:52 pm PT

    Crazy stuff...

    FF versus new footage http://www.gametrailers.com/player/29006.html

    FF 13 new footage http://www.gametrailers.com/player/29007.html

  • JIMother93

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 8:21 pm PT

    after Christmas once everyone gets a new gpu crysis will sell a whole lot better

  • hawk-hunter

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 6:43 pm PT

    Holy crap!

    That is a MAJOR retail haul!

  • rodman1

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 6:42 pm PT

    The thing that worrys me at this point is up untill now console games did not make all that much more money than the PC on a whole. Now the console market is selling ALOT of software. I mean the 360 sold 2 million units of COD4. The PC market didn't even sell half that. It would be interesting to see how much profit is being made on say COD4 for the 360 V.S profit on COD4 for PC.

    Console gaming is getting bigger becouse now it is closer to that of PC gaming, yet cheaper and much easyer to use and the masses love it. Lets face it, if you take out the controller the 360 is about as good as a high end PC in gaming. The PC still has it's strengths like WOW but sooner or later a 'WOW' will make it's way to the 360.

    With all the money being generated by the console market, new and interesting games will start being developed for consoles first and PC second. FEAR 2s lead platform is the 360 even though FEAR was originaly done on the PC, thats pretty scary for me being a PC only gamer. I love PC gaming and all that go's with it, but it's a dying trend and I hate it. I'm not saying PC gaming is going anywhere but the futer of great gaming may very well be on consoles in due time. Why? Becouse thats where the money is.

    If Crysis came out for the 360 looking and playing as good as it does on the PC they would have sold more than double the units. Now wether or not they would have made more money is unknown to me and may be something we are all overlooking.

    I hate using a controller as much as the next hardcore PC player but at least if thats what everybody else is using I'm on a level playing feild. I would imagine game hacks would be harder to get away with on a console as well.

    I don't plan on ever getting a console, I think they suck compared to a high end rig (of which I built and tweaked to perfection myself) running a game (of which I tweaked to my very own liking) at high rez on a 24 inch wide screen monitor 3 ft from my face with a keyboard and mouse at hand. But ....Things are not looking very good in my (our) favor. People always say PC gaming is coming to an end and it never does (I hope it's true) but console gaming is growing like never before and the numbers speak for themselves.

    I hate to say it but, it's up to the rest of the world (other than the U.S) to keep PC gaming strong as it is more popular. I imagine the console to PC gap is closer in other parts of the world than it is here.

  • Luminouslight

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 5:47 pm PT

    I prefer a computer because I can customize it much more than a console. It also has much better interface and can be used for much more than just gaming.

  • siiixon posted Dec 15, 2007 5:41 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    siiixon

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 5:41 pm PT (hide)

    well no i did not buy crysis because it sux, not because it runs slow, i dont need $50 eye candy, i need a GOOD OVERALL game, as game crysis is just boring

  • SentientGames

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 2:30 pm PT

    I spent about $1400 on my system and it's overkill. I got Crysis on Very High and get 30-40 FPS. I won't have to upgrade again for years. But I also have all three consoles, as well. Overall, the PC is a more engaging and fun experience, but consoles are good when you have your buddies over.

  • Aim

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 2:21 pm PT

    Console games are not shallow, and I'm an ex-PC gamer! I love how people judge console games as if we're in the past. I've played thru FEAR and Half Life 2 and both games are identical to their PC counterparts. I would like to get the new UT for the PC though. =)

  • SKiLL_SS

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 1:54 pm PT

    $3000 ??
    I spend $1200 and I'm running Crysis in Super High graphics just fine...

  • rasterror posted Dec 15, 2007 1:08 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    rasterror

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 1:08 pm PT (hide)

    SSS383

    Consoles are shallow? Have you played Crysis? first you need at least a $3000 to at least maintain it at 14 frames per sec. but it's game play isn't truly original, in fact it is rather blah in my opinion. Second why should I have to spend $500-1500 every 3-6 months just to keep up with the latest games when I can buy a console for 350 and be all set for 5 to 7? And you never have to worry about compatibility issues when you get a console games. You buy game A for system A and you're all set. You don't have to worry if you need more ram a need sound or graphics card, running back and forth to the computer store, uninstalling this, downloading this drive and that firm ware update. If you like to go through the money, time, and aggravation then hey thats great. I just pop in a dvd press start and in a few seconds, not minutes or hours, I'm gaming.

  • Justforfun44

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 11:23 am PT

    nytemarex - "PC gamers are the most intelligent ones in my books..."

    I am glad you think so much of yourself. I wish I shared your opinion. You are passing judgement on millions of people that you don't know because they choose consoles over PC's. I am a computer professional. I know everything I need to know about PC's. I have a powerful PC.

    I choose consoles for gaming. Modern consoles pack a lot of technology in an inexpensive package. Consoles are ideal for home theater systems. The Xbox 360 had technology not available in PC's when it first shipped for $399. Consoles have HD video and great surround sound support. A console has a life of over 5 years. If you want to brag about your big powerful PC then you must pay too much for that performance by constantly upgrading hardware.

    Maybe console owners are smarter than you because they figured out how to simplify their lives. They don't waste their time with "fiddle around with their computers".

  • SSS383

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 11:19 am PT

    Console Games = casual, simplified, uncustomizable games for the shallow unthinking masses.

    (Does not apply to: Those who in no way could afford to maintain a good PC, those who devote very little of their free time to gaming, those that have VERY limited time try and learn the PC or for those that need / prefer a MAC over PC) for all others, and there are more than you think......

    The popularity of consoles has had a overall detrimental effect on the quality of games. They are becomming more simplistic, unintelligent and less customizable. The insane popularity of consoles compared to PC seems to fit with my general idea of society (US atleast). Most people are shallow, unthinking, childlike, lazy and plain stupid (exactly what console games are). People dont strive to expand their knowledge and technical skills as with PCs. I find that most people who are so anti PC, are just afraid of the complexity of the PC and instead of trying to learn it, they take the "consoles are popular so they are better" approach. They want everything simplified to a childlike state so they can sit there and drool with their simple minded buddies and get their 10 minute ADD induced gaming fix. Playing a game with a game-pad is like drvining a car with Etch-A-Sketch controls, keyboard and mouse may not look cool and impress your friends but its always going to be better.

    NOTICE: This rant in not directed toward any one person, nor do I hate console gamers. I just hate the consoles impact on the quality of games and the culture and style of play related to consoles.

  • nytemarex

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 10:59 am PT

    Majority of gamers are very simple minded people. Consoles are design to simplify gaming. If you really think about it, people buy computers every 3-4 years. Why? To burn CDs, download music, word processing etc etc. So people have Dual Core computers, 2GB+ of memory, 19-21" Screens, hundreds of gigabytes of memory and a DVD player all for around $1100 (assuming they didn't build it themselves). If they are going to spend so much money on a PC just for little things, might as well spend an extra $200 for a High End Video Card such as the GeForce 8800GT or Radeon HD2900 (assuming they bought a garbage Non-Nvidia/Non-ATI $150 256MB video card). There, you have an integrated gaming/workstation PC for the same price as buying a non-upgradable laptop/desktop and a XBOX 360/PS3 (Wii is a great and innovative console so I won't bash them as much). A lot of people these days are getting lazier, not physically but mentally. PC gamers are the most intelligent ones in my books (yes I do have my prejudice and here's why). - PC Gamers love to fiddle around with their computers and want to understand how it works. - You can customize your PC to whatever configuration fits for you. - PCs can be hooked up to HDTV flawlessly.
    - ALL PERIPHERALS WORK ON PCs
    - Multiplayer is a huge selling point on the PC
    - You don't get children on Xbox Live yelling ethnic slurs and impolite remarks
    - If a small part breaks down, you just need to replace that one instead of exchanging the entire system (my friend's 360 broke down 3 times and had to return them all the time)

    The stigma of PCs and the Gaming community are:

    - PIRACY. That's the biggest stigma out there. PC games can be pirated easily. I don't know why developers can't make their games run entirely on the DVD and only install the bare essentials in the hard drive. I believe the developpers are half to blame for their own stupidity. Then again, with harddrives on the 360 and PS3, there are pirated 360/PS3 games circulating on the net, a bit harder to get them working but they do work (i'm not promoting piracy, i'm just stating the fact). Then again, 360/PS3 gamers are mainly simple minded people so they are not going to bother going through the mess.
    - EXPENSIVE, yes PC's are expensive but look what I just wrote before. People buy new mid level PC's anyways for workstation, might as well put it to good use and spend an extra couple hundred dollars to bring it up.
    - COMPLEXITY, more and more people are buying apple computers because people are simple minded.

    I have always been a PC gamers and always will. I cannot stand consoles because they're toooooooooooooooooooooooooo simple. Consoles are only nice because of the split screen game play in the Halo series and other places.

    That's my rant and hopefully, developers will come to their senses.

  • rockdawg

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 10:35 am PT

    It's too bad to see that the sales for Crysis were so low for it's first few weeks on the market. But, I think it can be attributed to an already overcrowded market of excellent shooters this season and system requirements that are a bit steep for the average user.

    While I built a new rig this summer in anticipation of Crysis (and a lot of other new games), not everyone did that. PC gaming is far from dying, but I suspect it will become necessary to have more titles that can reach a wider audience in the PC community...and when I say wider, I mean a lower entry point, (much like what Valve has done over the years) in regard to system specs.

  • dustopants

    Posted Dec 15, 2007 10:32 am PT

    The thing about Crysis is... it won't do good at first, because nobody can run the damn thing!
    but in a year or so, it's sales numbers will skyrocket, when people can afford to get last year's "high end PC"...

    Really, I don't see much of a difference between PC gaming and console gaming, except for the fact that PC usually has less exclusive titles... and the games usually take some tweaking to get them running correctly...
    I personally find consoles more convienient... and less-expensive...
    you've usually gotta update your PC every 2-3years, and it'll cost you around 400-500 bucks or so... if you update your ram, and your video card... etc... all for what? slightly improved graphics?

    With consoles, it's much cheaper... even if you were going to buy a PS3, for 600 bucks, it'll last you for another 5-6 years... until they come out with PS4...
    the Xbox came out in early 2001, and lasted all the way up till late 2005, give or take, that's 5 years...

    now, at the end of the xbox's lifespan, it was a little different, as it is with any console's lifespan... they released half-life 2 on PC and then TRIED to port it over to Xbox... unsucsessfully...
    it was only when they released The Orange Box on Xbox360 where the game was played as it was meant to be played on a console...

    The thing about PC gaming that has always interested me, is the existance of mods...
    mods are probobly the coolest part of PC gaming, and without them, we wouldn't have great titles like counterstrike, not to mention Gary's Mod... and who can forget all of the great DBZ mods from back in the day?

    but the thing is... Consoles, while they don't offer that level of customisable content, are always coming out with new and innovative games... Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, Final Fantasy, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario 64, GTAIII, Guitar Hero, Psychonauts, The Simpsons Game(in terms of cel-shaded graphics), Assassin's Creed.

    recently, because of the avilibility of these games on xbox and xbox360, they are usually availible on PCs, as well, thanks to Microsoft, but back in the day, it used to just be for consoles that you would see big innovative titles like these...

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