Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducimus
You know what ive been wondering, is how the decline of PC games will effect the computer industry in general. I don't think it's any sort of embellishment to say that gaming, has been the (edit: I should say, "A major" instead of "the ) driving force that has pushed technology standards and barriers. You don't need a bleeding edge video card and a quad core processor for word processors, spread sheets, web browsers, or power point presentations. I suppose its entirely possible that if PC games dies out completely the computer industry in general, while it won't disappear, it could experience a sharp decline, or stagnation.
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I don't think so. We're in the middle of a transition from traditional ways of delivering passive entertainment like music, video, and movies to computer-based ways of delivering this media. We have satellite TV in the house, but my family is already spending half its TV-watching time on streaming Netflix via computer. As soon as the selection improves enough, we'll probably ditch the Sat TV and go online-only.
Another thing... people now shoot camera stills and video on digital media, which is stored, edited, and displayed on PC's. Have you ever tried to edit an hour of HDTV-res digital video? I couldn't do it on my last PC. I can only do it on my new, much faster box with a blazing-fast GPU (which is also a great gaming machine).
As long as people want to view, store, and process HD-quality digital media on their computers, we'll have healthy platforms for running games. The main restriction on games developed for PC's will remain what they are now -- the ease-of-use in running games on consoles (no configuration hassles), and the built-in DRM advantage with console games.