Is the sim genre dead?

[elanaiba]

Originally Posted by Egan

As for sub sims, well, I just don't know. I am willing, however, to get Aces of the Deep 2 into production. All I need is about a million bucks and 12 good men.....

1 (good?) man here if you need me :P

[PL_Andrev]

Originally Posted by elanaiba

1 (good?) man here if you need me :P

Of course we need you...
Well...
When new patch for SH5?
When DC2 add-on?

[Destraex]

how about:

Rise of Flight
Black Shark and all of its modules
Steel Beasts Pro PE
Battle of Britain : Storm over Europe

And thats just for a start. Tootle over to simhq and take a look

[JU_88]

Its no suprise the PC game market is dwindling in gerneral.
10 years ago.....
PC games had the visual edge over consoles
Online gameing was PC exclusive.

Now in 2010 Consoles offer online play and match the PC in terms of visuals, couple that with the fact that they are:
a) A 1000 times more user freindly,
b) far more affordable
c) less prone to piracy
-and its really a no brainer.

As for sims, the average gamer is simply not willing to invest the time in to getting to grips with a sim, they want instant gratification.
And of course the cost of games production is in the millions!

So i guess modding is the last remaining ace up the PC gamers sleeve.

Yes, much has changed over the last 10 years.
Those expecting near perfect hardcore sims out of the box for a mere $50 are living in a fantasy world, not the real one.
Evolving sims with DLC (paid downloadable content) are perhaps more finacially viable, the trouble is that the 40 something year old stick in the muds, that buy simulators.....simply refuse to embrace it.

Ill bet that in another 10-20 years, optical media will virtually extinct - along with the phrase 'it is my game / movie / album'.
We will physically own nothing but a piece of 'play back' hardware.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by JU_88

Ill bet that in another 10 years, game DVDs & blueRay Discs will be history.

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.

[robbo180265]

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.

Is right on the button. PC's will become nothing more than word processors without PC games.

[Arclight]

What, the whole "PC gaming is dying" thing? Again?

I think Ducimus nailed it, and that's exactly why it's here to stay. It's the PC gaming that drives the consoles, not the other way around.

Originally Posted by JU_88

Its no suprise the PC game market is dwindling in gerneral.
10 years ago.....
PC games had the visual edge over consoles
Online gameing was PC exclusive.

Now in 2010 Consoles offer online play and match the PC in terms of visuals, couple that with the fact that they are:
a) A 1000 times more user freindly,
b) far more affordable
c) less prone to piracy
-and its really a no brainer.

PC still holds the visual edge.

I can see the more user friendly point; that's pretty much the whole reason they are popular. Pop in a disc and play. But nowadays consoles deal with installations as well; they are moving closer and closer to becoming PCs.

Affordable? Only initially. Games are generally 33% more expensive, though Bobby Kotick is pushing really hard to screw PC gamers over in that regard.

Piracy is a bigger factor on PC because it's easier. If PC gaming would disappear, piracy would just become as big a problem on consoles.

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by robbo180265

Is right on the button. PC's will become nothing more than word processors without PC games.

This presupposes that the only thing you can do on a PC is play games. There are thousands of real-world industries to which the personal computer is integral. If the PC gaming industry were to disappear overnight, the demand for big machines would remain.

[robbo180265]

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

This presupposes that the only thing you can do on a PC is play games. There are thousands of real-world industries to which the personal computer is integral. If the PC gaming industry were to disappear overnight, the demand for big machines would remain.

Well yeah true - there's the IT industry I suppose they will still need top end machines, but other than that I can't see it. I work for Royal Mail and the kind of machine they use has a hamster powering it. I can't think of many industries that would need a high end machine apart from IT and possibly production lines (although I suspect not)

[krashkart]

Originally Posted by Arclight

Piracy is a bigger factor on PC because it's easier. If PC gaming would disappear, piracy would just become as big a problem on consoles.

Ayuh. There is nothing on the shelves or on the net that is 100% immune to being pirated. If it is available, somebody will want it for free and somebody will find a way to provide it for free. What is almost as bad is when there are companies who proclaim to the world that their almighty new protections are unbreakable. They seem to have forgotten about the Titanic and how unsinkable she was. *whoops!* We silly humans and our fruitless quest for invincibility.


It was mentioned on the previous page also that PC's do a lot more than just run games... that was the gist of what I picked up on anyway. Indeed. How often do you see a supercluster of gaming consoles crunching data for the USGS? The PC can do a lot more than just run games... it can do a heck of a lot more than a gaming console. It is here to stay for now.

[Frumpkis]

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.

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.

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by Frumpkis

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.

I agree, and for the simple reason that the PC has become a fixture of daily modern life. You aren't going to email work from your Playstation. Because of that, everyone is going to continue to own and buy PCs. And so long as people continue to buy them, companies will continue to make games for them.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

I agree, and for the simple reason that the PC has become a fixture of daily modern life. You aren't going to email work from your Playstation. Because of that, everyone is going to continue to own and buy PCs. And so long as people continue to buy them, companies will continue to make games for them.

I wasn't saying people wouldn't continue to buy PC's. I think what will happen however, is people upgrading or replacing their current PC's, A LOT less often. Personally, I have NEVER upgraded a PC unless it fell behind the games i was trying to run. I have never heard of anyone else, not family, nor friends of family, nor cowokers who have ever upgraded or replaced a PC for any other reason.

And yeah, i suppose someone will be making some PC games, but i strongly suspect it will be very crappy software not worth buying. Existing in a similar vain as the "token minority" on a sitcom. A stroll into any major electronic retail outlet (like the best buy down the street from my apartment), the writing is on the wall. 5 to 7 years ago, the PC game sections for that retailer, at any store, covered both sides of two isles. Today the PC game section is ONE side, of ONE isle, of any store. The console section, each major system has two isles devoted to it. The selection for PC games is crap, and it gets crappier every year.

ON the plus side, i save money i suppose.

[THE_MASK]

Originally Posted by elanaiba

1 (good?) man here if you need me :P

No need for the ? Dan , your a good bloke .

[krashkart]

Sims won't die as long as we have computers to create and play them on. As for the Silent Hunter line, it's been less than a year since it (SH5) was released so... it might be too soon to write it off completely. Some games just bloom later than others. If there is no official word from the publisher that states very clearly that they no longer support the game, then who is to say for certain?