NYT: PC gamers feeling effects of recession...
By
Aisynia,
Posted on: 2009-05-16 11:17 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
I think it expresses the fact that some people are still stupid, no matter what the economy is like? Why anyone NEEDS an Xbox, Wii or whatever is beyond me. I have a computer, it's doing great. I can play lots of things on it, and games are generally cheaper for it. *shrug* But I've obviously never been on the console crowd thing, so I dunno.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
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It's easier to pirate PC games than console games.
Branching Paragon Police Department Epic Archetype, please!
Zek(can I call you that?), I think it depends on what you're looking for out of your gaming. I very well could manage with just a PC(which I'm doing currently). But I very much prefer games like NBA 2K9, Madden 09, and Rock Band/Guitar Hero from a console so I can play with my friends sitting right next to me.
Yeah I understand the interactive part, pretty much all my friends have consoles and do the rock bandage and stuff 
Myself, I guess since I never owned one growing up or when they started taking off (as I was in my late teens when they began at all) I'm not into the whole "buy it and release it back into the wild" concept of purchasing things that are quite expensive, and have one or two plays through, then sell back.
I buy movies, never rent them. I think it's the same thing.
But yeah, the group-participating thing is an obvious benefit - I'm not doubting the USEFULNESS of the console for certain things, having a dedicated system is good for some things.
Just not MY thing, is all. It's a whole culture clash thing for me.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
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It's easier to pirate PC games than console games.
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Ah, good point - would be interesting to see if there was a corresponding uptick in pirating activity to go along with the drop in sales.
Don't think anyone (besides the FBI, of course) tracks that kinda thing, tho.
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It's easier to pirate PC games than console games.
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Ah, good point - would be interesting to see if there was a corresponding uptick in pirating activity to go along with the drop in sales.
Don't think anyone (besides the FBI, of course) tracks that kinda thing, tho.
[/ QUOTE ] That depends who you ask. In response to pirating some companies add restrictive DRM to their games. That is the reason I(and others) didn't buy Spore. In fact, the horrible DRM caused a huge spike in pirating of the game as a protest.
Some people claim(foolishly) that every pirated copy of a game is a lost sale.
I can see where you're coming from Zek. I'm PC all the way, I think it's the superior gaming system in terms of graphics performance, programming versatility, and the versatility of the controls (you've got many more buttons on a keyboard than a control pad and mouse sensitivity beats joysticks any day).
But, a top of the line gaming rig is really damn expensive and most people can't afford to buy something like that. On top of that, PCs have problems with software compatibility with the OS and drivers and you've got to have virus protection, and defrag, and backups in case something goes wrong. Then you've got to install the games, find updates that get rid of bugs, and then you call tech support and they're telling you to discombobulate the Johnson connector on your GPU in order to get the Allison flange in your monitor to work right.
It can be a little much for the average idiot who just wants to turn the machine on, pop in a disk, and start mindlessly killing things.
Goodbye, I guess.
@Lord_Nightblade in Champions/Star Trek Online
nightblade7295@gmail.com if you want to stay in touch
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It can be a little much for the average idiot who just wants to turn the machine on, pop in a disk, and start mindlessly killing things.
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qft, dude. I just installed "Dosbox" - an emulator for old dos-based programs because I have a lot of older stuff I'd like to play. As I was going through the readme files on those old games ... omg lol the stuff we had to do just to get a stupid DOS game to run!
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
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I haven't paid retail for a game since Half Life 2.
One nice thing about having an MMO you enjoy is it dulls that IMPERATIVE NEED to buy a game nao.
MMOs are like methadone. They give you a controlled low level dose of gaming that makes it easier to say no to the hard stuff.
I still buy games, but I pick them up for ten or twenty bucks after a couple of price drops, not new for fifty.
Over the course of a year the savings add up.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
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MMOs are like methadone. They give you a controlled low level dose of gaming that makes it easier to say no to the hard stuff.
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Great analogy - I agree 100%
I've noticed that the pace of my new game purchases has slowed drastically since becoming a CoH player.
I'm much choosier about what I pick up, and when...I, too, will wait to pick up a game on eBay when it's down to half what it was at release.
In fact, right now I'm awaiting the arrival of Far Cry 2, which I got on eBay for $12.99.
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But, a top of the line gaming rig is really damn expensive and most people can't afford to buy something like that.
[/ QUOTE ] While that is true, you don't need a top of the line machine to play most games.
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While that is true, you don't need a top of the line machine to play most games.
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I'm rocking CoH at unprecedented levels of performance (by my standards, anyway) on a generic Dell I picked up for 300 bucks during a Christmas sale. Slapped in the video card from my old computer, an ATI card that was top of the line about 4 years ago that would set you back maybe $50 bucks if you bought it now and I was good to go.
Plays CoH smooth at high detail, does great with CoD 4 and BF2142, kicks behind running DoW, and that's all I need it to do.
I mean it'd be great to have some kind of $3,000 bleeding edge rig, but you can play pretty much everything just fine with the computer version of frankenslotted IOs.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
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Was surprised at the much larger drop in SOFTWARE sales vs. console sales - for some reason I think of PC gamers as older, with more disposable income, less susceptible to economic pressures that force cuts in things we "want" vs. "need":
Video Game Sales Continue to Fall
MATT RICHTEL; Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF
Published: May 15, 2009
Video game sales in the United States totaled $1 billion for April, 17 percent lower than in April 2008, according to NPD, the market research firm. This is the second consecutive month in which sales have fallen sharply compared with a year ago, suggesting that the industry is not as recession-proof as it had hoped. Software sales fell 23 percent, while sales of consoles and handheld players dropped 8 percent. In a news release Anita Frazier, an analyst at NPD, said, This years performance still represents the second-best performance for the industry in the month of April. But it also represents a sharp drop-off, as sales of major consoles have been falling month after month. In February Nintendo sold 753,000 Wii machines but sold only 601,000 in March and 340,000 in April. Microsoft sold 391,000 Xbox 360s in February, 330,000 in March and 175,000 in April.
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Where are you seeing that he's including PC games in his figures? It looks to me he's only discussing consoles and handhelds, so by "software sales" I take that to mean the game cartridges or CDs for said consoles and handhelds.
Teams are the number one killer of soloists.
The newer platform-systems can search the internet (the draw back needing that you don't only need the internet connection but you can sometimes be required to pay a monthly fee to go through the platform's network to get out to the internet.). Pretty much what you miss out on are utility programs (word processing, spread-sheets, etc.).
I did a lot of platform a gaming before CoH came out. I was never "catch and release". I would buy new and used games, but I would never sell them back for trade. The ones that I had that I would have sold wouldn't have sold back for enough to make it worth giving up the game - pretty much no matter how bad it was, it was still worth more than $2 to me.
The main draw of the platform-machines is that they are much cheaper than computers. They are starting to edge up there though, so things might be changing if they platform-makers don't watch their price-point.
CoH pretty much killed platform-gaming for me.
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Oh, right back on subject.
I think it's the opposite of what the OP said. Adults are usually using their disposable income on their children. It's the children (of various ages) that have disposable income. The children aren't usually paying for where they live or the food they eat, etc.
I would agree that more children have platform systems as compare to adults. Adults that have a platform system tend to have a computer as well.
Also, platform games have a shorter life span. I've been playing CoH for almost 5-years. I probably would have been buying between 3-6 platform games a year if it weren't for CoH.
The new "games" that I have bought since CoH came out was CoV, and I've been gifted the boosters for the game.
In the end, due to the subscription price, I actually pay more per year to play CoH than I spent on platform games. And that isn't including the computer which cost far more than a platform system.
Since it doesn't include subscriptions...I think that impacts what is really happening in regards to gaming dollars spent.
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While that is true, you don't need a top of the line machine to play most games.
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I'm rocking CoH at unprecedented levels of performance (by my standards, anyway) on a generic Dell I picked up for 300 bucks during a Christmas sale. Slapped in the video card from my old computer, an ATI card that was top of the line about 4 years ago that would set you back maybe $50 bucks if you bought it now and I was good to go.
Plays CoH smooth at high detail, does great with CoD 4 and BF2142, kicks behind running DoW, and that's all I need it to do.
I mean it'd be great to have some kind of $3,000 bleeding edge rig, but you can play pretty much everything just fine with the computer version of frankenslotted IOs.
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I just both a $50 ATI cheapo card, because my previous card died and wanted to take the rest of my PC with it. I just bought the card until I had the time to investigate a new card. I was shocked how well it ran CoH and the couple of other games I play. So I've just stuck with it and been very happy.
The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.
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But, a top of the line gaming rig is really damn expensive and most people can't afford to buy something like that.
[/ QUOTE ] While that is true, you don't need a top of the line machine to play most games.
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True, you don't. But how often does reality coincide with perception?
Before my old motherboard blew itself out and I had to downgrade to something that only supported AGP 1.5 graphics cards, I could run something like Jade Empire or Half Life 2 without a problem. But a console gamer (and I mean the average shmo with little PC experience outside of Internet and Microsoft Office here) will look at games like those and just assume that only a top drawer rig could run them as well as a PS3 or Xbox 360 could.
Goodbye, I guess.
@Lord_Nightblade in Champions/Star Trek Online
nightblade7295@gmail.com if you want to stay in touch
(QR)
I take anything the New York Times says with a grain of salt.
I'm only ladylike when compared to my sister.
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MMOs are like methadone. They give you a controlled low level dose of gaming that makes it easier to say no to the hard stuff.
[/ QUOTE ]
Great analogy - I agree 100%
I've noticed that the pace of my new game purchases has slowed drastically since becoming a CoH player.
I'm much choosier about what I pick up, and when...I, too, will wait to pick up a game on eBay when it's down to half what it was at release.
In fact, right now I'm awaiting the arrival of Far Cry 2, which I got on eBay for $12.99.
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This is so true, I have at least one PC game sitting on my shelf, never installed, because I picked it up shortly after starting CoX, on my laptop I have Civ4 (which I've not played in 6 months, and Morrowind (and all it's expansions) untouched for even longer.
Although, if another Morrowind comes out, that just might pull me away from CoX, if only temporarily.
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(QR)
I take anything the New York Times says with a grain of salt.
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QFT.
I'd believe something that Chuck Norris says over the New York Times anyday.
(haha)
"The One"
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Infernus_Hades
The way you play changes your IO slotting..
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76 characters and Twenty-four 50s later, I still love this game.
AlienOne's Human-Form Warshade Guide (Old guide+New guide = 12,000+ views!)
I think MMOs are safe and may even benefit from the recession. $15 a month for enough entertainment to ruin your life? A steal!
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Was surprised at the much larger drop in SOFTWARE sales vs. console sales - for some reason I think of PC gamers as older, with more disposable income, less susceptible to economic pressures that force cuts in things we "want" vs. "need":
Video Game Sales Continue to Fall
MATT RICHTEL; Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF
Published: May 15, 2009
Video game sales in the United States totaled $1 billion for April, 17 percent lower than in April 2008, according to NPD, the market research firm. This is the second consecutive month in which sales have fallen sharply compared with a year ago, suggesting that the industry is not as recession-proof as it had hoped. Software sales fell 23 percent, while sales of consoles and handheld players dropped 8 percent. In a news release Anita Frazier, an analyst at NPD, said, This years performance still represents the second-best performance for the industry in the month of April. But it also represents a sharp drop-off, as sales of major consoles have been falling month after month. In February Nintendo sold 753,000 Wii machines but sold only 601,000 in March and 340,000 in April. Microsoft sold 391,000 Xbox 360s in February, 330,000 in March and 175,000 in April.
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Where are you seeing that he's including PC games in his figures? It looks to me he's only discussing consoles and handhelds, so by "software sales" I take that to mean the game cartridges or CDs for said consoles and handhelds.
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You know I think you're right.
I musta mis-read this - he's using "software" for the game discs and cartridges, and "consoles" for the hardware.
This actually has nothing at all to do with PC software. When I see "software" I just automatically think PC, and had never seen it used to describe the console...discs, cartridges, whatever you wanna call it.
So...never mind! 
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I pick them up for ten or twenty bucks after a couple of price drops, not new for fifty.
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This.
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index-anim.php
Can't come up with a name? Click the link!
Can't come up with a name? Click the link!
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Software sales fell 23 percent, while sales of consoles and handheld players dropped 8 percent.
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The above line is a great example of number manipulation.
NPD should never combine the sales of handhelds and consoles, as they're two completely different hardware areas. Consoles and handhelds only saw a combined 8% drop... That couldn't have anything to do with the fact that Nintendo released the DSi over the last year, could it?
If you look at NPDs numbers, regularly reported on sites like Kotaku as the numbers come out, and just look at month-to-month console sales, excluding handhelds, the sales of those have dipped considerably more than 8%.
Partial Character List:
LENINA 198-DELTA - 50+3 DP/Kin Corruptor (Main) / Captiosus - 50+3 Energy/Energy Blaster
Highlands.Hellraiser - 50+1 DS/Fire Tanker / SpazRat - 50 Claw/SR Stalker
Col. Gregor Aktaybr - 45 Robots/Time MM
Was surprised at the much larger drop in SOFTWARE sales vs. console sales - for some reason I think of PC gamers as older, with more disposable income, less susceptible to economic pressures that force cuts in things we "want" vs. "need":
Video Game Sales Continue to Fall
MATT RICHTEL; Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF
Published: May 15, 2009
Video game sales in the United States totaled $1 billion for April, 17 percent lower than in April 2008, according to NPD, the market research firm. This is the second consecutive month in which sales have fallen sharply compared with a year ago, suggesting that the industry is not as recession-proof as it had hoped. Software sales fell 23 percent, while sales of consoles and handheld players dropped 8 percent. In a news release Anita Frazier, an analyst at NPD, said, This years performance still represents the second-best performance for the industry in the month of April. But it also represents a sharp drop-off, as sales of major consoles have been falling month after month. In February Nintendo sold 753,000 Wii machines but sold only 601,000 in March and 340,000 in April. Microsoft sold 391,000 Xbox 360s in February, 330,000 in March and 175,000 in April.