PC Gaming hardware outsells all current gaming consoles

[Stryfe]

SAN RAMON, Calif. – August 2, 2010 – The PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA), a nonprofit corporation dedicated to driving the worldwide growth of PC gaming, today unveiled its Horizons Hardware research report, an exclusive research study encompassing major aspects of the PC gaming hardware industry worldwide.

Among the key findings: Annual shipment volumes for the PC Gaming hardware market in 2009 were over two times larger than the combined Wii™, PlayStation® 2, PlayStation® 3 and Xbox 360® console units shipped in the same period. This trend for the PC Gaming hardware market to outpace all console shipments combined is expected to continue through the forecasted period of the research. In addition, revenues from consumer PCs capable of gaming that shipped with a discrete GPU (excludes Netbooks and integrated graphics-based PCs) totaled approximately $54.6 billion in 2009 and are forecasted to grow to $61.3 billion by 2014. These revenue figures are based on an estimated 61.5 million PCs (Desktop and Laptops) shipped in 2009 that can largely be associated with PC gaming as a key usage scenario.

http://www.game-newswire.com/index.php/ ... s/232.html

Outsold the combined console unit sales by over double....?!

This is good news for PC gamers, and I hope this means an increase in PC gaming options may be forthcoming. I barely play consoles games anymore anyways.

[Ex-Cyber]

I'd expect gaming PC sales rates to be higher, since they tend to get replaced more often. I also kind of doubt this sort of report in general, as it's definitely not issued by a disinterested party, the methods aren't open to scrutiny, and figuring out the actual numbers would not be trivial (for example, how fast do systems become obsolete, and what percentage of sales indicate new users as opposed to people upgrading?).

[Quzar]

Also, when you get a 'gaming pc' you also get... you know... an internet box/word processor/multimedia player/music downloader/ etc. It would be interesting to see what they classify 'gaming hardware'.

[Ex-Cyber]

Also, when you get a 'gaming pc' you also get... you know... an internet box/word processor/multimedia player/music downloader/ etc. It would be interesting to see what they classify 'gaming hardware'.

From the press release, they seem to equate "gaming PC" with "has a discrete GPU". There's some truth to that. Still, the boundaries are fuzzy, and getting fuzzier as IGPs advance and as discrete GPU manufacturers do more and more to cater to high-end science/engineering customers (Nvidia's current family was practically designed for HPC first and gaming as a side effect, judging by what was on their website about a year ago).

[Specially Cork]

Yet, apart from a couple of one-off AAA games (like Starcraft 2), PC games never ever feature in software charts. Even this week, SC2 is the only PC entry in any gaming chart you want to count.

My laptop can run SC2 at a decent setting, but I never bought it for gaming. This is worthless news. It's also worth noting that PC gaming beyond FPS and Strategy games barely exists, and anybody intererest in another genre or non-western games is still better off choosing a console.

[Stryfe]

Yeah. I never really expected for software sales to pass up consoles, but I did hope that the ailing PC market might be turning around.

Apparently piracy effects PC gaming more than consoles...

My PC tastes are along the following:

Borderlands (+ Mods)
Crysis 1-2 (+ Mods)
Diablo - All
Dragon Age Origins
Fallout 3 (+ Mods)
Half-Life 1-2 (+ Mods)
Mass Effect 1-2 (+ Mods)
Modern Warfare 2 (+ Mods)
The Elder Scrolls - All (+ Mods)

So yes, I can say I'm biased. I like a good single player PC experience, but we also have jack-asses like UbiSoft who are almost as bad as the pirates.

[Lartrak]

Apparently piracy effects PC gaming more than consoles...

That may play a part, but I think standardization of console hardware coupled with ease of use are much more important.

Considering how ludicrous the tech cycle was at one point in PC gaming (I remember having a two year old PC that couldn't play newer games well at one point around 2000) it's mostly a good thing. It just sucks for most FPS games, since FPS games just aren't my thing on consoles.

[Jeeba Jabba]

Apparently piracy effects PC gaming more than consoles...

That may play a part, but I think standardization of console hardware coupled with ease of use are much more important.

Considering how ludicrous the tech cycle was at one point in PC gaming (I remember having a two year old PC that couldn't play newer games well at one point around 2000) it's mostly a good thing. It just sucks for most FPS games, since FPS games just aren't my thing on consoles.

With things like Steam, I'd say, if anything, compared to 5 years ago piracy is down. I used to pirate dozens of titles a year, but now as the game file sizes are so much bigger, and cracking gets a bit tougher every year, I always just say fuck it, drop the 20 bucks and have a 10 gigabyte game in a little over an hour.

[Code-Red]

Considering how ludicrous the tech cycle was at one point in PC gaming (I remember having a two year old PC that couldn't play newer games well at one point around 2000) it's mostly a good thing. It just sucks for most FPS games, since FPS games just aren't my thing on consoles.

You must have bought a pretty low budget PC then... I bought a Dell XPS R400 in '97 and it lasted me pretty much until the Source engine. The only things I ever added were a bigger hard drive, more ram, and an x1650 AGP Radeon card (upgrade from the Rage Pro that came with it).

As long as you are wise with your part choices, and don't need to play everything "maxed out", a good PC build should last you just as long as the lifespan of a console. Mind you, it will cost $700 more, which I won't bother defending.

I'm casual gamer on both PC and console. It's sad to see the computer games sort of fade away, but at the same time it's much more comfortable to chill on my couch with a controller. Either way, this article is good news... hopefully it inspires/reminds developers that the PC community is still here.

[not just souLLy now]

According to this I have 3 gaming capable machines at home and I haven't bought a PC game in years, I picked up a copy of Portal because it was free on steam for macs but I can't think of a title I picked up before that.

PC gaming is just such a ball ache; having to research wether software will actually play on your system, installation, DRM headaches, patches, lack of variety...

I will happily lose absolutely bleeding edge graphics for convenience.

[Jeeba Jabba]

I have a PS3 and an Xbox 360... the most action either of them see is when friends are over for some Little Big Planet or Super Street Fighter 4. My serious gaming is done on my PC. I'm a Total War/FPS/MMO nerd, and I like my resolutions high.

Plus, I take the mouse+keyboard over a controller anyday for all 3 of those genres.

[Eviltaco64X]

I like both. A lot of PC games are very customizable, from graphics to sound to the game itself.

Since the console market requires intense competition, though, they crank out a lot of AAA titles. Sometimes they may not look as stunning, but their convenience and titles make up for that in a heartbeat.

[Lartrak]

I have a PS3 and an Xbox 360... the most action either of them see is when friends are over for some Little Big Planet or Super Street Fighter 4. My serious gaming is done on my PC. I'm a Total War/FPS/MMO nerd, and I like my resolutions high.

Plus, I take the mouse+keyboard over a controller anyday for all 3 of those genres.

I agree with you on the genre stuff and particularly mouse+KB for them - while I can actually do it now, I will NEVER like dual analog controls for FPS games. Only alternative I've like at all is the Wiimote+nunchuk on the Wii. But I like the much larger console variety of games and the simplicity of playing them.

I ever added were a bigger hard drive, more ram, and an x1650 AGP Radeon card (upgrade from the Rage Pro that came with it).

So, in other words, you spent more on upgrades than the cost of a console mid-cycle (you can get a used 360 for less than what you probably paid for that Radeon). I understand a PC can last 4 or 5 years (my Pentium II 450 lasted a little over four with NO upgrades), but I've never seen one last 8 or 9 really (NES, Genesis, PS1, PS2, Atari 2600 and a few others have), and by the end of the cycle it really sucks playing new games. If you have to buy upgrades for it it doesn't really count either.

I pretty much have to have a pretty new PC as I want to keep on video editing and rendering stuff, so it's kind of a moot point now though. I just get a decent gaming box with that. ;-p

[bizzle]

Mouse + Keyboard > d-pad and buttons

[Code-Red]

I understand a PC can last 4 or 5 years (my Pentium II 450 lasted a little over four with NO upgrades), but I've never seen one last 8 or 9 really (NES, Genesis, PS1, PS2, Atari 2600 and a few others have), and by the end of the cycle it really sucks playing new games. If you have to buy upgrades for it it doesn't really count either.

Ok.... but I was responding to the fact you stated:

Considering how ludicrous the tech cycle was at one point in PC gaming (I remember having a two year old PC that couldn't play newer games well at one point around 2000) it's mostly a good thing

Which I had to call out. If you had a Pentium II 450 that lasted four years, then you should have had no problems playing games in 2000 with that computer. Also, stating that any of those systems lasted 8/9/10 years (possibly exempting the PS2) with a dedicated fanbase is absurd. As soon as new consoles were released, you didn't sit there saying "I love my NES, I'm not upgrading to the SNES". By the end of a consoles lifespan, you look at what PC's and newer consoles are doing and want to upgrade, so it works both ways. While you upgrade systems, I upgrade parts.

So, in other words, you spent more on upgrades than the cost of a console mid-cycle (you can get a used 360 for less than what you probably paid for that Radeon).

Like I said, I'm not going to defend the cost of PC gaming.

[Lartrak]

As soon as new consoles were released, you didn't sit there saying "I love my NES, I'm not upgrading to the SNES".

Well, I recall wanting both. And I remember being disappointed when they stopped releasing games for both the NES and SNES (especially the SNES, since with it 2D platformers and other 2D genres basically vanished off consoles for years at a time). I also bought Battle Kid a few months ago. But, I'm atypical, I realize this.

Like I said, I'm not going to defend the cost of PC gaming.

In the end then, we're not really disagreeing on much of anything. PC gaming is expensive, that's clearly the real issue.

then you should have had no problems playing games in 2000 with that computer.

It played them, it just had problems. I remember Max Payne not running that great, and it came out when the computer was about 3 years old - and that with an upgraded video card. I really do consider a locked dedicated piece of hardware to be a huge advantage in gaming, but I really don't value graphics highly at all.

Then again, I also love mods. Hmm.

[Jeeba Jabba]

There are 4 reasons why I prefer PC gaming:

1) Graphics.

2) Controls.

3) Community support. Especially mods.

4) Dedicated servers. Fuck the hell of P2P online console gaming.