PC gaming in midst of revival

[Jerome]

PC gaming is experiencing the beginning of a multi-year growth cycle.

The high-end desktop graphics processing unit (GPU) revenue was higher than expected at $644.8 million of Nvidia’s total quarterly revenue of $1.07 billion.  Nvidia’s high-end desktop business benefited from strong demand as gamers upgraded their computers to play Battlefield 3 and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Battlefield 3, which was designed for high-end PCs rather than the consoles, is one of the best-looking titles being released this fall, and it will compete with some of the top games of the holiday season for gamers’ attention.

As we noted earlier, it’s quite possible that Battlefield 3 will sell some high-end PC hardware. Valve’s Steam product, a digital distribution service, recently conducted a survey of gamers. It found that only 16 percent of its customers have computers capable of running Battlefield 3 at the recommended hardware specification, which requires an Nvidia graphics chip at the level of the GTX 460 or better.

Nvidia believes a new cycle of revival for PC gaming products is at hand because the PC’s graphics are racing ahead of the five or six-year-old game consoles on the market.

Nvidia also launched a new version of its 3D Vision stereoscopic 3D glasses during the quarter. Today, about 550 PC games are 3D Vision ready. There are 100 3D-ready movies as well, and many 3D photos and 3D videos on sites such as YouTube.

[Mascot Tom]

A PC gaming revival sounds great n' everything, but in my opinion, a gaming revival all about pretty graphics is a bad sign. Sooner than later, PC gamers aren't going to be able to keep up with the unusual, and unnecessary demands newer titles put on today's gamers when it comes to system requirements. The average gamer, eventually, won't be able to spend $350 on a new graphics chip, or a faster CPU with 8 cores. The economy is in the shit as it is, with more gamers spending more hours at work or looking for work than they do on PC gaming.

I think if this keeps up, the PC gaming market is going to suffer the same fate as the Mac gaming market, as a result of marginalizing it's user base far to much. A good game with average system requirements is bound to make a hell of a lot more money, if more PC gamers already have the hardware to play it. Battlefield 3 wasn't exactly a masterpiece as it is, so PC gamers should be spending their money on better games than on better hardware. Maybe then, developers will make better GAMES instead of just higher system requirements.

[Zachary]

As a PC gamer, I truly hope Nvidia is correct (and some of it can be seen today for sure). But with the rumors spreading that the next Xbox will  launch at the end of 2012, I can't see it being a long revival.

[Mascot Tom]

Idunno. The Xbox360 already corners the gaming market right now. Releasing another Xbox next year would be a mistake. I still hope that if PC gaming does get another revival, (Which it certainly doesn't need, considering how big it is right now,) it should be because of better games, not just better graphics.

[Loughlin8]

Dude, there isn't enough PC gamers left. Just look at PC sales vs. Console sales of any recent big budget game. You're looking at less than 5% (in some cases less than 2%) of the market. Flood their inboxes. It'll be a waste of time.The PC will never be king again, and consoles are on the way out within the next 5 years. Gaming on mobile devices is the future, and game designers and publishers are gearing up for it.

[Mascot Tom]

Agreed. The PC is suffering right now. It may not always be this way, but better graphics and more expensive system requirements is not a real step forward IMO; Better games are. I don't care how down in the dumps the PC market is right now, better games (as a whole) can easily reverse this trend.