The state of PC gaming in 2015: The future looks promising

[Jos]

Unlike the other gaming platforms we’ve been evaluating here at the end of the year, the PC’s been around for decades. Recently, the PC’s long legacy of openness and customization has come into conflict with a mainstream that’s finally—finally—realized just how big of a deal PC gaming actually is.

By and large, the PC is in a great place. More PC games are coming out than ever, and most of them are even coming out at the same time as their console counterparts. As a result, the PC offers a front row seat to the industry’s heaviest hitters and cleverest indies. On top of that, the PC’s back catalog is a formidable beast, a leviathan that even the most voracious players will never truly slay.

New companies are polishing up and re-releasing classics like System Shock 2 and Baldur’s Gate as well, so incompatibility issues—while still present—are becoming less of a problem. You’ve also got more options than ever as to where you buy your games digitally, though Steam is pretty much a must.

Read the complete article.

 

[Uncle Al]

I suspect that while laptops, smart phones, and all the other gadgets will survive and perhaps thrive, the desktop computer is going to remain very strong and the ideal platform for most games. Easy to work on and reconfigure to the point that most users with any modicum of sense can do it, the desktop is also just plain fun for gadgeteers. Game companies are starting to figure out that many of us are not willing to shell out another $250+ for yet another, quickly antiquated, game machine, plus all those extra carts and stuff that can't be modified. We like our cheats, mods, scripts, etc, etc and we want them on our desk top computer.

So yes, we are old, cranky, and old fashion. We also have a heck of a lot more disposable income and willingness to part with it for a first rate game that will run on our PC. So as the wise old fellow said, patting his bulging wallet .... you want it? You bring it to me the way I want it ...... nuff said!

PS: Save all that silly plastic plastic crap and stickers you add in the package. If I want to see that stuff I'll ask my grandkids to bring it over!

 

[RoosterFish2]

Wow, a Kotaku article that wasn't terrible.

 

[Peter Farkas]

PC gaming will prevail and remain the leader in digital gaming!!

 

[Michael Baerd]

This is a very well written article.

 

[Evernessince]

Nathan does pretty good work. I don't really think PC gamers need this though, as in, if you're a PC gamer you should already know this.

When you look at when last gen consoles released (PS3, XBOX 360) and the current next gen (PS4, Xbone), you'll notice a pretty big difference. When the PS3/xbox 360 released, you saw a huge downtrend in the number of PC games being released and the number of ports increased. This time around I'm seeing good PC support in spite of the new consoles. With such strong support at such an early stage, I expect that the further we get into this console generation, the more and more devs will move toward the PC platform as it affords them the option to make the games they want to while the consoles will be sitting on far outdated hardware.

 

[ninjagai]

Nathan Grayson should be fired.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Nathan Grayson should be fired.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess, you are not basing that opinion on this story.

 

[Puiu]

It was an average year with a few good games released. Next years to be much more promising, we are getting both games and hardware.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

It was an average year with a few good games released. Next years to be much more promising, we are getting both games and hardware.

It was a good year for PC games? It's a matter of perspective. Batman Arkham Knight which was the game I looked forward to most getting pulled. Now I'll never get to play it thanks to Worn Out Bros & Rocksteady's greed and incompetence.
Apart from Batman, Fallout 4, GTA V, and to a certain extent Assassins Creed Syndicate there was little else that tickled my fancy. I'm busy playing ACS now because I got it for free but I was skeptical it would play properly on the PC, surprisingly it does, apart from the odd crash here and there and crappy control system which is clearly optimised for console controllers. I'm still waiting for prices to drop further for GTA & Fallout before I 'invest' in them.

 

[Nobina]

I guess not a lot of people would agree with me and say that it was a pretty dissapointing year for PC gaming. It could be just me being less interested in games but if you look at some of the releases they had bugs left and right. Can't forget about DLCs and microtransactions which are implemented like ads in some games.

 

[darkzelda]

This year would have been perfect for PC Gaming if it wasn't for some disastrous releases, it's amazing how some developers don't even bother in testing their games.

 

[Peter Farkas]

It was an average year with a few good games released. Next years to be much more promising, we are getting both games and hardware.

It was a good year for PC games? It's a matter of perspective. Batman Arkham Knight which was the game I looked forward to most getting pulled. Now I'll never get to play it thanks to Worn Out Bros & Rocksteady's greed and incompetence.
Apart from Batman, Fallout 4, GTA V, and to a certain extent Assassins Creed Syndicate there was little else that tickled my fancy. I'm busy playing ACS now because I got it for free but I was skeptical it would play properly on the PC, surprisingly it does, apart from the odd crash here and there and crappy control system which is clearly optimised for console controllers. I'm still waiting for prices to drop further for GTA & Fallout before I 'invest' in them.

Did you know you can buy the same controller for PC and then would play exactly the way it was meant to be? Just my 2 cents on it....

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Did you know you can buy the same controller for PC and then would play exactly the way it was meant to be? Just my 2 cents on it....

I'd rather control the game with my toes using a keyboard & mouse than use a controller. I bought a XB controller a while back and wasted my money, It's the most awkward, uncomfortable thing in the world to use. If a console controller is the only way to play games on a PC then I'd sooner quit playing games. Those things aren't for me.

 

[Joe Seijo]

I almost gave up on PC and switched to PS4. But then I recently built a new i7-6700K/980Ti system and experienced PC gaming at 2560x1440/144Hz. What at incredibly superior experience compared to console. I've now wrapped up my PS4 and will be giving it as a Christmas present to my 10 year old cousin.

 

[Peter Farkas]

I'd rather control the game with my toes using a keyboard & mouse than use a controller. I bought a XB controller a while back and wasted my money, It's the most awkward, uncomfortable thing in the world to use. If a console controller is the only way to play games on a PC then I'd sooner quit playing games. Those things aren't for me.

I also bought an XB 360 controller for windows a couple of years ago. I remember the first game I tried playing with it was Darksiders. I took me a couple of weeks to get used to it, especially the aiming when shooting. In my experience there are these 3rd person, hack n' slash type of games that are clearly optimised for a controller. Now I only play such games with a controller.
I also saw a lot of folks on the steam forums who could master it with classic keyb+mice setup.
Console controller is absolutely not the only way to play games on PC... this is a dumb statement... but there are certain games that are much much easier with a controller. On the other side you would never be able to play StarCraft 2 with a controller...

peace

 

[robb213]

I'd rather control the game with my toes using a keyboard & mouse than use a controller. I bought a XB controller a while back and wasted my money, It's the most awkward, uncomfortable thing in the world to use. If a console controller is the only way to play games on a PC then I'd sooner quit playing games. Those things aren't for me.

I also bought an XB 360 controller for windows a couple of years ago. I remember the first game I tried playing with it was Darksiders. I took me a couple of weeks to get used to it, especially the aiming when shooting. In my experience there are these 3rd person, hack n' slash type of games that are clearly optimised for a controller. Now I only play such games with a controller.
I also saw a lot of folks on the steam forums who could master it with classic keyb+mice setup.
Console controller is absolutely not the only way to play games on PC... this is a dumb statement... but there are certain games that are much much easier with a controller. On the other side you would never be able to play StarCraft 2 with a controller...

peace

That's how I use mine too: for some 3rd person games, racing...and that's it.

Although to my credit I grew up playing consoles as much as PC, if not more since my family couldn't afford a decent PC back then; I was stuck playing the older titles online on PC, and would play the newest titles on console. So I know how to use both well, but that's just me. I've found myself using both in a few games over the last year or so, like GTAV and BF4 as the situation demands.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I also bought an XB 360 controller for windows a couple of years ago. I remember the first game I tried playing with it was Darksiders. I took me a couple of weeks to get used to it, especially the aiming when shooting. In my experience there are these 3rd person, hack n' slash type of games that are clearly optimised for a controller. Now I only play such games with a controller.
I also saw a lot of folks on the steam forums who could master it with classic keyb+mice setup.
Console controller is absolutely not the only way to play games on PC... this is a dumb statement... but there are certain games that are much much easier with a controller. On the other side you would never be able to play StarCraft 2 with a controller...

peace

I've mastered playing ACS with a mouse and keyboard, far better than I'd cope using a controller but I just can't help feeling that they just didn't put much thought into the mouse and keyboard layout which is a far more flexible control system.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

That's how I use mine too: for some 3rd person games, racing...and that's it.

Although to my credit I grew up playing consoles as much as PC, if not more since my family couldn't afford a decent PC back then; I was stuck playing the older titles online on PC, and would play the newest titles on console. So I know how to use both well, but that's just me. I've found myself using both in a few games over the last year or so, like GTAV and BF4 as the situation demands.

Yeah. I've used the controller quite a bit but I just don't like it although I played NFS Shift Unleashed with far more than control than I could my Logitech G27 steering wheel, especially drifting.