The new consoles from Microsoft and Sony are available at a store
near you, and there are finally some games worth playing on them. As
anxious gamers stress
over which one to buy, it might be worth stopping and considering for a
moment that the correct answer might be neither. Right now is the best
time in years to direct the money you’d otherwise spend on an Xbox One or PlayStation 4
toward becoming a PC gamer. This doesn’t have to be a crazy PC gamer
master race thing — there are legitimate reasons you might want to do
this.Wednesday, 16 April 2014
Why now is the time to become a PC gamer
The new consoles from Microsoft and Sony are available at a store
near you, and there are finally some games worth playing on them. As
anxious gamers stress
over which one to buy, it might be worth stopping and considering for a
moment that the correct answer might be neither. Right now is the best
time in years to direct the money you’d otherwise spend on an Xbox One or PlayStation 4
toward becoming a PC gamer. This doesn’t have to be a crazy PC gamer
master race thing — there are legitimate reasons you might want to do
this.
The Elder Scrolls Online PC Visual Analysis
The Elder Scrolls series has always managed to set new standards for the gaming industry. Be it gameplay experience, the setting, the twisted story or the graphics. The latter became prominent largely due to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim also helped a little by the modding community.PC, Mac gaming to top $24bn
Personal computer and Mac gamer spending and direct banner/video ad
outlays across all digital channels will grow to over $24 billion
worldwide by 2017, according to the International Data Corporation's
(IDC) new digital PC and Mac gaming software and services forecast.
The forecast also found that global digital PC/Mac game revenue will rise about 4% per year between 2012 and 2017. North American digital PC/Mac gaming revenue, however, is forecast to slip at the margins over the forecast period.
This is mainly the result of the cannibalisation of casual-leaning, browser-centric games (typified by Zynga's Farmville 2) by smartphones and tablets, states the IDC, adding that this is further compounded by a steady drop in hard-core subscription revenue (typified by Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft).
The IDC notes that digital PC/Mac gaming revenue outside North America should expand by more than 5% per year through 2017. This, it says, will be largely driven by rising living standards in BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) and the inability of game consoles to establish much of a beachhead in key developing economies.
"Other than the casino genre, it's been tough sledding for most casual-leaning PC game genres in the past year," says Lewis Ward, research director of gaming at IDC. "Most of the growth is coming from hardcore-oriented freemium titles such as Tencent's and Riot Games' League of Legends, Valve's Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2 and Wargaming.net's World of Tanks.
The forecast also points out that Valve's Steam service has a significant opportunity to expand into North American and western European living rooms in the next few years based on the company's Steam Machines initiative.
"Demand for prepaid digital games should remain stable if not rise at the margins through 2017 partly because key developers, publishers and platform providers will ramp up their offerings on HDTVs," adds Ward. "The difference between what PCs, consoles, micro-consoles and perhaps even smart TVs will be able to deliver three years from now will be mostly semantic. The platforms that outperform will have great games, a wise mix of business models, an ability to strain key customer insights out of a sea of big data, and offer great a social experience."
The IDC report breaks out North American totals from a combined rest of the world region. It segments subscription, prepaid download and add-on, and freemium gamers and revenue. Hard-core versus casual PC/Mac gaming dynamics are also considered in the 48-page report.
The forecast also found that global digital PC/Mac game revenue will rise about 4% per year between 2012 and 2017. North American digital PC/Mac gaming revenue, however, is forecast to slip at the margins over the forecast period.
This is mainly the result of the cannibalisation of casual-leaning, browser-centric games (typified by Zynga's Farmville 2) by smartphones and tablets, states the IDC, adding that this is further compounded by a steady drop in hard-core subscription revenue (typified by Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft).
The IDC notes that digital PC/Mac gaming revenue outside North America should expand by more than 5% per year through 2017. This, it says, will be largely driven by rising living standards in BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) and the inability of game consoles to establish much of a beachhead in key developing economies.
"Other than the casino genre, it's been tough sledding for most casual-leaning PC game genres in the past year," says Lewis Ward, research director of gaming at IDC. "Most of the growth is coming from hardcore-oriented freemium titles such as Tencent's and Riot Games' League of Legends, Valve's Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2 and Wargaming.net's World of Tanks.
The forecast also points out that Valve's Steam service has a significant opportunity to expand into North American and western European living rooms in the next few years based on the company's Steam Machines initiative.
"Demand for prepaid digital games should remain stable if not rise at the margins through 2017 partly because key developers, publishers and platform providers will ramp up their offerings on HDTVs," adds Ward. "The difference between what PCs, consoles, micro-consoles and perhaps even smart TVs will be able to deliver three years from now will be mostly semantic. The platforms that outperform will have great games, a wise mix of business models, an ability to strain key customer insights out of a sea of big data, and offer great a social experience."
The IDC report breaks out North American totals from a combined rest of the world region. It segments subscription, prepaid download and add-on, and freemium gamers and revenue. Hard-core versus casual PC/Mac gaming dynamics are also considered in the 48-page report.
Forget AMD: Here's Why NVIDIA Will Continue to Dominate the PC Gaming Market
Shares of graphics chip company NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA )
have soared over the past year, rising about 50%, with sales of the
company's high-end gaming GPUs making up for a weak PC market. The rise
of mobile gaming and the new generation of game consoles haven't hurt
the PC gaming market at all, and NVIDIA will continue to benefit from
strong global demand for PC gaming products. While competition from AMD (NYSE: AMD ) is a threat, a lack of focus from the troubled competitor gives NVIDIA an important advantage.NVIDIA's edge in PC gaming
The gaming market generates revenue in excess of $100 billion per year, spread across game consoles, PCs, and mobile devices.
DIY PC Gaming Pedal: Floor General
A few years ago Ben Heck made a breath-operated controller to substitute for the kick drum pedal of the Guitar Hero drum set, allowing a wheelchair-bound player to rock out. This time, the master modder made his own USB-based pedals to give him added control options when playing video games on the PC.Ben’s pedals are run by a Teensy board. His computer will recognize them as a keyboard, making it easy to map commands in games. Ben made it so he can map up to two commands per pedal: the first command is activated with a slight press and the second command is triggered by pressing harder on the pedal.
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