Microsoft: Hardly anyone plays first-person shooters on the PC

metalmania31 · 21 Sep 2010

I only play FPS on PC. Unfortunately game designers probably find it cheaper and easier to develop for an established hardware and software guide that you get with consoles. PC you have to design for 2 major gpu's from Nvidia and ATI. So you have to suss out all these compatibility issues. Consoles it's the same hardware and software. Much less debugging and labor cost. If they ever bring mouse and keyboard controls to consoles I'd probably jump on that bandwagon. Maybe. LOL. Consoles still can't beat the gpu power of dedicated PC graphics.

F1FAN · 21 Sep 2010

i think that pc gaming is kinda well dead now is because its so easy just to go out and get a 200 quid xbox, hook it up to a tv and you can just play.
But with pc gaming, you need the right setup and skills to pc game. Hardly any pc's you buy can play the modern games at good framerates unless you play ALOT of money, its cheaper to build 1.
Plus you need to upgrade the parts, not as often as most people think but you will sometime down the line.
Shame really, i am both a console and pc gamer. I like the graphics on PC, due to the bigger res and other options like anti anlysing.
I like xbox because of the games and content you get, plus i find the pad better, just because iv'e grown up with console and just recently started PC gaming. I hope it don't die out because nvidia/AMD will loose big money on there GPU's

Turismon · 21 Sep 2010

Until they bring true mouse / keyboard support I won't ever play a FPS on a console, that guy is an idiot. And the mouse / keyboards they have on the consoles now are just rigged and not true components.

Everlong · 21 Sep 2010

FPS works so much better on PC, though.

But still, I guess he has to make up a reason for not releasing any Halo games on PC after Halo 2.

bigseb · 21 Sep 2010

Now that Linux is getting DirectX perhaps this article just refers to the future of gaming on Windows PC's.

johnwillyums · 21 Sep 2010

I only ever game on my pc. That's largely because I had a pc before I tried gaming. Also I'd feel a bit silly playing on a console or even buying one at my age.
Gaming is an added extra, a guilty pleasure.
Having said that I have lots of games (mainly FSPs) and have built my latest pc with a reasonable GPU etc with gaming in mind.
I've tried all the latest consoles with the children of friends and none of them come any where near the experience of playing on my pc. They are pure rubbish in comparison in my opinion.
Also, as others have said, £200, hook it up to the TV and away you go. Great reasonable price Christmas present for a kid.
But those kids will grow up and get pcs. When they see how much better gaming is on a decent pc and a good monitor they're going to want to upgrade their GPU...
And so it goes.

mickey megabyte · 21 Sep 2010

F1FAN makes a good point about the cost of PC gaming - it ain't cheap and the complexity isn't for everyone.

a true story: just last week someone asked me to help build a gaming rig for his 12 year old son. i lost out on some money by advising him not to bother, just get an xbox or similar.

a 12 year old could make rather a mess of a pc in minutes - it will need constant updates, patches and inevitably upgrades = lots of money and lots of hassle for something that is meant to be fun.

the pc is undoubtedly the strongest and most powerful gaming platform (and don't forget that it can do more than play games

), but the truth is that it's becoming a niche market for us tech-geeks who don't mind endlessly downloading patches and fiddling with anisotropic filtering settings - the masses seem to want and enjoy plug-and-play consoles, and why not?

so, going back to the op, i guess it's right and true to say that 'hardly anyone' is playing PC, compared to the huge number of console-kiddies - just go into a high-street shop and try finding where they hide the pc games...

saakeman · 21 Sep 2010

pc games will in my point of view stay on top
just look at this
how many persons lan ??? ( mmmh like more than 20000 persons)
i took a test at graphics
console's graphics suck
pc is always upgrades and more flexible
playing with a mouse and keyboard is the luxury of a five star hotel
try playing first person shooters with a joystick for like 3 hours it makes you frustrated !

i am telling you
saakeman

Klaw117 · 21 Sep 2010

Everlong said:

FPS works so much better on PC, though.

But still, I guess he has to make up a reason for not releasing any Halo games on PC after Halo 2.

That wasn't Microsoft's fault. Bungie broke off with Microsoft a month after Halo 3 was released and since PC games are typically released after the console versions...yeah. If they had stayed with Microsoft, I'm convinced that Halo 3 for Windows 7 would've come out by now.

OneSerious · 22 Sep 2010

I still think PC will always have it's place. As long as the people have computers in their houses there will be plenty of people gaming on PC. I love my Xbox but it doesn't compare. I use my 360 for console only titles, FIFA, and big multiplayer titles that I want to play with my buddies over live. Since I'm not bothered about MP in general I usually just go PC.

Started replaying Far Cry 2 the other day, so good. Have any of you guys tried that on 360? Doesn't compare.