With three of my best friends, the only reason any of them has a dual core machine (the others are back on P4s with a gig of RAM) is I sold one to him for cheap.  They have several Xbox 360s which are more powerful than anything they've got in computer land...they play League of Legends, but that's it.

I gotta admit, computer gaming is expensive and I'd be better off if I wasn't set on it.  I just have no desire to go console only.

Whenever I see a statement like this, I want to go find a cane for someone or give them a number that says they can get a scooter for all those medicare folks. Seriously though, if you can't make a point without trying to categorize a bunch of people, most of whom are not actually kids, check the average age of gamers again, then I would say your point started off too weak to begin with.

You don't need to leave your name like a tool, we can all see you by your name right beside the post.

Every day these forums remind me just a little bit more of the WoW forums.....

I just use website warehouses  like mightyape. These guys stock pretty much everything and don't actually have a brick and mortal store. I am one of those who still likes something physical with my purchase but I do get downloadable games that are relatively small.

Along the "evolve or die" thing Brad said, I think Brad's already on the right track:   mods.   Games that are mod-happy can be wildly fun, and consoles will probably never be able to do that.   PC's are playing a leg down from consoles.   First, consoles are designed for gaming.   PC's are designed for the enterprise market, because that's where the big money is.   Also X86 machines are stuck with an extremely outdated instruction set, which is an albatross around their necks.   PowerPC, MIPS, etc. are able to evolve their ISA sets much better and are more up to the times. 

That said, I would argue to do the exact opposite with PC gaming:  go retro and bring controllers back.   A long time ago we used paddles and joysticks to play PC games.   Why not just bring them back?   Develop a Kinetic for the PC.  People have been trying to retrofit games to work on a mouse and keyboard.  Halo is just not as good on a PC.  But if I had a USB Xbox controller and played on a 36" TV set, I really wouldn't care that it was a PC.   You could do all that now if you really wanted to, but it's going to run you a lot more than $300 like you would pay for an Xbox 360.   For that matter, just integrate your PC with your TV.   You can do all kinds of snazzy things on your Wii, but a Unix-like interface to program your Tivo or do all manner of on-demand viewing is clearly going to be much more powerful than a console will ever do.

I don`t care how badly PC games do at retail anymore.  I usually buy games on steam during their crazy sales.  I was interested in Alpha protocol, I was going to buy it at retail.  Then steam put it up today for $7.50.  Retail cant compete with that.

If PC games do die(Never going to happen).  I`ll find a new hobby.  I have a guitar sitting near my desk, I haven`t learned to play yet.  I have a new hobby waiting for me when the time comes.

You mean you won't just buy a console and play Guitar Hero?  

Ahh...No.  I`ve tried guitar hero, Not good.  That is clever though, I like it. 

If PC gaming isn't dead, why are almost all the games I buy loaded with console design choices? whether its an FPS locked to 60 degrees or retarded control configs or simplistic gameplay options or total lack of mouse support, many games today stink of console. there will always be exceptions sure, but on the whole i've felt like ive been playing console games on the PC for much of the last ~5 years. all i can say is thank god for european RPGs and various RTSs. console design dominance has even ushered in the death of entire genres, like the glorious space combat/trade sim.

yeah we're all still playing PCs, but other than graphics and input options, its really hard to tell platforms apart anymore

Plus, while consoles developers tend not to be any smarter than "let's make a game where we shoot stuff!!!! Preferably foreigners!" and "let's not be sexist, put a woman partner with the hero. But give her as little clothing as possible.", the PC crowd seems to be "what ways can we stop our customers using our products this year?" and, of course:

Person 1: "So, digital download, that means we don't have to pay to make physicals discs, don't have to deliver to all the other shops"

Person 2: "You know what that means, don't you?"

Person 3: "We can lower the price significantly?"

Person 2: "..."

Person 1: "..."

Person 1, 2 & 3: "...LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!"

Person 1: "Yeah, that was funny"

Well the problem is that they have to charge the same price for both their digital games and their retail copies. Games that don't have retail copies do in fact often lower their price significantly.

There may be PC gaming's lifeline right there:   in the economics.   PC games are downloadable and that makes them cheaper.   Console games are getting more expensive; no doubt about that.   The free market will establish an equilibrium at some point, and PC will still be in the game.    Of course, consoles will see that and start to offer download options, but they still have to advertise, and for that you need a web browser.   And managing disk space is not exactly one of a console's strengths.

As long as Ebay and used game stores are legal, console games could have an RRP of the equal of £60 nowadays and we'd still be paying 50p - £20.

When you say "the same" you just mean that they share the same core design. That you think RTSs made 10 years ago and those that got released this year are the same just shows that you don't understand the progression of games'n'gameplay but it also gives people the impression that you're just after new, cool things. That makes you a casual gamer that would like Kinect, Playstation Move and such gimmicks.

I am not a casual gamer, and I love Kinect.

Nothing really has to give at all.  There are games made all the time that work on integrated graphics and games made all the time that require a beefier machine.  Developers target what they want to target, as they always have.

You are talking hardware, and I am talking software. Right now, there is almost no difference between the games that are played on notebooks and the games that are played on desktops. That's why "gaming" notebooks are expensive and trying their best to match desktop abilities while keeping them portable. That's plain and simple too. Plain and simple, portability has nothing to do with it. If i want to play Civilizatoin V on my notebook or Civilization V on my desktop, Civilization V is no more portable for one or the other, but can scale down certain qualities to fit less powerful components. This trade off you speak of is just a myth, a myth that isn't even original and naysayers have been beating their drums for the better part of a couple of decades now with the same mantra.

What does the underlined part mean?

I was at GameStop when Modern Warfare II was new and there were mothers with their spoiled kids that wanted MW II for the CONSOLES!

I just wanted to tell them to get computers but then again computers aren't <insert disc'n'play>....

8 years ago, PC Gamer or was it SuperPlay said the average gamerage was 24. I was surprised