Does PC Gaming have a future?

When a tablet comes with a 27 inch 2560x1440 display, I'll start worrying.

Might want to check out Kickstarter.  Tons of games coming the next couple years for PC/Mac/Linux only.  PC gaming market is still there.  May not be many "AAA" titles but frankly, most of those are tired old retreds and console ports anyway.  Why would I want to play those?

Personally I see within the next 5-10 years most "computers" being some sort of tablet with connections.  Think iPad with Bluetooth keyboard or the Microsoft Surface with the keyboard if needed.  But these tablets will have more power then our current desktops and they will just plug into some sort of docking station allowing those  like us who choose to hook up to a keyboard/mouse combo with speakers and 24" monitor.

Hopefully the games I like to play will still be made.

They've been forecasting the end of PC gaming for over 15-20 years at least now. They always seem to forget, everything they can do with the next "it" thing, can always be done better by a desktop PC.

You make it seem like these claims are new as Leo mentioned.

Then we will move on to the better format, whatever it is. Because it sure isn't something that is available on the market today. And yes, PC sales have been "giving way" to consoles, smart phones, "facebook" games. But only losing market shares, which is a relative measurement. In actuality, PC games are selling more than ever.

As next generation consoles being quite similar to the PC and Valve doing a Linux PC gaming console, I would not worry about the platform.

If something kills the PC game market it is poor quality software and idiotic intrusive DRM.

Let me know how I would play Fallen Enchantress or Sins of a Solar Empire on some other platform and then I'll worry.

How would that kill PC games as Consoles use constant online DRM and even crappier code that sucks compared to PC?

You should hear the screaming at my sisters house when she cuts off net access because of the bandwidth limit, and the lazy brats cant even play single player on the consoles.

Edit: Similar to this.... 

My biggest fear is that i will not be able to build my own "Awesome Gaming Rig" any more, because the market will give way to these all in one platforms like the tablet, or console. Yea there is something to be said for having your own "gaming station". Complete with a huge ass monitor, and surround sound system

Nah, it'll never happen.  There's always going to be someone out there willing to develop games for the PC.  As long as Microsoft doesn't stuff up Windows 9 for games we should be good.

PC Gaming is here to stay for at least another 5-10 years.  I think the big thing of course will be in Monitors that have touch technology built-in.  Natural evolution of the tablet influence on the PC market.

I suspect we'll see a gradual merging between the PC and the console, but that they will still remain separate enough to be distinct. PC hardware might become more standardized and modular, and consoles might become more PC-like. (And both will become more tablet like in all likelihood.) Hell, with Microsoft in the mix, we might one day even see single versions of games that can run on both console and PC without having to purchase different versions. Unlikely, but it could happen. But there will still always be the PC, at least for a long time to come, in my opinion because people have a need to play games in addition to doing other things on one platform.

What consoles are you talking about?  Neither the 360 nor the PS3 require internet access at all time for any single player game I'm aware of.  Dragons Dogma is internet connection enhanced in SP but that's about as close as I can think of.

The new consoles will have a leg up on the PC for several years, since developers won't have to target obsolete tech like 32 bit OSes or DX9 or worry about what processors support SSE2 or any of that.  PC will rebound, but with the market slowing on all fronts I'm not sure how long it'll take.

Sony and MS could complicate things even further by turning the PS4/Xbox Whatever further into general purpose machines, but I'm not sure whether or not they'll do that...there's no way to tell currently.

Well, to be fair, I lost the ability to play Dragon's Age when it couldn't connect to a server.  It took some fiddling around with to prevent it from happening again.  And it's not unlikely that future consoles will have this kind of requirement to stop the resale of games.

They might ship with a key like PC games (in theory, since the EU might take offense) but I don't think many will be always online.

I'm sure things that are service enhanced like SimCity will do it, but not traditional SP most of the time.

SimCity isn't just service-enhanced though, IIRC.  I think you actually run your city on their servers like it was an MMO or Diablo 3.

Pretty much, you can't save it locally.  Basically if you lose your Internet connection you will lose anything you have done since the last time you were online for a save.

PC gaming won't die until there's no need for a separate device called a PC - your phone (or should I say glasses? or brain implant?) will do everything for you in one device. Once technology is small enough, there's no need for these huge devices such as laptops and desktops - you'll be able to have the same exact functionality is something minuscule.

People continue to say the PC gaming market is dying. That's not true. However, is it growing? No, it's not either. So relative to the booming phone and tablet gaming markets, PC gaming might indeed look like it's dying.

I say that AAA titles might be selling less but that is not important to me since I'm not buying them anyway (with very few exceptions).

Steam and other DD services are selling great and the indiescene is thriving.

Link those articles so we can see if they're valid or not.

Some of the processing is certainly done on their servers (most likely all region related) but I highly doubt the entire city.

If you lose connection to the servers you can keep playing.  It'll sync when it comes back.  If you lose your connection and leave before the servers come back it'll sync next time you log in.

The new consoles are talking about requiring a constant internet connection to play the games. I am against this pretty much for the same reasons people are against Steam. The difference is Steam only requires you to be online to activate, and upgrade your game. You dont have to be online all of the time to play it. From what i am gathering with the new Xbox you have to have a constant online connection to "verify" your games. So if your internet goes out what happens? You cant play the game? That is the kind of DRM that myfist0 is talking about that will kill gaming.

PS4 is confirmed not to be an Always Online Console. At least Sony understands that. Nintendo as well.

It has expanded greatly on the Online features but it doesn't require any of it.

I don't agree with this prediction....I hate having to disagree with it, because I don't want things to be like this, but I just don't think this DRM is going to kill gaming...

As many of pointed out, people still are using steam, using origin, buying games from EA, etc....the fiasco with spore, the fiasco with Diablo 3, and now the fiasco with SimCity are certainly pissing people off....but many people are still buying those games....while I used to think DRM would epically fail because of high profile "failed launches", my views have changed considerably in the last few days with SimCity's release...

Whatever EA's next big title will be, I'm sure it's sales will do fine despite all the BS it has put gamers through...sure, it sales may have done better had it been kinder to its customers, but it will no doubt do good enough just like it has with each of its past "failures"....

If PC games can pull that shit, I hardly see how consoles can't get away with it too...your console audience is far more complacent, far more likely to involve themselves with online play with high profile titles, and more likely to have a constant internet connection (since consoles are after all not known for their mobility like a tablet or laptop)...

I would love more than anything for the customer base to force a change in the direction devs are taking with PC and presumably console games...but I just don't see it happening...

Furthermore (and this is really important), stable internet connections are only going to proliferate, not decrease...as we hurl into the lovely future of rampant DRM, people are only going to be more capable of having constant internet connections...and while some people stick to their values and refuse to buy games due to DRM policies they abhor, most gamers will simply "deal with it", accept the future for what it is, and continue buying those games...and just like gaming forces people to upgrade PCs they otherwise would not have, gaming will also force people to acquire better internet access...

Now to be fair, "good internet access" isn't always a choice...it may not be available in your location or you may have frequent power outages, trolls torrenting on the same line, etc....but, some people do have a choice and thus far have opted for the save-money route...even for those without a choice, most people are going to see more options in the future for their internet, not less...

So basically we have to "Deal with it", because the illiterate, and, dumb ass masses refuse to do any research into what they are buying into. The marketers use a "Jedi Mind Trick" saying "you really want this!", and the dumb asses say "Duh! Maybe i do!".. Great. :/