Microsoft to reverse PC gaming decline with Vista launch; won't be "killing off" PC gaming anymore

I don't mind if Microsoft wins back some customers from buying a Xbox360.

I am and have been a PC Gaming devotee for the entirety of my gaming career. The main reason for this is that my two favorite genres, RPGs and FPSs, are traditionally more to my liking on the PC. I'll take pretty much any infinity engine game over any final fantasy any day. That said, however, with games like Jade Empire, Fable, and Halo all debuting on consoles, the game may be changing. On top of that, computers are becoming impossibly expensive, as far as building a good gaming rig goes. It's going to be hard for me to convince myself to drop a few thousand on a good gaming machine when this next generation roles through, given that for 400 I can pick up a pretty amazing gaming machine.
Anyway, I just hope that the next gen of consoles has better support for mouse and keyboard.

The ps3 will allow for both mouse and keyboard.¨

The xbox will not allow for keyboard nor mouse.

#3 Nico, what are you smoking?

Microsoft doesn't attribute the decline to Apple? They contribute it to not enough gaming?
What the fuck is up with that?

HAHA. Read the headline, #5. Decline in gaming. Apple is most certainly not responsible for any decline of PC gaming. And by no means is apple's OS X more popular in the consumer world than XP. I'm sorry. Keep listening to your ipod.

I quit smoking a year ago. I do snus now though, but only portion snus.

Any of you guys hear about the 7 flavors of Vista? Well, Windows Vista will certainly encourage gaming, as long as you by the most expensive "Ultimate Edition" with built in game enchancers.

The day a developer can figure out how to get games like Civilization, Star Craft, and Day of the Tentacle to work out on a console as well or better than the PC is the day PC gaming dies. That will take a long time.

#6, to quote the article...
“The Windows business is down 10 per cent year-on-year and we’ve lost shelves of space. We’re killing off that community without the retail support.”
Microsoft is trying to say that their buisness is down due to lack of support for gaming, rather than contribute it to an increased demand and appeal of the Apple prodcuts.
I do not own an Ipod. I am not a fanboy. I don't own any Apple prodcuts, actually. But the fact is, Apple's public support has been growing. For Microsoft to not try and offer what Apple does, but to "focus on gaming", is bloody retarded.

LaughingTarget: The day you can plug in a keyboard and mouse, all those games you listed will run just as good on consoles... It's simply the limitiations of the input devices that limit RTS games on consoles. However, even these limitations can be circumvented with quality programming and development. I remember Metal Marines on the SNES... Great game, kinda similar to Mech Commander. But yes, the mouse makes RTS games much easier to navigate...

I think microsoft needs to realize that it's alot easier for people to spend 299.00 to 399.00 on a next gen video game system that you just plug into your tv and start playing without having to set up and becoming acquainted with an operating system etc.....

If they were smart; they would find a way for the xbox 360 and the pc gaming market to co exist. The advantage of the console is being in front of a television which is usually in the living room (family room or a room where you entertain your guests; lol the gaming room always takes over) The PC is very one dimensional in terms of 2 - 4 people physically playing in the same room with eachother. John Maddens football brings me closer together with fam and friends; we take that game very seriously; I could't see us huddled around the computer all playing at the same time. Bigger and Flatter screens need to be more affordable for the pc market (i'm talking 30 inches and better) The average consumer doesn't see the pc as a Toy or gaming system. Thanks to dell! The pc is for Ms office, reports, amazon, ebay, blogs, Itunes and P2P file sharing; oh lets not forget about myspace (do they have the hottest chics or what?). You pay a bit more for a gaming rig and even moreso for a gaming powehouse.
The console has always been better at interaction with 2- 4 physical human beings in the same room.
Keep the niche gaming market you have and make it bigger and better for those who have already invested; there's no way you're going to get the everyday pc user who's first game was pacman, mario brothers and duck hunt to play Halo or unreal tournament online. They are much happier looking at dirty pictures/movies, having virtual affairs, using instant messenger and checking their email every 5 minutes; then they hand it back to the children who look for videogame codes, yu-gi-oh cards and the latest jordans while they are supposed to be using it to help them with their homework.

you also have to account for resolution in many of these games. There is so much information that the pack onto the screen. At standard def, its hard to read. So you have to get people to buy an hdtv that can handle the increased resolution needed for all that small text.

"The day you can plug in a keyboard and mouse, all those games you listed will run just as good on consoles..."

Again the ps3 will offer keyboard and mouse via USB or Bluetooth. Just plug in your exsisting hardware and youre off.

The 360 will NOT offer mouse and keyboard.

There's an adapter for XBox that lets you use a keyboard and mouse as the input device.

Neither Apple, Sony nor Linux are to blame. It's really Microsoft's own damn fault.

Simple fact is this: The original Xbox took many developers away from the Windows PC platform. Every game that you see on the Xbox could, technically, run on a modern-day PC with Windows and a capable graphics card.

If they want to give Windows Vista a real boost, perhaps they should find a way to make all of the original Xbox game discs play on a Vista PC.

I've been thinking about the control situation, and I'm not sure that simply supporting a keyboard and mouse will lead to games like starcraft or civilization appearing on the consoles, because developers will be hesitant to develope games that require hardware that is not standard for the system. I think a pretty good precedent for this phenomenon is fighting games for the PC. There are several different gamepads available for the PC, many of which would allow for easy play of fighting games. Developers of fighting games, however, are justifiably unwilling to lose an entire pc-gaming market segment that does *not* have a gamepad by developing a game for the PC that requires one. That's why there are probably only 5 fighting games out of the entire library of PC games, and why I think that in order for games that truly and well utilize the keyboard and mouse on a console to become mainstream, the hardware must become standard (either by means of being packaged with the system, or, like memory-cards, just becoming something so many games require that it doesn't make sense not to buy them.)

I don't think it has anything to do with the Death of PC gaming more than the decline of PC gaming. What MS is looking at the lack of money it brings in compared to sony, and EA and such. That is why I really think it came out with the XBOX and the XBOX 360 to drive Console gaming down and drive people to the PC. What kept Console superior was getting the same system with the same graphics no matter what. THe real difference would be in the software. Now with Sony and Xbox trying to grab up each software company that they can get their hand on because their marekts are so similar as opposed to nintendo. I think MS wants to drive SOny over the edge by making them over extend themselves. The IPOD is doing huge damage to sony They need the PlayStation to stay on the market as the king. I don't the Xbox 360 want to win the gaming wars I think it just wants sony to run out of steam. SO they can drive gamers to the PC.

Nico: http://hushedcasket.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=7af3c6fde0beade394a2c14211c9afc5&topic=583.msg2699#msg2699

lol GAME ENHANCERS! Does it have BLAST PROCESSING like the Sega Genesis? Simply absurd. That's MS' trick? Tell people Vista will play games better? haha.

You want a cutting-edge PC gaming experience? Blow a ton of money on hardware. The OS doesn't matter (assuming it supports the games you want to play). I'd be fairly confident that Win2k or WinXP will outperform Vista since they are much less bloated. Have you seen the recommended system requirements for Vista? Sure, they will be more "reasonable" in 2 years when it's released, but it's too much. I rather save my system resources for the PROGRAMS I'm running, not pointless features and bloat in the OS and window manager. I'll stick to Windows2000 if I need to play games. Actually, I find that many games run faster in Linux despite the fact they were never made to run on Linux and they are running on Cedega (like an emulator). Why? Because my Linux system doesn't have countless crap running that I don't need. Vista will just make the situation worse.

Lots of consoles had a keyboard and/or mouse support. The Famicom (NES) had a keyboard. DreamCast had both. Who cares? Let's wait and see if developers make games that actively support them, which is highly dependent on whether gamers care. Casual gamers don't care. They will play HL2 and WarCraft with a controller, they don't know a mouse and keyboard is better. I think assuming the only reason PC gaming is still around is because consoles don't have a mouse and a keyboard for RTS/FPS is foolish.

PC GAMING FOR LIFE!!!!

hard core pc gamers will never stop playing on pcs... they're so much better.

when Microsoft say "we" in this case, it means their PC gaming division.
Microsoft has a multiple personalities disorder.

The main brain don't care much which part of Microsoft is doing what, as long as they keep the money flowing in.

As consoles become stronger and more integrated with the internet, the decline in PC gaming will only continue.
Some games, like first person shooters, are naturally better on the PC....but how long will that last?
The first large scale MMORPG to migrate to consoles will seal the deal (FFXI doesn't count).

Besides the PS3, even the PS2 supports keyboard and mouse. I just plug my PC's USB keyboard and mouse into the PS2's USB ports and they worked fine. Problem was I only had one game (RedFaction2) that supported it. Game wasn't that great but controlling it was a lot easier than the dualshock. It just depends on whether or not the game developers support the feature. I still like my games on the PC because of the interface and the high resolution screen. Like #2 Dylan said I just hope keyboard and mouse will be better supported by the developers this coming console generation. The new consoles are supposed to be Hi-Def, have better online and media capabilities. If PS3 games support keyboard and mouse better than last generation, in my opinion the PC's advantages are eliminated. I just built a PC last month so of course I will still use it for gaming but I probably won't build another one for a long time if I can get my fix somewhere else.

next gen systems wont kill computer gaming but rather consoles themselves. "consoles" are becoming computers themselves frig I wrote this on my psp everything is just becoming computer you can even buy linux for ps2 and xp for xbox