Report: PC remains 'most lucrative platform,' worth $11b

That picture brings a single tear to my eye every time.

Must steal that setup

and also the platform that gets pirated software the most...dont forget that

looks like sausage fest setup, ill pass for a 70" HD setup

WoW just WoW

That picture makes me dizzy.

So this, along with that BBC article about PC gaming should finally make the console kiddies keep shtum?
No. I doubt it will. But at least they know they're wrong as they do it.

Take that none-pc fanboys :D

Oh god, Joystiq legitimizing the absolute BS poured out by the PCGA...

Oil companies have more credible PR.

Just got my new core i7 powerhouse. That's what I'll be telling my kids, what I did with my money during the great recession.

I am now expressing shock.

Factor out WoW and you are left with 1 billion. PC gaming is so dead, assuming you don't like MMOs.

I guess PCs and their fanboys are one thing 360 and PS3 fanboys can unite in hating against together. : )

I hope PC gaming never dies.

http://sarcasticgamer.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/happilydyingsince1985.png

It's been dead since 1985!

I don't mind if the PC doesn't have that many hot exclusive games the consoles have and even if the PC gets many console leftovers and ports like it will be getting Street Fighter 4 and Resident Evil 5 later this year. I use my PC for many other things like office productivity, movie watching and video editing. Personally, I just like having an all-in-one entertainment solution. Its also nice that so many PC games have mod support from the community, like the many mods that can really change Fallout 3. : )

I wonder do they count the sales of game customized machines like those from alienware or voodoo or ibuy or stuff like that?

I like to sit down in front of my 50 computers and play with all my friends...

All my...

Sniff.

Why is there even a PC vs console discussion? Why would console gamers even bother getting defensive when talking about PC gaming? What's the point to all this?

This will be my first and last post on the matter.

Ahem...

Listen.. Consoles ARE computers, but computers limited to one very specific configuration and end-user experience. That limitation, that consistency, is the strength of consoles. It's the whole reason they exist. It allows developers to make games with confidence that each user will have the same experience. It allows users a platform on which they can get a certain type of experience without the fuss of a modular, ever-changing system.

That limitation, their very nature, is also what makes their comparison to PCs completely pointless. They are basically the children of PCs. They are based on PC architecture, but stripped of all the flexibility, power and control that a PC offers a user. Console games are developed on PCs. Consoles themselves are predominately developed, tested and debugged through the use of PCs. Consoles are, more or less, the PC's bitch.

What does this mean for actual gaming on the PC? Well, it's a less user-friendly market than consoles, making consoles a more commercial, consumer driven platform. A lot of sizable developers bypass the option of putting out PC games as a result. Console gamers are therefore treated to many slick, blockbuster style gaming experiences that PC gamers may miss out on.

The flexibility, closeness and articulate user control of the PC, however, means that when PC game developers get it right, PC gamers can be treated to much deeper, more complex gaming experiences than consoles are able to provide. PC gamers also tend to benefit from industry innovation faster, and have the whole world of non-blockbuster, indie, experimental and small-team development at their finger-tips. They can also try their hand at development themselves, on any scale, from user friendly gui-driven development, to the full blown development methods used by those on the cutting edge of the industry. They can also do a bazillion other things that I don't need to start listing.

Surely it's clear why PC gamers tend to (more or less justifiably) scoff at console-better-than-PC fanaticism - It's venturing towards being comparable to a battery fanatic claiming that AA batteries are better than electricity.

PC gaming will outlive and outperform any and every gaming console, because the PC is the perpetual parent of the console. You obviously don't have to use a PC to be a gamer, or to play awesome games, and there will always be games console gamers get that PC gamers don't, just as there are PC games that console gamers don't get. Please, just don't bother trying to argue for the superiority of your console over the PC as a platform for gaming. By all means have a favorite, but acknowledge the utter subjectivity of preference.