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Much as I hate to start two threads in here on the same day, this seemed worthy of note:

Dell phasing out XPS gaming desktops.

In my opinion, the above news is really "too bad". I myself was intrigued by the newer XPS desktops, they had rather slick industrial design, and looked to be great systems. More disturbing than that is the numbers Ars Technica posted on the PC gaming industry...I had no idea the revenue decay from the late 1990s was so dramatic.

This is sad to me, because I've always been mainly a PC gamer, and I love PC gaming, and this is perhaps symtopmatic of the times. Its also distressing given that in 2007, I thought that overall, it was a relatively good game in terms of the quality of the releases (with stuff like The Orange Box).

It's too complex to pin on any one factor. How much of it is from a winnowing of the PC game genres? Remember space combat sims? Or shit, flight combat sims at all?

How much is from FPS no longer being a near-exclusive PC genre? For that matter, how much is from internet multiplayer no longer being exclusive to PC? Further, how much is from console gaming becoming increasingly conducive to inviting people over and playing with you? EDIT: I note that Halo was released in 2001, and that the chart shows a drastic drop-off in PC gaming sales in 2002. Coincidence?

How much is from the relatively cheaper cost of modern laptops, with some people preferring to have a laptop for computer stuff (that they can fold up and stow away somewhere) and a console for game stuff that they sit on the couch for?


Also, this part of the article strikes me as odd:

The picture isn't quite as bleak as the graph makes it seem, given that NPD's numbers don't track digital distribution or subscription-based revenue, but neither category could possibly account for the tremendous decline in PC game sales.

Er, how many millions of people are currently subscribed to a MMORPG? How much money do those subscriptions cost per month? How much time are those people sinking into MMORPGs? How many other games might they be consuming if they weren't engrossed in their online character?




Ironically, PC hardware prices are cheaper than ever.

Uraniun235 wrote:It's too complex to pin on any one factor. How much of it is from a winnowing of the PC game genres? Remember space combat sims? Or shit, flight combat sims at all?

I <3 XWA and IL2.

Also, this part of the article strikes me as odd:

The picture isn't quite as bleak as the graph makes it seem, given that NPD's numbers don't track digital distribution or subscription-based revenue, but neither category could possibly account for the tremendous decline in PC game sales.

What about Steam and other assorted digital dist. schemes?

You know, i'm getting really fucking tired of PC developers actually CATERING to the obscene graphical and performance demands of game developers. Alienware made a whole line of PCs just for Crysis and it turns out most of them couldn't even play it with a degree of stability because the engine blows. I wonder if it ever occured to these retards that people don't want to spend thousands of dollars for fucking polys. I'd tell game developers to make more sims, but they'd probably be retards about it and assume I meant "make simz wit teh uber GPU" (like the idiots behind Silent Hunter 4). So i'll just sit down and laugh as PC developers turn into giant self fullfilling prophecies of "PC MARKET DOOM!" Yeah, whatever.

doesn't dell own alienware for the gaming market?

Yes, and they're discontinuing the XPS gaming systems because, contrary to their expectations, they are eroding Alienware sales. Ah well, better this way than the other way around I suppose...

As an almost, but not entirely OT statement, I'd also point out I'm still ticked that IBM got rid of its PC division, and, to add insult to injury, discontinued its x86 IntellStations a month or two back (shortly after Lenovo launched the ThinkStation). To paraphrase their slogan, "Irritating Times"... It seems like all the great PC brands are either becoming crap, or going away.

CaptHawkeye wrote:You know, i'm getting really fucking tired of PC developers actually CATERING to the obscene graphical and performance demands of game developers. Alienware made a whole line of PCs just for Crysis and it turns out most of them couldn't even play it with a degree of stability because the engine blows. I wonder if it ever occured to these retards that people don't want to spend thousands of dollars for fucking polys.

Uh, you do realize that Alienware has been selling multi-thousand dollar, overclocked, garishly-painted computers for several years, don't you? That sort of implies that there are people out there who want to "pay thousands of dollars for fucking polys".

Strange thing is that the Alienware systems just don't appear in the UK (don't know about Europe as a whole), Dell Desktops are the Inspiron and XPS systems and that is all.

Not complaining, as I have an Inspiron and its not too bad, but the Alienware name just never took off here.

Uraniun235 wrote:

CaptHawkeye wrote:You know, i'm getting really fucking tired of PC developers actually CATERING to the obscene graphical and performance demands of game developers. Alienware made a whole line of PCs just for Crysis and it turns out most of them couldn't even play it with a degree of stability because the engine blows. I wonder if it ever occured to these retards that people don't want to spend thousands of dollars for fucking polys.

Uh, you do realize that Alienware has been selling multi-thousand dollar, overclocked, garishly-painted computers for several years, don't you? That sort of implies that there are people out there who want to "pay thousands of dollars for fucking polys".

Did I say that no one at all would come anywhere near these things? Obviously they're going to get a few customers. But I seriously doubt they make up enough people to justify the cost of a huge market for "gaming PCs".

You're not being entirely coherent here. Are you saying that companies like Alienware are artificially spurring demand for "fucking polys"? Do you even know how markets work?

(...Are you bitter because you laid down a pile of cash for a hot rig a few years ago, and now it's not so hot? If so, it's okay to admit this, it'll help us come to Understandings a lot sooner.)

Jade Falcon wrote:Strange thing is that the Alienware systems just don't appear in the UK (don't know about Europe as a whole), Dell Desktops are the Inspiron and XPS systems and that is all.

Not complaining, as I have an Inspiron and its not too bad, but the Alienware name just never took off here.

That's really for the best, I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure Alienware was always basically a leading innovator in "hideous, gimmicky, garishly painted cases".

Uraniun235 wrote:You're not being entirely coherent here. Are you saying that companies like Alienware are artificially spurring demand for "fucking polys"? Do you even know how markets work?

I didn't say anyone was "artificially spurring demand". I said computer developers like the guys behind "gaming rigs" such as Alienware are pandering to a small customer base that buys super rigs to play games like Crysis at all max settings. So it honestly surprises me that anyone can claim that this is "a sign of the times" when the market for super performance PCs has never been massive anyway. Alienware is basically the little king of a little hill. I don't know the numbers myself, but I really don't think that dedicated game machines have ever made up the majority of PC game sales. Most of the time it seems like rounded desktop machines that are basically affordable and can jack-of-all-trades their way through everything. If you've got something showing otherwise, by all means post it. When I say "game developers" that's because developers like to make "uber graphix" games that require mass hardware capabilities that most people aren't prepared to buy.

So why does this annoy me? Because plenty of other companies such as Dell and Gateway and HP tried over and over again to market lines of "performance gaming PCs" that ended up never taking off because they were too damn expensive and Alienware had more or less cornered the small market already. So the line dies, and some group of morons claims "PC gamin is dead!" as if anyone was surprised.

I guess I should have made my opening more clear, "I'm getting tired of PC developers catering to the obscene demands of a minority and then bitching when they don't make the sales they wanted."

(...Are you bitter because you laid down a pile of cash for a hot rig a few years ago, and now it's not so hot? If so, it's okay to admit this, it'll help us come to Understandings a lot sooner.)

This is relevant how? Regardless, the answer is no? Because whenever I buy a system i'm 100% aware that it will be obsolete within a short time. Which is why I don't buy shit like Alienware or Dell XPS. I buy the mid-range systems that get my games going reliably on standard settings. They get old fast, but surprise, I didn't invest my arm in it, so it's no biggy. Onto the next machine.

I think there was at least one XPS model that was not really expensive and was easily upgradeable due to shipping with a nice PSU and having a good case size/layout.

In any case, it's simple to just buy a decent relatively cheap desktop with a shitty graphics card and then replace the graphics card and voila a gaming PC, assuming that the PSU isn't so weak that you can't upgrade (Dell's basic 305w PSU easily puts out like 400w and I've heard can run x1950s and 8800s so it shouldn't be that much of an issue or that you aren't just building one from parts like many people do.

I have an XPS 410 right now, and it's a fine desktop with plenty of room for upgrading. Of course, it's not one of those monster gaming XPS systems, but it's definitely a decent gaming computer. I don't see why they would phase out these mid-range XPS desktops in favor of alienbloat crap that costs too much. I got my system about two years ago, and got all compoenents that were just a few months old, and the entire system cost about $1100. I could have built my own system for less, but only about $100 in savings.