PC gaming may or may not be dying, but if you’re not happy about the possibility then PC Gamer U.S. Editor in Chief Kristen Salvatore has a few suggestions about what you can to do make sure it doesn’t happen.
In an article on GamesRadar, Salvatore wrote that the PC gaming industry is often depicted in the media as “killing ourselves from the inside” through piracy, inevitably leading to the rise in popularity of game consoles and casual titles. She points out that the “proof” of this phenomenon are sales figures accumulated by the NPD Group that don’t take into account non-retail sales, a situation she describes as “absurd,” adding that even the NPD’s Anita Frazier wrote in March 2008, “I can tell you that non-retail sales related to PC games in bigger than what occurs at retail, so the PC games market is clearly still thriving.”
Nonetheless, Salvatore adds that arguments about the impending doom of the PC game market have some element of truth to them, and suggest that if PC gamers as a whole want to ensure the continued vitality of the platform, they’ll need to seize the reins themselves. She makes a few suggestions for improving the PC situation, including becoming “a platform champion.”
“Microsoft obviously isn’t doing it, so it’s up to us,” she wrote. “Get educated about how your PC works, at least insomuch as it affects your upgrading schemes. As Dan Stapleton said recently, ‘If PC gaming is costing you ‘thousands’ per year, you’re doing it wrong.’ Today, $700 will get you a new PC that’ll handle just about anything for the next two to three years, with maybe $500 a year spent on upgrades – but not everyone needs to drop that kind of money.”
All of Salvatore’s advice for “saving” PC gaming – including, yes, an exhortation to knock off the piracy – can be read at GamesRadar.
