The Many, Many Deaths Of PC Gaming

Join us for a nostalgic look back at a decade of waiting for PC gaming to die.

PC gaming isn’t dying. It’s just that over the past decade the industry has changed, and those changes haven’t always been easy for traditional PC game producers and players to understand.

We used to go to computer stores and wander through aisle after aisle of colorful PC game boxes. Over the past ten years those sections have shrunk considerably. First the boxes got smaller. Then they began to disappear altogether as faster internet connections made services like Steam and Direct2Drive more attractive to players.

Like a childhood friend whose voice deepens and interests begin to change, the puberty of the PC gaming industry had many of us concerned.

PC gaming survives. Some would say it thrives. It may have mellowed with age and sprouted hair in odd places, but PC gaming is not going anywhere.

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Links:

Is PC Gaming Dying? [IGN, 2001]

Is PC gaming in trouble? Thoughts please [Ars Technica. 2003]

Is DOS Gaming Dead? [Monster Hardware, 2004]

Death of the PC? [CVG, 2006]

The Loop: Is PC Gaming Dead? [Attack of the Show, 2006]

PC Gaming is Dead [Videogamer.com, 2007]

‘Gears of War’ Creator Update: Slams ‘Insular’ Game Developers, Puts Consoles As Epic’s Priority #1, Confronts Consequences Of Loving ‘Zack & Wiki’ [MTV Multiplayer, 2008]

Epic’s Mark And CliffyB Explains What PC Gaming Alliance Means For Gamers — ‘Disarray’ Dismissed [MTV Multiplayer]

Is PC Gaming Dying? Or Thriving? [MSNBC, 2008]

Valve Interview Part 1: Doug Lombardi on PC Gaming [Shacknews, 2008]

The Life Support [The Oakstout, 2009]

Music: Clair de lune, third movement of Debussy’s Suite bergamasque.

With research from Stephen Totilo.