Electronic Arts Sees PC Growing into World's Largest Gaming Platform
Electronic Arts Sees PC Growing into World's Largest Gaming Platform
Posted 05/06/2009 at 10:50am
| by Paul Lilly
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What a refreshing change of pace to have a major videogame publisher step forward and not only refrain from ringing the death knell for PC gaming, but to annoint the PC as the platform for games moving forward. That's what Electronic Arts (EA) has done, almost in as many words.
"In terms of distribution, the way we look at a lot of what's happening in the future is, we've got probably a billion PCs out there in the world," said Eric Brown, CFO for EA. "Very rapidly the PC is becoming the largest gaming platform in the world, just not in a packaged-good product."
The comments came during a quarterly earnings call in which EA talked about the digital download market. According to Brown, the online portion of EA's business model is seeing growth by as much as 60 percent year over year.
In a time when it's become vogue to diss on the PC as a gaming platform, EA's comments to the contrary almost makes you forget about the whole SecuROM/Spore debacle. We said 'almost.'
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majorsuave
May 07, 2009 at 6:24am
They should back up their claim and start to support their pc only games... I'm looking at you WAR. you cant win the war with the sims alone
And release BF bad company 1 as a free bonus to PC players buying BFB C2.
schinkinatror
May 06, 2009 at 7:00pm
I want a new NHL game for PC not some ported crap from the PS2, if they can do that I might believe them.
ferds7
May 06, 2009 at 2:21pm
Talk is cheap; especially from a company that has been very anti-pc. What kind of an announcement is this anyways? What big announcement will EA make nex? That the internet will become very common in most households.
EasyE
May 06, 2009 at 1:22pm
Consoles are essentially PC but the console is limited to expansion. And typically PC games are more in depth, with more options. Of course the downside of the PC is compatibility
mpcrsc562
May 06, 2009 at 12:45pm
ea says that now... remember not too long ago their tune was a bit different. ea pissed off many when they failed to make madden nfl 09 for the pc and showed much love to the consoles with special editions of the game including past madden games and extra dvd content. let ea really show that the pc is the platform of choice by bringing their A+ game in content and development.
wego72587
May 06, 2009 at 11:35am
same here, I prefer gaming on the pc. in fact I won't even touch a console controller, I'd rather just wait for a game to come out on PC. this is good news though, the PC gaming market has long sufferred from pirated cracked versions on legitimate games. i'm happy to see that pc gaming still has a chance
bingojubes
May 06, 2009 at 3:22pm
not even the 360 controller for Windows? I use that, and claim it as a PC accessory.
Azruelli
May 06, 2009 at 3:36pm
It's true, I'm not much for console gaming (pretty much the same as everyone else here, PC is my favorite platform.) and I can hardly aim with a controller, but sometimes it's nice for just loafing and not having to move or hold a keyboard in your lap.
Defiant
May 06, 2009 at 11:21am
Glad to hear it, I prefer gaming on my pc, no controller does it for me like the mouse and keyboard :)
samduhman
May 06, 2009 at 10:57am
So give me a good golf game! I was thinking yesterday about the golf games I used to play one I can't remember the name to during the early 90s till the Links games came out. I never got into the Tiger Woods golf games and now I see there haven't been any made in two years with none on the horizon.
There are a bunch of series/franchises/genres that have been abandoned/ignored becuase of consoles that need to be revisited.
Beta_Grumm
May 06, 2009 at 11:32am
Speaking of golf, PGA Tour on windows 3.x with the pc speaker. :D
Good times.
I'm glad to hear they acknowledge it, but what I would really like to see are games that aren't developed for both consol and computer. You know what I mean, its been the lateset trend in game development. Suddenly the games menus, control layouts, and just general in game feel have changed in order to accomodate a consol environment and I really don't like it. It just doesnt work well on a PC. It feels slower and much less technical. Less precise.
JupiterTrooper
May 06, 2009 at 12:04pm
http://pctalkonline.blogspot.com
I totally agree. With the digital erra computers are much more well suited to the next generation of gaming. Consoles have their limits, and those limits will be shown in the near future as digital content becomes the norm, as well as the need for the internet and other applications. Consoles just cant cut it like a PC can, plus, people want their games to look bigger and better, and you can only get that on a PC.
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