Talk:Decline of PC game sales in the US
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It occurs to me this page might more accurately be named "Decline of PC game sales in the US" as that is how it is currently presented. I imagine this is also why the NPOV has been applied. Mallocks 15:46, 3 October 2005 (UTC)
I disagree, this is the truth about PC game sales. User:Garric 17:38, 4 October 2005
That they are declining in the US? It would appear so, but could you please cite a source for the statistics and the statement that you attributed to analysts. Also, the article does exchibit an obvious bias against PC games in general and contains several factual inaccuracies. Anetode 06:45, 4 October 2005 (UTC)
The reason I suggested the page move Garric was that it doesn't contain information about PC game sales except where they document the decline of them in the US, that is all the page at present presents. For example, the very first sentence is quick to point out that "PC game sales have been on the decline..." Although this may well be accurate, it is still information on the decline of sales, not actually on the sales themselves. Mallocks 08:56, 4 October 2005 (UTC)
It does contain information: There is a chart at the bottom of the page that shows US PC game sales. And PC Sale's decline is also part of game sales, I provided a bit of outside information before giving the cold hard facts. --Garric 14:41, 4 October 2005 (UTC)
- The chart provides some data on 7 years of a market that has been around for over two decades, it is a small sample that is used exclusively to try and substantiate a perceived trend. This chart also seems to be borrowed wholesale from http://journal.pcvsconsole.com/?thread=15831, where no direct link to the quoted PC sales figures is offered. Since you are attempting to write an encyclopedia article, you should be aware that to make sweeping, generalized statements based on the unconfirmed research of others and then to attempt to pass off the result as a definitive account of a market is a bit of a faux paus. What would be more appropriate for wikipedia is an article that covers the history of pc game sales (including cited sales figures that encompass both the infancy and current state of the market and a small overview of the performance of competing markets [including warez ]) and an analysis of recent trends, which would combine primary and secondary sources to offer a neutral interpretation of which way the market is currently headed. Please check out the following helpful guidelines: Wikipedia:No original research, Wikipedia:How_to_write_a_great_article. - Anetode 16:11, 4 October 2005 (UTC)
The reason that that part is only the 7 years of the market was because that's when the information on total PC game sales began to be gathered, there were no PC game sales before this point and I'd like to see any information otherwise. And sorry for not citing my source, I'm going to add more to the article today and I'll be sure to add it. --Garric 22:25, 4 October 2005 (UTC)
- This is false, the NPD group has been collecting PC game sales data for far longer than seven years (as have numerous other business research firms). The data you have quoted from "chairmansteve" is limited since it was derived from DFC intelligence, a company that has been operating since only '95. - Anetode 20:54, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
- Well, here's your chance to edit the article and put in the correct information -- OOPS it's identical to NPD's data, which also has no records of PC game sales before 98. --Garric 04:44, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
- Just for the heck of it: Mindbranch - U.S. Market for Video Games & Interactive Electronic Entertainment
- U.S. Sales for PC Entertainment Software: 1996-2001
- U.S. Sales for PC Entertainment Software by Storage Media: 1993-1996
- U.S. Sales for PC Entertainment Software by Operating System: 1994-1997
- PC Game Unit Sales by Price Points: 1997
- & many others, a real bargain at 2995$ for the package. Or you can get a lot more data (that covers earlier years) from NPD, but it'll cost you about ~15,000$ for a years subscription.
- In any case you're right in that the data for these seven years is sufficient to show a continuing decline in US PC Game Sales. As this article now deals primarily with this topic, and since the data is cited (I'm going to add a link to DFC as well), I've no further concerns. Anetode 06:55, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
Suggested reasons for a decline in PC games sales since 1999:
- Increasing number of mods for games extending the time gamers play each game.
- Growth in online gameplay due to broadband also extends the life of each game.
- Fewer quality games available due to increasing development budgets.
- Growing 2nd hand market due to online auctions.
- More piracy due to faster internet downloads.
Perhaps the sales figures of graphics cards would give a better picture of the number of PC gamers? --Anon 00:17, 10 January 2006 (GMT)
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[edit] MMO
Income from MMO games may amount to up to $1.2 billion in additional revenue, though I suspect the numbers are closer to $0.5 billion. The best source I've found so far is http://www.mmogchart.com/ but this does not seem to give a dollar estimate. I'm also not sure if this includes revenue from consoles (do consoles even have pay-for-MMO games?). Anyway, this is all revenue from PC game sales even if it is debateably second-hand revenue. Anyone have any better sources for information on this? --Yamla 13:42, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
- From [1]:
- Even more Themis Group news is the announcement they made, regarding the MMO gaming industry becoming a $1.3 Billion revenue source for 2004. Per their press release:
- "That represents impressive growth from 2002's total revenue of an estimated $766 million in subscriptions, advertising and sponsored content," remarked Themis Group CEO and co-founder Alex Macris. "It's clear that the online gaming portion of the industry continues to experience surging growth, especially in the area of subscription-based games. In calendar 2004 alone, we expect to see over $1.1 billion in total subscription revenues for persistent worlds, such as EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies and Final Fantasy Online."
- This data was probably provided to Themis by DFC (the source of 1998-2004 pc game sales data already referenced here). --Anetode 10:21, 8 October 2005 (UTC)
- Forgot to mention that the above is worldwide revenue Anetode
- Blizzard announced 5.5 million subscribers for World of Warcraft, many months ago. Subscribers pay $15/month, or $180/year. So their annual subscription sales were $0.99 billion at that point, and they have surely undergone continued growth, because they continue to open new servers, and overpopulation on the old ones is a real problem. That's one company alone, admittedly the heavyweight at this juncture... but I think it's clear what's behind the decline in PC game sales. Shyland 21:39, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Worldwide?
Why is this just in the US? From my knowledge, it's declining worldwide. --Garric 01:48, 15 October 2005 (UTC)
I believe that it's declining in retail and these sales do not reflect on internet purchases. ZuljinRaynor 21:33, 26 November 2005 (UTC)
Please note That this does not include online sales or mmo monthly sales Big C
[edit] Elder Scrolls
The Elder Scrolls IV (TES) is not being primeraly delevoped for the console, but more or less equaly for both. I think. http://www.elderscrolls.com/games/oblivion_faq.htm
They just say that 24.5.212.82
[edit] List of PC games?
Does Wikipedia have a list of PC games? Forgive my lack of researching abilities if I for whatever reason just can't find it, but there's lists of games for all the consoles and for Macs etc, but why no list for PC games? Thanks! --164.107.92.120 01:39, 14 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] 2005 Citation
According to the press release at the link provided in the article 2005 sales of PC games actually in increased to $1.4 billion. I leave it to the original author to speculate what this may or may not mean. ~ Dao
Edit: After more research I see the problem may be with the way the data is compiled. As noted by another comment above more money is going to MMO's for subscriptions. As this type of content competes for much of the same market as retail box sales it seems using figures that only count the retail box sales is misleading. The total market is larger and NPD in the cited press release included MMO subscription revenue in their total. If the intent of the article is to inform the reader on the decline of retail box sales perhaps the name of the article could be changed to reflect this.
It is not my intent to pick on the original author as I think the subject is notable. It seems however the article would benefit from more research and some work to clarify exactly what changes in the industry are taking place. Once this is done perhaps this would make a good subsection in one of the general articles on the games segment of the entertainment industry. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.81.35.136 (talk • contribs) 23:04, 3 December 2006 (UTC).
- Why is the 2005 citation incorrect, the article states 1.4 billion which includes digital subscriptions yet somebody has changed it to 1.6 billion? Where is your source? Also should subscriptions be included in a list of what I'm assuming is retail game sales? Shouldn't it be 1.05 billion?nutcrackr 00:36, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] 2006 Data
Anyone has the 2006 data add it.
[edit] Source
[2] mentions a decline in PC sales. - A Link to the Past (talk) 23:47, 14 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] 'PC game sales' redirect
Is there any reason for the page entitled PC Game Sales to redirect to this page? It seems odd that there is an article discussing 'Decline of PC game sales in the US' without there being any discussion of PC game sales in general (as well as NPOV concerns). Careless hx 01:46, 5 March 2007 (UTC)
