Oh, man...that is one of the greatest header images (and captions) in recent memory.

WHY PENIS WHY???

Holy !@$%!

I was hoping that I would be the penis...

I'm a foot?

Mean business? Try running scared. Crysis may have done more harm than good to PC gaming.

PC Twin powers activate! Form of an adventure game.

What?! I don't want to be the ditsy blond princess! I wanna be the red one!!! I'm not playing unless I get to be the red one!!!! *pout*

Another reason why PC gaming will inevitably win the good fight. PC I love you. *Cuddles with Tower*

@njsykora

While I agree with console over PC for the most part that comic isn't about PC's at all. The DMC4 for PS3 installs itself onto your hard drive. So yea....kind of a stretch to use that comic even though it does have a lot of the same sentiments.

Back then you could make the argument that consoles were more thrifty but now you are paying 500+ for a system that might RROD or fail in some other way. Consoles are becoming more expensive and are becoming more faulty. FYI: Gaming PCs are about 1000 and run most games really well.

I am quite happy they are at least giving their attention back to the PC market :D, pc gaming will never die, nor will it be lower than the rest. And it really isn't right now either, the NPD doesn't track digital / subscription sales and that is a huge chunk of the PC gaming market, especially through valve's steam program. Just try to comprehend how many people are buying all of those damn games through steam these days.. and there are a SHIT load of games on steam now.

Another thing is, its hard to really compare 'consoles' to 'pc' in terms of sales.. consoles are multiple platforms and the pc is just one platform. Sales for PC games are all put together as one, where as sales from consoles come from every single console. So you can have Game A) sold on PC - and get its numbers from there.. but then you have Game B) which was purchased on console 1, console 2, console 3, and handheld 1 and 2. And they put those together with the 'console market' group. So ofcourse its going to seem consoles are 'dominating' and pc's are dieing but that really isn't the case at all.

....good point so that means AMD is a cheating wench :/
Poor ATI will have it's heart broken and so close to Valentine's Day too...

Consoles will eventually win !!!!

Sorry but i think that ONE machine that never needs upgrades will always win over a machine that has bugs, conficts and patchs to fix your version.

Also computer games are sooooo much easier to copy. No modchip needed and i think THAT really hurts pc gamming. Activision even said soo when they saw all the pirated version of call of duty connecting to their servers.

Even thought i think that PC gamming IS better because it soo versatile and you don't need to buy the machine from a company to play those games.... i think that the need to always UPGRADE and the "update your drivers and find the patch" is getting old. I was a pc gamer about 10 years back but i got tired of looking for answers on forums......

I like to just buy a game, put it in the cd tray and press play and not have to worry is my video card is strong enough and what graphics settings should i pick to have the best experience !!!!

PLUG AND PLAY !!!!! EASY = BETTER

It won't work. No, it will fail because the very market of personal computing isn't with it. It'll fall short of everything.

But even the token of it is nice. If AMD and its biggest competitors all have enough cojones to pal up and try to save... er, themselves - then, while it certainly won't save it, it should make the passing of PC gaming "as comfortable as possible".

I wished arcades could be revived... It falling into extinction category right next to the DoDo.

PC gaming will always be there for CC, MMOs, Starcraft, Diablo ect... But NCsoft wants to change that trend...

Note that these are mostly hardware manufacturers. Microsoft is the only software-side corporation in this Voltron Alliance (not sure what Penis is though, I think it can be hard or soft).

I'm not exactly sure what a bunch of PC gaming hardware manufacturers can do except lower their prices and pressure OEMs to be more price competitive with consoles. I mean, if they are trying to compete with consoles, they are aiming at consumers who will buy a Dell gaming machine, not build their own.

I mean, what else can they do on their own without game publishers helping out? They should have at least added Steam and Blizzard to the alliance, basically the only two companies that are keeping PC gaming alive.

Either way - we WIN.

PC gaming was never "gone". It just needed an influx of super-titles that tell console mouth-breathers what platform they're whining from.

@Caffeine

Or maybe people just don't like PC gaming, maybe they enjoy sitting down in front of a big HD with a controller, maybe they don't care to spend a lot of money on a gaming rig when a $300 dollar console does the same thing(all PC gaming gets is better graphics, controls is subjective).

Or maybe people just want variety in their games, what's been the big releases for the PC so far, shooters and a single RPG, what's next for the PC? And RTS game and more shooters.

Let me guess, you're one of those guys that looks down on console owners because we play inferior versions of games?

PC gaming is bottom tier my friend, its never gonna die don't get me wrong but it will never reach the lofty heights it had in the 90's.

I'm fine with it so long as they don't make all the new games vista only...also, AMD?!?

PC games are so easy to pirate, I don't see why they keep trying so hard.

about time, thank goodness!!!! great pic too

alright I see alot of bullshit here. Point is, The mouse & keyboard is stronger than the pad.

every single games that are released on consoles can be released on a PC. which can support even those pads you're so fond of, ffs it can even use the wiimote.
unless consoles showed greater compatibility to PC working hardware, I'd be reconsidering.

All in all, whatever your PStriple does, PC does better. as far as I know, current consoles don't even support directX10 there goes your eye candy.

Vista is a huge steaming pile of shit though

@Sanitymask:

alright I see alot of bullshit here. Point is, The mouse & keyboard is stronger than the pad.
well I don't think so, I'll agree with you that it has a higher precision in FPS/strategy games, but I'll beat anyone in a racing/fighting/sports-game with a controller over a keyboard...

Also as mentioned in my previous reply, the keyboard+mouse just is not a comfortable way to play games compared to a gamepad...

at first I wasn't convinced about playing FPS on consoles either but eventually the feeling of comfort and a screen that's at least twice as big as my PC-screen won over the 'feeling' of precision...

gaming is my hobby, as in what I do in my spare time, I work on PC's at work the whole time and I thank god that I can just come home, throw myself in a comfortable seat and just play within the next minute ( contrary to having to boot my PC into a horribly slow OS ( compared to Linux/MacOsX ), thus also making it vulnerable to any 14-year-old script-kiddie in this world... and then having to start the game)

What the hell, I'm the BLUE lion? The one piloted by a chick?

Hopefully this alliance convinces developers to program more efficiently when porting console games to PC. The Assassin's Creed system specs are horrible. They also need to address the cost issue. The "I need to spend 2K on my computer to run the best games at 60 fps" is a total myth.

God I hope they're not full of shit.
Hey Microsoft, pro tip: port a buncha the 360 exclusives to PC, AT LEAST your first party shit, and get on that live anywhere 360 vs. PC shit for fuck's sake.

PC vs Consoles? Why yes, I do believe I smell some Internet all up in here.

Yeah, as fps_ted and others have said, nVidia + AMD/ATI just seems weird, almost "Sonic and Mario in the same game?! WTF?" weird.

Why are people claiming that PC gaming is worse because of the need for patches? If I recall correctly, ALL the modern consoles get patches now. And then people are ASKING for patches for the 360 TF2. Patches in themselves are not bad, especially if they add new content and features.

My only hope is that this "alliance" focuses on encouraging developers to write more efficient games that require less hardware. People look at Assassin's Creed and go "See? See? PC gaming is expensive," conveniently forgetting that you can run the Orange box on a toaster. RAM is cheap enough to give out at Halloween (You can get a GOOD 2GB kit for $40). AMD dominates the budget processor realm with great deals right now, and both nVidia and ATI have cards that run games decently for cheap. There is no good card for Crysis yet, but most games aren't Crysis.

Its good that MS are looking to address the pc problem, but PC is as much its own enemy as it is its best friend. One one hand its the hub of pro/indie game development, gaming and web surfing, and on the other its the route of piracy, keeping up with the Jones' annoying hardware/software problems etc.

I get that keyboard and mouse are good for some games, but those games are but a small portion of genres that consoles can do easily, and more besides. I've enjoyed a lot of PC gaming in the past, but the likes of hardware developers rule its castle, have killed it for me. This leaves them building a lofty hardware race that many of us can't bother with.

Consoles will always trump PCs, because their priority is games. Not hardware or software etc, games.

Hey PC gamers, come back and tell me how SSF2THD is on PC. Oh year, you guys aren't getting it (let alone any beat em ups). The reason behind this is PCs lack of solid 360 control pad support, something MS should be pushing more on PC, next to this alliance (I'll be watching to see if they do). Only then will PC gaming begging to thrive more next to consoles.

YESSSS!!!!

Oh boy, I love reading comments like this (not really).

It's like console fans have to constantly convince themselves that they have the superior platform every time an article about PC gaming shows up. Hey, if you like your console, why don't you just play it and stop throwing out 15-year old myths around? I mean, that's what PC gamers do. Play games. But from time to time we have to debunk the FUD that gets spread over the tubes.

What kind of FUD?

PC gaming is expensive: Yes and no. I've seen the good ol' "OMFG YOU NEED A $2000 MACHINE TO PLAY CRYSIS ON MEDIUM!" rant thrown out a lot. I just built a $800 machine (with some mild OC) a few weeks ago that runs Crysis on high with 40+ FPS, and that's not counting with the fabricated ingame benchmark. Obviously the cost is more than todays consoles, but it also a far cry (yay puns) from the $2000, or even $1000 (if you know where to luck) figure people throw out. Don't want to build it yourself? Add +$50-$75 for a local/small computer shop to make it for you.

PC gaming requires patches: Xbox Dashboard and game updates, Wii firmware updates, PS3 system software updates. WTF DO YOU THINK THESE ARE?! Newsflash: OSes and games are not pristine and perfect out of the box on any platform, including consoles. To slam PCs alone for this reason is petty. Installing patches and drivers on PC is a rather painless endeavour.

PC gaming is just shooters and WoW: I'm guessing the people who spew this out are regulars at GameStop that don't bother to give the time to look at "the other shelf". I would list all the non-shooter and non-MMO games I've played this year, but I know someone would throw a "but there's still more shooters!" line regardless. Let's just say that the FUD in question is false, especially when you add non-retail games into the equation.

My ran may seem a bit aggressive. But I just woke up and this was the first thing that popped up from my feed reader, and obviously my blood boils a bit when people spread misinformed "facts" about one of my hobbies around.

Oh, happy Valentine's Day! Remember to shower your console with chocolates, flowers and kisses.

Devastator will destroy Voltron.

Dryvby and MrElusive FTW

Seriously, a gaming PC costs about 1000 and a Xbox360 cost around 500+ when released. For 500 dollars more you get so much more power how is that a bad deal? And my PC isn't ever going to RROD on me and if something does go wrong with it I can just fix it myself. Can any of you open your Xbox360 and fix it?

So many comments... what forms blazing sword?!

Glorious Graphics

GOD FUCKING BLESS VOLTRON!

"And I'll form the head!" Oh, my head's formed alright...

Sorry i cant ever Spell right..... I meant Cash....not catch

Iam so Retarded...Duh!!!

Microsoft needs to stop using gaming as a way to force people to switch to vista. This alliance could mean better games to come to the pc, but if the gamers don't buy them (like what's happening now) the publishers will not invest in pc gaming.

I bet they're only gonna say something like "we are working together and have some strategies" and it will all be the same.

lol... microsoft has been working it's very hardest to destroy pc gaming :)

xbl brought online gaming en masse to consoles with things like universal friendslists...

it brought consoles into the high def era, directly competing with pc's.

it released dx10, which looks the exact same as dx 9 and is vista only, even though crysis in dx10 will action run on xp?

it released windows vista, which sucks performance wise for gaming...

It stole halo, bioshock, etc, that would have been pc exclusive games that were neutered to run on consoles.

seriously =) we'll see what happens, but all that really needs to happen is for the price of pc components to drop 75%, making it cost the same to build a console as build a new pc, given you have to build a new fucking pc every year just to keep up with the planned obsolescence strategy held by nvidia, amd, microsoft and intel themselves.

Ok, first of all most of you need to think of what a console really is and what it striving to be. Basically a console is nothing more than a basic computer, not allowing you to do anything other than play games. Secondly no matter what eventually a console will be a pc, sure it may not have different programs like word and exel, but it will be just a gaming pc. I don't know about most but i like being able to get on my pc and do what ever i want to it change what i want and make games or anything else i want. Can your console do that? NO! Besides pc gaming will never die because of 2 things. PC's will always be around. And 2 how the F! do you think you get your console games? thats right big shocker they are made and tested on a PC first so naturally why not go ahead and make them for both? besides anyone who likes having more brains and freedom in a game knows that consoles are promoting the down fall in children today.