Talk:PC game

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Former good articlePC game was one of the Sports and recreation good articles, but it has been removed from the list. There are suggestions below for improving the article to meet the good article criteria. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.
Article milestones
DateProcessResult
September 13, 2006WikiProject peer reviewReviewed
October 3, 2006Good article nomineeListed
October 30, 2006Peer reviewReviewed
August 6, 2009Good article reassessmentDelisted
Current status: Delisted good article

History of computer games[edit]

The article mentions the spacewar game as one of the earliest computer games, but surely there are earlier examples? For instance I came across mention that a machine in 1954 was set up to play Nim with visitors at an "open day" at a university. Perhaps those more familiar with computing history can name even earlier examples? EverGreg (talk) 20:27, 17 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

DRMs[edit]

I'm surprised nothing is mentioned about the implementation of digital rights management by several big name developers/publishers (Valve with just about any Valve Steam game, 2K Games for BioShock, Electronic Arts for Spore, Rockstar Games for Grand Theft Auto IV, Ubisoft for Assassin's Creed II) over the years. It's controversial, yes, but it's very well documented. So why is there no word on it? - 60.50.253.82 (talk) 18:17, 19 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]


Oh, boy![edit]

Alright lads? Heh heh. I think there should be an article which starts with "a computer game is the kind of game which is played by the use of a computer", like the Swedish wikipedia article 'datorspel'.


They are?[edit]

"As of the 2000's, PC games are often regarded as offering a deeper and more complex experience than console games"

Aren't the majority of pc games released also released on console now? And which games and just... What? That seems like a silly and somewhat biased statement even if you think that's good sourcing. 69.204.74.28 (talk) 00:46, 7 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]


The three links all talk about the differences between pc games and console games, but they still agree that pc games and console games just inherently focus on different things. I think the original statement above may not necessarily be wrong, but the wording may be confusing the meaning. A better way to say it may be "a different experience" rather than "deeper and more complex".

In any case, the sentence does not fit in with the context of the opening paragraph, nor does the rest of the article return to the topic of pc games v. console games, so I'm not sure I see a point for it being there at all. Teapotarius (talk) 01:08, 6 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]


The statement sticks out like a sore thumb, and in its current form has no place in this article. I'm deleting it, with the hope that if someone puts it back, they do so by telling who says PC games are deeper and more immersive, why they think that, what the opposing view is, and most of all, why any of that is important and of encyclopaedic value. Whimper (talk) 11:20, 13 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Personal Computer game or any computer game?[edit]

I have a problem with the way this article is addressed. The title is Personal Computer game , but then right at the start it mentions SpaceWar! as an example... well, that's just wrong because SpaceWar! was only playable in a room-sized computer, several years before the first PC.

Even if the article was about any computer, in general, SpaceWar! would still be an inaccurate example because there are official records of computer games starting as early as 1939/1940 (NIMATRON) - that's about 15 years before SpaceWar!.

I don't want to make changes without discussing the subject, so any opinions are appreciated.

Raven-14 (talk) 17:08, 31 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Image copyright problem with File:Crysis Engine.png[edit]

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Windows games[edit]

Why is this article in the category Category:Windows games? This article is about personal computer games in general, not specifically about Windows games. It is true that this article mostly concerns Windows games, and Windows is the most popular games environment today, but that doesn't mean that personal computer games are equal to Windows games. Windows isn't even the only games environment today, just the most popular one. Some of the modern games are also released for MacOS and/or Linux. JIP | Talk 15:47, 16 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 1[edit]

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: page moved. Arbitrarily0 (talk) 02:59, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Personal computer game → PC game – Common name. Search returns: PC game, 414, personnel computer game 36. Marcus Qwertyus 01:53, 25 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

  • Support; it's a little lot surprising that this ever received the current title in the first place. Powers T 12:04, 25 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    • Though, actually, I would even more strongly support a move to Computer game, which redirects here. Powers T 12:05, 25 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • Per Powers, I also think that Computer game is the most common name. Jenks24 (talk) 06:06, 29 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • 416 FYI. Though it's 380 after subtracting the "personnel computer game" results. Marcus Qwertyus 06:36, 29 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    • Thanks for the stats. I've thought about it, and I support PC game, as it appears to be the common name and Hellknowz's reasoning below is sound. Jenks24 (talk) 02:37, 1 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • I am a bit unsure how to interpret WP:TITLE here, so I'll just go by the main points. We generally avoid abbreviations in titles (unless exclusively known by abbreviation, and search results above are not exclusive to "PC"). However, search results suggest "PC" might be the common name, although I suspect (read: speculate) it is because saying "PC" is easier and catchier than "personal computer". Now, for consistency, PC is used more than personal computer on Wikipedia. Precision would be using either "PC" or "personal computer", not "computer", considering most computers are not personal computers. So, I suppose in the end I convinced myself to support move to "PC Game" as common name, consistent with most other pages, albeit an exception to avoiding abbreviations. —  HELLKNOWZ  ▎TALK 21:29, 29 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Personal computer game[edit]

The title should be personal computer game not PC game as PC refers only to the IBM PC and its clones. SpeakFree (talk)(contribs) 14:07, 19 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Nobody calls them that, though. Computer game would be fine, and probably more accurate, so long as Mac games (and others) are included in the scope. Powers T 18:20, 19 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, this article covers e.g. ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and other 8-bits, which were not generally called "PC games". PC meant IBM-compatible. It should be moved. Equinox ◑ 19:26, 5 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]
What about Amiga? MSX? Atari home computers? Amstrad CPC? Tucvbif (talk) 16:43, 29 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Pro-Tip: You're responding to comments made 5-10 years ago. I wouldn't expect a response. You should probably start up a new discussion, either here or at WT:VG, if you wish to get feedback and WP:CONSENSUS on this. Sergecross73 msg me 18:48, 31 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Renaming this[edit]

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: No consensus to move Mike Cline (talk) 01:45, 26 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]


PC game → Computer game – Common name.

  • The common name is "computer game". I have never heard anyone call it a PC game or a personal computer game. That's just ridiculous. Google news archive search shows 13,100 results for "computer game" and only 5,350 results for PC game. Also PC is used for IBM compatible, as oppose to Macs. So its misleading. Macintosh had a massive ad campaign where you had a guy saying he was PC and another saying he was Mac. For decades PC referred to just one type of computer. Anyway, everyone please post where you support or oppose this rename. Dream Focus 20:14, 18 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment Macs are generally considered a form of PCs, since the collapse of Mac marketshare under John Sculley, even if the Mac vs PC commercials from Apple are only a few years old. "home computer" and "microcomputer" are also sometimes used as synonyms... (the PC revolution is actually the microcomputer revolution... and home computer doesn't cover business computers) ; There is also the fact that computer games exist on non-micros, such as Colossal Cave which existed on minicomputers (or midrange in IBM parlance) such as the PDP-7 and PDP-11... and *nix & X/* games which also existed on workstations and servers and minis... 76.65.128.198 (talk) 06:32, 19 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose - Always referred to as PC gaming in the 21st century. See this review site or others where the game being reviewed is always referred to as a PC game. Note that the search result numbers provided by Google are about as accurate as a random number generator. I don't know why they even provide these numbers if they aren't accurate. Marcus Qwertyus 14:22, 19 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
It was Google news archive search. That means that a lot more news reviews call them "computer games" than "PC games". Dream Focus 14:45, 19 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose - to be clear, there is a related discussion going on at WT:VG. "Computer game" is used in British vernacular the same way that "video game" is in the US. If this article is to stay in its current form, then a far more accurate title would be PC gaming, as this article discusses hardware, genres, distribution, etc., but does little-to-nothing to describe the games themselves (just aspects related to them). ▫ JohnnyMrNinja 01:53, 20 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Could you post some evidence from highly reliable sources, like major newspapers and popular magazines? – Pnm (talk) 21:59, 22 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    I don't have any specific refs that say "British people call video games computer games", but I can easily give you anecdotal evidence, and the best definitions I have are at the discussion at WT:VG. From the BBC, "computer games" used to describe (Wii U, Nintendo DS, Wii Fit Plus, generic video games (list one actually talks about "computer games" in general terms and then talks about specific "PC-based software"). This one is for English learners ("PlayStation took over my life"), "There's nothing better than beating your mates on a good computer game on the Xbox or Playstation", Ecstasy pills found in X-Box computer game, PlayStation computer gamer wins competition, etc., etc. I think there's enough conflation to challenge the COMMONNAME argument. ▫ JohnnyMrNinja 22:31, 22 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    Gosh, that sucks. Thanks for posting those. After looking at them I so see your point. – Pnm (talk) 23:35, 22 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support, per my comments at the last RM. Though I caution Dream Focus that "PC game" is not ridiculous at all; it would be better to avoid such hyperbolic statements. The problem here is that "PC game" traditionally refers to games that are playable on "PCs," that is, Intel/AMD processors running some variant of Windows or DOS. "Computer game" is more inclusive and allows discussion of games that are playable under MacOS or other operating systems. Powers T 16:00, 20 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose - Although some good points have been made, it really should come down to the content of the article and how the subject is approached in pop culture. The term computer is a superset of consoles, mobile devices, Macs, PCs, etc., and should only be used as the title of an article that discusses them all. PC game or perhaps PC gaming, on the other hand, more accurately reflects the content of the current article and the industry as a whole. It may seem unfair to Mac users who also have a decent selection of game titles, but the truth is that most if not all computer games in the past two decades have been designed with Windows in mind. Then a select few are ported over to the Mac OS. Major reputable game sites such as IGN and Gamespot list the category as PC instead of computer. An "everything" search on google produces 4 times as many hits searching for "PC game" (even if the number itself is not accurate, it's the ratio that counts). News article counts can be misleading. The same AP report can be published dozens of times over at several news sites. These are not unique references in my opinion. GoneIn60 (talk) 16:22, 22 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • Not every source uses that term though. IGN might just use it because its shorter and can fit on their toolbar with the other things. Xbox 360 PS3 Wii PC 3DS Vita iPhone. Gamespot has on its toolbar Xbox 360 PC PS3 Wii 3DS iPhone Android. And for a far longer period of time "computer game" was used instead. Before the internet, did magazines ever call something a PC game that wasn't for IBM compatible? Dream Focus 17:18, 22 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • If every source used the same term, we wouldn't be having this discussion! While it may or may not be true about the convenience of choosing "PC" over "computer" to save space on a toolbar, that is a bit of a stretch to speculate either way. Regarding the "longer period of time" claim, I'm not so sure that matters at this point. All mainstream computers today are based on the PC architecture. GoneIn60 (talk) 21:45, 22 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • The problem is not being unfair to Mac uses, but accurately reflecting the scope of this article. If its scope is to include Mac games, as it probably should, then the current title is not reflective of that. Powers T 01:07, 24 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose per JohnnyMrNinja. In American English, at least in highly reputable sources, console games are not included in computer games, but are included in video games. So according to that, this move would obviously be a good idea because it's the common name. In British English "computer game" does include console games, which makes it a bad title for this article and suggests that Computer game should be a disambiguation page instead. I don't like the current title but the proposed title is worse. – Pnm (talk) 23:43, 22 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Comment - Even if the article were confined to American English, I'm not so sure I would agree with the move even then. Although console games are separate in the U.S., the term "computer" can apply to a wider range of devices beyond the console that are not currently mentioned in the article. GoneIn60 (talk) 19:29, 23 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

There are 62,262,000 people in the United Kingdom and 312,833,000 people in the United States of America. So five times as many people only say "computer" when they mean a personal computer, not a video game on something other than a personal computer. Canada has 34,692,000 and Australia has 22,800,812, with New Zealand having 4,414,400 people. If anyone is from one of those nations, can you tell us what they call it there? We should go by what most people in the world call something, not just what one group calls them in one nation. Dream Focus 19:37, 25 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Another issue[edit]

Should every single article with (computer game) in its title be renamed (video game)? Why not (PC game) if its only for the personal computer? [1] Dream Focus 19:12, 25 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Digital signal processor[edit]

The original Sound Blaster's DSP wasn't a digital signal processor. It was a "digital sound processor" (nothing more than a common micro-controller), it was a marketing move. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.155.194.191 (talk) 07:08, 12 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

This feels too US-centric.[edit]

I don't actually know how to fix that, but as someone who might just squeeze into the "bedroom coder"[1] set mentioned early on in the article I think that the experience and progression described here wasn't quite the same in Europe. In the UK we seemed to move straight from "Pong" on a TV to "ZX81", though perhaps the more affluent kids saw intermediate stages.

[1] I did code in my bedroom, and the games did sell commercially. They are probably all now rightfully forgotten. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.36.223.243 (talk) 23:21, 5 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Ref idea[edit]

  • Farokhmanesh, Megan (May 1, 2015). "PC gaming is getting its own press conference at E3 2015". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on May 1, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); no-break space character in |title= at position 52 (help)</ref>

czar ⨹ 16:31, 1 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

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"Computer game" listed at Redirects for discussion[edit]

A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Computer game. The discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2021 April 18#Computer game until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. Popcornfud (talk) 15:05, 18 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

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