Valve has
partnered with gaming ISP, Speakeasy.net, to poll the PC gaming public. Just what is out
there? What kinds of computers do you folks have? How fast is your connection? How much
RAM, baby? The results are a bit surprising if you've heard the lowest common denominator
rhetoric of web design courses and instructional manuals. But gaming is an ever-evolving
industry, both for producer and player, and those who do not keep up do not, can
not, keep playing.
- In a survey of over 300 thousand PC gamers,
Valve and Speakeasy.net found these startling facts:
- Only about 20% of gamers use a 56Kb or slower
modem connection.
- About 53% of gamers use a broadband (DSL,
cable, ISDN) connection, while a full 25% use a T1 connection.
- Over 75% of gamers have between 256MB and
512MB of RAM in their PCs.
- About 40% of gamers have processors operating
at between 700Mhz and 1000Mhz.
- The Riva TNT2 and GeForce 2MX video cards are
the most popular; each are sported in just over 22% of gamers' machines, making up about
45% of the video cards out there.
PC games have long been known for their close
relationship to the hardware industry. As new PC titles are developed, gamers are forced
to upgrade their systems. There was a perception, a sort of conventional wisdom, that PC
gamers were often running a step behind game developers. However, this data seems to
refute that idea. It looks like gamers are staying nice apace of the developers. Stats
like these far outweigh most system requirements listed for new titles.
If you would like to see the actual numbers
of the survey and draw your own conclusions, click here.
Shawn
Rider |