Console wars no...The real war is PC and consoles at war!

(BR1GAND) #41

There is a lot of hype on these new consoles about how they look and how the graphics have improved. I think if you’re going to spend a lot of time on something it had better be a bit more useful then just playing the game(s) you like.

Wils im just trying to say Id rather use one main device for gaming and the host of other things I do online.

I also think consoles tend to separate the gaming community where the PC does the opposite. If there was a way to put out a console PC at or below current console prices that could match the performance and quality of these newer consoles, that would solve everything, global warming would stop and world peace would ensue.

(Wils) #42

To be fair, the graphics have improved, and I see as much hype about PC games in that respect. Your point is still valid because, as formats, the Playstation and Xbox have marketing departments, and the PC does not… yet. If hype itself bothers you and affects your enjoyment of a game, fair enough.

If you’d rather just have one piece of hardware that does everything, that’s also fair enough. I prefer to pick and choose, but I realise it’s subjective and not everyone likes the sort of games you get on a console any more than your average PC gamer automatically likes MMORPGs or RTS’.

I’m not sure what you mean about consoles seperating the gaming community - I don’t think there is ‘a gaming community’. There are certainly communities around games, but I don’t think that even extends to genres, much less gaming as a whole. Unless you play Call of Duty, how many CoD players do you chat to daily? I don’t know a single ‘hardcore’ Starcraft player, or anyone currently playing FFXI online. We come together, somewhat apathetically, to defend our choice of hobby against external opinion of it, but that’s about it.

(ouroboro) #43

Well said!

(BR1GAND) #44

Admittedly the term “Gaming Community” is used loosely here. Nothing formal is meant by the term, just the functional reality that we have in the Internet. In general you cant play console games with PC players or visa versa (although there are exceptions). I might ask a friend at work if he likes to play a certain game (lets say ET) if he is a console gamer, hes going to discover pretty quick that we cant play it. Now if on the other-hand hes a PC gamer, but pretty much only plays RTS type games I might have a chance to talk him into installing ET and learning the game or at least I might install his game on my PC and play that. More to the point there is a big financial difference in buying a console in order to play something new with someone new and buying just a game thats PC compatible. What I meant is PCs are more inclusive, less proprietary and on many occasions open source. Consoles are in direct contrast of this and functionally separate “us” as gamers.

BTW I know quite a few COD players ect ect. I enjoy playing FPS, RTS and RPGs from time to time. I also help run a cross-genre gaming website.

(Wils) #45

I have to say, that’s a rather weak example - the same is obviously true if he asks you if you want a game of anything over Xbox live and you don’t have an Xbox. Don’t forget that ET is something of an exception to the rule here - most games are not free, and he’ll usually still have to buy a copy of the game you both want to play. Not only that, but if he wants to play a recent game he needs to have spent much more than the price of a console on an up-to-date PC.

More to the point there is a big financial difference in buying a console in order to play something new with someone new and buying just a game thats PC compatible.

Yes, if you don’t own the console. The same is obviously true if your PC isn’t good enough to play the game, too, and that typically works out much more expensive over time than buying a console each time a new one comes out.

What I meant is PCs are more inclusive, less proprietary and on many occasions open source. Consoles are in direct contrast of this and functionally separate “us” as gamers.

I don’t understand how any of this is relevant to gaming, or even what you’re saying here. How is a PC more inclusive? What does that mean? How does the proprietary nature of consoles adversely affect the quality of the games? I would contend that, in fact, it improves the majority of them, since developers write for a stable platform with a consistent control interface.

I think your point about seperation of gamers only applies to people like yourself who don’t play console games. I can play Quake 3 against someone and then break for a game of Guitar Hero with that same person. They’re just games - where is the seperation? What do you mean here?

BTW I know quite a few COD players ect ect. I enjoy playing FPS, RTS and RPGs from time to time.

I think you’ve missed my point there - how do you know them? If it’s not from playing CoD, how did you get in touch? I still contend that gamers who don’t share any interests don’t generally seek each other out. To use an analogy, it’s like suggesting there’s a ‘music community’ where people who like Radiohead regularly chat to Carcass fans, just because they both like music of some kind.

(BR1GAND) #46

No, you can’t, obviously - any more than you could play Xbox games on a PC. The PC is not better at this, somehow; it’s still only one format.

If I buy the top 3 consoles on the market is that cheaper then an “up-to-date” PC? How much will the games cost me?

Buying all three consoles is still cheaper than an up-to-date PC, and gives you three times the games to choose from (bearing in mind duplicate franchises vs the larger selection of games available on consoles).

… if you own both a PC and a Console or multiple console platforms… Id say you’d get more value on the PC upgrade.

I certainly wouldn’t - If I don’t own a PS2, I can buy a PS2 and have an absolutely staggering selection of games to choose from. Upgrading your PC is more of a guarantee of availability of future titles than anything else. It won’t expand your choices much beyond the very latest titles (assuming you already have a PC that you game on).

I dont understand how a person in your position could not see the relevance… PCs are more inclusive (def=Broad in scope or content) in that they do so much more than consoles, many “non-gaming” features such as Forums, MIRC, Xfire, and VoIP can add a lot of value to a PC gamers experience at no additional expense… I think that has plenty of relevance dont you?

To a small segment of the market, sure. Most people don’t use any of that, but it’s a good point (and I at least understand what you mean, now :)).

BTW I never said the proprietary nature of consoles effects quality, but it does effect things like upgrading and 3rd party development which in the end gives the consumer less CHOICE. Console manufacturers are very protective of anyone else making a buck of their systems…ask Bleem.

Upgrading isn’t an issue for consoles, since you don’t have to upgrade to play newer games for the life of the console (which itself is typically longer than the life of any major PC upgrade). Third party development is pretty key to FPS games, in the form of mods, but is a little more niche for everything else that I can think of. This is a growing area for consoles, but they have some catching up to do.

And you missed mine… I never said “gamers that dont share any interests seek each other out”… In effect Im saying many gamers generally do share interests and those that do should be able to seek each other out more easily. See the difference?

When did you make this point? You replied to my point saying that you knew some CoD players and ran a general gaming website, which isn’t the same as what you’re saying above. I see your point about the community aspect, though - but again, I still see that as a niche interest, because the vast majority of gamers don’t post on forums or sit on IRC.

I wouldn’t swap my PC for anything (I’m about to upgrade it again for ETQW, ironically), but I don’t accept that consoles are for casual gamers any more than PC’s are just for spreadsheets and email. Let’s just agree to disagree there :slight_smile:

[edit: bugger, I think I clicked edit instead of quote when replying. Sorry - hopefully it still makes sense :slight_smile: - Wils]

OMG Wils you hijacked my Avatar… Ok you win the aurgument due to my lack of Admin-ness! :banghead:

(Centurion) #47

I’ll always be a PC gamer but after seeing the Nintendo Wii presentation at E3 I’m all over it. Finally something new that isn’t just about looking better. It just seems like the other consoles rehash the same titles with better graphics over and over again. PC games do this to but to a lesser extent.

I want good VR PC gaming within 10 years dammit! At least the Wii is making an attempt at doing something in that direction.

(SniperSteve) #48

PC > Consoles. No debate thats just how it is. Anyone who claims otherwise no matter with how much evidence is to be completely and 100% ignored.

Consoles are also game only. With my PC I can do other stuff like programming, development, data management, watch and burn video, listen and burn audio, network, study, communicate, surf the web, and of course, play a huge ammount of games. I can also duel boot my PC, repair it easily, upgread it with ease, and tweak it.

All the console can do is play games. Of course you can get the newer ones that let you play music, videos and stuff, but nothing like what the PC can do. Consoles FTL.

(MuffinMan) #49

I guess the line between consoles and pc’s is going to vanish anyway, consoles are not that different from pc’s anymore and you find more and more mini barebones and similar to show/record dvd’s, play mp3 and a lot more stuff. you get the same controllers for pc and consoles. you could very well use a barebone instead of a console - at least on the usual home tv it makes no difference as tv resolution sucks anyway. at least that’s the case for most tv’s if you want to argue that you have a really great big tv with great sound, resolution and blah blah then you should rethink if consoles really are that much cheaper.

what still forces players to decide between consoles or pc’s is the games and for which system they are released. a friend of mine does that - last time it was “god of war” that he really wanted to play so he bought it together with the console…

what I really hope is that new games support opengl and directx and use standards that make them easy to port to other hardware so that the player can choose his favorite system

(Zyklon) #50

That was already said about 10 years ago. the fact is, PCs and consoles will coexist. Consoles are much more simple than computers, and mainly made for gaming. They are merely merging with other medias (TV, Radio, online MP, DVDs, Audio CDs…) and becoming ctual home enterntainment systems, but that’s it.
They’ll never be as good as PCs for chatting, surfing, programming, playing certain games, etc. unless they become almost a PC in themselves.

(MuffinMan) #51

that’s what I see coming at least for the big consoles like xbox or playstation

(BR1GAND) #52

Nice job on my last post Wils… How can I make an aurgument when the moderator edits and changes my posts… Moderator privelages FTW!

(Wils) #53

Moderator? Admin, more like. Anyway, sorry - Too much time on other forums which actually have a quote button :confused:

(Zyklon) #54

[quote=“MuffinMan”]

that’s what I see coming at least for the big consoles like xbox or playstation[/quote]

Voicehcat maybe, but you certainly can’t browse the web, write emails, play RTS or FPS (real ones, not dumbed-down-for-console ones) or code on a console because you just have a controller, and you also lack a HD.
But you’re actually making a Mac (not a PC, a PC can still be customised a lot) out of the console by adding elements such as keyboards, mouses, HDDs, etc.
And something inbetween just wouldn’t work. It would lack the flexibility of a PC, yet be too complicated and overload to be a comp.

There will always be consoles and PCs, get used to it.

(SCDS_reyalP) #55

Just FWIW, HDs are pretty common for consoles these days (the original xbox included one, while for the 360 you need to buy the ‘premium’ package).

It’s obvious that as the console becomes less of a dedicated games box and more of a ‘media hub’ it will start to get more PC like characteristics.

(Salteh) #56

:o

I too have clicked Edit instead of Quote a few times. Always realised I got the wrong one before clicking submit though :drink:

(BR1GAND) #57

Moderator? Admin, more like. Anyway, sorry - Too much time on other forums which actually have a quote button

Yes I agree, a quote button would be nice. As Admin, I implore to you to fix that, and the search feature too.
:eek3:

(Zyklon) #58

[quote=“SCDS_reyalP”]

Just FWIW, HDs are pretty common for consoles these days (the original xbox included one, while for the 360 you need to buy the ‘premium’ package).

It’s obvious that as the console becomes less of a dedicated games box and more of a ‘media hub’ it will start to get more PC like characteristics.[/quote]

I know about that, but they are mostly there as a replacement to memory cards. No real need to format your HDD for example.

And yes they become more of a media hub, seeing as they integrate support to play DVDs, to listen to Audio CDs, play video games even online, and yes they acquire some PC hardware through that process (it would be silly to include no DVD player in a modern console). But this doesn’t change the fact that PCs are still more versatile, flexible and customisable.

Well after thinking more about it, maybe consoles will become dumbed down computers for the masses, systems they don’t need to set up over a whole day, where everything is automated and they don’t control anything, except for which one of their films/CDs/games they want to play.
I guess us nerds will still use the PC, but the biggest part of the population will probably be sitting in front of their console.

(BR1GAND) #59

Serious console gaming websites and linkage…

Please post below if you know any. (BTW anyone know any good console gaming clans?)

(Wils) #60

Are you telling me you have a quote button? All I’ve got is this chuffing edit one…