Printer/scanner superstar Hewlett-Packard showed off its plans to enter the PC gaming market last night, and unsurprisingly there was an air of hostility towards those old-fangled games consoles the kids are talking about these days.
The first snipes came from a panel of industry leaders that included Games for Windows boss Rich Wickham and other gaming bods. "I believe the days of the console are numbered," said Trion World Network founder Lars Butler. "There is one more generation of gaming consoles and that is it," he claimed.
The broadband game publisher boss says that the gaming potential of PCs could render games consoles obsolete.
NVIDIA vice president Roy Taylor also painted a rosy future for the mouse and keyboard side of gaming: "Our advantage as developers is we know what is coming," he said. "And what is coming is far ahead of the console. You will see a huge difference between what you can get on a PC (personal computer) and a console."
HP plans to roll out a new line of gaming gear later this year including a curved computer display designed to immerse players in the action.
As PC tech climbs above the capabilities of the next-gen consoles it will certainly be interesting to see if the dooms day prophecies for PC gaming yet again turn out to be hot air. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
"You will see a huge difference between what you can get on a PC (personal computer) and a console".
That's true - and it will cost you over £1,000 pounds for all of the parts to be able to play the game - and a further £500+ to upgrade it so that you aren't playing your games with all of effects off and quality down.
I'm quite happy to pay £400 for the technically inferior PS3 and 360! Nintendo are going the right way and instead of just bulking up each generation (competing with everyone else), they're going off on one so that we have a completely difference experience.
As PC tech climbs above the capabilities of the next-gen consoles it will certainly be interesting to see if the dooms day prophecies for PC gaming yet again turn out to be hot air.
He did say they have one more generation so you'll have to wait about a decade or so to really see that, heh...
Anyway, they're being silly like the console manufacturers have been silly when reffering to PCs in the past. It is obvious that computers will surpass consoles at some point in the near-ish future but the technology introduced in computers will certainly be used to power the next generation of consoles as usual.
As long as computers keep improving, so will consoles, just in more spaced out time frames, which is one of their strengths (no constant upgrading) for the market they're going for after all.
To think they will become obsolette, especially when we see them incorporate more and more functions that originated on computers all the time, is pretty damn close minded to say the least. There will always be people that just want a games console and not a computer.
Not to mention Microsoft, which I would think know what's coming to PCs just as much as these "bosses", got in this industry for a reason and the reason is that it's a different market, co-existing with the computers market, and able to offer them additional revenue. Duh.
As for their accessories, eh, if that curved monitor really catches on (it won't), what's stopping people from hooking up consoles to them (and developers making games with the proper field of view options support)? I don't know what other crazy accessories they have in mind but crazy stuff never really catch on. Moreover, they are also not platform specific so as I keep saying in this post, consoles could eventually make use of them if they really offer something new and more importantly something good to gaming.
I occasionally play games on my PC, but it's a very solo based experience (except for the online chat). Consoles are far more family & friends orienated, sitting on the the sofa with my mates playing games is simply more fun and as "Live" has proven the online experience is just as good as a PC's.
A PC is good for a certain game type, consoles are good for a much broader appeal and more relaxed group experience. Consoles are here to stay, the machines themselves may evolve (online play, MMO titles, virtual control) but the Living room games console wil be there forever.
What a cretin they said the same thing in the days of the Commodore 64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum (after the Atari VCS and Intellivision and Colecovision all died down) and looked what happened there.
PC gamming will be around for a long time too yet, but that's because everyone uses PC's and PC's will evolve, never disappear. Consoles if you notice are forcing PC manufacturers to step their games up, you can now get a great 32" LCD 720P panel and a PS3 for the same as a decent games PC, yet this will sit in your lounge where the entertainment has been traditionally. The PC will again be seen as just a workhorse, Apple know this which is why they've concentrated on the things you use home PC's for, but their Apple TV will have to compete with the PS3 and 360 now.
PC gamming is great, it's always at the front of technology and pushing it ever forward, but you pay for it in a big way. A console that play's the same games on a much bigger screen for less then half a PC price tag.... No brainer really.
You know it always makes my blood boil to see the words "next gen" used to describe a console. I was looking through a leaflet at my local game store about the Playstation 3, It said that the graphics processor was more powerful then 2 Nvidia 6800's put together (can I get a wow!). I was using that sort of configuration just over 2 years ago so there goes any illusions about "next gen" spec.
I dont care about PC's "beating" consoles simple fact is it never will. PC's dont hold mass appeal like the cheaper huddle round with your mates consoles. I am however glad to see at least some people make an effort to state the case of the poweress of the PC platform. It does need all the help it can get since it's the only gaming platform not to spend millions on marketing PR.
I find it laughable that a few months ago the subject line was "Death of PC gaming?", Now company bigwigs are talking about the consoles already being obsolete.
This is very interesting as this with all the supposed PC doom and gloom this years PC games releases are fantastic, Crysis, Quake Wars, Alan Wake, stalker, Hellgate, Stalker to name but a few. Also the advent of the Nvidia 8800 models and soon to be released ATI R600's should see PC games graphic quality far exceed that of of the consoles and certainly over the proposed lifetime of the consoles( 3-5 years )
What PC gaming really needs and as highlighted by the Wii is better interaction peripherals, better support for TrackIR, widescreen support by default, the 3d screens they mention in the article sounds interesting
What a lot of people fail to realise is that the HD 'revolution' has been with the PC for years, most PC gamers play at a minimum of 1280x1024 now 1680x1050 is becoming the new widescreen standard due to the low cost of good 22" screens like the samsung 226BW
I'd love to see the dream of single format gaming take hold. Imagine being able to play all the games that are out there without having to worry if it'll work on your Sony or Microsoft branded machine!
It's not gonna happen, though, as long as the hardware manufacturers are intent on artificially splitting up the market to boost their own profits.
Anyway, even it did happen, there will always be a market for at least one console, as you just can't beat the convenience of being able to flip it one, and sit in front of your tv... It's especially handy for the kids.
Anyway, even it did happen, there will always be a market for at least one console, as you just can't beat the convenience of being able to flip it one, and sit in front of your tv... It's especially handy for the kids.
If PC gaming goes the way its going( xbox360 integration etc. ) then you'll be playing arcade games on your telly using wireless controllers as you do with consoles only the PC will be nicely tucked away in the corner and not annoying you with all its fans
Funny you should mention that, as that the setup I'm using at the moment for certain games, with my 32" widescreen HDTV. Except I replaced a bunch of the fans in my box with passive cooling, for even less noise.
I'd love to see the dream of single format gaming take hold. Imagine being able to play all the games that are out there without having to worry if it'll work on your Sony or Microsoft branded machine!
It's not gonna happen, though, as long as the hardware manufacturers are intent on artificially splitting up the market to boost their own profits.
Anyway, even it did happen, there will always be a market for at least one console, as you just can't beat the convenience of being able to flip it one, and sit in front of your tv... It's especially handy for the kids.
One format = less competition = consumers suffer.
Anyway, as for the console dying, Nintendo are saying that other consoles are too complicated and are trying to simplify what imo was already simple.
if they are right, which the sales figures suggest they are and that people want gaming simple, then the PC will never be able to compete with the simplicity of that (and it doesn't matter how many auto-runs or wizards are included with a game, some people, idiots, are just scared of a pc, and if they have the option to buy a little white box with 3 buttons, or a laptop with a truBrite screen, 50+ keys/buttons and whatever else, they will pick the little white box.
They claw back the market leader title and think they can start telling us the future of our consoles...cheeky buggers!!
Console and PC are getting closer together in terms of features and compatability. I think we will end up with one box under are super High res TV's, connected to our super fast internet connections that will do it all, TV, Movies, Games, Web, Music etc.. and PC's will get relegated to business use only.
So when are you launching a sub £300 PC that's going to support ALL the new games for a period of about 5 years without need for upgrades?
I dont get comments like this, seriously thats just stupid, why? 1. Console games are far far more expensive than PC games, PC game retails for 30-35 euro, console games 60-70 euro 2. A PC isint just for gaming, nobody buys a PC and just plays games on it, i surf, download movies, convert them to DVD, listen to music. do a bit of 3d/programming, update my CV/write documents the list is never ending, this will never happen on a console, if it does it wont be a console it will be a PC 3. All this need £1000 just to even load up games and another £500 to upgrade to play at higher levels is a load of rubbish, a high end PC can be built for £1000 excluding the screen as you dont get that with a console thats: £150 - a core duo 6400, £200 - XMS2 Corsair 2 gig ram 4-4-4-12 ram £50 - Xfi Xtremegamer £140 - P5N32-E SLI 680i mobo £80 - OEM version of XP £70 - 400Gig Baracudda 7200.10 £20 - DVD R/W x16 - £20 £30 - G5 mouse £80 - 700W SLI compatible power supply £30 - decent gaming keyboard from Saitek or Logitech £50 - Coolermaster case £240 - Nvidia 8800GTS 640Mb £30 - CPU heatsink like Scythe mine
Total - £1070 The above rig will overclock the 6400 from 2.4Ghz to around 3.4Ghz and run all the latest games at resolutions well above the consoles and above 50FPS
yes if you buy a PC you will have to update the GFX card in 2 years but a) you sell the old one, b) its not just the games that benefit from upgrades and besides the games will look better on the PC
IMO a PC beats ANY console hands down! everything is better on the P.C the only downside to this is that a s*it hot P.C is going to cost you loads. a game like EVE online could never work on a colsole because a console has a lifespan of 5 years before a better console comes out. EVE online has been around since 2003 and is still going strong and still getting loads of updates. Consoles are good for games like Fifa and Need for Speed you know mass Chav games but the P.C is the holy grail of gaming. Consoles wont die out as they make too much money but don't think a console is as good as a P.C. Sorry but consoles don't even come close (see crysis) and that is a FACT of life.
but don't think a console is as good as a P.C. Sorry but consoles don't even come close (see crysis) and that is a FACT of life.
I heard that Resi 4 on the PC is the best version to get. FACT!
Thats a stupid comparison, most console ports are sh*te end of story, if you want to make stupid comparisons like that wheres the console version of Battlefield 2/2142 or anything like that on the console
Consoles are good for arcade style games, PC is better for more in depth games/team games FACT!!!!!!!
Anyone who says games arent strong on the PC has never played on a decent gaming rig or played on their friends £4000 alienware PC that can be built for a grand
I own a PS1,PS2 and will probably pick up an xbox36 sometime, so im not a fanboy of any sort, its just with a decent PC online games are far more immersive
Computers are not done by a single company. They may all be compatible but there are many more than just three (as in consoles) companies in constant competition over which will manage to get in your computer case. Software based competition would be as vibrant as always of course. lack of competition is not an issue in the PC world... In fact, it's the opposite with so many companies simply can't handle the competition they find here and move over to the consoles which they believe will provide more revenue. Of course they are stupid as that strategy won't last long and they'll eventually have to rely on trying to make the better games...
On a different note, because I see many people here claim this and that is better on PC and this and that is just for console... Well, gameplay doesn't rely on platform, any type of game can work well and become a hit on any system. The keyboard and mouse don't allow you more strategy or anything like that as long as the console equivalent of that game had been well thought out.
The difference in game types we see is not because they can't work on one system or another but because of the target consumer.
However that's starting to change and we see a blend, what with all the FPS titles we now see on console, or how we didn't see western RPGs up until Morrowind which worked perfectly fine on the original Xbox (Oblivion sucked on all systems so it's not a good example).
Sadly, the change is one sided however. Consoles keep getting more and more genres we used to see only on PC while the PC sticks with what it always had. I wish companies would realise that PC gamers ARE in fact willing to buy a good gamepad these days as long as games that support it are created and start bringing good ports of beat 'em ups like Virtua Fighter or other games like Metal Gear Solid (which have gotten horrible ports in the past).
Similar to the above I believe console gamers WOULD be willing to buy a keyboard and mouse (or just keyboard for the Wii, heh) as long as games that really played better with them (complex MMORPGs or other hotkey heavy games) were created for them.
It's all about value, someone has to make the start, and others have to follow as a single game alone for example won't convince everyone... Oh well...
That guy is a complete diddy!Why would billion dollar companies such as sony and microsoft invest if there wasnt any future in it.The guys talking out his bottom.
Its propably not the question if pc's will replace the console but if the console's won't turn into pc's. Wich i believe is the case seeing consoles getting more and more pc like functions
£150 - a core duo 6400, £200 - XMS2 Corsair 2 gig ram 4-4-4-12 ram £50 - Xfi Xtremegamer £140 - P5N32-E SLI 680i mobo £80 - OEM version of XP £70 - 400Gig Baracudda 7200.10 £20 - DVD R/W x16 - £20 £30 - G5 mouse £80 - 700W SLI compatible power supply £30 - decent gaming keyboard from Saitek or Logitech £50 - Coolermaster case £240 - Nvidia 8800GTS 640Mb £30 - CPU heatsink like Scythe mine
Explain all of that to the 10 year old down the road who just wants to play Warioware.
Cmon, thats just being silly, yes cheap high end gaming rigs are built by enthusiasts, most homes have a PC and its upto the parents to decide on the PC type, its like everything if you can save more than a grand and a half id build it myself even if i knew nowt about PC's i wouldnt be long finding out, even if i made a mess i could still build another one and still save from buying it off alienware and learn from the experience
If we are talking about consoles for 10 year olds and PC's for the rest of us then get them a GBA and they can play away with warioware
I do agree that the huge cost of PC hardware necessary to play modern titles as devs intended is an issue that needs dealing with, but I think comparisons with consoles being far cheaper, and relatively as good in terms of gaming quality, at the time of launch is a moot point. The rate of PC development makes that comparison only relevant for about 1-2 years, max, post new gen console launches. What about years 3, 4, and 5. By those periods, the difference in gaming quality (graphics, AI, physics, etc...) are barely comparable.
I also think the gaming back-catalogue for PC's is, again, not worth comparing to the various consoles. It's due to the far more incrimental development of PC games compared to consoles. I mean how many PS3 gamers are going to spend teir time playing PS2 titles, or 360 gamers playing xbox titles?? Whereas, getting a "medium" PC gaming rig for around a grand should allow playing modern titles to a reasonable level as well as playing titles from only a year ago, as opposed to 5+ years for consoles, to near to the highest quality levels.
The big issue is that PC gaming IS more expensive for the hardware, and that needs to be resolved, but it allows incrimental development and keeping up with those advances, where consoles have huge leaps that mean witin a couple of years, they're dated.
I think the moves by MS gaming, with Vista et all, will give that boost the platform's been needing for a long time. Also, lets have full, mandatory cross platform capability for multi platform titles.
this guy should stop trying to be a clairvoyant and get on with making games, there has been a few points made bout pc games are better than consoles, unless you only like fps/rts/mmorpg/flight sim this is bull, you dont get the diversity you do with consoles, i am currently playing god of war 2 (just 1 of the many titles i could mention) and have never played anything as good as that on pc, oh and i dont fancy payin £1000+ to play those fps/rts/mmorpg/flight sim games either
The PC is multipurpose. People don't buy a PC just to play games. The only component that really is primarily for games is the graphics card. Yes, you need a decent processor & memory etc, but they can be put to other uses. Therefore, all of those other expenses are not really relevant.
Mogs that makes a lot of sense. Most of the components are used for purposes other than gaming so can't really be compared to consoles in price. The parts that really matter for games (Graphics card, keyboard and mouse) can be bought for ~£400 - and thats pretty much top of the range uber stuff. Even £200 will get you a really good graphics card. So really your spending the same or less as what a PS3 costs, but then get much cheaper games with better playability.
dont get comments like this, seriously thats just stupid, why? 1. Console games are far far more expensive than PC games, PC game retails for 30-35 euro, console games 60-70 euro 2. A PC isint just for gaming, nobody buys a PC and just plays games on it, i surf, download movies, convert them to DVD, listen to music. do a bit of 3d/programming, update my CV/write documents the list is never ending, this will never happen on a console, if it does it wont be a console it will be a PC 3. All this need £1000 just to even load up games and another £500 to upgrade to play at higher levels is a load of rubbish, a high end PC can be built for £1000 excluding the screen as you dont get that with a console thats: £150 - a core duo 6400, £200 - XMS2 Corsair 2 gig ram 4-4-4-12 ram £50 - Xfi Xtremegamer £140 - P5N32-E SLI 680i mobo £80 - OEM version of XP £70 - 400Gig Baracudda 7200.10 £20 - DVD R/W x16 - £20 £30 - G5 mouse £80 - 700W SLI compatible power supply £30 - decent gaming keyboard from Saitek or Logitech £50 - Coolermaster case £240 - Nvidia 8800GTS 640Mb £30 - CPU heatsink like Scythe mine
erm... thats well over 300quid mate. over twice as much as any console. and u still have to f**k about with upgrades. u can plug in an play etc... i could go on, this was a very silly point to make.
however i like the seemingly general consensus that PC vs. Console is a silly idea. they are two fairly different platforms - consoles are amazing at what they do, fast, arcade, fun etc... and pcs are amazing at what they do, in-depth, strategy etc... and making a f**k load of noise. and crashing. and getting hacked into... but theyre still cool i guess.
well it obviously wasn't just for the one reason, but the 3DO tried the one format with multiple developers and that fell flat on its face.
i believe there would be less technological progression because there would be no race for the best of everything, they would just settle at one level and take far longer to push things forward...
plus if you have a single console with different upgrades etc.. then that is going to turn people off, the reason people buy consoles rather than pc is cos it is ready from the off, no faffing
Well I have to say that is one of THE most moronic and idiotic statements i've heard in a long time in the games industry. When have we ever seen the likes of mario on a PC? the answer is never the pc for one does not have a good enough stand alone joypad, thats why most people plug their ps2 or x box pads into it. PC's are good for the 1st person shooters, strategy games and MMO's. Consoles have what I would class as console specific titles the platform games such as mario or warioware etc. They also allow a few mates to play on the one machine together like on pro evo or in the good old days golden eye you cannot do this on a pc. There will always be a market for consoles and I for one hope they reign for a long time to come. I have a pc and a 360 and my good old dreamcast so i have a balanced view but my pc was built for half life 2 so as u can imagine needs a serious upgrade now, but as always I cannot afford the £1000 to £2000 i'd need to create the machine I'd want at the moment, i'm gonna wait for dx10 and then add a year and then i'll re do my pc.
erm... thats well over 300quid mate. over twice as much as any console. and u still have to f**k about with upgrades. u can plug in an play etc... i could go on, this was a very silly point to make.
My point was in response to those saying a high end PC costs over £2000, which is true if you buy alienware crap or whatever. Its over 300 quid, but 300 quid for a console is artificial, look at xbox live, i dunno what the premium xbox360 is going for, say its 340, M$ on release( as do all console makers apart from nintywith the WII ) were seeling this at about £100 below cost, that means its actually £440, now on top of that you need an xbox live subscription + for all your games you pay an extra £25, over 2 years for say 10 games compared to PC games youll have spent an extra £250 on games and £30 on xbox live subscriptions, that brings the value upto £700, now youre getting into PC territory
Work the math with a PS3, £430 + sold for £100 under cost + 10 games x extra £30 over 2 years = £830
You can argue that selling below cost is made up for by the increase in cost of games etc etc.
I have a PS2 that i bought 5 years ago for 400euro, i have 15 full price titles @ 55 euro each, 2 platinum @ 30euro each a remote control - 30euro extra controller, 2 memory cards 60 euro, and things like DVDRegion( to give it basic DVD region playback ) 20euro, thats a total of 1325euro ive spent on my PS2, i would have had a PC, upgraded it had 17 games upgraded it again and end up with a mid range PC by todays standards for around 14100 excluding the screen. So its swings and roundabouts, but i use my pc for stuff other than games so i get a lot more value from the PC that way
hail both, and HP can go f**k a duck or something
Youre right, but they do make PC's, ask Sony the same question and they will say that Consoles will become the new PC and a central hub in everyones home
You mean that single-format gaming is doomed to failure, just like single format video was? Oh, hang on....
Single format gaming wouldn't kill technological progression, because you've have many manufacturers making the same console, and competing with each other, within a set standard.
When the games came out, they'd all be guarranteed to work just fine on the standard, but because of the way that modern games work, competing manufacturers could still up the resolution, storage, build quality etc. True, the standard would change every five years still, as technological progression is ongoing, but c'est la vie.
...or would you still prefer being locked out of playing a certain games every year, unless you bought a whole new box, due to not hardware or other practical reasons, but corporate politics?
Personally, I can't wait for all these consoles to die a slow death, and for the various WiiStation720 models to appear, running on cheap PC technology and running the same games that PCs are playing.
That way, I won't have to bother tossing around with a PC and three enviromentally unfriendly machines taking up space under my tv, and just get on with playing bloody games.
You mean that single-format gaming is doomed to failure, just like single format video was? Oh, hang on....
Single format gaming wouldn't kill technological progression, because you've have many manufacturers making the same console, and competing with each other, within a set standard.
When the games came out, they'd all be guarranteed to work just fine on the standard, but because of the way that modern games work, competing manufacturers could still up the resolution, storage, build quality etc. True, the standard would change every five years still, as technological progression is ongoing, but c'est la vie.
...or would you still prefer being locked out of playing a certain games every year, unless you bought a whole new box, due to not hardware or other practical reasons, but corporate politics?
Personally, I can't wait for all these consoles to die a slow death, and for the various WiiStation720 models to appear, running on cheap PC technology and running the same games that PCs are playing.
That way, I won't have to bother tossing around with a PC and three enviromentally unfriendly machines taking up space under my tv, and just get on with playing bloody games.
if i want to play all the game i want, i will buy all the consoles, in the past i have got certain consoles (psOne etcc) after they fall in price.
The whole thing about consoles is the choice you have to make. They could charge anything they want without competition - that's why the xbox came down in price, its why the ps3 will come down in price.
The idea of a single format console is nieve and idealistic.
Comparing game to video is stupid - the technological advances are completely different - advances you get with video/visual are basically a new format every ten years or so which maybe give more advanced compression technique and a slight improvement in visual/audio quality .
the game industry would suffer with a 10 year+ gap, and what would make them bring a new console out after 5 years, they would be happy to just leave it be - consumers don't want that.
The great thing about consoles (if you arent tied down to brand loyalty) is the console wars - predicting which company will get the balance right, graphic comparisons, giving kids and fanboys alike the ability to give fans of the other format stick.
Console wars are what made Nintendo take the risk, if it was just one console, that would never have happened and we would be playing endless identical FIFAs forever.
I have to say that his comment is more than a little silly when you consider that people have been saying PC gaming in general is on the decline except for a few key titles like World of Warcraft (according to those 'in the know'). Also the consoles exist because they offer ease of access that PCs don't and never will have because they aren't designed mainly to play games. Anyone can go into a shop and buy a 360 and some games and be safe in the knowledge that they can simply pop the disc in the tray and be playing a game within minutes, and more importantly they'll be playing the exact same game as every other 360 owner that has that title. That's certainly not the case on the PC where different hardware configurations means that a game might work perfectly on one person's machine but not on someone else's necessitating the poor unfortunate sole spending hours trying to find out exactly *why* it doesn't work. Until PCs become standardised and offer the instant pickup-and-play of the consoles then they'll never replace the likes of the Xbox 360 and PS3.
That said, there is the tendency for the consoles to become more like PCs with each passing generation... we now have hard drives and games installs on the PS3 and we can even install and use Linux on it! Still I'd say that the consoles are replacing the PC not the other way round as consoles have always traditionally been found in living rooms and PCs in offices and now with multimedia hubs the PC-hybrids are becoming more commonplace alongside the TV.
PCs will never beat consoles because consoles appeal to the casual gamer much more than PCs. And guess what, the vast majority of gamers are casual pick up and play gamers; not people who want to upgrade their graphics card and put more giggly bits in their hard disk.
It is also a lot more socially acceptable to play FIFA on your console in your front room with a group of your mates, than sitting alone in your room with your curtains closed and tinkering with your PC.
PCs will never beat consoles because consoles appeal to the casual gamer much more than PCs. And guess what, the vast majority of gamers are casual pick up and play gamers; not people who want to upgrade their graphics card and put more giggly bits in their hard disk.
It is also a lot more socially acceptable to play FIFA on your console in your front room with a group of your mates, than sitting alone in your room with your curtains closed and tinkering with your PC.
All consoles will become PC's and PC's will have the same functionality as consoles thats inevitable, nothing wrong with sitting down in front of the tv with a few mates, beers and wireless controllers and playing FIFA on a pc either
PC's will always be hard to upgrade, prone to crashing, slow to install new games, allways just a little underpowered to play the latest games, overpriced and ugly. Fix those things and maybe he could have a point.
As for consoles having to wait 5+ years for an upgrade, that's a good thing, as it forces developers to squeeze as much out of the machine as possible to stay ahead of the comettition. With PC's they just rely on the users buying upgrades to make their games look better.
Consoles will allways be cheaper, easier to use, more reliable and better looking than PC's. No contest
Consoles are so much faster than PCs to start gaming because all you have to do is turn on the TV and put in a game and it all starts straight away. With a PC you have to turn on the computer and wait ages for it to loads windows, then there are all the background services (instant messenger, anti-virus etc). its just not worth it for playing games, i prefer to have a standardised unit which will definitely play a game, rather than having to adust all the settings myself so that i can get a game to just about work ok
What a ridiculous statment Ive always beem a console gamer I don't like playing games on a PC and its all very technical for an an average person (like myself) with all these graphics cards etc. I dont mind buying a new console every 5 years instead of having to upgrade my pc every 5 minutes!
Its like comparing a ferrari to a ford escort, of course the ferrari will always top the escort in performance, but the escort is cheaper and more accessable
Isn't it quite amazing how all of a sudden, your average office PC company has come out to say the world stops at HP, bin you PS3/Wii/360.
I have a souped up Vapochill, that quite frankly blows spots off everything pre-built. It hasnt changed the fact I play my games on the 360. I could of bought FEAR for the PC, but opted for the console version, as I do with many titles.
It boils down to personal choice, sitting infront of my twin 20" monitors is fantastic, but chilling on the sofa with a controller is far more comfortable.
The PC will always be around, the problem with it is, theres too many variations for any developer to ounce every percent of performance, because whilst every 10 systems may have the fastest CPU on the block, they all have different motherboards, running at different bus speeds, memory timings, amounts of RAM, available space....etc etc etc. Not to mention that despite any one program taking up 95% of the system resources theres always something running in the back ground that is going to prevent full performance taking effect.
As it has also been mentioned, cost is the main factor. At one point 2 years back I was changing £300 GFX cards every 4-5 months. Simply because I wanted to stay cutting edge. Everything was overclocked to the nuts....then I suddenly thought...what the fook for? Some performance rating on the web?
Devlopers are moving back to the roots, they have done the home computer market....for a good 15 years of success, but things have changed, people dont want the hassle of getting a game to run, over heating, viruses, slow disk speeds due to background tasks...they want to put a game on for an hour before bed/going out and thats it. Not spend 6 hours going through the Microsoft reference guide for what AF02E-0000-FE2144 meens when the game fails 2 minutes after starting it.
2 years ago, I managed to get the Vapo running at 4.2Ghz, FSB well over a 1000Mhz to boot in 3.7 seconds to XP desktop once the SCSI drives with 64MB cache had initiated in RAID 0, but you know what???
Whilst I agree we will no doubt see console-esq PCs in the lounge soon, I cannot for one second believe they will rival consoles for ease of use...for that they would need a new operating system, that doesn't start with M.
I've been playing PC games since I rushed out and bought Warcraft 1 aeons ago. Then followed and played to death the other biggie PC games such as Doom, Quake, Civ2, Sims, Warcraft 3, RTCW, WoW up until a year ago. As I got older I realised that although PC gaming is great it isn't cheap.
Now older and a little bit wiser (with much better things to spend on in life) PC gaming days are over for me. Why? Sick of playing new games at 60% performance unless I upgrade every 2 years or so. And what better way to enjoy a game studio's work of art at 100% without compromise? Consoles.
So are consoles gonna die? Doubt it. With development costs ever rising do you think game studios prefer to test their babies on numerous configurations of PC compared to optimisation for one platform, ie. consoles?
However, I do love Blizzard for their commitment to PC gaming and producing games that can run well on machines even as old as 4 years old (in low gfx of course!)
Only if they make them as easy to get up and running as a console. I used to PC game but grew tired of crashes, patches, modding, cheating and upgrading. Good luck HP.
I knew that many of you would get bogged down in the pros and cons of PC versus console gaming.
'"I believe the days of the console are numbered," said Trion World Network founder Lars Butler. "There is one more generation of gaming consoles and that is it," he claimed.'
This comment is not much more credible than whoever said that everything that will be invented already has been.
It doesn't matter how advanced computers become or what fancy capabilities they have that the vast majority of people hardly use.
Consoles have several key things going for them- unique games, great image, easy to use controllers, reliability and ease of use.
I love the hardware wars between consoles. When you see how nonchalent most non-gamers are the hate and passion generated by rival consoles looks like some kind of closet homoerotica. But it's so much more interesting than the 'PC scene'. PC Gamers don't even have that much loyalty towards their best games. For instance, Cube gamers still get excited about Resident Evil 4.
I don't ever see pc taking over consoles PC put out some good games but if people complain about a PS3 price tag who will pay $3,000 plus to play games and i don't see alot of the top of the line games we love coming for our PC for example Forza and Gran Turismo
where did they pull their prediction from? their as?es? i mean come on everyone knows if anything its the other way around consoles are getting more and more like a home pc so if anything.. pcs are dying and out of date and cost a hell of a lot just to get the same quality as a ps3 or xbox360 and everyone doesnt have the same equipment, because its all crap. and hp? who the hell are they? they make cheap rubbish and they think they know whats going on? if they knew whats going on they would be the number 1 pc supplier or printer supplier, and they are... NEITHER! so sit and spin on this ....... ahem cough cough
You mean that single-format gaming is doomed to failure, just like single format video was? Oh, hang on....
Single format gaming wouldn't kill technological progression, because you've have many manufacturers making the same console, and competing with each other, within a set standard.
When the games came out, they'd all be guarranteed to work just fine on the standard, but because of the way that modern games work, competing manufacturers could still up the resolution, storage, build quality etc. True, the standard would change every five years still, as technological progression is ongoing, but c'est la vie.
...or would you still prefer being locked out of playing a certain games every year, unless you bought a whole new box, due to not hardware or other practical reasons, but corporate politics?
Personally, I can't wait for all these consoles to die a slow death, and for the various WiiStation720 models to appear, running on cheap PC technology and running the same games that PCs are playing.
That way, I won't have to bother tossing around with a PC and three enviromentally unfriendly machines taking up space under my tv, and just get on with playing bloody games.
if i want to play all the game i want, i will buy all the consoles, in the past i have got certain consoles (psOne etcc) after they fall in price.
The whole thing about consoles is the choice you have to make. They could charge anything they want without competition - that's why the xbox came down in price, its why the ps3 will come down in price.
The idea of a single format console is nieve and idealistic.
Comparing game to video is stupid - the technological advances are completely different - advances you get with video/visual are basically a new format every ten years or so which maybe give more advanced compression technique and a slight improvement in visual/audio quality .
the game industry would suffer with a 10 year+ gap, and what would make them bring a new console out after 5 years, they would be happy to just leave it be - consumers don't want that.
The great thing about consoles (if you arent tied down to brand loyalty) is the console wars - predicting which company will get the balance right, graphic comparisons, giving kids and fanboys alike the ability to give fans of the other format stick.
Console wars are what made Nintendo take the risk, if it was just one console, that would never have happened and we would be playing endless identical FIFAs forever.
Great way to miss the entire point there.
If multiple manufacturers are making the same console, as I stated in my post, then competition would be as high as it is with different formats, maybe even higher. They'd still get to have their price wars, and the fanboys could still have their debates. A 5-year life-cycle could still be maintained, if the games publishers wanted the power.
Also, while we're at it, your "Nintendo taking the risk" comment is meaningless, because the Wii is a rubbish, rubbish console. It's a great controller, but a rubbish console.
They could bring out that controller for any console/pc that's out at the moment, and release their games to go with it, and that way, even more gamers would get to have fun with it, and they'd sell a hell of a lot more games, without having to take risks on the hardware.
...although their risk seems to have paid off brilliantly, nice-one Nintendo.
My entire argument was that I didn't want to have to keep four systems on the go just to play games that any one of them could handle. Your response of "Well, just buy all four systems then", was presumably aimed at a different post to mine?
It's strange someone from Microsoft says the Days of consoles are numbered, but doesn't Rich Wickham know Microsoft have a console out there. However Rich Wickham should know consoles allow games coming out on a console that lots of people own are on level terms in terms of speed and frames per second for every owner of that console.
Also Consoles don't need upgrading as well, but what does this mean from me, the days of consoles are not numbered yet.
However if I had to be a betting man, and say if PC or Console would die first, I would say it would be a close finish between the two, but console would die off first. But at the moment I would say there will be another 20-25 years in the console market, before the last of the last ever consoles come out.
You mean that single-format gaming is doomed to failure, just like single format video was? Oh, hang on....
Single format gaming wouldn't kill technological progression, because you've have many manufacturers making the same console, and competing with each other, within a set standard.
When the games came out, they'd all be guarranteed to work just fine on the standard, but because of the way that modern games work, competing manufacturers could still up the resolution, storage, build quality etc. True, the standard would change every five years still, as technological progression is ongoing, but c'est la vie.
...or would you still prefer being locked out of playing a certain games every year, unless you bought a whole new box, due to not hardware or other practical reasons, but corporate politics?
Personally, I can't wait for all these consoles to die a slow death, and for the various WiiStation720 models to appear, running on cheap PC technology and running the same games that PCs are playing.
That way, I won't have to bother tossing around with a PC and three enviromentally unfriendly machines taking up space under my tv, and just get on with playing bloody games.
if i want to play all the game i want, i will buy all the consoles, in the past i have got certain consoles (psOne etcc) after they fall in price.
The whole thing about consoles is the choice you have to make. They could charge anything they want without competition - that's why the xbox came down in price, its why the ps3 will come down in price.
The idea of a single format console is nieve and idealistic.
Comparing game to video is stupid - the technological advances are completely different - advances you get with video/visual are basically a new format every ten years or so which maybe give more advanced compression technique and a slight improvement in visual/audio quality .
the game industry would suffer with a 10 year+ gap, and what would make them bring a new console out after 5 years, they would be happy to just leave it be - consumers don't want that.
The great thing about consoles (if you arent tied down to brand loyalty) is the console wars - predicting which company will get the balance right, graphic comparisons, giving kids and fanboys alike the ability to give fans of the other format stick.
Console wars are what made Nintendo take the risk, if it was just one console, that would never have happened and we would be playing endless identical FIFAs forever.
Great way to miss the entire point there.
If multiple manufacturers are making the same console, as I stated in my post, then competition would be as high as it is with different formats, maybe even higher. They'd still get to have their price wars, and the fanboys could still have their debates. A 5-year life-cycle could still be maintained, if the games publishers wanted the power.
Also, while we're at it, your "Nintendo taking the risk" comment is meaningless, because the Wii is a rubbish, rubbish console. It's a great controller, but a rubbish console.
They could bring out that controller for any console/pc that's out at the moment, and release their games to go with it, and that way, even more gamers would get to have fun with it, and they'd sell a hell of a lot more games, without having to take risks on the hardware.
...although their risk seems to have paid off brilliantly, nice-one Nintendo.
My entire argument was that I didn't want to have to keep four systems on the go just to play games that any one of them could handle. Your response of "Well, just buy all four systems then", was presumably aimed at a different post to mine?
Patronising and a moron - congratulations!
Ok, so you claim that with a single format,fanboys could still have their debates?
I can see it now, heated exchanges on messageboards ranging from arguments over the fact that their Phillips version of the console has a gold trim, flashing green lights and a slightly higher resolution which of course makes it far superior to your glossy black Samsung version with a lower build quality but costs £15 less. Riveting!
And once again I ask, why would there be a replacement console after 5 years? Where is the motivation?
Games companies are lazy and will milk the console for all its worth - a decade down the line and we'd have the same format. As it stands, a decent console can last as long as 10 years, but at least gamers have the option of spunking their hard-earned on brand new hardware after 5 - in your dream world we would be stuck with a stagnant format.
In fact, referring to your 'inspired' comparison to video: please see VHS - even when the format first came out, better quality video was available (Betamax). But the reason that we were stuck with grainy off-colour video for 15 years was purely down to the fact that there was a single format and no competition. No one knew any better.
Lastly, there is nothing more satisfying for fanboys to read that the newest release for their console couldn't possibly work on their rivals console.
You don't want to buy 4 consoles, but if you want to play every game, then you have to. That, or like everyone else you choose one and then argue its worth until you are blue in the face - it's what keeps the gaming world ticking.
And I would rather miss out on a couple of games every 5 years than have to sign up to this idea of a single-format. It's my idea of gaming hell.
(Anyway, the timing of this whole argument is slightly ironic considering the fact that we're constantly being told that due to escalating development costs, third-party publishers are far more reluctant make their games 'exclusive'.)
So when are you launching a sub £300 PC that's going to support ALL the new games for a period of about 5 years without need for upgrades?
Not the point though is it? PCs are more expensive because they aren't subsidised by the game licensing body (MS, Nintendo or Sony), but you easily get the money back on chepaer games (no license charges, can get a new game for less than £20 if you buy online).
Obviously though, I'm sure some people will still continue to use consoles (apparently user friendly and easier for children to use) as people will continue to use PCs (more customisable, can do more, different and arguably better range of games).
I think that Rich Wickham has missed a rather obvious point here, he said that PC's gaming potential is far greater than consoles and thereby PC's will replace consoles as the main gaming format in time. But PC's have always outstripped consoles so, theoretically, if they were going to replace them wouldn't they have already done so?
I think that we are heading down the media centre route that Sony and MS have tried to take with their machines this generation but I think its too early yet for that idea to properly take off, next generation the consoles will probably be even more hybrid than they are now. Unless Nintendo really wipes the floor with MS and Sony and they all go down the route of having something simpler.
(Anyway, the timing of this whole argument is slightly ironic considering the fact that we're constantly being told that due to escalating development costs, third-party publishers are far more reluctant make their games 'exclusive'.)
Oops, almost took the troll-bait. No point arguing with *expletive deleted*, except I love your last point, as it's entirely correct. As soon as Square-Enix ditches it's Final Fantasy deal with Sony, and Metal Gear Solid comes to the 360, then this generation has a winner, and I'll be able to live happy with my MS-OS PC, and my MS-branded console, and the big MS will be able to live happy with complete domination of most of the (non-handheld) gaming market.
As far as I'm concerned, single format gaming might as well already be here. Although yes, as you pointed out, we will all be losers, as school-yard arguments over who has the best console will now be redundant.
Oh noes!
Oh, and trying to draw comparison with a lack of advancement in hardware = lazy developers is the biggest laugh I've had for a while.
What the f**k has the power of your hardware got to do with how inventive and fun your gameplay is? Here's a hint: The answer is nothing.
What the f**k has the power of your hardware got to do with how inventive and fun your gameplay is? Here's a hint: The answer is nothing.
Thanks for the tip, however the closest I got to claiming anything of the sort was stating that a single format would become stagnant after 10+ years.
Could Dead Rising have been done on any previous generation of consoles, not with the same amount of NPCs on screen at one time. Was the immersive 3D of Grand Theft Auto 3 possible on the previous generation's hardware? No.
Remember, more powerful hardware doesn't just equal prettier games, and while games can obviously be fun on less powerful hardware, increased power can be what it takes to push genres forward, or even create entirely new ones.
And my suggestion of lazy developers gave you the biggest laugh you have had in a while? Your suggestion of a 5-year cycle being maintained due to games publishers' demanding more power garnered the same response at this end.
Put it this way, if they could, EA would still be producing yearly updates of FIFA on the Mega Drive - they don't care about more power.
The vast majority of developers don't create games because they are passionate about gaming, they do it for money, and if anything, more powerful hardware = increased development costs.
Trip Hawkins had the very same dream and it wasn't long before the 3DO company were filing for bankruptcy.
I like the way the majority of people are comparing CURRENT or PREVIOUS incarnations of consoles and PC, when the guy from HP claims that there is one more generation of consoles to come, then they die.
The future is exciting because some many things are going to become integrated. Technology is always in development, and always has been. When the humble Megadrive was released, who could of foreseen that consoles soon would have DVD Drives, internet capabilities, Hard Drives, Dual Core processers .. hang on am I describing a Console or a PC?
I understand where this guy is coming from because it is happening, I currently run my PC for everything .. gaming, work, watching and recording TV, watching films ... I do not own a television .. I have a 23" Widescreen Monitor, with a TV inside my machine.
Windows VISTA is the first step towards this, you can use a XBOX 360 as an add-on component.
Yes current consoles are easy to set up, are they cheap .. well that depends on what you want to do, and how many add-ons you wish to include. A HD-DVD for Xbox anyone ... £300 please (guesstimate pricing).
So what this guy is saying, and I completly agree, is that the console is going to die .. one day .. in the future, about 5 - 10 years time, and be replaced by the PC. What will the PC be like buy then ... god knows, but consider that we are already at Quad-Core technology, fantastic graphiocs with VISTA and DX10 .. which will old hat by then anyways and you get to see what he is talking about. The PC as we know it will be dead too. We will be using an intergrated device for our home- entertainment .. at last, the product everyone has been promising us for the last 20 years.
I seriously wonder why so many people (mainly PC game players) seem to get more enjoyment about talking about graphics and sound cards than actually enjoying and appreciating the entertainment of playing videogames- look at any PC forum where people talk about upgrading hardware with same excitement that true videogame lovers talk about games.
I think that many gamers who primarily play the PC aren't really into creative entertainment that much at all. I think that it's the latest gadget to them, like a new spoiler on a car or perfomance tuning.
I seriously wonder why so many people (mainly PC game players) seem to get more enjoyment about talking about graphics and sound cards than actually enjoying and appreciating the entertainment of playing videogames- look at any PC forum where people talk about upgrading hardware with same excitement that true videogame lovers talk about games.
I think that many gamers who primarily play the PC aren't really into creative entertainment that much at all. I think that it's the latest gadget to them, like a new spoiler on a car or perfomance tuning.
Ok, hold the baby here 1. PC gamers talk about components like diferent gfx cards ans sound cards because theres a difference between the variaties, a xfi is a totally different experience from onboard sound, why is it so diferent between console heads discussing the differencew between a ps1 and 2( and i own both also ) 2. "true videogame lovers talk about games".....AND obviously the best hardware to run them unless you still play your atari 2600 games and rave about them????? 3. Your last point there is bot stupid and aggrevating, WTF is "creative entertainment" when its at home, fingerpainting with music or something?, again if you rave about your 2600 now i apologise but if you EVER talk about xbos360 or PS3 then STFU cos theyre your new toys Jeez.....
Oh and before you say anything i have a PS1,PS2 and a ton of games for them so my opinion is unbiased unlike yours
PC will never replace the console as the no1 gaming platform.
Its far to expensive to own a rig that plays the latest games at the quality that was intended. There a no generations with PC's that is the problem. Its a constant wash of new upgrades.
All that is happening is console are starting to make use of PC developed hardware more and PCs are being packaged ready to use out the box (Mac style *cough*).
But I have no idea where you guys are getting these way over the top £3000 price tags for a top of the line PC from. £1500 tops if you are buying fresh, the price of a PS3 if you are just upgrade certain things.
The only thing I ever complain about is that consoles have saturated the gaming world with cruddy cheap games.
Enjoyment that comes from hardware is derived from the enjoyment of the game. Playing Half-Life 2 on a DX8 graphics card, with stereo speakers at a resolution of 800x600 is shocking! Slap it all up to DX9, EAX 5.1 surround sounds, widescreen 1900x1200 and its a totally diffrent. And if you console gamers dont feel the same when you move from your small bedroom TV down to the HighDef TV, full on surround system then there must be something wrong with you .
i think that consoles are trying to hide the fact that they are crap by pinning the title "worst gaming machine" on the pc, deranged or what. im happy that people and companies are starting to finally realise that pcs are superior in every way and form PC ROOLS DEATH TO CRAP CONSOLES!!!!!!!!
i think that consoles are trying to hide the fact that they are crap by pinning the title "worst gaming machine" on the pc, deranged or what. im happy that people and companies are starting to finally realise that pcs are superior in every way and form PC ROOLS DEATH TO CRAP CONSOLES!!!!!!!!
now that's what i agreeeeee.
also, it seems people don't understand the concept of cheap gaming: it's playing all modern game titles in Medium-high and still beat the experience on consoles (eg, C&C3 on PC will kick C&C3 on xbox360, no matter the graphical settings)
cheap set up: (5 years we are aiming at?) -Barebone Core2Duo PC -£280 -Sony DVD+RW -£12 -7600GT -£80 -250GB 7200rpm 16MB cache HDD -£50 added to gether less than £450.
then do a upgrade of graphics card in 1 year to Dx10, then do a RAM upgrade whenever, and finally get a better cooler for overclocking after 3 years.
that setup will get people to play all modern games on highest/almost highest for 5 years. and total costs no more than £700.
if one's budget is £1500 for 5 years gaming including games, then PC will get you more games and a LOT more mods than any console is ever going to get you.
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