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[ehelvig]

In my opinion it is only natural for publishers to hype up console games. One word, piracy.

Even though the sales of pc-games is going downhill, doesn`t necessarily make it a dying platform. Im not a pc-gamer myself, so im not gonna use myself as an example. But when you see/hear about how easy it is to get a hold of cracked releases of pc-games - even before their respective release dates, its really no wonder sales are falling.

But you know, it is kind of a sad, cause if the piracy-pace keeps up it might kill the platform in the long run after all.

[RiPpN-N-TrIppN]

PC Games are for the loners
sure you can play online and play against your "mates" but in the end your sitting in front of your computer at your desk lookin at your tiny screen with either ear phones on or crappy pc speakers
then u have your consoles
where u can sit down in your lounge room with your real mates every one can have a go your sitting on a comfy chair looking at your tv (in my case my 100 inch screen) playing games in full surround sound (6.1 for me)
now i cant speak for every one but if i had to choose between sitting at a computer or sitting on the lounge to play games it wouldn't really be a hard decision
Rip

[Blietzkreig]

To fully appreciate this argument, you have to start looking at this from a game developer's point of view.

When game studio "x" releases a game, their aim obviously, is to maximise profits. That is one reason why PC gaming will never die - as long as there are in existence PC's capable of running them. This is also the reason why there are so few console exclusives these days - It just does not make ecconomical sense.

To quote John Carmack of ID software fame - "the Xbox 360 is the first console that I've ever worked with that actually has development tools that are better for games than what we've got for the PC."
http://www.computera...c...99&skip=yes
This is the tell tale killer statement and is an indication of where the future of gaming development lies - with consoles. Does this mean the future of PC gaming is doomed ? absolutlely not. It does however indicate a strong trend by gaming software houses to switch their primary development base to a console and then port it to other platforms - including PC's (rather than the other way round as has been in the past).

Ironically - the PC's greatest strength - its customizability and flexibility, becomes it's greatest weakness. Sure the latest and greatest GeForce, ATI, graphics card  version 10,000 with DirectX version god knows what kicks arse - but who has one of those ? and for how long ? The hardware cycle for PC's and their subsequent redundancy is border-line ludricrous !! Not to mention their obscenely absurd cost.
For the cost of a high end graphics card alone, you could purchase yourself an XBox360 AND a Wii as well.
They are simple plug and play devices that allow the same mass appeal as other consumer electronic devices such as a DVD player that require little set-up, maintenance or on-going maintenance costs. This is why consoles have started to out-sell PC's and be the gamers primary platform of choice worldwide.

With the constant elevation of gaming expectation, so too does the development cost increase and more importantly in this discussion, development time increase. Games are starting to cost more and take far longer than the latest blockbuster films. A 2-3 year development cycle is not uncommon these days (Halo 3 anyone ?) How much does PC hardware change in this time ? - An enormous amount. PC Games therefore cannot be truly optimised for the latest available hardware - so your paying big bucks yearly to stay up with the latest and greatest - for nothing ! PC games must be developed for the lowest common hardware platform and means at about 10 steps behind the latest on offer.

With a consoles however, the hardware is fixed for the lifecycle of the unit (4-5 years). This allows developers an equal playing field and allows them to re-use and tweak performance gains out of the system with each release. Gran Turismo 4 on Playstation 2 is a fine example of how much can be squeezed out so little and how much improvement can be made over the lifespan of the console with common hardware.

PC gaming is not dead - nor dying. It's just started to become NOT the Primary development platform of choice to reflect the current trend in the worldwide gaming market. The PC will continue to have its place, but will become the realm of the wealthy Über geek - more so than ever before. The console will continue to flourish and thrive in mainstream livingrooms all across the globe.


Note: No offense intended on the use of Über-Geek - as don't worry I am well and truly one of those myself.

[epsilon72]

QUOTE(RiPpN-N-TrIppN @ Nov 26 2006, 07:28 PM)

PC Games are for the loners
sure you can play online and play against your "mates" but in the end your sitting in front of your computer at your desk lookin at your tiny screen with either ear phones on or crappy pc speakers
then u have your consoles
where u can sit down in your lounge room with your real mates every one can have a go your sitting on a comfy chair looking at your tv (in my case my 100 inch screen) playing games in full surround sound (6.1 for me)
now i cant speak for every one but if i had to choose between sitting at a computer or sitting on the lounge to play games it wouldn't really be a hard decision
Rip
 

     

uh, no.  Not everyone is limited to a "tiny monitor" and "crappy pc speakers".  I have my:

1) 42" 1080p monitor (that I use for consoles as well)

and

2)Either my Klipsch Promedia Ultra 5.1 system or Sony MDR-XD400 headphones, depending on what time of day it is.

 

[Puma81]

So long as they keep the keyboard and mouse to the PC and off console gaming we are good to go. Controller and Consoles all being the same for each gamer, set the equal pace of gaming. Meaning that with PC gaming there is always someone that has a better preforming machine than you and I don't have to upgrade my console every 4 months to keep up.

[luther349]

QUOTE(RiPpN-N-TrIppN @ Nov 27 2006, 04:28 AM)

PC Games are for the loners
sure you can play online and play against your "mates" but in the end your sitting in front of your computer at your desk lookin at your tiny screen with either ear phones on or crappy pc speakers
then u have your consoles
where u can sit down in your lounge room with your real mates every one can have a go your sitting on a comfy chair looking at your tv (in my case my 100 inch screen) playing games in full surround sound (6.1 for me)
now i cant speak for every one but if i had to choose between sitting at a computer or sitting on the lounge to play games it wouldn't really be a hard decision
Rip

where did you get that idea relly i guess you dont knoe real gaming setups for pcs. headphones or crapy pc speakers lol i guess my 5 pice souurnd system with a sub woffer and amp is conserderd crapp pc speakers. no its not a radio but a creativs kickass speaker set. and they have more power then a car system. small monoter i guess my 23 inch is conserd small but your also sitting alot closer to a monoter then a tv so acully its pretty large and has mutch higer rez then even a hd t the onv. pc games are for loners thats just funny to even hear thers alot of mmos for pcs and those games are not play alone type of games. most consoles are built for 1 thing to play games. the ps3 is a bit diffrnt couse it can boot a os but the rest just play games. pcs do everything.

gaming for pcs will always be around it will never die the market does change but it always recovers look how many copys of wow have been sold for gods sakes.  console games are conserd large hits if 1 mil copys sell so i guess that makes wow 7x platnum and still growing.

console games dont relly chnage over time you have your fps sports and rpgs and now mmos witch was spawned by pcs ultima online anyone. the fps sports racing etc for pc might be going down but doesent mean it will die the pc gaming world has shifted from that to the online market of games mmos or other types of massivly online games. good pc games also live alot longer then they would on a console counter strike anyone look how old that is and its still running strong and every console port sucks bad.

priecy on pc games is a issue but so it is on everything else. most new games hoever even if you got a cracked copy would not work online so that helps sell legit copys. i for 1 own halflife i havent got halflife 2 but thats couse no real kickass mods have been relesed yet.

as consoles like the ps3 are more like pcs the pc itsself might acully start getting replaced by consoles but it be honest the ps3 is a good idea but done relly crappy and way to expensiv simply couse they wanted to push that god dam blueray. the only advantage the ps3 will have on the 360 is space for games but relly thats knothing using 2 or 3 disk for a game whont fix. sony did that with the ps1 to make relly long rpgs.

[gordita37]

QUOTE(jcdenton2003 @ Nov 27 2006, 01:29 AM)

Yer i agree, Pc's have always been a loners gaming system. I think that Pcs have alot of compatabiliy issues also and consoles are alot easier and dont need upgrading every month.

exactly, I always have, and always will hate pc gaming for these reasons and more.

[BoNg420]

screw pc gaming, who wants to pay $500 for a video card to play the latest games, when i can get a console that will be around for a few years and not have to upgrade my video card every 4 months to be caught up with tech.

[TheIceman72]

This aint the 90's. I would rather buy a PS3 before I buy a $500 dollar video card. Dont get me wrong, I love my PC. I have a nice 5.1 speaker setup, 1.5gig ram, 21 inch wide screen flat panel, Dell XPS. But when it all boils down to it, I use it to surf the web and play WOW. PC's are solo zoning out of the world boxes. When my kids get on the computers it is such a zone out box. But when the consoles are on it becomes a family/friend affair. We all get around them and have fun together. That has never been the case with any PC game. Never has never will. I agree, PC gaming will be a thing of the past in a matter of years. THink about it, PC's are already disposable. You can get them so cheap when a part goes up you may as well buy a new one. Someone mentioned the biggest key to the death of t he PC game. What has killed PC gaming is that it is all about money. The kid that dumps the most cash into his pc will perform better in games online. I mean how many times have you gotten a nice game, paid cash for it. Gotten that damn game home and it did not work due to some kind of incompatibility problem? I am sick of that! I like the idea that no matter what I buy for my wii or 360 It will work with no problems. Now with the wii adding the exercise portion to gaming. It makes it even more of a family affair. Bottom line is this....PC gaming is old school. Consoles are the future of the gaming industry.

[ThaCrip]

"me" personally... i like the PC better for "first person shooters" BY FAR, cause i hate using a analog stick to aim at things as my reaction time is MUCH worse as i cant track stuff quickly enough to be any good at shooters on consoles... it feels much more natural for me to aim at stuff with a mouse. (basically to sum it for the most part up any game where u gotta aim at stuff i like the pc better and for most other games i probably like the console better)

but for race car games i think overall i prefer a console since some of the best racing sims (if not the best ones) are on consoles... for the XBox it's "Forza Motorsport" (which for me is by far my favorite racing sim hands down) and then u got GT4 on PS2 which is decent but it aint nearly as good as forza (but i have to give it credit cause before Forza came along this was by far the best racing sim on a console) ... "tourist trophy" is better than GT4 if u ask me... basically i think Forza Motorsport on the XBox is pretty much my favorite game on the xbox overall ... but anyways... more on topic...

basically the PC is FAR from dead... cause u can pretty much guarentee that the PC ALWAYS drops down in game sales especially when a new console(s) are released... then not long after, once all the hype etc dies down then pc sales are probably back to it's usual sales.... as far as graphics are conserned almost always the PC's king cause of the pc's monitor alone just makes the visuals better/more crisp than a tv can ever be (HDTV or not).... i guess once u factor in price obviously a console will generally offer u more for your money... but price aside, the pc generally has more power especially in your high end models it's just not many games actually use it... cause it's like the guy stated above... by the time the high end pc's of today actually get taken "full" advantage of, it will probably be like 2-3+ years from now before u will start seeing developers actually develope for em since they cant develope games strickly for high end pc's as that aliennates alot of there customers... they basically gotta take the middle road which basically handicaps the full potential of those high end PC's.... it's always been like this and pretty much always will be like this (give or take a little)

but on a personal note... between the 3 major consoles now (xbox360 - wii - ps3) i think i would want the xbox360 the most, since first of all forza motorsport 2 is coming to that system... which that game alone makes me want a 360 the most out of all the new consoles... plus the xbox360 can already be moded which is another bonus and then between the ps3/wii, as of now i would rather take the WII mostly cause of it's unique controller design (plus it's cheaper) since after seeing some tv commercials of it in action it looks like it might actually be pretty cool to use in shooters and games of that nature (basically i think it has alot of potential)... then lastly the ps3 cause right now there aint many good games for it and if it dont continue to get exclusive games like GTA etc then i dont really see a need to get one... plus there price is a major turn off.... this time around i dont see sony dominating like it has in the past (generally speaking i liked xbox1 over the ps2... mainly cause it has more power and anytime both consoles got the same title almost always it was better on the xbox due to it's superior power (better graphics/frame rate which are huge boosts) , plus once it was moded it could do alot more than the ps2, namely XBMC ) .... plus the only games i really liked on the ps2 where "Resident Evil 4" and "Tourist Trophy" those two games where basically the reason i got a PS2.

NOTE: i own a xbox and ps2 and a pretty good gaming pc, so i aint some biased fanboy!

[Textbook]

To me, it's more about price.  I would much rather pay a flat-rate fee, that is cheaper, and will be the same for 4-5 years and will work with every game.  Sure, a PC will always be better than a console from a pure power standpoint, but if you look at the power vs. price .. consoles win hands down.  What would it take to build a PC comparable to an Xbox 360?  A whole hell of a lot more money than a $400 Xbox 360.

[EuroHEV]

Who cares who will be the most powerful in two years. I prefer the variety that console gaming gives us than the same old reclycled crap PC gives us(RTS, Hack&Slash, Sims). Yes, they do get some amazing FPS, but the rate that these come out is what? One or two per year?

[Mad_Modduh]

QUOTE(Textbook @ Nov 27 2006, 12:41 AM)

To me, it's more about price.  I would much rather pay a flat-rate fee, that is cheaper, and will be the same for 4-5 years and will work with every game.  Sure, a PC will always be better than a console from a pure power standpoint, but if you look at the power vs. price .. consoles win hands down.  What would it take to build a PC comparable to an Xbox 360?  A whole hell of a lot more money than a $400 Xbox 360.

As for this i paid 120 for an ATI x1900 pci xpress and i had an ati x700 that still looked better than the next gen systems.

PC gamer haters only fear being pwned by me on BF2142 u think u got it then bring it look for me Major_A.Hole or Gen._Kanoobie is my game name

[Mad_Modduh]

QUOTE(geodeath @ Nov 27 2006, 03:01 AM)

And my k6-2 @ 450mhz & riva TNT can run cod2 better than the xbox. get a grip on reality dude.

good luck trying to run gears of war on that x700 then. Post a video for us to see when you do  
oh and dont try to lower the res to something less than 1080p. Thats cheating!

Although an expensive pc can beat consoles hands down on just power, dont forget that NO pc can beat easiness,compatibility and integration & plug&play a console has NO matter the cash spent. Ever since i stopped playing games on my pc i format my hd only once or twice a year. This includes hundreds of software installations and hundreds of hours of development in C++, Java, php and flash. Next time you reformat your pcs, i will be playing with my mates on my hdtv with a few beers around some multiplayer game. You re welcome to come around and share the games.  

My pc cost me 1100 Euros and it will play fear at half the resolution(and the graphic quality) of my 360 which cost 400. If you also consider speakers and other accessories, the total cost for a good 360 setup is going up to 1500 Euros for me. But this price includes an hdtv, a super powerful set of speakers (6.1 thx) and a pro 360. All of which can be used for far more things (home cinema for example and listening to music as well as watching series & other stuff) than my almost 1200 Euros pc, which will be dead before long. Ever since the 360 supported the ipod and digital cameras, there is even less reason to use the pc. Only for storage, print and edits.    

For someone that has the cash to spend, pcs are great. However, i am not a mofo born in a money infested house so i prefer consoles as my primary gaming platform. I just HATE the way pc peripherals get outdated. Its not i dont have money to spend. I just choose to spend them wiser. And you know what? They get outdated not because of low power, but because of "new features" that "need" to be "new products" so everyone can experience "cinema graphics". This is the reason there is a new gforce every F year. Well, console gaming leaves me a lot of money left to enjoy life. Unless you really like your pc as a company

I forgot to add, that this pc played back the hdtv trailer of gears of war with a choppy framerate, while the 360 will do that at REAL TIME. hdtv video requires a FAST cpu which will cost you a 360 alone. Count one more 360 for a good gfx (if not more) and your set. Dont even think adding a good psu, case, memory & stuff. You re going for a third 360. If you also get a good screen you re going for a 4th.

First of all learn to read i said i HAD an x700 now I have a x 1900 SECOND the 360 dosent have a terabyte of storage AND 3rd u paid way too much if u spent more on a pc than on a 360 and all that stuff and third u need to get a life and stop argueing with ppl in forums. and last of all i do have an HDTV but my PC monitor blows it outta the water on resolution.

[geodeath]

QUOTE(Mad_Modduh @ Nov 27 2006, 11:24 AM)

First of all learn to read i said i HAD an x700 now I have a x 1900 SECOND the 360 dosent have a terabyte of storage AND 3rd u paid way too much if u spent more on a pc than on a 360 and all that stuff and third u need to get a life and stop argueing with ppl in forums. and last of all i do have an HDTV but my PC monitor blows it outta the water on resolution.

Well you indeed said you HAD one, but you ALSO said it already looked better than any next gen. Look it up. Its in bold. I dont suppose that this terrabyte of storage is free, right?

Believe it or not i have a great life and i am not here to argue. I just cant see a silly statement about an x700 being "better" than next gen.

It seems you are the one who cant read. All i said when i talked about prices was that i spent MORE on a 360+speakers+hdtv but these can be used with a lot of devices and for a lot of things. So the extra money i spent are not wasted. Thats what i said.