Consoles Are Dead, Long Live the PC?

[blazsly]

^are you seriously that stupid. You say a ps3 costs more than a good PC?

[vicious1988]

I've had my PC for about 10 years. Only things I've upgraded are RAM and GFX card. At today's prices for the parts in it, around $300-350. And it runs most current games at almost full quality. Unless the game is designed to run on that PhysX $#@!.

[Airdevil]

While everyone keeps saying "Oh the PC is the best platform to play games on". I completely disagree with that statement no matter what anyone says for these reasons:

1. Compatibility - Many people are moving into Macs, where gaming just doesnt work. Also there are so many factors with a PCs hardware that amature PC enthusiasts may find confusing/ have problems with.

2. Lack of variety in games - What is there in the market for PC atm?... erm RTS, or first person shooters. Im sorry, but ide rather have a choice.

3. Cost - In order to pay the latest games you need all the latest hardware which can cost hundreds of pounds, which many people are not willing to pay. Ide rather spend £300 on a PS3 and call it a day.

4. Input devices - People do not want to sit there with a keyboard and mouse, or sit back 2 metres away from their computer screens with a crappily built controller. Ill take a wireless controller as the standard thanks.

5. The mass market are not confident with upgrading their computers - There are still too many people about who think that getting a new graphics card is a hugely complicated process, when its really not. The fact places like PC world ask for £30 to install one just feeds this.


5 HUGELY important factors which consoles games just dont have. Seriously... how can this guy compare the Wii-mote to a mouse and keyboard?

[mcdougall57]

I hate news-posts like this its all I ever see on the front page now when some "expert" claims something if only to spark a brief amount of attention and then the following comments just end up in an argument or flame war.

"Wild Tangent CEO" Isn't wild tangent that cheap internet games site that expects you to install a client to install those crappy games along with a large amount of Trojans, Spyware and Adware?.

In full, who gives a crap about your opinion? you're just another self-proclaimed "expert" who wanted a slice of 15 minute fame.

[osgeld]

I hate news-posts like this its all I ever see on the front page now when some "expert" claims something if only to spark a brief amount of attention and then the following comments just end up in an argument or flame war.

"Wild Tangent CEO" Isn't wild tangent that cheap internet games site that expects you to install a client to install those crappy games along with a large amount of Trojans, Spyware and Adware?.

In full, who gives a crap about your opinion? you're just another self-proclaimed "expert" who wanted a slice of 15 minute fame.

heh amen

[jaws365]

I have PC and Mac for work-stuff

I have PSP and DS for lamer-stuff

[AuroraKnight]

Hahaaaa, oh man, these claims get more and more ridiculous everyday eh? honestly, most of the time I PREFER to play games on my PC, the only console I have to rival it is my DS which I actually do play more often than my PC but more over, that's retarded. There's no way consoles will be out done by the PC. The main thing PC's have going for it are MMO's and I think even that "COULD" be taken away from it. I prefer to play my FPS games on the PC but, there's just no way the PC could erase consoles, especially considering as soon as you upgrade your PC for one game, there's a new game with new parts required like a month later >_<

[Pilot_51]

2. Lack of variety in games - What is there in the market for PC atm?... erm RTS, or first person shooters. Im sorry, but ide rather have a choice.

Those may be the strong genres since they work far better on PC than consoles, but PC still gets just about every genre imaginable, especially when you consider open source and the like.

3. Cost - In order to pay the latest games you need all the latest hardware which can cost hundreds of pounds, which many people are not willing to pay. Ide rather spend £300 on a PS3 and call it a day.

Not necessarily. When I upgrade my PC I generally go for the 6-month/year-old stuff that had the huge price drop into budget range. My last upgrade was over a year ago and I can still play the latest games just fine. An upgrade as I did (motherboard, video card, and RAM) costs about $600 (300 GBP), which is about as much as the PS3 and better in terms of potential. I've noticed some prices have gone way down since then, especially RAM which was about $100 for 1GB and now it's about $30 for 2GB, so a major gaming upgrade now would probably turn out a couple hundred cheaper. I typically don't feel the need to upgrade again for a good 5 years, especially with the way many of the latest and most hyped games seem to be getting crappier.

4. Input devices - People do not want to sit there with a keyboard and mouse, or sit back 2 metres away from their computer screens with a crappily built controller. Ill take a wireless controller as the standard thanks.

You know when someone is computer illiterate when they say that. PC's are far more flexible than any console. You can use console controllers with the PC or the huge variety of controller types available for PC or pretty much anything you want as a controller. I bought an adapter from eBay for about $6 that lets me use 2 PS1/PS2 controllers on my PC and it works perfectly. If you simply don't want to be close to the screen, and don't mind the keyboard/mouse, many keyboards and mice are wireless. Keyboard and mouse are just the standard and by no means should that be an excuse for staying away from PC gaming.

5. The mass market are not confident with upgrading their computers - There are still too many people about who think that getting a new graphics card is a hugely complicated process, when its really not. The fact places like PC world ask for £30 to install one just feeds this.

I agree, that's why I build/upgrade my PC's myself and why I offer to do it for other people with no labor cost (or by donation).

5 HUGELY important factors which consoles games just dont have. Seriously... how can this guy compare the Wii-mote to a mouse and keyboard?

FYI the Wiimote can be used on PC with Bluetooth, which has so far led to some very interesting homebrew creations.
He wasn't comparing the Wiimote to the keyboard/mouse, he was saying that the Wii is proof that the general public cares more about the gameplay (through good controls) than they do the graphics. He also said it was an exception to his main point because of that.

Me? I'm a huge PC gamer, so call me biased if you wish. I also have Wii, PS1, DS, and GBA and I've loved them all, so at least I know somewhat how console gaming shapes up. I was mostly into console/handheld gaming until I bought my first PC, then I almost completely stopped console gaming, but I've always been a big fan of Nintendo handhelds since the original Gameboy and my DS still goes with me almost everywhere.

[jamotto]

heh, Alex St. John is always very outspoken. If not for him and two other people Windows gaming wouldn't exist.

[digitalhijinx]

I'd almost say the opposite is true, well at least when I look at my own friends. The ease of use of consoles make them get games for them rather than the computer, no installation, no upgrading of the system. As for myself I am almost solely PC gamer right now, I just don't see a reason to get a console at the moment. And I like being able to do everything on one system (it helps I have a laptop).

So I think in the end its just a matter of preference, the PC will never go under in gaming, and neither will consoles. They're both equal outlets for gaming and the only thing that matters is the preference of the gamer.