The PC as a Gaming Platform

DaemianLucifer · Unread postby **DaemianLucifer** » 26 Nov 2006, 22:30

I said portable.So no cubersome keyborads

1979 · Unread postby **1979** » 27 Nov 2006, 00:06

$#@% consoles!!

I hate em... nothing but PC for me!

Gaping_MAW · Unread postby **Gaping_MAW** » 27 Nov 2006, 01:35

If you read my post you'd see I mention that most people (i.e. the average git buying the game) won't bother buying extra controllers i.e. steering wheel and pads etc. So if you were a dev, which platform would you most strongly support? Sure, you'll get hardcore driving nuts on the PC who'll buy a ferrari scale model with controls etc, but they don't make the devs the big bucks

asandir · Unread postby **asandir** » 27 Nov 2006, 01:41

I think that the consoles have a great following and have the games and controls to continue to do great business, and the PC market has it's core of games that it does best, it has been this way for some years, and will continue to be so for many to come

soupnazii · Unread postby **soupnazii** » 27 Nov 2006, 02:39

cheers, stefan.

asandir · Unread postby **asandir** » 27 Nov 2006, 03:49

Just tellin' it like it is ....

JessieLC · Unread postby **JessieLC** » 27 Nov 2006, 03:52

It seems to me...........a long time gamer here............that the smartest move would be to make game engines that will work on mulitple devices, PC's,PS3, XBox and all ideations, DS,Gameboy, Wii....its a well known fact that most games are designed & produced on PC's or MAC's and ported to the console of choice! Its getting so expensive taht a console is more expensive in many respects then a multi-use PC...............and what about PDA's, Portable PC's, IPODS etc? There are many new types of multi-use device coming...........its very possible that we will see a new type cartidge gizmo that pluggs directly into a modular setop device attachedd to your HDTV tuner thingy! And then we sit on the couch playing on our TV.............sound familiar??????????Shades of atari!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!;)

Shad0WeN · Unread postby **Shad0WeN** » 27 Nov 2006, 04:10

PC gaming isn't going anywhere. To be fair, I'm not really into consoles much anymore but one thing that the PC platform has always done better and perhaps always will has been multiplayer. Not only is it generally implemented better but there are other "perks" of the platform, such as multiplayer being free (with the exception of massively multiplayer), and a well-established community with clans/teams and competative leagues if you are into that sort of thing. Nevermind that all of that is an entire social realm unto itself. PC versions of new games also tend to be priced about $10 cheaper than their console counterparts.

Also, I would have to take issue with the point in the news post about the cost of the video card mentioned. YOU DON'T NEED the absolute bleeding edge to have a great gaming system and honestly you can get a very powerful and robust video card that's a good value for about half that. That's where the best bang for the buck is at. Sure, I suppose it would be cool to get the latest and greatest cutting edge video card, but honestly you aren't really gaining much to justify the difference in price. So to be perfectly honest, the whole thing about the video card was actually a poor arguement that doesn't have much credibility. If you are going to use the newest PC technology as part of your arguement then it would only make sense to use the newest console technology as a basis of comparison for fairness. And that being the case we are talking about the PS3 for $600. Good luck getting one until the new year.
Edited on Sun, Nov 26 2006, 21:55 by Shad0WeN

Shad0WeN · Unread postby **Shad0WeN** » 27 Nov 2006, 04:37

LordErtz,

what hardware do you have in your PC that Heroes 5 doesn't run well? I mean I have an older system and it runs reasonably well for me, and also the game never crashes, so I dunno but it sounds like something might be wrong with your computer. I've worked as a PC repair technician as well as tech support for a major internet service provider and if there is one thing I have learned it's that a lot of people are just really bad when it comes to PC maintenance or optimization, and it's not even all that difficult.

My rig is running Windows 2000, Athlon XP 2.0 Ghz, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, 2GB memory. Aside from adding some memory I haven't upgraded in about probably 4 years or so I would guess. My system has held up pretty well until now but I suspect some of the newer games coming out soon are going to tax it too much, in particular the new wave of FPS games due out for the summer, so very soon it will be time to upgrade. I also just got Battlefield 2142 so it will be interesting to see how that will play. Considering that it uses the Battlefield 2 engine and that game ran okay on my system I am guardedly optimistic.
Edited on Sun, Nov 26 2006, 21:52 by Shad0WeN

BlackLotus · Unread postby **BlackLotus** » 27 Nov 2006, 07:42

I work at Wal_mart as a sales associate in electronics. Most people who go to Wal-mart tend to buy console games and game systems. The PC game section is mostly ignored by our customers. One thing that I have trouble understanding is that people are willing to shell out over $600 for a PS3 and yet these same people can't afford anything better than an Emachine. But if you look at it this way, Emachines are not very good gaming computers, yet they cost as much as a PS3 with far less power. To get a good gaming computer you must at least spend $2000.00 just to run these games as well as their console counterpart. This is the problem, Computers must be lower in price and have far more power, just to compete with these new systems as gaming machines. Things must change! Also, games seem to take alot longer to get released for the PC than it is for the console systems. Moreover, these games that are released for the PC are buggy as hell. PC games do not adhere to the same quality standards as do console games. For as an example, look at Dark Messiah, it caused so many problems on so many computer systems, people were fuming mad at UBIsoft, this includes myself. This all must change before gaming truely returns to the realm of the PC.

The Black Evil One

asandir · Unread postby **asandir** » 27 Nov 2006, 08:08

I think the $2000 price tag is overstating rather a bit, but I take the point that it is more expensive to get the computer .... but I think you should also tally the cost of your HD tv as part of the console, or leave out the monitor cost component of the computer .... apples to apples, so to speak

this might change the sums somewhat

DaemianLucifer · Unread postby **DaemianLucifer** » 27 Nov 2006, 08:47

My computer has costed me cca 2500$ over the 6 years I have it.Thats not counting the printer and scanner(but those arent that expensive anyway).I doubt that I could get a console that can play newest games for 6 years.

arturchix · Unread postby **arturchix** » 27 Nov 2006, 09:01

No, but you could buy a completely new console, which in summary would cost you less than 2500$ in 6 years unless you'd buy a new console worth 600$ each year. The prices drop later anyway. IMO buying consoles is much cheaper.

Cleanpea · Unread postby **Cleanpea** » 27 Nov 2006, 11:13

But you want a PC as well. To do internet stuff. Give me mouse and keybord options, and good multi-use interface, and I'll buy console. But then it's no longer a console

[T]osHiro · Unread postby **[T]osHiro** » 27 Nov 2006, 11:15

ThunderTitan wrote:Pls, ppl have been predicting the death of PC games ever since the PS1 came out.

Well I guess their prediction is a little erm... incorrect. Especially, with craze of MMORPG, the heart of PC Games is still beating.

LindaG · Unread postby **LindaG** » 27 Nov 2006, 11:19

Well, I don't use a gaming console. And to compare the price of a gaming console I think you have to add up the cost of all the consoles each year, because most people don't buy just one to play all the new console games out there.

And while consoles may be cheaper, I prefer a computer.

And in spite of Microsloft backing a game console, I don't think they are going to kill the goose (PC) that laid the golden egg any time soon.

The availability of shareware and freeware and yes, even fan made mods to me is much more important than what a gaming console can do. lol.

Mytical · Unread postby **Mytical** » 27 Nov 2006, 11:20

My computer cost me $1,000 (ish) and has the specs to run the majority of games. True I have no printer or scanner, but it is a decent system. Now if I had bought just a X-Box 360 (not the core one either) and PS3 (not core but not through ebay either) it would have been over that tax and all. And I still would have to buy the games. Not to mention in a few years they will be obsolete. Imagine if you were the person who spent $9000 or (the average) $2700 for just the ps3 on ebay. Insanity I tell ya. Turns out the 15k and 45k might be a hoax (should have known). Spend 9k on a computer and games and you have a system that will last for quite a while (or even 2700). So consoles are good, when resonable, but if it is 300+ it just is not worth it.

Gary007 · Unread postby **Gary007** » 27 Nov 2006, 12:40

IMO PC as a gaming platform is getting smaller due to average PC games. There hasn't been a really big (exclusive) PC game for some time now. Oblivion might have been the latest big game, but even that wasn't a PC exclusive and it might have been that the xbox360 version sold more than the PC version. Crysis or UT2k7 could both be PC system sellers so not all hope is lost, but anyway at least in my opinion PC games are nowadays just to average or buggy (Gothic3).

Even with the above opinion I prefer PC as a gaming platform. I'm just waiting for the reason to upgrade my old computer...

ThunderTitan · Unread postby **ThunderTitan** » 27 Nov 2006, 13:44

As long as ppl have Desktops they'll still be PC games.

LordErtz · Unread postby **LordErtz** » 27 Nov 2006, 14:34

Shad0wen - My computer runs the game adequately, just not as well as it should run a 3D game like heroes. I can run the half-life 2 engine with no problems on high graphics settings. The heroes graphic engine is entirely flawed and therefore you need higher specs to run the game without pauses, bumps, glitches and so forth. So really there is nothing wrong with my computer (2.6ghz 1gb ram, 8500LE). I don't have to worry about that with console games.

And to the person who said there will eventually be bugs and such in console games just like PC games...when was the last time there was a bugged game on a console. Maybe 5 ever in the history of good consoles? How many PC bugs have there been. I rest my case. Bugs won't go into console games because they are tested 100x as much as PC games by Microsoft and Sony. But to further prove my point I bought Halo when it came out for the computer and it literally crashed it and I had to send it back to Microsoft for a full refund and they even gave me a free Dungeon Siege (POS by the way) for my troubles. Never had a problem with Halo for the XBOX though

I'm not saying I dislike my PC or PC games...I just think the Pros are in favor of consoles right now and Cons are in the favor of PC games.
Edited on Mon, Nov 27 2006, 07:38 by LordErtz

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