Console Gaming vs PC Gaming

[]AC[dRuM]

This is something that has been discussed before but its a goodie and also ties in with some recent events.

Firstly do you agree with this statement made by DFC Intelligence.

By 2008, 40.2 million gamers worldwide will be going online with video game consoles

Also what with UK companies now slashing their prices for Broadband Cable again it looks like the XBox Live package inc others like PS2 (+ spin) may become an even more affordable option for people to just plug in and play. Instant action, instant fun and relatively hassle free from a setup perspective. I think it has all the ingredients for success because it will appeal to the majority of peoples desire for that instant hit, its the Potnoodle theory again. Why does the humble Pot Noodle have 95% of the £105 million instant hot snack market?

Because its instant...........

Not forgetting that the companies then provide a more stable environment for which to slowly pick our brains, its amazing how much of us like to think that we can just sit back and take what is thrown out to us until the pot runs dry, then believe it or not go on to the next sucker with a hand full of fivers and make the same promises and not deliver.

After all its online gaming, people don't expect to make money

..this is changing and we all know it. I believe it will succeed in the very end because of it's reliability and its quickness for the average UK user. The problems of yesterday with people throwing money about is the very fact that the cash was just dropped and then went in a flash, no real effective control elements at all, other than friendly meetings to say everything is 'cool' ''.

So this time around with a console and a cable line your ISP will be ever so keen for you to try 'their' recommended gaming sites etc. The console has evolved in a big way and and with the reported 4ghz barrier being broken in a gaming console, I agree it does look a fascinating alternative tbh. I would still use independent forums, like most, but for the uninitiated their first impressions are what their ISP throws at them, that's a great tool.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

This country's broadband infrastructure needs sorting out before all the consoles can launch a serious attempt at having online gaming as part of a major feature in their products.

Secondly, you need console coders that can code for multiplayer online stuff. There are virtually none.

Thirdly, you need publishers/developers to care/think DEEPLY about the online aspects. This won't happen for a good few years.


Online gaming for consoles is beginning to make a move, but very slowly: and will continue to be slow for the next few years. The companies themselves aren't completely ready, but are beginning to push it forward already. If they keep going at this rate, they'll screw it up majorly.

PS This thread is console v pc gaming? So why not even one mention of a PC?

 

[]AC[dRuM]

PS This thread is console v pc gaming? So why not even one mention of a PC?

I thought maybe like yourself someone would want to post something objective, maybe in support of the PC as the UK's preferred gaming medium?

Plus along the way look at how things are evolving on a broader scale.

 

[Tom]

Why would people need an extra box for gaming, when PCs are steadily integrating themselves into the home?

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Why would people need an extra box for gaming, when PCs are steadily integrating themselves into the home?

Because as the integration is coming more commonplace, more and more stupid idiots are sat in front of PCs. The average PC user has bought a high-priced, under-specced pre-built PC with awful components. Then, they manage to get all kinds of virii, spyware and other system slowing nasties.

Then they complain when their game takes 10 minutes to load.

With all the differing hardware etc etc and compatibility issues most users don't want to have to 'set up' a game for a while before playing it: they want to be able to switch on, and play at will with minimum fuss. Consoles, being universal hardware doesn't suffer from this drawback and makes it instantly more accessible for the impatient youth of today.

 

[babs]

I wouldn't say PC isn't the UK's preferred games medium, playstation 2 sales alone should show you that. It is however the (probably) the biggest for online play, with things like CS and MMO games.

This will change with the next generation of consoles, Sony themselves are offering a broadband content provision service as an option on its next macihne. Microsoft is developing a system whereby PC and xbox(2) users will be able to compete on the Live service together.

The problem that the UK faces as mentioned before is the poor infrastructure. The big promises to have Broadband Britain and BT's 100% coverage by 2005 will look good from a marketing point of view, but leave us severly lagging behind much of the world. Everyone knows about the kind of speeds in place in Sweden and S.Korea, and I remember reading something where the US aims to have 100Mbit available to all homes by 2010. What are we doing? Struggling to get 0.5mbit to everyone. Fibre to the door is the ideal solution, but severely unlikely at the moment due to cost and disruption. I believe there was a motion put forward in the 80s to lay this infrastructure which was thrown out and would've meant we could all have had these wonderful services by now.

I think the sticking point will be not the online gaming itself which has relatively small bandwidth needs (although latency is a different matter), but in the way the content is provided. We all laugh at Phantom now, but it could easily move that way in the future and is already starting to. Without a swift kick in the jacksie we could be woefully out of date.

 

[~Yuckfou~]

I think that there is no doubt that PCs are better for gaming, however consoles are catching up quickly. I think in a couple of years the processing power at least will be the same. The major flaw of course is crappy TV resolutions, when that changes then maybe, just maybe, more will switch to consoles for gaming, web browsing etc.
Most gamers have no clue about the technology they are using, a point made earlier in the thread. So PNP gaming will be the choice of the masses.

Long term the fully integrated "device" will be commonplace in most homes. A machine that plays music/records TV/plays DVDs/ video telephone/web browser etc etc.

 

[tRoG]

I think a major factor in the consoles' success is price. Why spend £500 on a PC that you'll only be playing games on, when you could spend £150 on a console?

 

[gremlin]

I've gone from being an exclusive PC gamer to one who is playing more and more on the console (in my case Xbox). The hardware and the games are catching up and being able to sit comfortably on the sofa in front of the TV instead of upright in a chair at the desk is a total winner.

 

[Cyfr]

Console gaming sucks, period. You can't socialise with a gamepad. Playing with a gamepad and chating with keyboard also sucks!

 

[gremlin]

Ah but playing with a gamepad and shouting obscenities at your mates down an xbox live headset is class

 

[Shovel]

Console gaming sucks, period. You can't socialise with a gamepad. Playing with a gamepad and chating with keyboard also sucks!

Aha, but you can socialise with your voice. Not just as Gremlin says with voice comms, but consoles are far more suited to 'in-the-same-room' multiplayer gaming. The PC on the other hand is a single user beast and while sure, comms in play are (for the time being) easier with a keyboard actual human contact is surely far, far worse (LAN parties excluded).

 

[Bullitt]

You can't socialise with a gamepad.

I seriously hope you mean purely in online terms. Because there's nothing i've found more social and just plain 'fun' than getting a few mates round with some booze and a few multiplayer games.

Plus the whole idea your 'socialising' with others over an online game through a keyboard is a grey area and subject to definition.

------------------------

Myself, i'd prefer a nice mix of the two as i have always felt some games are ideal on different platforms. I see FPS's and RTS's as PC games as the control methods (at current) are superior. Whereas i see third person action/adventure, beat-em-ups and racing games as console genres for the same reasons.

This is only because i can't be bothered to fork out for a multitude of peripherals.

 

[Danya]

IThe major flaw of course is crappy TV resolutions, when that changes then maybe, just maybe, more will switch to consoles for gaming, web browsing etc.

HDTVs are beginning to become available - more so in the states where their larger average TV size and lower normal res (NTSC vs PAL) means there's more demand.
The xbox already supports up to 1080i HDTV (that's 1920x1080 at 60Hz interlaced), it's just almost no one actually has a HDTV in this country to take advantage of it with.

 

[SawTooTH]

I think that there is no doubt that PCs are better for gaming, however consoles are catching up quickly. I think in a couple of years the processing power at least will be the same. The major flaw of course is crappy TV resolutions, when that changes then maybe, just maybe, more will switch to consoles for gaming, web browsing etc.
Most gamers have no clue about the technology they are using, a point made earlier in the thread. So PNP gaming will be the choice of the masses.

Long term the fully integrated "device" will be commonplace in most homes. A machine that plays music/records TV/plays DVDs/ video telephone/web browser etc etc.

Not really, PCs are where the new cutting edge stuff lives.

Maybe the Xbox 2 will change that or maybe with its low resolution appeal it'l be as much of a damp squib as its forebear.

 

[]AC[dRuM]

The point about the integration of the PC as a multi media device (situated as a living room piece / media centre). This is an interesting one, I have often thought that your ISP could provide more than just game servers but a package tailored to your needs with all the programs run remotely. You log in, develop and play, you in a sense create your own little piece of the online world with the tools provided.

This is already happening in places with a PC, but what a superb streamlining of the system to just be able to log in and use, no hassle with maintaining anything because your ISP does it for you. All you have to do is maintain the clan or league. This would give console gamers the power to access the same tools as a PC user, all that remains to be seen is the progress of the tech behind this.

I totally agree with the statement that currently Consoles cannot beat certain game types vs a PC.

 

[Mazling]

Since q3 when a really nice guy (ragman) asked me to join irc and maybe join his clan, I've always thought there was more to gaming than just bashing keys/buttons and swearing at/thumping the monitor a bit. Are there console games out there that have servers with built-in forums? And IRC/chat networks? I agree also with the comment about "sitting here and being fed shite until the money pot is empty": where would we be without freezetag/osp/rocket arena and so on? AND MIGHT I ADD that ctf was an add-on for the original quake. COULD YOU LIVE WITHOUT CTF?
PC will always be the fave of the <flame>true gamers</flame>. PC has the bleeding edge tech, the ability to grow, mouse+keyboard combo (could you live without that?) and of course FORUMS. YOU LOVE THEM. Though I should point out that I threw a minor wobbler at one point and left all forums for a few years.
Final thought: there is market for both. As long as there is a huge dirty great wall kept between the console gamers and pc gamers, I'm happy. The console gamers just won't be able to put in the proper effort, or even consider this online interaction thing important.

 

[Mofo8]

The reason consoles fail to excite me, is that once you've splashed out on one, you're kind of stuck with how it came out the box. Sure, you can buy different controllers, memory cards, and various other bits'n'bobs, but it's not upgradeable in the way a PC is. I suppose one could argue that the cost of buying a brand new console every 2 or 3 years is less than keeping your graphics card, processor and various other gubbins up to date, but there's just so much more you can do with a PC.

Plus, there are certain types of game that will NEVER work on a console, mainly because of the limitations of their controllers. Serious flight sims for one. And I have no idea how anyone can play a FPS with a joypad. Keyboard and mouse - all the way!

 

[SawTooTH]

Im not so keen on this intergration malarky. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. People cant cope with the video/DVDs. God knows what dumbed down piece of excrement will be produced and you know full well that it cant replace our luvely beige (okay brushed aluminium) boxes.

 

[Doomy]

For the whole communication/ease of use/community i truely believe that xbox live NEARLY has it spot on. Remember the service goes down on wednesday for massive upgrades to be implemented over time, more explained here

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/04/16/news_6093825.html

I think its hilarious that the xbox given its spec is capable of far greater things on the multiplayer online aspect than the pc can now. For instance the headset, sure you can rent a TS server for pc or that Ventrilo software stuff but untill UT2K4 there has been no inbuilt voice comms service in any game AT ALL in how many years? I hope Steam rectifies this as it does seem a genuine step in the right direction. With xbox live you can play any Live enabled games and chat to people, build up a friends collection and can even get to them via the xbox dashboard, from there you can see what game they are playing, send invites to the game you will be playing or get invited.

Hell even the US army are using them for their troops as ringing home via a phone is far more expensive

It really is an amazing service and would love for pc users to see how it can be done properly.

 

[babs]

Whilst I agree that Live is the best console online service so far...

For instance the headset, sure you can rent a TS server for pc or that Ventrilo software stuff but untill UT2K4 there has been no inbuilt voice comms service in any game AT ALL in how many years?

CS? At the very least, I'm probably forgetting something though

 

[dysfunction]

Because as the integration is coming more commonplace, more and more stupid idiots are sat in front of PCs. The average PC user has bought a high-priced, under-specced pre-built PC with awful components. Then, they manage to get all kinds of virii, spyware and other system slowing nasties.

Its just a matter of time before the consoles get hit by virii, spyware etc when their online connection takes off...its only logical captain.


Oh and PC's knock the socks off consoles...

 

[Deadmanwalking]

Planetside.

 

[Doomy]

Whilst I agree that Live is the best console online service so far...

CS? At the very least, I'm probably forgetting something though

CS has inbuilt Voice Comms? As in no server handling just the chat? I have heard voice comms in CS before many times always presumed it was a TS server or similar.

The voice in CS tho sounds like helium swallowing chipmunks.

 

[Cask]

Pot noodle ain't instant. It has been a while since I had one but you have to boil the kettle, pour it on, wait for a bit, stir, wait for a bit, pour in the sachet and then eat slowly because it's still hot. And even after all that it still tastes like cheap crap with no nutritional value.

In the same time I could easily slice up a chicken breast and stick it on the george foreman. So there

 

[dysfunction]

The voice in CS tho sounds like helium swallowing chipmunks.

And there I was thinking something was wrong with my audio settings...

In the same time I could easily slice up a chicken breast and stick it on george foreman.

I'm not sure I'd want to eat chicken off George Foreman...but whatever blows your hair back eh.

 

[caLLous]

Instant action, instant fun and relatively hassle free from a setup perspective.

What's all this mention of 'instant' with reference to consoles? I could've finished a lap on toca on my PC by the time the PS2 version had got to the main menu. :\

 

[Doomy]

What's all this mention of 'instant' with reference to consoles? I could've finished a lap on toca on my PC by the time the PS2 version had got to the main menu. :\

I think he refers to patches, video settings, sound settings, crashes (in the hardware sense, not driving inability), basically all the things we love about pc gaming, right?

 

[Mazling]

I'm not sure I'd want to eat chicken off George Foreman...but whatever blows your hair back eh.

I'm reminded of Hot Shots.

 

[FuzzyLogic]

<snippy>...but untill UT2K4 there has been no inbuilt voice comms service in any game AT ALL in how many years? ...</snippy>

Planetside's had one for the last year or so, it's crap last i remember using it, but it's there