[01010]

Originally posted by Holy Imperial Gloriano


Indeed it's sad but I hope that change in future:)

64 bit processors and the latest in GPU's are going to change the face of gaming completely in the next 2-3 years, I'm almost certain of that, I think the problem with the market in general and specifically the PC is that people seem to be too scared to try something different with a bit of imagination. In fact, the last game I can think of that was inventive and awed me with it was probably Beyond Good and Evil and that was like 8-9 months ago.

Don't get me wrong I think games like Far Cry and Half Life 2 are/are going to be awesome but it's still more of the same with physics and a lick of paint.

Originally posted by Knight Templar
That's still money to be missed out on. I sure as hell am not going ot buy an X-Box to play it though because 1) I don't have the money. 2) I wouldn't buy a system to play one or two games and 3) it's the whole principle of the thing.

Hmm, it depends on how much it costs to port the game to PC (not too much I should imagine, but it all cuts into the profit margin). As for one or two games, I bought an Xbox explicitly for Halo and now have a good twenty or so games, there's a suprising amount of quality games for it at the moment and a lot more to come, suprising because I thought it would go the way of the Dreamcast (R.I.P) but XBox actually seems to be getting a lot of dev support.

Its all good for me though, I have every current gen console (barring PS2, ICO wants me to buy one but I cant justify it with one game (that isn't Halo)) so I can play whatever.

[Fineus]

Of course they outsell PC games, console games are easy. I'm not talking difficulty - I'm saying that if you buy a console and a game and hook it up to your TV - it will work as soon as you plug it all in.

PCs don't have that luxury - but they are a far more powerful system (obviously, because improvements are always being made to hardware).

At the risk of turning this into a console / PC war - I can't get on with consoles. They lack fine tuned control. options and general freedom. Not to mention the games have to be simplified so that anyone can understand them (generally). Because of this and games like Halo - people are wondering why they both with the PC when more games are coming out for consoles and offer a more social gaming environment (outside a LAN, people generally dont play with their mates - but anyone can pick up a Gamecube controller and be generally familiar with it in about five minutes of play).

Also, PCs - whilst much more powerful - are not "cool". They currently still carry to much of an image of geeks in dark rooms playing games on their own - unlike consoles which are much more fashionable.

Meh, life goes on. Hopefully games will always be built for a PC medium.

[karajorma]

The sad thing is that there is no good reason why you can't just plug in a second joystick and crowd everyone around the PC instead.

[01010]

Originally posted by Kalfireth

At the risk of turning this into a console / PC war - I can't get on with consoles. They lack fine tuned control. options and general freedom. Not to mention the games have to be simplified so that anyone can understand them (generally). Because of this and games like Halo - people are wondering why they both with the PC when more games are coming out for consoles and offer a more social gaming environment (outside a LAN, people generally dont play with their mates - but anyone can pick up a Gamecube controller and be generally familiar with it in about five minutes of play).
 

I don't agree with the "dumbed down for consoles argument", like I say I am and always will be a PC gamer, but to simply ignore consoles as a valid gaming medium is to deny yourself some fantastic games. I couldn't imagine playing something like Ninja Gaiden or Super smash brothers melee on a PC, but conversely, I couldn't see myself playing an RTS on a console. Different tools for different jobs as it were.

Originally posted by karajorma
The sad thing is that there is no good reason why you can't just plug in a second joystick and crowd everyone around the PC instead.

Me and my old man have been doing this for donkeys years, however, two computer chairs cramped around a 19" monitor can't compare to lounging in a settee playing on a 28" widescreen TV.

[Gloriano]

Originally posted by Kalfireth
Of easy.
Also, PCs - whilst much more powerful - are not "cool". They currently still carry to much of an image of geeks in dark rooms playing games on their own - unlike consoles which are much more fashionable.

Meh, life goes on. Hopefully games will always be built for a PC medium.

PC gaming will be always cool

Like lan partys where peoples can have lot of fun
drinking etc gotta admit that I'am bit too old now for lan partys but who cares

[magatsu1]

I've all but abondened my plans to upgrade the beige box.
All thebig Ion Storm releases were bobbins and all the big Summer/Autum titles can be had on xbox for much less money.

You know in mulitiplayer you can push people off their ghosts BTW.

[01010]

Originally posted by magatsu1
I've all but abondened my plans to upgrade the beige box.
All thebig Ion Storm releases were bobbins and all the big Summer/Autum titles can be had on xbox for much less money.

You know in mulitiplayer you can push people off their ghosts BTW.

I don't mind the summer lull actually, now I've upgraded I'm able to catch up with a lot of games I've missed the past few years (Morrowind, Neverwinter Nights, Painkiller, Mafia) etc.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by karajorma
The sad thing is that there is no good reason why you can't just plug in a second joystick and crowd everyone around the PC instead.

Most people don't have a PC in their living room with 3 sofas crowded round, though.

[Setekh]

Originally posted by Holy Imperial Gloriano
sorry, but:lol:  Halo1 in XBOX sold over 4 million copies and pc version sold what 500.000 copies

if they do it pc it's not because of profit

Indeed, spot on there. Pretty amazing, Halo is even still selling on Xbox.

[Fineus]

Originally posted by 01010

I don't agree with the "dumbed down for consoles argument", like I say I am and always will be a PC gamer, but to simply ignore consoles as a valid gaming medium is to deny yourself some fantastic games. I couldn't imagine playing something like Ninja Gaiden or Super smash brothers melee on a PC, but conversely, I couldn't see myself playing an RTS on a console. Different tools for different jobs as it were.

Indeed, because an RTS is far more complex than Super Smash Brothers Melee from the controller point of view.... like I said it's dumbed down. I'm still not saying that that's a bad thing, but it is a fact.

I ignore consoles as a valid gaming medium because of several reasons:

1. There's more than one console, each with attractive games - SSB for the GameCube, Halo for the XBox, Grand Turismo etc. for the PS2... and I simply can't afford to buy all the available consoles, and by investing in one I deny myself the games on the others... not to mention my friends have consoles of their own - so when I want to play I use theirs. But never have I been gripped by console games, they're fun but they don't last in the same way PC games can.

2. So, we've covered the cost of getting a console - it might come with a game, but other than that I don't recall seeing cheap console games anywhere unless they're second hand.... PC games drop radically in price after the first few months of sale - and in my experience a PC game that I enjoy will far outlast a console game that I've enjoyed... Battlefield 1942 for example.

3. Limited use. I can't surf the net, type a letter or do half a dozen other things with a console that I can with a PC.

4. No upgradability (ok, memory cards don't count here). The point is that if I buy something this year, next year I'll have to shell out another £200 or something just to keep up to date with the console that the games are released for. PCs have a far longer shelf life and if I don't want to upgrade it, I don't have to.

Meh, my point is that while I respect that there are good games for consoles, they simply don't seem to have achieved the same depth of interest for me that PC games have. They're also a massive investment (granted, initially buying a PC is no cheap affair - but after that the process of upgrading isn't to bad)... right now they're just not attractive enough to me.

[Setekh]

Hey, Kal. I totally appreciate your position and think your points are pretty well justified. But I'd like to point at a couple of things I think aren't strictly true... and those things are:

Originally posted by Kalfireth
I ignore consoles as a valid gaming medium because of several reasons:

Originally posted by Kalfireth
4. No upgradability (ok, memory cards don't count here). The point is that if I buy something this year, next year I'll have to shell out another £200 or something just to keep up to date with the console that the games are released for. PCs have a far longer shelf life and if I don't want to upgrade it, I don't have to.

The upgradeability point piques my interest, because it seems rather backward to me. To my knowledge, PCs have a far shorter shelf life than consoles - every new PC game requires a faster processor than before, necessitating upgrades to play stuff at acceptable framerates and detail levels. In contrast, while you're totally right-on with the fact that they can't be upgraded, that's just the reason why they actually last longer. Since I don't really keep up with gaming technology, I can only speak from my friends' experience, but generally my friends with consoles stay with their Xbox or Gamecube or PS2s far longer than any of my PC gaming friends stay with their rigs.

The other thing I noticed was that these reasons are why you ignore consoles as a "valid gaming medium". But you know, none of those reasons invalidate consoles from being valid gaming mediums - people can still play games on them, and have stacks of fun on them, occasionally more than with PC games. What I think you mean to say is that these points invalidate them from being serious gaming platforms.

[Grug]

lol.

Well having the best of both worlds wins I believe. I have an XBox, and I look forward to Halo2 more so than  Half Life 2.

Mainly for the reason that you buy it, and your guranteed that your playing the exact same thing as everyone else. ie. Your not slown down by a medicore video or sound card. Seems to be a more fair playing field multiplayer wise.

Plus its good to just sit back and use a control and play a game. Rather than boot up, install, play, configure controls, configure video / sound etc.

But meh, as I said I like the best of both worlds. I like the PC for my modifications to games, and my XBox for the guarentee it's always there, it doesn't get infected by virus's, or crash or blue screen. (touch wood)

Plus if you take a gander at some of the whispers of the next generation of consoles, they are becoming more like a fully outfitted entertainment system. aka stereo / dvd player / games etc.

Yet in the end it all comes down to: "meh"

- Grug

[karajorma]

You missed out the fact that you can't mod for consoles Kalfireth. Who'd still be playing FS2 if all we had was multiplayer and the main FS1 and 2 campaigns?

I consider that a pretty big problem with consoles.

[Fineus]

Granted modding adds a massive lifespan past the original shelf life of most PC games.

That said, can everyone take what I said with a pinch of salt? I had a bit of a brain leak and was typing it all out while at work.. so it's not all the best thought out post ever

[Turnsky]

Originally posted by Kalfireth
Granted modding adds a massive lifespan past the original shelf life of most PC games.
 

actually, the moddibility of morrowind was pratically the sole reason i got the PC version over the xbox's.
it depends on the game, really.

[01010]

Originally posted by karajorma
You missed out the fact that you can't mod for consoles Kalfireth. Who'd still be playing FS2 if all we had was multiplayer and the main FS1 and 2 campaigns?

I consider that a pretty big problem with consoles.

Actually, while it's not quite full on modding, check out what some people have been doing with Halo on a modified Xbox. Quite interesting actually, seems you slap a HD in there and it opens up the options a lot.

[adwight]

Originally posted by Turnsky


y'know, i heard an Xbox fanboi say that about the 'cube once.

my point is this, you're entitled to your opinion, yes.. but is it an informed one?.. have you actually tried the xbox other than those crappy store displays?

or is the fact that the xbox is a product of microsoft, is the main reason you don't like it?..
now, when i purchased my xbox, i was taking a bit of a risk, considering what i know about microsoft, and i'm rather glad i did buy it...
there's also a reason why i'm reluctant to get a gamecube, it's my hands.. the gamecube's controller is too small for my big hands;)

i might just get a cube later on, however.

The reason I have my cube is simple, the games.  Graphics to me, mean ****.  It's all about the gameplay, and gamecube has by far the best games of any of the consoles.

[neo_hermes]

Originally posted by adwight

The reason I have my cube is simple, the games.  Graphics to me, mean ****.  It's all about the gameplay, and gamecube has by far the best games of any of the consoles.

Metroid Prime, and Resident Evil are the only games i can think of that didn't bore me to death...

[Turnsky]

Originally posted by adwight


The reason I have my cube is simple, the games.  Graphics to me, mean ****.  It's all about the gameplay, and gamecube has by far the best games of any of the consoles.

BWUAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH!!!!!  

Halo
Halo 2
Yager
Lok: Defiance
spiderman 1,2
crimson skles
PGR 1,2
Amped 1,2

yeah, i'll admit, there are some games on the cube that i'd like to get my hands on, but saying that the are only good games the one console, is flawed. it's like saying that freespace 2 sucked just 'cause you couldn't get it on a mac (we're talking retail here).