PC/Laptop vs Console

Haven't had time to read this thread through fully... However, I notice a huge difference between Console and PC-based fans. Console fans are all about the 'next-gen' phenomena. PC afficionados see a game and usually ask "What mods are there?"

This is why I'm more a fan of PC games. Sure, consoles are snazzy, what with rarely suffering hardware or software failures. Shove a disc in and play the game. Easy. PC's though, despite all the new graphics cards and processors coming out every couple of months, making previous pieces of hardware obsolete with overwhelming frequency, have the biggest thing going for them. Even today, I can go see total conversion mods or additions for games that are nearly a decade old - that's fan service for you.

Consoles are only just getting the ability to alter their games properly, make mods and the like, but the PC will always be able to do more in that region and the mods will be out faster and in greater quantities. I dig that. Anyone play that Robin Hood TCM for UT2k3? That was sheer genius. Lets see someone make a platformer out of an FPS on the PS4.

Hell, try finding a copy of Legend of Dragoon on the PS1. Hard to do.
Just a double click away on my laptop here are hundreds of abandonware games safely stored for future gamers. Hundreds of newer, still licensed titles too - but I'm not big on piracy.

To me, at least, PC is always going to be the 'next-gen' because I can play new releases on my upcoming AW rig for a good 4-5 years. In that time, a host of new consoles will probably have come out, making the ps3/wii/x360 obsolete while I still play the new releases right alongside my emulated Snes games.

Wow that was long winded and incoherent. I pity you guys for having to read and interpret it.

Long days and pleasant nights to all.

 

the thing that sucks about PC games nowadays is that it's kinda slowing down less games are being made and less number of quality titles with all the money being in consoles

 

This, but you have to admit we do get our fair share of titles considering.

 

'next-gen' is just another marketing buzzword.

The PC gets it fair share of games. Some really good titles recently came out Call of Duty 4, Crysis just to name some.

 

If you didn't know.

The leading reason GTA4 is being delayed is because the PS3 version is taking alot longer to develop.

And the games will be graphically identical.. Wit hthe possibility of higher frames on the 360 due to better optimization.

From what I remember the 360 version has been done for awhile, but sony refuses to let it release months before it's own.

The core processor on the PS3 is a pain in the 'butt' for the majority of game developers...

And btw.

I would like you to show me a game that requires 50gb or whatever of space.. Oh wait there is none...

 

for me, pc games are far greater and better

take the 360... (which i ahd when it 1st came out and im not anti console)

people rave about hd....well weve had high res gaming on pcs for years !!!

the only thing about pc gaming...is the constant driver and issues hasstles, you can bet money you get a console lover in front of your pc ,and say have a look at this..and something wont work and you end up saying "hang on just gotta do this or this or that" and aare seemingly always messing about with things

 

Next gen? The PC is already at next next gen....

 

Most of the storage space on blu-ray goes unused right now. It's like the early days of the CD-Rom. Games didn't take up all the 650Mb of the disc so game devolpers added things to fill the remaining space. Most early CD-Rom games contain the soundtrack as a bonus. Just pop your MW2: Mercs cd-rom into your cd player and skip track 1, the game. Works too on Red Alert Counter-Strike. Movies were also added in high res, well, for that time then.

I figure blu-ray will be used like that right now. Fill it with HD movies and sound.

next-gen is just advertisement. Some way to set the new consoles apart from the others in marketing terms. No one wants a PS3 if they can't tell why its better.

 

PCs have always been at next gen... they are constantly evolving, eliminating the big jump that console owners see between systems. In my mind there really is not a next gen on PCs considering the lack of massive jumps in graphical capability (we get frequent small jumps),

 

I prefer PC gaming to console gaming... But sometimes consoles are just the funner way to go.

Especially for IRL multiplayer.

So you just need 2 controllers... Not 2 PC's.

The one things PC's have never done... :\

Like.. I show a friend my PC game.. But when I show a console game he can usually play along. or VS mode.

 

yes consoles are a very fun thing here in the dorms, especially on the big screen. however, when everyone gets bored of playing DragonBall Z on the Wii, we all hop on our PCs and play CS:S and WoW (both of which are quite fun when alot of people you know are playing). It's like a LAN party all the time.

 

Some console games are a lot of fun if you have more people to play with you. The Wii is a real party machine IMO. No fun in playing on your own.

 

Thats such a common misstatement, the Wii is plenty fun to play on your own. Zelda TP, Mario Galaxy, and The Godfather are the ones i've played, at least for awhile, single player and I loved them. Just because the Wii has a lot of party games (SSBB, Mario Party, etc) doesn't mean thats all it is good for.

 

Can't help but thinking of it that way. Still I'd prefer a normal controller over the Wii's. They're too accident prone.

 

Personally I've spent a lot of time on the Wii and it is next to impossible to lose your grip on the controller. I mean you have your thumb and your fore finger wrapped around it, unless your purposely trying to sue Nintendo you won't lose your grip.

 

If you say so. To me, Ratchet on the PS3 looks only marginally better than Ratchet 3 on the PS2 at 480p. I only noticed 2 real differences. One is Ratchet being "fuzzy" and 2 is the fact that, despite what Sony said, the frame-rate hiccuped throughout.

Where most PS3 games can't even maintain a steady frame-rate. Sadly, some PS3 games, like Half-Life 2 Episode 2, don't even run as good as they do using the same settings on my pathetic GeForce 8400M GS.

Why is that most PS3 games don't even run as good as Xbox360 games then? Why are the colors all washed out and bland? Look at some of the flagship titles as well, like "Lair". That game turns into a slideshow on many occasions.

The only "advantage" the PS3 has is blu-ray. But look how many games today don't even fill up DVDs. Oblivion is barely 4GB. Call of Duty 4 is only 6GB, etc.

Somebody needs to learn how computer architecture works

First off, the PS3 only has one main processor and 8 co-processors (the "SPEs"). The main CPU is a PowerPC G5 core running at 3.2GHz. It is not fully "128-bit". It can do 128-bit using the "Altivec" engine (thats what Apple used to call it, think of it like SSE/MMX for PowerPC). But it typically operates at 64-bits, mostly doing 32-bit calculations. The co-processors are only 32-bit and they are less functional than the main CPU. They're good at the type of math that Photoshop would use, but not the type that 3D gaming uses.

Also, before you go talking about being able to draw trees and water and such, keep in mind that the GPU does that. The CPU essentially "sets up" the world. It tells the GPU what to draw and how to make it look. The GPU does the rest. What is drawn is also limited by the pixel fill-rate. The more advanced the water and the more trees you get onscreen, the more your pixel fill-rate gets affected and the lower overall frame-rate you can have.

Essentially, the PS3 is the ultimate Photoshop machine.

The PS3 is also limited by its memory. Both it and the Xbox360 have 512MB of memory. But the PS3 breaks it into 256MB + 256MB. This creates problems when a developer needs to have more than 256MB of textures. The Xbox360 can do it just fine. But the PS3 forces the developer to break things up and have to move things around, plan for it, etc. Essentially, the PS3 is much more difficult to program for.

The Xbox360 has a triple core processor running at 3.2GHz with each core capable of 2 threads, and its also PowerPC G5 based. It also has a co-processor. But considering that GPUs these days do all of the hard graphics work, the CPU just needs to be able to do the AI, physics, and be able to keep up with the GPU in telling it what needs to go where.

The PS3 is the overall weaker system because of the weak processing core and essentially useless SPEs, and the GPU is behind the Xbox360. The PS3 is not even up to the same level as almost 2 generation old GeForce 7950GTX cards.

But with that said...

PC vs. console is always a hot debate. It really depends on the type of games you want to play and how you want to play them. PCs generally require constant upgrading and have the hassle of dealing with software issues, drivers, Windows, etc. With a console, you generally buy it and it lasts 3-5 years. PCs almost always have the advantage of graphics and capabilities, while consoles are simple plug and play.

It's a matter of choice and opinion. Do you want to spend a lot of money constantly keeping your PC up to date to run the lastest and greatest with the best settings? Or do you want to just spend the money one time and be set for a few years?

I love having the latest and greatest hardware, but dealing with driver and software instability issues (I've already had to reinstall Half-Life 2: Orange Box several times for no reason other than the games stopped loading) drives me insane. So I lean more towards console gaming.

 

There's a funny site called wiigotaproblem.com (thought that was the URL) with all kinds of Wii accidents. When your jumping and waving around its easy to clock the person next to you.

I'm just more at home using a dual shock controller or keyboard/mouse.

 

Lol. Found the right link: http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/

Wii owners better have good insurance

 

Its completely a matter of opinion, I've always prefered consoles for their reliability, good prices and the 360s community (which rocks BTW).
But I still enjoy jumping on my PC/Laptop and playing some RTS games. Yeah, PCs can easily out-do consoles but I'm still happy on my 360 with a 28' CRT knowing that it wont bluescreen on me, or worse.
You tend to get less hackers and evils, but then again you dont get all the cool and funny mods for consoles
PC and consoles have their pros and cons but its still just a matter of opinion and the way you prefer to game.

 

Worse, you mean like Red-Ring-Of-Death worse?

BSOD solution, is suaully pretty simple and a software fix, RROD = Fedex and return to me in 3-8 weeks. So did you leave you X360 running in the coupla weeks leading up to Halo3's launch. I didn't, and neither did my friends.

Don't get me wrong, I like the X360, gonna go play Guitar hero after work and on the weekend, but don't pretend it doesn't have it's share of problems.

Both are pretty flakey at times.

 

Can't be better than PS3. Maybe the same, but no better..

 

Nah, the RROD is an overheating problem I think and its how you set it up, mine on some nifty stilts (small paintpots) and its never messed up.
If you lay it flat on a carpet or something then it would probably die from heat and dust.

Anywho, if anyone wants a game on XBL sometime then gimme a nugde I'm Manic Penguins. (CoD4, H2 or skate.

 

I'm just going to jump in here without reading the thread. I'll read through it in its entirety sometime, but right now I'm a little too fatigued from a combination of reading through cases and playing Guitar Hero all day

My two bits:

It has come to a point where PCs and consoles are not necessarily mutually exclusive platforms. You need not play one entirely to the exclusion of the other; performance and price/performance improvements to both platforms mean that you can now easily afford to play on both a PC and a console, without overly much damage to your wallet, and without having to play everything at Sadly Low settings on the PC.

 

Wow. Thought this thread died...

PC and console don't exclude each other one bit. Its just some people prefer one over the other for personal reasons.

 

I play game both in PC and console. But most of the times I play console. I just like the fact that I don't have to install, think about the hardware requirements, drivers and other stuff. Just pop out the dvd, put it in, and play..as simple as that..