bananaman

saw this article on Gamershall

interesting read

http://gamershell.com/articles/884.html

made me think that as consoles get coser to PCs then the PC as we know will die

discuss :/

nana

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Shaga

No way that PCs are getting into consoles, consoles are most definetly getting closer to PCs.

It's waste of money to buy new console everytime, I think consoles are getting upgrade parts very soon, like new graphic card(stick) or something, and of course mouse and keyboard for better first person shooter experience. There's just fuzzy line between consoles and PCs. PC will be used for work many many years so it's not getting near consoles as the consoles are getting near PCs. Just my humble opinion. Sorry for the grammar, a bit in hurry

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Ubergrendle

Eventually, sooner or later, yes. There is a slow, gradual convergence of PC functionality with home theatres/entertainment, and eventually it won't be worth buying a stand-alone PC for gaming purposes.

Look at the numbers for WoW... a generous 1,000,000 seats will be sold this year. Yes, its a nice continuous revenue stream, a very profitable game. WoW is probably the most popular PC game this year. Compare this to Halo2 -- 20,000,000 copies forcasted to be sold. No way even the monthy revenue will compete with that.

Compare # of seats of Nintendo, PS2, and X-Box w/ PC gaming systems. Its clear that you have a better market to sell your game to in the console area. Also, regression testing is minimal (e.g. one unit) vs a gazillion PC specs. Console games are cheap to develp in comparison.

So consoles will EVENTUALLY win. However, modders, power gamers, techies will keep the PC gaming world alive for many many years to come. I think the PC is a much more creative platform in terms of depth-of-product (RTSes, FPSes, RPGs, turn based strategy, etc) than the limited console platforms. Also for the forseeable future, uber-gaming (aka graphics! online play! modding!) will be PC based vs closed-system consoles.

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Callandor

That's the craziest load of crap I ever heard!

PC's will never die, anyone who knows anything about PC's will tell you that they most certainly won't die due to out performance by consoles.

Unless they die due to a much larger number of fans moving over to the console side and playing games on console instead of PC's (which is -not- gonna happen anytime soon in my book), there's no way that PC gaming will "die".

As you can clearly see from the question he first posed, PC gaming will die due to other reasons other than inferiority to consoles or lack of a decent fan-base. A few reason I myself can think of that will kill the PC are a) buying parts for the PC is freakin expensive, but necessary if you want to get the best performance and b) many people think you have to be some kind of technology guru to play games on a PC (esp. most of the new gaming community recrutees, this is sad really and should not be happening, but it is).

Now that is why PC gaming would die.

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GeneralClaymore

they said that b4. pc gaming aint gonna die aslong there games. this aint the first time people say pc is gonna die. in my opinion i feel game systems may die since u got to keep buying game systems to play there games.

you do not have to buy a 400 card to play games on ur pc well. a 9800pro will still play games just as fine so is a 9600XT.

people that want to use high aa and high af and also 1600x1200 usually buy the 400+ cards. people that just want to play games dont have to shell out that much.

that was the reason i stop playing game systems. i got tired of buying diffent systems then paying 50 bucks for games. when my pc i didint have to keep upgrading it that much and the games was all diffent prices.

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Callandor

Yeah, and the amount of money you spend on games for consoles collectively could very well have bought you tons more consoles of the same kind that you play them on...with PC games, you have the option of waiting till they become abandonware, or just playin abandonware from the start or buying really old games that are pretty cheap.

With consoles, they most of the time only have the latest titles in stock that are priced real high.

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topbob

lol, pc gaming dying? hardly. Console gaming dying? yes.
the mouse and keyboard works better in every game type except simulation, plus countless other reasons why consoles would die before pc gaming.

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technonerd

It's funny when the Xbox, ps2 and Gamecube came out. Everybody was staying that the pc gaming is nearing to end because of the console. Well, pc is still going strong.

Ubergrendle

I think everyone is missing the point... its the game developers that will drive the migration to consoles, not the users. Companies are more and more likely to focus their efforts on console games because of higher sales, guaranteed volume, more difficult copying, etc. Not because the PC is inferior -- its not. Its just that over time market forces will drive consolidation.

The most popular games on the PC (Half Life 2, Doom 3, WoW) have fractions of the sales of average titles on PS2, X-Box, and Gameboy.

I see consoles emulating some of the better functions of the PC (e.g. multipurpose, keyboard & mouse, etc) over time and gradually weaken the argument in favour of a home PC. But this is a long, 5-10 timeframe and there will always be a core of serious gamers on the PC.

If a console becomes a PC, is the PC dead?

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Callandor

Thank you for clearing that one up Ubergrendle.

That can be the trouble when some people don't actually read the articles...

Exactly.

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Ev!L-aLphA

PCs will always be superior.... in graphics in speed in every aspect.. xept exclusive games... but pcs will always be here and they will always be better than consols.

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Callandor

Yep. PCs are here, and are here to say, but as Uber said, the two will probably end up merging into each other in the end.

Fusion does look like a very possible occurance in our generation if you think about it...

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jasonbourne

i will alway preferrer to play on a pc !lalways .like chaga said mouse and keyboard are so much better for fps experience.

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Red_Death

Nonesense! Nice ploy by the console makers. PC gaming is dominating the market. That's why the game manufacturers are making some games only for consoles, they are trying to win back the PC gamers.

They are making games that get alot of buzz and not releasing them for PC untill they have been out for awhile. I think they're trying to force ya to play games on consoles now. They spent all that money creating the consoles and then PC gaming went through the roof. Now they are trying to regain some territory and make some money.

If they'd just release the games for All the main systems on the same date, and make them work on all the same servers (so you could play against an Xbox user with your PC and so on) they would all make money and we'd all be happy.

They are always trying to make us do something they want us to do instead of listening to their consumers and giving us what we want. Without us they are nothing, right? Same for music, too. LOL!

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No_Style

No offense, but to those who're thinking PC Gaming is dominating the market are obviously blind or choose to ignore the simple facts that PC Gaming has been declining year after year. That article speaks the harsh truths, but in the end they're truths.

Why do PC gamers get mediocre ports? Developers/publishers don't see the need to pour that much resources into tinkering with a game's compability with countless PC hardware and software configurations. Think about it. What would you rather do as a developer? Make a game, I mean really make one, or spend your time trying to get it to work with the exact same performance between an ATI rig and nVidia rig?

The next generation consoles will be very interesting, the power of the hardware chosen for these consoles are already surpassing over 90% of desktop PCs today. Already, the Unreal 3 engine will be used by Microsoft Gaming Studios. The fact that the Unreal 3 Engine was designed with consoles in mind already shows where gaming developers are looking at for sales and success.

How can we save PC gaming? Easy. The first and most obvious step is to drop the prices of hardware. Paying $299 CAD for a "mainstream" Radeon 9800 PRO to play Doom 3 @ 1024 x 768 @ Medium settings @ an average 43 FPS isn't my idea of a great gaming experience. I guess I could turn down the resolution and hook up my PC to a TV and reduce the obvious aliasing, but why do I need to buy a $299 video card for that?

I know what you're going to say, "Radeons" aren't great for Doom 3. Well there's another issue itself. Why does the performance gaps between Doom 3, for ATI and nVidia exists? What if I liked HL2 and Doom 3? Why should I compromise quality, performance or money to get the same level of satisfaction?

P.S - The only game I know of which is inter-platform is FFXI for the PS2 and PC.

P.P.S -

Great post.

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Zardon

Stop downloading every game on the net.

No_Style

True. But what about the people who download PS2 games for their PS2 which can be easily played by using those very affordable and non-dangerous Swap Magic 3.3 boot discs? I'm sure the download rate for PS2 games are pretty high as well. But, then again people would pay for games which work great out of the box

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Sandok

The PC market is always going to be very cool and interesting and I doubt big companies like EA can avoid it

Red_Death

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/showthre...ht=game+system
38 of you chose PC and and assorted 9 of you chose console.

I agree with Ubergrendle, it's not dead, but the console and game makers wish it were. But the people love it. Supply and demand. Without us they have no one to buy the product. This is an attempt to regain territory by console makers.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/showthre...ht=game+system
PC looks dominant to me here also.

Also I think each system should have to stand up in a category by itself. I bet PC game sales beat Xbox game sales, and I bet PC game sales beat PS2 game sales and I bet PC games beat GameCube sales. Just because I have a PS2 game doesn't mean xbox should get credit for the sale, too, right?

I think classifying all the underdogs in one category to make PC gaming appear less than dominant is kind of a desperate attempt to get people to buy console games. And the game makers are trying to get their money's worth for all the work they do on the console game developmentation so they release statements that manipulate the truth and delay the release of the latest titles for PC, they don't have any trouble selling PC games so they wait to see how many console purchases they can get first.

PC gaming is probably more popular that Xbox gaming, and more popular that PS2 gaming and so on and so on. With this kind of statement I could say PC sales are definately way higher than console system sales. You can do more than play a game and watch a DVD and most people already have a PC anyway so it's more convinient for them to buy PC games than to buy a system with limited uses.

Ok I'm done with my soap box. LOL

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Sandok

You can't base your facts on those polls! 80 people in total is not enough to call it general.

Senor_Mota

Every logical explanation has been spoken very intelligently, so let me "dumb it down" for those of y'all who didn't get it -

The PC Market is still going strong, but it's degrading due to the simplicity of console game programming/resources and HUGE first-party software support. Those of you who enjoy modding, custom specs and overclocking will always have an available market, but the newer generation of gamers apprciate the consoles a great deal more - probably because of the lack of OS Reinstalls, Registries, Viruses, etc. that come as standard usage for PC's. Consoles are simpler, user-friendly, and even children can operate them on a consistent basis with no problems. PC's, on the other hand...

I've been a fan of PC's since my dad operated his Tandy 5000 MC for DesignCAD, but the console gaming experience has sucked me in lately. The Sega Genesis started it, and the XBOX Live experience finished it. What can I say - I like FUN games!

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Ubergrendle

I think that this is alot less prevalent than it used to be due to internet play and authentication. Of course, games are designed to be internet-friendly now, so solid stand-alone adventure games are alot less likely to be made anymore, and RPGs are more like "MMORPGs" vs solid classics like Ultima or Baldur's Gate.

Double edged sword IMHO.

Back in the day, i had dozens and dozens of disks and CDs of hacked downloads/copies... now I find my time is more valuable, and I ~buy~ the games I play. One every 3-6 months will not hurt my pocket book, and encourages quality.

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Red_Death

Maybe I'm just Angry because they won't release Ghost Recon 2 and Mercenaries for PC. I've been waiting and they're pissing me off. Stupid console games are ruining it for me, I've almost rented it for PS2 cause they're starving me on the PC.

Let us all be equal in the gaming world. Seein how we all love it so much regardless of system.

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The_Neon_Cowboy

ROFL... 1 PC = 1000X the the best console on earth so i don't see them going anywhere if anything as people be come more computer literate and prices fall PC's will displace any need for consoles

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Sandok

Dude the next gen consoles are gonna blow away the PC games. I mean, we see this every few years. I don't mind much since I play both consoles and PC. But PC is problomatic, it's much more of a solo game unless you play over the internet while the console still has that magic touch of having more controllers and having a few mates have fun as we all play.

No_Style

This forum is not the market. This forum is heavily PC user based. It's like running a poll on who likes EverQuest in the Battle.net forums..

Ok, here's 1 PC

Intel Celeron 2.0 GHz
ATI Radeon 7000
256 MB RAM
etc..

Is 1000x better at gaming, than the X-Box? Try selling that.

Not all PCs are created equally, nor as cost effective for gaming. Not everybody wants to shell out thousands of dollars for a gaming rig.

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No_Style

Next gen consoles are going to literally blow PC gaming out of the water. Unlike last generation, like I said earliar the hardware coming out for these consoles surpass 90% of what most consumers have as in their PC rigs. When the X-Box was released, it was sporting a P3s and GeForce 3s while the P4s and GeForce 4s were already readily available.

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Shaga

Just for the moment No_Style.

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Counterfe1t

for the moment a few months later better technology will come out for PC's. and the cycle repeats again this has always occured. as for consoles and pc's it would be like a person building their own offroad car to someone buying one that was mass produced will that person have fun in the car he bought, yes. but his will not be greater than the one who built his or her.

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Red_Death

No offense but this stated PC is crap. I built mine almost 2 years ago and it's better than that one. Why don't you use a current senario. I'll find a $300.00ish one and post it. I'm sure the new gaming systems will be at least $300.00 or more in cost.

Here's a few from tigerdirect. (specs vs console for price, not selling anything)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...239026&CatId=0
$299

• Abit KV-80 Via K8M800 Socket 754 MicroATX Motherboard
• Just4PC ATX Mid Tower Case w/ 425Watt PS
• AMD Sempron 3100+ Processor
• Masscool Socket 754 CPU Cooling Fan
• Ultra 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory
• IBM Rapid Access USB & PS/2 WhitePro Keyboard
• IBM 2-Button PS/2 Mouse
• Asus CD-S520 52x CD-ROM
• User's Manual
• Drivers/Utility CD
• SATA Driver Disk
• IDE Cable
• FDD Cable
• Serial ATA Cable
• I/O Back Panel Shield
• Quick Installation Guide

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...0-4110%20R%20A
+
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...?EdpNo=1064570
= $319.98

• Chieftec Mini Dragon Mid-Tower ATX Case
• AMD Sempron 3000+ Processor
• Biostar M7NCD nVidia nForce2 Motherboard
• 400W power Supply
• AGP 8X/4X
• 200/266/333/400MHz Front Side Bus
• Viking 512MB PC3200 DDR2 400MHz Memory

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&Sku=P450-8529
+ a similar barebone with ram bout $350.00

XFX GeForce 6600 GT / 128MB DDR3 / AGP 8X / Dual DVI / HDTV

just a few of thousands.

I'd like to see the new consoles beat an AMD Athlon 3100+ with 512GB of PC3200 DDR ram and the XFX GeForce 6600. Not top of the line either, there are way better PC to be made. But this one is not too expensive.


P.S. I have a PS2, it sucks in comparison to gameplay on my PC.

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