HDTV has been available in america for years and the adoption rate has only just picked up, im sure i read that its still only around 25% of household have a HD capable TV. That figure is vastly less over europe where HD broadcasts are minimal (and expensive) and people are far more reluctant to replace perfectly fine TVs. As much as we all like our HDTVs, the general public cant see much difference, especially at the average screensize of 21 to 25", try telling those poeple who are happy watching SD analogue broadcasts that they NEED a new tv. HDTV is not needed for gaming, it doesnt make games play better, it doesnt make them appeal to more people, it doesnt make them easier to play, it just makes them look better and cost alot more. Believe it or not the vast majority of consumers arnt 17years old and living with their parents, they have strict budgets and cannot throw money at the latest TV and Console just for it run in a higher resolution. Since you have been playing HD games for alomost 10 years, do you think the games you have been playing are better then those ones everyone else has been plaing in 800x600 etc? Or are they actually, exactly the same?
By the way, my PC chair is VERY comfortable too and since im sitting approx 2ft from my 19" monitor, the screen is very adequate for gaming. |
25% is great... it's higher then I would have assumed. 25% of 300 million is not bad imo (well, 300M total people, no idea how many households that would be). Those 25% that have an HDTV can obviously afford an expensive (compaired to last gen) console. Just because it's a small percentage, doesn't mean it's not still a big number of homes. The other 75% are a better target for the Wii. It's very similar to PC gaming actually. There are millions of PCs out there, but not everyone is going to be playing Crysis in a couple of weeks when it's released. Only the people that can afford a top of the line PC. But if Sims 2 expansion pack 14 is released, everyone's budget PC can play it. Only the people that can afford high end gaming will be enjoying Crysis.
The question about if games are better in HD then 800x600 res has nothing to do with HD gaming, it has to do with absurd budgets, developers, unfair publisher deadlines, and the direction gaming has gone in... but I'll answer it anyway. Games that I'm playing now in HD are much worst then the games I was playing 10 years ago. Take a AAA title like BioShock for example. Great game, for today's standards... but really, it's a dumbed down shell of what System Shock 2 was. Hacking in Bioshock is a joke, Researching is worthless, lack of inventory, individual characteristics like STR, INT, DEX, etc are missing... the game has been made for the masses and it shows. It's still a great game by today's standards because every other FPS game is just that bad. I can continue with many more examples, GRAW vs GR1, etc but it's the same situation every time... the new version is a shell of the original. (and this post is getting too long)
And (imo of course) it doesn't matter how comfortable your PC chair is... I have a $600 office chair that I bought through work with the silly comfort hook up. It's very comfortable, for a PC chair... but you couldn't pay me to choose it over my couch :) A good couch beats a good PC chair hands down.
