| ZenfoldorVGI said: Without quoting both you guys, I'll respond to all your points: 1. Which controls scheme is "better" for any given game IS subjective, and that is NOT a faulty argument. Some people prefer motion controls in games like Flower, but that is certainly subjective. 2. The problems I've outlined for the PC are inherant to the nature of the machine. Just like having inferior graphics on a console will probably always be true, due to the nature of uniform hardware and console life. The problems inherant to the PC might not be factually insurmountable, but they are part of the nature of the machine, and to fix them, you would have to change its nature. You can change the nature of a console every 6 years or so. 3. Due to a consoles nature, you can make sure that every console carries your motion controller next gen. If you try to create that broad range of motion controlling content on the PC, you have to sell to a limited audience(those who went out and bought the motion controller). Thus, you won't, nor ever will, have games that uniformly require a motion controller on PC. It's about forcing people to use it. You have to force change. You can't force anything on PC. 4. Interface, library, online intigration, lower prices, ease of upgrading, and lack of service limitation, greater breadth of services, and more, are either subjective or untrue advantages of PC gaming. What is, "lack of service limitation" or "ease of upgrading?" Aren't those buzzwords for "user content" and "don't have to pay for XBL, nor adhere to its bannable issues?" Is this type of micromanagement really the best advantages we can come up with? Truth is, you've got graphics, and user content. IMHO. I didn't mention those others, because they're bullshit, imho. Define those. Nobody can understand precisely what's being discussed with such broad and undefined terms. 5. So, computer games have a robust used market? No they don't. I bought every game I've ever played on an HD console for under 20 dollars, or I rented it from Gamefly. Rent a lot of computer games? 6. The PC is lacking in high budget exclusive content this generation. Blizzard is certainly a boon, but mentioning them only proves my point. Just one company with 2 games a generation? 7. Technical barriers to PC gaming entry are still large, unless you pay out the ass. That's not arguable. They might decrease over time, but a console is plug and play, if you understand that meaning doesn't always mean you don't have to install a game. Technical barriers to entry mean that PC gaming isn't for everyone atm. 8. Entrance price on a PC that can run Crysis on high is about 500 bucks, assuming you build it yourself and pirate an OS. That's more expensive. Also, you can't rent the games, can't buy them used, and no one who is able to build a PC is going to go for the cheapest piece of shit they can possibly throw together that will play Crysis. I spend about 800 bucks on my PC and it's obsolete, won't play GTA4 worth ass, and will eventually need upgrading before the next set of consoles is released? It will, however, play crysis on very high. Crysis isn't a CPU centric game. Also, how is the technical barrier to PC gaming low, if people have to build it themselves? It's either expensive and complex, or very expensive, and easy. Is that not true? 9. Developers are retreating from their DRM experiment and moving to downloadable content. Again, developers are starting to add mouse and keyboard support to console games. Fact is, DRM is a problem in PC gaming, and your article doesn't refute that, nor does it diminish it. It will always be a problem in one form or another. It is required to combat piracy. Perhaps the bigger problem is "piracy." You can just change is to "piracy" in your mind if that helps. 10. You can hook up several consoles all at once just like a lan party. You can't manya PC game via splitscreen, last time I checked. Lan part is not local multiplayer. 11. The PC had many, many more advantages over consoles 10 years ago, than it does now(exclusives galore, much, much better graphics), and it also had several disadvantages that are now fixed(crappy joystick options, stationary, ect). 12. In fact, once graphics reach photo realism, PC gaming will have almost no claim to superiority, assuming it doesn't fix some of its more serious issues. I mean, some games do have user made content on consoles. That doesn't mean that a console has a claim to user made content. Just like some PC games will have motion controls. Most won't though. 13. Console games are developed more efficiently to take advantage of uniform hardware over a generation. PC games require upgrades, as you've said. Sometimes, platform junking upgrades, like to the CPU. 14. The negatives of PC gaming have actually decreased(as I've stated, but the negatives of console gaming have also decreased drastically). However, you contradict yourself. You say the PC gaming problems inherant to the machine are just as temporary as the console problems inherant to the 360 and PS3. That's wrong. Every few years, you can reinvent a console. You can never reinvent the PC, and that's a negative, not a positive, my friend. 15. Console gaming has decreased its major faults drastically over the past 10 years. You've just said that most of the PC problems still exist. Obviously, some of my points are dead on accurate and some are absolute bullshit, but you unfortunately scritinized every one. Pick the ones I'm wrong on, and it'll make your post seem more unbiased. I'm obviously not unbiased. I have had several bad experiences with PC gaming, and I find that I worry about my framerate more than I enjoy playing on this device. So, despite the PC elitism, I've chosen to stand up for my beliefs. Why are you biased towards PC gaming? Perhaps you explaining your side of things would help me understand your mindset in these debates? |
1. Control schemes are not subjective. PC allows far more types of control than any console. PC clearly wins.
2. You make little sense. The fact is that PC is getting less and less problems than ever before, while consoles are getting more and more problems than ever, and that is a big damage to the notion that consoles are accessible.
3. If a PC gamer wants to play X game with a gamepad, they can go and buy a gamepad. If a Console gamer wants to play Y game with a Mouse+Keyboard, they can't. PC gamer have choice, console gamers don't.
4. Alright, I'll define.
Interface - PC allows for a more complex interface on games, there is no question about it. Compare the amount of information and interactivity available in a game like World of Warcraft and compare it to any console game.
Library - PC have far more games being developed than all Consoles combined. That is a fact, objectively speaking.
Lower price - PC games are atleast $10 cheaper than console games. The average retail PC game sold was $25, and that's counting game bundles as individual packages. The average Steam game is probably around $15. I bought 10 games on Steam for only $30 last time.
Ease of upgrading - Really?! You can upgrade PCs, you pretty much can't on consoles. Your argument is irrelevant when consoles even aren't included.
Lack of service limitation - Huh?! Just compare to what a gamer can do on Steam to what a console gamer can do...
Greater amount of services - Steam, Impulse, GOG,Gamersgate, Battle.net, Onlive, Gaikai, etc...
5. I bought almost 50 games in the past 12 months, and still have all of them. I only bought 1 full-priced game, and I must've spent around $200 for all of them (50 games!). I recently bought 10 games on Steam for $30, and before that I bought 3 awesome games for $5 on Steam, and before that...
6. Warhammer Online, Age of Conan, Aion, Spore, Sims 3, Wrath of the Lich King, Crysis, C&C 4, Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, Guild Wars 2, 1701 AD, Dawn of Discovery, Football Manager, Empire Total War, Dawn of War 2, etc... PC has far more big budget games than any other platform. Also, it's cheaper to make a game on PC, so the "big budget" issue is actually irrelevant.
7. Technology is cheaper and cheaper. Nowadays there aren't even Desktop PCs above $1000 unless you buy overpriced Alienware crap. Hell, Laptops are now cheaper than the Desktops of 5 years ago. PCs now have a higher life cycle than consoles.
8. A $400 is enough to play Crysis on High, including the OS... GTA 4 was a messwhen it came out, very unoptimized, but now has become much better with patches. Funny you talk about GTA4, because it is known that PS360 run GTA4 comparable to the low settings of the PC version LOL.
9. Publishers are retreating from their DRM experiment because it is pointless and only hurts their sales. Pirates will keep being pirates, while consumers will be hurt by DRM, that's why they're retreating from DRM.
10. I'm currently at a friends' house, and we have 3 PCs connected playing Heroes of Newerth. The thing is that internet connections are so strong today, and most PCs now are laptops, that we don't even need LAN. Consoles, on the other hand, are still very retarded in terms of online connectivity, yet are losing many co-op support from developers.
11. The thing is, now consoles are pretty much PC-lite, and compared to PC they falter in much more ways while having little advantage over the PC. PC will keep winning share over them if this keep going.
12. When photo realism sets in it will only be good for PC gaming because tech will be so cheap that consoles no longer are relevant in terms of "cheapness" since even the cheapest PC would be able to play the games awesomely. Infact, with Onlive you only need to buy their $100 micro-console to be able to play the lastest PC games.
13. PC games require less and less upgrades, and I believe that gaming PCs now have a bigger life cycle than consoles. Hell, my brother's almost over 6 years old PC is still used to play many of today's games.
14. PC is in constant improvement, and everything that's happening on consoles has already happened on PCs years ago. Motion controllers? Bah, that's already been invented on PC many years ago. The next big thing will be stuff like Onlive and Gaikai, which I doubt will see on consoles for many years.
15. PS360 are now PC-lite and have only gained more problems. The biggest problem of the last 5 years in gaming industry? RROD.
