When will pc graphics start to really outpace console (this gen) graphics?

[ZenfoldorVGI]

ssj12 said:

Barozi said:
ouch posting Crysis mod pics = fail

The consoles gain more ground after every generation. Last gen the difference between consoles and PC was huge and now in the present the only differences are resolution and AA.

Crysis is so far the only game that really outshines every console game in terms of graphics. Last gen there were tons of them.

lawl? the current generation of consoles can barely handle HDR lighting, how are they even close to eachother?

I think you're wrong. In fact, the massive differece you imply doesn't exist, imo.

Allow me to explain.

Each gen, graphics have improved vastly.

Not only vast graphical upgrades, but also huge functional upgrades. Like HD has been this gen.

The difference between a game like Gran Turismo 4, and Crysis, is nowhere near the difference of a generational increase, and it's rediculious to imply it.

Now, people who no longer have the type of vast graphical increased to look forward to, as they once did, tend to focus more on the small differences that most people wouldn't notice, like subtle lighting or particle effects.

As consoles progress, the difference between PC and console gaming graphically will become mush smaller. Graphics can only be so good, and I have a feeling we'll reach that uncanny valley far before we reach your oh so touted DD model.

It's a common misconception of PC enthusiasts, they've been focusing in on the PC gaming superiority for so long, that they really can't accept the fact that "graphics" are no longer as varied between PC and console platforms as they once were. The difference now requires a trained eye, when once, it was obvious even to casuals.

Now, as far as PC gaming goes, at one time, everyone thought it was poised to overtake console gaming, and that dream still exists to some extent, it's just not as possible as it once was. Consoles began to emulate the good things about PC(online, graphical power, community, controller innovation, HD interface, DD arcade) while accentuating their positives(first party developers, exclusive titles, plug and play accessibility) and completely negating issues inherant to PC gaming(DRM, piracy, stability due to non-uniform hardware, upgrading, ect). As console gaming continues to up its game, PC gaming has only acquired new issues and kept the old ones. In the end, it comes down to the developers, who this gen, chose the consoles.

Now, we always get this embellishment about PC graphics and user created content, because without those two things, PC gaming would be completely irrelivant to the modern HD gamer. That despite the fact that games like GT5 still surpass many(or dare I say "most") modern games on the PC.

We also get tons of spin, with links to articles rediculiously claiming that "75% of developers are working on PC exclusives" which lies by omission, when refusing to state that most of those are independant developers working out of basements, or "You can build a 400 dollars PC that is 3x more powerful than the 360" also a lie by omission, because game software available for the PC is much less optimized, and won't run as well on the PC as it does on the console, despite that PC being 4x more powerful on a meaningless spec sheet.

PC gaming isn't thriving as it once was, and next gen, with the graphics argument probably completely negated, and the lauch of all consoles with some sort of touch or motion control inherant and required with purchase with the system, will PC gaming finally evolve, or will it still rely on its "free world" community, and paultry graphical increases for one more dull generation, hoping and praying for that next Blizzard game?

Without better graphics, what would PC gaming be?