My super computer is so much more awesome than game consoles

[Malakai]

I'm sorry I can't hear anything in this thread over the sound of my super computer being so much more awesome than game consoles.

Seriously, even if Sega was going to come out with something new, I wouldn't even consider it. I barely considered the current generation of consoles. For an RPGer as dirt old as I am, video game consoles just don't hold much appeal anymore.

[Lord Khyron]

For an RPGer as dirt old as I am, video game consoles just don't hold much appeal anymore.

This saith the Morrowind Fanatic and thus it shall be! All power to the almighty morrowind...

Console Rpgs are much better than their PC counterparts.

[BenoitRen]

PCs aren't made for gaming. Game consoles are. The end.

[The HuBBs]

PCs aren't made for gaming. Game consoles are. The end.

um..... yeah they are. you just have to.... make them. BTW morrowind is better on pc then on xbox. I know I have both.

[BenoitRen]

Make them? *yawn* That's the poorest argument I've heard on the subject. The architecture is substantially different. Putting a powerful video card into a PC does not make it a gaming machine.

[Malakai]

PCs aren't made for gaming. Game consoles are. The end

Benny, you've made some retarded statements, but that one's gotta be in the top 5. First of all, a video card is only a part of what is put into a gamer's computer. There's much more like RAM, Hyperthrottling capacity, processor type, Virtual RAM, etc etc. It's much more complex and versatile than a console. Of course I can't expect my mom's PC with all her Quicken and Turbotax like programs to run FEAR at optimal potential! But you CAN turn a computer into the meanest gaming machine you could imagine.
Now I've been playing RPGs on both PCs and consoles since I was 5 years old. Consoles are good for gaming. PCs are good for gaming and can be made for gaming with the right hardware. Just don't forget, my favorite games of all time are console games! (read: the PS series!) It just makes no sense you said that.
So what's you're reasoning for why computers aren't meant for gaming? I'm very curious to hear.

[Missagh]

Guys, please keep it to the topic:

http://dreamcast.destructoid.com/

An interesting article..

Could this be a second dreamcast console?

[BenoitRen]

Thread split.

a video card is only a part of what is put into a gamer's computer. There's much more like RAM, Hyperthrottling capacity, processor type, Virtual RAM, etc etc. It's much more complex and versatile than a console

Exactly! They aren't made for gaming. They're jacks of all trades, designed for multi-tasking. Game consoles are optimised for gaming. Proof is in the architecture, and how game consoles need less system and video RAM than what their PC brethren need.

Not to mention that PCs aren't standardised, while game consoles are. PC games are never as efficient as can be. You also need to upgrade every once in a while, which you don't need to do with game consoles. Just pop in the game cartridge/CD, and you're ready to go.

[Aolish]

Lets put this into plain english that everyone can understand, both platforms have there advantages and disadvantages:

First and foremost, for anyone to say that a console is more powerful then a pc is in absolute denial, yes a console is optimized to play games and games only. But that doesn't mean it makes it a more powerful gaming platform. Its just more OPTIMIZED, thats it, optimizations can only go so far.

An XBox 360 won't be able to compete with a PC that has 3 way SLI configuration (triple graphic card capability) with Quad core installed in it. Not to mention the 360s GPU is already outdated when compared with some of the latest GPUs out there for PC like the Nvidia G80 which puts the R600 (XBox 360s GPU) to absolute shame. I'm not going to even go to the processor debate as Octo-core (8 cores) will be coming out for the pc platform soon by intel. Here's my take on consoles:

Consoles (Advantages):

Games: IMO and its pretty self explanatory that consoles has a much WIDER broad range of genres. How many times am I going to play RTS and FPS based games for pc. I'm just so tired of it. The amount of genres thats available for the consoles is 10 fold compared with the pc. You will never see a fighting game for pc like Virtua fighter 5 or Tekken 5 or 6. Really good RPGs like Dragon Quest 8 and FF12 will also never see the light of day on the pc. This is just one of the reasons why I'm getting my hands on a 360 in the coming wks.

Hardware: Put in the game and play, no having to go into system configuration to make the game work, don't have to download latest drivers, don't have to deal with ridiculous audio errors, video errors, bsods, freezes or other miscellaneous errors that crops up. With consoles you just put in the disc and your rdy to go. Simple as that.

Consoles Disadvantages:

Games: Not all games will look as good as the PC if its a port. The original XBox was a perfect example. MANY of the games for the XBox were basically PC ports and they all were butchered so badly to compensate for the original lackluster hardware under its hood. Same goes for the PS2. Immense butchered ports from PC to XBox/PS2 ports were horrendous. The 360 and especially the PS3 will fair much better. However as the years go by, the FIXED, hardware limitations will show as more advanced hardware is released for the PC, the games will also follow to take advantage of the latest hardware and ports for PC to 360/PS3 won't be easy.

Hardware: Can't upgrade your consoles, your basically stuck with what you got. Consoles are fixed at what they got. You'll have to wait for the next console generation to come out.

PC Advantages:

Games: If your one of those people that just love eye candy and nothing else, this is the platform to go to. With Octo-core and Triple way SLI coming out soon the games will only get better. Heck its already showing as we are speaking, XBox 360 Gears of War when compared to the PC version pals into comparison. Don't get me wrong the 360 Gears version is really good, some of the best graphics I have ever seen but the PC version is just at another level.

Hardware: This is self-explanatory, new and more powerful hardware constantly comes out for the pc making games for it look and play much more superior then there console counterparts.

PC Disadvantages:

Games: No genres available. Hardly any, like i said before the majority of the genres available on the PC are only FPS, RTS and MMOG games. I would love to play some fighters on the PC but I know that will never happen. In addition, if you compare the markets out there the PC is just a grain of dust. The online exp for the XBox 360 is just fantastic. So many players to play against, limitless competition! Software developers might start making exclusive games for consoles only since the PC market for making a profit is very small compared with the console market.

Hardware: You always have to keep tabs on the latest drivers and bugs out there. Its a constant hassle for casual gamers. No one wants to do that, we just want to play. Its also really expensive to keep your PC up to date to play all the latest games unless you have very deep pockets.

So there you go, I tried to make it as brief as possible lol. As for me if I had the money I'd want to get everything out there. Gimme a Wii, 360, PS3, and the fastest PC out there. I want to play all the games!

[BenoitRen]

First and foremost, for anyone to say that a console is more powerful then a pc is in absolute denial, yes a console is optimized to play games and games only. But that doesn't mean it makes it a more powerful gaming platform. Its just more OPTIMIZED, thats it, optimizations can only go so far.

Game consoles are more powerful when you look at their output versus the hardware they use.

Not all games will look as good as the PC if its a port.

1. This is the responsibility of the porting team.
2. Graphics are overrated.

Can't upgrade your consoles, your basically stuck with what you got.

Which is not a bad thing at all. It's actually one of their strengths.

This is self-explanatory, new and more powerful hardware constantly comes out for the pc making games for it look and play much more superior then there console counterparts.

The games only get prettier. They don't really play better.

[Aolish]

Game consoles are more powerful when you look at their output versus the hardware they use.

If game consoles are more powerful why were many of the ports from PC to XBox butchered then? It doesn't make sense. If console are more powerful surely a game like ........... Unreal 2 would of looked better. Unreal 2 looked absolutely amazing on the PC but suffered greatly on the XBox port. On the Xbox, textures were noticeably a lot more blurrier then the PC counterpart, everything from character models to shaders and lighting were all stripped away, The games animation suffered from extremely bad jerkiness, especially during cutscenes and the game also suffered from inconsistent framerates, at times it would even take a dive during intense firefights or if you went into a large area. Granted the Unreal Engine 2 was one of the latest engines to come out at its time so you had to give the XBox some slack and was necessary because of the XBox's weak GPU. This is just one game out of many XBox ports that were horrid. UT, Doom3, Deux Ex, Far Cry etc all look better on the pc. In addition like i said before Gears of War looks a lot better on PC especially when its ran at 2560x1600 screen res when compared with its 360 counterpart. What about DX10 games? How will they fair on a console? Isn't the R600 a DX9 based GPU?

1. This is the responsibility of the porting team.

the porting team can only do so much with the hardware they have. The XBox's processor had a weak P3 733MHZ processor and a 233mhz GPU N2VA core which is essentially a GeForce 3 LOL. The unreal engine 2 at the time it came out was one of the latest game engines on the PC. Thats like trying to cram a SNES game into an 8 bit system.

[BenoitRen]

If game consoles are more powerful why were many of the ports from PC to XBox butchered then? It doesn't make sense. If console are more powerful surely a game like ........... Unreal 2 would of looked better. Unreal 2 looked absolutely amazing on the PC but suffered greatly on the XBox port. (snip)

Sounds like a bad port job to me. Remember that the XBox wasn't in such a good position market-wise. The PlayStation 2 was all the rage.

UT, Doom3, Deux Ex, Far Cry etc all look better on the pc.

The eye candy again. Is there anything substantial that's better?

In addition like i said before Gears of War looks a lot better on PC especially when its ran at 2560x1600 screen res when compared with its 360 counterpart.

That's nuts. There is absolutely no point in running a PC game at that resolution. Your eyes can't see the difference between that and 720p unless you happen to have a huge monitor. Like, bigger than 32", which I doubt.

What about DX10 games? How will they fair on a console? Isn't the R600 a DX9 based GPU?

DirectX is a programming layer. It does not automatically make games prettier or more performant.

the porting team can only do so much with the hardware they have.

Of course, but if they knew what they were doing, they'd create a port that isn't as good-looking, but still very playable.

The XBox's processor had a weak P3 733MHZ processor and a 233mhz GPU N2VA core which is essentially a GeForce 3 LOL.

You're trying to compare apples and oranges here. What is weak for a PC isn't necessarily weak for a game console.

Here's an example: The Sega Genesis/Mega Drive had a CPU of about 7.5 Mhz. What did the PC port of Sonic 3 & Knuckles need? 75 Mhz, 90 Mhz recommended.

What about the game Tomb Raider? The PSX had a 33 Mhz CPU, and the Sega Saturn had a 21 Mhz one with a bunch of extra CPUs. The PC port, which didn't look that much better, needed much higher specs compared to the game consoles.

It's all about the architecture. In this case, it wasn't just a Pentium III. It has SIMD extensions. The graphics card was custom-made.

[Neo48]

Gaming consoles have a lot of restrictions, where as PC's have all the freedom you need to do what you like. My PC can also be hooked up into my TV for video, and my stereo for sound output. Coupled with an Xbox 360 controller in the USB slot and I've got something that feels just like I'm playing a console.

And for anyone who thinks PC's lack power compared to Consoles, one word: Crysis

[BenoitRen]

Gaming consoles have a lot of restrictions, where as PC's have all the freedom you need to do what you like.

First, please don't abuse the apostrophe.
Second, they are game consoles. It's just what they are. PCs are jacks of all trades. It's what they are. In that light, they aren't restricted at all.

And for anyone who thinks PC's lack power compared to Consoles, one word: Crysis

The eye candy argument again. And again disregarding the optimisation and "designed for" argument.

[Mister Death]

Well, I prefer games consoles because I know that if I buy a game that says it works for a certain console, it will definitely work on it, and i won't have to mess about with patches and upgrades. the controllers are also easier on my hands than the keyboard. i know you can get controllers for a PC but they don't always work whereas a controller for a ps2 will always work with a ps2. except for my saturn, which is faulty.