can pc even come close to being considered part of the console race?

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Rajin Cajun

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Radelaide said:
Eggo said:
The few games which might "look fairly the same" are the ones which are rendered at half to 1/4 to even almost 1/6 times the resolution compared to PC games.

Trust me, you can get a ghetto ass hooptie PC to play Crysis at very high at 1024*600.
It might run it on 1024x600, but how much does it chug along?

Personally, I think that the time and effort that it takes to make upgrade a PC every 6 months doesn't make it something fun. It makes it choir.
So it basically boils down to you being lazy? Anyways how does upgrading a PC become like a choir? I don't remember singing once while upgrading my machine.
 

Aries_Split

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Rajin Cajun said:
Radelaide said:
Eggo said:
The few games which might "look fairly the same" are the ones which are rendered at half to 1/4 to even almost 1/6 times the resolution compared to PC games.

Trust me, you can get a ghetto ass hooptie PC to play Crysis at very high at 1024*600.
It might run it on 1024x600, but how much does it chug along?

Personally, I think that the time and effort that it takes to make upgrade a PC every 6 months doesn't make it something fun. It makes it choir.
So it basically boils down to you being lazy? Anyways how does upgrading a PC become like a choir? I don't remember singing once while upgrading my machine.
I like singing "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails whilst changing RAM.
 

Eldritch Warlord

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No, consoles seek to sell in large numbers in order to get a larger user base which allows for a larger market for their games and can also attract even more users in a sort of cascade of sales. PC's are sold to make money on their hardware.

So you see, the console race is merely the attempt to sell more systems in order to sell more games. PC's don't do this and thus aren't in it.
 

Credge

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Combined said:
If we consider the pc a console, then it has already won.
This.

On a semi-related note, to those saying that you have to upgrade every 6 months:

Bullshit. I had a PC for 6 years. Got a better video card at about 4 years ($100). I didn't need to, I felt like it. I still have it sitting right here. It's now my recording PC, or will be once I fully rebuild it.

Whoever started that 6 month crap needs to be shot.
 

Littaly

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A PC is not a console so no. But that is not saying it's not a very viable option to gaming consoles. It has pretty much the best conditions for RTS and arguably FPS too depending on what kind of controls you prefer.
 

Jamash

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Not really, since there's not any one manufacture that makes PC's so it doesn't really fit into the whole Sony vs. Microsoft vs. Nintendo race.
 

ratix2

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first off, this NEEDS to be said. while you CAN upgrade a pc every 6 months to a year you DONT HAVE to. the first pc i ever built was a ghz p3 and a 7800gt. that machine is still very much kicking and running every game on the market. granted not at the best settings. but consider that pc games will be incorporating real time ray tracing in a few years while consoles wont be able to touch it until the next gen at the earliest. later in their lives consoles cant even touch what is possible on the pc graphically so an old pc is in the same position as an old console. pc can last 3-4 years which is a pretty good lifespan.

secondly, the "testing for many hardware configs" isnt exactly. EVERY consumer processor (with the exception of older macs) is based on the x86 standard. because of that the massive testing really only needs to be done with gpus since they are not standard. this is one of the things microsoft is trying to do and started with dx10.
 

Jumplion

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Eggo said:
With the next generation, consoles won't even be competing with each other in the mainstream market. It will be primarily a race against nettop HTPCs for those who don't game but need something to serve up media and stuff for their HDTV and video game consoles for those who do game (along with serving up media and stuff for their HDTV).

Within three years of that race, you will start to see a third platform that will compete with consoles: nettop HTPCs for under $300-400 which do play PC games with the use of ePCI-Express video cards. This will provide an easy way to standardize scaling for games for PC game developers (not that it's very difficult to begin with). Inexpensive upgrades will cycle in every two years or so.

Consoles, eventually reaching the point of where the CPU really won't do much anymore AND the their underpowered internal GPUs can't keep up with the resolution/visual wars, will also follow suit with upgradeable GPUs using some proprietary variant of the ePCI-Express port and bus. Upgrades will also follow the same scheme as nettops (except they will be far more expensive due to inherent lack of competition among that hardware submarket).

At least, that's what it seems like to me.

Actually, this is off topic so I'm going to move this to a new thread!
I know this is a tired argument with you, (after all if I'm not mistaken you're the guild leader for the PC fanboys right?) but everytime I see one of these rants with the PC guys it's always about horsepower and CPUs and GPSs and Semiconductors and storage space for Porn.

You guys go crazy over the hardware but never mention the software. "Oh, consoles need better CPUs to keep up with GrApHiX!" "They need more RAM to keep up with the raw proccessing power of the PC!" "How will they ever get to the storage power of the PC is they can only store 1/5th of my porn?!?"

I know it's a tired argument, we've debated this before I'm sure, you go on with your technical mumbo-jumbo while I go on with my slightly Anti- yet Pro-HD movement stuff but counter that with "It's not AlL aBoUt ThE tEcH mAn!", but it's still fun to debate with you :D

Anyway, no I don't think PCs should be counted as part of the "Consul Wrz". Mainly being these reasons;
!) A PC is a business machine, first and foremost. Gaming is an afterthought.
@) PCs have been around much longer than consoles, so technically they have "won" year in and year out
#) PCs are much more technologically advanced than Consoles, with parts coming out every 6 months or so.
$) Most people build their own PCs, so then the sales numbers would have to be broken down into individual parts or just the sale of prebuilt PCs, and that would be annoying no?
%) Can't think of any more.

So, I guess the PC is just "too all powerful and manevolant" to be considered part of those filthy, dirty, peasants of Consoles! BOW DOWN TO THE PC MASTER RACE! LEAVE NO ROOM FOR CHOICE, KILL EVERYTHING!

...what?
 

Ace of Spades

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The PC is probably one of the best consoles. The controls are better if you asked me, and the graphics can be better than on the PS3 if you upgrade it enough. The only problem with it is that people are too lazy to port games to PC correctly anymore, so PC gamers are left out in the cold for some great games.
 

ratix2

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sorry for the double post but my computer died recently (power surge during a thunderstorm) and the machine im using has a text limit.

anyway, from now on ALL versions of dx will be both forward and backwards compatiable. with dx11 you dont need a dx11 card to run dx11, just a dx10 card or higher. that wasant possible before, you needed both the card and the dx version. thats the real benefit of dx10 is that its a new, better way of doing things. microsoft is trying to standardize things so that developing games and other software will be much easier for developers and so that compatibility can be gauntareed. with the use of unified shaders gpus will be easier to develop for and less testing will have to be done since you have a single shader unit to program for instead of 2 with each gpu having different configurations. microsoft also introduced a unified driver model so that drivers have to be written more specifically. this also reduces the amount of testing that has to be done.
 

Vlane

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Ace of Spades said:
The PC is probably one of the best consoles. The controls are better, and the graphics can be better than on the PS3. The only problem with it is that people are too lazy to port games to PC correctly anymore, so PC gamers are left out in the cold for some great games.
The controls aren't necessarily better. I prefer a PS and GameCube controller.

I don't count the PC as a console and I never will. But if it would be a console it would be the best.
 

ratix2

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again, sorry.
now, since the gpus have unified shaders that could also mean that eventually the gpu makers could write one set of drivers instead of one set for each generation or even one set for each specific card, again reducing the amount of testing and further gauntaring performance and stability.

now, since processors are getting more and more powerful all the time (the core i7 is actually capable of running crysis by itself, granted very badly at the lowest settings) that means that developers will also soon be able to add a software rendering mode in, meaning that for the first time in years you will be GAUNTAREED to be able to play the games. theres a lot going on in the pc gaming world that many dont realise. pc gaming will never die, but i believe at the moment its getting stronger and will continue to be more appealing to developers. in the end though i belive that both pcs and consoles will become obsolete in favor of portable systems. question posed though, no, pcs are VERY different.
 

Danny Ocean

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Jun 28, 2008
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I've been thinking about this whilst reading this thread, and I've come to the (Most likely already obvious) conclusion that no, PC's don't compete in the console race.

I think that the PC would be viable in a platform race, but not a console race, as they are simply not consoles. As a platform, even, gaming computers are a pretty niche market compared to the huge sales of cheap 'n' cheerful corporate desktops.

Ugh. I can't elaborate on an empty stomach and sleep-deprived level consciousness. However, I will say this:

Jumplion said:
Love it!
 

ratix2

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if gaming on the pc is an afterthough then why is microsoft keeping pc gaming very high on the list while developing windows 7? pcs are built for "more than just business" and unlike a consoles are built for a varitey of different purposes, gaming being one of them. the reason you used there fits consoles perfectly if you change business to gaming.
 

Ace of Spades

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Vlane said:
Ace of Spades said:
The PC is probably one of the best consoles. The controls are better, and the graphics can be better than on the PS3. The only problem with it is that people are too lazy to port games to PC correctly anymore, so PC gamers are left out in the cold for some great games.
The controls aren't necessarily better. I prefer a PS and GameCube controller.

I don't count the PC as a console and I never will. But if it would be a console it would be the best.
Well, I like mouse control better since I play a lot of shooters.
 

J-Man

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Can you quantify "consoleness" or is it an intrinsic value? It doesn't matter whether its classified as a console or not. The thing about PCs is that each is unique, so is a gaming PC a console? Is a business PC not?

If it were to be called a console it would probably just have a set level of expectations forced upon it, so it really doesn't matter.
 

blindey

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Aiden Rebirth said:
well I don't think the pc is a console, so should we consider it a contender? also should we take games on the 360 and pc out of the exclusive title catagory or what?
The short answer: No.
The long answer: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Seriously though, it really shouldn't be considered a contender in the so-called "console war" because (and I'm saying this loving my PC to death, looking at it as better in some regards than consoles) the pc isn't being fundamentally upgraded every 4 - 5 years. Ok I *guess* you could argue the new windows/mac/linux distro upgrade is technically change, but is it the same sort of change we see in consoles every 4 years? Nope. Besides, the PC needs all its stamina to fight the mac vs pc "debate" (if it can be called that). As for your second question, usually a game is hailed as an exclusive if it wasn't on any other console to begin with. Then usually it's ported over to the PC. So it's saying it's an xbox (not on the wii or ps3, but maybe the computer sometime) exclusive. Also, aren't the majority of games ported to PC (in your post included)Xbox? I bring this up because....

xbox = microsoft
pc = windows = microsoft

See the picture there? :3
 

Draygen

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Yeah, lotta good points made for the PCs, so I'm just going to say this to the console guys...

Don't get in a pissing contest with a guy higher up on the ladder. You guys have your console wars, and we'll try to take you seriously when you tell us how leet your store bought console is.
 

Jursa

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I as a PC games have to say no. The PC is something completely different. While consoles advance in big jumps of technology, the PC does smaller but more constant leaps, in time beating the consoles, then the consoles jump again and etc... The PC is more of a universal tool than a console. I mean consoles are made for gaming and + movies, while the PC ranges from business to all entertainment. All things considered the PC is for the gaming nerds :p, for the people who feel joy in strengthening their rigs and selecting every single aspect of a game. The consoles have always been the more casual feel to gaming, the controllers, the just putting the disk in and playing. I think it's not exactly correct to call the PC a console, but saying it's out of the gaming gig, is just plain foolish, just ask the 10 million WoW players.