I think this is why we need the Ouya...

[ElPatron]

PC's are just that thing.

Erm... Aren't PCs incredibly expensive?

If you buy brand. There are some brands with reasonable prices, but the best way is building it yourself.

I didn't know how to, so I paid 25? to have it assembled on a computer repair shop.

I became a PC gamer partly because it was cheaper just to get a computer that could game than it was to get a computer AND a console. This was pre-built, too, I was too naive to believe that building one is relatively easy and can save you a fairly substantial amount of money. And you don't have to upgrade anywhere near that much, games haven't gotten all that much more demanding in several years. My PC is relatively recent but several people I know are still using machines from five years ago.

Just because new components are released frequently doesn't mean we need to buy them all.

...No offense, but I don't really think "Cheap" or "Easy" should be used in the same sentence as "Build your own gaming computer".

Hell, if I were to "build my own computer", just looking at the recommended requirements for Battlefield 3 (not minimum, recommended) if I were to build the computer that it recommends I would have to fork over about

Quad Core Intel 2 - $139 on Amazon.com (Then again, just saying "Quad Core Intel" is so vague that I'm not even sure if that's the right one most of them have seemingly unimportant random numbers or letters after them. How am I supposed to know what "LGA 1155" even means?)

RAM - (How am I supposed to know what 4 GB of RAM even costs?)

Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 - $130 on Amazon (though I have no clue whether this graphics card can play other games or whether it's even superior to the other graphics cards it mentions... Or whether it even has a single GB of RAM on it)

Direct X Sound Card - $50 on Amazon (Once more, I have no way of knowing whether this would work with the other stuff or if it's even good beyond the User Reviews)

So far it's in the $310 dollar range, and that's not counting the monitor, the modem, the keyboard and mouse or... Well, anything else I would inevitably need to build the thing.

1- don't buy in websites you don't know how to work around.

2- modern motherboards have decent sound cards. You will never have the need for it unless you're the most uber-l33t professional gamer or actually need it for work.

3- You're don't need to know everything. Ask someone that knows. Also, you might have as well googled "LGA115" before asking "fucking CPU Sockets, how do they work?"

4- So you're trying to decode what a graphics card does by it's name? Yeah, that's like complaining that BMW 5 Series doesn't tell anything to people who don't know about cars. If you are complaining that you have to read about what you are buying I hope you never have to buy a car. If I'm not mistaken the 5 is the series and the 60 is the model. So a model with a higher number but from the series 4 is actually better.

I have a GTS 250. That means that the GTX260 is better. The GTX380 is better than the 260. And if I am not mistaken, the GTX340 is worse than the GTX260 because it's model is inferior.

5- If you want to know how much is 4gb of RAM... look around.

Basically:

- buy a motherboard and CPU with the same socket
- google search for benchmarks
- go to nearby computer shops, google search for online stores in your country that sell what you want, there are also price checking websites that should give you good results too

 

[XMark]

I think the controller is the big thing about this - some controllers may exist for android devices but you can't expect a significant portion of people to be able to use a controller with their phone/tablet, and something to prop it up to use as a screen while your hands are on a controller.

Ouya would provide a home console with a controller that all developers will know to program for, allowing types of games which would be awkward if made for touchscreen-only controls.

 

[ElPatron]

Why is it so hard to accept that some people just have more fun with a console?

Why is it so hard to accept that people are not out to get you and your console? Heck, if updates are such a big deal to you, why not disable Automatic Updates?

I don't agree with his wording but I do understand his point. I would like more low-budget games and that pretty layout on a PC (without hoarding the resources, which isn't easy), all on a TV, with a controller.

But I already have my PC and a 360... At least it's $99.

 

[wookiee777]

I think the reason why we need the Ouya is because it's new. After Sega fell out of the Console production market we've only had three to choose from. I know that it has been like that ever since the mid to late 80's, but I would welcome more consoles on the market. More choice and more competition. I (optimistically) hope that the Ouya becomes a success and encourages other companies to produce consoles of their own.

A bit more OT: Yeah, I agree, even though I am not quite interested in the Ouya, personally, so far.

 

[everythingbeeps]

The last thing I want is for these dumb casual games to replace AAA console games. That to me would be the same as an industry crash.

 

[veloper]

It seems to me that the only new thing they are really selling us is the business model of free parts or full F2P to any game ever to be released on that system.

The system itself is not an upgrade, as I'm sure 99% here already have something more powerful already, be it PC, 360 or PS3.
The popular indie games can of often will be cross-platform, so I doubt we'll miss out on much if we don't migrate.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

The Android Ouya; The Atari 26000 of the modern day!

OT: I'm hopefully optimistic about the Ouya. However, we're gonna have to wait and see how it will be.

 

[getoffmycloud]

We need Ouya to do the same thing PC's can do? When will people realize that all you need is a fuckin' PC? IT DOES EVERYTHING! These Ouya developers think they're some kind of revolutionaries. They are making a console that is less powerful than regular consoles, can't play most games regular consoles play, and it's less powerful than a 7 year old PC. It also does far less than a 7 year old PC. What.The.Fuck!

And their statement is ridiculous. "Oh, we love gaming on television". Then hook up your PC to a TV, *****. It's not rocket science for fuck sake.

This is not going to appeal to console crowd. Console crowd wants AAA titles. Just look at that thread about what kind of games people are expecting from this thing. Skyrim? On an Android based console without a discreet GPU? And why the fuck would PC gamers get one of these? Why would anyone buy this to play games they can play on their PC? I give up on humanity. People will pay for anything these days on Kickstarter. They don't even think about what they're paying for. Just like that feminist chick. Case.In.Point.

And no, PC isn't expensive. Even if you pay a $1000 for a PC, it's still cheaper than console gaming. Just look at these Steam sales. For a $100 you can get the amount of games that would certainly cost you around $600 or more on a console.

Cause most people don't want their PC in the front room and it is a massive hassle if you have to keep moving it and why are you throwing suck a hissy fit about what people want to spend there own money on its people like you that put others off PC gaming cause you have such a god complex

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

snip

My PC actually doesn't meet BF3's recommended requirements but it still looks and plays great at a higher resolution and framerate than the console version with the graphics otherwise looking more or less the same. Hell on some maps and single player I can actually max it out. The same goes for Serious Sam 3, the recommended requirements of which massively exceed what my rig has.

Some of your other points are very true, though, it can be very difficult to know what to buy and who to trust. It can take a fair amount of research before you're comfortable with buying components; I very nearly got myself a Bulldozer-based PC thinking "more cores = better" before a friend of mine pointed out I was being a bit dense.

 

[sanquin]

Figuring out what video card to buy, what motherboard to get, etc. It's not that hard. It requires maybe an hour or two of research to figure out which components are better and what falls into your price range for total costs.

Don't give this 'but how will I know if parts even work together?' crap, as the only thing you need to find out is if the motherboard socket fits the cpu one. Don't give me this 'but it's HARD!' or 'But how do I know I can trust X guide?' as that's just making excuses. It really is.

Patches and tweaking for the pc is also bullshit. Consoles also have patches these days. They aren't needed, but they usually aren't really needed for the PC either. Plus, having to spend 10 minutes to fix a game to get a better gaming experience in return (better graphics, mods, fan-made patches, etc) is a good trade-off.

And finally, you whine about a few extra cables and the 'hassle' of a larger case in your living room? That's just nitpicking for the sake of finding faults with a superior system.

Face it, currently the PC is miles ahead of consoles in power, a bit ahead in price (5~15 dollar AAA games on sale ftw), does more than a console, and has a lot more customization to fit your liking once you do know what's what.

Now, when the next generation of consoles comes out (the Wii U doesn't count, as that's more a Wii 1.5 than a Wii 2.0) that might change. Heck, it probably will. But right now, the pc is the best overall choice as long as you're not a lazy ass.

 

[mrhappy1489]

I bet a console that anybody can afford to develop for [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console] would come in handy right about now.

PC's are just that thing.

Not that I'm opposed to Ouya, mind you. I just haven't yet seen the reason we really need it yet, or what benefits to the market it really provides, so I'm not ready to hop on the hype train.

edit: After reading the Kickstarter page again, I shall upgrade my stance from Expectant Neutrality to Cautious Optimism.

I don't like saying it, but at least personally, the issue with a PC in general is that it is just pointless now. As much as I want one, the fact of the matter is I can pretty much get everything I want done on laptop and take my work wherever I go. PC's are just tiresome, because unless you work from home, your travelling around transporting all information from point a to b, using two different machines. It's simply easier to use a laptop and game on a console than to have a dedicated PC, as much as I do want one. The Ouya fits the niche left in the console market and I will grab at it with both hands, if it ends up coming to fruition.

 

[DarklordKyo]

I agree, but my only complaint is will this console get some pretty big title games? Or will I be playing some mediocre indie games developed originally for phones. I won't buy one on launch unless I see what will be ready for download on release day. I'm excited but skeptical.

Is Minecraft big enough?, because apparently there's going to be an Ouya port.

 

[alphamalet]

Figuring out what video card to buy, what motherboard to get, etc. It's not that hard. It requires maybe an hour or two of research to figure out which components are better and what falls into your price range for total costs.

Don't give this 'but how will I know if parts even work together?' crap, as the only thing you need to find out is if the motherboard socket fits the cpu one. Don't give me this 'but it's HARD!' or 'But how do I know I can trust X guide?' as that's just making excuses. It really is.

Patches and tweaking for the pc is also bullshit. Consoles also have patches these days. They aren't needed, but they usually aren't really needed for the PC either. Plus, having to spend 10 minutes to fix a game to get a better gaming experience in return (better graphics, mods, fan-made patches, etc) is a good trade-off.

And finally, you whine about a few extra cables and the 'hassle' of a larger case in your living room? That's just nitpicking for the sake of finding faults with a superior system.

Face it, currently the PC is miles ahead of consoles in power, a bit ahead in price (5~15 dollar AAA games on sale ftw), does more than a console, and has a lot more customization to fit your liking once you do know what's what.

Now, when the next generation of consoles comes out (the Wii U doesn't count, as that's more a Wii 1.5 than a Wii 2.0) that might change. Heck, it probably will. But right now, the pc is the best overall choice as long as you're not a lazy ass.

I fail to see how I am considered a "lazy ass" for not wanting to deal with the finer details of a gaming PC. I get that some people love tinkering with the tech, and take pride in the customized rig that they build. I don't take pride in that sort of thing. I don't want to dedicate countless hours into researching what parts to buy, how to build it, etc. I want to go to buy a game, put it in the machine, and have it work. I don't want to have to worry about compatibility, having to find potential fixes for games, or tinkering with shaders, dynamic shadows, or other finer graphical details. That makes me a "lazy ass"?

 

[Gennadios]

According to that blog post I found, triple-A games and movies now have this much in common:

It left out that they're both pretty much becoming equally linear. The more voice acting has to be crammed in a game the less room become available for devs to produce variety.

It's kind of sad that the only 1990 - 1995 gaming golden age genre to have survived into this decade was the FMV adventure game.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

I don't like saying it, but at least personally, the issue with a PC in general is that it is just pointless now. As much as I want one, the fact of the matter is I can pretty much get everything I want done on laptop and take my work wherever I go. PC's are just tiresome, because unless you work from home, your travelling around transporting all information from point a to b, using two different machines. It's simply easier to use a laptop and game on a console than to have a dedicated PC, as much as I do want one. The Ouya fits the niche left in the console market and I will grab at it with both hands, if it ends up coming to fruition.

I get your point but your laptop is likely to be more powerful than the Ouya and be able to play the same games. Y'know, unless the Ouya gets enough early exclusives for it to gain a foothold. I think this what the original point was before we all went wildly off-topic

 

[Westaway]

First, go to Newegg and search there. Second, you need a case, fans and a HDD. Third, when you think about it that's not that much for something that can do pretty much anything, not just play videogames. And it's 310 dollars to get a 250gb 360 and a year of Xbox Live. Let alone get games, which are normally 20 dollars more expensive on consoles than on PC.

Thing is, I have nothing to go on. Most sites just list "The top 10 best graphics cards for gaming", I'm not interested in "The best of the best" because that usually costs more than a console itself. I have no clue what components work with what, no idea what graphics cards are "good" and which are "okay". If I was given a bunch of funds and told to build a gaming PC, I would probably only create some frankenstein-ish amalgamation of different parts that just don't work together.

Hell, just look at graphics cards, I don't imagine there's any way of knowing which is better performance wise unless you were to look up thousands individually and watch videos of them at work then look at professional and user reviews for them. There's nothing simple like "This is an Nvidia 5 and this is an Nvidia 6, since 6 came after 5, 6 is superior" I mean, what's the difference between a regular "Nvidia" graphics cards and whatever "GEforce" is? I mean, honestly, there is nothing "simple" about this, at best a person could look up a recommended gaming build on the internet and hoping that it actually works, at worst you'll be blindly buying dozens of components and praying to christ that you wont have to buy new ones because the ones you bought didn't work.

For example:

An EVGA 02G-P4-2678-KR GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Despite the fact that it just seems like a random jumble of letters and numbers that don't tell the average person what they're in for at all... Or if it's even a graphics card... It's expensive and has an average of four stars, so I can only assume it's good. Now, will it work if I bought, say, some motherboard called "ASUS M5A97 AMD 9 Series AM3+ Motherboard - ATX, Socket AM3+, AMD 970 Chipset, 2133MHz DDR3 (O.C.), SATA 6.0 Gb/s, 8-CH Audio, Gigabit LAN, SuperSpeed USB 3.0, CrossFireX Ready"? How will I know if either of those things are even capable of playing Battlefield 3? How will I know if they're even capable of doing anything? If I recall some motherboards only work with VERY specific chips belonging to certain brands. There's just no easy way to do this, period. =/

Actually, it's pretty simple. I'm 16 and I'm about to start building my own computer for the first time.
From that wall of text you seem to be making problems for yourself. When I started this, I had no knowledge on hardware to speak of. All I did was make a thread on the Escapist, which was a huge hit, and then a few other places such as /v/ and /g/. By talking to these people, and hearing their recommendations, you'll learn different things. No one says you have to understand it all straight away.
Also, you have to take into account that for consols you need a TV and games cost more, while computers can be used for thousands of different things. Games on PC cost generally less, and then you have things such as Steam Sales. Delicious.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Meh anyone with any sense can build a PC that the same or better than the Ouya I do not see the appeal but the same can be said for the WIIU oy vay don't you remember the 32X Nintendo?

 

[Itchi_da_killa]

The OUYA sounds like a great idea. It's not attempting to replace other consoles or PCs but creating a hub for some other types of games. It also extends a platform to those who want to get creative and make games of there own. Its a fun edition to the collection, at least that's how I see it. My friends and I are already plotting some games we would like to make for this system.

 

[Bvenged]

I bet a console that anybody can afford to develop for [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console] would come in handy right about now.

The Ouya is great, if you're looking for a cheap console and not expecting AAA-quality games.

It's a console that hosts trials, beta's and demo games at Android and iOS quality, at an absolute maximum. The common title will not be far off your average low-cost/FTP indie title - just have a look at the XBLIndie or Steam library - there are a few gems in there like Beat Hazard but most are bishbash titles with no large appeal.

It's nothing revolutionary, it's just plugging a gap that doesn't necessarily need plugging, more like poured sand in a jar filling between the stones that filled in between the AAA rocks. It's a console devoted to indie devs, but what's wrong with PC for modding or PSN/XBLI for your living-room indie gaming?

I got nothing against it and I think it is a good idea, but it's not this god-like entity coming to fix up our industry that most of us think of it.