Jimquisition: Xbox 360 and PS3 Are Just Very Crap PCs

[shadowstriker86]

lol that smile at the end caught me offguard, never really seen him that happy

 

[lacktheknack]

Xbox 360 and PS3 Are Just Very Crap PCs

They were cheaper, easier to use, more convenient.

Last I checked, consoles were still cheaper than gaming PC's.

However, if I used the parts used in an Xbox 360, I could stitch together the PC for about eighty bucks.

and some of us aren't IT guys.In the same way a mechanic might be able to fix up a junked car to run for far less than average... we can't do what you do.

You're implying that I built a computer with great internal knowledge on computer workings and lots of practice, rather than a couple hours of internet research.

But that's how all these arguments go, isn't it? If you're not willing to do the legwork, then stick with consoles. Don't you even THINK about telling me that your decision was objectively better, though. Doing the legwork pays off.

 

[Codeman90]

If I can play it on a console I will because when I put a game in my console IT WILL WORK. With the amount of DRM and random crap thats piled on to every single PC game it feels like a toss of the coin whether it will work

I love me some PC games but give me an optimized streamlined console game over a PC game that only runs when it feels like it and crashes constantly/ god knows how many compatibility problems. Each has their place in my opinion

 

[Something Amyss]

Exactly, and if it doesn't just turn down the settings a bit or upgrade and sell the old parts. Then you won't have to worry about it

Yeah, at this point I'm trying to get more friends on PC. I can now play on the couch with a controller if I so feel like it (as Jim said), so the only thing I'm missing is my buddies. Because that's the main reason I own an XBox. Because, literally, I see nothing that will benefit me in terms of continuing along the XBox route. And my PS3's mostly a BD player anyway. BD and Netflix.

That's it. Right now, that is the ONLY reason I have,

Well, there ARE some good exclusives on the consoles, I'll give 'em that.

CAPTCHA:

sky's the limit[/quote]

I won't argue personal opinion on this, but I will point out that I have trouble naming any exclusives I'm gaga about. I've never been a Halo fan, nor Resistance, MGS, or ummm...

I sorta liked Gears of War, but it's not enough to sell a unit. In fact, so many games are like it these days....

I mean, don't get me wrong. My primary platform is the 360. Most of my games are on it, and in terms of game ownership, my PC is dead last. This is not me being some blind fanboy saying exclusives on consoles suck because I'm crying sour grapes. Rather, the console exclusives haven't really hooked me in this last cycle, because most of the games I care about are multiplats. Granted, some of the PC ports suck, and for that I'm glad I got Saints Row 2 on the 360 (for example), but....I don't see that as a plus, because I've had several games that really should have had PC controls (this is hard for me, as I hate using a mouse for anything action-ish).

However, if you like 'em, I'm not saying you're wrong. They're not for me. Plus, I've spent more time this generation lamenting PC exclusives that my POS graphics card won't run. I'll fix that eventually, but I have other priorities at the moment.

Lousy priorities...*shakes fist*

Anyway, I think the main point is that the major selling point of consoles used to be simplicity. These days, they're anything but. The old "it just works" thing isn't true anymore, and you do have to run updates and deal with a closed system (so fixes take longer than they should).

As long as controllers are supported, I wouldn't mind seeing PC take over and consoles go the way of the dinosaurs.

 

[Codeman90]

on a further note Laptops are AWFUL for games. Mine overheats even attempting to play things like Civ V, sometimes even minecraft =/ Unless you shell out a ton of money and really know what your doing, gaming on a Laptop is going to end in frustration.

 

[Alexnader]

Um...pcs are expensive and require upgrades to the pc itself to play new games. They are still a bigger hassle. That outweighs anything a pc can do as most gamers wont spend 15000 dollars to have higher definition graphics that add fuck all to the game itself.

You've overestimated price by a factor of 10. Also $1500 would either be a ripoff or one of the most kickass things ever. That or it'd be a laptop, one that's more than twice (or possible three times) more powerful than a console, can be used for actual real life things and is portable with the addition of a satchel.

Lets not forget the amount of money saved in the long run by using a PC. I can save $30 on a pre order for a new game compared to getting the console version from the same store. (ozgameshop.com). For games that I'm not buying on release, I could get 2-3 of them for the price of a single console game (steam). Then there's the cheap indie/classic games of which you can get 6 for the price of a single console game.

As for upgrading, I view PCs the way I view a really good jacket. After the large initial purchase it should last ~3-4 years with a little care before there's a little fraying around the edges. It should still work after more than 6 years but I wouldn't take it anywhere fancy. You can also spruce it up a bit whenever you want (this is where the jacket metaphor falls short) and extend its life. I've never had to upgrade or make notable changes on a game by game basis. If you set it up right the first time it'll be good to you for a long time.

For anyone who has the capital for a relatively large initial investment, PC gaming is the best way to go for those who play a variety of games with high frequency. For those who only pick up the occasional game every couple of months and just want to sit back once or twice a week and play games then I still feel consoles beat PCs. However as Jim was saying, consoles are losing some of that convenience advantage.

I rarely see anyone hook their PC up to a TV and play it like a console, so is it hard to pull off or is it easy?

I did it all the time. The hardest part of it is lugging the bloody great tower from my computer room to the living room. After that I can literally just plug it in and use the TV as a monitor. If you have a console controller to plug into the PC then even more power to you.

 

[4RT1LL3RY]

My sister isn't a PC gamer, but I showed her Diablo 3 and got her into it. Shes playing it fine on her $450 laptop at 1366x768 and medium-high graphics with 50+ fps. AMD APU's are very nice for low budget gaming on laptops and desktops.

Depending on what you do PC gaming makes more sense to certain people. Every CS major I have meet at college has or does currently game. If you are going to need a nice computer its only an extra $150 to make it able to game great.

Console gaming being "cheaper" is kind of a bad argument though. You spend less upfront but spend more in the long run on games. With PC gaming prices actually drop on games. I have a library of games on steam worth nearly $1000 and only spent about $400 total. About $200 of it was spent on day of release games, the rest was massive sales in summer and christmas.

 

[clippen05]

Long time lurker on the escapist, first time poster here.

This thread makes me laugh. The things people say that are "Flaws of PC." People who say we only like graphics and not gameplay... we have minecraft for gods sakes (But at least we have texture packs unlike the dumbed down xbox version) And even if people like graphics as their main draw to gaming, how can you question them. All of you console gamers have been saying game how you want to, what if I want to admire the best possible graphics my system can offer is that not gaming my own way?

Then theres people who say the cost is what turns them off. While PC's can be expensive (You're not playing Skyrim on medium for $200 i'm sorry but that's a lie), consoles are indefinetly more expensive. Lets take todays xbox. $200 bucks, not that bad. Until you add your hardrive (That is horribly overpriced, a 120 gb harddrive for the old 360 costed more than 100 bucks. For that same price you can get 10x the storage on pc) Xboxlive for 2 years is about $60 bucks. This is where people start going "But clippen, thats still less than a $1000 dollar PC. Yes, but you're forgetting the most important part: The Games.

Have fun with your hard copy disks that you love ever so much: They're 60 bucks. (And they rarely include what I would call manuals these days) Boxed pc games are only $50 dollars to start with, but then you forget digital distribution. Give me $100 dollars on steam and I'll buy more games then your whole xbox collection will ever encompass during steam sales. If you regulate your purchases to daily deals and seasonal sales, you'll have more games than you can handle in a decade. (Especially if you get publisher packs, where you can spend $60 bucks, the price of one new console game, to get every game a publisher has released... okay maybe not everyone but many.) "But Clippen, only old games go on sale." well... about that... Skyrim was already on sale 1 month after release for $40 bucks, wait a little longer (and finish your backlog of summer sale games) and you could have it for $28 in February.

Lastly, theres those people who say "I can't handle PC's they're too complicated" Well you know what. I recently upgraded my graphics card and power supply. You want to know how simple it is? 1: Take wires out and unscrew old components. 2: Attack wires to new components and screw in. IT's that simple. And I've had no training, no experience, nothing to prepare me for this, I'm 16. And its easier than most of my math homework. I know that's just the hardware component, but I've never faced software issues so I Don't think it would be fair for me to comment on them.

I will concede that DRM can be annoying, and really, its the PC's biggest flaw. That's undeniable.

Despite my undying support for PC, I still have all three consoles (Although the Wii is mainly for my sister, I don't "Own it." And the only reason why is because everyone I know games on there; I don't have a single PC gaming friend and I hate it. If my friends didn't have these consoles I'd toss them to the closet immediately, but I can't. It pisses me off.

 

[Alexnader]

Have fun with your hard copy disks that you love ever so much: They're 60 bucks. (And they rarely include what I would call manuals these days) Boxed pc games are only $50 dollars to start with, but then you forget digital distribution. Give me $100 dollars on steam and I'll buy more games then your whole xbox collection will ever encompass during steam sales. If you regulate your purchases to daily deals and seasonal sales, you'll have more games than you can handle in a decade. (Especially if you get publisher packs, where you can spend $60 bucks, the price of one new console game, to get every game a publisher has released... okay maybe not everyone but many.) "But Clippen, only old games go on sale." well... about that... Skyrim was already on sale 1 month after release for $40 bucks, wait a little longer (and finish your backlog of summer sale games) and you could have it for $28 in February.

Lastly, theres those people who say "I can't handle PC's they're too complicated" Well you know what. I recently upgraded my graphics card and power supply. You want to know how simple it is? 1: Take wires out and unscrew old components. 2: Attack wires to new components and screw in. IT's that simple. And I've had no training, no experience, nothing to prepare me for this, I'm 16. And its easier than most of my math homework. I know that's just the hardware component, but I've never faced software issues so I Don't think it would be fair for me to comment on them.

Welcome to the wonderful world of posting on the escapist forums! Blare your opinion proudly and hope that someone happens to be reading the 9th page of whatever trolling Moviebob or Jim have released this week.

Anyway the one thing that always amazes me is the vehement belief some people have that they can't fix something, especially something to do with software or hardware installation. One may not know how to reformat his or her computer but 5 minutes on google will change all that. When constructing a PC, one does not literally design and build a computer the way an engineer would. You're just following preset instructions.

Also I agree that games are cheaper on PC, unless you're an Australian call of duty fan in which case have fun paying $50 for CoD 4 on steam, $90 for MW2 and $100 for MW3. Certain publishers have caught on to the fact that they can easily charge ridiculous prices for old games on steam in Australia.

 

[crazyarms33]

Seems to me that the problem is not the consoles themselves so much as how they are forced to be used by the corporations who make their games. It's hardly the 360's or PS 3's fault that EA, Activision, etc. require DRM and the like. I for one can't afford a gaming PC, much less a good one that will keep me up to date for the few years, which is why I like my console games. Also I find that I actually enjoy the community more on the console games simply because I find that PC gamers take the games more seriously than console players. That's just my experience though, and may or may not be yours. Yeah on XBOX Live you get 12 year old racists who are enthralled with the ability to swear and not get smacked around for it, but that is why I love the mute feature

TLDR: I like console gaming because my experience is that the community is more laid back, I also can't afford a good PC and don't blame consoles for what the publishers make them do any more than I blame my car for going fast when I hit the gas pedal.

 

[MorganL4]

I will admit, I am primarily a PC gamer, because PC gaming is just easier; in large part thanks to STEAM. And when I got my own gaming rig my 360 started to gather dust pretty quickly.

That said, console's have one major advantage over PCs.... Split-screen multiplayer. Now, most of my friends that game are like me, they have pretty good gaming rigs, and know the ins and outs of a computer better than most (the folks I hang out with mostly have degrees in IT or Comp Sci) But unless we decide that we want to do a LAN party for some special occasion, more often than not when we get together in person, it is just much easier to boot up a console and play a split9-screen game like Halo, Star Wars Battlefront or castle crashers ( yes I know this is not split-screen)

But if you ask me THAT is what the console has over the PC, interactive couch play. And if the console is going to survive beyond this next generation, THAT is what it needs to get back to, be the tool we use to actually spend face time with each other like in past generations.

Because lets be honest, PC has won the online multi-player battle simply by not charging an extra $50 a year to use.

OH YEAH, and I should mention to whomever made the call to kill SW Battlefront 3...... REALLY STUPID move DUDE/DUDE-ET

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

And everyone who owns a console is going to be able to find a PC at even a fraction of that value? Just a year ago I spent a couple of weeks looking on Newegg for a computer that could run most PC games and I could not find one that could run a Skyrim level game on lower settings for under $1200. Which, including warranty, taxes and everything else probably costs at least $1400. And that's on LOWER settings.

If it wasn't for the cost of constantly upgrading the hardware I'd be more inclined to use my PC for gaming.

So now you bought a game you cannot use unless you spend more money to UPGRADE the PC.

ಠ_ಠ not this myth again. Seriously folks. This shit gets OLD. I can run Skyrim on custom high (some settings tweaked/modded) on a PC from early 2009 that cost me £600. Not being able to find something for under $1500 (£1000) is just pain baffling.

I could knock you up a system for £300-£400 that would beat the pants of Skyrim on med/high. Infact Scan (UK supplier but still an example) is selling a system that has 100% of bits you would need (including HDDs, Disk Drives etc etc) for £500 that is actually very high end. So if you bought a £100 GPU that's a full high end system for £600. That took me all of 30 seconds.

Spoiler

I'm starting to think PCs are cheaper in the UK because my comp is just over a year old and set me back just over a thousand USD (not counting the HD that failed after a year and needed to be replaced, a decent mouse ect.) but is a piece of garbage that cant manage medium settings on anything nice looking.

Yeah, you must be making some poor decisions for parts I suppose. I built a rig as recently as 6 months ago for someone, only about 600 bucks and it is a decent gaming machine. It handles most out there at medium-high. I am in the US also, not a UK user here.
In fact, I am trying to sell a gaming machine right now for only 500 bucks, that will beat up most games out there now.
It is much easier now though, because all games are designed with consoles in mind, meaning that the specs needed are so much lower than what is out there for hardware. You can really lowball it nowadays and still run all games.

 

[Kroxile]

Really? No.

I own 14 games for my PS3. 3 of them bought at $60, the rest used for between 15 and 40. My PS3 cost me $300.

My PC cost me $600 (Monitor included). It was purchased 3 years ago. It cannot run any current AAA titles. Skyrim will not run on it. Crysis... yeah no. Battlefield? No. I bought 2 games at $60, and the rest were around 10 to 15.

Cost analysis? Console was cheaper, and can actually run games from this year.

Moral of this story: Don't buy walmart computers.

My PC cost me $700 with the monitor, is 3 years old, hasn't been upgraded in any way since I bought it, and it plays every game on full on high or ultra settings at 60+ FPS.

Sorry your analysis is wrong.

Captcha: i love you

 

[major_chaos]

snip

What qualifies as "poor decisions"? If "didn't have nearly enough patience to buy it one piece at a time and assemble it myself so I bought it custom built from Ibuypower" counts than yes I guess I have, but other than that I don't know what I did wrong, and I still don't get how people are making good PCs for $500 when right off the bat it's $200~ for windows and $150~ for a decent graphics card.

 

[antman890]

Xbox 360 and PS3 Are Just Very Crap PCs

There was once a time when consoles had something that PCs didn't have. They were cheaper, easier to use, more convenient. They dominated the market because they dominated our need to be lazy and catered to. Then this generation happened.

Watch Video

I too reminisce of the good old days of ANY other generation of console. hell, I prefer my old Sega master system to the bloated consoles of this generation. I admit that through the evolution of technology digital rights have become an important concern for publishers (although it should be for the bloody designers but that's a rant for another time) and there should be DRM and i also admit that games are now far bigger than they were and downloading patches and DLC are a necessary evil, however patches day 1????????? DLC day one??????? they should be part of the fucking game (ESPECIALLY when its part of the core game!!!!!!!). when I see this gens consoles i feel like they were trying to perform cunnilingus (or fellatio if that's your thing) on PC's but due to... i don't know just being blind to what makes PC gaming good, they aimed to low and sucked all the shit out of PC gamings ass-hole.

the biggest argument for PC over console is that consoles control what you can and cannot access online (mods, etc). while true that usually its not console gamers cup of tea to go and find mods, the decent thing for consoles to do while it makes you wait for download progression, verification from a server or stopping you from playing because Bethesda cant get their act together is to allow you to find something else to do or find some way of fixing publishers mistakes and no; going onto Youtube doesn't count. PC had it first

it is true that consoles are cheaper than PC's (IN GENERAL) however, if your already going to splash out on a PC for work or whatever, doesn't it seem like a sensible idea to add the cost of the console you want to the purchase of a better PC? OK if this isn't the case for you skip to the next paragraph, but for people like

Knowing that I can play the game whenever I want will keep me coming back to the consoles. As soon as the console go bye bye, I will get a Tablet to play games on.

Sorry, but I use the PC to conduct my business. I need to keep them separate in my mind. I will not play anything more complicated than Facebook games on a PC.

WFT???? honestly i know what you mean, seeing my skyrim icon on my desktop makes me drool while doing my thesis but your an adult. act like it. self control is hard but please for the sake of all our people you and others like you need to stop and think "are consoles trying to turn me, the consumer, into a punching bag filled with money? are they going to continually abuse me like some unwanted pet? they are? well I'm not going to buy their product then. I have a perfectly good PC at home."


whenever I buy a console game I feel like I've been robbed of my time. i know that all games are just massive time sink but i don't want to sink my time into installing and un-installing retarding software to play resistance 3. The most horrifying thing about this is the consoles ALLOW publishers to do this? console publishers have the power to turn around and say "WTF how much installing? what the hell is this crap for? if valve can do it you cant? no no no its all wrong go and watch Jim Sterling u mongoloid". but instead of spanking publishers they want to put their arms up any soft hole of their consumers to pull out as much currency as possible (or to use us as puppets).

oh and the argument that u can still trade in console games is dead. when the publishers of the consoles want to kill its one saving grace you cant use it as an argument. I'm sorry but no.

I used to believe that consoles would always be able to put up a fight against PC gaming but I'm sorry consoles have castrated themselves and are out of the running. PC > console

P.S if they get it right with the next gen of consoles I will run through the streets butt naked and doing cartwheels. oh and hell will freeze over and Riccitiello will commit seppuku for trying to justify DLC on day one of a game launch

 

[antman890]

Xbox 360 and PS3 Are Just Very Crap PCs

There was once a time when consoles had something that PCs didn't have. They were cheaper, easier to use, more convenient. They dominated the market because they dominated our need to be lazy and catered to. Then this generation happened.

Watch Video

I too reminisce of the good old days of ANY other generation of console. hell, I prefer my old Sega master system to the bloated consoles of this generation. I admit that through the evolution of technology digital rights have become an important concern for publishers (although it should be for the bloody designers but that's a rant for another time) and there should be DRM and i also admit that games are now far bigger than they were and downloading patches and DLC are a necessary evil, however patches day 1????????? DLC day one??????? they should be part of the fucking game (especially when its part of the core game!!!!!!!). when I see this gens consoles i feel like they were trying to perform cunnilingus (or fellatio if that's your thing) on PC's but due to... i don't know just being blind to what makes PC gaming good, they aimed to low and sucked the wrong hole.

the biggest argument for PC over console is that consoles control what you can and cannot access online (mods, etc). while true that usually its not console gamers cup of tea to go and find mods, the decent thing for consoles to do while it makes you wait for download progression, verification from a server or stopping you from playing because Bethesda cant get their act together is to allow you to find something else to do or find some way of fixing publishers mistakes and no; going onto Youtube doesn't count. PC had it first

it is true that consoles are cheaper than PC's (in general) however, if your already going to splash out on a PC for work or whatever, doesn't it seem like a sensible idea to add the cost of the console you want to the purchase of a better PC? OK if this isn't the case for you skip to the next paragraph, but for people like

Knowing that I can play the game whenever I want will keep me coming back to the consoles. As soon as the console go bye bye, I will get a Tablet to play games on.

Sorry, but I use the PC to conduct my business. I need to keep them separate in my mind. I will not play anything more complicated than Facebook games on a PC.

wtf???? honestly i know what you mean, seeing my skyrim icon on my desktop makes me drool while doing my thesis but your an adult. act like it. self control is hard but please for the sake of all our people you and others like you need to stop and think "are consoles trying to turn me, the consumer, into a punching bag filled with money? are they going to continually abuse me like some unwanted pet? they are? well I'm not going to buy their product then. I have a perfectly good PC at home."


whenever I buy a console game I feel like I've been robbed of my time. i know that all games are just massive time sink but i don't want to sink my time into installing and un-installing retarding software to play resistance 3. The most horrifying thing about this is the consoles ALLOW publishers to do this? console publishers have the power to turn around and say "WTF how much installing? what the hell is this crap for? if valve can do it you cant? no no no its all wrong go and watch Jim Sterling u mongoloid". but instead of spanking publishers they want to put their arms up any soft hole of their consumers to pull out as much currency as possible (or to use us as puppets).

oh and the argument that u can still trade in console games is dead. when the publishers of the consoles want to destroy its one saving grace you cant use it as an argument. I'm sorry but no.

I used to believe that consoles would always be able to put up a fight against PC gaming but I'm sorry consoles have castrated themselves and are out of the running. PC > console

P.S if they get it right with the next gen of consoles I will run through the streets butt naked and doing cartwheels. oh and hell will freeze over and Riccitiello will commit seppuku for trying to justify DLC on day one of a game launch