Pc Gaming Dying????

[Logan Westbrook]

http://www.alienware.com/products/area-51-alx-desktop.aspx?SysCode=PC-AREA51-ALX-R8&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT
Fucking starts at $4599 so yea the above $1500 PC is certainly possible.

Yes, but Alienware make over-priced garish nonsense and are owned by Dell, so maybe not a great example.

EDIT: I've just looked at the actual cost of that thing. That's horrendously overpriced, I bet I could build that cheaper, even taking into account higher UK prices.

SECOND EDIT: I was right. I can make that very same computer in the UK for $3,550.03, with a nicer case to boot.

 

[shatnershaman]

The point is its possible and Alienware is an easy target for the argument PC gaming is expensive.

EDIT: Why the hell are people thinking I'm some Alienware fanboy?

 

[Logan Westbrook]

The point is its possible and Alienware is an easy target for the argument PC gaming is expensive.

Well sure it is, if you buy from a company that will charge you $2000 for a years warranty.

 

[Portoparty]

I've actually heard much the opposite, in that Sony and Microsoft are losing so much money with this current generation of consoles, that this generation and the next generation of consoles may be the last we see of the more "Hardcore" systems.

 

[shatnershaman]

I've actually heard much the opposite, in that Sony and Microsoft are losing so much money with this current generation of consoles, that this generation of consoles may be the last we see of the more "Hardcore" consoles.

They make it up in the software Xbox 360 is in profit PS3 has had its 2 billion deficit down to 1.2.

 

[EvilEngineNumberNine]

Elite Xbox? Nobody buys that dude.

Everyone gets the normal one for like 270$ or something and a controller is only 30$ and you can get excellent 42" 1080i tellies for 1000$
What moron would buy all three consoles and then compare them all as one force against the PC?

You know what I did? I got a 360 and a 24" PC monitor for 420$.
All in all it was:

Xbox - 220$ (with GTA 4)
2 more controllers - 62$
24" Flatscreen - 420$

Uh-oh, only 700$? I guess I just saved 2300$. Good times!


But lets do it your unfair way, since you are combining all the consoles together to reach a way too high price I'll do this: ok, the best PC you can get around now costs over 20.000$ dollars and... woah fuck...

Who won now?


Btw. the upgrade thingy. You payed 250$ for a new graphics card. Wuhu, your processer is still 4 years old and sucks.
I pay 200$ for an 360 because Crytek said that they will be bringing Cryengine games onto the 360.

I win again.


Ok, let me continue.

You add the Live costs.
Live is not forced so you don't have to buy it so you can't really count it into the bill.
I could also say, hey great, let's add power costs and internet costs and anti-virus software costs too!

Shit man, if you're gonna compare the consoles and PC do it fair.


- owner of a 1799$ gaming rig and a 360.

Okay here we go, this is the last time Jumplion I promise, have to defend my original post a little here.

FIRST!

What I'm doing is comparing the "Full console experience" (What it takes to play every game at max setting and resolution on a console) to the "Full PC experience" What it takes to play every game at max settings and resolution on a PC). Ok so I did stretch it a little with the ELITE 360 and the extra controllers were just add ons anyway but then you'd still have to buy every console after EVERY console refresh totaling the same, or more, amount of money you initially spent on EVERY console. If you only have an Xbox then that's fine and good for you and I hope you have fun yelling things into a headset that you would never want your mother to hear for fear of her head blowing off in shame. But the POINT of the post is to compare the COMPLETE console experience, not just the Xbox experience so all of the systems need to be represented in complete form. Good call with the monitor though. You can get a 1900x1200 24" PC monitor with Component, DVI-D, and HDMI inputs and put that to work as a Console monitor for about $1000 less than a 1920X1080P tv. One caveat though, since PC monitors are 16:10 aspect ratio and TVs are 16:9 then running your monitor at 1080P is a non-native resolution and thus applicable to scaling which can cause all sorts of nasty artifacts and smearing. (You may not have experienced or noticed this and in that case "Good for you")

Second

My claims aren't nearly as far out as your $20,000 PC claim. Does a $20,000 home PC exist? Probably. Will it play games better than my $1500 one? If having 280FPS in Crysis instead of 48 means yes then sure but you wouldn't even notice the difference without fraps.
Internet costs are a given since all of the systems I'm comparing actually make use of it but if you want to play online on Xbox the you have to pay the Live costs (Be glad I'm only tacking on a year and not the $300 it would cost over the proposed life of the system)
All other consoles and PC are f-f-f-f-free sans MaMoRPaGers but those are game specific and not platform specific costs like Live and appear on both consoles and PC (Though I'll admit it's heavily skewed toward PC)

Third and Last

My CPU is very very far from crap, it still runs every game on the market and I haven't overclocked it past the initial OC I put on it when I first built the rig, still some headroom for extra juice. Also if you think that it's unfair to compare the price of purchasing all the consoles against the price of one lonely PC then I've proved my point! It IS very unfair and I for one am waiting for the continuum to heal itself and start making f^cking sense.

Consoles used to be toys and PCs were for people who wanted to play grown up games like flight sims, racing sims, shooters and the like. Now the original console demographic has grown up and wants the same adult games out of consoles. In reaction consoles are becoming more and more like PCs (except Nintendo which has had the right idea all along) and hopefully somewhere along the line games development for PCs and consoles will even out and everyone will say "Why the hell am I shelling out $1500 for all the new systems trying to be PCs and just spend a few hundred upgrading the PC I already HAVE to play all the games I want to play on a SINGLE F^CKING PLATFORM."

One can dream.

 

[ZPan114]

I think I agree with what most people are saying - consoles are really changing the way people play, now it's no longer hard core people who build their own system that can play video games. My grandma likes the Wii (and don't even get me started on how impossible it is to explain what the Internet is to her).

But, regardless, there will still be a market for PC games, because it's not like people who originally like PCs will all of a sudden drop it, right?

I think it's just an explosion in the mainstream market.

And I agree, Alienware is pretty insane. I don't even get why some of them are supposed to be cool...they just look ostentatious to me. I think that's why so many more people (mainstream, again) like the Mac. Though HP did come out with something new today and that looked pretty slick. Too bad it's not gaming.

 

[Logan Westbrook]

-One Long Post Trimmed Away-

This whole discussion is getting ridiculous. Comparing buying a gaming PC to buying all the consoles is a really weak argument. PCs are more expensive, it's as simple as that, but PCs are also more versatile which ameliorates their cost somewhat.

A number of good points have been raised in this thread, as well as a number of idiotic ones and some outright lies. The thread has run it's course and now we are squabbling amongst outselves. I suggest we all just walk away, and let a mod lock this thing up tight.

 

[Plays2]

-One Long Post Trimmed Away-

This whole discussion is getting ridiculous. Comparing buying a gaming PC to buying all the consoles is a really weak argument. PCs are more expensive, it's as simple as that, but PCs are also more versatile which ameliorates their cost somewhat.

A number of good points have been raised in this thread, as well as a number of idiotic ones and some outright lies. The thread has run it's course and now we are squabbling amongst outselves. I suggest we all just walk away, and let a mod lock this thing up tight.

Agreed.

 

[EvilEngineNumberNine]

I hate threads like this. I always say never again but then .... I'm too pissed off with games retailers pulling support for my favorite system that it makes me even angrier when I see people who claim to love gaming pulling support for it too. There is no platform like the personal computer and I hope it never dies.

And if it ever does, I hope I'm not the only one who's sad to see it go.

 

[Mr. Bubbles]

Of course PC gaming isn't dying. Consoles are just more popular with the mainstream market right now, and so there are more games and more focus on them right now.

 

[iamnotincompliance]

Well, might as well jump in even though all applicable opinions have already been expressed.

PC gaming is not dying. PC gaming represents the ultimate in backwards compatibility. Recently I had the itch to play GTA III, so I did. 360 and PS3 are still working on that kind of thing. Me, I just found my discs, installed it, cranked all the settings (2048x1536, 16x AA, 16x AF, full draw distance, frame limiter off. 1080 what? 1536 bitches!) and off I went.

Console gaming is not dying. Consoles, unlike computers, are built to exacting specs. If you pick up a game for a console you own, it will work, unless the console itself is non-functional. My friend's PS2 had problems with the DVD drive (as did apparently a large number of them), so out came the Sony drive and in went a Pioneer. Functionality restored in little time flat. Remember: all DVD drives, whether they be computer, console, or plain old DVD player, are essentially the same.

Controls: I like being able to set my own controls. When something is intuitive to my own odd sense what "intuitive" is, all goes well. From what I remember of consoles (it's been a while since I've played anything resembling a "new" console) those controls are relatively intuitive. B runs, and A jumps. It's brilliant. Okay, that's reaching back a ways, but anyone who has played a game where A runs and B jumps knows what I'm talking about.

The PC excels in some areas, consoles excel in others. Neither is dying, and apparently neither is this topic. Oh, and EvilEngine, still running a 939? Damn straight. I also run a 939 with an 8800, and heavily modified Oblivion runs like a gazelle. Okay, the last mod made it more of a gazelle with a limp that flares up every now and then (I like typing gazelle, alright?), but it's so damn gorgeous now I really don't care.

 

[Asehujiko]

The only thing killing pc games are developers who make a game for consoles and then release an extremely crappy port(a friend of mine has a pc which outclasses his x360 on every front and bioshock still runs at half fps of the console) and developers who think that every pc in the world is as powerful as their company mainframes and produce something that runs exclusively on said supercomputers.

 

[Drbog]

As a PC and 360 owner I can say NO your wrong in every way.Heres some statisics World of warcraft (PC exclusive) gets the eqivilant of relesing a blockbuster like Iron man every month.Thats not even factoring in the other MMO's which take in almost as much.You may think PC gaming is dying because the shops are thinning of PC games but look at steam? One of, if not the most succesful game digital download services.Don't get me wrong I am a 360 gamer just as much but I play my PC more (free dev. content,mods and no matchmaking).

Oh and yes vista sux DD ftw!

EDIT:Counter Strike-the most successful online fps on the market.

 

[Enskie]

PC gaming always has the advantage in RTS games such as the Rome: Total War, Age Of Empires and Star Wars Battlefront series, as well as others. Halo Wars looks set to turn that around but I'll reserve judgement on that until it is released.

 

[Copter400]

BULLSHIT BULLSHIT BULLSHIT!

You want everything consoles have to offer?
Elite Xbox 360 - $400
80gig PS3 - $400
PS2 (NOOOOO backward compatibility in new PS3s) $150
Wii - $250
Live Subscription: One Year, $50
Much lauded 1920x1080P Telly - Bout $1500
Friends want to play with? Tack on an extra $50 per friend, per system for new controllers.

By my reckoning thats around $3000 not including an audio system or the better cables to hook everything up, (HDMI for the 360 and PS3; Component for the PS2 and Wii)

Now Lets compare a PC gaming rig.


Able to play everything on max settings (even Crysis which sucks anyway) - 1500

New 24inch 1900x1200 Monitor - $375

Still seem pretty expensive compared to one console? My $1500 P.C. is 4 years old, I'm running a socket 939 mobo with DDR ram. You wanna know how much I payed to upgrade it enough for Crysis (which sucks anyway)? $250 for a new 8800GTS 512 KO.

How much money will you spend when it comes time to upgrade your consoles? That's right, all that money minus the TV. Who's got the better deal now?

P.S. Everyone calls complete bullshit on Chefmaster for not knowing what the hell he's talking about.

P.P.S. JimmyJames, your 8600 was a P.O.S. when you bought it, what made you think it would be any better now? (really not trying to be mean but it's a REALLY bad card, if you would have gotten an 8800GTS or an 8800GT it would still play everything fine.)

You ever meet someone, and realize you have more appendages than they do brain cells?

Calm the feck down. Let's look at what you just typed up. If this is how you express your opinion every time someone says something negative about PC gaming, do you know what that makes you? A fanboy. A low-down, good-for-nothing fanboy.

You also seem to be using that special brand of hater mathematics people used with the arrival of the Wii. If you buy new remotes for all of your systems for all of your friends, you are their *****. The fact that you bought all the consoles in their most expensive formats as well as the newest TV makes you the industry's *****, which is bad enough.

In conclusion: If you preface your opinions with the word 'bullshit' written in capslock three times over without a single comma, whatever you say next can safely be ignored.

 

[Logan Westbrook]

yes . pc gaming is dying . flame as much as you wish . this is reality . i am not playing PC games anymore , not even those saved money stealer stupid PC MMOs . there are more casual gamers than hardcore gamers in this world and remember that 24 millions sold outter Nintendo Wii is creating more and more casual gamers from usual PEOPLE who don't play video games . these casual class gamers can be hardcore gamers in future . more casual gamers means more selling video game consoles . the only big video game corporation who cares PC is Blizzard because they don't care money . The people of Blizzard love playing video games .

PC Gaming is dying because of making 'only money jackpotting oriented' PC video games .

and beside what about those stupid PC hardware producer corporations ? Intel , AMD , NVidia ... don't these corporations exploits PC gamers for more and more money ? They even don't analyze how many PC video game maker corporations&companies&houses left . Not too much . These hardware corporations are extinctioning by themselves .

the next step for video game consoles to conquer overall video game&PC worlds is to be capable of installing and operating systems-softwares like Windows XP , not Vista sh+t !

not those PC hardware and software producers (their era is in the past) but GAMERS now decide and command which way video game industry will goes to .

you haven't flamed me yet ; what's the problem

*Sigh* I told myself I wouldn't do this, but I can't help it, this post is so stupid I couldn't just let it slip by.

1. Casual gamers are not going to go out and but a machine specially. They are going to play games like Peggle and Bejeweled on their PCs. What Nintendo have done with the Wii is to emphasis the group aspect of their games and while it's undeniably successful, 24 million units shifted doesn't compare with the 1 billion downloads of PopCap's games.

2. Blizzard don't care about money? Hardly surprising seeing as how Blizzard, or more accurately Vivendi, are richer than God. World of Warcraft makes millions of dollars a month for the company.

3. ATI, Nvidia, Intel, et al are not going to drive themselves into bankruptcy. Who do you think makes the components that are inside your beloved consoles? They don't come from the sky. Yes, for the millionth time, PC hardware is more expensive than buying a console, but, for the millionth time, PC hardware is more versatile than consoles.

4. So, the next step required for consoles to beat PCs, is to become PCs? If you were to install a full version of XP on an Xbox 360, it would grind to a halt, as it only has 512Mb of RAM. When you compare consoles and even fairly low-spec gaming PC in terms of raw power, the console will come off worse.

5. Gamers have always decided the direction that development has taken, that's why we've been inundated with Halo knock-offs in recent years. This is not a revolution, don't confuse it with one. You are not a passionate iconoclast, you are a consumer, just like the rest of us.

 

[Chalee]

Portal = available on pc. End of argument. Forever.

 

[Kazos]

I think the main problem is PC upgrades, like people have been saying, this will be putting of games designers, and so less games are released on PC's.

 

[Logan Westbrook]

I think the main problem is PC upgrades, like people have been saying, this will be putting of games designers, and so less games are released on PC's.

That was part of the reason for DirectX 10, to try and normalise the features on PC gaming.