Why are modern consoles bad?

[JohnnyDelRay]

I still think gaming trends in general are what fucked games nowadays. PC's used to have LAN, they just don't anymore. Closest thing (on select few games) you can get to it is two Steam machines who play together as if they were on LAN, but you still need to be online.

Microtransactions, DRM, season passes exist across all platforms and are what have fucked it for me. I was going along fine with Steam, until the day I tried to purchase and play something on the Windows Store. Absolute fucking nightmare, and one I wouldn't care to repeat ever again in my life.

I still think the pros and cons of PC and console weigh each other out just fine. I've stayed with my PC this generation so far, and have no intention of moving over yet, but that's a personal choice. Gears 4 brought back split screen, btw. I was almost about to buy it for PC until I got a game earlier. PC's I think have almost got it rougher nowadays, because shit gets ported so poorly. FPS locks, shoddy controls, performance drops, lazy menu implementation, it's a truly sad state of affairs, especially when you see that the majority of these can be fixed within a short amount of time by one individual.

I'm thinking PC users have it tougher give the overall scheme of things, but I'm only speaking from my own POV which is a current PC only player (will definitely pick up a PS4 later down the track though, loosely considering XBONE and Switch at some point)

 

[RedDeadFred]

I don't know if they're bad.... they're just not what they used to be and it seems that was pretty inevitable. If you want something easier and cheaper (although definitely not in the long run) than a PC, you get one of the consoles.

For me, the only real reason to own one would be to reap the exclusives. So far, only one game from this generation is even close to being a system seller for me and that's Bloodborne (note how I said "for me" -your opinion may differ and that's fine). Sadly, one game is not nearly enough for me to justify the purchase.

 

[WeepingAngels]

The lack of consoles would also attract massive numbers of players to PC, with nowhere else to go. They'll learn that it's really not complicated and invite their friends.

...or they will just find another hobby. Chances are they have played enough shooters and open world RPG's to last them a few years.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I guess you're one of those people that can't admit when they're wrong.

Not sure WeepingAngels has that problem, perhaps it's you with the inability to see the massive flaws in consoles? Or is the issue that you can't let go of the decrepit dinosaur that is console gaming? Jim Sterling has a video for you posted on October 17th hard to believe you are missing these massive holes in your plug and play "experience" on PS4, unless of course you are not telling the truth... Hmmmmm

Sounds like that's a Mafia 3 problem and not a PS4 problem. I said putting in a DISC and playing on PS4 takes at most 2 minutes to play, I put in Watch Dogs way back and was playing right away and same goes for every other game disc I've put in. I've never had an issue downloading games as I click download, put the system in standby, and it'll be ready to play next time I turn on the PS4. Same thing with patches, they automatically download in the background in standby and it'll be downloaded and installed before I even turn the system on. And unless you're playing multiplayer, you don't need patches downloaded and installed to play. Also, one of main positives of console gaming is getting a disc and being able to sell it when you're done with the game. I don't download any games off PSN unless they are free or very heavily discounted. I don't have to wait for a Steam sale to get a game cheap as I can buy Day 1 and sell after completing the game. Of course, PC is going to be better at digital downloads as that's been the standard on PC for quite some time now. Obviously, that's not an excuse for digital downloads not being as good as they should be. For the most part, the PS4 makes the whole process as automatic and hassle free as it can be because face it, we're not going back to games being tested like they were in the PS2 era and prior; you think Bethesda is ever going to release a game that doesn't need patches? I'm no fanboy of the PlayStation as the PS3 was HORRIBLE with mandatory installs and game updates not letting you do anything as you wait, you can't even play music on PS3 as a patch downloads. However, PS4 fixed just about everything.

Jim Sterling, as much as I like him, was wrong with quite a few things stating stuff like you need to download patches and install the game before playing, which is untrue at least for the PS4.

 

[stroopwafel]

Good riddance. AAA is going down the crapper. Most of the best games I played the last several years were smaller or popular enough without the other platforms (select Valve titles). At this point, AAA can die for all I care. I prefer something between AAA and indie.

Well, 'AAA' is kind of an umbrella term for every game that requires huge teams and budgets to make. This doesn't just include CoD or Fifa or Madden but also games like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Witcher 3, Last of Us etc. I don't think those games can be replaced by indie titles and as such necessitate corporate investment(will you not go the kickstarter route which has also proven to not really work). Companies having a vested interest in products and services to sell will remain the driving force in game development. And as such consoles will remain pivotal.

Something between AAA and indie would be the middle-market so prevalent during the PS2 era. Unfortunately this disappeared almost entirely during the PS3/X360 era b/c they couldn't keep up with the increase in budget. Just look how a game gets hammered when it doesn't have the production values of say GTA5; a game that had hundreds of people working on it with 200+ million budget. This is now the standard people have come to expect. Logically having such high financial risks decreases the amount of smaller developers and have big publishers demand to put out the same stuff that sells well year after year(CoD, Battlefield, Ass Creed, Fifa etc.) Though, you can wonder, why did these smaller publishers go out of business(Rebellion, THQ etc) and not just give up on consoles and develop solely for PC instead? Simple: lack of market share and corporate partnerships.

Modern consoles sell by the shitload which demonstrates it's consumer demand. So, consoles definitely won't go out of business b/c of lack of interest. I can only see more publishers dropping consoles b/c of the high risk/long investment model of AAA game-development when companies can make a much easier buck with crap for mobile phones or other low-risk venues with much quicker returns.

 

[MHR]

Consoles have become weak-ass closed-platform PCs. Almost all of the old console advantages are gone, and consoles are actually hurting the market with exclusives and graphical downgrades for port parity.

 

[Joccaren]

I've never had an issue downloading games as I click download, put the system in standby, and it'll be ready to play next time I turn on the PS4. Same thing with patches, they automatically download in the background in standby and it'll be downloaded and installed before I even turn the system on. And unless you're playing multiplayer, you don't need patches downloaded and installed to play.

Funnily enough, you can do the same thing on PC. Just leave my PC there, and Steam'll automatically download and install all necessary updates. I've stopped Windows from doing that because I want to restart when I want to restart, not when Windows tells me to, but it can be automated if you're not as much of a power user as I am. Same goes for driver updates... Everything. Its all automated. Funnily enough, if you can program a console to do it, some bright spark will figure out its as easy, or easier, to make a PC do it too.

And that is a lot of the point of this thread. Consoles have started to move away from their strengths - requiring installs and patches, even if its while you're doing something else, needing hardware upgrades [Whether it be harddrives, or the new One S/Scorpio/PS4 Pro], the certainty of games working on them...
Its all changing. Its not fully gone yet, but compare a modern console to the PS1. I boot up my PS1, or more often my N64, and the game is just there playing. Right from the start. I don't have to worry about installing while the PS1 is idle. I just plug in a disk, and away she goes. I barely have to worry about harddrives, as there isn't one. The N64 didn't even have a memory card. The games just worked. They had to or they wouldn't sell at all.

Modern consoles are a whole lot more complicated than that. Funnily enough, they now function near identically to PCs - who at that time required a bit of fiddling around with drivers every now and then, and had a number of hardware incompatibility issues that could crop up, while being outrageously expensive, and big and loud. These days? Problems are few and far between, and when they exist its for the same reason as they exist on consoles; devs just rushing out a game without putting actual effort into it knowing they can patch it later. The biggest issues on PC these days, are that a lot of the AAA games are gimped so they'll run on consoles, and be comparable to them on the PC. Locked framerates and resolutions, shitty texture qualities, poor control schemes and overall laziness in ports.

Otherwise, I could sit a small cased computer built for gaming next to my TV, plug it in, Bluetooth wireless console controllers, and use it like a console. That would require a little bit more setup than using it like a PC, but even that's disappearing as companies like Steam start working to make it even easier than before.

Basically, PCs get easier and easier to use. Consoles are slowly getting harder and harder. There will come a day, seemingly sooner rather than later, where the last vestiges of difference disappear, at least if they continue along current trend lines. When that happens, where will that leave consoles themselves?

 

[WeepingAngels]

Basically, PCs get easier and easier to use. Consoles are slowly getting harder and harder. There will come a day, seemingly sooner rather than later, where the last vestiges of difference disappear, at least if they continue along current trend lines. When that happens, where will that leave consoles themselves?

They either need to follow Nintendo's path of using cartridges with no installation or they will become obsolete. They cannot out-PC the PC. I suspect that Sony and Microsoft will not continue with discs next generation if they make it to the next generation given that they might just adopt the never-ending hardware refresh model. If they do stick with discs they better stop with these expensive yet small HDD's.

I have always wondered why people have embraced digital distribution on consoles when they have a choice. Consider this, when I buy a physical game I need not worry about supplying my own storage which is money out of my pocket if I decide to put a decent sized HDD in there. In many cases physical is cheaper even on day 1 and cheaper still when you consider the non existent storage cost.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Funnily enough, you can do the same thing on PC. Just leave my PC there, and Steam'll automatically download and install all necessary updates. I've stopped Windows from doing that because I want to restart when I want to restart, not when Windows tells me to, but it can be automated if you're not as much of a power user as I am. Same goes for driver updates... Everything. Its all automated. Funnily enough, if you can program a console to do it, some bright spark will figure out its as easy, or easier, to make a PC do it too.

And that is a lot of the point of this thread. Consoles have started to move away from their strengths - requiring installs and patches, even if its while you're doing something else, needing hardware upgrades [Whether it be harddrives, or the new One S/Scorpio/PS4 Pro], the certainty of games working on them...
Its all changing. Its not fully gone yet, but compare a modern console to the PS1. I boot up my PS1, or more often my N64, and the game is just there playing. Right from the start. I don't have to worry about installing while the PS1 is idle. I just plug in a disk, and away she goes. I barely have to worry about harddrives, as there isn't one. The N64 didn't even have a memory card. The games just worked. They had to or they wouldn't sell at all.

Modern consoles are a whole lot more complicated than that. Funnily enough, they now function near identically to PCs - who at that time required a bit of fiddling around with drivers every now and then, and had a number of hardware incompatibility issues that could crop up, while being outrageously expensive, and big and loud. These days? Problems are few and far between, and when they exist its for the same reason as they exist on consoles; devs just rushing out a game without putting actual effort into it knowing they can patch it later. The biggest issues on PC these days, are that a lot of the AAA games are gimped so they'll run on consoles, and be comparable to them on the PC. Locked framerates and resolutions, shitty texture qualities, poor control schemes and overall laziness in ports.

Otherwise, I could sit a small cased computer built for gaming next to my TV, plug it in, Bluetooth wireless console controllers, and use it like a console. That would require a little bit more setup than using it like a PC, but even that's disappearing as companies like Steam start working to make it even easier than before.

Basically, PCs get easier and easier to use. Consoles are slowly getting harder and harder. There will come a day, seemingly sooner rather than later, where the last vestiges of difference disappear, at least if they continue along current trend lines. When that happens, where will that leave consoles themselves?

The PC is still way way harder to automate everything. First of all, you have to deal with Windows and everything else with a computer. I know it's not much as I'm a PC tech but the average person isn't going to do it. Consoles are by far the easiest way of playing games on a TV with a controller on a couch. With all this talk HERE about consoles being weak PCs that basically have no reason to exist anymore, you'd think PC gaming was about to totally take over. You all fail to notice that games sell so much more on consoles because the average person prefers playing on a console. Just look at Witcher 3 which sold far more on consoles and it's a series that originated on PC. This forum or any game forum is not at all the voice of the majority. Assuming the average consumer knew how to make a PC into a console basically, they'd have to have 2 computers then, 1 for normal computer stuff and 1 to put next to the TV for gaming as you're not going to have people moving their computers back and forth from desk to living room. It's not gonna happen. Just like why so many people buy FireSticks instead wirelessly connecting the computer to their Smart TV. Consoles are here to stay for quite some time as there's such a huge gap between console game sales and PC game sales. That gap may indeed get smaller but it will take quite a lot of time.

If they do stick with discs they better stop with these expensive yet small HDD's.

In what world do you live in where laptop HDs are expensive?

 

[WeepingAngels]

In what world do you live in where laptop HDs are expensive?

In a world where I don't need to buy a hard drive at all because games come on media that doesn't require installation.

I am talking about the markup that you pay for the hard drive that comes in the console (Xbox One 500gb - $249, 1 Tb - $399), which you then replace with a bigger one that costs you extra money. You are making out like a bandit!

 

[Joccaren]

The PC is still way way harder to automate everything. First of all, you have to deal with Windows and everything else with a computer. I know it's not much as I'm a PC tech but the average person isn't going to do it. Consoles are by far the easiest way of playing games on a TV with a controller on a couch. With all this talk HERE about consoles being weak PCs that basically have no reason to exist anymore, you'd think PC gaming was about to totally take over. You all fail to notice that games sell so much more on consoles because the average person prefers playing on a console. Just look at Witcher 3 which sold far more on consoles and it's a series that originated on PC. This forum or any game forum is not at all the voice of the majority. Assuming the average consumer knew how to make a PC into a console basically, they'd have to have 2 computers then, 1 for normal computer stuff and 1 to put next to the TV for gaming as you're not going to have people moving their computers back and forth from desk to living room. It's not gonna happen. Just like why so many people buy FireSticks instead wirelessly connecting the computer to their Smart TV. Consoles are here to stay for quite some time as there's such a huge gap between console game sales and PC game sales. That gap may indeed get smaller but it will take quite a lot of time.

"Deal with Windows" - you mean log in? Yeah, ok, but you can even disable a password for that.
Otherwise, Windows comes pre-installed and set up on the PC, automatic updates enabled, and you can go into your settings if you want to change that - much like with a console and their OS, which, hilariously enough, for the Xbox One IS Windows, with a paint job over the top of it, and some disabled features to make it run smoother.

So, "Dealing with Windows" ain't a thing you avoid on consoles either. Everything has an OS. Everything is trying to be an interconnected multimedia device - it needs a complex OS for all the settings you need for that, and different options on what to do.

Console vs PC is also a rather false dichotomy when looking at sales. There are 3 main platforms in the triple A space. PS, Xbox, and PC. The PC sold comparably to the other platforms, which makes sense considering there are 2 other platforms, and one PC platform. As for the average person preferring to play on console... Very debatable. There is a lot of history with the damned things. A big part of it is exclusive titles MS and Sony tie themselves to in order to sell their consoles. Another part of it is history - growing up many kids would have had parents who would buy them consoles instead of PCs, as at the time were cheaper. These days the cheaper option is starting to become just buying a laptop for your kid, which ends up playing games AND helping them with their homework that they need it for. Or hell, mobile games on the phone everyone needs these days. That's going to have a huge influence on which platforms kids are tied to when they grow up, and has a huge influence on which platforms sell more overall given the family centric nature of a lot of purchases.

Additionally, you wouldn't need two PCs to have a console and a work station. Arguably the best way of doing it would be with a laptop, which have comparable power to a console these days. That or the more advanced user could just link them up via smart cable and/or streaming management such that you could have it display on the main TV, or on your monitor, depending on what you were doing. That's a bit more advanced for your average user to effectively pull off though.

I also haven't said consoles are gone yet, or will immediately die. I've simply noted that their advantages are evaporating, and as that happens the market will slowly move away from them. They may not completely die, but they're likely to become a more niche product as PCs get smaller, faster, cheaper and easier to use, while consoles do the opposite. Its not going to be an instant change. The market rarely does that. But console's main advantages for many are starting to disappear, and they should begin to right that path and focus on their advantages, rather than trying to compete with PCs more and more like they are.

 

[bluegate]

The PC is still way way harder to automate everything. First of all, you have to deal with Windows and everything else with a computer. I know it's not much as I'm a PC tech but the average person isn't going to do it.

The average person is far more likely to own a computer than a gaming console.

Oh I own a computer alright, good luck getting anything post 2004 to run on it though.

A lot of people own computers, a lot of people also don't do anything besides opening internet explorer and checking Facebook with it. Having a computer doesn't mean that people know how to use it, that they would want to game on it or that it would be capable of playing games.

 

[Joccaren]

The PC is still way way harder to automate everything. First of all, you have to deal with Windows and everything else with a computer. I know it's not much as I'm a PC tech but the average person isn't going to do it.

The average person is far more likely to own a computer than a gaming console.

Oh I own a computer alright, good luck getting anything post 2004 to run on it though.

A lot of people own computers, a lot of people also don't do anything besides opening internet explorer and checking Facebook with it. Having a computer doesn't mean that people know how to use it, that they would want to game on it or that it would be capable of playing games.

Considering the argument he was refuting was that people wouldn't know how to use Windows, I think that's not an issue. If you own, and at any point, used, your computer, you know how to use Windows. And more people are like that, than can use game consoles. Windows isn't an issue. Whether you have one up to date for gaming, want to use it for gaming, or are a power user is irrelevant, as none of those are required, nor what was being refuted.

 

[Satinavian]

Something between AAA and indie would be the middle-market so prevalent during the PS2 era. Unfortunately this disappeared almost entirely during the PS3/X360 era b/c they couldn't keep up with the increase in budget. Just look how a game gets hammered when it doesn't have the production values of say GTA5; a game that had hundreds of people working on it with 200+ million budget. This is now the standard people have come to expect. Logically having such high financial risks decreases the amount of smaller developers and have big publishers demand to put out the same stuff that sells well year after year(CoD, Battlefield, Ass Creed, Fifa etc.) Though, you can wonder, why did these smaller publishers go out of business(Rebellion, THQ etc) and not just give up on consoles and develop solely for PC instead? Simple: lack of market share and corporate partnerships.

I still see many many many medium budget games on PC. They don't sell as well as the AAA titles but they don't need to to be profitable.

It is just not worth it for small developers to try to get to the console market. That is sometimes done as a port of a successful game years later but most don't bother.

 

[bluegate]

Considering the argument he was refuting was that people wouldn't know how to use Windows, I think that's not an issue. If you own, and at any point, used, your computer, you know how to use Windows.

Go and volunteer a week in tech support and you'll find out how many people "know how to use Windows". A lot of people only know how to open the two to three programs they use and are pretty much in the dark otherwise.

There is a reason that Microsoft is forcing updates, dumbing down the interface, making things more accessible and automating things, because a lot of people who own a computer don't know how to use the damned thing.

 

[Joccaren]

Considering the argument he was refuting was that people wouldn't know how to use Windows, I think that's not an issue. If you own, and at any point, used, your computer, you know how to use Windows.

Go and volunteer a week in tech support and you'll find out how many people "know how to use Windows". A lot of people only know how to open the two to three programs they use and are pretty much in the dark otherwise.

There is a reason that Microsoft is forcing updates, dumbing down the interface, making things more accessible and automating things, because a lot of people who own a computer don't know how to use the damned thing.

At the same time, these are also people who would struggle to use modern consoles with their installs and patches and such. And yes, such people do exist. If you've ever been the tech 'friend' who helps everyone with their tech problems, you'll know that. If you can use one, you can use the other these days, they really are getting quite similar. Those likely to want to play AAA games like you'd find on the console, are also unlikely to be those having trouble with basic Windows functionality. I'm sure there is some overlap, but not enough to make a case that Windows itself is so significantly harder than a console to use that it presents a serious disadvantage for the PC.

 

[Myria]

The thread title reminds me of the old "When did you stop beating your wife?" loaded question.

It never ceases to amaze me how people can turn just about anything into a religion, even, of all the damn, stupid, pathetic things, what platform they game on.

 

[KissingSunlight]

When it comes to video games, I am only concerned about games. I skipped this generations of consoles, because Xbox and PlayStation were more concerned about being entertainment centers than videogame consoles. Nintendo, well we all know what their problems are. They are just gimmicky hardware, no third party games, and milking decades old IP's.

What was the first sign for me that there is a downward of quality concerning gaming. It was when they were stop making quality solo campaigns in favor of multiplayer games. Multiplayers have their own place. However, the heart and soul of gaming are solo campaigns. Can you make a quality game that will immerse a player for 20 - 40 hours?

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

In what world do you live in where laptop HDs are expensive?

In a world where I don't need to buy a hard drive at all because games come on media that doesn't require installation.

I am talking about the markup that you pay for the hard drive that comes in the console (Xbox One 500gb - $249, 1 Tb - $399), which you then replace with a bigger one that costs you extra money. You are making out like a bandit!

Loading from optical sucks, which is why hard drives are better. Also, you're going to need a hard drive for updates because devs don't make games that release without needing updates.

Making a gaming PC at a $249 price point is going to be really hard. Replacing that 500GB HD will still cost you less than building a gaming PC and even then I still got plenty of space on my PS4 (don't get me wrong, the shitty games of this gen have contributed to that). You have ample space to keep like 10 or so games installed at any one time, which is more than I need even with a flooded market of good games that I want to play. Hell, the Wii U forces me to buy a tablet I don't want. To conclude, the price of a console (including upgrading the HD) is cheaper than building a gaming PC so I still don't get where the expensive part comes in besides for not being dumb and buying the "Pro/Elite/Whatever" version of the console.

"Deal with Windows" - you mean log in? Yeah, ok, but you can even disable a password for that.
Otherwise, Windows comes pre-installed and set up on the PC, automatic updates enabled, and you can go into your settings if you want to change that - much like with a console and their OS, which, hilariously enough, for the Xbox One IS Windows, with a paint job over the top of it, and some disabled features to make it run smoother.

So, "Dealing with Windows" ain't a thing you avoid on consoles either. Everything has an OS. Everything is trying to be an interconnected multimedia device - it needs a complex OS for all the settings you need for that, and different options on what to do.

Console vs PC is also a rather false dichotomy when looking at sales. There are 3 main platforms in the triple A space. PS, Xbox, and PC. The PC sold comparably to the other platforms, which makes sense considering there are 2 other platforms, and one PC platform. As for the average person preferring to play on console... Very debatable. There is a lot of history with the damned things. A big part of it is exclusive titles MS and Sony tie themselves to in order to sell their consoles. Another part of it is history - growing up many kids would have had parents who would buy them consoles instead of PCs, as at the time were cheaper. These days the cheaper option is starting to become just buying a laptop for your kid, which ends up playing games AND helping them with their homework that they need it for. Or hell, mobile games on the phone everyone needs these days. That's going to have a huge influence on which platforms kids are tied to when they grow up, and has a huge influence on which platforms sell more overall given the family centric nature of a lot of purchases.

Additionally, you wouldn't need two PCs to have a console and a work station. Arguably the best way of doing it would be with a laptop, which have comparable power to a console these days. That or the more advanced user could just link them up via smart cable and/or streaming management such that you could have it display on the main TV, or on your monitor, depending on what you were doing. That's a bit more advanced for your average user to effectively pull off though.

I also haven't said consoles are gone yet, or will immediately die. I've simply noted that their advantages are evaporating, and as that happens the market will slowly move away from them. They may not completely die, but they're likely to become a more niche product as PCs get smaller, faster, cheaper and easier to use, while consoles do the opposite. Its not going to be an instant change. The market rarely does that. But console's main advantages for many are starting to disappear, and they should begin to right that path and focus on their advantages, rather than trying to compete with PCs more and more like they are.

Dealing with Windows isn't just signing in; it's doing everything else like changing a slew of settings, having a firewall, having a virus/spyware cleaner, updating other programs, etc. So many things update on a PC that an update can easily break something else, which is why I have nothing update automatically and I only update if something isn't working properly. I even use a over 5 year old firewall because I don't like any of the new ones I've tried as they don't allow complete control over which programs have internet access. Just think about the percentage of users that can operate a PC without any anti-virus/spyware software like I do, it would probably be a month at most until their PC is bogged down with spyware. I've literally never had anyone ask me for help with their console outside of a hardware failure, which I've fixed a friend's PS3. Nobody has an issue playing their games on a console; a game's options is more complex than any console OS from the user's point of view. The console advantage may be evaporating/evaporated for advanced users but not the normal users at all. I would agree if consoles got worse than the PS3 as I definitely feel people got aggravated waiting on updates/installs to play their games, but that has been fixed.

Laptops suck at gaming, that is not going to be the solution for an average person wanting both computing and gaming. I think new i3 laptops retail at around $400 and that's with onboard graphics mind you. Getting a decently specced laptop for gaming purposes is probably going to be around $800 (just ballpark figures BTW); at least an i5 with a dedicated GPU. To me, high specced laptops are on their way out, really only people that need power for certain work applications need and want such laptops. The average person is more interested in smaller and mobile devices like say Surfaces, Yogas, etc. if they even want something with a keyboard.

Witcher 3, a PC series that had little prior console exposure sold more on PS4 than PC. I hate to see how much more a very popular game series like GTA sold on PC vs console. Yeah, there's 3 main platforms but it IS console vs PC. If there was only say the PC and PS4, you actually the people that did play Witcher 3 on Xbone would've played it on PC over PS4? Come on, the vast majority of those sales would've transferred over to PS4 if there was no Xbone and the split would've still been 70/30 in favor of console. The console market would barely dwindle if you removed either the PS4 or Xbone.

The average person is far more likely to own a computer than a gaming console.

The average gamer that plays say Skyrim, Call of Duty, GTA, etc. plays on a console vs a PC. It doesn't matter how many more people own PCs, it matters have many people prefer PC gaming over console gaming. I own a PC but rarely game on it.

Uncharted and Max Payne 3 have terrible TPS controls

I think you said this to me before, months ago, and I still disagree. Max Payne 3 is Rockstar's best game and a better third-person shooter than most. Mechanically, it trumps Uncharted. I love the way Max aims his guns no matter which way he's turned, making shooting instantaneous. It's something other third-person shooters should aspire to. The zoomed in over the shoulder camera in other games is much more limiting.

We probably did as I hate Max Payne 3 from controls to gameplay to story to characters with a passion. Firstly, there's just something "wrong" with how movement and aiming feels in Rockstar's games. I always feel so sluggish whether it's MP3, RDR, GTA. I'm fine with Max in MP3 not moving super quick (because he's old and not in the best of shape), but the main problem is that Max controls so mechanically. That crouch/prone is so laggy and completely unusable. The roll just doesn't feel right. When you go prone from shoot-dodging or last stand, you have to stand up first to take cover (which usually results in getting hit) and that makes no sense. Even if you are quite skilled with shoot-dodging and landing behind cover, you're still stuck getting shot as Max stands straight up. The shoulder-swap is poorly mapped to the d-pad thus taking your thumb off the left stick causing movement to stop, not good. The weapon swap system is horrible with having to go to the radial wheel to switch weapons, a simple tap of the button to switch to last used weapon is needed. You can't even crouch on cover in MP3; I remember that office room shootout where a top part of cover would get destroyed leaving Max's head exposed and I couldn't even crouch on the cover to lower Max's head, even Metal Gear Solid 1 on PS1 let you do that. Even getting off that piece of cover then re-sticking, Max would take cover as if the cover was intact leaving his head exposed. Uncharted is definitely controls more fluidly, MP3 may be more mechanically sound, but that really doesn't say much as Uncharted lacked a camera sensitivity slider until the 4th game and I guess I see why because that motion blur to completely ridiculous in Uncharted 4 even just moving the camera inches.

It don't get how Max being able to shoot instantaneously in any direction is a unique feature for MP3. Any decent TPS, you can shoot in any direction instantaneously as well from Metal Gear Solid to Ghost Recon to Vanquish. Most TPSs don't have too much of a zoomed in camera to where it becomes a hindrance.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I like how 'modern consoles" consist almost entirely of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Or at least, I haven't had either of those problems with the WiiU.

As for the price of games: $60 AAA games are undercosted. If prices changed to count for inflation alone, we'd be paying more than $60, let alone if we accounted for how much money and development time goes into AAA games these days. And I'm not even a big fan of the AAA game space.

That may seem reasonable to you, but I live in Canada where many games are upwards of $80 and frankly FUCK THAT! The AAA industry can go fuck itself.