Will console graphics ever beat PC graphics?

[mexicola]

Thread like this can only spark arguing between fan boys and the answer is obvious to anyone with 2 brain cells and willingness to use them. Yeah the consoles can match PCs the moment they come out, but the longer they stay on the marked the further they fall behind in terms of graphics compared to constantly upgrading PC platform. So yeah.

 

[Vinculi]

I love that this thread has decided all this based on Crysis, a three year old PC Game, we should try comparing Crysis to a console game of similar age for even better effect.

 

[JeanLuc761]

I love that this thread has decided all this based on Crysis, a three year old PC Game, we should try comparing Crysis to a console game of similar age for even better effect.

Off the top of my head...
Mass Effect, Halo 3 and Modern Warfare were a couple of the big ones that year, and neither compares to Crysis.

 

[Dastardly]

The question isn't whether they'll ever be BETTER, but whether they'll ever be EQUAL. Perhaps, but only when consoles become more upgrade-able.

Fact is, consoles will never bypass PCs simply because anything you can do on a console, you can also do it on a PC. PCs will always have to additional benefit of being able to upgrade individual parts as they become available, rather than having to wait until the next full generation of hardware to come around... which means by the time consoles are using the next-big-thing, PCs will have been using it for months (or years) already.

 

[Woodsey]

No.

Consoles are old tech whilst PCs can take into account brand-new tech. There's no way around that.

 

[Erana]

"Because the sheer power of the machine that produces the pretty pictures on the screen is all that counts!" :V

I've always found this notion pretty silly. In art, limitations can push the artist further- the fixed hardware of a console can cause a lot of big-budget games to resolve to visual creativity, and tricks to make the game look visually comparable to general games on the market.
I mean, what's more interesting to look at,

Spoiler

or

Spoiler

OK, so its debatable. But the first game came out on Gamecube hardware, while the second is a PC game from this year.
And what about games like Ookami, or Killer 7? There are plenty of visually beautiful console games, and a lot of other games that wouldn't have their signature look without[/1] the hardware limitations. PC is fine, but counting consoles out of the visual running before you look at their libraries is unfair.
Personally, though, I could care less about what my machine can do as long as I'm getting a visual treat.

 

[Retardinator]

I love that this thread has decided all this based on Crysis, a three year old PC Game, we should try comparing Crysis to a console game of similar age for even better effect.

I've told my friends over and over: "Don't update your hardware before something better-looking than Crysis comes out."
Truth be told, there is not one game that surpassed it's graphical realism and there's only a select few that are on par with it. Let's face it, graphics won't be getting better anytime soon.

Any hardware upgrade right now would be a waste of money, since when a game that does actually look better come out the price of that piece of HW will drop. Nobody ever listens, though... I feel like a hobo spelling doom on a subway station. I've a 3 year old system and it's still serving me well. It's their money anyway.

 

[Vinculi]

I know its a little off topic, but is anyone else curious about the fact that Crysis 2 is going to be multiplatform? The producer claimed it was going to be the "best looking game ever", but anyone who buys it on a console will have purchased a seriously scaled back version of the game, will that make people angry?

 

[ksn0va]

Personaly ive always been a pc gamer so i am a bit biased on this issue, however i think it's worth a look. Bellow is a screenshot from Crysis on the PC. Can consoles ever hope to match up to graphics like this? Given that it takes a pc to program and build a console game will there always be some measure of downgrading to make any given game work on a console? Or since the constant upgrading and updating of pc's is neverending will it take a console sent back in time to beat pc's on graphics and looks alone?

Ideas?

Consoles might be able to attain Crysis-like graphics someday. But by then the graphics on pc would be... I can't even think of how much better things can look.

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

Depending on your PC, consoles may already be beating it. Just depends on your graphics card. Realistically though, they never will, because it is not feasible to put 4 GPUs in a console- it would be too expensive to sell. There's no comparison and no reason to compare them. PCs are custom built, consoles are built in numbers with the most power for the lowest price. Are people really still having this discussion? Or did PC fanboy elitists just decide they needed to flex their ego?

 

[Denamic]

No.
It's pretty simple to explain why.
Consoles use the best available tech for their price-range at the point they're made.
Which means that in a few months, their hardware will be out-dated.
That while PCs are upgradeable and can easily keep up with the evolving tech.
In fact, PCs are the reason the tech evolves at the rate that it is to begin with.
If there only was consoles, there'd be no incentive for perpetual improvements.
New consoles are only made every so often, and there'd be little incentive to keep up the research between console generations, since there'd be zero payout for it.

In short, consoles can be on par for a while, but PCs will power ahead before long.

 

[JeanLuc761]

I know its a little off topic, but is anyone else curious about the fact that Crysis 2 is going to be multiplatform? The producer claimed it was going to be the "best looking game ever", but anyone who buys it on a console will have purchased a seriously scaled back version of the game, will that make people angry?

I'll only be angry if the game "suffers" for the multi-platform development. I certainly don't blame Crytek for utilizing the Xbox 360 and PS3, but if the PC version isn't tailored specifically to the strengths of modern day PC's, I will feel...betrayed, for lack of a better word.

 

[Irridium]

I know its a little off topic, but is anyone else curious about the fact that Crysis 2 is going to be multiplatform? The producer claimed it was going to be the "best looking game ever", but anyone who buys it on a console will have purchased a seriously scaled back version of the game, will that make people angry?

Perhaps in terms of comparing it to the PC version, but compared to any console game it'll be the best looking game of all time. OF ALL TIME!

You can get anything to run on anything, you just need to optimize it well. Case in point; John Carmack getting Rage to run on an iPhone. Then again he's literally a damn genius, but still.

 

[The Night Shade]

No because consoles are made to support certain kinds of grapihcs while the PC's can be upgraded

 

[JeanLuc761]

I don't think so.
And to those in the "Nothing looks better than Crysis" camp; I mean have you see Metro 2033? It's insane!

Crysis still looks a fair deal better than Metro 2033, though it's an impressive game in its own right.

 

[Vinculi]

I know its a little off topic, but is anyone else curious about the fact that Crysis 2 is going to be multiplatform? The producer claimed it was going to be the "best looking game ever", but anyone who buys it on a console will have purchased a seriously scaled back version of the game, will that make people angry?

I'll only be angry if the game "suffers" for the multi-platform development. I certainly don't blame Crytek for utilizing the Xbox 360 and PS3, but if the PC version isn't tailored specifically to the strengths of modern day PC's, I will feel...betrayed, for lack of a better word.

Well I heard someplace that Crysis 2 will have lower system requirements than Crysis 1, so either they're some kind of cabal of wizards, they've scaled back the engine to work on consoles, or found a way to make the new CryEngine 3 much more efficient, hopefully its option 1 or 3.

 

[gl1koz3]

Though, the PCs can get to a point where upgrading is unnecessary anymore. They would almost match then.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Nah, PC's can be tweaked and custom built with mucho dollars for maximum performance whereas consoles have fixed hardware.

Console Graphics are more about Art Design and Engine Optimization, not outright Graphical Power and personally I like it that way, realism is for chumps.

 

[JeanLuc761]

Nah, PC's can be tweaked and custom built with mucho dollars for maximum performance whereas consoles have fixed hardware.

Console Graphics are more about Art Design and Engine Optimization, not outright Graphical Power and personally I like it that way, realism is for chumps.

PC graphics aren't about art design and engine optimization? That's a new one.

Though I agree, realism is a little too emphasized today.

 

[Krafty_Krocodile]

Well to put it simply
No.
Justification: We are getting close to a point where graphics CANT get any better, so when PC's and consoles reach this point then none can out do each other.