I have been looking at computer games for the first time in years. In face, looking at XBox 360 deals. Looking at these modern systems, particularly the XBox and Wii … why on earth do people still buy PCs specifically for games?
In the past there were clear differences in experiences, both in terms of quality and variety of available games, and if your computer was beefy enough, capability. Now, I am not sure I want to spend enough money to surpass what an XBox 360 can do. While you probably do gain something for the extra couple of thousand pounds, on a bang for buck ratio I expect you would come away with an amount of buyers remorse.
At one point if you wanted internet multi-player you had no choice but to use a PC. The last game I played this way was Quake Arena over ISDN. It seems from the tiny amount of reading I have done, the consoles are taking this action away from PCs too, with the right setup even having wifi capability.
The XBox 360 is £300 in the UK. Looking in Google, serious PC gamers expect to pay £1,500 or even multiples of that, and keep up with upgrades after the initial purchase! Not sure if the hard disk is essential, I imagine it is useful for downloading demos and saving levels. No worries about if you have the right setup, graphics cards, memory, yada, if it says your consoles name on the box it ought to work. Added to this hi definition and from what I can see an excellent roster of games … why would anybody buy a game PC?
Simple answer…games! There are loads of games that are only released on PC and never show up on consoles. I suspect that with the new gen consoles that may not be as big a problem but a problem nevertheless.
Another is technology driven. In 4/5 years when the current generation of consoles is at the same stage the PS2 is now PCs will be miles ahead performance wise. Already you can get a dual quad core setup from Dell with a couple of graphics cards that will give any of the new consoles a good run for their money. And that’s just now. In a 2-3 years imagine what you’ll be getting for your £1500.
Unfortunately, I can’t play PC games any more because of RSI with the mouse. I can play on my PS2 quite happily though. I’m looking for a new gen console myself at the moment. I need a HD telly first though…
That’s the thing though, look down the racks and all the games I would want to play are on the console racks. And I don’t think the increase in computing power is enough to justify over a grand more, plus regular upgrades. Side by side the PC demos and XBox 360 demos don’t seem that far removed. In 2-3 years if the gap widens they will release another £300 console and I will still be financially better off than had I been paying to keep up with the PC joneses
Work – play – work again.
Nothing to stop you having a cheaper pc, even a mac mini, plus xbox 360 and switch between work and play
I was addicted to a PC game called Guild Wars for close to a year and a half. All I could say is, that game was addictive and breath-taking. Why is it so great? The community made it great. Players were willing to share ideas in and out about the game. There were plenty of online guides as well. This game only released for PC and mac compatible. I don’t think if it’s released on a console like xbox. It’d be a better game, since xbox and other consoles are pc-based; the idea is to make it able to navigate between game and internet. Also, the real-time updates for the game is essential now for bug fixing, etc.
That game actually held various festivals in game. Such as Lunar New Year, X’mas, Halloween, Easter, and more. I eventually got tired of the game and switched playing Battlefield2142. It’s another great game that did not release in consoles but PC.
There are tons of things to do other than gaming in PC even for hardcore gamers. Podcasting, blogging, shopping, working, disc burning, chatting, producing music…
And yea. So people are rich enough to get expensive cpus, graphic cards for their PCs just for gaming. Simply because they want to pursue realism in the gaming world for the best clarity.
Interesting little topic