PS3 vs Old Skool PC Gaming

PC is a long way ahead technically as its current graphics technology not 4 years old like the PS3/X360. But games support is lacking mainly because of extreme piracy so PC does not get the love it deserves. Apart from Crytek with their Farcry1, Crysis & Crysis Warhead games no-one else is pushing the technology on the PC as the return does not justify the investment so as decent games cost over £10M to make you can see the problem when piracy is so bad how would they get their money back on PC exclusive titles.

Most PC ports from the past 2 years have better gfx by way of higher quality textures + AF/AA levels & vsync which the consoles cannot handle but the overall experience is similar as PC games are dumbed down.

Nowadays its very easy to plug a PC into your 40" HDTV via HDMI and whenever the PC game version is superior I always buy that first but the only way to get maximum hidef gaming is to have PS3/X360 & PC. Killzone2 will be amazing and to get that similar experience on a PC you would need at least a £2-2.5K spec machine for smooth Crysis FPS which is just ridiculous for 1 game which is a pretty but boring FPS anway.
 
AWPC said:
PC is a long way ahead technically as its current graphics technology not 4 years old like the PS3/X360. But games support is lacking mainly because of extreme piracy so PC does not get the love it deserves. Apart from Crytek with their Farcry1, Crysis & Crysis Warhead games no-one else is pushing the technology on the PC as the return does not justify the investment so as decent games cost over £10M to make you can see the problem when piracy is so bad how would they get their money back on PC exclusive titles.
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This is what they'd have you believe, but the reality is that because every man and his dog has a 360, it's far easier to sell games. It's a bigger market. Piracy is a problem, but it's also a problem on the consoles - in fact, the DS for example is the most pirated of all platforms.
 
reflux said:
This is what they'd have you believe, but the reality is that because every man and his dog has a 360, it's far easier to sell games. It's a bigger market. Piracy is a problem, but it's also a problem on the consoles - in fact, the DS for example is the most pirated of all platforms.
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PC piracy is way out of control!!
http://www.edge-online.com/news/western-europe-rife-with-online-piracy
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=179487
http://www.edge-online.com/news/pc-piracy-a-titanic-problem-says-thq-director
http://www.jolt.co.uk/news/20059/capcom-rail-against-pc-piracy/
http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/156948/pc-piracy-levels-are-astounding-says-cod4-dev/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6449421.stm
http://kotaku.com/364440/pc-gamings-piracy-sales-charts
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/52593
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/pc-piracy-is-as-high-as-1-20-says-crytek

Consider that there are approx 100M gaming PC's in the world according to Nvidia & ATI. This is obviously double the combined PS3+X360 consoles yet the majority of PC games struggle to sell even 100,000 copies even though PC online is free to play and even MS made Games For Windows Live free. Then the torrent stats show sometimes over a million PC downloads of the same game. Only reason PC gaming is still alive at all is because MS made it easy to port X360 games, WOW effect, Russia & parts of Asia PC games dominate and consoles struggle to sell. PC games have higher profit margins than consoles as no royalty fees to pay yet still few devs will make PC only games and more and more console games are not getting ported either.
 
I have always found mouse + keyboard a superior control method for nearly all genres of games and i do sometimes longingly remember the days of TFC, where the PC was the only gaming platform worth any time. Now however, i'd rather take what is in my eyes the slight downgrade in control method and graphics for the larger, generally better produced library of console games.
 
Thanks for the responses guys. I think the general conclusion is that it's probably not worth spending all the money on a gaming PC as it sounds like PC gaming isn't so superior to console gaming as I first thought.

I think from my perspective I just don't get the intense clan matches, the league play, community and awesome "someones on your 6 so you swing the mouse around and take his head off" kind of play like it was in CS and Battlefield. Maybe as Im mistaken as I dont get much time to game these days but I tend to get ()wned in FPS's on consoles whereas I the mouse and keyboard combo was easier to pick up and play...and still finish top dog.

Killzone 2 looks good though and online apparently is even better. I just wish they would incorporate a clan matching system with leagues. cups etc in the playstation network, I think it would make for a great build.

I remember camping and guarding the bomb with my heart racing in a CS dust clan match - where are those days?!

Craig
 
PC all the way for multiplayer gaming, it is unrivalled. So many games still being played with so many free dedicated servers ready to be played.

Console games come and go when it comes to online play, but with PC your favourite game is probably gonna be around for a while. (unless the game is really bad of course :p)

I remember camping and guarding the bomb with my heart racing in a CS dust clan match - where are those days?!
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Counter Strike is one of the most played online games still, so they are still there you just aren't experiencing them. ;)
 
I have to admit that I quite enjoy playing multiplayer games on consoles (when a good one comes along), but nothing has come close to the experience I have had playing games like Counter-Strike, CSS, Battlefield 2 & Battlefield 2142 on PC.

Those were the days... I so hope they make another decent Battlefield game on PC :)
 
craigy72 said:
Thanks for the responses guys. I think the general conclusion is that it's probably not worth spending all the money on a gaming PC as it sounds like PC gaming isn't so superior to console gaming as I first thought.
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Hmm, see I think if you had posted this in the PC Games section, you would have a got a few more positive responses. Unfortunately, gaming and platform choice is an emotional and contentious issue.

Basically you just have to choose platform on what suits you best :)
 
n1kunj said:
Get yourself into a CoD4 S&D Promod clan! Those days are most certainly still here :D
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Yeah I must admit that I did get right into COD4 online on PS3. Seemed nicely balanced as well and definately took some skill rather than 'pray n spray'.
 
i do wonder how many PC games would purchase an xbox if mouse / keyboard support was added.

to answer your question i find I miss the sociable side of PC, being to join x servers and select where you play and you get to play say the same 20/30 (regular) players all the time on one server if you want whereas the xbox fires you off randomly. sure you can have parties etc but its not quite the same.

more server browser stuff and dedicated servers would be best for me personally.

however much i miss the pc i never play games on it unless it single player stuff.
 
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HTMLHugo said:
i do wonder how many PC games would purchase an xbox if mouse / keyboard support was added.
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They'd probably lose more customers than they'd gain in the long run. Look at UT3, a game that supports mouse+kb on the PS3, the online is effectively dead. Ok the game wasn't too popular but because some were using gamepads, some mouse+kb the community ended up segregated thus reducing the already small number of people to play with.

I like the fact that consoles only allow gamepads; it levels the playing field.
 
i'm not too sure many customers would be lost tbh.

however the safe thing to do is to allow a toggle in the settings to limit servers / games to mouse kb users etc. everybodys happy.
 
Joebob said:
Yeah I must admit that I did get right into COD4 online on PS3. Seemed nicely balanced as well and definately took some skill rather than 'pray n spray'.
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I meant on the PC :D Promod doesn't exist on consoles, and on consoles CoD4 has auto aim :( It's hard to say a game needs skill when it has autoaim, IMHO.
 
reflux said:
I'm very surprised by that. I've run CoD4 and Left4Dead on a 37'' 1080p TV, and they both look awful, with jaggy edges and low-res textures. Bioshock is the only game that is indistinguishable between PC and console, that I've seen.
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Interesting choice of games there. Firstly the first two are Valve titles so they're PC based in the first place. The 360 versions in this case are PC ports, so what comes around...I guess. Any valve title bar HL2 is out of place on the 360 imo - especially if its a multiplayer game like TF2.

As for Biochoc the visuals between both machines will be identical due to the nature of the Unreal 3 engine. You could run the game at a high res and it'll still look hardly any different against a lower res version tbh. I bought Biochoc on steam during Xmas for about £3 iirc - compared it side by side version the 360 version and could see no difference visually.

Not tried CoD4 on the PC so I can't comment. I was given it as a gift on the 360 and thought it looked crap and still do tbh - apart from the black & white nightvision helicopter bit lol

reflux said:
Fixed hardware might be handy for devs, but it doesn't get any better over time. It might make developers work harder, but it also holds them back. There's nothing new to program for; no new peaks to be reached.
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Tell that to Xbox 1 owners :) A year after the console launched they were seeing games of such quality that the PS2 looked tame alongside it. It was too little, too late though. I do agree though that over time it does hold them back though - for instance fitting a big title on a DVD9 disc for future titles like Forza 3 could be a task and a half.
 
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Kainz said:
Interesting choice of games there. Firstly the first two are Valve titles so they're PC based in the first place. Any valve title bar HL2 is out of place on the 360 imo - especially if its a multiplayer game like TF2.
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Valve don't make the COD series, and ANY Valve title should be played on the PC imo. ;)
 
Counter-strike ruined my life.
From the days of beta four onwards it was game over, hooked, goodbye real life friends, hello virtual friends hehe.
I think only COD4 on my 360 currently comes close to the same gaming joy, close but not all the way.
 
Streeteh said:
I like the fact that consoles only allow gamepads; it levels the playing field.
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It certainly is a leveller although skill will always shine through. Also you know, when playin gon consoles, that you haven't got anybody using wall-hacks or headshot cheats etc and that everyone has pretty equal equipment so no slight advantage. I know of many players on PC who actually used to turn the gfx detail right down on some games to gain an advantage... you will never get that on consoles.
 
I think xbox 360/ps3 is the way forward.

Pc gaming is no fun anymore without new games raising the bar.

I expected games like battlefield 3 etc to already be here.

Personally considering selling my gpu and getting a 2600pro for £18 and buying an xbox 360 with sf4 and fight night round 4 fifa etc.

All I find myself playing is left 4 dead and even that's starting to grate now.
 
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