Future of PCs?

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FatRakoon said:
Lets be honest here, but much of the Geeky-ness comes from setting it up... Once its setup, where is the geeky-needs there? It runs and runs and... Well, once its up and running, its just like Windows in many things.
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Well.. once it's setup it needs to be properly maintained or it will be compromised much faster and with much more severe consequences than Windows. Geekism/Elitism is there. Linux was never meant to be point and click desktop based OS for everyone and I don't think it will ever be (or should).

Of course, a lot can be done with the basic components, theroretically you can make it very end user friendly while loosing a lot of the fantastic scalability it offers - OSX is the best example of just that, essentially BSD + X made into point and click single button OS. Pretty at that. But it isn't what Linux was created for and therefore was never priority.

I can actually imagine one of the distros waking up to the challenge one day, buying out something like "E", bringing it up to commercial standards and creating 100% gui driven distribution of linux with proper accelerations etc on carefully chosen by them hardware. It ain't going to be free though.
 
FatRakoon said:
AS for half your games dont work, this is changing... Many games do in fact run under Linux, and surprisingly enough, most of them run better under Linux than Windows!!!
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i find that very hard to believe. but i have no experience on the matter so i'm in no place to argue. :p

do linux bods still avoid ati cards like they used to? apparently the drivers suck badly? if you can't get drivers to work on the linux desktop, how are you supposed to play games? :)
 
v0n said:
Well.. once it's setup it needs to be properly maintained or it will be compromised much faster and with much more severe consequences than Windows. Geekism/Elitism is there. Linux was never meant to be point and click desktop based OS for everyone and I don't think it will ever be (or should).

Of course, a lot can be done with the basic components, theroretically you can make it very end user friendly while loosing a lot of the fantastic scalability it offers - OSX is the best example of just that, essentially BSD + X made into point and click single button OS. Pretty at that. But it isn't what Linux was created for and therefore was never priority.

I can actually imagine one of the distros waking up to the challenge one day, buying out something like "E", bringing it up to commercial standards and creating 100% gui driven distribution of linux with proper accelerations etc on carefully chosen by them hardware. It ain't going to be free though.
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Well the OLPC project is showing how it could be done (at small cost and limited PC resources too)!!!

Ultimately Linux needs some focusing/standardization, and in the open source environment, that might prove very difficult...

ps3udo :cool:
 
FatRakoon said:
It seems to me that more games come out on consoles than on a PC
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I'm kinda dubious about that, remember that every game ever written for a PC is still playable on a PC.
Consoles mostly rely on this years releases to sell.


I think it's likely to go the other way.
Consoles existed because not everyone could afford an uber PC.
When the PS2 was out, gamers PC's were about £1000,
but now most rigs can play the latest games just by adding a £200 GPU.
A few years ago, kids could live without a PC, now it's kinda expected that schoolwork is done on one
- why buy another box just to play games ?


Then there is the type of games, from what I've seen, console games suck,
there is nothing I'd want to play; (but maybe it's cos I'm not 12... :) )
and without a mouse to control movement it is even more of a joke. Imagine Age of Empires on a 360 ?


Look at all those blu-ray boxes that sold without anyone actually buying a game.

All platforms are moving towards being a media hub for the home,
and the console format just isn't flexible enough for that role.

.
 
convergence, thats where its going,

there will be high end PCs, and high end consoles, and they will be different hardware but inter-compatible.

PCs will be even more under tellys than in studys and bedrooms (this is now, HDTV outputs on most new cards)

PS3s and similar consoles will also swap the other way, the memory streaming in those things is a joy to behold! there are already orders on sony for these as 'computers' for some colleges due to their amazing throughput of data, and versatility.

and i wouldnt bet against Linux for catching up with windows, once MS stop paying off all the developers ;)
 
Magister said:
So long as it takes a £2000+ PC to play games as well as a £200+ console, PC gaming is in danger.
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you can build a good gaming rig for 600, the sme price as a high end PS3
 
fatrakoon said:
Ok, so you have named a small number of games, but from what I see, is that pretty much every game that comes out on the PC, also comes out on console, but its not the other way round... It seems to me that more games come out on consoles than on a PC, and many games that come out as v2 etc of a particular game, even if they do a v1 on the PC they often dont bother with v2 etc.
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haha yes, some PC games are attempted on the consoles with poor results .. fact not opinion

sure, xbox360 has some great graphics and cut scenes but lack substance and longevity , look at GoW which was all graphics over gameplay albeit very short gameplay
no doubt many will argue thats not true, but the mates who bought it have all taken it back once completed, i thought it was novel but very repetative
i prefer a game with support, community and longevity not eye candy which is what console developers aim at
ill leave it at Gameplay > Graphics

look at the Wii poor graphics not super powered yet has managed to take the console world by storm putting the fun back in over aesthetics
novelty ? oh yes but it works cause it has depth
 
The big issue is that the 360 costs £300 with a game or 2 and is ready to play out of the box. A decent PC gfx card costs more than the 360.

Piracy is rife so it soes not take a rocket scientist to predict that PC gaming is just going to continue its decline from the mainstream.

Vista + DX10 =£600-750 on top of the cost of the PC. For that you can have a 360 + LCDTV + change.

Most people I know will not bother with the PC for games anymore.

Nvidia + ATI need to sort out their pricing models as the current cost of high end gfx cards are not justified when even the latest games (only reason to own a high end gfx card is to run the latest games @ insane resolutions with full detail on big screens) run very slowly.

I cannot see this situation continuing for much longer as you would need to be seriously rich or deluded to spend £1000's on a ultra high end PC just to play a few games.

Looking back the thing which did the most damage to the PC was the greed of the gfx card manufacturers.

I predict within a year the PC game market will have shrunk even more and you will be lucky to get 1-2 quality titles per quarter let alone per month!
 
There are certain gaming communities that can't (currently) be serverd by consoles - flight sims and racing sims for two. Large league structures and online / modding communities need PCs to function.

I doubt consoles will ever be able serve these groups, as they are too niche and therefore not worth the effort financially for the console makers.
 
marc2003 said:
i find that very hard to believe. but i have no experience on the matter so i'm in no place to argue. :p

do linux bods still avoid ati cards like they used to? apparently the drivers suck badly? if you can't get drivers to work on the linux desktop, how are you supposed to play games? :)
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No no. I said "many games" and they do.... I suppose if you put a percentage down, it would be a tiny number... Way less than 10% easily... But its still many games.

For example, UnReal Tournament coems with a script that you run, its on the Disk, and hey presto, you get UT installed.

As for it running, I ran "STAT FPS" while playing the game some time ago ( Will get an update on that maybe later on ) and in Windows, I had 130FPS, In Linux I had 150-160FPS... In fact, under Wine ,I even had 140, so even emulating windows to run UT was faster than windows itself!!!

ATI v NVIDIA

Ahem, yes, ATI are still way below what nVIDIA are in Linux, however, the ATI v NV debate is no different with Windows either.
GL Support with ATI is pathetic when compared to NV cards with both Windows and Linux.
However, saying that, Linux drivers are better than they ever were so Gaming is every bit as good as Windows gaming.
 
Thing is before where consoles could last 5years. Technology is at a ever increasing rate. PC give you the option of upgrading and playing new and better games. Where consoles your stuck with for what 5years? till the next one comes along. MMO are the new game format and in the next 5 years I'll see this as the new standard of gaming. With many different an innovate ones to choose from. Problem is a consoles a console and cant adapt pc's can. I can also see new control methods and virtual reality come in maybe not for a decade or two. But something that pc's can just plug and play, where consoles need to be designed for them.
 
Owning a PC and a 360 I would say the PC has these advantages:

MSN
Civilization (exclusive franchises!)
Mouse & Keyboard
Mods

I can see a time when the consoles have these features though and then there really won't be much need to shell out on a PC over a console.
 
This got to 2 pages :confused:
Man this has been done to death.

PC
Winamp
Bittorrent
mp3's
shopping
Browsing
Demo's
Beta's
MMORG's (wow)
Games & Mods
youtube
Game cost £20
-----------------------------
Console

Games
Game cost £50
-----------------------------
Pc game sales for 2006 at a record breaking high, WOW = 8million people a month paying $15 to play a PC Game

Nothing runs on linux ! lol

kk thx
 
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Kezmo said:
Nothing runs on linux !
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Except everything you have just mentioned.

Im trying to think of somehting I do on Windows that I cannot also do under Linux, and Im finding it very hard to come up with anything?

Ok, I like DVD Santa ( Win ) and I have not go it for Linux, thats true, but I have other options.
I like gaming and Im actually ok there because the games I like, do in fact run under Linux just fine, with the exception of the Need For Speed Series.

Apart from that, I dont know?

NAme somethign that Windows does, that Linux cannot... Dont go naming Programs, cos thats just thick... Name jobs that Linux cant do that Windows does.
 
Kezmo said:
Console

Games
Game cost £50

kk thx
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Thats a bit of an biased list. I would add:

Split Screen Gaming
Everyone has a mic
Integrated email and friends list
No messing about getting games to run
Many exclusive franchises
 
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