Upgrading PC or XBOX

DaveyD · 22 May 2006 at 17:01

Rhys said:
PC's will have their place for this type of work but for general use they wont be needed.

I think that the fact you can download and play demos on 360 is proof enough that full games will soon follow. 360 has the market place setup and people trust it. All you need is MS to release 100gb harddrive and the option to delete a game but download again if you have deleted it.

I dont think most xbox 360 games are 9gb. If you look at some of the copies circulating the net you will see Fight Night 3 is 2.89 GB. With a 10 mb connection that will take 30 mins to download.

How much of the cost a game goes to the creator of the game? You usually have the Game Maker, Distrubutor, Shop, all asking for a piece of the pie. If you cut all the chaff out of the process then you can cut costs. The latest Half Life 2 game is $20 from Steam and there is some game for $40. So £20-30 for a game from Steam.

I am of course speculating but as I said earlier Im bored at work.

Newer 360 games are going to be 5GB+, PGR3 demo was 1GB+, with just one city and a couple of cars, even with 2 or 3 games, you'll be out of space in the 360 HDD, and people aren't going to want to buy yet another HDD in general to store their games.

Steam is still an over the top price for a lot of things, the majority of the games on Steam can be picked up cheaper on the highstreet or online, though the episodic content like Episode One, a small addon, you save around £3-4, but for Half-Life 2, you've still got to pay $30 (£20), for just Half-Life 2, when you can get game of the year edition in stores for £25, with a shedload of other stuff.

sharingan_sasuk · 22 May 2006 at 17:58

I recently got an XBox 360, not only because it was cheap but also because I'm not the type who upgrades their graphics cards annually/biannually with a brand new spanking £150+ one. The only thing I play now on the PC is World of Warcraft so I doubt I'll need to upgrade my PC anymore for a year or two. If there's a good looking game out, hopefully it will also appear on the XBox 360 so I can get it on that instead

Mark A · 22 May 2006 at 18:33

I don't think ill ever part from my PC unless I'm forced to, or if they bring out a decent keyboard and mouse setup for the console and less arcade type games. I have both a console and a PC and enjoy both for different types of games, i like to play GTA, resident evil and racing games on console and FPS on PC. Its not like you have to upgrade all the time for PC anyway, just look how many people still play CS 1.6, that game has been out for ages and i think the same will happen with CSS.

Mark

Maniac618 · 22 May 2006 at 18:43

I haven't updated my pc since the very end of 2004 I don't think.

My 360 has become my gaming world.

Having said that i still play some CSS and other FPS games.

My next pc update will be January this coming year for dx10.

suarve · 22 May 2006 at 20:30

n3x said:
PC = Freedom

Console = Boredom

But of course this is just my opinion

i would get bored with a console pretty darn quick tho... i mean, u cant even overclock them can u? wheres the fun in that

I too am bored at work lol

The fun in consoles comes from actually playting the game out of the box and not having to tweak endless cfgs, gfx/keyboard settings and console commands in order to get it running decently.

Believe me, in a weird way i used to actually enjoy getting everything 100% perfect before i even played a game, but nowadays i enjoy just whacking a disc in the old 360 and playing straight away. XBL gives you a lot of freedom and less hassle.

Mark A · 22 May 2006 at 20:42

Believe me, in a weird way i used to actually enjoy getting everything 100% perfect before i even played a game, but nowadays i enjoy just whacking a disc in the old 360 and playing straight away. XBL gives you a lot of freedom and less hassle.

thats exactly what i do with my PC games, well bar installing them and auto detecting the GFX settings. I dont spend ages doing anything else, just install maybe remap the odd key then start playing.

Mark

jim5000 · 22 May 2006 at 20:50

Rhys said:
I think that the PC will begin to die as a gaming platform and be gone by the time the 4th gen of consoles appear.

PC's will lose their multi function monopoly -

* by 2009 we will all have TV streamed to hubs in the living room and consoles will be part of that hub. I think this is what MS are building to.

* most people will have High resolution TV and will read their email from the tv or a tv device in their house.

* Phone calls will all be made via VOIP which prob will be able to intergrate to their tv with a webcam type device.

* Everyone will have online storage with all their music and photos. Which they can upload and download without significant waiting.

* If you need to use wordprocesser etc then you will have wireless monitors and keyboard that will connect to the internet which will have online programs and all your data.

I cannot see people buying PC's as consoles will be so powerful then that it will be illogical to buy a PC. I think it will be the time when gaming will lose its dependence on graphics and it will be about the experience - just like what the Wii is promoting now. I think if a console brought out a keyboard and mouse and CS:Source then a lot of PC gamers would find it hard to justify why they have a PC over a console.

Why do we have to wait until 2009? The PC can do all those things already.

n3x · 23 May 2006 at 08:25

jim5000 said:
Why do we have to wait until 2009? The PC can do all those things already.

So true

Imagine the bandwidth usage for streamed HDTV!? :eek:

It will happen tho, Microsoft seem to still be looking to take over the world! and they aint doin a bad job so far methinks!

Rhys · 23 May 2006 at 10:17

Why do we have to wait until 2009? The PC can do all those things already.

My original point on that issue was that by 2009 consoles will do this and therefore the need for a PC will be negated.

n3x · 23 May 2006 at 12:12

Rhys said:
My original point on that issue was that by 2009 consoles will do this and therefore the need for a PC will be negated.

But arnt games consoles made to basically just play games? wouldnt the added overhead slow them down?

Media Center HTPC's will be the staple of homes everywhere eventually i think, but even that is well off.

Rhys · 23 May 2006 at 12:31

But arnt games consoles made to basically just play games?

Not anymore and by 4th gen I think consoles will be media/gaming hubs. They will do everything the PC is used for by most people and also play games.

DaveyD · 23 May 2006 at 12:33

Rhys said:
Not anymore and by 4th gen I think consoles will be media/gaming hubs. They will do everything the PC is used for by most people and also play games.

Just not in 2009.

Anyway, we're actually currently in the 7th generation of consoles, 8th likely coming up somtime between late 2010 and 2012.

n3x · 23 May 2006 at 12:39

Its a long way off... I think were also forgetting about the people that dont want to play games! Why on earth would they want to buy a state of the art gaming console/media thingy at a premium price, even if it could do all those fancy things?

HTPC's for the win

Sweetloaf · 23 May 2006 at 12:39

I'm sure that in several years time, consoles as we know them will cease to exist, as soon as you add multimedia capabilities, potentially office apps DvD/Blu ray burning etc etc etc you are left with a product that is no longer a Games console what we are looking at in the distant(ish) future is a pre-made hi spec PC with very limited software compatabilty oh and chances are Microsoft will lead the way. they are already trying to urge system builders to supply an OS with every system sold, If 95% of systems(consoles) are built by M$ then they will have the monopoly on systems as well as operating systems.
As the divide between console and PC blurs we are being fooled into thinking we are getting better multifunctional consoles, this is true for now, In 10 years time you may look at your new M$ console and think "hang on my PC did this kind of thing" but now it sits in your living room with a Microsoft logo on it and only runs the software that Microsoft tell you it can!

Rhys · 23 May 2006 at 13:44

Anyway, we're actually currently in the 7th generation of consoles, 8th likely coming up somtime between late 2010 and 2012.

You knows what I meants. To steer this topic back to my orginal point - I cannot see a future for constant PC upgrading when the console's availiable offer near similar gaming performance except for keyboard and mouse.

DaveyD · 23 May 2006 at 13:55

Rhys said:
You knows what I meants. To steer this topic back to my orginal point - I cannot see a future for constant PC upgrading when the console's availiable offer near similar gaming performance except for keyboard and mouse.

And also note, this has been said ever time a new generation of console has arrived, and PC gaming is still here

Rhys · 23 May 2006 at 14:16

I agree. But I didnt say this gen will kill it, I said the next lot e.g PS4.

n3x · 23 May 2006 at 15:04

PC gaming will never die, how could u say such a thing! :eek:

What was one of (if not) the best games running on at e3? a pc!

But yes back to the point, whilst games are concerned consoles are sneaking up on PC's fairly quickly and now its just down to personal preference i guess. If you cant afford both then which couldnt you live without? I choose PCs as I like every aspect from the newest tech to building to using! My PC has replaced my sound system, my games console, my dvd player and my TV. It prints my latest photos aswell as all the other million uses a pc is capable of that i cant ever see a console even attempting.

In short... if it wer me i'd keep the PC