Vista- PC gamings saving grace or the beginning of the end?

Surely the PC market is too huge to start declining with the release of console gaming?

Until consoles become as good/better at gaming then PC's and general all-round-niceness, PC's will be around for longer.

I can see the attraction for a console if you don't have that much money but for those of us that do and know how to use a PC system for gaming, the advantages are so much bigger.

E.g. Every game (Except MMORPG's) can be played online for free! With the XboX you'd have to pay for that along with some other services.

PC's can be upgraded to meet the demands of new games.
Game developers will be limited to the console's specifications in designing games. They will only be able to get so good where as PC games (Yes the minimum requirements can get rather silly) can be continiuoulsy made better.

Ooooo one more thing. PC games can be patched! If the developers want to add some new feature or change a little but, they simply release the patch (Take steam for example). Console games have to be made as perfect as possible as soon as they are released.

On the topic of Vista, I can't imagine MS would simply split the gaming world in two over DX9 and DX10. Even they must be able to tell that it would be rather daft?
 
the only problem i can see with people saying you can still upgrade the PC to make games look better... is to an average joe... a 9600pro that says it has "256mb of memory" is automatically better than say a 6600GT that has 128mb of memory... and for that matter just as good as something like an x1800...

its only got the say something like (and i quote, from a GeForce MX4400 sold here on OcUK)

A180B series, bringing a new level of graphics performance and flexibility to the mainstream desktop PC. By incorporating NVIDIA''s latest innovative techniques, WinFast A180B series are the most feature-rich, cost-effective, highly integrated GeForce4 MX GPU available for the mainstream market.
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they get that home, shove it in there PIII or low spec Pentium IV system with 256mb of ram and expect their computer to be able to run x-game just like it looks on the box... when in fact, it will run like a garden shed pulled by an old man... because they'll put all the settings on high because they think the graphics card they've just spent £50 on at the purple shirt world is the best thing around....

so its not as good as they expected, and they put the same game in a console and it WILL run just like it is on the box, and it WILL run at a decent frame rate.


that... IMO is the only thing that can kill pc gaming.
true enthusiasts and PC gamers/modders/builders will always be buying the latest technology and will 9 times out of 10 be pleased with the games they buy because their machines can handle it... it's the casual users that believe their subpar machines are SUPER computers... that will eventually turn away because they don't think their "top of the range" machine is fast enough.
 
NightmareXX said:
Surely the PC market is too huge to start declining with the release of console gaming?

Until consoles become as good/better at gaming then PC's and general all-round-niceness, PC's will be around for longer.

I can see the attraction for a console if you don't have that much money but for those of us that do and know how to use a PC system for gaming, the advantages are so much bigger.

E.g. Every game (Except MMORPG's) can be played online for free! With the XboX you'd have to pay for that along with some other services.

PC's can be upgraded to meet the demands of new games.
Game developers will be limited to the console's specifications in designing games. They will only be able to get so good where as PC games (Yes the minimum requirements can get rather silly) can be continiuoulsy made better.

Ooooo one more thing. PC games can be patched! If the developers want to add some new feature or change a little but, they simply release the patch (Take steam for example). Console games have to be made as perfect as possible as soon as they are released.

On the topic of Vista, I can't imagine MS would simply split the gaming world in two over DX9 and DX10. Even they must be able to tell that it would be rather daft?
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I can see a lot of attractions for consoles:

Games can also be patched!

Cheaper.

Fair playing field, everyone has the same equipment and less chance of hacks/cheating.

Some games you just never get on the PC - eg Burnout!

No worrying about whether or not a game will run on your system.

Consoles are basically turning into PCs without the hefty price tag.
 
NightmareXX said:
On the topic of Vista, I can't imagine MS would simply split the gaming world in two over DX9 and DX10. Even they must be able to tell that it would be rather daft?
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Its going to happen, DX10 will not be backwards compatable as all the other versions have been. And they say it will be beter becuase of it.
 
NightmareXX said:
PC's can be upgraded to meet the demands of new games.
Game developers will be limited to the console's specifications in designing games. They will only be able to get so good where as PC games (Yes the minimum requirements can get rather silly) can be continiuoulsy made better.
Click to expand...

While i do not disagree, it should be known that the xbox360 is DX10 compatable in a sense. Infact, it really isnt limited to any DX version. So xbox360 owners will enjoy the advent of Vista quality games without having to do anything. Or so they say. They being them. Them of upstairs. Upstairs in the buildings of life. Life that needs to be listened to.
 
Unconditional said:
Some games you just never get on the PC - eg Burnout!

No worrying about whether or not a game will run on your system.

Consoles are basically turning into PCs without the hefty price tag.
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same can indeed be said that certain games only come out on the PC, and when they do come out on consoles they're never as good. (Unreal series IMO)... don't think you'd see WoW on a console for that matter.

and consoles always have been a generation(ish) ahead of PC's when they are originally released
 
Unconditional said:
I'd take Burnout over WoW any day.

Others wouldn't, so I guess thats where the divide is.
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lol as would i though to be honest... never been able to get into the Warcraft games and burnout is just too much of a laugh with mates :D
was just pointing out a fact that PC games are exlusive sometimes too ;):p
 
Whatever way u take it it will always silently turn into a console vs pc debate :p

There both good formats but to add I dont see PC gaming dieing, if anything its almost the opposite they will have to make a new console every few years like it has always been and PC owners will have to shell out for Vista+DX10 card... nothing changes.

Ill always stick with PC gaming + free online :p
 
Nieldo said:
Its going to happen, DX10 will not be backwards compatable as all the other versions have been. And they say it will be beter becuase of it.
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DX10 might not be, but developers will make their games dx9 compatible as well.

Vista..yay, but its still not a gaming OS. Its just Xp all over again with new toys. Nothings changed and nothing ever will.
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You're right, it's still not a gaming OS (but what would be different about a gaming OS anyway?) but it is a big change from XP. On the surface it looks like XP with some fancy new interface features, but inside there are a lot of changes.
 
I remeber as a kid wanting a PC as PC games were so much better than any console game around at the time. As soon as I could aford my very own PC I got one I'll never lower myself to a game console again. PCs make console look cack in to many ways. The only thing thats cought up these days is the graphics.

Buy the time you've bought an XBox 360 a good LCD HDTV and a few games you could have bought one hell of an amazing PC and a PC as so many more options for you to play around with. Not to mention the fact there's many ways of gaming with out having to buy a game for (e.g) there's always free mmorpgs around and when you do buy a game for the PC it's always a hell of cheaper than console version of the game and almost always the PC gets the better version.
 
UOcUK Poopscoop said:
True.

I remember the Amiga in its heyday though.

It died as a gaming platform (as a platform at all in-fact) due to the huge problems it had with piracy and the emerging console/ PC market.
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The difference between the Amiga/Atari ST and the Speccy/Commodore 64 before was that to the PC there was no upgrade path (or very limited in the case of the Amiga), so they were in fact no different to a console in the sense that when a new console (or home computer) came out then you ultimately ended up binning the old one.

When it comes to the PC (at least in the medium term) when you upgraded, you could still use all your old software. This is something console makers have cottoned onto with XBox -> Xbox 360 etc.

Jokester
 
Jokester said:
The difference between the Amiga/Atari ST and the Speccy/Commodore 64 before was that to the PC there was no upgrade path (or very limited in the case of the Amiga), so they were in fact no different to a console in the sense that when a new console (or home computer) came out then you ultimately ended up binning the old one.

When it comes to the PC (at least in the medium term) when you upgraded, you could still use all your old software. This is something console makers have cottoned onto with XBox -> Xbox 360 etc.

Jokester
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Yes, I agree that having an upgrade path is a big distinction between the PC and the old Home Computers.

Trouble is that that very upgrade path (due to its cost) is now something that is actually putting off many people from PC gaming.

Double edged sword.
 
-|ScottFree|- said:
I have had my days of spending £3000 for a PC gaming system... those days are well and truely over, I'll wait for significant price drops before buying a new rig.
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You really don't need to spend that kinda money to get a decent gaming rig. As long as you stick to reasonable resolutions you can get "Next Gen" PC gaming rig pretty cheaply.
The clever marketing guy's for console's have started labeling them as "next gen" but PC gamers have been able to run games at Hi-res for years ;)
The xbox is a great piece of kit and very affordable but to stay cutting edge and have the flexibility a PC offers they'll still be around as a gaming platform for many more years to come imo.
It has always been argued that the end is nigh for the PC as a gaming platform for many years but here we are decades later still getting quality games on a superior platform (imo ;) ).
 
Psyk said:
Nieldo said:
Its going to happen, DX10 will not be backwards compatable as all the other versions have been. And they say it will be beter becuase of it.
Click to expand...
DX10 might not be, but developers will make their games dx9 compatible as well.
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This worries me.
Will it add more time to development?
Or will developers just make the game DX10 and just canabalise it to fit in DX9? (and be rubbishly coded due to this)
How well will DX10 cards work in XP/DX9 machines?

I thought that DX9 was only now starting to get used anyway?
 
DX10 is just a way tog et people to buy Vista. Especially since Vista isnt doing anything special. So they are forcing people to upgrade.
 
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