Has PC gaming become pointless?

[ring_wraith]

Has it?

Every two months there is a brand new piece of hardware that is released without which it is not possible to play games with all their glory.

For Example, i spent around 27,000 on a system with a core 2 duo E6550 and nVidia 8600 GT. And now, less than a month later i find it impossible to play the latest games at even mildly high settings with my PC. I will eventually be forced to upgrade to a penryn and series 9 GPU, costing me another bomb.

I feel like an idiot now, when i realize that i got have go an Xbox 360 premium for as low as Rs. 20,000. This would surely play every game for the next two years atleast at blistering frame rates, even if they don't look as good as their PC counterparts. But atleast i am assured that whatevet game i pick up for my console will work. Period.

Mordern consoles are really pushing hardware to the limit. And the Xbox 360 and particularly the PS3 are far more powerful than most systems out there that cost 4-5 times as much, and the resolution of games they output is no longer a crappy 640x480, its full glorious HD. And lets admit it , it is definetly more fun playing action, racing and adventure games with a remote control as compared to the keyboard. Sure RTSs and FPSs need a mouse and kb, but the PS3 does support them, and I am willing to bet that the Xbox 360 soon will.And they no longer keep you away from your music. The Xbox 360 and the PS3 have fantastic Media Center Capabilities. And both allow you to replace in game music with your music. And considering that both have good capacity hard disks even those with very large music collections will not be disappointed.

Also, there is the obvious advantage of not having to stick to your crappy 19" monitor and cheap 2.0 speakers and being able to enjoy a game on a massive TV with your 5.1 surround sound home theater. Of course, you might be among those exceptional few who have a 5.1 speaker set and a 23" monitor on your desks. But almost everyone has a 31" CTV at the very least.

The most shocking part is that game developers are gradually moving to consoles. More and more console games are being released that are not available for PC. And the number of games that are PC-exclusive are decreasing as games developers are embracing consoles. A shining example would be UT3, which is the first UT ever slated to be released on a console and PC simultaneously.

Also, i'm sure most gamers will agree that they spend almost equal amounts of time optimising their PCs and playing games. When you buy a console, you know that it's already optimised and whatever games you buy will be optimised for that console. So you can actually get down to playing some games without having to bother about how many FPS you are getting, because with a console you know that number will always be 60 FPS.

I am by no means a PC-hater or console Fanboy. I enjoy gaming on PCs , but am forced to say that it has indeed become a meaningless way to game.

[quadroplex780]

Just one thing-

After the game was released, speculations arose that Halo 3 did not natively render at true HD resolution (at least 720 lines of vertical resolution).In a Bungie Weekly Update, it was confirmed that the game was rendered at 1152×640 resolution instead of the usual 1280×720 (HD) resolution that most Xbox 360 games use.The choice for this design was conscious on Bungie's part, due to the fact that Halo 3 uses two frame buffers instead of the usual one, and that this choice would allow Bungie to preserve as much as the dynamic range as possible for the game's lighting, as well as maintaining a smooth frame rate. The picture could be upscaled all the way up to 1080p by the Xbox 360.

Source- en.Wikipedia.org

[infra_red_dude]

Its always a trade off between being on the edge in the latest and the greatest and playing stable, more titles, albeit at a lower resolution.

I'd always prefer a gaming console over PC anyday. Why spend so much on PC? Then hunt for performance updates and drivers, deal with overheating issues, experiment with settings, many of which may lead to crashes. This is a never ending process. If you keep doing this over and over again trying to squeeze in every drop of performance then when will you actually play the game??!!!

For me the best buy would be a system which can handle any stable OS with its full eyecandy (Aero in Vista and Compiz-Fusion in GNU/Linux), coupled with a gaming console. Works out to be much much much cheaper and stable!

[ring_wraith]

@quadroplex780 its still significantly higher than 640x480. And probably as high or higher than whatever resolution most gamers with mid end PCs play at.

and infra red dude, i totally agree. That is the path i am planning to follow. My current PC can handle vista in all its glory. Instead of my next upgrade i am gettng myself an Xbox 360 mainly because its cheaper than the PS3, there are a lot more must-have games (eg. Bioshock, Halo 3, Gears of War) , and the games are a lot cheaper, if you know what i'm talking about

[Zeeshan Quireshi]

@quadroplex780 , dude if you did not read the post on Bungie's site , they have explicitly stated that Halo 3 Renders at a lower resolution internally and that is on Two frame buffers , that is two frames are being rendered and then these two frames are combined to form a single frame which is then output to the TV . thus Halo 3 is actually rendering a lot more than a single 1280 x 720 frame .

@infra_red_dude , yups i Too agree with you . That's why i have an Xbox 360 purely for gaming and the PC for other stuff .

Also , the Graphics quality of what the Current Gen Consoles output is much much better than what Most 90% PC's can do .

Plus , the most important thing in the games is gameplay not just graphics ,which you get only on a console .

Also , The XBOX 360 supports Keyboards , coz i myself plug-in a USB keyboard into my 360 and use it .

@ring_wraith , dude Xbox 360 Classics and Platinum Hits cost Rs 999 , that's a reasonable price to pay for a game . I bought my Console from an Official dealer and haven't modded it till now and don't plan to mod it .

[desiibond]

I have a PS2, mid-range PC and I am happy with the gameplay etc. Maybe, next year, I may consider PS3 (only due to Gran Turismo and F1 racing)

[ring_wraith]

@ zeeshan I meant that after you mod it , like PS2s games cost very less... as they are pirated...... but even the non pirated ones cost quite a bit less.

The x360 supports kbs for messaging etc... not for gaming. [does it?] the ps3 actually will use a mouse and kb in games like UT3 where it is necessary.

[$$Gururaj$$]

but counter strike IS counterstrike.. nothing can replace PC gaming

[superczar]

From my POV, PC gaming has been pointless for ages now

I had fallen in the scenario B hell for a brief period approx 2 years ago....
came out of it in a month, and have stuck to scenario A ever since


Scenario A: A nice Saturday evening, a console (any console, even a PS2), throw in a decent game, a bunch of PIzzas, a crate if beer, a couple of beanbags and a bunch of friends....
Everyone stays up till 5 AM and has a great time

Scenario B: 7:00 PM on A nice saturday evening, a high end PC with a Sixteen core CPU and a 19000XTX and 64 Gig of ram and the latest game title and 2 PC gaming fanatics

8:00 PM: Sweet, games installed, time to frag

8:15 PM: Oh wait, doesn't the framerate feel a bit laggy...let me go install fraps and keep an eye on the frame rates

8:30 PM: Oh no, FRAPS tells me my framerate stutters to 20fps during heavy rendering..let me google for this issue

9:00: Hmm, seems like the beta forceware 210.1 rivers on guru 3d fix this problem..lemme dowload that

10:00 PM: ah, beta drivers installed, now where is that 3d mark benchmark

10:30 PM: Oh now, I get only 15000 3dmark points on my uber GPU while Tommmy/Dicky/Harrys' rig on that elite forum gets 19000 points despite a lower config... now where is that registry tweaking guide.. let's google for that

11:00 PM: Hmm, modified HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_GPU_BLAHBLAHBLAH to x, all set and done... lets fire 3dmark again

11:30: Cool, now I get 19100 points...wait till I post in on the forums and see Tommy turning green

12:00: ah, my uber cool 19100 points Posted..now where is that game we were trying to play

12:30 PM: Oh no, now the screen keeps crashing/game keeps core-dumping
Let's switch back to the original drivers and try OC this b^tch

1:30 AM: Awesome, I managed a 15% Overclock....and a 19250 3d mark score....awesome, just awesome!!!
let's post this on the forums again

2:00 AM...Hahaha, now that poor Tommy will be completely swallowed by the green monster...time to fire up the game again

2:30: Yeeshhh...what are those artifacts on the screen...maybe I need to reduce the OC before I fry out my GPU

3:00 AM: ugh...WTH...After the OC reduction, I get just 18500 points on 3dmark.....

must tweak the registry.....
must change the driver again....
must run those benchmarks again....
maybe I should order that water cooling kit...
maybe I should do a clean windows install.....YESSSS, that should work!!

6:00 AM..WIndows reinstall done...Yawn..must sleep...will try the game again tonight.....

And the cycle continues..........

[too_techy]

yes pc games are increasing becoming pointless, the most obivious reason is the user friendliness of the consoles, but also the fact that consoles are backed by major companies like MS and Sony while PC games are not. I wouldn't be surprised if Pc games altogether vanishes in the next 5 to 10 years.

[ring_wraith]

superczar, that was brilliant man. I'm in scenario B right now.....

If anyone needs another example , now i wanna play lost planet EC after reading a review very badly. Since I have a PC with just 1 gig of RAM i will have to go out and buy another gig just to make it playable at medium settings, and even then i will enjoy it only at medium on a pathetic 17" monitor and horrible 2.0 speakers that i have.

If i had an X360, go out, buy CD, come home, game on 32" TV, home theater setup.

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by ring_wraith

For Example, i spent around 27,000 on a system with a core 2 duo E6550 and nVidia 8600 GT. And now, less than a month later i find it impossible to play the latest games at even mildly high settings with my PC. I will eventually be forced to upgrade to a penryn and series 9 GPU, costing me another bomb.

No u don't, whats your monitor size? Did u tried optimizing the game manually? Install latest drivers & games updates etc, disable background apps...the usual thing. If your monitor is 17" then why do u play at anything over 1024X768 with 2XQ AA & 4X Anis.

This would surely play every game for the next two years at least at blistering frame rates, even if they don't look as good as their PC counterparts.

XBOX 360 games look as good or better then DirectX 9/10 games, besides u can play on them for 5 years to come at least. Consoles are always better for gaming then PCs

[desiibond]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

XBOX 360 games look as good or better then DirectX 9/10 games, besides u can play on them for 5 years to come at least. Consoles are always better for gaming then PCs

Yep. Put 20k-30k on a high end console and play safe for 3 years atleast.

PC's: you need to buy a new add-on or upgrade every year.

[gxsaurav]

But keep in mind PCs do lots more...

My recommendation, get a Laptop or cheap desktop according to your requirement, Desktop shouldn't go for more then 30 k with LCD Monitor included, & with that get a XBOX 360/PS3/Wiiiiiiiiii

[rohan]

no way.. FPS are still way more enjoyable on a PC rather than on a console..
the only factor is that well.. although a high-end PC today has muscle equivalent to the PS3 or the XBOX360, 1 year from now.. it will be obsolete thanks to an awesome new game.. which however would run perfectly on the same XBOX360.

[xbonez]

i always maintained tht playing FPS on a console is a pain in the a&& but then the consoles now support USB mice and keyboards, so there goes my last argument now even i agree consoles are better than PCs

[infra_red_dude]

Originally Posted by rohan

1 year from now.. it will be obsolete....

1 year??!!! I thot the cycle finishes in under 4 months!

Thing is the PC is made up of many components which complement one another. Everything mebbe fine but suddenly you may fall short of RAM. You upgrade, then you realise that the bandwidth is being bottlenecked by the chipset. You upgrade the mobo, then you realise that the new mobo doesn't support your current proc. You upgrade that too. Then you realise admist all this you forgot to upgrade an important componet, the GFX card and the cycle continues. In between you keep trying tweaking the settings, then install some patches, drivers, hack into registry, deal with crashes and a lot more!!!

A combination of a Laptop + a gaming console is best for today's world, imho.

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by infra_red_dude

A combination of a Laptop + a gaming console is best for today's world, imho.

Nah...tablet PCs are the way to go. Nothing is better then to write on a computer in your own handwriting instead of typing

[Third Eye]

Originally Posted by desiibond

Yep. Put 20k-30k on a high end console and play safe for 3 years atleast.

Make it 10.

[rohan]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Nah...tablet PCs are the way to go. Nothing is better then to write on a computer in your own handwriting instead of typing

again d00d... u r so not a geek.

[ax3]

ya, its no use upgrading & wasting ur money ........

xbox & ps3 r the only great options 2 experience AWESOME graphics ........

[desiibond]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Nah...tablet PCs are the way to go. Nothing is better then to write on a computer in your own handwriting instead of typing

I prefer typing to handwriting. I can easily type 60wpm and belive me, my handwriting sucks so much that only the best handwriting recoginition sw can guess what I wrote

[gxsaurav]

^^^^ lolz....I m good at drawing on paper & computer so I guess that helps when i write on paper

again d00d... u r so not a geek.

Yup, no longer a geek. Just a user who wants to use his computer as a tool for doing things, & not for staring & screwing it....

[desiibond]

Originally Posted by ax3

ya, its no use upgrading & wasting ur money ........

xbox & ps3 r the only great options 2 experience AWESOME graphics ........

Have you tried playing on xbox 360/PS3. Atleast, try playing on PS2 and you will never regret owning a console. It's so smooth with amazing graphics.

[baccilus]

If only they let us use keyboard and mouse for FPS games, it will be perfect to own a console and no one will buy a PC for gaming. I know PS3 is already doing that but others aren't.

[The_Devil_Himself]

well there is yet another reason most parents wont allow their children to buy a 25k ps3 but will readily give 50-60k for a PC even if they know it will be primarily used for gaming.

[xbonez]

^^thats xactly why i don't own a console. when u buy a pc, parents don't think that i'll be gaming (which i obviously do later). and it gives parents satisfaction in buying a PC b'coz they think it can be used for edu purposes too (which it generally isn't). however, buying a console, they know it'll be used only for gaming

[ring_wraith]

Totally agreed. For some reason parents assume that we are going to fill up our hard disks with encyclopedias and read them instead of filling em up with games and play them.

and....

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

No u don't, whats your monitor size? Did u tried optimizing the game manually? Install latest drivers & games updates etc, disable background apps...the usual thing. If your monitor is 17" then why do u play at anything over 1024X768 with 2XQ AA & 4X Anis.

please tell me that was sarcasm.... coz if its not.. this is what the entire thread is about..... you can spend hours and hours optimising that game and still you will not get the same experience as on a console.

If it was sarcasm... niice!

and funny thing ... poll is going other way than thread...

impulsive voting i guess.

[QwertyManiac]

Originally Posted by ring_wraith

please tell me that was sarcasm....

In time you'll learn that among the things the guy you quoted might not know, this one is for sure.

[ring_wraith]

ouch.