It expands untapped resources. I mean, how much clearer can it be? It's a more stable processor, which in reality means better processing power.
Consoles are just affordable PCs with easy setup. I don't see the PC gaming industry going in the toilet anytime soon. Years ago experts said only a few homes will have a PC (wrong). Years ago they also said video games would never go mainsteam (wrong). I used to say I'd never pay to play a game online and I found myself playing MMOs quite a bit these last 5yrs. Speculate all you want but both console gaming and PC gaming will be around for years to come. For me personally, I prefer my PC for the gaming genres I play (FPS, RTS and MMO). I like using a mouse and keyboard over a controller. I also like that I can watch a movie while playing games. Consoles are a bargin but you're stuck with what you buy until the next system comes out.
Ok, so, if I bought one now, I'd pay lots of money, and I'd get a few more FPS out of my games. Wow, amazing. The important word here is untapped, an untapped resource is a useless resource, and it will be a few years before you really see the benefits of those resources. Buying an i7 now is unnecessary. Unless you're building yourself a new system because your one is way out of date, there is little point right now in upgrading. Then you've got the problem, which has been pointed out many times, not everyone has an i7, not everyone has the same hardware, and developers need to get games working on as many systems as feasibly possible, so the effects of one piece of hardware is minimal. It's when you get the big jumps in home computing such as cheap and affordable multi-core CPUs is when you get the improvements in PC gaming.
Yeah but for isntance the Cell processor of a PS3 is an untapped resource. They all do it. What the Intel i7 proves is that the PC can constantly evolve and adapt whereas a standard hardware set-up is stagnant and unchanging. Yea sure that makes real nice for an ad to talk about how great the Cell processor is - but the fact is, an XBOX can do anything it can do for the most part (if I said that as an absolute, then someone would prove me wrong). Which is where I am going about the PC, it can do everything a console can do and more. I run a Quad-Core processor myself at home, and it runs fantastic. Windows works like XBOX and PS3, it's just a platform that runs on a box to something similar to a television. The PC can just do a lot more than a console, I mean it's not an arguable fact. I've never bought a game for PC I couldn't run full tilt. I can do 10 times the things I can do versus a console (like Dreamweaver, Flash etc). Why in the world would I ever need something I can't upgrade? Except for the HDD, of course, I know that is upgradeable in consoles. Furthermore, I can't *repair* an XBOX for instance without voiding its warranty. I can't upgrade my Cell processor in a PS3.
But the point is it's a lot harder for a developer to get the most out of the i7 because not everyone will have one. They can't optimise for a specific architecture like you can when developing for a console. The fact of the matter is that as developers get used to developing for the consoles, they'll be able to squeeze out more performance out of the same hardware, which has been shown on several occasions. Consoles don't need an upgrade, it's only when you get to the very end of the consoles life that the latest PC games noticeably overshadow the latest console games. At which time, the new generation of consoles is just around the corner. It is an arguable fact, because not all PCs can do everything a console can and more, yes, the latest can, but a gaming PC that is the same age as an xbox cannot beat it. My PC here, pretty much top of the range when I bought it about 4ish years ago, around the same time of the 360 release, can't do the same things as comfortably as my 360 can. There's no decent reason it can't, it's just nvidia seem to have stopped making good drivers for my card, and that's another problem with PC gaming, if your system is a few years old, it won't perform as well as it should. And as I have stated before, this thread is about gaming, the fact a PC can use Dreamweaver, etc. is irrelevant. We are talking here about PCs as purely a gaming system, because for the cost of a gaming PC, I could buy a 360 and a cheap PC that is capable of pretty much the same things a gaming PC is minus the gaming plus a bit more on the load times.
i think to say core i7 is a move forward for pc gaming is a little misguided, what WOULD be a move forward is coding that can use a quad core on all games
but as i think someone stated before, if you are going to have a decent PC anyway (which i think most people on these forums would) then the cost of PC gaming is the cost of a gaming graphics card
A move forward would be hardware that plays Crysis on max settings at 100+FPS The new 4870 cards are a move foward in graphics technology.
First and foremost, it's not irrelevant. Flash and Dreamweaver have everything to do with PC games when you develop Flash based games. I mean what do you think Flash is used for besides pretty movies? Have you ever visited something like Newgrounds? Just because I like to develop, doesn't mean I should be limited by the incapabilities of a console that can't use it. Then I don't know what you have done to your PC. I ran the same computer for 6 years and I never bought a game I couldn't run until the very end (it was a P4, finally seen its day). Quad-Core is used on a lot of games, there just isn't a universally accepted code for it yet. Right now it's on a totally ad-hoc basis. Of course they need upgrades, and repairs. I'm tired of investing in something that has to be replaced constantly. Why buy an XBOX, PS3 and Wii every 5-6 years when I can simply buy a computer that does it all? Why can't Sony just release a Playstation emulator? I mean Games for Windows works perfectly fine, Microsoft did it. The Intel i7 is part of the future. It's like finding out the PS3 was going to have a Cell processor in it two years before the PS3 was released. Quad-Core was so 2 years ago, now it's nearly the defacto processor (I think Core 2 Duo takes that place right now). The PC is forward looking always, the console is stagnant and unchanging. I honestly don't know how people screw up their computers so badly. I have to repair them from time to time, and it just boggles my mind how it gets this bad. My point still stands about repairs - you can't repair a console without voiding some sort of warranty. Sending an XBOX back to Microsoft is almost like waiting for the next-gen console to come out. The turn around time is terrible.
What is that supposed to mean? People play Flash based games all the time on XBOX, Wii, PS3 and PC. It just so happens that I can develop it on a PC to, which consoles are obviously totally incapable of doing. So right back at you pal. I'm sorry, did you mean the relevance of game development to the topic of PC Gaming as a forum topic? I mean, I just always thought the two were intertwined. Without development, there would be no PC games. So I just assumed the two were connected.
For me, you can never quite beat the feeling of knowing that you put together a machine yourself, to your specifications and knowing that it wipes the floor with every other machine that any of your mates own at that time. You can tweak it how you like and getting used to all of the little qwerks that you get with every new pc can't be beaten. Don't get me wrong, i do love my consoles. I just love having more control over how a machine runs
I agree, completely. The only things that keep me with PC at the moment are - Keyboard and mouse, though this is a lessening point as the 360 controller is gorgeously intuitive and is growing on me, - Noise levels: my computer is practically silent and runs crysis on full settings. Consoles are a bit noisy for me. - Hardware enthusiasm. I adore building, tweaking and dissecting hardware. I'll always be a tech-head - but this doesn't mean I'll keep buying new PCs after this one. I might just get a PS4 or Xbox3 and tinker with this rig on the side, ad infinitum, overclocking and testing stuff. I want to stick with PC gaming, but consoles have a LOT over them now. The 360 and PS3 are jaw-dropping pieces of equipment for the price, with very few downsides.
I recently converted to consoles myself, and I have to agree that I think PC gaming is in a rough spot as it is. Getting used to using a console controller is quite tricky though, as the last console I owned was a Nintendo 64. mmmmm Goldeneye. For anyone else who is terrible with joypad FPS controls, there is hope for us yet! Keep an eye on this project: XIM Product Website Demo Video
15 reasons PC beat console good reasons, agree with all of them, but i can also see the against most of those reasons.
