News Blizzard keeps one eye on consoles

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/02/07/Blizzard_keeps_one_eye_on_consoles/

 

Well it is completely true, consoles are trying to me more and more like PCs. We saw this with the PS3, apparently it's going to replace the PC...

The one problem with this theory though, is that getting a PC that can play a game like GoW with as much graphical bling and the 360 version would require a meaty PC, and costs a hell of alot more than the 360. What few people don't realise, is that they have a nice "cheap" console, but then they get butt raped when they want to buy a game or peripheral that costs twice as much as it would if it were for the PC. If you buy enough games and stuff for your console it would eventually even out with a gaming PC, but with the gaming PC you get the advantage of being able to play almost every game ever made with one machine, and you also get the functionality of a PC on top of that.

We've also seen from the many HTPC case reviews on BT is that you can get a very sleek looking case for your PC, that makes it blend in with the rest of the home entertainment kit you might already have. We waved bye bye to the horrible beige cases that made you want to lock them away a very long time ago, it seems MS took a backwards step on that front

PCs, as you said, are also getting alot easier to set up, first came the nice colour coded ports, then came USB where you could pretty much plug in anything and XP would make it work, and now we've got nice new connectors on the way that reduce the number of cables even further.

 

Nothing will ever replace the PC. PCs are the ultimate gaming machine and always will be.

 

Ive never doubted that PC's will be dominant forever

the nice thing about consoles is its 1 development platform, but you can do so much more on the PC its much better value for money, and anyone can program for them, etc etc
most consoles get hacked to reproduce PC functionality anyway

 

Sounds interesting!

 

I can't see consoles dying. People will still go for simplicity, and with consoles you've basically got a grand total of two choices - what console, and basic/premium. Try to buy a PC and that becomes what is to many a bewildering set of choices that they haven't a clue about. Most parents will know an xbox from a playstation but mentions of dual-core and 8800GTX cause eyes to glaze over. There's places for both imo.

 

It's called "convergence" and it is not a recent realisation.

Phil

 

"Maybe in five years you won't need a (insert domestic appliance) because you'll have one PC which delivers content all over your house."

perhaps good news, definitely not new news...

 

I always knew that consoles would never make PC gaming obsolete. But to say consoles will go may be an oversight. As people have said, consoles are limited choice, and will work with ll games that come out for it.

I wonder how you could incorporate this into the POTM?

 

PC gaming is the smart choice for games to be played on... most people have a PC in their house as well as a console, they just never think of blending the two, but PCs are so much better, you aren't limited is the main one... Any PC game will work on your PC (assuming you're up to spec and not an Apple user) and when playing that game you don't have to sit and wish "If only I had a button to do <whatever>" since you've got a full keyboard and mouse, once you're done playing you can then browse the web, play again and play online with thousands of others in an MMORPG, or 32/64/38/24 or whatever in a FPS, or mano e mano in an RTS.. it's way easier to play a PC game, the PC itself the only hard part

 

it might be the smart choice but it does need to be in the living room first... with a simplified control system. when it's time to play computer games it's time to lay on the couch. i never had much time for consoles but then i saw the light of the couch and left the uprightness of the computer chair forever.

this alone guarantees the survival of the console.