I started this thread at the request of Mr.UglyPants whos beatiful UT3 thread was going off topic.

From that thread, it seemed that the latest UT3 information continued to glorify the consoles while information PC gamers have been waiting for remains in the shadows. While the consolers recieve a banquet in UT3's honour, the PC gamers fear they may end up with the crumbs.

we are continuing that discussion from here:

To respond to the title of the thread; PC gaming isn't even close to the end, it will never completely end, but things are slowing down market-wise.

Hmm, I find you to be correct. My point is however, if devopers continue to aim their efforts towards consoles and leave us with ports, PC gaming may lose its image of gaming superiority. People may not continue to support the PC after that.

Not that it stops us from keeping the PC gaming spirit alive of course

The day PC gaming ends Ill become emo!

That means you'll be an emo skeleton.

PC Gaming is just going through a rough time. It won't DIE just because of consoles. It would take a billion Jack Thompsons .

God, somebody should erase that jackass from the genepool, and quick!

As for PC gaming dying out... hardly. As long as PC hardware remains superior to any existing console to-date, it will crank out games.

That is the funny thing, the next-gen consoles run games better than my computer, and perhaps 8800-powered ones. The reason is that they don't need to run any OS or other applications like the PC. 100% of the hardware power goes into running the game.

Consoles won't stay ahead or even equal with computer hardware for more than a year.

Sure, computers are getting a bit less attention than they used to, but they're still a massive portion of the market, and will be for a long time. Hopefully forever.

The thing that amuses me is that consoles are getting more computer-like. Are computers getting more console-like? Yeah, I didn't think so. Guess that tells you what the superior system is.

Consoles are computers.
But I know what you mean, and I agree. Consoles have the ability to use mouse + keyboard and have a hard drive.

Soon enough they will be the PC re-invented in a lesser form than the actual PCs are.

Computers are becoming more media center like, support for TV, radio, music and communication is growing. I guess that is what manufacturers are most concerned about at this point. Gaming not being one of them. Consoles wont get that far, but this does means the console is then catching up to the PC for the gaming aspect.

Of course that is subject change. We all know how rapidly technology advances with PC's

Actually, Consoles too are becoming considerably more media centered also.

But the PC will always have the advantage of the internet, you can't beat an OS interface when it comes to browsing the net.

I'm tired of these debates....

It's actually very simple:

1. PC gaming will always be around! PC's are FAR MORE advanced than consoles, and they advance at a far more rapid rate technology wise, and the games keep up.

2. Consoles, are advanced at a certain point in time. They stay at that level for their lifetime!! (yes you can upgrade the xbox360's hard drive..whoppeee so what!! )

3. A PC has a broad range of uses, thus is more inclined to be improved continously.

4. A console has a limited user base. Take note of WHO uses it????? i.e. kids and young adults who have not yet reliazed they are not kids! how many 40 year olds do you know who still play full time with the PS2 etc. why this user base, because a console is easy to use and robust, so any fool can use one (no offense, but you get my point), and that's actualy why they make consoles BTW!


so...who still wants to debate?
this debate will go on for years, and we will see it with the next release of the next generation consoles (which quite a few of you will be trying to explain this whole concept to your kids then!).

oh yes, I would like to point out the sales of the wii ... why is it selling...cause it's SIMPLE! thus more people (kids) can use it and actualy enjoy it, rather than being impressed with fancy graphics and no game play! oh yes, it's cheaper as well...

And for those of you who say the XBox360 and PS3 are going more multimedia etc. ...well my simple PVR (Personal Video Recorder) can still do a whole lot more than your console !!

case in point: here in South Africa the XBox360 sells for around R3700 for the fancy version, and the PS3 for around R6500 !!! I can tell you know that the only people who are going to get that PS3 are the console die hards, and very very rich parents who are told by their kids that is what they want!
And with the wii much less than the XBox360, guess which one is going to sell....

BTW, it is approx. R7 to US$1

oh yes, lastly...we HAVE NOT seen a game REVOLUTIONIZE the game concept/feel/graphics etc. since the quake days, when id Software took games to "3D" type of games...no game has had such an effect taking it to the next level....console or PC !!! yes, the graphics has got better blah blah blah, you can see shadows blah blah blah...
I suspect Crysis will do that, but I'm not so sure, because it's just fancier graphics...it's not taking gaming to a whole new level...

just my 2 censt worth!

It is true that a Console doesn't suddenly change your nice FPS to a crap FPS of 2 and back.

My dad rules the PC's here and if I press Ctrl-Alt-Delete I see pretty much programs running.
What could spoil the smoothness of a game on a PC? And what can improve it?

That is what Im looking for. A program for the PC which deactivates everything BUT the game and the stuff necessary for playing it. And I hope it isnt a virus or sumthing xD

Most of the programs you see running when you open the task manager (alt-ctrl-del) really are important. If you get a program that closes them all...it has to be a virus

Follow their directories, you will find many coming from the OS folders.

Not that they actualy hog much of your processor power. When running a game, the game should get 99% of the cpu attention. The remaining 1% goes to the rest.

Not enough processor and RAM performance is what spoils the smoothness of a game.

anyway the tone of Cyberax's post sounds like he addressing console fans.

For the record, are there any console users here?

A computer game is a task. What launches the task is always an executable, which is basically loading stuff to memory that awaits processing. This particular task requires more resources than any other task depending on how advanced the game is in terms of rendering engine, AI, memory requirements etc.

It is up to the engine how much is required of each hardware. Some games may rely heavily on video cards while others don't, some require similar amounts and some are mostly CPU-dependant.

In shorter words; what could spoil smoothness of a game is not enough hardware horsepower or some task(s) are stealing the attention the game needs. Or both.

Nope Pcs will not die away but they will evolve. Your seeing the rise of multipule forms of games in the indie market and niche programs. Consoles wont be filling the need of those who play 4x games or large space sims anytime soon. Add to that oldstyle wargamers will always be found on PCs not on consoles.

Add to that Pcs lack the modding abilty of a pc and you will not see them doing anything about that anytime soon. After all they want to sell you a game you will consume and move on to the next craze. You wont see games like supreme commander out for a console or if you do it will be in a limited version.

we all know that Macintosh computers rule the gaming world....DUH. thats why im buying win xp for it

I smell sarcasm in your post.

yeah, I tend to rant every now and then....
I just get cheesed off with this (and similar) topics, becuase they are actualy pointless. Each type of device has it's place, and you cannot compare PC's with consoles! each does a different job and has a different market that they are aimed at!

anyway...enough from me...

Actually, the PC has many different markets, games being one of them. Consoles have the advantage of being meant for games one hundred percent, while the PC needs to run an OS and other programs, this greatly reduces performance. Imagine what my computer could do if 100% of the processing power went into the games, and programmers specially optimized the game for that.

I'd easily get 2x better performance.

indeed....
but just wait until Apple buys out Microsoft..... wait Microsoft owns some of Apple... well.. hmm...

Well, we never know what the future holds in it's hands.

something tells me Microsoft has more money than it knows what do to with, im not sure Apple can compare to it.

Apple will never join forces with Microsoft!...oh wait, iMacs are using windows...

*ahem*

Linux will never join forces with Microsoft!

Smart alec comments aside, lets get back on topic. I think we have gathered so far that this is a matter of consoles getting a highlight for now, but the future suggests that PC gaming will be quick to overthrow that. When UT3 is released we might see that.



Just out of curiosity, have you heard of space sim called Freelancer?

Unless Linux developers want their OS to be less shitty for gaming.

Consoles Blow Chunks.

Period.

i second that opinion!

They do their intended job very nicely.