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"Consoles Vs PCs"

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Sat 10/03/01 at 00:15
Regular
Posts: 787
Many people regard online Quake 3 Arena as the ultimate On-Line experience. Many disagree. But in general there are lots of pros and cons for each system. PC games have the ability, to show excellent graphics, run fast games, and provide the ultimate in gaming experience. They are generally a lot faster than Consoles and even my 4 year old PII 450 could out power Nintendo's Gamecube which runs @ 405MhZ. But there is a big factor in the quality of PC games...The PC. Most people have average PC's. I would estimate that the average power of a pC nowadays is about 500, purely because we have gone from 500 to 1500 in a flash! But back to the point, The ability of a PC has pretty much all the say in how that game runs. Consoles don't have any trouble with this you don't need to upgrade your PS2 to play MGS2. Whether you have a Playstation 2 running on a new Sony Wide-Screen or your Grans old Black and White technicolour TV the consoles grphics are not affected, that is contrary to the views of some people who have still got their grans TV! So in that way I feel that Consoles are better. Whether you're rich or poor, if you have a Dreamcast you have a Dreamcast, they are both just as good as each other and the scales are not tipped in anyway when it comes to on-line gaming. Even Steven...all the way. But as we said earlier PC's all around the world have different ping rates and gaming isn't quite as fair.

Of course the good thing about PCs is that you can get them upgraded anytime you want, you can get extra RAM for quite reasonable prices nowadays and new graphics cards aren't to costly either. But having said this if you want to upgrade your whole PC this can cost you the price of a Console and more! Would you rather be able to finish of your home work and then load Unreal Tournament on your PC or shut down your Mac and stick RRV in your PS2. It is all down to preferance, but in terms of costs to get the right PC peripherals and decent ones at that can start to break the bank.

The peripherals of the two are very different. I mean consoles tend to have add-ons with the execption of the N64 4MB expansion and I am sure others most console peripherals stick in the back of the pad. Console games seem a hell of a lot easier to work. What I like about the N64 was that you could stick a cart in turn the game on and you were playing in no time. But with PCs, depending whether you're already on it or not, you have to wait until the game loads which can take quite a while even in comparison to the Playstation or Saturn!

I like consoles. My PC, isn't very fit where gaming is concerned and my 999 ping rate can stay away for good from now on, but I do have a choice. I can either get my PC upgraded, or I can get a dreamcast, 128bit, super games and more. I am not saying that PC games are poor I am meerly saying that I prefer consoles because like with a good exchange rate you can get a hell of a lot more for your money. And your investment won't be in vain because Dreamcast can't and doesn't need to be updated. But I guarantee that if you buy a PC Graphics card today, give it a month and you will be seeing the #2 next month. Consoles, play games, that is what they do and they are pretty damn good at it, Consoles do a much simpler, easier and finer job of playing a game than a prehistoric PC card that you brought last week! And that is the way the PC industry is going.

Consoles are the future!

The Game

Sat 10/03/01 at 00:15
Regular
"Fishing For Reddies"
Posts: 4,986
Many people regard online Quake 3 Arena as the ultimate On-Line experience. Many disagree. But in general there are lots of pros and cons for each system. PC games have the ability, to show excellent graphics, run fast games, and provide the ultimate in gaming experience. They are generally a lot faster than Consoles and even my 4 year old PII 450 could out power Nintendo's Gamecube which runs @ 405MhZ. But there is a big factor in the quality of PC games...The PC. Most people have average PC's. I would estimate that the average power of a pC nowadays is about 500, purely because we have gone from 500 to 1500 in a flash! But back to the point, The ability of a PC has pretty much all the say in how that game runs. Consoles don't have any trouble with this you don't need to upgrade your PS2 to play MGS2. Whether you have a Playstation 2 running on a new Sony Wide-Screen or your Grans old Black and White technicolour TV the consoles grphics are not affected, that is contrary to the views of some people who have still got their grans TV! So in that way I feel that Consoles are better. Whether you're rich or poor, if you have a Dreamcast you have a Dreamcast, they are both just as good as each other and the scales are not tipped in anyway when it comes to on-line gaming. Even Steven...all the way. But as we said earlier PC's all around the world have different ping rates and gaming isn't quite as fair.

Of course the good thing about PCs is that you can get them upgraded anytime you want, you can get extra RAM for quite reasonable prices nowadays and new graphics cards aren't to costly either. But having said this if you want to upgrade your whole PC this can cost you the price of a Console and more! Would you rather be able to finish of your home work and then load Unreal Tournament on your PC or shut down your Mac and stick RRV in your PS2. It is all down to preferance, but in terms of costs to get the right PC peripherals and decent ones at that can start to break the bank.

The peripherals of the two are very different. I mean consoles tend to have add-ons with the execption of the N64 4MB expansion and I am sure others most console peripherals stick in the back of the pad. Console games seem a hell of a lot easier to work. What I like about the N64 was that you could stick a cart in turn the game on and you were playing in no time. But with PCs, depending whether you're already on it or not, you have to wait until the game loads which can take quite a while even in comparison to the Playstation or Saturn!

I like consoles. My PC, isn't very fit where gaming is concerned and my 999 ping rate can stay away for good from now on, but I do have a choice. I can either get my PC upgraded, or I can get a dreamcast, 128bit, super games and more. I am not saying that PC games are poor I am meerly saying that I prefer consoles because like with a good exchange rate you can get a hell of a lot more for your money. And your investment won't be in vain because Dreamcast can't and doesn't need to be updated. But I guarantee that if you buy a PC Graphics card today, give it a month and you will be seeing the #2 next month. Consoles, play games, that is what they do and they are pretty damn good at it, Consoles do a much simpler, easier and finer job of playing a game than a prehistoric PC card that you brought last week! And that is the way the PC industry is going.

Consoles are the future!

The Game

Sat 10/03/01 at 02:55
Posts: 0
If PCs are becoming so outclassed by consoles, then why would Microsoft base their console's entire system off the PC? And why would people have any interest in it? It's because PCs ARE more powerful. BTW, I bought my laptop about a year and a half ago and for a decent price too. I've yet to update it and I can play nearly anything available right now. Even PC games made two or three years ago STILL outclass anything on the consoles of today and likely of tomorrow.

As much as I like consoles, they'll never compete with PCs in terms of updatability; they're static. They don't progress further or evolve, except with the launch of a new system. Most of my system's issues are with RAM, but I can buy a load of it for about 150 if I like, though I haven't had the necessity to do so. Eventually yes, I think PC gaming may go the way of the dodo, but as long as PCs are the powerhouses they are, and PC games remain cheaper than console-based ones, they will remain the leaders in online capabilities and game potential.
Sat 10/03/01 at 10:45
Regular
"Fishing For Reddies"
Posts: 4,986
I would disagree. I mean PC's are good for games but the style of games you get on a console range soooooo far, you have FPS's RPG's Adventure Games, Action, Games Sports...you may get all those in places in the PC market but they are no where near matching the presence of Console games. Console's Play games, like I said that is what they do! They are easy, simple and don't have many problems. PC games depend entirely on the PC and although you can get cheap upgrades. To make on-line multiplayer fair everyone has to have the same connection and that isn't going to happen anytime soon, if ever! When we compare Consoles and PC's we have to look at the games because they are the only thing the two have in common. Games on consoles don't need you to buy a £199 graphics card. PC's do, I am not saying you can't get them cheaper but on average, today, to keep up with 'the mix' you have got to spend that sort of money.

Bottom Line is, you get a console, you are guaranteed games, you have the best graphics chip available for that console, you have the best everything, except games which is at your own disgression. You buy a PC, very expensive in comparison, and you will be constantly buying upgrades. you can't guarantee your internet connection will surfice. Consoles are safer cheaper, have great games, none illegal this or error that. Consoles are the Future of Gaming even if PC's still play the games. GBA-Gamecube link up...this is the future!

The Game
Sat 10/03/01 at 11:02
Regular
"everyone says it"
Posts: 14,738
how about a new topic:

SR vs The Game?

just a suggestion?
Sat 10/03/01 at 11:18
Regular
"Fishing For Reddies"
Posts: 4,986
Nah, it would be too easy for me...:D
Sat 10/03/01 at 12:53
Posts: 0
The Game

I didn't disagree that consoles are the better means for playing games; I was giving reasons why PCs will likely always be used to play them as well. Personally, when I play on my PC and I'm on Counter-Strike or something like that, my latency is somewhere from 140-220. In fact, I've usually got the worst. Well, you know what? I still do rather well; I'm never at the bottom of the standings for any particular map.

There is one thing I'd like to add to the topic of online console gaming though. Look at the Gamecube for a moment: You'll be able to add a 56K, dial-up modem or a broadband connection. How's that standardized? There are going to be quite a few people who don't have access to a cable or DSL line. So even though they have the same system, they'll still be non-standardized internet connections. There's always going to be a difference between gamers machines, even if they are consoles in terms of online gaming. True, it's less of an issue, but it's still there.
Sat 10/03/01 at 13:16
Regular
Posts: 14,117
I'd just like to add a couple of points in here. Firstly if you have a low ping it dsoesnt mean you will lose, if you are good at the the game, eg UT then unless your ping isridiculously low then you will still be able to pick up a few kills and beat the newbie whos got a cable connection and thinks hes the dogs.

Also, if you have a console and are playing Q3A on your Dc for example, the pings still vary depending on, mainly, how far away you are from you local telephone exchange box. They are the little green boxes you see on the corners of roads, the closer you are to those the lower your ping will be, to an extent.

This is because all the way from the green box to the server is an optical link, low latency. From tjhe green box to your house (unless you have cable or a T1 or something) runs a pair of twisted copper cables. Its these cables that the signal takes ages to travel along, so the shorter the distance the information has to travel along those cables the lower the ping.

Contrarty to popular belief if you have a 28.8 modem and a 56.6 modem and you try both out, your ping should be the same because the electromagnetic signals travel at the smae speed. All the 56.6 does is to allow more information to travel at once. Its like a hose pipe, a 28.8 is a narrow hose pipe so only a little water can go along at once while the 56.6 is a wider pipe so more can travel along at once. The main point being that the information (or water) travels at the same speed through both.

Hope that actually makes some sense.
Sat 10/03/01 at 14:02
Regular
"Fishing For Reddies"
Posts: 4,986
I suppose but there will always be a more level playing field when it comes to console on-line gaming, there is much more chance of a fair fight or race, the chances are you will face off against someone, not necessarily of the same ability but someone with a VERY similar connection. If Sega showed the PING rates of its PSO users the States might have a better ping because they can use any connection they want, or so I am told. But at the end of the day you take 2 standard (PAL?) Dreamcasts, put them head to head on PSO and they will run even. You don't have standard PC's the chances are that two PC's will be very different, they may even run a different OS, not that, that would matter, but you see my point, in general, stereotyping PC's and Consoles, you are MUCH MUCH MUCH more likely to get a fair Internet game from 2 consoles than 2 PC's!

It's True!

The Game
Sat 10/03/01 at 16:47
Regular
Posts: 14,117
Good Point. Well made.
Sat 10/03/01 at 16:49
Regular
"You've upset me"
Posts: 21,152
ooooooo I don't like you very much at all, you know I've been writing a piece about this

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