Transitioning Into a Console Gamer

Since early childhood I had always been a PC Elitist. Though I sometimes enjoyed consoles their inferiority to PC's was, in my mind, well established. Computers had more imaginative/intensive games, the internet allowed for customization and modding - and don't get me started on the graphics. For me PC's were by all accounts; the thinking mans choice for gaming.

However, tides change. What once was specific to the car-priced beast that is a computer is now (nearly) achieved on consoles. Generally, but not always, games are transitioning into multi-platform. The accessibility of consoles and their ease of use is also of high appeal. In short, consoles have caught up. Now even the classy games are making their way to your television.

I hypothesize that with the next generation of consoles a line will be crossed forever. PC specific grandeur will be easily assimilated, and though some games may stay PC specific, to do so would be a mistake. And it is on that note I say: I am now a console gamer as well.

EDIT

I have added "as well" to the end of my first post, as not to sound like I am abandoning the computer entirely. What I have done, however; is embraced consoles, and made observances towards what I feel may be the future. Don't want to sound like I'm just swapping elitism's.

I went thru a period of PC elitism, it's not something I'm particularly proud of, but it happened. There's no reason for it, there's plenty of games out there on both platforms. To limit yourself to one or the other is like saying youre only going to drink one particular brand of beer.

Most people probably started out w/ consoles, my first Intellivision was my debut into console gaming. I dont consider the quarter-sucking arcade units, because to most kids, they werent available for real hardcore all-day/night sessions unless you were lucky enough to have a rich friend who had Moon Patrol in his basement or something. Which I did, but that's a subject for another time..

I like computer gaming for a variety of reasons - mainly configurability and control options. Consoles games however always work (maybe), and it's nice to kick back w/ a controller and play around on a centralized unit on an exclusive network like Xbox Live.

Consoles definitely have their place, but I dont think theyll ever totally steal the spotlight. Plus there's too many older titles that we'll be hunkered down in our bunkers playing long after Skynet has destroyed civilization as we know it.


I have to get to work now, so I cant talk any more =\

The heritage is that of the PC as a mere "bureau/computing machine". Only with gaming that got enhanced.

Consoles were meant to be/designed to be pure gaming machines from the beginning on. (Have you ever seen Open Office on a PS1-3 machine or on an xbox ? I didn't.)

I think it is this heritage that begins to wear the PC down again … Perhaps its evolution will perhaps evolve it into something of its humble beginnings again : A bureau Machine.

Which could lead into a schism :

Consoles = Gaming
PC = Bureau

I see this as a possibility of the future… However, I can't see the actual future …

Consoles these days have internet, advanced input devices, play DVDs and music. Same for PC's. More and more content is moving to servers. Already cloud based office programs are available. Soon with just a plug-in keyboard you will be able to turn a Cobsole into an office PC. I think systems simply are converging. Soon there will be one web to rule them all, and your choice of local display / user interface.

Haven't owned a console since my Turbografx-16. I just don't feel the necessity - plenty of good titles on PC to choose from.

...though I was mighty tempted the day I found out Bomberman would be coming to Xbox. Shame it sucked.

The superior versions is always on the pc. If needed buy a wireless xbox 360 controller for the pc. And this is coming from a console gamer in his early days.

When the future of gaming is cloud based that's the day I quit gaming. I'm tired of company's forcing tech on me that I have no interest in. Really I dont want to just rent my games.

But back on top I game on consoles and my PC. Though I play more pc games than console games. There is a lack of good rpgs that are console exclusive.

Couchpotato said:

When the future of gaming is cloud based that's the day I quit gaming. I'm tired of company's forcing tech on me that I have no interest in. Really I dont want to just rent my games.

But back on top I game on consoles and my PC. Though I play more pc games than console games. There is a lack of good rpgs that are console exclusive.

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One day technology will leave us behind all right. It's a normal part of becoming an old fart

Theartofvincent said:

Since early childhood I had always been a PC Elitist. Though I sometimes enjoyed consoles their inferiority to PC's was, in my mind, well established. Computers had more imaginative/intensive games, the internet allowed for customization and modding - and don't get me started on the graphics. For me PC's were by all accounts; the thinking mans choice for gaming.

However, tides change. What once was specific to the car-priced beast that is a computer is now (nearly) achieved on consoles. Generally, but not always, games are transitioning into multi-platform. The accessibility of consoles and their ease of use is also of high appeal. In short, consoles have caught up. Now even the classy games are making their way to your television.

I hypothesize that with the next generation of consoles a line will be crossed forever. PC specific grandeur will be easily assimilated, and though some games may stay PC specific, to do so would be a mistake. And it is on that note I say: I am now a console gamer.

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does it really matter since most games are made for consoles anyway. we are all console gamers some of us just do it with a mouse and keyboard.

I will say however that saying consoles have caught up is misleading even at release consoles are not as powerful as pc because of advancement in pc tech. during console development. also the reason console games are even close to pc games is because devs make the game for console then port it.

If they actually made a pc game that used quad or hexacore cpu's, multiple gpu's and 12+ gb of ram. (specs of a highend pc). It would blow the consoles out of the water.

I don't consider myself a pc elitist. It's just a fact that pc's are technologically Superior to consoles. The problem is you have all that power and nothing to use it on, so it's a moot point anyway.

I don't think most people game on consoles because they think it's the best technology. They game on them because they are cheap and easy to use. It's very comparable to fast food people don't eat it because its great food they eat it because it's fast and easy.

GhanBuriGhan said:

One day technology will leave us behind all right. It's a normal part of becoming an old fart

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Yes growing old is a bitch. I'll admit I dont care about any apple product or tablet pc that seems to be the in thing. I still remember when pagers were the in thing. Hell guess I will be yelling at kids to get off my grass.:lol:

sakichop said:

I will say however that saying consoles have caught up is misleading

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Theartofvincent said:

What once was specific to the car-priced beast that is a computer is now (nearly) achieved on consoles.

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and also "I hypothesize that with the next generation of consoles a line will be crossed forever".

Referring to the above

You don't feel you're a little late Theartofvincent? Consoles have always had the upper hand, both in production values, exclusives, and sales. I find your post rather funny given that the PC just started pushing the boundary again.

I have a Playstation 3 btw. It's excellent for streaming video from my pc.

hishadow said:

You don't feel you're a little late Theartofvincent?

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Nope. Does something about my post challenge you?

Theartofvincent said:

Nope. Does something about my post challenge you?

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Besides your flawed analysis, not really. (look at avatar)

GhanBuriGhan said:

One day technology will leave us behind all right. It's a normal part of becoming an old fart

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Like turning from a Coke drinker into a Wine drinker ?

Couchpotato said:

Yes growing old is a bitch. I'll admit I dont care about any apple product or tablet pc that seems to be the in thing. I still remember when pagers were the in thing. Hell guess I will be yelling at kids to get off my grass.:lol:

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So very true, at my new job while on breaks or in-between clocking in, I swear everyone I work with has some kind of iPad, or phone, or android or whatever surfing the web, watching videos, texting and gaming.

It seems as if they all look at me as inferior since I don't have any of those things, but in all honesty they're unnecessary to me. I have a $3300 custom built PC to play on when I'm in the comfort of my home that trumps all those devices.

Anyway...

Theartofvincent said:

I hypothesize that with the next generation of consoles a line will be crossed forever. PC specific grandeur will be easily assimilated, and though some games may stay PC specific, to do so would be a mistake.

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First off, nice thread thanks for starting it.

However, I don't really agree with your above quote for a couple of reasons.

While it's true that when a new generation of consoles are introduced, they tend to rival or even surpass the graphical capabilities of the same generation of PCs, it just doesn't last. Consider the Xbox360 and PS3 and there are two examples right there of consoles who's graphical abilities have definatley aged dramatically compared to current generation PCs.

Next, and probably more importantly, is the keyboard and mouse. These input devices provide so much more possibility for complex gameplay. Standard console controllers can only go so far... and when a console game really pushes the limits of gameplay complexity, button configurations on controllers become somewhat of a beast to master.

On a side note, I was very interested in seeing how Kinect for the Xbox360 and the PS3 motion device would pan out. But ultimatley, while these technologies from a hardware perspective are certainly interesting, playing games with them is sort of 'meh.' Also, I'm a traditional gamer (aka lazy) and when I play games most of the time I don't want to be moving around and jumping, swinging, swaying, or boxing. I just want to relax.

Consoles could evolve to have plug n play components (as they already do with hard drives) as well as standardize with a keyboard and mouse. But if that ever happens, they won't really be consoles anymore, rather more of a poor man's PC really.

So until there is some radical change in the PC paradigm, I really don't see them going extinct as gaming platforms because of consoles.

That all said, I do love my consoles. I've owned pretty much every console released since the original odyssey (sp?) and atari 2600 (and still have most of them). I enjoy my PS3, Xbox360, and Wii quite a bit.

And in this age of multi-platform I've found another great use for consoles... memorializing my favorite PC games. I loved playing Risen on my PC so I also now own it for my Xbox360, ugly graphics and all. It makes for an easy way to play these games in the future when we're all running Windows 9 million and Risen for the PC becomes all but impossible to run. But as long as my Xbox360 still works, I can easily fire it up and play it on that if I want to.

In case of RPGs I think PCs are still the best place for this genre. RPGs are nearly the only games that I played. So it’s a irreplacable platform for me because of these reasons:
- Some of the RPGs can be moddable. And there’re tons of mods for some games out there that multiply the experience that we received from the vanilla game. One good example is of course the notorious Oblivion. We all know how streamlined Oblivion was when it first came out. But, over the years with some greatest mods the biggest flaws of the game were rasped. And only PC gamers can benefit from these mods. Also, there’re some mods like Nehrim which can be totally a new game. Ultima 5 and 6 remakes also can be a good example for total conversion mods. I’m playing Two Worlds 2 right now and because of a design decision you can kill all the creatures with endless button mashing. But, there is a mod out there that takes care of it and makes the fights more challenging and fun(and only for PC of course). So, I installed the mod and my disappointment about it solved.

- Also because of the nature of RPGs most of it have bugs in them. And some of these bugs can ruin your progress in the game for good, but some of these games have lifesaver console commands in most case which can only be reached in PCs.

- While some of the console fans still think that their consoles have limitless power it’s not the case unfortunately. There’re some hardware limitations in consoles and because of that in nearly all games PC version’s have the best graphics in number of areas like texture resolution, AF, AA, etc. Also PC allows customization. For example I generally do not like bloom effects in games, in my Xbox 360 I have to live with it, but in my PC I can turn it off for more clear seeing. In contrast to general belief you don’t need a monster graphic card for enjoying all these eye candies. You can buy a decent graphic card around 150-200 $ right now.

- Some RPGs can be played in PCs better. One important example of this is the Dragon Age Origins. DAO PC version allows more control over your characters than consoles. And while DA2 is more consolcentric I still think PC version provides better tactical gameplay than console versions. On the other hand, if you want to play RPGs in PC but with a gamepad, most of the games support this. I’m not saying console controllers are inferior. On the contrary new generation controllers are way much better than older versions when playing FPSs. Before my new gaming PC I played and finished Fallout 3 on Xbox 360. You can play with a controller easily for hours without any wrist aches. But PCs mainly provide better experience, if you want mouse-keyboard it’s there, want gamepad it’s also there.

- As a RPGamer if you’re not a demanding type in case of graphics there is a whole indie RPG market in front of you, which includes gems like Avadon, Eschalon, Knights of The Chalice, Avernum, Geneforge series, etc. Also promising indie games like Age of Decadence, Grim Dawn or Frayed Knights on the way. You’re a developer and have an interesting idea on your mind, you can program it on PC without any licensing from Sony or Microsoft.

- Not too many but there’re some RPGs which are PC only (yet). Best examples of course are the Witcher series, Drakensang series and NWN2.
- Also if you like retrogaming you have a vast catalogue of classic RPGs in front of you thanks to services like Good Old Games. For ex, while playing Two Worlds 2, The Witcher 2 and Avadon on my PC right now, I also sank my teeth into Might&Magic 6 and Ultima 7.

- PC games are cheaper than their console versions, so on the contrary I think PC gaming is much cheaper than console gaming in the long run.

If I was an addict of another genre other than RPG, maybe the case would be different. Maybe it’s related with habits, I don’t know. I can live the atmosphere of any game better when I’m in front of a monitor and on an office chair, prefer them over to the living room couch and a wide screen TV. Because my first gaming device was PC. While my wife’s first gaming device was PS1 and she prefers gaming in living room.

Traitors! =P

For me PC is the platform though I used to play games on Sega Mastersystem, on Game Boy and Super Nintendo. For me moving to consoles would felt like giving up on PC and I like mouse+keyboard too much. Though I bought a pad for simulators etc. And I can recommend multimonitor setups (AMD Eyefinity or nVidia Surround) and the first experience playing on it felt like moving 3D accelerated graphics and it's not only graphics but it also makes the immersion much "deeper" too.

And there isn't too many games coming only on consoles (xbox360/ps3) that I can think of except LA Noire. If I would be big lover of other genre than RPG and FPS then it would be different case I believe.

Ergonpandilus said:

Traitors! =P

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I never could quite understand the idea that gamers must carry the console flag or PC flag... I just love gaming whether its on PC or a console.

Now, my most preferred type of game is an RPG and when playing an RPG my most preferred hardware is the PC.

But to exclude other kinds of gaming because of which hardware platform they are made for or what genre the game happens to be is something I never wanted to do.