P.C v.s Consoles and The Future of these Industries
The two sides have their rightful points. P.C’s do whip any console’s butt when it comes to advanced graphics and load times. Not to mention the fact that P.C communities are usually much more powerful and are much more helpful in creating custom patches to P.C games that have gone astray. Console users have no ability to patch their games since they’re on static unchanging hard discs and have to wait for the developers to issue updates; sometimes waiting forever for updates that will never come out.
If you mention that to the opposite console fanboy they’ll simply laugh and ask about the price associated with buying a gaming P.C. He’ll mention that even when the PS3, the most expensive console, came out, it was still only $500 and less than half the price of a modern day Gaming Rig. They’ll also consider the fact that console gaming and Xbox live has gotten much more popular and outsold the P.C market, a market they say is dying.
Both are slightly extreme positions, possibly because they’re both said by fanboys, and especially because Skyrim completely removed the myth of the dying P.C genre. But the question remains if there can ever be peace between these two warring factions and what lies ahead for both industries.
I’d like to ask a very specific question that will steer our discussion about the future of these industries. That question is very simple:
That singular question will have sent shock waves through most gamers minds, as it did mine when i thought of it. Imagine though, just for a second, hooking your console to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, then… boom, there you go, you now have a gaming rig AND a console.
Don’t forget that modern PS3’s have 9 Processors and extremely expensive and fast Graphic cards, easily able to undertake the constraints of the Windows Platform.
Xbox may not be there yet with their 360 but the successor to the Xbox360 is said to be a huge step up and will definitely have to be better than modern day PS3s or else no one will buy them instead of just buying a PS3 alternative.
Also don’t forget, Microsoft owns Xbox. Why wouldn’t they want people to game and use Windows? That way they’d be killing three birds with one stone by selling us a console, a p.c, and a software license of Windows!!
That would get Microsoft in a BRAND new industry it’s not even in yet which is P.C manufacturing!! It makes perfect business sense and it would cost them NOTHING except to sell the consoles they were selling anyways. Once PS3 saw this they’d have to make an equal or GREATER product!
There was already a report released in July of 2011 about future plans for Windows 8 to let users play Xbox360 games natively!
Do you see what is inevitably happening? Since Consoles are just smaller sized P.C’s anyways, and hardware is becoming cheaper and faster, eventually a gaming rig will be cheap enough to be a console. Some argue, if you hack the PS3, we’re already there.
The future of the P.C and Console wars is a surprising harmony and truce that will blend the best elements of both into one singular hardware device. A console, beautifully constructed, with monitor outputs, and gaming inputs, that does everything you could ever dream of, all for $500 dollars or less.
Current gaming rigs are between $700-1,200, depending on whether you make it yourself or buy one pre-built. Regardless, we aren’t far away from a gaming rig that functions as a console too.
I bought my Core-I7 in February of 2009 for $1,350 and 3 years later it’s still on top of the market because Hardware has surpassed software. Software makers are having a harder and harder time maxing hardware because it’s becoming faster and cheaper. A MUCH better rig today is selling for $900, that has twice as much HD space as mine did and nearly 3 times the ram. All this again for $450 dollars less.
Picture Source By phil_g
I mention my computer because I also bought gaming rig in 2006 and 2 in the early 2000’s, each time, top of the line, highly expensive, more than a thousand dollars. Each time they became obsolete in 2 years. That’s not the case anymore though. As you’ve seen, my current rig is pushing 3 years and it’s still reigning high.
This trend is why consoles will be able to afford gaming rigs and harmonize them together as one product. They will buy CPUs that are super fast and cost a fraction of what they used to, when consoles first came out.
A brand new future is looming where the P.C versus Console debate is about to be ended. A longstanding peace awaiting with glorious rewards for the gamers that waited patiently til that last victorious day. A day when the dispute will finally come to an end.
Sean
September 22, 2012 @ 4:16 am
There’s a problem in your theory. While there is no doubt we will reach a point where graphics hardware can be no better and CPU hardware is the same, we’re still a ways off from that. DirectX 9 is the only DirectX version run by consoles yet PC has seen multiple games released with DirectX 10 and now 11 functionality. However, the games themselves aren’t built around those engines like they were in the past.
Instead they’re still built around DirectX 9 (with an increasing number of exceptions). That tells me that games are being primarily designed for consoles; hence the lack of strain on modern day hardware.
In a way consoles are both the PC gamer’s friend and mortal enemy. It means that old hardware can still run modern games but at the same time it means that the truly expensive setups are made largely wasteful and graphics quality isn’t what it could be.
For instance; Tesselation, a DirectX 11 feature, could easily be much more powerful in practice than it is. Near characters should be extremely smooth without the polygon edges you used to see. Instead, in many cases these characters still have those edges and it’s jarring.
Some games take great advantage of this feature; others really don’t. Still others lack this option entirely having no built in support of DirectX 11.
What I’m getting at here is that the limiting fact at this moment in time is consoles and their developers not being able to split the resources to develop to the full potential of modern PCs and not that console hardware is reaching PC hardware performance.
One thing I always see in any Console vs PC comparison is a spec comparison. It’s laughable really when you think about it. For PC gamers that built their own PCs and don’t game on consoles, they look at specs and believe wholeheartedly that consoles can’t play games.
How could they? With only 512MB of RAM and an absolutely ancient graphics device that couldn’t play modern games at anything close to a reasonable resolution, they just can’t work. The fact that they see videos of people playing on console never sways this opinion. The specs speak for themselves.
But it doesn’t work like that. My theory, and it is a theory not a fact, is that consoles have a much lower software overhead to deal with than a PC (this is going somewhere, so don’t worry.) Because a console doesn’t need to run background services beyond basic OS navigation (like the in-game center button menu) it simply doesn’t need as much hardware as a PC. Which basically means it can use weaker hardware and achieve similar or in some cases better performance than a PC.
If you’ll remember, when the Xbox 360 launched in 2005, it was actually competitive in terms of graphics with modern PCs that cost twice as much. As time wore on PC hardware became more powerful so this was no longer the case but at the time the Xbox actually gave PC’s a run for their money.
But despite the fact that PCs began outstripping consoles, consoles could still play modern games and they could do it fairly well. Even if they didn’t look as good, objectively they still looked better than any of those games running at low settings on a PC. So through a process of developer voodoo games that require 8+ times the RAM to run on PC play fine on console. Which leads me to conclude that console hardware and PC hardware cannot be directly compared.
So what does that mean for your idea? Well, if I’m right and consoles are able to achieve this in part because they have a much smaller overhead to deal with then running full Windows would actually be a bad idea (at least if you planned to play games on that windows). Also if I’m right and consoles ARE holding back developers through a cyclical pattern of self interest, then it will probably be a while before consoles and PC achieve true hardware parity. Once those new DirectX features begin taking over you should see a whole new cycle of PC upgrades.
Or I could be wrong and consoles as well as PCs are both on their way out, to be replaced by cell phones that do everything. My guess is I’m not wrong.
synopsis
September 22, 2012 @ 4:08 pm
I don’t think they will ever do a full on windows system, i am on the xbox beta with internet explorer and all that, and to me, thats as far as it should go. Then again… all the apps they put out.. how much difference would it be really. Its almost there already. Personally i like the console to be a console, I have never been a pc gamer though, so.. salt.
ImmortalPhoenix
September 22, 2012 @ 5:21 pm
We have to remember these are 10 year trends I’m looking at.
As hardware gets better and competition gets stiffer, and technology gets cheaper(look at smartphones), consoles will be just as good as P.Cs.
When that happens… why would you need to buy a pc and a console.
Also remember, I asked If you’d want windows on a console that is super powerful. Most people do. This will be many year away but it’s only a matter of time before an Operating system hits a console.
When that happens, we’ve hybridized consoles and p.c.
To say that a console will NEVER have an operating system with browser and computer functionality, I think, is more extreme a position.
But wait 10 years and we’ll see what happens. I really think Cheap technology will force consoles to become top of the line Gaming rigs. Demand is everything in economics.
synopsis
September 22, 2012 @ 6:24 pm
You very well may be right. Personally i just don’t see the point is all. Me not being a pc gamer probably has a large part in that though, and who knows, in the future that might change. Pc has the advantage in just about every aspect, as long as its a strong pc. I would guess on average that the only plus the consoles have is the community, and as i said, thats on average. Odds are computers will be in the living rooms controlling the tv, phone and everything else(to a stronger degree then they are now) so i could see consoles being like that, but what would be the point?(from the aspect of computers already being a part of a entertainment center). Why not just have xbox and playstation plug and play systems for the computer? Like dvd drives, just slide in the “console” and the computer runs it. Would be cheap.
ImmortalPhoenix
September 22, 2012 @ 9:00 pm
Good point. It’s definitely not essential. Maybe it shows how lazy we are, that we need windows everywhere 😀
Thanks again for the awesome feedback btw! 🙂
bleachorange
September 23, 2012 @ 1:14 pm
well, I consider community to be advantageous for the pc, not consoles. consoles have the advantage of single design, mass production and mass consumer. almost every pc is different. the pc’s advantages lie in greater hardware capabilities overall and community support (such as patches and player made mods). the only major disadvantages for the pc in this situation are derived from one thing.
almost every pc is different.
this means that often times, even pure pc developers won’t push the envelope of graphical capabilities so as to sell their games to people with pcs a few years old. it also means extensive testing and coding to ensure the game runs on as many different system configurations as possible, with as few bugs as possible. whereas console developers only have to contend with the same hardware year after year, and so they can familiarize themselves with it and eke every bit of performance out of the system possible due to it’s unchanging specs.
neither one of these is a bad thing, they are just different things. truly, there could be a hybridization of pcs and consoles in a few years, but the nature of the beast will keep them separate. when have you ever seen a console that’s compatible with a mouse and keyboard? how many games are released for console and don’t bat an eye at pc? the culprit is job specialization. do engineers go out and perform surgery or do doctors? the console will always be more efficient for it’s time in that it is a mass-produced gaming pc, designed for gaming only and nothing else. the pc is a multi-tasking beast, even the gaming rigs.
in short, it will always be cheaper to cut corners and design a platform for one specific purpose than to design it for multiple purposes and still have the capability to compete with the singlepurpose hardware. it’s about economics, and some things about economics will never truly change.
synopsis
September 23, 2012 @ 1:20 pm
Yeah, i meant community as in getting on and getting in a game(i mean that on average, I’m sure plenty of games on the pc have huge communities), not as you took it. What you said is yet another huge plus for pc though, user updates, mods and so forth, some games i suppose are 2 times or more as long, solely from users making maps and such right? I would venture to say it adds replay value to games as well. Play them once normal, then get to play around with mods, and all that.
bleachorange
September 23, 2012 @ 5:35 pm
i can’t tell you how many more hours I put into skyrim because of user content. as an example, there’s this one mod in particular that allows you to jump high enough to get on building roofs. the gameplay really opens up with this because I can approach enemies from different angles and really take advantage of stealth or assault due to this almost platforming capability. another one lets you ride mammoths and walruses and other animals. very cool. some of the really popular content gets recreated by bethesda for the consoles (hearthfire arose because of all the home mods that came up on pc), so it’s not all bad for console users.
ImmortalPhoenix
September 23, 2012 @ 7:25 pm
Just wanted to mention, all current gen consoles have USB ports.
Simply plugging in a usb mouse and keyboard with drivers make them essentially computers.
Just wanted to put that out there. It’s really easy to integrate them.
bleachorange
September 23, 2012 @ 8:06 pm
and yet what software supports them? i understand what you’re getting at, i’m just saying not a single game for a console that i know of utilizes a mouse and keyboard. not that it’s undoable.
synopsis
September 23, 2012 @ 8:57 pm
I know for sure plenty of people use the mouse for online shooters on the xbox, saying that, i don’t know how they do it, or if its just plug and play. I can say that a usb mouse and keyboard work right out of the gate using internet explorer on Xbox live. I don’t have one of those crazy mice…mouses… however you would say it for a computer mouse, with all the buttons and all that, like the ufo looking thing that was reviewed on here, or i would test it out and let you know. Apparently its a huge advantage though, I’ve heard a shit load of people arguing about it in games while i play.
bleachorange
September 24, 2012 @ 6:13 am
i did not know that. the advantage of a gaming mouse is so many buttons you can customize key assignments to. it can be a big deal in fps play. still, most people i know don’t take the time to learn how to use a gaming mouse, myself included. as far as this goes, its up to the game developers and xbox live to moderate input use for competitive multiplayer. in my opinion all multiplayer play should be on equal footing, though a pc/console crossplay that actually works is the holy grail of FPS gameplay.