Right now, it makes sense to be a PC gaming elitist, because the console market is collapsing in upon itself into a pile of congealed stupid.

Let's just focus on the console announcements themselves, shall we? None of them marketed as primarily 'gaming' platforms, but as 'multimedia devices' designed to fill roles we've already filled. No backwards compatibility on either of the PS4 or Xbox ONE, which means day one launches are going to be tepid at best (seriously, didn't Sony learn from the launch of the PS3?). All of the consoles are going to have a higher price point than ever, which is very rapidly reaching the point of unsustainability. And outside of the WiiU (which seems to be becoming a console forced out of the market by a series of game publishers who don't want to develop for it), none of the consoles are offering me anything I can't already get from the PC I just built. And that's not including the complete abandonment of backwards compatibility, the usage of always-online DRM, and the anti-used games measures that the Xbox ONE brings to the table.

Completely honestly, I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't go for PC right now. Excepting the Steam Box (which looks intriguing, but not exactly something I'm really interested in), PC gaming has Steam, all of the games and ports I want to play, the emulators to get the backwards compatibility I'm looking for, and a wealth of power and tinkering capacity that'll allow me to play whatever I want at consistently higher resolutions with a mouse and keyboard.

So yeah, I'm an admitted PC snob - but having followed what happened in the XBox ONE launch, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be. The console market is taking precisely the worst possible steps right now, and the games industry isn't doing so hot either in that scene. Right now, it makes sense to be PC gaming.

 

My general response to any and every PC snob.

Edit to clarify: This is not meant to be the catchall response, but it's the most general response I have. I can afford a "multimedia device" like the new Xbox relatively easy, a good PC though, not so much.

 

Yes, they clearly did. That's why they're on x86 hardware instead of nonsense internals like the Emotion Engine from the PS2 or the Cell Processor from the PS3. This will make development for the console easier, and allow for non-ridiculous BC in future Sony platforms. It does, however, mean that they don't have BC unless their streaming works out (which it probably won't.)

EDIT: Again, I have no idea why the new Xbox doesn't have BC. It's such an obvious, easy win over the PS4, but nope, guess not.

 

You know, the hilarious thing is that all of those points in that article are accurate - except for the fact that all of those problems that 'used' to be PC specific are now just as viable for console players as well. Install the game, update it, unlock it with a sixteen digit code you have to type out on a console rather than a keyboard. Oh, and you don't have all the content yet and have to pay additional to get the material that's locked on the disk.

And with always-on DRM, you run into latency issues whether you're on a PC or console, and - once again - it comes down to who has the best internet connection, either way. And with all of that in mind, with Steam we still have better price points for games, full backwards compatibility, and access to so much more multimedia entertainment.

And really, as much as having a weak console market hurts the entire gaming industry (which includes the PC side), I can't help but feel we still come out ahead. Sorry man.

Ok, agree with you regarding the PS4 stepping in the right direction, but I can't help but feel that they could have developed emulation tools in this regard for the PS4 to enhance that backwards compatibility. They might not have been great, but it would have been something.

Microsoft, on the other hand, has no good excuse.

 

Power isn't what I'm getting at. Price is. Like I already stated, I can save and drop $400-$500 on a console and know that I have an equal footing to others in terms of power and internet connection, but the same can't be said of PC gaming. Sure Internet will always be an issue but I hardly see Microsoft putting too much DRM on their games. I'm not even trying to convince you to change to console, I'm just pointing out that for all it's faults, Console gaming can end up being the right path for a lot of people, and not all of those people are idiots.

 

Pretty much ambiguous of the whole announcement. Not planning on buying any of the new consoles.

Also Halo TV Series may be pretty awesome if they have the right budget.

 

If it's anything like Forward Unto Dawn then it will be awesome regardless of budget.

 

Spielberg and HBO means a hollywood blockbuster budget on par with GoT.

 

May or may not be related, if it isn't it's a big coincidence. http://www.twitch.tv/xbox

Note: Not watching it myself, watching some other stuff, just saw this thread and it reminded me of that.

 

It would be pretty cool to be able to watch the MLG games and the SC2 and LOL championships in real time through that.

 

I'm just pleased it isnt called the iXbox.

 

Why would Kinect need to be connected? Can the controller not operate the menus?

Maybe the reporter got confused. Maybe the poor guy was trying to say that Kinect would not function unless connected to the Xbox... which is obvious.

 

What I understood from the comments on the original article was that kinect could never, ever be turned off. This is so that all you have to do to start the machine is to say; "Xbox, wake" (or something like that, can't be bothered to go back to the article again).

As some of the comments said, it'll be hard to tell the wife that you plan to install a high-def camera and microphones into the bedrom that will always be connected to the internet

Also, it's not more expensive to buy a gaming rig than it is to buy a console. You'll likely have to dish out at least 500$ for the PS4 and you'll get quite the gaming rig for about 700-800$. 1000$ and you can play on really good settings! If you are going to be getting a computer anyway (which I guess you need for work, school and internet) just adding 200-300$ on top of what you were already going to pay will get you a fine gaming machine.

By the way, who owns a TV anymore?

 

Hold, master race! The hordes are weakening, as their new hardware is weak and flaccid!




Edit: Lol

 

The price differential really isn't as great as people make it out to be anymore. The article you linked says that a gaming pc can cost you thousands, which is true, but it doesn't have to. A capable gaming PC can easily be built in the $500-$600 range if you shop sales and are willing to cut some corners. I built my PC for ~$700, and it easily outclasses the current gen consoles and is probably roughly equivalent to the next gen consoles. For ~$800, you can build one that will outclass even those. When you factor in subscription fees (Xbox Live) and higher game prices, that price differential goes away pretty much completely.

You're right that consoles do ensure that everyone is on a level playing field when it comes to hardware, but past a certain point (basically the $800-$1000 level), hardware doesn't make too much of a difference for PCs either. And no one is ever on equal footings for network connection. Even on console, you're still limited by your ISP and your proximity to the server. Gigabit fiber is gigabit fiber - the fact that you're on a console doesn't change that.

That said, yes, there are some people who are better served by consoles. Casual gamers and people looking to play splitscreen multiplayer/party games aren't going to get much use from a gaming PC. However, past those audiences, I fail to see the point anymore.

 

Lot's of people? Yeah, you can stream or download any tv show or movie you want to watch, and look at it on your 20+ inch monitor, but it's more enjoyable to sit back on a sofa, or lazy boy and watch on a 55 inch tv- streaming from your computer.

 

Pretty much all this. Also not having to fork over $60 to use a service (Netflix) I've already paid for is nice. Or to pay for something that's usually free (Hulu).

In terms of games as well, just about every console exclusive that matters eventually had a PC release. Okay, so I had to wait. Big deal. There are so many good games coming out that I'm already behind. A little wait time means nothing when I can use it to catch up on the backlog.

Also, HTPC's are a thing. A really, really awesome thing that more people should use for gaming as well as video and music.

 

1. Every gen people complain about a system having or not having backwards compatability. In the end? It doesn't actually move units. The PS3 originally had backwards compatability, cost Sony the console wars in my opinion (five hundred and ninety nine US dollars was not a good tag line). The system sold perfectly fine without it, after it was dropped. What was learned? The PS2 wasn't the best selling console for nothing - everyone already had one that wanted a PS3 anyway. So backwards compatability in my opinion is just something people justifiably want, but don't need. This is even more true considering the 360's library was basically available on the PS3/PC anyway.

2. M$ is going after the "entertainment system" market, no longer the video game market. This is no longer a console for you, unless you like CoD/EA Sports. That's what I picked up from conference. Shouldn't be a big surprise, though.

3. The used game stuff (friend has to buy the game if he borrows your disc), may kill the console.

 

An argument I've heard is that if PS4 didn't have the same system in place, then Sony would have announced that today and had a supreme PR coup. So it may be the beginning of the end for the second-hand game market.

Personally, I think that's a good thing. The only influence brick-and-mortar stores have on me is when they influence costs and release dates on Steam, so anything that kicks them in the bottom line is a-okay in my book.

 

Unless there's something I'm missing about differences between consoles and PCs in hardware, but why isn't backwards compatibility possible? All you'd have to do would be to partition a section of the 500GB hard-drive and install a virtual machine to emulate the hardware of the older generation (not too difficult considering the 8-year gap between the two). Hell, they do something like that already in Windows with things like compatibility mode and XP mode, and just look at the emulators for way older systems like the SNES.