Xbox One Vs PS4

[kup]

Yes but that is only a relatively recent development. I used to be a PC gamer, but I lost interest. Mainly because I don't care what is inside the thing. I don't want to have to worry about whether I need more RAM or whether its time to upgrade the graphics card. I don't want to have driver conflicts and whatnot. I don't want to balance a keyboard and mouse on my Lap either. I want to slouch on my lounge in an incredibly unergonomic position and only have a controller to worry about. (Yes I'm aware that you can get controllers for PC, but that kind of defeats the purpose).

And I thought about getting a PC again and the only reason I could think of was to play FreeSpace 2 again. The single, greatest PC game ever made. But even that couldn't get me back into it.

I understand that people prefer PC gaming and I even know why. But it ain't for me anymore.

No it's not. What you are talking about is stuff that is only the case if one doesn't bother to explore what the PC has to offer and locks themselves to their own perceptions. The small factor PC cases have been around for several years. Yes, they have reduced in price and size but originally, they were no bigger than a PS3 or Xbox. An upper Medium End gaming PC would also not cost you more than what one of the Next Gen consoles do at launch with only minor upgrades required every 4-6 years. You only need a whole new set up when technology has vastly revolutionized that's only like every 8-10 years when you have to upgrade the MB and CPU. It can actually cost much cheaper if you build it yourself! Of course, if you go for some BS like Alienware, it will cost you more but that's an individual's choice, not representative of real world. It would be like saying 'Cars are too expensive, just look at the cost of that Lamborghini'

Who says you need a keyboard and mouse to play PC games? The PC is so flexible that you can play games with anything including PS3 controllers and even Wiimotes! And that's not counting the thousands of USB controllers already available, wireless or otherwise. Yes, most PC gamers prefer the keyboard and mouse set up but it's not as if that is the only option to play PC games. I personally prefer the KB&mouse set up as it is infinitely more precise than a controller, specially for 'free aim' shooters. That is why I am looking forward to the Steam game controller which appears to be aiming to revolutionise the current and somewhat outdated controller technology to bring the precision of the keyboard and mouse into the lounge room.

If you know what you are doing, in the long run, a PC costs less and requires a lot less stuffing around than a console does. My PC runs awesomely with little maintenance, less so than the PS3. It is also vastly superior technically and at least on par with the Next Gen and I only have medium end hardware in it.

I am not a console hater as I do own a PS3, but I find the PC to be a much more superior and flexible gaming platform than any console. Cheaper in the long run too with less issues. When there are multiplatform games, the PC wins every time when it comes to crisp and smooth graphics so the PS3 is only there for the exclusives. Even so called 'poor ports' like WFC look a lot better on the PC than on the PS3 on a 1080p TV and I own both releases to compare first hand without a bias of 'you only say that because that's what you own'. On a 2560×1600 screen, the PC blows it out of the water and that goes for any multi platform game.

For me, the PC is the gaming system that rules them all. If it wasn't for exclusives, the console would not even be there as my TV PC has a bluray drive.

[kurdt_the_goat]

Pointless argument... the unavoidable truth of gaming is that exclusive, good games are on multiple machines and if you want to play them all, you need the machine it runs on. Until the PC emulates it 10 years later anyway

[kup]

Pointless argument... the unavoidable truth of gaming is that exclusive, good games are on multiple machines and if you want to play them all, you need the machine it runs on. Until the PC emulates it 10 years later anyway

Dolphin became arguably better than the Wii during it's commercial life

But that is an isolated exception. You are generally correct, emulators take a very, very long time to mature. You'll be lucky if an emulator becomes playable during the next generation.

However we do have lots of multi-platform games and for me, the PC is uncontested when comparing the multiplatform releases due to much higher technical capability/flexibility. A regret that I have is that I bought Castlevania Lords of Shadow for PS3 early in the year thinking that it was a console only game but then I saw a PC release - doh! Missed out on playing at ubber high-res and crisp graphics.

PS3 had some damn good exclusive games. Much better than what I have seen from Xbox 360. That's what motivated me to get the PS3. Any game on the Xbox which I would be interested in, already has a superior PC release.

The Wii is a weird exception. Nintendo exclusive game franchises like Zelda, Mario and so forth are excellent and I have been a fan for most of my life. However Nintendo has produced pretty technically crappy consoles for the last couple of generations. Thankfully, the Dolphin emulator matured enough to surpass the Wii limitations within it's life span and made owning a Wii irrelevant. Playing Twilight Princess in full 1080p is freaking sweet and so is Donkey Kong Country returns or Mario Galaxy. On top of that, Dolphin also flawlessly emulates the GameCube but I am yet to experience that first hand (will soon )

I have heard so many bad things about he Wii-U that I am keeping distance until I see what happens. Apparently is in danger of loosing the current console wars and dropping out due to less than expected sales. A generation without an active Nintendo consoles does not sound right to me but they have been mismanaging it by alienating the core fan base the last few gens.

[kurdt_the_goat]

Really, apart from in the very beginning with NES, buying a Nintendo machine was always mostly for the exclusives. To varying degrees it changed over time; when the Mega Drive took a lot of the market share, there were plenty of 3rd party exclusives to be had there. N64 if not for Rare, which was basically Nintendo back then anyway, would have been entirely supported by Nintendo 1st party. Gamecube had a few notable 3rd party exclusives but by comparison, PS2 and even Xbox had way more. The Wii for a time was getting a lot of support more like NES/SNES era, but given the gulf in hardware specs, there were massive amounts of 3rd party exclusive stuff on PS3 & 360. A lot of Wii's support was also shovelware like PS2, because it had the biggest install base.

Even though Wii U is looking like a commercial flop, i think it's highly unlikely they'll discontinue it (ie, do a Sega). Nintendo know dropping support will reduce consumer confidence in whatever comes next as well.

Though it's true their options are looking limited, i'd say it's most likely they'll just keep on hammering out the exceptional 1st party games they always do, hope the install base grows such that they can get some decent 3rd party stuff... and just ride the Wii U out until the market will accept a new console, and try again. They've proven over and over that their software alone can at least sustain a console. Either way, buying now isn't that bad an idea since typically a console's best years are around end of year 2 into year 3, when development is starting to get into gear.

Personally, i don't consider consoles based on their price at launch or afterwards... if someone were concerned about price then they ought to be thinking long term, like how much am i going to spend total on hardware & games, over the course of this system's life. In that respect, you'd almost want less good games to come out!

The problem of buying multiple consoles and opening doors to all the exclusives is obviously that you have too much choice! I'm doing a balancing act right now with 3DS, Vita & Wii U stuff. Some would argue both Vita and Wii U don't have many games period, but couple them with 3DS, and i am flooded with so many high quality games i can't even get around to playing half of them, and i'm spending a bloody fortune!

[Gutsman Heavy]

Nintendo won't drop the Wii U, they make money off their hardware. Compared to MS & Sony who sell at a loss.
Xbox has yet to turn a profit for MS. Sony's gaming division hasn't made money in years.

It won't print Wii money, but it'll turn a pretty profit.

Oh and re: the Dreamcast, it didn't kill Sega, it just wasn't successful enough to save them from years of costly blunders (32x/CD/Saturn).

[kurdt_the_goat]

Nintendo won't drop the Wii U, they make money off their hardware. Compared to MS & Sony who sell at a loss.
Xbox has yet to turn a profit for MS. Sony's gaming division hasn't made money in years.

I know that's true for past consoles but wasn't the Gamepad responsible for not making a profit on hardware this time around?

Oh and re: the Dreamcast, it didn't kill Sega, it just wasn't successful enough to save them from years of costly blunders (32x/CD/Saturn).

Ah by my Sega reference i actually meant the 32X being a total stopgap before the Saturn!

[1orion2many]

Nintendo won't drop the Wii U, they make money off their hardware. Compared to MS & Sony who sell at a loss.
Xbox has yet to turn a profit for MS. Sony's gaming division hasn't made money in years.

It won't print Wii money, but it'll turn a pretty profit.

Oh and re: the Dreamcast, it didn't kill Sega, it just wasn't successful enough to save them from years of costly blunders (32x/CD/Saturn).

MMmmmm Dreamcast one of my favourite consoles

[shokwave2]

Every console Nintendo releases is said to be a failure by the industry experts. But every time it hangs in there, probably with a lot of help from the A1 titles such as the Mario's and Zelda's. The Wii only done so well due to the casual games (Wii Sports, Wii Fit, shovelware) which got everyone from baby to grandma buying a console. Although there's a lot of under-rated games on the Wii.

The Gamecube didn't do too good due to the bad choice of media, the 1.4gb mini-discs. Only chosen by Nintendo to combat piracy, which in the end became easy to rip. The hardware was capable of making great looking games for that generation, just look at SW Rogue Leader, Mario Sunshine and Zelda Twilight Princess.

The Wii U is in that stage were for the next year or two the big games will be released. Super Mario (just arrived), Donkey Kong, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Zelda, and maybe one or two surprises (hopefully a Metroid game). After that we'll probably see ports from other consoles, a few HD remakes and then cheap shovelware. The Wii U has potential, but it needs the big games and third party support. It also needs games that utilise the Gamepad like no other game has done so far. It needs a game changer to make other console fan-boys sit up and take notice, or to get jealous enough to go buy one.

I own a Wii U and all last generation consoles (X360, PS3 & Wii), along with a 2DS, Gamecube, N64, SNES. I have always bought the newest Nintendo console on launch day/night, only because Nintendo know how to make something different and start new trends that other consoles eventually try to copy later down the track (motion controls with the Kinect and Move & 2nd screen gameplay now showing up with tablet integration).

Nintendo know how to make the best games in gaming, no question. Just play Super Mario Galaxy or a Zelda game. But if they want to stay in the game for the next generation (in about 5-7 years) they need to turn their console into a media centre which can play blu-ray/dvd's, download movies, record gameplay, etc, everything pretty much what MS and Sony are doing. Or build a kick-ass handheld with 1080p, movie watching and phone calling capabilities.

[Trent]

The problem of buying multiple consoles and opening doors to all the exclusives is obviously that you have too much choice! I'm doing a balancing act right now with 3DS, Vita & Wii U stuff. Some would argue both Vita and Wii U don't have many games period, but couple them with 3DS, and i am flooded with so many high quality games i can't even get around to playing half of them, and i'm spending a bloody fortune!

I only have a PS3 and even then I can't get the time to play all the games I want. I still have yet to play: GTA 4, GTA 5, Force Unleashed 2, Resistance 3, Assassins Creed 3, Black Flag, DMC, Macross 30, Metal Gear Rising and that's just what I can think of off the top of my head. There are a ton more. Hence why I'm still a few years away from even considering a new console. The good thing is by the. The price will have dropped, the playlist will be good and the graphics will start to be in full swing.