Console Wars

[Peppermint_M]

Ok, so my room seems to have swallowed my DS (my sister is a mess.. thats £170 worth of gadgetry it has eaten) so I may need to buy a replacement (possibility that some lightfingered sonoffa- half inched it in uni, can't tell until the room has been cleaned up but I am not in the mood for A&E like it ended last time I tried) should I get another DS lite or go for the DSi and get an SP or Micro for my Gameboy Advance games? Granted this isn't going to be taken lightly but I need some advice from those who have used the new console while I mull over my options. You never know if some kind of periphral will come out that lets me play GA games on the DSi (or my mate gets them all on emulators and into an SD card).

[legoman960]

I have a wii, but I don't think there are too many good games for it so i think i might get a ps3 or possibly an xbox360. I think i will get a ps3 but its a hard choice because half my friends have xboxes and the other half have ps3s.

[Bored Robot]

I have always been a PC gamer and never found any console that attractive. Mods and a much greater level of customizability in general are the biggest draws for me. Some of the best things I played over the last year were mods for various games. Multiplayer is usually better on the PC too due to the user-made content. Other factors include mouse control for FPS and RTS games as well the superior graphics and other technical aspects. I like the higher resolutions, AA and often better framerates on the PC, and don't mind getting whatever hardware is needed to achieve that.

The one thing I do like about consoles is splitscreen gameplay, which is a lot of fun. The PC can do this too but it has hardly ever been done, and I can only think of 2 or 3 games over the years that had it.

Splitscreen is so fun....I'm in exact same boat, well I used to be until I decided not to rebuild my gaming rig, switched to using Apple computers and committed myself to console gaming 100%. I miss the RTS and FPS games--that was usually all I played on the PC. My favorite mod had to be Desert Combat. For someone who actually carried his rig around with that DFI LanParty MOBO computer strap this is a sad confession but I just got tired of upgrading my hardware I guess (I was an FPS addict). That and I needed/wanted space around ye olde desk. Goodbye 5.1 speakers, headset, joystick, fat keyboard and Nostromo gaming pad. I did keep all my PC games so who knows, maybe one day I will rebuild my system and hope they run on whatever OS is "current".

Currently, I have a PS3/360/PS2/gamecube/n64/wii and original xbox all hooked up in my small home theater + GB SP, GB ADV and PSP (White Darth Vader edition of course). I still play each system, no cheesy arcade or retro downloads for me! Nothing like shoving the cartridge for the original Episode 1 racer into the N64 and barfing at the fat polygons and weak textures. <chuckle> The cost of console games is high but I generally wait to pick them up used and generally only pay half the original MSRP or less.

BTW CP5670, I'm the guy that built Vader's Podracer, we hung out a bit at Brickfair last year. Didn't know you are a gamer...

[CP5670]

Splitscreen is so fun....I'm in exact same boat, well I used to be until I decided not to rebuild my gaming rig, switched to using Apple computers and committed myself to console gaming 100%. I miss the RTS and FPS games--that was usually all I played on the PC. My favorite mod had to be Desert Combat. For someone who actually carried his rig around with that DFI LanParty MOBO computer strap this is a sad confession but I just got tired of upgrading my hardware I guess (I was an FPS addict). That and I needed/wanted space around ye olde desk. Goodbye 5.1 speakers, headset, joystick, fat keyboard and Nostromo gaming pad. I did keep all my PC games so who knows, maybe one day I will rebuild my system and hope they run on whatever OS is "current".

Currently, I have a PS3/360/PS2/gamecube/n64/wii and original xbox all hooked up in my small home theater + GB SP, GB ADV and PSP (White Darth Vader edition of course). I still play each system, no cheesy arcade or retro downloads for me! Nothing like shoving the cartridge for the original Episode 1 racer into the N64 and barfing at the fat polygons and weak textures. <chuckle> The cost of console games is high but I generally wait to pick them up used and generally only pay half the original MSRP or less.

BTW CP5670, I'm the guy that built Vader's Podracer, we hung out a bit at Brickfair last year. Didn't know you are a gamer...

Ah, I remember you. Nice to see you around here. I didn't realize you had registered on EB.

Yes, I've been playing PC games for almost as long as I have been into Lego, and I used to be active in some modding communities and multiplayer clans at one point as well. This project was probably my best work. I think the mods are really the main thing that make PC gaming worthwhile in the long run. Some particularly standout ones I played over the last six months were TNM for Deus Ex and The Ball for UT3.

If you buy a video card or CPU today, they will last a lot longer than in the past, as the consoles basically drive game development these days and we have long since reached the limits of what the 360 and PS3 can do. I used to upgrade something every six months at one point but haven't really bothered in the last two years, as there have been very few games to justify it.

I play old games frequently too, and often go to some lengths to get them to work on modern computers. I have various emulation setups for DOS, 68k Mac, Windows 98 and a few old consoles that I use regularly.

[SWMAN]

So far it looks like the PS2/3's are much more popular than the Xbox's and 360's. Personally, this is surprising to me. Almost all of my friends have 360's. I only know one person who has a PS3.

[prateek]

So far it looks like the PS2/3's are much more popular than the Xbox's and 360's. Personally, this is surprising to me. Almost all of my friends have 360's. I only know one person who has a PS3.

On a global level, PS3 is gaining ground, maybe because over 1,000,000 people got banned from Xbox Live (including all of my friends )

BTW I own a Gamecube, Gameboy Colour, Sega Genesis, SNES, and my sister's getting a DSi and I'm getting a PS3

Edited January 8, 2010 by prateek

[SWMAN]

It's more popular here probably because most of us are matured and don't care as much as multiplayer and we can settle for PSN than paying a ridiculous amount for Xbox Live Gold. Anyways, on a global level, PS3 is gaining ground, maybe because over 1,000,000 people got banned from Xbox Live (including all of my friends )

BTW I own a Gamecube, Gameboy Colour, Sega Genesis, SNES, and my sister's getting a DSi and I'm getting a PS3

Not to start an argument, but what do you mean by "most of us are matured"? I am sure a lot of adults love to play online as well.

[Bored Robot]

Ah, I remember you. Nice to see you around here. I didn't realize you had registered on EB.

Yes, I've been playing PC games for almost as long as I have been into Lego, and I used to be active in some modding communities and multiplayer clans at one point as well. This project was probably my best work. I think the mods are really the main thing that make PC gaming worthwhile in the long run. Some particularly standout ones I played over the last six months were TNM for Deus Ex and The Ball for UT3.

If you buy a video card or CPU today, they will last a lot longer than in the past, as the consoles basically drive game development these days and we have long since reached the limits of what the 360 and PS3 can do. I used to upgrade something every six months at one point but haven't really bothered in the last two years, as there have been very few games to justify it.

I play old games frequently too, and often go to some lengths to get them to work on modern computers. I have various emulation setups for DOS, 68k Mac, Windows 98 and a few old consoles that I use regularly.

Chuckle, that's cool, I'd feel like a dork if you had no idea who I was. I actually have been a member here for almost a year but I'm the ultimate lurker I guess. That Freespace2 mod is cool. It was old when I discovered it but I actually have the original Descent: Freespace, it was the first game I bought a joystick for and then I just went nuts with the MechWarrior series. Man this is making me all nostalgic...

I think you are better at the technical underpinnings than me but I didn't think the PS3 had hit the wall just yet. Perhaps some developers are just a little more lazy than others but the general consensus seemed to be that the cell or whatever hadn't been fully exploited yet. Meh, just so the games are good technically and artistically I don't care. It's a shame so much junk gets put out on consoles, especially with all this so called "casual gamer" flotsam, thankfully there is BioWare, Bethesda and other topnotch studios developing games for the consoles.

Anyway, not upgrading every 6 months anymore sounds prime, I was wondering when that would cease to be the norm. I think that whole trend slowed down after the FarCry/Crysis episode... I'm seriously considering building a linux box just because of the VFX stuff I'll be working on--may as well load some games. Then again, you know how far those funds would go on Bricklink?!

[prateek]

Not to start an argument, but what do you mean by "most of us are matured"? I am sure a lot of adults love to play online as well.

Well if you go on Xbox Live and turn on the chat, a lot of the people are just little kids shouting they @$$3$ off and being annoying. If you turn on the chat on on PSN, there is a different kind of annoying, like people singing or something.

And to comment on my earlier comment, I kinda worded it in a bad way. I'll go and fix it.

[CP5670]

Chuckle, that's cool, I'd feel like a dork if you had no idea who I was. I actually have been a member here for almost a year but I'm the ultimate lurker I guess. That Freespace2 mod is cool. It was old when I discovered it but I actually have the original Descent: Freespace, it was the first game I bought a joystick for and then I just went nuts with the MechWarrior series. Man this is making me all nostalgic...

Those were some of the best years for PC gaming. Freespace 2 had its source code released at one point and the mod community has made many upgrades to the engine and graphical content, so the game looks reasonably good today.

I think you are better at the technical underpinnings than me but I didn't think the PS3 had hit the wall just yet. Perhaps some developers are just a little more lazy than others but the general consensus seemed to be that the cell or whatever hadn't been fully exploited yet. Meh, just so the games are good technically and artistically I don't care. It's a shame so much junk gets put out on consoles, especially with all this so called "casual gamer" flotsam, thankfully there is BioWare, Bethesda and other topnotch studios developing games for the consoles.

Anyway, not upgrading every 6 months anymore sounds prime, I was wondering when that would cease to be the norm. I think that whole trend slowed down after the FarCry/Crysis episode... I'm seriously considering building a linux box just because of the VFX stuff I'll be working on--may as well load some games. Then again, you know how far those funds would go on Bricklink?!

The 360 and PS3 have fairly powerful CPUs but they are coupled with weak GPUs (the PS3 has something similar to a 7900GT, which is quite old today) and have small amounts of memory compared to PCs. Crysis in 2007 (one of the rare PC exclusive games) was the last big graphical advance and nothing after that has even matched it, much less surpassed it. I wouldn't expect that to change until the next generation of consoles comes out in 2 or 3 years, although on the flip side it means that we PC gamers don't need to upgrade for a while.

I do agree with you on the dumbing down of games in general for the casual audience. We don't have the variety of games today that we had 10 years ago, and many genres that were common back then (adventure games, space sims, 6DOF FPSs and arcade racers come to mind) have largely died out today. I think the mods have actually become one of the main sources of fresh ideas in gaming now.

Edited January 9, 2010 by CP5670

[Dunjohn]

I clicked everything except PS3 and PSP. I'm an avid gamer. Other consoles have included Dreamcast, Saturn, Megadrive, N64 (two of them), SNES, NES, all generations of Gameboy except Color, and older stuff.

I went with Wii because of Nintendo's proven track record for great games (Mario, Zelda etc) and XBox 360. I am sorry, I do have a bias against Sony. I've just never had as much fun playing their machines as I have had with others. Historically, I'm a Sega fanboy, but have obviously had to jump ship.

I already owned a Dreamcast when I got a PSone with my first real pay packet, but I never really warmed to the console. Sony's attitude has always seemed to put an emphasis on flash and style: the play is good too but Sega and Microsoft just seemed to emphasise that more. The Playstation emphasis on "cool" meant that it was always the machine bought by people who didn't really know their games, and I also didn't want to be seen as a sheep or something. That's not to say everyone who owned one was clueless, obviously, but when "games console" and "playstation" became interchangable terms in the minds of nongamers, it was a bad sign (For similar reasons, the massive volume of lightweight dreck on Wii shop shelves is hugely depressing, but I can't get Mario and Zelda anywhere else).

I got the PS2 as a prize, spending game vouchers I won from Official XBox Magazine :) I already had an XBox and a Gamecube at this point and, again, I never really warmed to it. That said, GTA: San Andreas is one of my favourite games of all time, and that game was why I got the PS2.

I haven't bothered with the PS3. Despite my bias against Sony, I did approach this generation was as open a mind as possible, and XBox just won that contest. That said, I didn't get one at launch, I waited for prices to drop and libraries to build. XBox had Halo 3 on the way, as well as crossplatform stuff like GTAIV, and the launch lineup itself of Gears of War and COD2 looked a lot stronger than what PS3 was promising. The XBox seemed to have more muscle while the PS3 again seemed to have more style.

[def]

I checked most of the boxes except the X-Boxes and the PS3.

Initially, I just wanted nothing to do with X-Box; it was ugly and Microsoft is not a company known for innovation. By the time the 360 came out, it seemed more interesting, though it seems like a FPS machine. But, I live in Japan, and by 2009 the X-Box 360 was already all but dead here. Toys R Us doesn't even carry it here. Price drops just couldn't help its reputation.

I'll get a PS3 once it's less then $200. I'm doing fine without it, and by that time, it'll have lots of cheap AAA titles.

I bought the Wii out of love for Zelda and Mario, and there's just enough games to make it worth it. Still, I only play it every other month. But no complaints.

[Siegfried]

But, I live in Japan, and by 2009 the X-Box 360 was already all but dead here. Toys R Us doesn't even carry it here.

Darn. I heard it was that bad but I didn't know it was that bad. No wonder Mistwalker are not rushing out new games...

[def]

Darn. I heard it was that bad but I didn't know it was that bad. No wonder Mistwalker are not rushing out new games...

You can still buy them on Amazon for a decent price, about $200 with tax and delivery. And Yamada Denki (Japan's Best Buy type store) still sold them last time I was there, but with one little game rack behind the racks of Wii, DS, PS3 and PS2 games. They have a fan base, but it's all otaku I think.

Having Toys R Us not carry kind of destroys the ability to tap into the family market. The department stores don't carry it either. Sorry.

[PerryDaPirate]

I'd have to say 360. I've played a PS3, but hated it, sorry. The PS3 contollers are horrible for FPS games IMO, because they seem more like blocks that you push down rather than triggers. The Xbox also looks prettier to me. People say the graphics on PS3s are better, but me myself, beg to differ. I played CoD Modern Warfare 2 on a PS3 and an Xbox, but to me the PS3 graphics seemed more 'blocky and choppy' to me. My only quarrel I could have with a 360 is that it sounds like a nuclear bomb going off.

Perry

[Siegfried]

People say the graphics on PS3s are better, but me myself, beg to differ. I played CoD Modern Warfare 2 on a PS3 and an Xbox, but to me the PS3 graphics seemed more 'blocky and choppy' to me.

This is the wrong way to compare graphics. Multiplatform games always have a lead system that often ends up looking better, and often the developer is simply horrid at working on a certain platform. The only way to compare consoles fairly is to look at exclusives.

(XBOX 360 will normally look smoother as it has much better hardware anti-aliasing. This is a blessing but it's also a curse as programmers can get away with lower native resolutions, resulting in high resolution but low detail. For example Halo 3. If you think blur is more important than detail and frame rate, the 360 will win every time. Otherwise it's much less clear.)

[5150 Lego]

But, I live in Japan, and by 2009 the X-Box 360 was already all but dead here. Toys R Us doesn't even carry it here. Price drops just couldn't help its reputation.

Darn. I heard it was that bad but I didn't know it was that bad. No wonder Mistwalker are not rushing out new games...

XBOX has never, and probbly never will do well in Japan. They are very loyal to Sony and especialy Nintendeo. Always has, always will.

[def]

XBOX has never, and probbly never will do well in Japan. They are very loyal to Sony and especialy Nintendeo. Always has, always will.

I disagree. Gamecube may have been relatively successful here, but really wasn't a success. People are loyal to games above all. These days, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Monster Hunter, and a few others. Blue Dragon sold a lot of X-Box consoles. If Microsoft could manage an exclusivity deal for Final Fantasy, they'd have it made in Japan. Notably, Grand Theft Auto and all those X-Box shooters like Halo don't move many systems.