Nothing too surprising, though the console remark with regards to gaming made me chuckle. I agree, but there are a lot of people working very hard to avoid dealing with that reality.
Yup.
I gave up PC based gaming a long time ago. Each flashy new game release seems to require a very expensive upgrade of hardware too.. With consoles the hardware is fixed, guaranteed (more or less) to be identical for a given console, and therefore the experience will be much the same for each user, and game developers are forced to push the hardware rather than upping the specs.
With consoles, the market is also fixed, against indies. Sony and Nintendo have erected substantial entry barriers against a company publishing its first title on their consoles, even on PSN or Wii Shop/DSi Shop.
You gave it up long enough ago that you weren't around for most modern games being designed with Xbox360/PS3 specs in mind anyway, thus ensuring that any graphics card bought in the lifetime of those systems will cover every game out there sans Crysis.
The last graphics card I bought was two and a half years ago, and it sill plays every new game at a solid 60fps with everything turned on high. This is one advantage to having consoles being powerful. It doesn't make pc gaming a constant horse race as it was in the early 2000's.
Yup. I gave up PC based gaming a long time ago. Each flashy new game release seems to require a very expensive upgrade of hardware too.
Anecdote:
My parents have a 2001-era PC. Pentium 4. It had an extra gigabyte of RAM added ($30) for 2 total, and the videocard was replaced when it died with a $99 model from circuit city.
So, $120 in upgrades over 9 years. It plays Team Fortress 2, World of Warcraft, and other games at decent frame rates at 1280x1024. (Although I don't know what else my brother runs on
According to all the latest reports, there was no truth in any of the
earlier reports.
This was good (Score:3, Interesting)
Despite the occasional snobbish answer, this was a good Q and A. Thanks Slashdot! You guys aren't just Microsoft bashing and astro turfing after all!
Re: (Score:2)
Nothing too surprising, though the console remark with regards to gaming made me chuckle. I agree, but there are a lot of people working very hard to avoid dealing with that reality.
Re:This was good (Score:2)
Re:This was good (Score:4, Insightful)
With consoles the hardware is fixed
With consoles, the market is also fixed, against indies. Sony and Nintendo have erected substantial entry barriers against a company publishing its first title on their consoles, even on PSN or Wii Shop/DSi Shop.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:This was good (Score:4, Informative)
The last graphics card I bought was two and a half years ago, and it sill plays every new game at a solid 60fps with everything turned on high. This is one advantage to having consoles being powerful. It doesn't make pc gaming a constant horse race as it was in the early 2000's.
Re: (Score:2)
Yup. I gave up PC based gaming a long time ago. Each flashy new game release seems to require a very expensive upgrade of hardware too.
Anecdote:
My parents have a 2001-era PC. Pentium 4. It had an extra gigabyte of RAM added ($30) for 2 total, and the videocard was replaced when it died with a $99 model from circuit city.
So, $120 in upgrades over 9 years. It plays Team Fortress 2, World of Warcraft, and other games at decent frame rates at 1280x1024. (Although I don't know what else my brother runs on