Got myself a PS3. Going to a console feels a bit like a betrayal of my PC gaming past, but it was unavoidable. It was just a matter of time...
Since the release of the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii, the PC gaming scene has been visibly affected. There are so many signs: games that come very late to PC (e.g.: GTA) or never do, multi-platform games that come out solid on the consoles but with severe quality issues on the PC (Flatout, Call Of Duty), Top 10 sales almost exclusively made of console titles, stores dominated by all the console titles with a little corner for the PC games, etc.
I wish it wasn't so. Console gaming is great (I'm very happy with my purchase), but it is not perfect. For example, I think it is ridiculous to play a First Person Shooter without a mouse. Also, where the PC joined gamers, the consoles divide them. I can't play with all my gamer friends--I am restricted to play with those on the PS3 (sorry, Francisco, Matthew, and others!)
In summary, the PS3 is awesome, but a PC used to be better...
6 comments:
I actually got into console gaming because the community effect is better. Four-player split-screen on a PC? Impossible! And LAN parties are way simplified when you don't need to haul an entire PC rig around.
Yes, split screen is great. And carrying the console is indeed easy, specially if it is the PS3 Slim... ;)
PC gaming nearing it's end??? I don't know... I know the console will never be my first choice for first person shooters, The keyboard and mouse are alot better, not to mention the graphics. If you can run the pc games at full resolution, and with high details, the graphics are much better than any console out there. I know that keeping your pc updated to run all the new games can get expensive, and that pc games have to support a broad range of hardware, but when you do have a good pc, and a good game, you can't beat it... Call of Duty, Left 4 dead, Portal, Half Life... The list goes on and on... Great games and for me Only great on the PC...
I love my PS3, don't get me wrong... but, it has it's place... Both PC and PS3 are great for Race games, both online and off.
Sports games have to go to the PS3 for me... Shooter games = PC any day, except for Drakes Fortune, and I guess there is always an exception to the rule... Drakes fortune is it...
Another thing to consider is that people are buying the PS3 for more than gaming, it is a multi-media platform, with blu-ray, pics, music, etc... So, consider all that your PC offers, better web browsing, better support for movie streaming, built in TV tuners\recorders, Burners (blu ray too.) and storage. I do see why the manufactures are moving towards the consoles...longer life cycle, more compatability, less loss due to piracy, but, I really think, believe and hope that the PC games are here to stay...
I believe if more companies jump on the Steam band wagon, and sell via direct download, it would help with the piracy, and costs associated with packaging, inventory, shipping, etc...
I plan on purchasing quite a few PC games here in the next couple months. Wolfenstien, COD Mod Warfare 2, and Left 4 Dead 2, so if I can help, I will help keep PC gaming Alive...
Like you, Danny, I also plan on purchasing new titles for the PC. There are some great titles coming up.
I just hope they don't require the latest CPU or graphics card because, at this point, what I don't plan to do is ever upgrading my desktop. My PC replacement, when I buy it one day, will be a light a cheap laptop (no serious gaming there).
I could change my mind a year from now, but this month, with the PS3 and the NAS, I set myself on the path of no PC desktop in my house.
Welcome to the end of your PC gaming Marcelino. I started down that road 4 years ago when I bought my XBox 360. I was a avid PC gamer but after the XBox I have to say my gaming activities shifted 100% to the console. For me that was the end of PC gaming. In short, likes and dislikes (gamer connect style)...
Like:
*) It just works! Pop the game disk into the drive and start playing. No annoying installs, incompatibilities, disk space issues, etc, etc.
*) Multiplayer is not painful. I still remember the days when playing a game online with friends was 30 minutes of "what's your IP, here's my IP, why does it not connect?!?!? #%!#$#!@$#!", 45 minutes playing. With XBox live there is simply no pain, hop on, see your friend, join their games or start a party, very well done.
*) Console morphing into media center. With Netflix integration, demos, videos (e.g. The Guild) the console has become more and more the center of the media center activity in the living room. Even the rest of the family now uses it (thanks Netflix for that!).
*) Casual gaming. With the introduction of the Wii, the other consoles have been adding more and more casual gaming experiences (e.g. Guitar Hero, Lips, etc). The console makes it that much easier... and those games add to great party experiences! ;-)
*) Not having to upgrade my setup every year. Too many times was I forced in the past to upgrade my setup to play the newest, coolest game. No more!
Do not like:
*) The price I pay per year for online access (the Gold account)... but as they say, you get what you pay for... and XBox live *is worth it*!
*) The disconnect between consoles. I can not play with my friends on the PS3 (poor souls that chose the wrong platform!!!! ;-) sorry Marcelino and Danny!).
*) Steep prices per game... ok... the PC takes the prize here... while I'm paying $60 a pop, the same games usually are about $40 on the PC. ouch.
All in all, I am definitely not going back to PC gaming after having tasted the XBox experience. Yup, I'm a complete XBox fanboy at this point... love it. Ok, I'm stopping for now and hitting Batman Arkham Asylum followed by some Netflix... over and out.
As a comment to the mouse vs controller discussion... does not make much difference to me... I'm dead meat whatever I choose anyway... *sigh*
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