Switching to Consoles

8th December 2006

Introduction

PS3, Halo 3 and Gears of War have been in the news a LOT recently and now that wii has been released we will no doubt be urinated on with more coverage. (that’s a small play on words there in case you missed it!). Anyway, I don’t own a console for a number of reasons, the most important being cost. I have a number of hypothetical questions to ask you and am curious to hear your answers.

Half-Life 4 on the PS4!

Okay, so imagine that HL2: Episode 3 is fantastic, incredible, amazing etc etc. No only that but Valve announced, much to everybody’s surprise that HL4 is in development and will be a full game, lasting at least 24 hours. OMG, you say fantastic, incredible, amazing etc etc. BUT it will only be available on the recently announced SONY PS4. DA DA DAAA. (Sound effects!)

Would you buy a PS4 just to play HL4? Or perhaps more importantly would you buy a PS4 instead of the, also recently announced, Xbox720? Do people actually buy console just so they can play one game? I mean Gears of War looks good and Halo 3 looks fantastic, incredible, amazing (Sorry, couldn’t resist it!) but come on, that’s a lot of money to spend.

Maybe this is an unfair question because we are talking about transferring a running series to another system and that’s unheard of, or is it? (Answers by comments please).

Stalker: SOC on the PS3!

Maybe here is a fairer question. The developers announce that Stalker will only be available on the PS3. Would you buy a console just for this game?

Of Course Not!

Now I know that very very few people buy a console JUST for one game but it does happen. The console makers are looking to ensure that potential buyers have plenty of reasons to buy their console but what about the many, many people who don’t have and never will have, a console? Well, I have the answer! DA DA DAAA. (Sound effects again!)

Xbox and PS3 PC components

Now, I said earlier that there were a number of reasons I don’t own a console. I said the main reason was money but there are others. But if I could buy a PC console, similar to a normal PC DVD drive that simply connected to my PC and allowed me to play console games then I would seriously consider it, assuming I had the cash, that is!
You often hear it said that console makers lose money of the consoles themselves(yes, I know there are conflicting reports), so clearly the money comes from the games themselves.

Now I don’t know if it’s even technically possible to make them but if the manufacturers saw a revenue opportunity then I am sure they would take it. I could be a new customer, buying games and starting a new revenue stream. Alas I don’t think it will ever happen. 🙁

Lastly I really wish they would make a tape drive. Something I could put all my old tapes into and easily and quickly convert them into mp3 files. Anybody ever heard of one?

17 Comments

  1. Fluffy The Hamster

    I have a deep hatred to the consoles. It used to be something small, that you could play *whenever* while the PC was the main thing. And now, because of consoles, our awesomeness is dying because of the console boom.

    The main reason that I don’t usually play on the consoles is because most of their games suck. I would not get PS4 to play HL4. Why? Because whomever decided that First-Person Shooters should be on the consoles should have their reproductive organs severed with a rusty spoon (regardless of gender). This is how things work. FPSes suck on the consoles, RTSes suck on the consoles. RPGs (to some extent, but this is arguable) suck on the consoles. What works on the console? Arcade games. Fighting games. Driving games. Fighting games was the PS2’s king genre (until the FPS bullshit came in) and they were amazing. With the addition that fighting games don’t exist on the PC anyhow.

    Would I spend alot of money on a next-gen (or next-next-next-gen), just so that I can play one game? Of course not. When it comes to juggling thousands of dollars, we can throw that bullshit out of the window. If you buy the PS3.. Then what? You buy the two only games for 67 dollars, then you sit here with nothing to do. Atleast, with the PC, you can do thousands of other things. The reason why the PC is worth the money rather then the 500 dollars you are going to spend on the Xbox 360

  2. No I wouldn’t buy a console just for a game,I maybe rent a console to play a game thou.I generally wait a few years till prices drop into affordable range.That being said most console only games eventually get ported to pc when revenue drops for console versions.

  3. Luke L

    I have to admit, the main reason I bought an Xbox (18 months after launch though) was so that I could play Halo. I was going round to friends houses day in, day out because I loved it so much. I still play Halo (hate Halo 2), and I am looking to buy an Xbox, but ultimately for me it comes down to money.

    If I buy a games console once every 4 years say, at £300 (after launch hype, bundle pack etc) then for me it is cheaper than getting a PC and then having to continually upgrade it every 12 months to be able to play games.

    Valve have already said they’re going to release all HL:3 episodes for 360, and I believe that because consoles (mainly the 360) are so close to PCs now many companies will co-develop for them. It used to be that a pc games co-developered on a console was crap because of its limitions on the chosen console, but I feel this is becoming less and less of a hindrance.

    So basically, I wouldn’t buy a console just for one game (I got my xbox with a bundle including Halo), but I do prefer consoles. About the only game I currently play on PC is Counter Strike 1.6 and Defcon. I’ve got about 6 games on Xbox I still play weekly.

  4. Fluffy The Hamster

    It balances out, because the PC does alot more then just playing games.

  5. Editor321

    I recently have had to face this evil.

    COD3 was released for every system out there thats considered close to next gen. However it was not released for the PC. This is a new trend we are seeing where games are not even released for PC’s, or are delayed significantly.

    The last console I bought was an N64 because at the time, my computer sucked and I couldnt play any real good games. Money was low so it was the obvious choice at the time.

    Now I see myself forced to buy a console to enjoy some of the games that I want to play. But I will not pay $500-600 for a PS3 or an Xbox360 when I can get the same games for the Wii at the same price…

  6. Ezequielhl

    Buy console for games in it? Yup, I actually done that for the lame-cube of Nintendo. Why? Just for the REvil Games and the amazing FPS-exploration (:P, Now I remember Heart of Evil) known as “Metroid Prime” and it’s $equel. ^^

    A console it’s cheaper to play (for me upgrading my PC constantly is Expensive), but the PC has best (or original) games, and better graphics (wich I don’t care really, but some people really suck doom 3 for this reason).

    My reason to buy a PC or a console are JUST GAMES, no the technical advantages, price, cracking-options-pirating, etc. Also, with the PC I can write crap like this. AND, very important: you can aim easily in FPS with a Mouse. Try it with a Joystick: it’s near to impossible, you must depend of auto-aim.

    So, anyone found I’m not very objective with what I’m saying? Read this finally: For Half Life 4 I even buy Nintendo Console-shitty Again (hope this day never comes).

    PD: I played almost all R. Evil saga in my PC =D. 1,2 n” 3.

  7. Jimbo

    “Half-Life 4 on the PS4!”
    “Stalker: SOC on the PS3!”

    If those were only console games…Valve would lose its main fanbase and Stalker wouldn’t be as popular. All those years in development down the drain. That would be very sad.

    I’m not a console fan. I haven’t been for a few years now. I wouldnt buy a console for a game. It’s more than just because of playing mechanics like Phillip and Fluffy mentioned…there’s something else I dont like about them that I can’t really put my finger on. Maybe it’s because most console games have been severely milked to death and they’re still beating the dead horse. WW2 shooters, anyone? Megaman? Mario? Sonic? Gimme a break. IT’s OLD. I don’t see that in a lot of PC games. Quite frankly when Half-life: Soccer or Medal of Honor: Gun Cleaning comes out, I’m going to stop playing games altogether.

    But I’m going to be a PC fan. I’ve hooked this thing up to a tv and played games on it, so what’s the big deal? My friend says that these new consoles are going to have Operating Systems installed on them so you can do PC stuff. Is that true? And I’ve heard the new consoles will be upgradable, but didnt they say that with the previous generation too? Just give it a year or two, guys. PC’s will be on the top again.

  8. Fluffy The Hamster

    Quite frankly when Half-life: Soccer or Medal of Honor: Gun Cleaning comes out, I’m going to stop playing games altogether.

    There’s a soccer mod for Half-Life, if you were wondering.

    Anyway. I emplore anyone who hasn’t to buy a PS2. They are cheap as chips and you have thousands of games to choose from. What’s going to be more fun, thousands of developed games which seem to have slightly worser graphics or a deadly expensive next-gen console with three crappy games that are only there for the hype.

    It’s like wine. Do you drink wine as soon as you make it? Hell no! You let it sit for a year, then open it and taste and see that it’s alot more enjoyable with age. Consoles are the same, regardless if you are unable to play the next Half-Life game.

    What the f**k is the point of putting OS’s on the console? The console was designed for the idiot: It will always be designed for the idiot. Regardless of whatever way you word it, the console was designed for the idiot. With a console, you can practically jump in and play. If you get a PC, your going to need a good deal of time just to learn how to type. It’s the war of the working verses the lazy.

  9. Jimbo

    “There’s a soccer mod for Half-Life, if you were wondering.”

    I meant a full game! Not a mod! Eli Vance as the next Soccer-Super-Star! You get the point though. Just because there’s one hit does not mean there should be 50 sequels.

    “Regardless of whatever way you word it, the console was designed for the idiot. With a console, you can practically jump in and play. If you get a PC, your going to need a good deal of time just to learn how to type. it’s the war of the working verses the lazy.”

    Well put.

  10. Fluffy The Hamster

    Half-Life Xtreme Volleyball…

    Half-Life Pro Football 2007. With Alyx and the Vortigaunt squad as cheerleaders.

    I’d play those…

  11. Ryan "Quakis" Rouse

    I fall into one of those catorgories. I bought a gamecube when I wanted to play the Resident Evil titles for it, then ofcourse RE4 gets released on the PS2 sometime later which was rather annoying.

    I’m not a great console fan because like a few have stated, the games for them aren’t good. A lot of games these days are dull in my opinion – especially a few FPS games. The Xbox360 is the only console that has interested me at the moment since it has a few games worth taking a look at and some worth waiting for. But I’m not 100% sure right now.

    Due to my mistake, if there was a HL4 exclusive to the PS4, I wouldn’t bother with it to be honest. Cashing out lots of money for a days worth of gaming isn’t what I want. It’s rare for games to interest me so it’d be a waste of money.

  12. Without my PS2 I wouldn’t be able to play Tekken – one of my favourite wastes of time – and I would’ve missed out on Resident Evil 4 (is that even out on the PC yet or are we still waiting?) and a whole host of other great games.

    After watching the first ten minutes of Gears of War on YouTube I’m tempted to buy a 360 – and this morning I discovered that BioShock is also getting a 360 release…both are tempting but instead I think I’ll spend the money on upgrading my PC again – quite fancy Stalker on Quad SLi.

  13. I don’t own a console. The last console in our house was the original Nintendo, with a 13″ TV dedicated to it. I played Mario Bros. on it, Castlevania, batman, and a couple other games the kids had. But once I got a PC, things changed, because the *quality* of games went up significantly.

    My primary problems with consoles is 1) total commitment, and 2) it takes up the TV, especially when someone else wants to watch something else. #1 is a bigger issue for me, because if I’m going to commit to something, I would like to be able to play what I want, instead of the pabulum the shovel at me. Issue #2 is usually solved with a second TV; but my wife and I like to sit together in the same room, even if she’s reading a book and I’m posting on PlanetPhilip–can’t do that with a console, because she wouldn’t want to be in the room while I’m playing the game, with a laptop my problem is solved.

    The only other solution so far is the use of emulators, but that’s allegedly “illegal”, and sometimes difficult on older machines (damned Wintel hegemony!).

    An outfit tried to hype something called the “Phantom Console”, which would play games from all 4 major makers (PC, Nintendo, XBox, PSx); but they were exposed as frauds, not to mention a box like that would be impossibly complicated (4 game boards?) or using emulators on unobtanium hardware.

    I think we are allowing ourselves to be trapped by our desire for instant gaming gratification; instead of demanding the gamemakers make stuff for ALL of us, we cave to their extortion and buy their consoles/games. When I hear programmers say “WE CANT DO THAT OH GNOES ITS IMPOSSIBLE”, I hear people trapped in a mental box, who are refusing to think beyond the confines of their overlords (employers) and actually write code that EVERYONE can use–all they do is tell us we *have* to cave in.

    We don’t, honestly. If I wanted a *good* FPS-type experience, I could head out for the nearest paintball range, and have an experience that is significantly different every time I do it. And, for the cost of an Xbox, I could go out once a week for six months, and play all day long, if I wanted.

    We forget that the providers are providing for US, not the other way around; and it’s time we reminded them of this, with our money.

  14. unobtanium

    Is this a new metal that nobody can get?

    The point about the T.V. is also a big point for me. That’s why I would like to play console games on my Monitor, which is probably possible.

  15. Jimbo

    Everyone has made some really good points. Especially Old Scratches post.

    Oh, and Phillip, you were looking for a tape-to-mp3 device? If you still are, look up “Plusdeck 2c PC Cassette Deck ” on google or ebay. Price is around 100$.

  16. Thanks for the information on the tape issue. If anybody is interested it’s here:
    Ebay Auction

    The thing that scares me is that is says it play tapes “Up to 60 minutes”! what happens to all the 90 minutes tapes that people have?

  17. I Bought a Gamecube for Metroid Prime and no other games are worth playing on that platform. Thing is Metroid is the very best FPS never to be released on the PC and deserves a place in the sci-fi games hall of fame. Now my problem is I gotta spend another 200 quid for a ‘leak” and I really dont want to. But Samus calls and I need to find out what shes doing right now!

    Multi platform games should be the norm but the main problem is that PC games (they are the best!) are so easily pirated that the producers dont want to release for PC if they have a platform that can show off their software “almost” as well.

    I will buy a console for only one or two games, I dont like it but I LOVE games!

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