Life expectancy of consoles?

I'm deciding about purchasing a console or upgrading my (very much) outdated pc. I'd like your opinions about how long the Xbox and Playstation last (generally speaking) until they're no longer a match for PC gaming

This gen has never been a match for pc gaming. Last gen probably from 2005-2007 the consoles were as good as pcs at that time.

It's probably a better idea to upgrade your PC, as you really won't be effected by console limits and you can take advantage of more indie games and mods overall

@nicecall: I think it's extremely debatable whether console "gaming" is better or worse than pc "gaming". Of course pc's have the capability (already in this new gen's lifespan) to produce much better graphics, far more fps, etc. That's not in question.

But to me, gaming is much more than that - it's about buying a game you KNOW will work as soon as the dvd drive slides shut, and that you WON'T have to fiddle around with settings or d/l new drivers, check minimum specs, etc, for almost every game you buy. I d/l'd ARMA3 from Steam, having checked I surpassed the minimum specs - and met the recommended specs on 2 of the 5 points - and it ran like sh1t...got about 12fps. It was completely unplayable.

I'm not an idiot - only idiots would put up console resolutions or fps against top pcs, but there are millions of combinations of mobo, CPU, GPU, RAM, OS, monitor, etc - and I don't believe you can say that "pc gaming is better than console gaming". In my opinion it's actually the other way around.

pc's definitely have a much, much wider, huge range of great, and cheaper games (ARMA3 for eg), and if you have the time, money and patience, they will all look better than on a One/PS4, but consoles are much easier to play on / work with, and, to me, more fun because of this.

but I'm not flaming - whatever you play, just enjoy it and respect people for what they play.

Cheers.

I believe if you have the money to spare and can keep a computer updated every 2 to 3 years that pc is the best way to go for sure. But with money and longevity a console such as ps4 or Xbox one is a better way to go because the same games will come out for all three pretty much just you can be sure that it will work properly one your Xbox or PlayStation without need to upgrade. The life span for consoles are at least 8 years now a day which i believe gives them a leg up.

i'd take the PC upgrade any time.

i also got myself a PS4 for Bloodborne, and maybe some future exclusives too. everything else i play on PC.

that was a propblem in the 90's. not anymore. ofcourse, there are some rare shitty studios like Bohemia, who fail to create a functional game engine, but that's quite rare.

edit: oh sorry. i read driver problems or something, but yeah, you still need to keep an eye on minimum settings, but if you have a mid-high system, you don't need to. it's only if you buy some crappy Walmart pre-built system when you need to be worried about it every time you buy a game.

I would go with PC. This gen of consoles are even more PC like. As long as you have the technical desire and competance for PC building, then PC gaming will always be the better option. Consoles would only be worth it for true exclusives (that will never, ever see the light of day on a PC like Gears of War 2 and 3).

Depending on how much money you're willing to spend, i'd consider waiting a bit to see the performance of intel's Skylake enthusiast processor. It's supposed to come out mid or late 2016. Although, AMD is doing poorly financially which may cause intel to "slow things down" a bit. Also wait for those 8GB+ video cards to be affordable

@groowagon: Yeah - I'm sure you're right - sure it's a lot better than it used to be. Haha - Walmart!! I'm happy enough with my One although obviously I realise it's slightly less powerful than the PS4 and much less powerful than top-spec'd pc's...I'm happy with that. I have my pc in 1 spare room, on a pc desk with kb/m and a 21" monitor. In another spare room I have my One under a 40" tv infront of a Xrocker gaming chair which is next to a rig with a driving seat and steering wheel, all permanently set up. I'm happy to ignore the fact that any game would look, and run, much better if I threw some £££'s at my pc, but I prefer the ease of gaming on the One.

I'll always be a tiny bit jealous when I see, eg, TW3 running at 14xx by whatever at 120fps, and will probably be more jealous when NMS comes out on the PS4, but that's ok - I'm at peace with myself.

@mpl911: it's 2015 now, PC gaming is pretty much download and play, especially on steam.

The odd driver update for your GPU is about all the faffing you do unless your trying to do things consoles can't do, like modding

Longer life than updates for computers.

Consoles are about to be overtaken by the mobile alternative in terms of performance, so I'd give them at best a 5 yr total life span.

Upgrade that pc so many more benefits from doing that, then being held down by any 1 sales platform.

Xbox lasted 7 years to the least

Playstation 2 lasted for 14 years

If you want quality, you go PC. Console games run at low resolutions and poor frame-rates. A little tip for PC gaming... if you have to look at the minimum specs, it is time to upgrade. The recommended should be your minimum.

@ribstaylor1: "Consoles are about to be overtaken by the mobile alternative in terms of performance, so I'd give them at best a 5 yr total life span." Come on...seriously. You must know that's rubbish. You can't possible compare mobile and console gaming. They are 2 entirely different things. I don't mobile game...can't be bothered with the crappy little screen and hopeless touchscreens, but i'm a big console gamer. And as for the "at best 5 year life span". That's also rubbish. The PS4 and the One came out in Nov '13...1 1/2 yrs ago. you really think they will both be over within the next 3 1/2 years??

You may have no interest in console gaming - that's absolutely fine - I don't have much interest in pc gaming, but please don't start slinging out a load of complete rubbish.

These new consoles won't be around for long. They will come to realise that their machines aren't powerful enough and are probably already working on new ones. 3 or 4 years.

Pretty sure the xbone will be canned in about 4 years when they announce the new one with better hardware to compete with Nintendo.

Sony will pitch in later because of their stronger GPU. I don't expect a long cycle like the last one, they used high end hardware at the time I believe and sold it at a lost. They gave them the longevity to expand, and the architecture of the PS3 was hard to work, so games just looked better as time went on. Won't happen again as they are using x86 architecture.

What you see now is what you will see in the future, unless a new and more efficient engine comes along that supports a better API, such as DX12, which will most likely change the art direction of games, giving you the illusion developers have pushed the consoles to its limit.

@Gaming-Planet: Sorry - but I totally disagree. Do you have any idea how much it costs to develop, spec, build, test, sell and promote a new console and a range of games wide enough that you start to earn some money out of the venture? Nor do I - but let's face it, it will be in the billions. Do you really think MS and Sony would go to that massive expense, and then just 5 years after releasing the consoles in question stop supporting them? Everyone knows the consoles themselves are sold at a loss - and the profits come from games, online-presence, merchandise etc, which is why the consoles' life spans are generally pretty long, so they can maximise that profit. MS and PS both made a lot of money out of the 360 and the PS3, because they sold them for so many years. Why would they cut short the lifespan this time?

I was a little disappointed to see, pretty quickly, that the PS4 was a tiny bit more powerful that the One. I knew this before I got my One. I only really got the One because I really like Halo and Forza, and was always impressed with the stability, and capabilities of xbox LIVE! The One and PS4 are both are much less powerful than pc's. So what? You think that wasn't the case when the 360 came out? Or the PS2? It would have been the same then. Graphics / fps...blah, blah, blah....people like consoles as they are easy to just pick up and start playing. It takes about 40 seconds from when you switch it on to start playing a game. Joypads come with it (no awkward software etc), and I won't even mention the constant upgrades to hard- and software. People enjoy that - that's fine - I wouldn't slag anybody off for pc-gaming (I'm not one of those idiots who do), or having a PS4, but I think you're entirely wrong when you say you think they will stop selling / supporting the One and the PS4 just a couple of years from now. The last gen lasted for ~10 years - I really can't see any reason this one would last any less.

Never said they would stop selling. I'm sure they will sell along side their new consoles. Just because the last generation was long does not mean all generations will be the same. Have you see what Sega did to themselves when trying to compete with Nintendo? There were also a ton of other consoles at the time.

The market changes all the time, old statics are irrelevant. They are off with a good start but where are the games?

@litterspitter: 5-6 years are the usual length of a gen before a new one pops up

Yeah - I'll give you that...still waiting for the "killer ap" games we used to see. I love Halo, and think the MCC is a fantastic collection (don't MP much so no particularly bothered about that aspect)...also (but don't shout this), I like AC Unity and GTA5. Forza Horizon 2 is quite fun but limited - but there's literally nothing else I want right now that's out for the One. I'm so desperate for Project Cars and any news re Fallout 4, that i'm thinking of getting TW3 - even though i hated TW2! Don't think the Sony guys are much better off either - though they do have Bloodbourne and can look forward to NMS, which looks fantastic.

Was hoping 2015 would be the great year for games we all need - but we are already 1/3rd of the way through it and not much has really happened to impress.

But I still really don't think the lifespan of the consoles will be much shorter than the last gen. Don't get me wrong - it won't ruin my life if it is - my One cost £230 and included 2 x AC games...if I need to spend that again in 4 years then so be it...But i don't think that will be the case...don't think MS / Sony will have recouped enough of their investment costs of the new gen by then.

4-6 years is the usual life imo

I think Nintendo will have new console in 2017 maybe even next year, but I think Ps4 will last quite a while.

What consoles? Ps3 and 360? Mobile gpu's are a far cry from even the Xbox one.

@litterspitter: it would be like the 360 and xbox one.7-8 till the new console is out then support and games for a few more so id say 10 full years.they only thing about the the pc i like over consoles is i dont have to wait.when the consoles launch there arnt any around not even for 6 months.you dont have to worry about that on the pc you can just get a new gpu when the new consoles come out and you good.

i got the xbox one 8 months after release there wee no ps4 around or xbox ones for that matter.thats one thing i like about pc gaming to console gaming.up grade you mobo/cou 4-5 years and up grade you gpu every 3-4years unless you want to up grade sooner.my advice up grade pc then get xbox one.

Consoles are fully supported until they come out with a new one. That is their life expectancy. This isn't the case for PC's. A $400 investment now will still be valid until Sony and MS come out with a new PS and Xbox and even within a couple years afterwards as developers finish up their work in progress titles.

PC's can age quickly and is dependent on what concessions with graphical settings you are content with. If you want to keep up with the latest and greatest graphical options available then you have to keep up with the hardware capable of such.

Both the PS4 and XB1 were outdated by available PC hardware before they even released.

You can build a PC now with power roughly comparable to a PS4 for likely about the same price if you buy online and search sales.

If you build something capable of running Star Citizen near maximum, you should be more than sufficiently covered to run anything that comes out in the next 3-5 years at 1080p and 60fps.

Okay, here's the thing. PC gaming is cool. If you have the right hardware, it's awesome. There's more options, more games and pretty much more everything, but it's not all roses and rainbows. PC gaming has its problems. It's messier (if that makes sense.) It's not as 'clean' and 'easy' as console gaming, though it is a lot easier than it use to be. You will, at some point (inevitably) have to deal with PC bullshit along the way. I love PC gaming, but anyone who says PC gaming doesn't have its problems is a fucking moron, or a rabid fanboy or someone whose an IT (or with a lot of PC knowledge) and can easily solve PC issues on the fly.

Console gaming is way simpler. That being said, consoles these days are trying way too fucking hard to be PCs, and it's stupid as all hell. Being forced to install games to HDD? Fucking dumb. Lag on consoles? Fucking dumb. I miss the days of just popping a game in, pressing the on button and PLAYING MY GAME! It's like the two systems. PC and Consoles are slowly merging over the years to eventually create one mediocre machine.

Yep.

If it were up to me i'd have consoles use cartridges again, set patch limits, and the only dlc would be big expansions. But still i'd take the Ps4 over PC any day, and I don't even have one yet. At least I can own what I buy and game without headaches.

There is a bit of hope left for consoles, the Wii U is much more like a console than the others and I hope it's the same way with the NX.

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Well to be honest, if you get a console now you will run into a problem of not having enough games to play, with that said, you will get bored of playing the same games until new titles launch. If I were you I would go for a PC for now, save up, and wait it out until the next generation, the massive library of games will keep you very well occupied and some of the best games of all genres are available.

I, too am waiting out purchasing a console, well until GT7 comes out at least.

Get a Z99 board, skip out on the Skylake processors, and get a Cannonlake CPU ([in 2017] that is too if you really need to) because they will be far far superior.

Intel 5k CPU (Socket Z99)

8GB DDR4

970GTX

@dbzee_cool:

if you run out of games then that's because you are not looking in the right places. PC and consoles share an immense library of indies including games like Divinity which everyone thought it would always be PC exclusive. But seriously, the PS4 alone already has over 800 games for god's sake.

Between this fallacy and the mobile hardware surpassing 2tflops of performance PC gamers are really blowing things way out of proportion at this point. And this coming from someone that has been playing exclusively on PC for this entire year and I cannot wait to go back to consoles when I have the money to buy a PS4 maybe next month.

@Gue1: What the hell have you been smoking? I'm not including rehashes of past games, your so called 800 games on the PS4 is pure farce at this point (which mostly are made up of indies & rehashes). Why don't you compare non-indie titles? The PC has so much more in it's catalogue to offer at this point that your post is incredibly goddamn stupid for a PC gamer.

What if I feel like playing the entire Dead Space franchise? Nopes can't do that on the latest consoles..

How about going nostalgic with something from the 90's... Oooh! Age of empires! nope can't do that on consoles...

Hey what about a couple of new games that came out in the last 2 years... say Battlefield 4 or COD.. Yees! and they run far superior too!

Stop embarrassing yourself.

Definitely upgrade your pc.

In my opinion i dont prefer pc i prefer only consoles, buy a disc play and enjoy.

I ask because I don't know, because I don't own a current-gen console: aren't most console games no longer that way? As in, you have to download patches and/or install the game?

BTW

when it comes to multiplats consoles will always be a match to PC because devs use the same assets for all the systems.

I hope this helps, when it comes comes to consoles you dont have to worry about the match of configuration the game would require(the ram, the processeor, the graphics requirement and so on) and about downloading games for consoles, games are digital which you have to download on your console harddrive or the easy option is just buy the disc play and enjoy hardly just hardly any installtion. Really hope this helps