Why are consoles trying so hard to emulate the PC?

Consoles are all about the 'streamlined' experience. Just popping in a disc and playing is what I hear console players want. Consoles are better than PC's because of this, or so I am told by the faithful.

Isn't it a strange thing then that console manufacturers seem to be moving towards more 'PC centric' platforms with software updates and patches, driver updates, hardware ugrades and more integrated network functionality. All of which just gets in the way of the pop n play.

I switched on my PC the other day and launched my favourite game. I didn't pop in a disk, I declined to update my system and was playing with my MS wireless controller in seconds. This seemed to be what the consoles were trying to achieve.

So I wondered to myself why you would choose a console over a PC except for exclusives? And why MS, Sony and Nintendo don't just forget about greedily trying to create a market they can directly control ,losing money in the process by making old, expensive and unreliable hardware, and concentrate on making a fortune out of producing PC software instead.

Then we can all move to PC's and experience the joy of freedom of choice whilst maintaining the consoles core values of ease of play.

with the advent of the internet it was more likely devs would patch bugs in console games it was a given.People complained bout stuff last gen and gens prior some were pretty much gamekillers (GT2's 99.8% one springs to mind nowadays could be fixed with a simple patch)

Consoles are still plug and play essentially but they have taken advantage of the advances in tech over the past decade especially the internet, that doesnt make them any more like a PC.This arguement is essentially like comparing a piece of tech like a phone update to a PC does the update/patch make it more like a PC nope it just makes it a better product with the ability to update.

Its called natural progression really tech's evolved consoles evolved aswell.

Having a closed platform with all those features allows for greater control, and the possibility of adding fees for it all.foxhound_fox

Yeah but why do the consumers accept it? Why pay for features that the PC gives you for free, especially when they work better in most cases. Why pay for a closed environment that is starting to go against the reasons it was created in the first place?

[QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]Having a closed platform with all those features allows for greater control, and the possibility of adding fees for it all.1080pOnly

Yeah but why do the consumers accept it? Why pay for features that the PC gives you for free, especially when they work better in most cases. Why pay for a closed environment that is starting to go against the reasons it was created in the first place?

[QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]Having a closed platform with all those features allows for greater control, and the possibility of adding fees for it all.1080pOnly

Yeah but why do the consumers accept it? Why pay for features that the PC gives you for free, especially when they work better in most cases. Why pay for a closed environment that is starting to go against the reasons it was created in the first place?

because people don't understand. there's a general stigma that pc gaming is only for nerds, basement dwellers, etc. and some people believe that bs. My reason for gaming on consoles apart from exclusives, is that I only game on consoles when I do not have access to a gaming grade pc.

Yeah but why do the consumers accept it? Why pay for features that the PC gives you for free, especially when they work better in most cases. Why pay for a closed environment that is starting to go against the reasons it was created in the first place?1080pOnly

with the advent of the internet it was more likely devs would patch bugs in console games it was a given.People complained bout stuff last gen and gens prior some were pretty much gamekillers (GT2's 99.8% one springs to mind nowadays could be fixed with a simple patch)

Consoles are still plug and play essentially but they have taken advantage of the advances in tech over the past decade especially the internet, that doesnt make them any more like a PC.This arguement is essentially like comparing a piece of tech like a phone update to a PC does the update/patch make it more like a PC nope it just makes it a better product with the ability to update.

Its called natural progression really tech's evolved consoles evolved aswell.

razgriz_101

The phone analogy doesn't make sense. Your phone doesn't make you update it before you can make a phone call for example, therefore not going against it's design. I am saying that consoles are breaking their core design philosophy of pop n play and that it is now quicker for me to pop n play on my PC.....

Why are PC trying so hard emulate consoles? Was at friend house and he played Wii on PC with terrible frame rate and terrible controls...

[QUOTE="1080pOnly"]

[QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]Having a closed platform with all those features allows for greater control, and the possibility of adding fees for it all.supdotcom

Yeah but why do the consumers accept it? Why pay for features that the PC gives you for free, especially when they work better in most cases. Why pay for a closed environment that is starting to go against the reasons it was created in the first place?

because people don't understand. there's a general stigma that pc gaming is only for nerds, basement dwellers, etc. and some people believe that bs. My reason for gaming on consoles apart from exclusives, is that I only game on consoles when I do not have access to a gaming grade pc.

Yeah I can understand the barrier to the PC gaming market being the initial price point (even though you do claw it back over time) but imagine if the big 3 were pushing PC gaming and maybe even using the money they would have lost on the console hardware to subsidise PC hardware :).

Why are PC trying so hard emulate consoles? Was at friend house and he played Wii on PC with terrible frame rate and terrible controls...

aroxx_ab

That isn't the PC trying to emulate consoles but your friend emulating games from a console on a PC, for free. This is something we should not discuss and so lets end it here before the ban hammer falls.

[QUOTE="1080pOnly"]Yeah but why do the consumers accept it? Why pay for features that the PC gives you for free, especially when they work better in most cases. Why pay for a closed environment that is starting to go against the reasons it was created in the first place?foxhound_fox

There is more to it than that surely. Otherwise i'd be polishing my waste and selling it on ebay...or maybe I should try....

[QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]Having a closed platform with all those features allows for greater control, and the possibility of adding fees for it all.1080pOnly

Yeah but why do the consumers accept it? Why pay for features that the PC gives you for free, especially when they work better in most cases. Why pay for a closed environment that is starting to go against the reasons it was created in the first place?

There is more to it than that surely. Otherwise i'd be polishing my waste and selling it on ebay...or maybe I should try....1080pOnly

[QUOTE="1080pOnly"]

[QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]Having a closed platform with all those features allows for greater control, and the possibility of adding fees for it all.John_Read

Yeah but why do the consumers accept it? Why pay for features that the PC gives you for free, especially when they work better in most cases. Why pay for a closed environment that is starting to go against the reasons it was created in the first place?

Steam can be played in offline mode. DRM is appearing in console games ala needing to go online on day one to download content that is already on your disk using a code in your manual....

There is no feature that consoles have used that didnt come from the PC first. The PC has always innovated first, then consoles eventually adopt it. Its the natural evolution of entertainment technology.

Comparing console updates to PC updates is an automatic fail. Hardware updates on the Xbox 360 happen a couple of times a year and are painless taking a max of 2 - 5 minutes. Software updates take about 30 seconds. I have updated one PC game, Star Craft 2 three times since I bought it and it was painful every time and Blizzard is one of the best developers. So I would rather deal with an actual streamlined service like Xbox Live then deal with PC.brennanhuff

360 updating is simple, quick and easy. PS3 updates, not so much... :(

[QUOTE="brennanhuff"]Comparing console updates to PC updates is an automatic fail. Hardware updates on the Xbox 360 happen a couple of times a year and are painless taking a max of 2 - 5 minutes. Software updates take about 30 seconds. I have updated one PC game, Star Craft 2 three times since I bought it and it was painful every time and Blizzard is one of the best developers. So I would rather deal with an actual streamlined service like Xbox Live then deal with PC.lundy86_4

360 updating is simple, quick and easy. PS3 updates, not so much... :(

Indeed as the latest rumor has MS stating no new MS console but rather offering CPU, GPU, HDD upgrades for a quick DIY new more powerful XBOX 360. :o

Can't wait and hope for a 2011 holiday release schedule. :P

Comparing console updates to PC updates is an automatic fail. Hardware updates on the Xbox 360 happen a couple of times a year and are painless taking a max of 2 - 5 minutes. Software updates take about 30 seconds. I have updated one PC game, Star Craft 2 three times since I bought it and it was painful every time and Blizzard is one of the best developers. So I would rather deal with an actual streamlined service like Xbox Live then deal with PC.brennanhuff

It isn't an 'automatic fail'. Look at the content and fixes applied to PC games compared to console games, they are much bigger for PC and include may fixes the consoles never ever see. This will of course change as the consoles become even more PC like and have a standard large HDD.

I can still however decline the updates if i wish.

how? it is the same as xbox just not quick, takes old games for ever to update.Unless you are referring to system updates which are also simple all you do is go to system update and update through internetredskins26rocs

In terms of them taking forever. I remember having to update MAG and Heavy Rain :? It took a while.

Consoles are all about the 'streamlined' experience. Just popping in a disc and playing is what I hear console players want. Consoles are better than PC's because of this, or so I am told by the faithful.

Isn't it a strange thing then that console manufacturers seem to be moving towards more 'PC centric' platforms with software updates and patches, driver updates, hardware ugrades and more integrated network functionality. All of which just gets in the way of the pop n play.

I switched on my PC the other day and launched my favourite game. I didn't pop in a disk, I declined to update my system and was playing with my MS wireless controller in seconds. This seemed to be what the consoles were trying to achieve.

So I wondered to myself why you would choose a console over a PC except for exclusives? And why MS, Sony and Nintendo don't just forget about greedily trying to create a market they can directly control ,losing money in the process by making old, expensive and unreliable hardware, and concentrate on making a fortune out of producing PC software instead.

Then we can all move to PC's and experience the joy of freedom of choice whilst maintaining the consoles core values of ease of play.

1080pOnly

Lol , good points there.

I would love the idea of a universal system playing all games there are but that wont happen.. EVER

why MS, Sony and Nintendo don't just forget about greedily trying to create a market they can directly control ,losing money in the process by making old, expensive and unreliable hardware, and concentrate on making a fortune out of producing PC software instead.1080pOnly

There is no feature that consoles have used that didnt come from the PC first. The PC has always innovated first, then consoles eventually adopt it. Its the natural evolution of entertainment technology.

XaosII

Joypads with a Dpad were made for consoles first, I could also think of a few other things console makers did first years back.

Comparing console updates to PC updates is an automatic fail. Hardware updates on the Xbox 360 happen a couple of times a year and are painless taking a max of 2 - 5 minutes. Software updates take about 30 seconds. I have updated one PC game, Star Craft 2 three times since I bought it and it was painful every time and Blizzard is one of the best developers. So I would rather deal with an actual streamlined service like Xbox Live then deal with PC.brennanhuff

Wow, i didn't know you could download hardware.

[QUOTE="1080pOnly"]why MS, Sony and Nintendo don't just forget about greedily trying to create a market they can directly control ,losing money in the process by making old, expensive and unreliable hardware, and concentrate on making a fortune out of producing PC software instead.IronBass

I'm not so sure they do. They might if they could completely dominate a market but they don't and I'm not even sure if MS has ever clawed back all the money it lost from the original Xbox + the 360's defecit. It also took Sony a long time to start earning money again and they also haven't cleared the defecit yet.

I can understand the branding perspective or, like Sony, launching it to make new tech mass market but you could have an incredibly profitable software brand and leave the hardware to those who know what they are doing.

*Edit* Forgot to mention that MS made it's billions from software in the first place. Sony and Nintendo, which aren't as big or as profitable as whole companies, have typically focused on hardware.

Why are PC gamers so scared of consoles?fadersdream

Because consoles get more and more of those "PC exclusives" that made PC so "superior" to consoles.

[QUOTE="fadersdream"]Why are PC gamers so scared of consoles?aroxx_ab

Because consoles get more and more of those "PC exclusives" that made PC so "superior" to consoles.

Afraid? I see consoles as a thing of the past. Devices will need to converge for software to truely move forward, i'm just suggesting they could speed this up.

Yeah, all the PC shooters went to console and all have suffered for it. Fortunately shooters have never been my thing and all the best games remain PC exclusive or are the better MP version.

[QUOTE="fadersdream"]Why are PC gamers so scared of consoles?aroxx_ab

Because consoles get more and more of those "PC exclusives" that made PC so "superior" to consoles.

[QUOTE="aroxx_ab"]

[QUOTE="fadersdream"]Why are PC gamers so scared of consoles?1080pOnly

Because consoles get more and more of those "PC exclusives" that made PC so "superior" to consoles.

Afraid? I see consoles as a thing of the past. Devices will need to converge for software to truely move forward, i'm just suggesting they could speed this up.

Yeah, all the PC shooters went to console and all have suffered for it. Fortunately shooters have never been my thing and all the best games remain PC exclusive or are the better MP version.

honestly at this point no one even wants to debate it. the topic went from being controversial to being boring. more and more people want to know why you care, not what's your proof. the only people who agree with you already agreed with you, nothing changes. After some point you just have to wonder when will it end? it's just rhetoric at this point. we're all getting bored. I think even the PC "gamers" are bored with this now.

[QUOTE="aroxx_ab"]

[QUOTE="fadersdream"]Why are PC gamers so scared of consoles?1080pOnly

Because consoles get more and more of those "PC exclusives" that made PC so "superior" to consoles.

Yeah, all the PC shooters went to console and all have suffered for it. Fortunately shooters have never been my thing and all the best games remain PC exclusive or are the better MP version.

So why worry if consoles are emulating your gaming experience? It isn't hurting you.

I'm not so sure they do. They might if they could completely dominate a market but they don't and I'm not even sure if MS has ever clawed back all the money it lost from the original Xbox + the 360's defecit. It also took Sony a long time to start earning money again and they also haven't cleared the defecit yet.1080pOnly

This is not a question of what either of us is sure of, but what they are sure of. And their reasonings for making a decision tend to be way more complex than just adding and substracting revenue/costs. There's many more things involved, many of them we don't know.

I can understand the branding perspective or, like Sony, launching it to make new tech mass market but you could have an incredibly profitable software brand and leave the hardware to those who know what they are doing.1080pOnly

"You could have". Big maybe.

*Edit* Forgot to mention that MS made it's billions from software in the first place. Sony and Nintendo, which aren't as big or as profitable as whole companies, have typically focused on hardware.1080pOnly

MS made all those billions in the OS industry, not with gaming softare, which is what we're talking about.

Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Cause the PC sucks and why would I wanna pay $800 for a gaming PC when I could pay $199 and $250 for a 360 and a PS3

Cause the PC sucks and why would I wanna pay $800 for a gaming PC when I could pay $199 and $250 for a 360 and a PS3

KevinPlanet

Consoles are all about the 'streamlined' experience. Just popping in a disc and playing is what I hear console players want. Consoles are better than PC's because of this, or so I am told by the faithful.

Isn't it a strange thing then that console manufacturers seem to be moving towards more 'PC centric' platforms with software updates and patches, driver updates, hardware ugrades and more integrated network functionality. All of which just gets in the way of the pop n play.

This is actually necessary now, with the complexity of the software behind games and team's being 10x larger there is only so much polish you can really push out the door. Updates allow for fixes though the PC still tops it in updates because its a perpetual changing system, and every driver release can break games, and patches can break compatibility and there is a constant need to fix and keep up to date or let the softare fall behind.

I switched on my PC the other day and launched my favourite game. I didn't pop in a disk, I declined to update my system and was playing with my MS wireless controller in seconds. This seemed to be what the consoles were trying to achieve.

And they do to a far more consistent degree then the PC, not all games are plug and play compatibile and installing, drivers. Consoles bring everything together in a unified profile also,

So I wondered to myself why you would choose a console over a PC except for exclusives? And why MS, Sony and Nintendo don't just forget about greedily trying to create a market they can directly control ,losing money in the process by making old, expensive and unreliable hardware, and concentrate on making a fortune out of producing PC software instead.

If my console can turn on it works, it manages itself getting updates and all i have to do is face roll on the x key for system updates, game updates, signing into my profile, talking to my friends, getting into a game.

Then we can all move to PC's and experience the joy of freedom of choice whilst maintaining the consoles core values of ease of play.

Unfortunatly the PC is still a clunkier experience with setting up, and the whole comfort tv/controller experience, not all the games support that type of play and most of the best PC games need m/kb so the experience,

1080pOnly

While i love PC gaming, console gaming has never shared its amazing dissapointements, usually I invest in a console, it works, i enjoy it, but I invest in my pc, like now I just spent $500 building a crossfire setup... two 6850's, the drivers suck, not a lot of games support it, so most of my games I run in 1gpu mode and have t constantly switch if I want to take advantage of the extra $350 I spent on the dual 32x/32x pci-e board and second 6850, over a barely noticable performance increase in most cases... mostly because it runs most games maxed out anyway...

I spend $200 on my console and wheel and deal games all the time trading them, and never had a regret. I spend 1500 on a pc and constantly think if I had only got a bunch of hookers to fight to the death in a tub of oil... I'd be much happier. Hopefully it'll pay off once bf3 comes out,

Stop this bickering. PC is neutral. Everyone has at least one. So just like in SW fashion if you own something you are hereby for it.

[QUOTE="brennanhuff"]Comparing console updates to PC updates is an automatic fail. Hardware updates on the Xbox 360 happen a couple of times a year and are painless taking a max of 2 - 5 minutes. Software updates take about 30 seconds. I have updated one PC game, Star Craft 2 three times since I bought it and it was painful every time and Blizzard is one of the best developers. So I would rather deal with an actual streamlined service like Xbox Live then deal with PC.kraken2109

Wow, i didn't know you could download hardware.

Good catch. I see the same arguments being made about console gaming is still alive.

I think the are doing it to keep up with the times and plus they have the technology to do the updates and all the other fancy stuff that they couldn't do in previous generations.

Having a closed platform with all those features allows for greater control, and the possibility of adding fees for it all.foxhound_fox

That is the thing, having a closed system or platform means that nothing is supposed to change. As long as there are driver updates for the console hardware, or software updates/patches for the console OS (how many remember the X360s that got bricked shortly after the first year that they came out?) and patches for games that are now installed to an HD (and the HD can be swapped out for a bigger one if the owner wants). Once a closed platform starts having those capabilities, it is no longer a closed platform.

I can't tell you how many complaints I have seen from console gamers about having to patch bugs nowadays. By hooking up consoles to the internet, publishers started rushing devs even more to ship games and patching them later. Sure, there may have been games shipped with bugs in the past, but it was nowhere near the problem then as it is now. So much for a supposed closed platform.

Cause the PC sucks and why would I wanna pay $800 for a gaming PC when I could pay $199 and $250 for a 360 and a PS3

KevinPlanet

[QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]Having a closed platform with all those features allows for greater control, and the possibility of adding fees for it all.1080pOnly

Yeah but why do the consumers accept it? Why pay for features that the PC gives you for free, especially when they work better in most cases. Why pay for a closed environment that is starting to go against the reasons it was created in the first place?

Ignorance...

[QUOTE="1080pOnly"]

Consoles are all about the 'streamlined' experience. Just popping in a disc and playing is what I hear console players want. Consoles are better than PC's because of this, or so I am told by the faithful.

Isn't it a strange thing then that console manufacturers seem to be moving towards more 'PC centric' platforms with software updates and patches, driver updates, hardware ugrades and more integrated network functionality. All of which just gets in the way of the pop n play.

This is actually necessary now, with the complexity of the software behind games and team's being 10x larger there is only so much polish you can really push out the door. Updates allow for fixes though the PC still tops it in updates because its a perpetual changing system, and every driver release can break games, and patches can break compatibility and there is a constant need to fix and keep up to date or let the softare fall behind.

I switched on my PC the other day and launched my favourite game. I didn't pop in a disk, I declined to update my system and was playing with my MS wireless controller in seconds. This seemed to be what the consoles were trying to achieve.

And they do to a far more consistent degree then the PC, not all games are plug and play compatibile and installing, drivers. Consoles bring everything together in a unified profile also,

So I wondered to myself why you would choose a console over a PC except for exclusives? And why MS, Sony and Nintendo don't just forget about greedily trying to create a market they can directly control ,losing money in the process by making old, expensive and unreliable hardware, and concentrate on making a fortune out of producing PC software instead.

If my console can turn on it works, it manages itself getting updates and all i have to do is face roll on the x key for system updates, game updates, signing into my profile, talking to my friends, getting into a game.

Then we can all move to PC's and experience the joy of freedom of choice whilst maintaining the consoles core values of ease of play.

Unfortunatly the PC is still a clunkier experience with setting up, and the whole comfort tv/controller experience, not all the games support that type of play and most of the best PC games need m/kb so the experience,

savagetwinkie

While i love PC gaming, console gaming has never shared its amazing dissapointements, usually I invest in a console, it works, i enjoy it, but I invest in my pc, like now I just spent $500 building a crossfire setup... two 6850's, the drivers suck, not a lot of games support it, so most of my games I run in 1gpu mode and have t constantly switch if I want to take advantage of the extra $350 I spent on the dual 32x/32x pci-e board and second 6850, over a barely noticable performance increase in most cases... mostly because it runs most games maxed out anyway...

I spend $200 on my console and wheel and deal games all the time trading them, and never had a regret. I spend 1500 on a pc and constantly think if I had only got a bunch of hookers to fight to the death in a tub of oil... I'd be much happier. Hopefully it'll pay off once bf3 comes out,

You're doing it all wrong.

Maybe you should have gone with a SLI system where the drivers are great and the performance increase is vast.

I've also had a lot of head aches with console gaming. A few years ago one of my 360s grinned my Gears of war disc like it was a swiss cheese. That disc costed me $60 and the console was around $300 back then, tough luck I guess.

Comparing console updates to PC updates is an automatic fail. Hardware updates on the Xbox 360 happen a couple of times a year and are painless taking a max of 2 - 5 minutes. Software updates take about 30 seconds. I have updated one PC game, Star Craft 2 three times since I bought it and it was painful every time and Blizzard is one of the best developers. So I would rather deal with an actual streamlined service like Xbox Live then deal with PC.brennanhuff

Comparing system updates to game updates = fail.

Because people generally emulate the best?