@kyelo: PC upgrades are easy. Video Cards and RAM are the only things that need real upgrading anymore. CPUs haven't gotten notably faster in several years, and everything else (Motherboard, Power Supply, IO) is to support functionality and doesn't really impact gaming on the grand scheme of things.
A video card upgrade nowadays costs about $200 if you don't need the bleeding edge.
16GB of RAM will likely last a decade.
So, if you only upgraded your Graphics Card every 3-4 years, that's half of what a new console would cost. And you get so much more choice and productivity out of your machine.
Graphics Cards will be external soon anyway, so there's really no more hassle than a console.
If consoles suceed under this new paradigm, I'm convinced people are just mindless sheep who refuse to think for themselves.
@Zzshock: Thats fine and dandy. There's tons of deals online for decent AMD/Intel i5 Desktops for about $300ish prebuilt by HP/Acer/Dell with warranty and all. Only thing needed is a GPU which always has a warranty. Check affiliate sites like FatWallet or Slickdeals once in a while. They pop up frequently.
Even still, GPU prices are going down with more performance for the midrange. CPUs are having better GPUs that are rivaling and besting budget cards. ARM is getting better and better at gaming needs.
If Dell delivers a $300 rig in a few years that does exactly what I console does, but has the ability to be used as a PC, and is compatible with decades of PC titles from the past, would you not buy it?
I'd bank that people will start balking at being locked in a console ecosystem if its all presented in a nice package.
@Pyrosa @mozillameister 2/3 are on Last Gen, and all are on PC.
Not a good reason to buy a console when a $400 AMD laptop can play these games on Low settings (dont forget that next-gen consoles are essentially underclocked AMD A10's)
@phbz @mozillameister But they haven't improved much. Forza is still racing, with just a nicer coat of paint. Just as good as Gran Turismo 4. Madden is still not as good as NFL 2K5. MLB 2K is leagues worse than the EA Baseball games from 2003.
Its kind of lame if the only reason to buy a new $400 console is for Racing and Baseball with better hair physics.
Compare that to the 360, where you had Call of Duty 2 (lots of new FPS elements that are now overused), Condemned, Kameo (underrated Rare game), Oblivion (genre changing game), and Gears of War within the first year.
What's the point of buying the new consoles if the only games offered that are "worth while" are Sports and Racing games? Its not like the genres are really that much better besides graphics since the PS2 era (you could argue Sports games have gotten worse for Football and Baseball)...
With a dozen awesome exclusives (Bayonetta, Pikmin 3, DK, Mario Wii U, Mario 3D World, Wonderful 101, ZombieU, Lego City, Hyrule Warriors, Mario Kart, Nintendoland, Wind Waker HD, Rayman Legends) and Smash Bros next month, think I'm sticking with my Wii U.
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