The problem with the console wars now is that, although people might buy it for the games, the fact that multimedia is being considered at all means that any gaming console that does not have multimedia, is labeled as an inferior console in which i do agree that most people are doing so(PSP vs DS showed that). So buying the console for its games only is not the only reason nor is it the defining reason anymore for some gamers.
I'm just gonna keep saying this in the hope that it will sink in....
Multimedia is more of a strain on your system than other non-leisure applications. Balancing your checkbook isn't going to need a powerful computer. Playing video games will. Watching HD-DVDs or Blu-Ray discs is going to need a more advanced system than running Word or Excel. Your non-leisure machine is really the one that should be cheaper.
Playing online games is going to cost you money one way or another. You need to pay for the internet connection anyway, and you'll need to pay a subscription fee in addition. Different companies go about this in different ways. Very rare is the MMORPG that is free. Less rare is the FPS server that is free. Regardless, one way or another, you're going to have to pay money for it.
Backwards compatibility does not cripple a system EXCEPT for in the case of Windows, but only because Windows 9x was so hideously made that you could make it crash by blowing on it. A slight update to a system isn't like PS to PS2, it's like WinXP with SP1 to WinXP with SP2.
I just hate how you have to have the right specs, can't play some old games easily on newer PCs, have to install everything, blah blah.
Gaming is best on consoles...although saying that, point and click adventures should only be played on PC really, and Day of the Tentacle and the Monkey Island games are a couple of my favourite games ever.
So yeah, PC for some things, but mostly I like to be sat on a comfy sofa/bed in front of a TV for gaming.
Read the whole thing...
DJzen - What I am saying, is that your pc and home theatre will be SEPERATE. While yes, gaming puts more of a strain on your PC - your pc is a more rounded machine. In my mind - it will always be. Consoles are propritarty, and thus need less resources to handle different apps.
For instance; with out tweaking a computer - a box with equal specs to an xBOX will not play the games nearly as well. (Kinda a bad example as the xbox isnt the most efficiant horse - but still true enough) This is what keeps consoles so affordable and powerful. They are able to milk thier models and make more money before creating a new series. Xbox for instance; is extremley outdated by PC comparasins, but it still is spitting out some great title and graphics.
I don;t think games will ever up and leave the PC - and being that the pc will still prolly play games (even if they are older er such). The gaming factor alone, along with the other uses for the pc will require more resources since it is a more rounded machine. Thus effectivley needint more resources.
A DVD player can be prioritized - thus requireing less power than a pc that would do the same job.Watching HD-DVDs or Blu-Ray discs is going to need a more advanced system than running Word or Excel
It very well can when you think of all the extra software that may need to be added to support the old.Backwards compatibility does not cripple a system
edit: I do think that the console will evolve into the media stronghold though - whil hopfully keeping itself propitory. If multiple companies run in demainding that different (ehll even file) types get supported the machine will slowly become less efficiant. Keeping your PC (used for multiple and often important things) seperate from your media box would be essencial.
Bipper
Last edited by bipper; 08-28-2005 at 11:33 PM.
Actually it depends, when you try to put something like a PS1 game into a PS2 which is a DVD-ROM, it better well damn run CDs else its just not right. However a revolution with a Gamecube backward compatibility might pose problems.
The nintendo revolution has a smart disk drive. there is no tray, you just cram the disk in the slot and it does the rest.
Nothing is better than blowing your old nintendo though.... pricless
**good point though - I didn't even consider hardware when i was thinking backwards compatability lol
Bipper
has anyone noted that while the ps3 is backwards compatible it lacks memory card slots? that's a right bugger.
isn't the backwards compatibilty on the revolution by downloading? and the smaller disc for gamecubes shouldn't be a hassle. normal dvd drives can play discs that size as well as square ones, triangle ones, star ones, and other shapes they used to make them in.
Thats hilarious. Nice job on that one. I am sure they will have an extention to buy.has anyone noted that while the ps3 is backwards compatible it lacks memory card slots? that's a right bugger.
Bipper
the problem is that they had to use the same processor in both ps1 and ps2 otherwise the software would not be compatible with the hardware
Fithos: Emulation
Bipper
Emulation would work, but everthing i have seen says that sony did use the same processor in both systems. that was also my problem with the xbox. they took the greatest processing chip in the world and used about 2% of it in a system.
wasn't the ps2 processor the emotion engine? and isn't the ps3 processor the cell? they use different processors (unless they put the old ones in there as well).
And I'm saying in another few console generations (10-15 years), they're going to be NOT seperate. These days the only reason the PC is a more well rounded machine is because consoles don't have OSs meant for general use. However, the Xbox360 is going to have an OS meant for managing multimedia files. If it can do that, it can also manage other files such as documents with no problem. At that point all MS has to do is add multi-tasking support (which it might have for all I know), port Office and voila, everything you can do on a PC you can also do on a console. Heck, it wouldn't suprise me if sometime soon somebody managed to get a game console running as a network server. Why? Because they can.Originally Posted by bipper
Well, barring the fact that you CAN'T make an equivalent computer since everything is proprietary (128 bit CPUs don't even exist yet in home computers), and the fact that the xbox has pretty weak specs to begin with (128 bit CPU + 64 bit system bus = gimped console), the ONLY thing that's really gonna kill the performance of the system is the OS. Windows is a huge OS, while the Xbox OS is proprietary so it only calls up the functions it needs. You can easily do this in Linux too. Now let's look at the Xbox360's specs. It has 512 GB of RAM, that'll run Windows XP as well as anything else you want to run. At that point your argument becomes invalid because the console itself is powerful enough to run non-native functions. If Microsoft makes another console I can guarantee you it'll be running a form of Windows visibly.For instance; with out tweaking a computer - a box with equal specs to an xBOX will not play the games nearly as well. (Kinda a bad example as the xbox isnt the most efficiant horse - but still true enough)
Look, I don't know why you're in such denial about this. I'm not saying that in the future, Microsoft will be the only company in the world and they'll make only one machine and it will be a PC. I'm just saying that very soon, we're going to stop differentiating between game consoles and computers. It's already happening with the concept of a media center (media centers, btw, are NOT cheap, proprietary devices). The set top box is going to be a reality, and it's going to really phase out the need to differentiate. Still don't believe me? Just look at the PSX, just look at the Panasonic Q, just look at Microsoft's plans for the different models of Xbox. Just look at the PSP. Just look at how console manufacturers lure gamers into brand loyalty by cramming their consoles full of features that your PC was capable of 5 years ago. Just look at the way computer manufacturers make computers specifically geared towards gamers, even the cases are blatantly made to look more fun and game like. Just look at how OSs have become increasingly more focused on handling multimedia.
The more multimedia functions a game console adopts, the more expensive it is. The "do everything box" isn't going to be cheap. Again, look at how a media center version of a game console simply costs much more than the game console only version. This has always been the case. Of course, as technology becomes older it gets cheaper. This is why consoles are only now starting to feature things that computers have been doing for a while now. The ONLY exception to this is the use of Blu-Rays discs/HD-DVDs, and I imagine that's going to hit Sony and Microsoft right in the wallet (not that they care). You'll see though. It's just going to get more and more to the point where there's no real difference anymore.edit: I do think that the console will evolve into the media stronghold though - whil hopfully keeping itself propitory. If multiple companies run in demainding that different (ehll even file) types get supported the machine will slowly become less efficiant. Keeping your PC (used for multiple and often important things) seperate from your media box would be essencial.
Nah, the hardware between the two is different. Backwards compatability is acheived by emulation.
can i do the i was right dance now?
about the single pc/console thing.
apparently the psp has the possibilty to be ran as a pda with works type software.
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