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Why Do Dedicated Game Consoles Exist?

prog21.dadgum.com

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Re: Why Do Dedicated Game Consoles Exist?

#51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$250 PCs (I own one) suck for games.

$250 gaming PCs are possible, if self-built.

Really? LogicalIncrements says that kind of money only gets you Intel HD 4000 power with no peripherals. How is that in any way a gaming PC?

Re: Why Do Dedicated Game Consoles Exist?

#52

Probably because the iPhone lacks tactile input buttons/joysticks. Isn't iOS 7 supposed to add some sort of support for bluetooth gamepads? Will that help out?

Android has had support for bluetooth game controllers for years and has yet to get widely adopted by end users. I think there's even been some companies that have tried specializing in controllers for Android.

To be fair, developing for an iPhone is a lot closer to developing for the 3DS, because there tends to be one per year. Android devices vary, even if not by much, it's not the same. Especially when it comes to demanding games.

So while Android wins out on bluetooth support, it loses on the standardized console platform aspect.

Re: Why Do Dedicated Game Consoles Exist?

#54
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And, because game developers know the precise specs of every console they target, they can reduce load times and make texture rendering... sorry, sorry, I can't do this with a straight face.

I own a PC and an Xbox. I know from first hand experience that the Xbox is easier to maintain. I wasn't joking about that.

How is an Xbox easier to maintain? When something dies in your PC, you just pop it open and replace it. You might not even need tools.

Re: Why Do Dedicated Game Consoles Exist?

#55
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$250 gaming PCs are possible, if self-built.

Really? LogicalIncrements says that kind of money only gets you Intel HD 4000 power with no peripherals. How is that in any way a gaming PC?

Skimp on CPU, buy AMD and budget mobo, go to eBay for GPU.

Re: Why Do Dedicated Game Consoles Exist?

#56
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? LogicalIncrements says that kind of money only gets you Intel HD 4000 power with no peripherals. How is that in any way a gaming PC?

Skimp on CPU, buy AMD and budget mobo, go to eBay for GPU.

Even a modest motherboards costing $50 minimum. A cheap GPU could run less than $50 if you're lucky. A CPU's gonna be at least $100. A power supply could go for $20. A case $20. A hard drive $40. You're already over $250 and this PC won't come close to matching the graphics performance in games of an Xbox or PS3. I'm a PC gamer who uses a $1000 gaming PC and a $1500 gaming laptop, but I understand why people buy and will continue to buy consoles. It's a no brainer.

Re: Why Do Dedicated Game Consoles Exist?

#57
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? LogicalIncrements says that kind of money only gets you Intel HD 4000 power with no peripherals. How is that in any way a gaming PC?

Skimp on CPU, buy AMD and budget mobo, go to eBay for GPU.

At which point your PC costs $250 only if your time is worthless.

Re: Why Do Dedicated Game Consoles Exist?

#58
post #15

The reason I prefer console games is the control. I prefer a controller where my hands are upwards, like a Playstation, instead of a keyboard and mouse. There are peripheral controllers for PC, but since games are built with the expectation of just a keyboard and mouse, they don't make maximum advantage of the peripheral control (except flight yokes and steering wheels).

> There are peripheral controllers for PC, but since games are built with the expectation of just a keyboard and mouse [...] These days, that's simply just not true. Sure there are a good amount of games that are just kb/m, but the many of the newer games support the have full 360 controller support (or PS3 controller if you want to fiddle around with some settings).

Indeed. My living room XBMC/Steam PC has a Logitech wireless controller, and Steam highlights controller support as a feature in the game pages these days. It's pretty common, especially given so many games are cross-platform.

Re: Why Do Dedicated Game Consoles Exist?

#59
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Skimp on CPU, buy AMD and budget mobo, go to eBay for GPU.

At which point your PC costs $250 only if your time is worthless.

If you need a $250 PC, your time probably is worth less. If you're buying $60 console games instead of $5-$30 PC games, I hope you're saving a lot of highly valuable time.

Why would you want to waste your time with a retail PC anyway, loaded down with time-wasting adware and free trials?

Re: Why Do Dedicated Game Consoles Exist?

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own a PC and an Xbox. I know from first hand experience that the Xbox is easier to maintain. I wasn't joking about that.

How is an Xbox easier to maintain? When something dies in your PC, you just pop it open and replace it. You might not even need tools.

I'm talking more about software maintenance. For example, sometimes I need to respond to flash or java update messages.
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