King of Gaming - Part 2
OPINION
Howie's view is obviously a very one sided, extremely biased opinion on dedicated game consoles. It was very interesting to read, but unfortunately it's also completely off the mark. I'm not totally against personal computers and believe they have thei
Howie's rant about console video quality is completely baseless. Televisions use decades old technology, this is true, but in all reality, TV technology is becoming better and better with each passing year. Have you ever heard of HDTV, LCD TV's, Plasma TV's and my all time favorite the 60-inch projection screen TV? In my opinion bigger is better. Hook up the game console to that big screen set and you are right in there. It is so large that you will be thinking you're actually in the game. Big pixilated blocky graphics baa… Game consoles have state of the art video chips built right in and the graphics are great. Computers as game machines are yesterday's news. Why in the world would anyone want to sit a couple of feet in front of a relatively small screen, all hunched over sitting in an uncomfortable chair playing a game! That's insane! Turn on the big screen, flip on the console and settle down and enjoy a game in the comfort of your favorite recliner. That's the only way to play a game.
Technology advancement?
Who cares about technology advancement? Game consoles are actually a small computer dedicated and made to run gaming software and nothing else. Consoles do lack the upgradeability, but who wants to be inside their machine fiddling around with their video card, CPU, memory and a bunch of other things? I want to play games and nothing else. I don't want to be rebuilding my console every time a new game comes out. I turn the console on, throw a game CD in and off I go. I don't have to wait all day for the computer to boot up and then wonder why the game won't start or why it keeps locking the computer up all the time. Some PC gamers spend more time trying to get the game to run on their computer then they actually spend playing games. The part about game consoles and their games becoming obsolete with the advancement of time and technology is hogwash. Game consoles are so inexpensive compared to high end gaming PCs that there is no comparison. Even a run of the mill low-end computer will cost more then a game console. An additional problem with the cheap PC is that it's not able to run some or most new high tech PC games. The high end gaming PC costs thousands of dollars more then a game console. The money you save when buying the console will allow you to spend that much more on top-notch games. No bargain bin diving for this gamer. It's top-notch games or nothing for me.
Games, Games, Games...
That's what Game consoles are all about. That's why they are called game consoles. The number of console video game producing companies is increasing. In fact some former computer game companies devote more of their resources to games for consoles and still others have abandoned PC games entirely. They recognize that the future is going to be the console and not the PC. Consoles have all the add ons that PC's have. You can buy various joysticks and steering wheels and peddles. The best part about owning a game console is the fact that there's no keyboard and mouse. Finding the correct key to use while playing a game on a PC can become very frustrating. While the console comes with a smooth working joystick or game controller made and designed with a bunch of buttons. Quite easy to learn in fact. There are all types of games out there for game consoles. There are some titles and genres that are better played on a computer but most of what you can get for the PC is available for the console as well.
What else can a game console do besides play games?
It is true that the game console isn't any good at doing other things. The name is game console and that is what the machine does best. It doesn't have to do anything else except play games. In fact, I don't want it too. It's beginning to have a presence on various online games and in the future the game console will add other features designed specially for playing games. If I want to do my taxes, then I will buy a cheap computer to do that or call my accountant. The game console is more of a game appliance and not a big ugly white box that takes up a bunch of space and throws off enough heat to heat the house during the winter. The game console is quiet and energy efficient…
Closing argument
It should be obvious that I love the game consoles for playing my games. They looks nicer, run games better and there are more companies that produce games for it. It is the platform of the future. The world is moving towards integrated appliances and the PC as it is today is a dying breed. There will be no more big bulky boxes with a bunch of wires coming out. The game console is small and very easily transported. Also lets not forget the fact that each console has a port to plug in two game controllers so two people can play a game head to head. The PC cannot to do this all that easily. You will need two PC's hooked up together via expensive network equipment. In my mind, there's no question as to what system is the King of Gaming.
A note from Hooked Gamers
The above article gives two very different opinions on to which system is best for gaming. At this time though, it's probably not all that clear which is the King of Gaming. Since Sony's Playstation, the console has been gathering a lot of followers. Proof of the fact that when it's done right, people will love it. Will PC's die out as gaming machines? Not likely as long as there are PC's. Will PC's push consoles off the market? Probably not. As long as people have diverse tastes, different platforms will exist. All that counts is that you're having fun.