PC, Xbox 360 or PS3?

[ohGr]

On the whole "free stuff on the XBL Marketplace" front, to celebrate Live's 5-year anniversary, Carcassone is free to download today and tomorrow.

So go download it now!

 

[Bront]

Did you say Catan... Online? Sweet.

You can do that on the PC for free.

Hellhound told be about a site, I forgot where it is, and I can't look it up at the moment, but there are websites where you can do that with a normal PC.

I got a Wii for a low priced gamesystem about a year ago, and it's a lot of fun. It works great on a normal TV, graphics are good (though not great), but gameplay is usually stellar, and it's missing some of the games the PS3 and 360 get. It have the huge advantage of some of the best in house game franchises though. The big advantages the Wii had for me was I had a gamecube and it was compatable, and it had the games I wanted (Zelda & Metroid specificly)

I also have a PC, and I used to enjoy a lot of games for it, but I've found that short of the more involved sandbox games (Like X or Oblivion), it's lacking at times. I don't care for FPS games (Which PCs are very good at), no MMORPGs for me, and I'm not a huge straturgy guy. The PC has been left out of the development loop for a lot of new games that aren't in that mold. There are no college sports games for it, and it's behind the curve in the Pro Sports arena now (and I don't know why).

So, that leaves the 360 and PS3.

If history keeps to itself, the 360 will have a lot more FPS games and support from US game makers, while the PS3 will end up with a few more well rounded games and support from the japanese game makers. The game makers is a big difference when talking about RPGs at least.

So, if you're worried about budget, or want something the whole family can fool around with, I'd go Wii. Beyond that, 360 and PS3 are good choices.

You can build a reasonable gaming PC for $1200 (I did in '06 and it's still can handle anything thrown at it), and that's not a bad option if you need a PC for other things (Said PC I use also does some DVD burning, home video work, web programing, and other fun stuff).

The big thing is to find out what games you want. If there are some PC games, then a PC is a better choice for you. If there are some 360 games you want, then go 360. If it's PS3? Wii? go for that. If they're out for all systems, then you need to fit your budget and needs.

BTW, you'll need an HDTV or converter in the next year or two anyway if you're in the US, so you might want to look into doing that (and it's easier to convince the wife, as she gets something out of it), and you can always sneak in your new consol later.

 

[Thanee]

Yep, probably depends a whole lot on what type of games one likes best, what system will be the best choice.

A PC is a lot more powerful than any gaming console out there and can do lots of other useful things, but there are some types of games, that simply aren't available for the PC or only very few are.

Budget games for the PC are a lot cheaper, though, IMX; and a lot of really good titles end up there after a few months or a year.

And with just about $800 (guess) you can build a nice system already these days (lower end mainboard, lower end DualCore CPU, reasonably priced 2GB RAM, 8800GT or equivalent video card, ...).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Felon]

On the whole "free stuff on the XBL Marketplace" front, to celebrate Live's 5-year anniversary, Carcassone is free to download today and tomorrow.

So go download it now!

Aw, you beat me to it.

 

[Felon]

A PC is a lot more powerful than any gaming console out there and can do lots of other useful things, but there are some types of games, that simply aren't available for the PC or only very few are.

Can do more stuff? OK.

More powerful than any gaming console? Not sure what mean there. A console is dedicated to playing games, and the current generation do it at least as well as a garden variety PC.

 

[Thanee]

Current PCs have more raw processing power and better dedicated graphics hardware as well with current high-end video cards (at a price, of course). The new Crysis, for example, is impossible to do on current console systems (from what I have seen and read, it really shows of what gaming PCs are capable today). Of course, you won't have much fun with a $800 PC with that one either, supposedly.

One big advantage of consoles is, that the software is much easier to produce, since there is no mixing hardware, and hence it's less bug-ridden.

And you are right, of course, that todays consoles can easily keep up with an average PC in the gaming department.

Bye
Thanee

 

[drothgery]

If history keeps to itself, the 360 will have a lot more FPS games and support from US game makers, while the PS3 will end up with a few more well rounded games and support from the japanese game makers. The game makers is a big difference when talking about RPGs at least.

History's unlikely to repeat itself here, mostly because the 360's outselling the PS3 by a huge margin everywhere but in Japan. It seems like the Japanese console RPGs have generally been making a beeline for portables (most notably the next main sequence Dragon Quest is on the DS), excepting some projects that have been committed to the PS3 for a long time (most notably FFXIII) and some MS-funded studios making 360 games.

BTW, you'll need an HDTV or converter in the next year or two anyway if you're in the US, so you might want to look into doing that (and it's easier to convince the wife, as she gets something out of it), and you can always sneak in your new consol later.

This one really isn't true. You'll need a digital converter (or a newer TV capable of handling digital broadcasts, which doesn't need to be an HDTV) to get over-the-air TV in the next year or two in the US. But since most people get TV via cable or sattelite, and that's not affected, it's probably not a factor in whether you need a new TV or not.

 

[drothgery]

One big advantage of consoles is, that the software is much easier to produce, since there is no mixing hardware, and hence it's less bug-ridden.

In theory. In practice, the PS3 is really weird architectually, and that tends to blow away that advantage.

 

[Bront]

This one really isn't true. You'll need a digital converter (or a newer TV capable of handling digital broadcasts, which doesn't need to be an HDTV) to get over-the-air TV in the next year or two in the US. But since most people get TV via cable or sattelite, and that's not affected, it's probably not a factor in whether you need a new TV or not.

That would qualify as a converter as I mentioned

It's still going to be a good time to buy a new TV in the next year or so. I saw a 32" LCD TV that did 1080I (the Min you want) for $699, and it was a brand name. They're coming down in price, and if you're aiming for a new consol in April, you might want to roll that into an entirely new entertainment system.

 

[drothgery]

It's still going to be a good time to buy a new TV in the next year or so. I saw a 32" LCD TV that did 1080I (the Min you want) for $699, and it was a brand name. They're coming down in price, and if you're aiming for a new consol in April, you might want to roll that into an entirely new entertainment system.

I've seen 32" 720p LCDs for as little as $499 online (I'm not really sure a 1080i LCD can exist; it doesn't seem possible given how LCDs work) and 30" widescreen CRTs in the same range, and I'd tend to agree that that's about as small as you'd want to go. That ends up being about as 'tall' of a screen as a 25-27" 4:3 screen.