Online console games vs Online PC games
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Now that both Xbox and PS2 have entered the online gaming market, what do you think is going to happen?
Will it affect gamers?
Will it affect designers?
Author
quote:PC games will still reign supreme online. EX: EQ/UO/AC/AO/DAoC vs. PSO
For how long though?
Creating online games for a PC is easier and harder at the same time. The benefit of a PC is that you can design using a lot less restrictive tools, the drawback is that you have to design for a lot of different hardware combinations.
Personally, I think the consoles offer a lot easier access for new users. Press ''on'' button, put game into CD drive, grab controller and your off. Add a few more ''simple'' steps to log on, and your off.
A PS2 developer I know says that he feels like there is more money to be made in the PS2 environment because of the fact that the hardware remains the same. Once you''ve developed your engine (which is a little trickier than doing the same for the PC, because you basically have to program your game using your PC and then port it to the PS2), you can basically use that exact same engine for all other PS2 games (until Sony creates a PS3).
I''ve always prefered my PC, but now that my PC is once again lagging behind in the specs (P3/450/128), I find myself more and more using my PS2 (then again, I''ve also found myself playing less and less). As a user, I think that once the PS2 online is up and running (has anyone here had a chance to try it?) I will have to think hard about upgrading my PC once again. If I don''t, I will be able to use that money to buy a bigger tv, new DVD player, speakers, etc.
Remember magazine articles like "Will Internet Gaming Catch On?" and "Will Windows Become the New Gaming Platform?". In hindsight, they seemed silly but I think one of the cool things about this industry is that it''s really hard to predict anything. Who knew five years ago that there would be thousands of people playing a mod? Or that Sony would enter the console gaming industry and destroy all its competitors? I say anything can happen. Who knows?
I thought it was pretty exciting the first time I got my DC up and going, I even connected it through my existing ISP at the time which was great, I thought.
I did not have a keyboard for it, so it kind of sucked browsing web pages and such.
As an internet gaming platform, consoles have a huge leg up on PCs. From the user''s perspective, online cosoles are hell of a lot easier to set up and get running. It is the user''s perspective that drives the market, so I can see it going that way more and more.
I did not have a keyboard for it, so it kind of sucked browsing web pages and such.
As an internet gaming platform, consoles have a huge leg up on PCs. From the user''s perspective, online cosoles are hell of a lot easier to set up and get running. It is the user''s perspective that drives the market, so I can see it going that way more and more.
I feel like PC enthusiasts are resisting the inevitable. An all-purpose machine (work, play, write, draw, build, surf, listen, watch) is just like the adage about a jack-of-all-trades: master of none. I predict that our computing environments will grow increasingly distributed, especially as wireless communications take off and protocols like Bluetooth (implementing discovery, description and authentication) become de-facto standards. I imagine a future generation of consoles remotely using your PC as storage space rather than having hard drives necessarily built in, and perhaps even being able to share your PCs peripherals (mouselook on XBox5, or something).
The PC paradigm is dying. Why? Because there are fewer and fewer compelling reasons for users to upgrade to computers just like their existing ones which aren''t noticeably faster, more capable or "better" in any significant regard. Taking its place will be dedicated appliances that communicate and share data and resources, allowing you to work and play in the most natural ways possible.
Besides, I prefer gaming at the couch.
The PC paradigm is dying. Why? Because there are fewer and fewer compelling reasons for users to upgrade to computers just like their existing ones which aren''t noticeably faster, more capable or "better" in any significant regard. Taking its place will be dedicated appliances that communicate and share data and resources, allowing you to work and play in the most natural ways possible.
Besides, I prefer gaming at the couch.
quote:Original post by Oluseyi
I imagine a future generation of consoles remotely using your PC as storage space rather than having hard drives necessarily built in, and perhaps even being able to share your PCs peripherals (mouselook on XBox5, or something).
I think hard drives really should come standard with a console. Otherwise, developers can''t assume that their entire audience is guaranteed to have a hard drive. I love that the Xbox comes with one and I hope Sony will follow suit.
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Taking its place will be dedicated appliances that communicate and share data and resources, allowing you to work and play in the most natural ways possible.
Is this what Sony wants to do with their weird new distributed chip that powers the PS3?
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Besides, I prefer gaming at the couch.
As long as PC games and console games are different (and they are as different as night and day), I''ll be a fan of both, regardless of where they''re actually played.
quote:Original post by Run_The_Shadows
PC games will still reign supreme online. EX: EQ/UO/AC/AO/DAoC vs. PSO.
Isn''t Everquest and Star Wars Galaxies coming to the consoles as well as PC?
quote:Original post by beantas
I think hard drives really should come standard with a console. Otherwise, developers can''t assume that their entire audience is guaranteed to have a hard drive. I love that the Xbox comes with one and I hope Sony will follow suit.
I''d say that I agree that consoles should have a fairly sizeable storage component built in, but I''d disagree on a general-purpose hard drive.
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Is this what Sony wants to do with their weird new distributed chip that powers the PS3?
Not quite. The way Sony sees things, your appliances will be PS3-enabled by virtue of having PS3 chips built into them. The way I see things, your appliances will communicate with each other using uniform protocols and thus let you engage in your digital hobbies/work where they are best suited.
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As long as PC games and console games are different (and they are as different as night and day), I''ll be a fan of both, regardless of where they''re actually played.
Good for you. Me, I have a problem with being constrained to play a game in a certain form factor. With a console, I can easily lie on the floor, sit on a couch, sit in a task chair... Plus, I think the distinction between console and PC games is artificial; the deciding factors are input device and ergonomic differences (the keyboard allows for an incredible degree of input laxity that is difficult to reproduce on console, while no free-floating/hand-held mouse replacement device has yet been marketed for console; and some PC games like flight simulators benefit in terms of "atmosphere" from the posture that a PC enforces).
Solutions exist to the input problem. Hand-held mice exist (RocketMouse, IoGear Phaser Mouse), though they tend to have fewer buttons and somewhat less control. Wireless keyboards are also growing in popularity, but using a keyboard on a couch isn''t much fun (lack of stability).
The ergonomic or form factor problem is a bit more challenging, especially when one considers specialty peripherals like the Thrustmaster Hotas Cougar, their Nascar racing wheel products, or pretty much any of their offerings (FreeStyler Bike? Tactical board?)
At the very least, it''ll be interesting to see how things play out.
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