Surely the words "xbox one" have no place on a moneysaving forum

MissBlue42

I think the real answer to pretty much any question regarding next gen is to spend the money on a relatively good gaming PC (which can be pretty cheap if you don't need to play every new release on the highest quality graphics), which also has the advantage of being able to be used for work related things as well as movies and social media stuff. Also, enjoying the indie stuff on Steam and Good old Games on the cheap as well as newer releases. (origins can f*** right off)

That said, Microsoft really have shot themselves in the foot - even if, in terms of cost and DRM, the PS4 and Xbox One end up being the same (PS4 are working with activision, who might end up throwing their toys out of the pram with the PS4 if they don't get the same DRM they do with the Xbox One, plus, as mentioned above, if the PS4 isn't backwards compatible, buying controllers and so on might end up at the same amount), the PS4 has gone out of its way to show that they're actually producing a games console, for playing games on, and has shown some interest in not trying to be as consumer unfriendly as Microsoft. I mean, a console is a luxury product, it's not like a basic computer/laptop, which is arguably essential to be able to interact with modern society. You make a luxury product seem good by making it something desirable, and something that makes the buyer feel important/as if a need is being met. You don't do that by treating the buyer of your luxury product as if they're a criminal and a thief. The Xbox One (can we just call it Xbone? Everyone else is!) both from a money-saving and consumer point of view really can just go hang, until they can sort themselves out, and work out if they're making a product for games publishers and people who want to facebook, or making a product for people who want to buy and play games and then just go make that product.

Johnmcl7

The PC isn't really any better in the DRM regard though and while there is the cost of buying accessories and similar for a new console, it's likely to last far, far longer than a gaming PC ever will (assuming wanting to play at a decent level) when you look at the PS3/Xbox 360.

It's not anything against the PC as it's my platform of choice but value for money doesn't really come into it as the consoles are cheaper (and they're going to get cheaper) while a decent gaming PC can be pricey and won't last that long until needing upgrades which themselves aren't cheap either.

John

MissBlue42

I will admit being pro- PC gaming because one can pick up cheap but innovative games very easily, you can play a lot of old games on them, as long as you're vaguely computer literate and know how to use google, and once the Triple A's make it into PC, they're a touch cheaper, but then again, I don't tend to play games on their top-settings, and am cool with buying upgrades every so often (I also use my PC for pretty much everything else I do as a hobby, so it makes sense for me to combine as many things as I can into one purchase!)

As for DRM on PC - yes, we all know what happened with Sim City. But the Humble Indie Bundle is intentionally DRM-less, and even if it's harder to buy second hand games for PC (Which I will admit, is a problem), the prices for new/first time purchase games often make up for it.

Tropez

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

while a decent gaming PC can be pricey and won't last that long until needing upgrades which themselves aren't cheap either.

John

I disagree with this although it really depends on personal definitions of decent.

For a friend I built a gaming PC four years ago for £650. That PC is still in use today and is still capable of running almost all games on their maximum settings and even the handful of games that it can't run on their maximum settings it will outperform the current generation of consoles. It hasn't needed a single upgrade in that time nor has it at any point been overclocked.

The average console game is £5 to £10 more expensive at launch than it's PC equivalent and even when found on sale, at present, it is often still much easier to find the PC equivalent for less, especially with Steam seasonal sales, daily sales, midweek madness sales and weekend deals where recent games can be half off, and games that are about 12 months old can be up to 75% off.

I still remember little over two months after Bioshock 2 was released, Steam had it on sale for £5.99. You couldn't find it for less than £20 on console at the time.

And often I've seen an Xbox version of a game for £19.99 on Amazon while the PC equivalent is less than ten pounds.

With that in mind, I truly feel that as a long term investment a PC provides more value for money than a console, providing you do a bit of research as to what you're getting and you're content to wait a while for the true savings but even if you must buy games at launch, over 4-5 years, if you buy one game per month the chances are you could come out financially on-top with a PC.

The only reason people think that PC gaming is expensive is that they waste money on things they don't need such as those who insist they need a Core i7 when there are a minute number of games that benefit from them and none that truly need them. Heck, an AMD Phenom II quad core CPU that can be picked up for £60 brand new is still powerful enough to base a gaming system on and the money you save not spending £250+ on a CPU means you can spend more on a decent graphics card which is where the real gaming benefit comes from.

However, what I will concede is that the length of the current console generation has certainly aided PC owners in this regard. It cannot be denied that even if you spent £5k building the biggest, most powerful 3rd gen i7 with 7990s in crossfire and 64Gb RAM you are still being limited by the fact that developers are forced to use graphics engines that are suitable for console use. The money is in consoles because PCs make a small percentage of the market in comparison, so engines like Unreal 3 have remained the predominant choice and made it much easier for PC owners to stay miles ahead because the limits of those engines has been reached.

sniggings

good lost above, I have considered a PC setup a few times in the past, each time the cost or know how has stopped me buying,(also using a keyboard/mouse to play is not for me I have come to realise) either you buy off the shelf and get ripped off, or you put your own setup together, the latter is a no go for me as I just do not have the knowledge.

A PC setup is also competing against a xbox/playstation being played on a TV screen, which in many cases is 2-3 times the size of the average PC screen.

I love the thought of having the best graphics a game can have but there are just to many problems to overcome with PC gaming.

Tropez

sniggings wrote: »

good lost above, I have considered a PC setup a few times in the past, each time the cost or know how has stopped me buying,(also using a keyboard/mouse to play is not for me I have come to realise) either you buy off the shelf and get ripped off, or you put your own setup together, the latter is a no go for me as I just do not have the knowledge.

A PC setup is also competing against a xbox/playstation being played on a TV screen, which in many cases is 2-3 times the size of the average PC screen.

I love the thought of having the best graphics a game can have but there are just to many problems to overcome with PC gaming.

Those are fair points and the main reason behind the console's success.

I won't deny that one of the major issues that plagued PC gaming in the past was the issue of drivers and it still rears its ugly head now and again. It's easier to make a stable console game because the hardware is known in advance (for instance, both PS4 and Xbox One are based around AMD CPU and GPU technologies) whereas there could be various combinations in a PC.

That said, an increasing number of hardware manufacturers, particularly AMD and nVidia as well as third-party apps like Steam will now alert a user when hardware drivers need updating so we have fewer of these issues.

But consoles have succeeded on their "pop disc in and play" convenience. There's very little that can go wrong other than a hardware failure, and when a game fails to function correctly on a console developers have little excuse for it.

Building a PC isn't difficult but it can be intimidating. The truth is that the parts are designed to go together like lego. Many good guidebooks can be found. My father bought me one when I was 13 and I had built my first system soon after. There's been a few changes since then and you have to keep up with compatibility, but once you know how it goes together then it is information you keep.

The increasing number of small form factor and HTPC cases, as well as graphics cards with HDMI outputs allow for a PC to occupy the space where a console would sit in the living room and be connected to a television. Some manufacturers, such as Dell with their Alienware brand, have capitalised on this with devices such as the Alienware X51, a gaming system similar in size to an Xbox 360S, although frightfully expensive.

It is still rather "enthusiast" at the moment but an increasing number of such enthusiasts have started to build PCs into HTPC cases (HTPC is Home Theatre PC) to basically function as an entire home entertainment system, with Blu-Ray/DVD playback, PVR functionality, HD TV receivers, digital audio systems and video games systems all in one.

As for controllers, I use the mouse and keyboard for some games and I have a wireless Xbox 360 controller set up on my gaming PC in addition. I believe you can also get PS3 controllers to work with a PC, and at the very least, PS3-style controllers exist. Most games support them; some such as Crysis and Skyrim even default to a controller if it detects one.

sniggings

Tropez wrote: »

Those are fair points and the main reason behind the console's success.

I won't deny that one of the major issues that plagued PC gaming in the past was the issue of drivers and it still rears its ugly head now and again. It's easier to make a stable console game because the hardware is known in advance (for instance, both PS4 and Xbox One are based around AMD CPU and GPU technologies) whereas there could be various combinations in a PC.

That said, an increasing number of hardware manufacturers, particularly AMD and nVidia as well as third-party apps like Steam will now alert a user when hardware drivers need updating so we have fewer of these issues.

But consoles have succeeded on their "pop disc in and play" convenience. There's very little that can go wrong other than a hardware failure, and when a game fails to function correctly on a console developers have little excuse for it.

Building a PC isn't difficult but it can be intimidating. The truth is that the parts are designed to go together like lego. Many good guidebooks can be found. My father bought me one when I was 13 and I had built my first system soon after. There's been a few changes since then and you have to keep up with compatibility, but once you know how it goes together then it is information you keep.

The increasing number of small form factor and HTPC cases, as well as graphics cards with HDMI outputs allow for a PC to occupy the space where a console would sit in the living room and be connected to a television. Some manufacturers, such as Dell with their Alienware brand, have capitalised on this with devices such as the Alienware X51, a gaming system similar in size to an Xbox 360S, although frightfully expensive.

It is still rather "enthusiast" at the moment but an increasing number of such enthusiasts have started to build PCs into HTPC cases (HTPC is Home Theatre PC) to basically function as an entire home entertainment system, with Blu-Ray/DVD playback, PVR functionality, HD TV receivers, digital audio systems and video games systems all in one.

As for controllers, I use the mouse and keyboard for some games and I have a wireless Xbox 360 controller set up on my gaming PC in addition. I believe you can also get PS3 controllers to work with a PC, and at the very least, PS3-style controllers exist. Most games support them; some such as Crysis and Skyrim even default to a controller if it detects one.

don't you will have me looking a PCs again

On 2nd thoughts, getting to grips with all that or buying a PS4? I think we both know which I will opt for, I guess you are just that tpye of person that thinks nothing of reading up on such things...what does HTPC stand for again I've forgotten...just kidding.

Tropez

sniggings wrote: »

don't you will have me looking a PCs again

On 2nd thoughts, getting to grips with all that or buying a PS4? I think we both know which I will opt for, I guess you are just that tpye of person that thinks nothing of reading up on such things...what does HTPC stand for again I've forgotten...just kidding.

I think it's one of those things that if you have an interest in it then you're set but it obviously isn't for everyone.

When I was a kid my parents didn't have an issue with me playing video games but they refused to spend money on a console so it was always PC gaming for me. They were happy enough to spend money to make sure I had a system that could reasonably cope with games though as long as I used it for school work and such too.

I spent quite a lot of time tinkering with PCs and not just in relation to games but how they worked and operated, customising OSs, messing about creating webpages and all that so the things I learned back then have always just stayed with me.

I still have a console myself though. I bought an Xbox 360S back in 2010. I mainly use it for its media capabilities and the few games that aren't likely to make it to the PC or where the better version exists on a console (FIFA games for example; the PC version is always at least a year behind).

One downside is that as I grew up with the mouse and keyboard combo in FPS games like Quake and Half-Life, I am utter rubbish at Halo with the controller! :rotfl:

dizziblonde

All the next gen consoles will drop in price when the first Christmas rush after release is over. I won't be buying the Xbox One for various reasons (I own all the last two generations' worth of consoles) - mainly a combination of privacy concerns (I'm sorry - it may be tin foil hat-esque but I really don't like the always-on/internet needed every 24 hours Kinect thing - it's too much like the 1984 viewscreens for me to be comfortable) and the preowned game thing. Most of the stuff I play has long-since gone cross platform anyway so I'll go for the PS4 versions of things.

The new accessories and whatever doesn't bother me - it's to be expected with a step up in generations really - as is the ridiculously painful initial price. I just found the PS3 to be a better bit of hardware in terms of the games I played and its functionality than our 360 (in terms of reliability - both have broken and needed warranty repairs but Sony was much more efficient and helpful) and so I'll probably follow that through into next-gen when we have the spare cash to step up.

I still play some stuff on PC - things like Civilisation just work better with a mouse and keyboard shortcuts, and my MMORPG of choice, despite having a console version and controller options I've just played for so long with keyboard controls that I can't play any other way. PC was bought moderate to decently specced about 4 years ago now - can still play 95% of stuff I'd want to throw at it - was beta testing something new last weekend and it was running that fine as well.

demystified

sniggings wrote: »

A PC setup is also competing against a xbox/playstation being played on a TV screen, which in many cases is 2-3 times the size of the average PC screen.

Most of not all graphics cards have an HDMI out port these days and can be plugged direct into a TV set with an HDMI port.

I have a 40" HDTV and the picture is as sharp as a PC monitor, even at 1980x1080 resolution.