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Will Next-Gen Consoles Kill Off PC Gaming?
An anonymous reader writes "CNET is predicting that next-generation consoles will drive the final nails into the already half-closed coffin of mainstream PC gaming. The root of their argument isn't one of power, but of price: 'The bottom line is that console manufacturers often heavily subsidize their new machines, swallowing huge losses up front in hopes that they'll make it all back selling games... Other things being equal, the DIY-heavy PC gaming industry can't hope to compete in that kind of market.' Which is to say that once the 18-34 demographic starts buying $400 PS3s instead of $400 video cards, developers may have no choice but to follow suit." Will there still be a market for PC games, or are the graphics of the next generation of consoles going to make PC games unnecessary?
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But they'll drive another nail in the coffin...it's cheaper for developers to put out games for one or two hardware configurations rather than trying to optimize for for hundreds of potential configurations. Further, they can easily set a higher price point...most new PC games I get are around 29.99 or 39.99 USD, as opposed to 49.99 for most console games I purchase...
The big hope for PC gaming is open source games and modding...but even that is, as yet, still pretty unproven - outside of CounterStrike, of course.
"How like you to drag your keyboard to a gun fight." - Aaron Bedard (BANE)
I ran Half-Life 2 on my 1600x1200 flat panel at its native resolution with no problems on my Radeon 9600 Pro (128MB). I paid more than $100 for it at the time, but it now sells for about $75-$80 on Newegg.
being computer literate means being able to program in exactly the same way that being literate in English means being able to express thoughts in properly constructed words, sentences, paragraphs, etc. Calling someone 'computer literate' because they can use a couple of programs written by someone else would be like calling someone literate in English because they can watch Cribs on MTV.
Wow, that's a stretch. That may have been true back in the day when the only thing you could do on a computer was input some BASIC code, but that's not true anymore. Software on computers today has evolved to the point where it is a black box tool for the majority of people. It's just a means to get work done, not the end result of the work. Plumbers don't build their own wrenches, car owners don't build their own cars, and people who use PowerPoint and Excel at work don't need to know all the C++ classes in the code.
That being said, I am a tinkerer by nature. I write scripts to automate tasks on my computer. I develop applications. I understand how computers work on a fundamental level, and I build my own boxes out of parts ordered seperately, because I enjoy building them. However, there are times when I don't want to mess with all that, just like the majority of the population-- and that's when I turn on the PS2 and blast away.
But the grandparent's post remains valid. We are currently lacking a popular, AFFORDABLE "grandmother system." The Mac Mini was a step in the right direction, but it doesn't have that much support for gaming, and I'm not sure of it's compatibilities with existing and future televisions (in other words, monitors that already exist in the home). I'd love to see a PS3 with a mouse, keyboard, and a web browser. Most of the large ISPs offer webmail anyway, so a mail client is not a huge deal. (Perhaps Sony writes a small mail client to be used by the browser on localhost, in case your ISP doesn't use webmail.) Add a very minimal word processing application, basically Notepad with fonts and margins, and support for a printer, and you've got yourself a $200 machine that does everything Grandma needs it to do. She can even fire up Halo 2 and blast those aliens to pieces, all without calling up her doting geek grandkid to ask about why such-and-such won't install.
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They *might* have HDMI connections running HDCP, but there is no way they would have a standard DVI-D connection on them. If they did, you wouldn't be able to watch DVDs or any other type of DRM protected content through the DVI interface.
Basically, you'd be able to attach it to a receiver or HD monitor that fully supports the HDMI+HDCP specs, but otherwise you'd have to stick with the standard analog component hookup.