"Next Gen" Gaming Coming to an End?

[Aggort]

Over at Gigaom.com (http://gigaom.com/2008/06/18/why-gta-iv-was-the-beginning-of-the-end/) we are given a scary realization of what our "Next Gen" may have in store.

Which is why I think GTA IV is next-gen’s siren song, and a sign of drastic changes to come. Expect to see games made for lower budgets, targeted at wider audiences (ones that aren’t fixated on high-end 3D graphics) and delivered over broadband with a micropayment program in place. Don’t expect a follow-up to the 360 or PS3 anytime soon, either. In other words, the days when so-called “next-gen” gaming reigned supreme are coming to end — instead, the industry’s future will be shaped by games like Rock Band.

Could it be that in eight years instead of enjoying Bioshock 3 on Xbox 720 I'll be forced to play Wii Sports 3 on the Wii?

[fitbabits]

Aggie - I hope you don't mind me changing the title. The title you had was more of an opinion than anything else. There are some people who would LOVE playing Wii Sports 3 on their Wiis.

[Aggort]

Oh no problem Fit, ya'know I didn't even read it out like that at all. When you pointed it out, your right. But again I'd hope there aren't too many of those people.

[Skytram]

Ahahahaaahahahaaa!

.....

Hahahahahaaahahaha!

[Siraris]

Good old Gigoam. You know, whenever I want my rational, insightful, intuitive editorials on the future of gaming, I turn to Gigoam.com.

What the FUCK is Gigoam.com?

[Karmakin]

I've been saying this for a while, the future for the industry I think is in WiiWare, the PSN store and XBLA. While I think it's too bleak, and there will always be the triple-A titles, I don't believe there's a market for the hangers on that made a lot of money in the PS2 days.

[Johan]

Two of these threads now. Same response as the other one:

Hahahahahahaha!

*points finger at Rock Band and Guitar Hero DLC junkies*

[Rash]

Bioshock 3 (or a game like it) will probably exist, but there will just be more room for games like Wii Sports 3 in the future. Hell, I love a good "deep" game every now and then myself, but I'd be thrilled to play the next Wii Sports

Besides, Wii Sports isn't even the best example. That's more or less an extreme of using the "wider audience" term. Like said in the article, games like Rock Band 3 seems more like what we would expect to see.

[BleedTheFreak]

So... does anyone else things PC gaming is going to have a big surge when it's light years ahead technically (more so than it already is)? Not that I mind, I really like the idea of not having to spend $400 on ANOTHER new console that can't really properly play my existing library of great titles.

[Aggort]

Two of these threads now. Same response as the other one:

Yea that was a bit of a slip up, forgive me for that.

I'd love to have more digital distribution in all media, but I am still not at ease with not having something physical like a disc. For instance I had issues retrieving some of my XBLA titles after it RRoD'd and it takes a huge server load for some of these downloads and games.

[Philonious]

I don't doubt that the success of the Wii, Guitar Hero and RockBand will lead to some (arguably needed) refocusing, but I don't think that we've seen the end of the 'blockbusters'. I haven’t really been paying attention to the rate of growth for the install base of the three consoles, but how do they compare with those of the previous generation?

[Variable Gear]

What is "Next Gen?" I think that next-gen ideas are broader and more interesting than higher quality graphics, and that we'll see a large number of studios continue to kick out the kind of games we've seen previously on next-gen systems. Just as well, more and more publishers are going to be attracted by the potential of the micropayment/subscription model, and, therefore, we'll see more developers producing downloadable titles. Honestly, it's not that big of an issue. It's definitely not one to lose your shit about. Publishers are going to try to cater to the widening casual audience more and more as time goes on. This surprises you? You expect publishers to invest big bucks in a majority of high-risk ventures that will demand long development time and have a hard time breaking even, not to mention the difficulty of turning a profit? Where have you been? The industry is evolving to earn the attention of the casual audience, which, obviously, outnumbers the hardcore audience. As long as publishers do not depend solely on casual games, and instead use them to earn revenue needed to produce hardcore titles, would you still be pissed off? Are casual games bad in general? I think that casual games will become more and more a part of each publishers portfolio, whether you like it or not. The thing is, publishers won't forget the core audience either, and will continue to produce the titles that appeal to them. The situation that we are approaching is a win-win for the publishers and for the core group of gaming consumers.

[oldjadedgamer]

I think that services will outweigh power in the next gen. Everyone said they didn't see a huge jump in 360 launch titles over the last Xbox titles that were released but for me, the next gen jump came from the Dashboard and Xbox live intergration. The fact that a friend of mine and I could be playing two different games, I could send him an invite to my game to play with me and by the push of one button... he was right there with me within minutes was simply amazing to me back in 2005.

Also, It was the first ever system I ever turned on without knowing what I wanted to play first. I think that this is what will be in the next versions... jumps like that in technology and software, not hardware like HD this or 1080p that. I think the next systems will be slight upgrades to the ones we have now but all of them will have waggle in them by default.

[Wedge]

All GTA4 did was prove that if you invest $100 000 000 in development you might make $500 000 000 in the first week of release.

Also: Can we stop referring to this generation of consoles as "next gen"?

[Dr.Finger]

This is like saying that 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' was the death knell for big budget blockbusters. Sure, companies are going to try and hop on the Rock Band/GH3 bandwagon, but they're still going to churn out the same things they always have.

[JediSanf]

Here's something I don't understand about graphics creation. If something is recorded and broadcast in SD the human eye knows if it's real. What then is the barrier that prevents the massively increased computing power of these new systems from producing synthetic footage indistinguishable from film as these "lesser" resolutions?

Basically, why are we pushing both for realistic graphics and higher resolution when we could solve one problem at a time and scale from there?

[Aggort]

This is like saying that 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' was the death knell for big budget blockbusters. Sure, companies are going to try and hop on the Rock Band/GH3 bandwagon, but they're still going to churn out the same things they always have.

Damn good analogy. I think he is right in some aspects, just it's not going to be the absolute death of what we see as the future in gaming.

[Abash Alarmist]

Console Gaming Is Dead!!!!! Dooooom!!!!

[Abash Alarmist]

Damnit. Why can't I edit my post?

[Wedge]

Damnit. Why can't I edit my post?

Can't edit in "News Items"-threads.

[Abash Alarmist]

Can't edit in "News Items"-threads.

Thats really stupid. The original post, I can understand. But sub-posts?

[Entropy Effect]

This speculation is kind of silly. As long as there is a market for big-budget titles, they will continue to be made. What might happen is that some of the lower quality, more opportunistic publishers will move away from crappy HD FPS'es towards crappy lower budget motion controlled party games.

[Wedge]

Thats really stupid. The original post, I can understand. But sub-posts?

Yeah. But I guess the forum software is unable to do that.

[Windsong]

Mafia II at 1920x1200 ftw!!

And Dragon Age, Far Cry II, Mass Effect 2, RE5, etc

Certainly "next-next-gen" enough for me.

[Yeti2005]

PC graphics for games have been getting better and better for how long now? I realize some will say that PC gaming is dying but I really don't believe that. We'll always have developers who want to crank out the prettiest looking games and max out a platform. Next gen also doesn't just mean graphics. I expect physics and advanced simulations and AI to also get better and better. There's a lot of money in casual games but that doesn't mean developers aren't going to push the new technology.

[menage]

If GTA was the last big thing, what are Gears 2, CoD5, FFXIII, and such? Sure GTA is one of the biggest, and we may not see one bigger soon. But how the hell is that a swansong for high end productions?

And I think it's also a good thing for smaller network games to grow. Then we'll get more Castlecrashers and Linger in Shadows. How is that a bad thing?

There will always be shovelware, and more of it too. But PS2 had shovelware through the roof. Didn't mean Okami or God of War didn't see the light.

[CptTripps]

I knew it was too good to last :( Guess it's time to install wild tangent and get to downloading the future of gaming.

[Loganrapp]

Because Fallout 3, Alan Wake, SOCOM: Confrontation, Silent Hill 5, Unreal Tournament 3 and Resident Evil 5 are all just... y'know. There.

[Schnoogs]

Just because the PS3 is a flop doesn't mean it's taking the 360 down with it. ;)

[Doctor Setebos]

Could it be that in eight years instead of enjoying Bioshock 3 on Xbox 720 I'll be forced to play Wii Sports 3 on the Wii?I don't see why you should be forced to play any particular game at all.
Good old Gigoam. You know, whenever I want my rational, insightful, intuitive editorials on the future of gaming, I turn to Gigoam.com.

What the FUCK is Gigoam.com?Gigaom is the website of Om Malik, a technology industry guru. All gaming-related posts on Gigaom are written by Wagner James Au, a freelance gaming journalist that has written for Wired, Salon, Gamespot, and Kotaku (despite that last one, he has slightly more credibility than you might imagine).

[RMan]

I think the days of the journalist who says ‘The days of <insert game type> are over’ are over :). All that we saw when this generation started is a dramatic shift to focusing on graphics, all we have now is the Wii balancing that, and the game diversity really isn’t much different than last generation. Although assuredly digital distribution will open up new avenues and game types, I do not believe it’ll change much in the grand scheme, any more than I think MMORPGs replaced all gaming, even though they made the most money. This guy’s a fool anyways, comparing GTA4 sales to GTA:SA, when it has been out FAR longer and was released when the platform had FAR more users. I think GTA4 is doing quite well, and I seriously doubt R* is unhappy with it. It’s a massive budget title that’s likely paid for itself in it’s first month, without some convincing graphs, I don’t see how that’s anything but good. Casual games will not kill any other type of game, television did not kill the theater, and video did not kill the radio star :).

[Gorvi]

Just put everything on the PSP and DS and their next iterations and we'll all be ok. :)

[Farsight]

This makes sense, since the industry is always lightning-fast to abandon known money-making ventures.

That's why the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, break it and see how some other thing works!"

[PrivateJohn]

Why they never think the other way round, reason GTA IV didn't move as much hardware is because this is the first time it's available on both XB360 & PS3 simultaneously, which means the numbers of console sales will be spread thin. (also given that majority of them already own either of the console)

Why Wii is so successful because nobody thought of the casual gamers as a feasible market, everyone just know how to jump in & make FPS/Action which is very crowded (both quality & crappy games) without thinking out of the box.
That's when Nintendo come in, they spotted the untap potential...do some casual games with abit of Nintendo magic touch - $$$.

I believe when everyone started making casual games, they will finally realized it's the same old crap. Too crowded, competition & sales not satisfying.
Not everyone can make games like Nintendo did, the same as Disney cartoon/film.

[Hellstorm]

GTA has peaked. It is no longer a hardware mover and the definition of who and what a "gamer" is has changed.

All this really shows is how stagnant and tunnel-visioned the industry is. The industry needed a wake-up/shake down, and Nintendo did just that. It is not Nintendo's fault that other companies FAILED to see things differently or see the potential of a wider market. Its been staring us in the face for years now.

The time of just making a console faster and push more polys is over. The end consumer doesn't care/can't tell the difference. They don't want to pay more than $299.00 for something that is a "game system."

[Johan]

GTA has peaked. It is no longer a hardware mover and the definition of who and what a "gamer" is has changed.

All this really shows is how stagnant and tunnel-visioned the industry is. The industry needed a wake-up/shake down, and Nintendo did just that. It is not Nintendo's fault that other companies FAILED to see things differently or see the potential of a wider market. Its been staring us in the face for years now.

The time of just making a console faster and push more polys is over. The end consumer doesn't care/can't tell the difference. They don't want to pay more than $299.00 for something that is a "game system."

That's a helluva post. Full of truth and win. Well done.

[kraemer]

This is ignorant. If you want to know where this is heading, look at the movie industry. "My big fat Greek wedding" was made for $5 million dollars and went on to gross $300 million, not including DVD. So the movie studios then greenlit AN ASSLOAD of indie pics that cost a lot and failed miserably.

So, now we are back to making mega budget Transformer movies and sequels. The game industry has most of the same dynamic of the movie industry. They want the tentpole titles and they are going to shell out bucketloads of money to make them.

And if the author doesnt think the next xbox hasnt already been spec'd out by Microsoft, then he needs to smoke a big blunt off Steve Balmers ass.... :)

[Schnoogs]

GTA has peaked. It is no longer a hardware mover and the definition of who and what a "gamer" is has changed.

All this really shows is how stagnant and tunnel-visioned the industry is. The industry needed a wake-up/shake down, and Nintendo did just that. It is not Nintendo's fault that other companies FAILED to see things differently or see the potential of a wider market. Its been staring us in the face for years now.

The time of just making a console faster and push more polys is over. The end consumer doesn't care/can't tell the difference. They don't want to pay more than $299.00 for something that is a "game system."

I would agree with you if it wasn't for the fact that I enjoy playing my 360 1000000000000x more than any Wii game I've touched.

I'm not too concerned about the high rate of sales seeing as a large percentage of them were to non-gamers who will buy 1 or 2 titles before relegating the Wii to the dust pile amongst their living room AV racks.

[cp#]

All I read was the title:

My thoughts on "Next Gen"

It's current gen. Been so since 2005. CoD4 is the highlight of these systems. Even a game like MGS4 doesn't look any better than CoD4. From here on out, very few games will look better at comparable resolutions (CoD4 renders at 640p for those who are uninformed).

Both consoles, especially the PS3, have overpromised (1080p.. 720p) ; but they haven't underdelivered. The games are entertaining. The 360 is the best console since the N64 in my opinion in terms of software (not counting hardware issues; you can drop an N64 in a pool, dry it out, and play on).

The PS3 won't last 10 years. It won't last until 2011. The RSX is slower than my current graphics card and I'm a year overdue for an upgrade. BluRay is great for storage, but the memory is the real problem.

[Pigeon]

GTA IV is next-gen’s siren song
Yes, people are falling in love with GTA4, it's a good thing this isn't gaming's swan song.

[Wolvie]

This reminds me of the time that analyst predicted all games would be WoW MMORPG clones, and console gaming would die. Leaving only PC towers with MMO's installed on their HDD's.

In other words, this prediction fails as bad as the above.

[Judas]

thats a load of crap, and technology will move backwards too. Someone fire that crackhead that thinks his wii is the future of gaming.

[JazGalaxy]

I hate this idea that seems to exist that high budget "AAA" graphics showcase game="deep" and lower budget games for a wide audience= shallow and mindless.

Can I remind you that the graphics intensive games are usually the button mashers that rely on graphics at the expense of story and gameplay and that hte lower budget titles aimed at wide audiences like DDR, Guitar Hero, and Wii Sports continue to be played for years and compel even the most "casual" of gamers to play until they are playing on master difficulty levels. When some fat kid loses 200 pounds playing a game... THAT'S a hardcore gamer. Not some guy who plays "bloodbath x" for ten minutes on his fancy pants 800 dollar console.

[rjcc]

has anyone addressed the fact that he believes GTA IV is selling poorly for the series, even thought It's sold more so far than GTA:Sa did in in its first six months?

He apparently thinks the fact that people aren't buying 360s and PS3s en masse to play GTA IV is more about the series, than it is the fact that both systems cost far more than the PS2 did when the last GTA came out.

and lets not get into his odd insistence that VGChartz is more reliable than NPD, or his track record of entirely BS Second Life "articles".

[ElectricMonk]

Wii gaming appeals to people but saying the game industry will stop there is like saying the game industry would have stopped at pong just because it was really popular 35 years ago.

Wii games will just create more gamers eventually just like mario created my generation. Just like music and movies you need to have all of your bases covered, because as soon as you get used to a complexity level you will start desiring more complexity in your art. You don't go straight from being a kid to liking meshuggah, you go from twinkle twinkle little start to pop music to pop metal to meshuggah (or whatever insane band or music genre you eventually get to)

In short casual gaming is hot right now simply because it's filling a giant void that wasn't filled. It's not the future of everything. If people swing too far in the casual gaming direction eventually hardcore gaming will be the big thing again.

[SalaciousPuck]

The 'next gen', or current gen, won't start until they release a console with next gen (current gen) technology at a price most consumers will pay.

Look at past consoles and the price where a console's sales skyrocket is $200 or less. Until the PS3 or 360 hit that point, they will be failures. It's simple economics.

This is why I always figured the 360 would prevail in the long run - on paper it looks like they could have cut the price faster. I really thought you'd be buying a 360 Arcade for $199 last Christmas. Microsoft has barely budged on the price though, and sits mired in the same elitist market zone as Sony.

[Morratut]

Bah if all consoles turned into something like the Wii then I would just go back to PC.

I'm afraid of this. I'm sure MS and Sony will want to do something like the Wii in future. I don't want them to forget the proper gamers however :D

To me a Wii is a console for non gamers. Apart from Mario, Zelda, SSB of course.

[Craigtheplague]

If what the author says is correct, I say good. I would really like the dichotomy between console and PC gaming brought back, just like during the days of the SNES/N64. I would rather play Bioshock 3 on a PC where the developers can go apeshit on the graphics (scalable, of course). Keep the PC and consoles separate; no more watering down games à la Deus Ex 2.

[Grey]

(PS3 and 360 are defined as “next-gen” for boasting the best and latest graphics features.)


Should I laugh or cry?


God damn it. I want to kill that bastard whoever invented this awfull ridiculous buzz-word. And I want to punch the author for that much failure within a single article.

[bKangy]

This editorial sucks. GTA IV was a massive success. Look at the install bases for PS3/360 and PS2 when they were both released. Meanwhile big blockbusters are doing very well.. Halo 3, Gears and MGS4 for example, and Wii third-party titles still lag in attach rates.

[bjornbarspingvinen]

He´s wrong. 3rd parties are needed and Wii sucks bananas for 3rd parties. I think we are pretty safe, I just hope big-wigs at companies don´t just see the success of boring Wii games and the insanely popular guitar hero game(Don´t appreciate it as many others, you aren´t a rockstar just because you can push colored buttons correctly).
Didn´t people ask for longer life cycles of consoles? :)

[Venkman]

Could it be that in eight years instead of enjoying Bioshock 3 on Xbox 720 I'll be forced to play Wii Sports 3 on the Wii?

Don't be ridiculous. You'll be playing Wii Sports 12 and carnival games 35.

[Hellstorm]

I would agree with you if it wasn't for the fact that I enjoy playing my 360 1000000000000x more than any Wii game I've touched.

I'm not too concerned about the high rate of sales seeing as a large percentage of them were to non-gamers who will buy 1 or 2 titles before relegating the Wii to the dust pile amongst their living room AV racks.
That's the thing though. Some will buy a few games, others will buy MANY games. Some will even move from being "casual" to "hardcore." They just need games that "bridge" the span between the two poles and Nintendo is doing just that.

You really need to check out http://malstrom.50webs.com/birdman.html

You will come to understand the trouble Sony and MS are in and how eventually, all those precious hardcore games we all love so much, are going to end up on the Wii or Nintendo's next system.

[Venkman]

If what the author says is correct, I say good. I would really like the dichotomy between console and PC gaming brought back, just like during the days of the SNES/N64. I would rather play Bioshock 3 on a PC where the developers can go apeshit on the graphics (scalable, of course). Keep the PC and consoles separate; no more watering down games à la Deus Ex 2.

I'd rather have my games work out of the box without $600 worth of new hardware and using an uncomfortable mouse, or worrying if my video card or sound card drivers will conflict with the software upgrades needed to run the game.

Oh, I also don't want some anti-piracy software being installed with my new game that I bought, thus slowing down my system and violating my privacy rights.

[Schnoogs]

That's the thing though. Some will buy a few games, others will buy MANY games. Some will even move from being "casual" to "hardcore." They just need games that "bridge" the span between the two poles and Nintendo is doing just that.

You really need to check out http://malstrom.50webs.com/birdman.html

You will come to understand the trouble Sony and MS are in and how eventually, all those precious hardcore games we all love so much, are going to end up on the Wii or Nintendo's next system.

There are 10s of millions of gamers who would want 360/PS3 games. There will always be a company smart enough to target that niche.

That's the beauty of business. If you see a need or demand tap into it. There are millions of gamers out there who would never be fully happy with a wii. Some company will try and take advantage of that by catering to us.

[51|RandoM]

If nextgen doesn't happen on consoles it will happen on PC.

I'd rather have my games work out of the box without $600 worth of new hardware and using an uncomfortable mouse, or worrying if my video card or sound card drivers will conflict with the software upgrades needed to run the game.

Oh, I also don't want some anti-piracy software being installed with my new game that I bought, thus slowing down my system and violating my privacy rights.

$600? Instead of buying the most expensive card, why not by the best bang/buck card and only spend $200? Oh wait, that actually makes sense so it isn't good for your purpose of exaggeration.

Uncomfortable mouse? Stop buying mice that have spikes on them, and start buying mice with excellent ergonomics. Oh snap, before I forget, don't even use a mouse, use your 360 controller or your ps3 controller, they work on PC!

Don't worry about drivers, just play the games.

If you don't like copy protection, don't buy games that feature it. I've yet to have my system slowed down or my privacy rights violated by copy protection software, but then again maybe I am just lucky...

[Schnoogs]

If nextgen doesn't happen on consoles it will happen on PC.



$600? Instead of buying the most expensive card, why not by the best bang/buck card and only spend $200? Oh wait, that actually makes sense so it isn't good for your purpose of exaggeration.

Uncomfortable mouse? Stop buying mice that have spikes on them, and start buying mice with excellent ergonomics. Oh snap, before I forget, don't even use a mouse, use your 360 controller or your ps3 controller, they work on PC!

Don't worry about drivers, just play the games.

If you don't like copy protection, don't buy games that feature it. I've yet to have my system slowed down or my privacy rights violated by copy protection software, but then again maybe I am just lucky...

You know if you spread the truth the forum will grind to a hault. Lies and FUD are what keeps the system running.

[net7runner]

Here's something I don't understand about graphics creation. If something is recorded and broadcast in SD the human eye knows if it's real. What then is the barrier that prevents the massively increased computing power of these new systems from producing synthetic footage indistinguishable from film as these "lesser" resolutions?

Basically, why are we pushing both for realistic graphics and higher resolution when we could solve one problem at a time and scale from there?

The problem is that the benefit gained from investing X resources in improving SD vs. moving to HD is not the same (you get more "bang for your buck" moving to HD. It's also a heck of a lot easier). Basically, things get exponentially more difficult as one approaches levels of photorealism, meaning that if we had just stayed with improving SD it wouldn't look that much better than a current 360 game downsampled to SD.

Also, improving things beyond their current state is really, really hard. Modern algorithms have about tapped out the ability to fake light, water, and physical interactions without actually having to have accurate models of them (something prerendered CG movies like Shrek try to do, and even they have trouble getting it right).

Model quality and texture resolution is also getting harder; the complexity/perceived quality growth rate is roughly quadratic, meaning that in order to make something perceived as being twice as graphically sophisticated, it needs to be four times more complex (model detail; texture resolution). Ouch.

[CgBeastie]

I think youll see a division in gaming for the "casual" gamer. Games will still cater to the hardcore gamer who wants good graphics and challenging games. I think we have already seen a slower release of nextgen games already. To be honest, ill never buy the casual lower end crap. And ive made sure to reflect that with my own dollar. Don't buy cheap games if you dont want to support that industry.

[justin1278]

This generation of consoles does much more than play games, Xbox Live offers full movie downloads, PSN Home offers a full community. The average non-gamers' thinking is they see a console as a "video game" device. Why not make it appeal as more than just a box that plays some games? That would lead to much bigger console adoption for the non-gamer. As for game sales, hard-core titles will always be lower than the casual titles. But if 2 out of 3 people have the console, you're more likely to sell a title (hard-core or casual) to 1 person than if 1 out of 3 people have the console.

[[Jez]]

So console gaming is dead... I blame piracy :p

[Disgustipated]

You know if you spread the truth the forum will grind to a hault. Lies and FUD are what keeps the system running.

Sometimes it fucking feels that way. We should just auto-force "Ignorant" into the title of anyone poster that claims you need $600 hardware to run the latest games.

[Zeal]

horribly written article, displaying a lack of understanding of the industry and showcasing poor grammatical skills.

also never heard of this site.

[Flatpicker]

So... does anyone else things PC gaming is going to have a big surge when it's light years ahead technically (more so than it already is)? Not that I mind, I really like the idea of not having to spend $400 on ANOTHER new console that can't really properly play my existing library of great titles.

No, because it's ahead technically and it dosen't have that surge now.
The upgrade curve is too much of a PITA for the average user.

That said. If all the publishers go to the casual gaming model next round, I'm going back to PC gaming only.

[Venkman]

$600? Instead of buying the most expensive card, why not by the best bang/buck card and only spend $200? Oh wait, that actually makes sense so it isn't good for your purpose of exaggeration.


Oh wait, for $200 I can still buy a console and a game.


Uncomfortable mouse? Stop buying mice that have spikes on them, and start buying mice with excellent ergonomics.


Spiked mouse? Despite your suspicions, I'm not Todd McFarlane or Gene Simmons. I guess we both exaggerate. ;)


Oh snap, before I forget, don't even use a mouse, use your 360 controller or your ps3 controller, they work on PC!


As much as I enjoyed the "oh snap" trip back to the 90's, do you use a 360 controller to play RTS games? Aren't you the type of guy who says mice are way more accurate for FPS games, RTS, etc? Sure it works well for Gears of War PC, but what else?

I do, however, use the Rock band drums as a super cheap drum controller on a computer. Awesome stuff.


Don't worry about drivers, just play the games.


Yeah, That's what consoles do. ;)


If you don't like copy protection, don't buy games that feature it.


Sound advice.



I've yet to have my system slowed down or my privacy rights violated by copy protection software, but then again maybe I am just lucky...

Or may be you're a console owner. ;)

[Kamalot]

What is "Next Gen?"

Very good question.

What is Next Gen? (http://malstrom.50webs.com/drowningintheblueocean3.htm)

[Venkman]

Sometimes it fucking feels that way. We should just auto-force "Ignorant" into the title of anyone poster that claims you need $600 hardware to run the latest games.

Aah, you know I'm just giving people shit because I'm bored. ;)

But technically, you do need to spend more than $600 to run the latest games. A video card by itself does nothing.

There is a massive buy in price for PC gaming that is the entire system. And then, in order to avoid the massive price point for a new system, hardcore gamers upgrade to save money. That's fine.

But to pretend you are only dropping $200 to play the latest games is ridiculous. Take the cost of a computer system with upgrades and game purchases over three years and compare it to the cost of buying a console with games for three years.

I love PC gaming dearly, but the PC "cost of ownership" is like buying a high maintenance sports car, while consoles are like buying a Honda.

The PC: extreme initial cost (comparatively speaking), more to maintain, and more to run than an average car. Upkeep the hell out of it because the wife will kill you if you say you need a newer one.

The console: low intial cost, better mileage (no upgrades needed), and games drop in price quickly. If you want another one, you can justify it to the wife by doing some extra chores or whatever.

If I lost all my possessions today, and I had $250 to spend on gaming for my new place, I could go out and buy a video card and crysis, which do nothing by themselves, or I could buy a Wii and play immediately.

[Sprigan41]

Ok, sure GTA IV only has sold 9 million copies, but I can tell you one thing the reason why the San Andreas sold so many copies was because of all the controversy the series had and how much it was in the news. Think about it, while GTA IV was a highly waited for title, it didn't have anywhere near as much controversy no Hot coffee mod and parents going ape shit over the game. Then you also have to consider of those millions of people who bought San Andreas, how many of them can afford the 360 or the PS3? Then you have to add the fact that gamers have changed over the past few years I know that not everyone enjoys the GTA style of games that much anymore. While GTA IV is a great game, it really wasn't that different from the previous incarnations of the series sure it had some new bells and whistles, but you know what it still was the same old GTA. There is nothing wrong with that, but I think gamers now a days want some change in there games. People need to stop looking at previous years because things are different now games are more expensive and so are the consoles and not everyone that had a console in the previous generation can afford them now so stop the damn comparisons already. The game industry is doing just fine and it will continue doing fine as long as the gamers are kept happy with awesome and amazing games that are worth buying.