Re: The Official Xbox Thread

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

I could make a massive list of how PC gaming is better than console gaming but I don't want to get into an arguement about mostly petty things and am just going to answer the graphics question and list two things that make PC gaming unbeatable in my book.

First of all the best example I know of the graphical differences is CryEngine 2 Crysis on PC, released more than half a decade ago vs CryEngine 3 Crysis rereleased on PS3 and Xbox. (The differences are quite depressing when you think about it) We're talking more than texture sizes here - shadows are only rendered every 2nd frame, physics are massively simplified and draw distances are tiny and all that at downscaled resolution and only 30fps as well!

Then there's emulators. PS2 games like Shadow of the Colossus are gorgeous in 1080p and seeing Wii games like Skyward Sword in 1080p makes you wish Nintendo put a little more oomph into the Wii.

But what can't be argued with is mods. That's where having a PC really shines over consoles and where you can find your moneys worth. From little things like more realistic faces in Skyrim and improved AI in Empire: Total War to bigger ones like replacing GTA's cars with real ones and adding quest lines in TES games or adding content to Minecraft to mods that are practically new games like Third Age: Total War (Medieval II: Total War), Fall From Heaven 2 (Civilization IV) and DayZ. (Arma II)

Some mods are legendary and even spawned their own stand-alone games and franchises like Counterstrike (a Half - Life mod) and Battlefield 2 (originally the Desert Combat mod for Battlefield 1942 and of course DayZ is becoming a standalone game.

There are other reasons that just make PC gaming "superior" but emulators and mods are what do it for me. Apart from the fact I have a preference for strategy games and mmo's which are non-existant/jokes on consoles.

Not really sure why people have such a fascination over GFX for tbh, i have seen high end PC's for games like Witcher 2 etc etc and the difference isn't big enough to spend 1,000s on keep updating a PC to keep it relevant.

If you want GFX watch a movie ffs, games are about the experience not flash textures which are hardly that much of a difference to care about anyway.

Besides some of my favourite games of this generation are not even on PC and the ones that are on PC quite frankly are shitty ports which are no better than their console counterparts.

[the xcx]

Well they should have thinked twice when they joined EA...Were Cryek financially not doing so good to stay as an independent company?

[Bellabong]

They're doing perfectly fine, they just wanted MAXIMUM PROFIT. We were promised a PC focused sequel to Crysis & Warhead. What we got was a 32bit, DX9c dumbed down corridor shooter that has a "Press any button to continue" intro and loading screens. In addition, the story has next to no connection to the originals. You might as well just call it CoD 9: Nanosuit Ops.

@Mole I spent $750 on my PC in 2008. It's handled every game maxed out @ 1920x1080 including heavyweights like Crysis, S.T.A.L.K.E.R and massively modded Fallouts & Skyrim. What are these $1000's you speak of to "stay relevant"? Witcher 2 is a terrible example lol just like xcx claiming that the euphoria engine was groundbreaking & revolutionary. They're just badly optimized engines.

Anyways, didn't I just emphasize two huge things other than graphics? I only bring up the CryEngine & Crysis example because it's the only of a game running two different engines. The next best example is Doom & Bioshock but that's way back in the original Xbox days when games were ported to consoles and not the other way around.

I almost feel sad for those who spend €60 on games like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls for consoles. Games that were designed with modding in mind.

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

Yeah it wasn't the best example but it was the one that came to my mind.

Also you may have spent 750 in 2008 but how much have you spent since then upgrading the gfx card, sound card etc etc.

Also i accept the modding reason but i don't really see the reasons to spend that sort of money but if you do then fair enough.

Anyway this sort of thing comes up too much on this forum lol, really think there should be some sort of PC Gaming gathering thread lol.

[Bellabong]

Also you may have spent 750 in 2008 but how much have you spent since then upgrading the gfx card, sound card etc etc.

$0.

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

fair enough then, most people i know are constantly upgrading.

[the xcx]

lol, you bring up how games are badly optimized when you have 5 year old GPU. Im guessing Nvidia 8800 series?

[Bellabong]

To be fair I did spend some money on hard-drives because I needed a lot more space for recording but that investment has been more than paid off by youtube. The market value of my comp is also higher than what I spent on it - I had good connections and was able to get my GPU and CPU at cut-throat prices.

I honestly can't imagine wtf they would be upgrading for gaming wise - unless they're playing games at absolutely ridiculous resolutions or made dumb purchases initially.

The only reason I want to upgrade my comp (Specifically the processor) is to able to stream via Xsplit in high bitrate 1080p instead of low bitrate 720p that my Core 2 Quad can currently handle.

Qua graphics card I might end up spending $100 or so on a 2nd GPU after the next gen of consoles come out. (Has to be identical to my current high-end one, but it's "old" by now) Depends on the price/performance of the GPU's of that time vs getting a second one I currently have.

@xcx Holy shit no, the 8800 is from 2005 or 2006 lol. I have an overclocked 280GTX. I remember nVidia lowering the recommended price a month or so after release because ATi had an awesome deal, their flagship wasn't as powerful but it was much, much cheaper.

[Pedram]

fair enough then, most people i know are constantly upgrading.

Some people just want to bluff, even hardcore gamers don't do that. i can assure you that there's no need for constant upgrading, i built my pc 3 years ago and still play most of games on high quality.

[the xcx]

GPUs are the most demanding hardwares anyway..Constantly evolving while CPU can run for years.

[FalcaoPunch]

I want a Wii U.
Just cause

[Bellabong]

GPUs are the most demanding hardwares anyway..Constantly evolving while CPU can run for years.

Not really no. Since I've built my comp there's been more CPU updates than GPU's. I'll put the marketing speak in brackets.

I have a Yorkfield (Core 2 refresh) and since then Intel has brought out Nehalem (First gen i7), Westmere (First gen i7 refresh), Sandy Bridge (2nd gen i7) and Ivy Bridge (2nd gen i7 refresh) and we're just around the corner from Haswell (3rd gen i7).

My GPU is a Tesla (280GTX) and since then there's been Fermi (480GTX), a Fermi refresh (580GTX) and Kepler (680GTX).

So that's 3 major and 2 minor CPU updates and 2 major and 1 minor GPU update in the same space of time.

Oh, and the current bottleneck in my comp is the CPU, not the GPU.

Stop making random assumptions, you're really making yourself look like a fool :s

[TalkingReckless]

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/14/3875404/microsoft-next-xbox-IllumiRoom-teaser

[Kaladin]

The only reason that i will getting these consoles are for exclusives tbh, i have a custom PC built cheap+runs like Usain Bolt. Did it in summer 2011, no offense to console peeps but i just like to play games on PCs, unless some games are catered to consoles or they're exclusives

[Onyx]

PlayStation 4 will be 50% more powerful than the next Xbox, a report has suggested.

Speaking with developers who attended tech conference CES, VG247 said that Sony's next console will be "significantly more powerful" than the next Xbox.

The PS4 - codenamed Orbis - has a run-capability of 1.84 teraflops, while the next Xbox - codenamed Durango - will have 1.23 teraflops, a difference of around half.

However, the new Xbox is said to have more RAM, with 8GB available in total, 3GB of which is dedicated to the operating system, apps and security and the rest for games.

The PS4, meanwhile, has 4GB, 1GB of which is reserved for the operating system.

In terms of graphical power, the new Xbox is said to be based on a Radeon HD 8770 GPU, while the PS4 will be based on AMD's A10 APU (accelerated processing unit) as well as a second smaller graphics chip.

Both consoles will also support Blu-ray discs with a capacity of 100GB.

Finally, the report suggested that media outlets are in possession of documents related to the new Xbox from CES and will leak them in the coming weeks.

It's CES time again. Excited attendees flood into the Central Hall to see the best new tech and gadgets.

The latest rumour surrounding the new Xbox is that Skype will be at the core of the system, replacing Xbox Live's voice and video chat services.

Both consoles are expected to be announced in March for a late 2013 release.

The PS4 is believed to be capable of displaying games in 4K resolution, to support Blu-ray and to ship at an "affordable" price.

Sony and Microsoft are yet to officially confirm any specific details of their future consoles.

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

Won't really matter tbh, PS3 was supposedly more powerful too but it didn't look any better than the Xbox games because they didn't know how to get the most from it.

I never saw one PS3 exclusive which looked notably better if at all, so quite frankly what system is more powerful means very little.

I will chose the system i like the best and who has the best library for my tastes when i get round to buying one.

So far its gone SNES-N64-PS2-360. ( although i did have a Megadrive, Saturn, PS1 and Gamecube too)

[pUsHa]

Lol , yesterday I was reading that the next Xbox is more powerful , and now it's the other way around ... it doesn't really matter though , since i expect the games to be about the same on both consoles .

[RealGunner]

Problem with PS3 was that it was too good for it's own sake. Game developers didn't even have the technology to use it to it's maximum capacity.

The only game which went close to doing that was MGS4 and it is one of the best games ever made in the PS3 line.

PS4 hopefully consider that and do something about it.

[Bellabong]

Problem with PS3 was that it was too good for it's own sake. Game developers didn't even have the technology to use it to it's maximum capacity.

The only game which went close to doing that was MGS4 and it is one of the best games ever made in the PS3 line.

PS4 hopefully consider that and do something about it.

No, it was just too expensive to utilize the PS3's potential. It took three years to develop Journey.

"Normal" games simply don't have that luxury, it's all about shortcuts and cutting costs.

[la bestia negra]

*bleep* this shit i just got my PS3

[Great Leader Sprucenuce]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/df-hardware-orbis-unmasked-what-to-expect-from-next-gen-console

[Bellabong]

Really? And Durango is rumoured to be weaker?

Those specs are really unimpressive when you compare them to the PS3/X360 at their release, dunno why the author of that article is so excited about it.

And I swear, no PC butthurt involved, if I was a console fanatic I'd be quite dissappointed with tech that's a generation old compared to the next gen tech of the X360 and PS3.

These consoles better be $300-$350 otherwise it's a rip-off compared to previous generations.

[RealGunner]

It's just rumors. Sony hasn't let anyone have a sniff on what to expect.

[Bellabong]

Yeah because the next XBox dedicating 3GB to OS and system stuff makes it more bloated than Vista.

[TalkingReckless]

The new Xbox will be more of an entertainment device then gaming device, so the OS will probably need more ram

[Pedram]

Sony's February 20 "PlayStation Meeting" event in New York will see the PlayStation 4 being officially unveiled, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Last night, Sony released a 45-second video inviting gamers to "see the future" on February 20, with invitations to the "PlayStation Meeting" event being sent out shortly afterwards.

While Sony has not made the details of its event public, many speculated that this would be the unveiling of the PS4. The Wall Street Journal has now directly said Sony will announcing their new console at the event, with a report saying "people familiar with the matter have said the new device will make its debut there."

Social features and the user experience will be two of the key focuses of the new console over raw hardware power, according to the report. "Sony is planning to incorporate more social gaming aspects into the new machine," said the WSJ. "Also, while hardware improvements were a key focus of past console upgrades, Sony is more focused this time on the changes in how users interact with the machine."

The WSJ also states that Sony will debut the PS4 before Microsoft unveils its own next-generation Xbox, although both machines will launch later in 2013.

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