PC Gaming vs. Console Gaming

[Cole]

I also meant the U3 engine btw. Having played one too many beautiful looking, but completely souless, titles I find it hard to get excited about new technology/engines.

Well if your going to judge an engine, judge the engine not the games on the engine. Judging the games on the engine isn't really judging the engine but the game.

Anyway....why only judge the games that have a $$ value for the Pc? If you go online there are plenty of quality and fun games that are free on the PC, and these games..these games.. they truley remind of us of what pc gaming use to be like .

I remember silent shadows....that game should still be around... very fun 2d game with quite a big world.

 

[Uriel]

Ive noticed theres so much more depth in PC games. I mean Deus Ex was a great game on the PC, lotta people loved it. When it goes to the console, no one says a peep about it. Halo is a good point too. Great game for the console, but not a high caliber game on the PC.

 

[Warbie]

Deus Ex is hardly your common pc game though. There's also plenty of console titles which are as 'deep'. Metroid Prime and Advance Wars spring to mind.

 

[Sparta]

Neither of them were deep.

 

[Noobulon]

NOT A WORD SHALL BE SAID AGAINST ADVANCE WARS!!!!

/spazzes uncontrollably on floor

/regaincomposure

Neither of them were deep.

Soooo.... heard of Nippon Ichi?



Edit: and you can't say "I can't learn C++ on my Gamecube therefore it sucks", because we're talking about their merits as gaming machines.
Of course you can do loads more stuff with a PC than you can with a console - it's a frikkin PC!!

 

[Warbie]

Neither of them were deep.

As deep as Deus Ex ever was. Choosing a few upgrades, or which path to take through a level, does not make a particularly 'deep' game. You could argue that atmosphere alone can be enough (which I would agree with). I know you aren't a fan of Metroid Prime, but it immersed and entertained me on so many levels. It will always be a 'deep' game to me (just as Ico is)

Also, how can you say Advance Wars isn't deep? - that game has wracked my brain more than any other. Tense, multiplayer battles have lasted hours an hours - poker faced gamers passing the gba around. It's the closest you'll find to chess in a video game (other than a chess game )

 

[Noobulon]

complexity =! depth

Ico: a very simple game, that could never be described as 'shallow'.

The Sims: vast amounts of options and things to fiddle with, but surely not a deep game...

Let's face it, both console and PC have mainstream blockbuster titles which are as shallow as a puddle in summer.
Both also have games which are deep, complex, immersive or whatever you want to call it.

 

[Lt. Drebin]

Neither of them were deep.

Although I agree to an extent about Advance Wars...I really would like to hear your reasoning as to why Metroid Prime was not deep. I personally find those comments to be utterly insane.

Challenging, immersive, atmospheric, varied...all words I use to describe a deep game. Multifaceted.....another good word. Metroid Prime was all of the above. Ranks very high on my best-of-all-time list.....as does MP2: Echoes. It's one of those games that should force every gamer on the planet to go out and buy a GameCube.

 

[Sparta]

Challenging, immersive, atmospheric, varied...all words I use to describe a deep game. Multifaceted.....another good word. Metroid Prime was all of the above. Ranks very high on my best-of-all-time list.....as does MP2: Echoes. It's one of those games that should force every gamer on the planet to go out and buy a GameCube.

You honestly found Metroid Prime..........challenging? Atmospheric, sure, immersive goes hand in hand with atmospheric so that i can also believe.....but challenging? You hold down R and lock on to your target and then you, literally, run circles around them to beat them. It's only a matter of finding the right weapons to destroy them with. It's incredibly easy. The only time i actually died during the entire game was fighting Metroid Prime, and i only died once as well. Not to mention the enormous amount of tedious back-tracking and incredibly repetitive combat with all those annoying spawning creatures. And dont even get me started on how annoying the soundtrack is. Ugggh :x

The only possible thing i can think of that was deep about the game was the amount of varying locations/enemies and the story, which was optional and not necessary to enjoy the game.

and Advance Wars is just a turn-based strategy game. Nothing new, nothing special. Rome:Total War did 50x times as much as Advance Wars ever did, and it also did it on a much, much larger scale with much, much more strategy involved. My best gaming moment on last year was fighting back against an enormously outnumbered ambush of 120-1000.

Deus Ex was deeper than both of those games combined. Quite easily

 

[Warbie]

bah.

You underestimate both games.

I agree with Lt. Drebin when it comes to MP. Maybe not so much on the challaneging part, but I think you're picking him up too much on that one point.

As for Advance Wars - it is nothing like Rome: Total War (If you're going to compare it to a another game then it should be Civ) It's also far from 'just a turn based strategy game' - hence its massive fanbase and recognition. I can't think of any turn based game that is balanced as well, for single and multiplayer, or that involves as much scope for tactics and strategy. Infact, Advance Wars really does stand out in this genre (other than the aging Civ and X-Com, what titles even get close??)

I have great affection for Rome: Total War (it was the first game my brother worked on, and I have fond memories of going through history books with him, looking for inspiration for models/skins/tattoos etc) and is excellent in many ways. I do think it's easier than Advance Wars though, and involves less strategy (especially in single player)


Deus Ex was a good game, but I still don't see what makes it stand out in this context.

 

[Uriel]

Deus Ex had a complex, great story, realistic and believable characters. I mean have you even played Deus Ex? I havent played Advance Wars, but I have played Metroid Prime. That game does not compare to Deus Ex when it comes to DEPTH. You can go thru Deus Ex without killing one person. You make choices that effect the story and gameplay. I MEAN WTF WERE YOU THINKING?

 

[trizzm]

in the end, every console gets emulated on PC.

 

[Warbie]

We're just arguing over preferences now, and getting caught up in what we think defines depth in a video game. As Noobulon mentioned earlier - Ico is a very simple game which offers none of the choices Deus Ex boasts, has few characters to interact with, and is over in a matter of hours. Its gameworld is completely engrossing though, and the relationship between Ico and Yorda is as tender and believable as in any game i've played (in comparison the characters in Deus Ex are shallow and wooden)

Any game that holds your attention from start to finish has a depth of some sort.

 

[Lemonking]

pc ftw!

 

[Fliko]

It all depends on your preferences.
I wanted to play Deus Ex... never played it.
Metroid Prime... That game was awesome, I only have to complain about backtracking, and lack of conversation (Yes... I've got to have some kind of conversation to make a storyline to enjoy the game the most. Just talking to that ghost on Metroid Prime 2 on GC wasn't enough)
Consoles are for low budget gaming, and console gaming can offer a very innovative, and original game, where abouts PC is all about the latest physics engine, and graphics engine. "Oh, I've made a game with the best Graphics engine, physics engine, sounds etc. Its going to sell like a charm" Well... guess what, it will for the first while, but it will get tiring, because the game has no fun point of gameplay.
This can be untrue sometimes though (Half-Life!)

I personally like console controlers for lots of game, but the mouse and keyboard can get nice in say, RTS and Adventure games.

Calm down people... you start to snap on the person who was probably the calmest of them all.

Console Pros
-Cheap
-Innovative
-Original
-Wide Varitey of Games
-Lots of Famous Developers on the Consoles
-No bugs
-No cheaters, some exploiters
-Decent, non buggy games
-Easy to set up for parties
-Very few hardware problems

Console Cons
-Not top of the line
-Can get expensive
-Sometimes, controls can be horrid

PC Pros
-Top of the line technology
-Can be used for more then gaming
-Famous Game Developers
-Internet (Slowly merging into the consoles)
-Changable control schemes

PC Cons
-Expensive... very expensive
-Games that use the new hardware are very expensive
-Internet can get expensive
-Powerbill can get expensive
-Upgrading can get expensive
-Viruses, bugs, continous BIOs and Video Card updates
-Hardware problems
-Lots of bad hardware (Say.... a new Radeon 9600, that doesn't work)
-Requires some knowledge when upgrading.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Advance Wars has a deep and involving storyline.

 

[Uriel]

And I'm a Chinese Fighter Pilot.

 

[Sulkdodds]

What? The story of advance wars is almost as good as the Tetris storyline.

 

[Warbie]

Who really gives a crap if Advance Wars has a decent story?

Anyhoo - everyone knows it just takes a crappy b-movie, scifi channel plot for a 'deep and involving storyline' in a vido game.

 

[Sulkdodds]

I love Advance Wars though. I love the way it takes war and mass genocide and turns it into a story involving cute lil' anime characters that act like 9 year olds.

 

[Uriel]

Warbie, are you sure you have played Deus Ex? Because it was far from a scfi channel plot or a crappy b-movie plot. Many directors who have been introduced to the story have shown great interest in it and is currently being re-written for a screenplay by Greg Pruss. And WTF is about Deus Ex having cold, wooden characters? JC Denton was a Badass. There were many characters that had a believable feel to them.