Xbox One

[Mr. Johnson]

I've always said this when PC gamers bemoan the rise of consoles - it's their own snobbiness that is causing people to turn to easy to use systems. I have no background in computers at all and, as you know, struggle with the many technical aspects of PC maintenance - yet I am considered super PC savvy by people IRL (the fools).

Look on many technical forums and it's full of self entitled ball bags who think that everyone should be able to strip and reassemble a PC blindfolded ("you should know exactly how the thing you own works!"). Well, fuck off. I have neither the time nor the patience to train myself, nor insanity to attend a night school. Yes, console gaming is dumbing down, but it's easy to see why people turn to it.

I completely agree with you there, because when I tell console gamers I'm "more of a PC guy" they actually assume I know more about video games and will avoid the subject so as to not come over as a dumbass.

[Dog Pants]

For me the PC vs Console argument is a non-starter. It's like arguing cars vs motorbikes - both are different ways of providing the same service, but they vary pretty drastically in their delivery and the reasons you'd use them. For me it comes down to which platform has the games I want to play, and that always has been the home computer. I had a Spectrum, a C64 when others had a Sega Master System or NES, an Amiga rather than a Megadrive or SNES. Consoles are better for the more arcade-style games, PCs lend themselves better to slower games and those which need finer controls. Not exclusively in either case, but as a generalisation. The hardware thing is a good point too - many people don't have the inclination to learn how to keep an up-to-date gaming PC, just as most people aren't inclined to turn their family saloon into a touring car. The PC hardware race is slowing down though, partly as a result of the console influence on the market, and the prices for all systems are starting to meet up. Consoles are being designed with better in-game control systems, PCs are integrating joypad support better. It's only a matter of time until they meet in the middle and the 'argument' becomes void anyway.

[spoodie]

No doubt someone will rip the innards out of one of them and put a PC in. IRONIC HIPSTER MODE.

You'll end up with something that is significantly worse doing that. The innards of these new devices will be highly engineered PCs, designed to be efficient and quiet. You can't throw off the shelf components in and hope to get as much power.

On that note though I entertained the thought of the Xbox One being used on the desktop. It's unlikely to ever have a system with windows and such, but I imagine the OS for the apps could be similar to Windows 8. If people are willing to use a touch screen style interface on the Desktop then why not this? If you prefer sitting at a desk to play your games.

Disclaimer: I know Windows 8 has a traditional mode as well.

[Dog Pants]

You could connect a USB mouse and keyboard to a 360 apparently, so it's potentially an option if you prefer that kind of setup. Don't know how the Kinect Overlord would feel about it though.

[spoodie]

You could connect a USB mouse and keyboard to a 360 apparently, so it's potentially an option if you prefer that kind of setup. Don't know how the Kinect Overlord would feel about it though.

That would get around control system limitations of the console as well, good idea. Unlikely, but I like it.

And you'd be close enough to go eyeball to eyecamera with the Kinect Overlord. Stare into its soul for a change.

[Jimmington]

You could connect a USB mouse and keyboard to a 360 apparently, so it's potentially an option if you prefer that kind of setup. Don't know how the Kinect Overlord would feel about it though.

A dangerous ploy - cost me a mate of 10 years doing that. I moaned that the pad was slower than a treacle fountain on a cold day, so bought a xim360 thing which gave me the option of mouse and keyboard on CoD. The short version is some of my mates said I was cheating, and there was a massive row about it. Not spoken to him for nearly 4 years because of it. It did Pwnnd them as they say though...

[FatherJack]

You could connect a USB mouse and keyboard to a 360 apparently, so it's potentially an option if you prefer that kind of setup. Don't know how the Kinect Overlord would feel about it though.

A dangerous ploy - cost me a mate of 10 years doing that. I moaned that the pad was slower than a treacle fountain on a cold day, so bought a xim360 thing which gave me the option of mouse and keyboard on CoD. The short version is some of my mates said I was cheating, and there was a massive row about it. Not spoken to him for nearly 4 years because of it. It did Pwnnd them as they say though...

The control methods have always been compared and in short the pad for shooters hobbles you, notwithstanding games with auto-aim (which pad-purists actively dislike).

Both take time to learn - I remember my first experiences with both: when first confronted with a mouse I found it really hard to click on the thing I was trying to and my first analogue pad outing was probably the N64 and endlessly falling off tree branches in Zelda, even though they had helpfully put notches into the controller.

Someone trained exclusively on a pad can outperform someone competant with a mouse, but we're talking the highest echelons of pad-perfection here - a very rare breed. It is all down to practice - you get pad practice using a console mostly to play games, but you get mouse practice every time you use a PC - whether you're playing a game or not.

For me that equates to a few hours on a pad each night during the times I've been interested enough in particular console games, which aren't that common - compared with every single working hour and 90% of my gaming playtime when I've been on the PC and all the other times I've just been using my PCs.

[buzzmong]

Someone trained exclusively on a pad can outperform someone competant with a mouse, but we're talking the highest echelons of pad-perfection here - a very rare breed. It is all down to practice - you get pad practice using a console mostly to play games, but you get mouse practice every time you use a PC - whether you're playing a game or not.

Actually, I don't think they can.

I'd dig the article up but I'm off to work in a sec, but I remember reading about the Shadowrun game from ~2005 on the Xbox/PC. It *had* cross platform game play but the devs actually disabled it for the retail version because they found during testing that even mediocre PC players would consistantly wipe the floor with their pad using console brethrin.

[FatherJack]

Actually, I don't think they can.

I'd dig the article up but I'm off to work in a sec, but I remember reading about the Shadowrun game from ~2005 on the Xbox/PC. It *had* cross platform game play but the devs actually disabled it for the retail version because they found during testing that even mediocre PC players would consistantly wipe the floor with their pad using console brethrin.

Microsoft did something similar, with the same results, which is why they abandoned cross-platform play for Halo - however I do remember an article at around the same time where a group of journalists with mice/keyboard were matched against a dev team (with pads) and the journalists got their arses handed to them.

So I think it can happen, because it did once, but it usually does not.