Yet another example of a desktop computer used for work that cannot be done on a laptop:
My wife recently had a desktop computer custom built for $5k, because her laptop is incapable of doing what she needs to do.
The thing would make any hard-core gamer sell their souls to just use the machine for an hour. But she’s not using it for gaming. It’s for running a particularly poorly-written piece of software to perform 3-D rendering from 2-D cross-sections of critters.
When I went to pick up the computer for her from the local, non-big-box, computer store and told the guy that it was not for gaming, he seemed to me to be disappointed that it wasn’t for gaming. I think the entire staff in the store knows her computer from having salivated over the potentials of the hardware for gaming.

PS: I, personally, have three desktop computers, and no laptops.

I find the comments on this post much more interesting than the post.. Ive been a PC gamer Die hard since 1992. I have owned pretty much every high end PC gaming configuration available since that time. I use Windows for most gaming, and Linux for some games and everything else. I build my own PCs and I work for a very large computer manufacturer. PC gaming since the 90’s has taught me just about everything I know about computers, and I was able to make a career out of computing because of it. Having gamed exclusively on PCs since then, I can tell you that a whole lot of things have changed in the industry over the years, and the PC has come a long long way. Console gamers should not forget that they have a symbiotic relationship with PC gamers ,because the PC gaming platform is the testbed for your next generation console. for this reason, if no other, I see PCs being around for a long time to come.

@ Mart:

I’m right there with you. That said I did buy Dragon Age 2, mostly because I had so much fun with the first game.

Zel wrote:

PCs are still the platform of choice for FPSs, few apart from manufacturers’ exclusives haven’t seen a joint release or a later port.

This is still true, but I would like to point out that all of the big selling multiplayer FPS games (Call of Duty, etc…) had huge success on consoles. A lot of people play these games on consoles competitively.

Granted, I have no clue how do they deal with the crappy controls but they don’t seem to give a fuck since they play against other console players who are similarly handicapped. I actually met few youngsters who claimed they prefer console controls.

So I’m no longer sure if the argument that FPS games are better on PC is going to be relevant that much longer. I absolutely agree that keyboard+mouse is vastly superior, but the new generation of gamers may never actually find that out. A lot of them currently their iPads to browse the web, MacBooks to type up homework and game exclusively on consoles. They may never grow up to be PC gamers. :(

Zel wrote:

How many people still need a PC ? Pretty much everyone now, considering more and more essential services require and/or are facilitated by internet access.

iPads work fairly well for web browsing, and I see a lot of kids carrying around these low powered notebooks and MacBooks and MacBook Air machines that probably can’t run decent games… So the trend seems to be to move away from high performance machines toward ultra portable stuff.

But yes, the PC platform is not going away yet

.Zel wrote:

Seriously, a gaming PC is something I’d be hard pressed to identify. What does it need, to be able to run the latest FPS at max details ?

Yes, that’s what I was using as my measuring stick. Yes you are right, a well made game does not need crazy resources. I agree. I loved Amnesia, and Minecraft and they don’t need a powerhouse. But that’s not where the money is. The big, big money is in games such as Call of Duty, Crysis 2, etc… This is where the big companies make their money and if they abandon PC platform they will take a lot of talent, money and resources with them.

Zel wrote:

Again, you assume hard core gaming implies high end computer. Sorry, but I really don’t agree. I can run Fallout 3 or Stalker on my 3 years old mainstream laptop by turning down the visual quality down a notch or two.

Point taken. Maybe I am looking too much into this trend. See, I’m still sort of stuck in the “I need a big spacious box with a large video card with a big fan on top of it for my games” type mentality.

Anyways, you make some really good points. I feel much more optimistic about this now.

Thanks!

@ road:

Yep, I don’t think I will ever get used to console controls for FPS games. They just seem so clunky and counter intuitive.

As for iPad/iPhone gaming – some of the games on iOS platform are fun. But traditional games suffer when you introduce touch screen controls. I bought Street Fighter IV when Capcom dropped the price to $.99 and donated proceeds to Japan relief funds but it’s just not the same without button mashing and tactile feedback. It’s amusing, but much less frantic, and much less precise.

You sort of have to design games around the touch screen mechanics – porting existing games genre’s and shoe-horning touch control schemes does not work that great.

k00pa wrote:

How are you even going to play strategy game on a console? What about competitive gaming? How are you going to be competitive when you have auto aim?

Believe it or not, but I spent many, many hours playing Command & Conquer Red Alert and Warcraft 1 on my PS1 back in the day. :) It can be done… But just like with FPS games, the controls feel backwards, clumsy and sluggish.

Oh, and few months ago I posted about my experience playing CoD on PS3 at a friends house. I didn’t like it, but my friend is quite competitive and keeps bragging about his exploits… On PS3…

Which I guess works – since everyone is equally handicapped by the shitty controls they can still compete against each other.

xWittaker wrote:

On the other hand though, as processing power increases, I wouldn’t be surprised if the market for non-portable gaming devices completely dries up. But would they still be called consoles then, or dumb laptops? Or would they instead shift to a model similar to valve’s Steam service? If consoles and laptops ever achieve processing power parity, I doubt that most consumers would be willing to buy both devices when a laptop can do everything.

Very interesting point. This may very well be the case. On the other hand, what Movie Bob mentioned is that we are currently seeing this compartmentalization of our electronics. People seem to prefer to buy dedicated “appliances” for specific tasks rather big all-purpose machines. So they get smart phones for their email and internet/games on the go, they buy mac laptops for word processing / work, consoles for sit-down and blow away an entire evening type gaming, iPads and tablets for reading books and online articles, etc… It is interesting to see which way this is going to swing.

@ k00pa:

Oh I agree. I’ve never really been a fan of the console market’s walled garden. I’m just trying to think of what steps the console makes might make in the near future.

I’m just wondering if the whole console market will dry up in a few years time as laptops grow more and more powerful.

@ xWittaker:

Adding keyboard&mouse to console is not making it any better for me. Example, Unreal Tournament 3 did this on the console version.

Console games will completely kill custom content for games. Custom content has always been big part of gaming. And they are not going to open up the games anytime soon. Why lose huge DLC map pack sales by giving mod tools? Why let users generate new content for games when you can just sell more games?

Consoles are very restricted platforms and I am not seeing any reason why they would make consoles open platform…

Whenever I see these pc vs. console arguments, I always think most people are forgetting that a console is essentially a dedicated gaming pc, albeit, one that trades hardware and software flexibility for a reduced price and a more streamlined user experience (ideal for the less tech savvy). I’m having a feeling they may add keyboard and mouse support in the near future for certain games further reducing the differences.

A signifcant change has been taking place over the last few years. Console prices have dropped while console life-spans have increased. This has made it a lot more sensible for people to purchase their own personal console instead of having to stop by a friend’s house for some split screen or share with the family.

As a natural result of this, more and more people have begun setting up their consoles so that they can play in a desk environment. A 22″ LCD is a lot cheaper than a 50″ flat screen. This desk environment makes mouse and keyboard use feasible (as opposed to the living room couch environment).

I’m of the opinion that they won’t allow keyboard and mouse support in fps games. The controller has become iconic in the console fps market and allowing k&m support would alienate a lot of players. However, keyboard and mouse support would finally enable rts and mmo genre’s to penetrate the console market.
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On the other hand though, as processing power increases, I wouldn’t be surprised if the market for non-portable gaming devices completely dries up. But would they still be called consoles then, or dumb laptops? Or would they instead shift to a model similar to valve’s Steam service? If consoles and laptops ever achieve processing power parity, I doubt that most consumers would be willing to buy both devices when a laptop can do everything.

Just another note, why does MovieBob refer the “PC” in “PC Gaming” as hunky desktops only? Who buys high-end PCs from Alienware or some other “gaming” vendor anyway? Such PCs are likely overpriced and are usually not balanced for price-performance. The people I know who game on a desktop build their own desktop.

@ Zel: Cool rant btw!

How are you even going to play strategy game on a console? What about competitive gaming? How are you going to be competitive when you have auto aim?

PC gaming is not going away any time soon. It may become smaller, but it will never go away.

PC is open platform, anybody can make games, anybody can modify their hardware. Even if all major publishers moves to consoles, indie developers will release games for the PC.

Yes it isn’t that pc gaming is dying, it is just that it is changing. Macro payments and online features to reduce piracy seems to be the future direction. Where most of the games aren’t visually intensive but either more short time wasters or focuses on gameplay over multi-million dollar graphic budgets. And there will probably always be the starters out and flash games that pepper the spectrum as it is the easiest thing to learn on.

I don’t think any sort of wii-style point-and-shoot controller will ever approach the precision of keyboard/mouse for FPS games. I’m always surprised to see people enjoying FPS games on consoles so much, but I’ve never really tried to get good with a controller like that. Otherwise, I completely agree. I just bought a new iPad and it occurred to me that, while it can do some other neat stuff, it’s by-far the most expensive game-console I’ve ever bought (or heard of)…