Console Wars!!!

[Asmodean]

Okay...I might be in the market for a console within the next year or so.

Myself, I don't think I will ever turn away from PC gaming, but I got kids, and consoles look like they are the future, and I don't want them left behind because of my own stubbornness.

So what should I get?

Wii?
XBox 360?
PS 3?

or another one alltogether?

I want one that can play Blu-Ray, but they all fit that bill, right?

Asmodean

[Asher]

PS3 is the only one that plays Bluray. The 360 has a cheap HD DVD addon. The Wii won't even play regular DVDs, let alone high def ones.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Asher
The article was relevant to the discussion that PC gamers can get by with a DX9 card. There are things DX10 cards can do that DX9 can't, and these simple graphical upgrades on DX9 games are just part of it.

If you want the full PC gaming experience, you need a DX10 card and Vista. That was the point.

To get the full console gaming experience, one needs all the three consoles, and a high end HDTV I suppose. (and yes, I realize you have that).

To get the full "electronic gaming experience" I suppose one would need BOTH, since the full electronic gaming experience includes BOTH the full console experience and the full PC experience (and I suppose handhelds)

To get the full "gaming experience" one would need all the above, plus the best board games of all time. IMHO, anyone who doesnt get the Dunnigan designed "1914" by Avalon Hill has NOT had the full gaming experience. YMMV.

[Asher]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
To get the full console gaming experience, one needs all the three consoles, and a high end HDTV I suppose. (and yes, I realize you have that).

Very silly comparison. PC is one platform, Xbox 360 is another, PS3 is another, Wii is another.

To get the full Xbox 360 gaming experience, all you need is an Xbox 360 and a monitor and a $60 surround sound setup.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Asher

Very silly comparison. PC is one platform, Xbox 360 is another, PS3 is another, Wii is another.

To get the full Xbox 360 gaming experience, all you need is an Xbox 360 and a monitor and a $60 surround sound setup.

true sir, very true.

Let me say then, that to get the full Windows XP gaming experience, I dont need a DX10 capable vid card, I think.

And to get a full x Box 360 Core gaming experience, you dont even need an 360 elite or premium.

I trust its become evident that I think all these are word games.

No one needs a "full X gaming experience" They need a gaming experience that, well meets their needs.

[Asher]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
true sir, very true.

Let me say then, that to get the full Windows XP gaming experience, I dont need a DX10 capable vid card, I think.

PC is the platform. To get the full PC gaming experience, you need Vista + DX10.

No one needs a "full X gaming experience" They need a gaming experience that, well meets their needs.

And if they are a gamer, these needs include playing the games. Games that leverage DX10 are out now, games that only use DX10 are around the corner. If you think DX9 will always be usable, you are very mistaken.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Asmodean
Okay...I might be in the market for a console within the next year or so.

Myself, I don't think I will ever turn away from PC gaming, but I got kids, and consoles look like they are the future, and I don't want them left behind because of my own stubbornness.

So what should I get?

Wii?
XBox 360?
PS 3?

or another one alltogether?

I want one that can play Blu-Ray, but they all fit that bill, right?

Asmodean

You need to post more about what you want to get sensible advice I think.

For me I bought a console this year and went for the Xbox. The PS3 was too expensive, I didn't really want Blu-Ray, and there weren't any good games. The Wii didn't have any good games at that stage either except the new Zelda.

Decent games are starting to come out on both systems now but the Xbox is hitting the point where the developers are better at using its potential to the fullest, and for most genres the Xbox looks like it will have the strongest line-up (or at least the same line-up) for some time to come.

But if you have kids the party games and Wii sports etc will probably go down really well. So it's a trade-off.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Asher

If you think DX9 will always be usable, you are very mistaken.

It wont be. Dx10 wont be either. Life marches on. The question is, what level of PC do you need to have a good time with a number of current games. I freely admit that with my own year old bargain basement machine, you probably cant play much thats new even in the less graphically demanding genres. But my strong impression is that with my year old bargain basement machine, plus a new $200 or less, vid card, Id be set for a good experience with the most demanding of the PC/360 games, like Bioshock. I probably couldnt play Crysis, but then thats PC only anyway.

Now that wouldnt hold for long. Within a year Id have to upgrade again, I suppose. Or I could shift at that point to less demanding genres, and hold off for another year, say.

(note to spikey - this is all hypothetical, and has nothing to do with my actual immediate gaming plans)

[Asher]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
I probably couldnt play Crysis, but then thats PC only anyway.

Crysis is coming to the 360 last I heard, but with a toned down DX9-level graphics engine.

[Asher]

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=8994

According to U.S. NPD data, gamers have bought 24.3 million units of software for the Xbox 360, which is more than the 19.8 million units software for PS3 and Wii combined. Furthermore, the Xbox 360 boasts the largest games attach rate at 6.3 games sold per Xbox 360 owner, according to the company.

Microsoft was also proud to call its Xbox Live service “the largest social network in the living room with 2.6 million IM, text and voice messages sent over the service every day.”

Xbox Live has just recently broken the seven million user mark, and the service is on track to hit a base of 10 million by June 2008.

Microsoft added that Xbox Live Arcade has been a “huge hit” on the Xbox 360, with nearly 70 percent of all Xbox Live users having used the service. According to independent research, the remaining 30 percent of Xbox Live users had never heard of Xbox Live Arcade, despite being connected to the service. For those who are aware of Xbox Live Arcade, only 28 percent have purchased at least one game, according to Frank N. Magid Associates.

For U.S.-based users, Xbox Live Marketplace is now the leading provider of on-demand high-definition content in the country, providing more than twice the number of hours as leading cable operators. Xbox Live Marketplace has yet launch in full capacity outside of the U.S.

Perhaps most importantly; gamers are using Xbox Live to play online with their friends. Since Xbox Live launched, 3.1 billion games sessions have been hosted on the service – though it is unclear if Microsoft is also including original Xbox games in that number.

Xbox Live users are also very popular, as the average Xbox Live Gold subscriber has 23 contacts on their friends list. More than 1.2 billion cross-game invites have been sent since the launch of Xbox 360.

Despite the high use of Xbox Live on the Xbox 360, the most popular game played on the service is an original Xbox game. Halo 2 is ahead of Gears of War and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Las Vegas.

Halo 3 launches on September 25 with hopes to overtake its predecessor as the most played game on Xbox Live.

[asleepathewheel]

According to U.S. NPD data, gamers have bought 24.3 million units of software for the Xbox 360, which is more than the 19.8 million units software for PS3 and Wii combined.

That's a much smaller gap than I would have expected, what with the vast userbase differential throughout most of the year (its still at 600k, I believe).

[Asher]

You think that's a much smaller gap for a lead over two systems combined that have been on sale for a year each?

The 360 continues to outsell PS3 + Wii combined each month as well in terms of game. September will be brutally in favour of the 360...

[asleepathewheel]

erm, yes.

2006 (ltd for the 360)
360: 4.5 million
Wii: 1.1 million
PS3: 630k

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12375

April 2007 ltd
360: 5.4m
Wii: 2.5
PS3: 1.3

http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=16199

August ltd

360: 6.3
Wii: 4.0
PS3: 1.75

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=15495

So, out of the gates for 2007, the 360 had a userbase 2.77m more than the ps3 and wii combined. That fell to 1.6m in april and then to ~600k in August. Considering that the 360 had more than 2 million more consoles in homes for the first couple months of 07 and then more than 1 million through the early summer, yeah, I would have expected it to sell more than 4.5 million software units than the two competitors combined. That's what, 8-10 million more console ownership months than the wii/ps3 combined? And that only results in 4.5 million more software units being moved?

September will be dominated by Halo3, no doubt. Whatever gains are made in Sept-Oct will be more than matched by the Wii's November and December.

[Asher]

Why do you make the assumption that install base in January/Feb/etc matters? There were **** games out then that rarely any people bought.

Even now with comparable install bases, the 360's software sales trump the Wii + PS3's. That's not the factor.

Not sure why you think the Wii will have a strong nov-december. It's the 360's demand that will jump insanely high, the Wii's still stay constant if anything. It'll also be far more supply limited if its demand does jump.

Halo 2 sold most of its copies in November/December, not on the launch week, for instance.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by Asher
Why do you make the assumption that install base in January/Feb/etc matters? There were **** games out then that rarely any people bought.

Even now with comparable install bases, the 360's software sales trump the Wii + PS3's. That's not the factor.

Originally posted by Asher
Not sure why you think the Wii will have a strong nov-december. It's the 360's demand that will jump insanely high, the Wii's still stay constant if anything. It'll also be far more supply limited if its demand does jump.

Galaxy? Smash? We're talking game sales here, not consoles. While I have no doubt that Nintendo is holding back for the holidays, there are simply many more 360s available to be purchased.