Will consoles begin to overtake PCs now?
by Blake Snow 
{ Nov 14th 2006 at 9:55PM }
PC Magazine examines non-gaming advancements of the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii as compared to past consoles and current PCs. Though more limited (at least in terms of software) than personal computers, the article suggests this round of consoles is closer to overtaking PCs as entertainment hubs than ever before. Dean Takahashi writes: "For years now, gaming consoles have been positioned as the Trojan horses of the living room but never seemed to fully deliver on that promise. The new generation of devices from Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony may finally start giving PC manufacturers a reason to worry, for real this time. These consoles will enter your home as a game machine and then insidiously infiltrate the rest of your life."
Though Sony and Microsoft presumably hoped to supplant the PC in part back in 2000 with the release of the PS2 and Xbox, we all know that didn't happen. Reckon we're any closer this year? Or is this apples and oranges?
[Thanks, Jennifer]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Marty @ Nov 14th 2006 9:59PM
Microsoft hopes to supplant PC gaming, even while it seems to be trying to unify the 360 and it's future brothers and sisters with all future versions of Windows, like Vista?
I don't think MS is trying to take their OS out of the game (no pun intended) at all. I think the PC and consoles can compliment each other... especially since there are still genres that you really can't enjoy on a console in the same way as PC.
In any case, PC gaming has been decreasing over the years as technology becomes more expensive, and developers seek higher revenue in consoles... I really wouldn't say they have much sway on the console market at all.
Hoffer @ Nov 14th 2006 10:07PM
With 50+ inch HDTVs and 5.1 audio, I say yes. Sitting on a couch is also nice.
Freddy @ Nov 14th 2006 10:05PM
NOTE: Picture not to scale
Steve Roger @ Nov 14th 2006 10:06PM
The article is just a basic description of the various features. Not much new information and certainly does not make much a case to support your "overtake" the pc headline.
Dan @ Nov 14th 2006 10:12PM
Microsoft definitely doesn't want to replace computers. That is, after all, where they make all the money they're pouring into the Xbox line. It's definitely not a coincidence that the 360 is the only system without an available web browser. Microsoft wants you using IE on a computer instead, and is only considering an Xbox browser now to keep up with the competition.
johnjacob @ Nov 14th 2006 10:14PM
Live Anywhere?
Stiltz @ Nov 18th 2006 7:38PM
Well, you can't get games like the Zelda series or FF series on PC now can you...think i'll stick with consoles
Thomas Quinn @ Nov 14th 2006 10:20PM
Consoles overtaking PCs? This guy I know named DX10 might beg to differ.
Geoff @ Nov 14th 2006 10:23PM
Marty is correct above. Consoles are fabulous for what they do, but PCs also have their place. Personally, I've never found a console to be half as good for FPSs.
And I'm a big Dawn Of War fan - so until my console can give me fluid, intuitive controls for a proper RTS / strategy game, my PC will sit aside my consoles as a primary games machine.
Picky @ Nov 14th 2006 10:25PM
I don't use my 360 for anything other than playing games, but as johnjacob (his name is my name too, but not really...) pointed out, Live Anywhere will probably change that. Especially come the day I play a PC game versus someone on a 360, or vice versa.
Still, the only thing on my 360 are messages from friends that I rarely respond to and the games I DO play (and a ton of invites sent/received while I play); I like how it fits in its role as-is.
Ralod @ Nov 14th 2006 10:25PM
Every single time a new console comes out the death of PC gaming is proclaimed. While it is currently in a down swing in some areas, it has seen much leaner times in the past.
PC Gaming is not going anywhere, Vista, Live anywhere, and DX10 will be giving PC gaming a huge boost in just the next few months.
Optimus Prime @ Nov 14th 2006 10:27PM
That is the most annoyingly designed webpage ive come across in a while (the PC Mag one); each page gives you a paragraph of text, then you have to skip to the next ad filled page.. i quit reading 5 pages in.
skyrous @ Nov 14th 2006 10:52PM
PC's and console address two different market segments and don't cross over much.
Beyond that as cutting edge as the consoles look right now the geforce 8800 debuted just last week putting the PC's back on top in the raw graphics power department.
Or look at it this way a month ago microsoft, cryptic, and Marvel announced an MMO in the Marvel comic universe for both the 360 and the PC. Being an MMO obviously this game is 2 years away. By then the 360 will still be a modern console, but even so the devs at cryptic are gonna have a challenge trying to make the 360 version of the game look anywhere near as good as a DX10 PC running a geforce 9900SLI.
NeverSage @ Nov 14th 2006 11:03PM
Ralod said it right. The death of the PC has been proclaimed many, many, many times before. I love console gaming, but when it comes to fps, user created mods, and sheer customization, you can't beat a PC. And besides, PCs are everywhere worldwide. Places that consoles are limited (India, Korea, etc.).
Geoff @ Nov 14th 2006 11:15PM
"And besides, PCs are everywhere worldwide. Places that consoles are limited (India, Korea, etc.)."
Hmm. That's more an issue with market saturation than capability. Consoles are relatively new - at least to the casual gamer crowd. PCs - though not much older as games machines - had the advantage that a lot of people needed them for work, and thus the step to gaming was a logical progression.
Eventually, it seems likely that consoles will be found in as many homes as PCs, especially as prices drop. But I stand by my point that control systems define this argument: Tekken or Final Fantasy is horrid without a sofa to sit on, and Command & Conquer or Half-Life need a mouse.
Shane @ Nov 14th 2006 11:48PM
What people on the "They've been saying this forever!" camp need to understand is that there is a tipping point.
The Wii is a suped up Gamecube hardware wise, but has generated massive interest. Obviously, the majority of the market is not interested in the bleeding edge of pixel rendering technology. And aside from either gaming or content creation, what does Joe Schmoe really need these quad cores for?
All Consoles have to do is let you play games, browse the internet, chat, watch video/movies, listen to music, look at pictures, some simple photo editing, email, and word process. This generation of consoles has the raw capability to do all of that, easily.
There will always be room for the PC, but the console is poised to take a huge chunk of that general mass market audience who doesn't encode HD, edit music and video, or feel the need to play the latest and greatest pixel masterpieces or CS at 200 frames a second.
rudimentalist @ Nov 15th 2006 12:34AM
The key to infiltrating the market as "the PC for your living room" I think will be the ability to watch videos from the internet. Yeah Xbox 360 has those TV shows you can download and stuff but I mean being able to watch stuff from Youtube on your couch, videos from your friends or other free stuff. I'm not completely certain but judging from the videos I watched of the web browser interface on the Wii, we should be able to do this. Maybe making a script that parses the interface of Youtube or Google Video into something more apt for a television and then they could advertise it as a selling point.
In short, we are currently in the video revolution of the internet with broadband in most homes, but people very much enjoy watching stuff like that on their couch. Here's where these consoles come in.
lionzub @ Nov 15th 2006 12:13AM
One day people figure out that you can take your PC and use the TV OUT on the video card and input a joystiq [sic] into a USB port... actually people are too dumb to figure that out.
PC gaming will always be around.
TeddyN @ Nov 15th 2006 12:22AM
No way. Everyone has and will have a PC. The latest consoles don't give anyone a good enough reason to get rid of PC's altogether. Hence, most people have the platform readily available. PC gaming is going to be difficult to kill, and with the 'games for windows' thing aimed at rejuvenating PC gaming, there's no way that that consoles will take the steam out PC's within at least the next 5-10 years.
HikerManiac @ Nov 15th 2006 12:27AM
"2. NOTE: Picture not to scale"
Yeah, no kidding. They managed to pull off a little mircle by making the the Wii and it's controller seem the biggest of the three systems.
Geoff @ Nov 15th 2006 12:52AM
Actually, the 'key to infiltrating the market as "the PC for your living room"' will be when they invent a console that I can pretend I'm typing up a document for work on, whilst actually frying Necrons on DoW DC.
I reckon, anyhow.
RetroJunkie @ Nov 15th 2006 12:53AM
What do they make console games on...
oh thats right
Computers...
i rest my case
Lord_Satorious @ Nov 15th 2006 1:11AM
Give a console a mouse and keyboard, and you've sold me on never playing another PC game. Hell, with a half-decent internet browser I'll never use my PC again, period.
Nicholas Sulikowski @ Nov 15th 2006 1:44AM
Unless consoles can start running file servers, be used for programming, and I can type up my term papers on them, and create movies on them, they will not take over consoles any time soon.
Autocrawler @ Nov 15th 2006 4:03AM
Right, let's go back to the time of proprietary "home computers." That's some progress. Thanks, but I'll stick to my PC.
denney @ Nov 15th 2006 4:12AM
HA HA HA consoles will never overtake PCs. Wanna know why. World of Warcraft!
FSK405K @ Nov 15th 2006 5:57AM
I had thought that consoles had overtaken PC "gaming" years ago. Yes, probably 200 million Americans have computers, but how many have the hardware to play WoW or CoD2? That's what the whole Games for Windows thing is supposedly addressing. Don't sales of console games dwarf PC game sales perpetually?
Lee @ Nov 15th 2006 6:36AM
"Will consoles begin to overtake PCs now?"
- No.
MJ @ Nov 15th 2006 11:12AM
I got the feeling with some of the new features in consoles they are starting to become sort of like HTPCs, but not quite there (the obvious missing TV-Cards)... but they can act as video players, and I mean gaming from a couch is more comfortable in front of a PC, but my RTS is PC forever.
cristian @ Nov 15th 2006 3:00PM
the only thing that game consoles will replace computers on, is in gaming
Mr. Khan @ Nov 15th 2006 5:19PM
This makes sense, in that the biggest difference between this generation and the last is Hardware Versitility. PS3 and Wii have Web Browsers, 360 and PS3 have massive multimedia capabilities. All the consoles come with full Online Integration right out of the box. They all have USB ports, and they all have multimedia storage options, and PS3 and Wii also have their more "analogue" controllers (reminiscent to the Mouse)
That is why I dub this Generation "The Hardware Revolution" as more versitile hardware seems to be the trend that all the companies follow
jear-ed @ Nov 15th 2006 5:28PM
The PC gamer ppl who dont like consoles are just nerds who want to spend $1000s of dollars on expensive PC hardware. A minority if you ask me.
Nothing against PC gaming but I wouldn't want to invest so much into it and then turn around and proclaim consoles suck.
jt @ Nov 16th 2006 7:50AM
As far as PC gamers and console gamers playing against each other goes, I'd LOVE to play against console gamers any day of the week in an FPS. Sure, it might be comfy sitting on a couch playing games, but you can't very well use a mouse and keyboard from there, even if you had them for your console.
Controls on a console will never have the FPS accuracy and control of the key/mouse combo, nor the speed of hotkeys and mouse control that RTS's require. Besides, I'm just as comfy in front of my monitor than on my couch.
Sal @ Nov 15th 2006 9:27PM
Consoles will overtake PCs in gaming, but never for other purposes!
NeverSage @ Nov 16th 2006 5:55AM
Maybe sometime far, far into the future computer gaming will be no more... but by that point we'd have to reach a stage where computers and consoles are basically the same. There are too many popular games on PC's right now. WoW (and other MMOs), The Sims (a little old, but still popular), Half Life 2 (and expansions), FEAR, Age of Empires, and soon to be Spore. Sure some of these had been ported, or will be, but that was after making a lot of money on the PC side.
I think as long as people keep demanding PC games, they will be made.
graphicartist2k5 @ Nov 18th 2006 8:08PM
yeah, consoles may have their strong points, but pc games will still kick their asses. why? because of all the downloadable content available for pc games, as well as the fact that pc hardware is always being upgraded, and the "older" hardware isn't all that expensive, and the "older" hardware can still allow pc users to play most of the newer pc games that come out. don't get me wrong. i do think that gears of war looks completely awesome on the x-box 360, as does the new zelda game for the wii, but there's still gonna be kickass games made for the pc, including gears of war.
Stryke @ Jan 14th 2007 7:38PM
The PC will soon start to become very affordable. With directx 10 and windows vista coming out pc games will start to be more like console games. Fewer and fewer glitches adn patches will be needed b/c major video card manufacturers are setting guidlines that both must follow so that there are not as many configuarations games for pcs must be designed for. "The coming games for windows" is really gonna spark alot more pl to even give up console gaming and make alot more ppl get into pc gaming everywhere. Manufactures that only make console games will soon be doing the same for pc games. And the life span of vid cards and will begin to last longer. A mid range dx10 card will be many times faster than consoles. And with that game devolpers will be able to tweak games to more of one kind of spec. much like the consoles where u only have to make he gae work on that ne system not a 100 dif others. Trust me pc gaming is gonna start growing soon, b/c developers will have a much easier time with vista/dx10. Plus if u like clan matches and gaming seriously like 60% of the online xbox live players do, then they will start to realize this.
Lans are also better for pc. And They can play pretty much any game a console can plus more. And if i want i can buy a logitech controller and just like that racing games arent only fr consoles.