The PS4 might change your future PC plans

[James]

The PS4 might change your future PC plans

Is the PS4 ecosystem a better option than a high-end gaming PC? MyGaming’s PC hardware guru contemplates PC Master Race blasphemy

[Ike_009]

Not attacking the article but to me its more economical to have one gaming PC than a PS4 and a decent PC for normal use. However that's just me plus since I'm living with the parentals a PS isn't practical when I want an evening of gaming.

[madh4tt3r]

not only that, the mouse and keyboard wins over a shitty controller anyday for 90% of my gaming. I love my xbox360 control on my PC for certain games but not nearly enough to justify buying a console. I play only games like fifa and cricket with the control and now and then racing games but prefer racing games with a steering wheel in anycase. Shooters just do not work on a controller, atleast not for me. some rpg games work with it but not all. just overall much prefer the feeling of my R1000 mouse and keyboard over the feeling of a control.

[jasong]

I've been considering this for a little while actually. But I can upgrade my PC quite easily and it still has the most unrivaled library of anything else.

[HavocXphere]

OP is missing the fact that consoles have 10 year cycles. So yes it might be (almost) on par now, but in 5 years time OP will be sitting with a bunch of games made for 5 year old tech that was medium range even back then.

Maybe it makes sense to some but the plan just leaves me scratching my head. Personally I prefer buying one really powerful device - then I've got power for all the tasks (gaming & other), versus 2 medium range devices.

Bit pissed about SA hardware prices right now though.

[jasong]

OP is missing the fact that consoles have 10 year cycles. So yes it might be (almost) on par now, but in 5 years time OP will be sitting with a bunch of games made for 5 year old tech that was medium range even back then.

Well on the surface it looks like the hardware is medium range for today but the graphics that are being pushed out in top tier next gen console games at E3 (i.e. Destiny, The Division, Titanfall, Infamous: Second Son) look ahead of current gen PC games. The optimisations that you'll get out of these consoles in the years ahead like cloud servers, new techniques of extracting better graphics (as Naughty Dog did with Uncharted3), will keep them roughly on par for a good few years. And then you just don't have the hassle of constantly worrying about your next upgrade which is where I'm at now. So I see his point.

PS4 looks like a great piece of tech. It doesn't have anything close to PS3's hardware limitations; it's faster than XBOX One; and it's a good price.

[Namdrater]

There's no guarantee that all future games for consoles will be at 60 fps, especially considering the fact that Microsoft were running their demos on PC's. I still think it's 'wait and see' time. How good will the graphics and performance be on release? And will it be outdated in 1-2 years?

[jasong]

There's no guarantee that all future games for consoles will be at 60 fps, especially considering the fact that Microsoft were running their demos on PC's. I still think it's 'wait and see' time. How good will the graphics and performance be on release? And will it be outdated in 1-2 years?

All devs said they were targeting 60fps; if they said that it's probably not a line. Also 1-2 years? No chance. 4-5 years yes most certainly as the XBOX/PS3 did. BUT.. will it be that far outdated that it will stop looking good on your TV? I find it very doubtful.

[HavocXphere]

the graphics that are being pushed out in top tier next gen console games at E3 (i.e. Destiny, The Division, Titanfall, Infamous: Second Son) look ahead of current gen PC games.

Not to rain on your parade...but all the E3 demos were running on PC gear afaik - generally many times more powerful than even next gen console specs.

Remember that glorious BF4 demo a while back? Yeah...dual 7990 and liquid cooled i7 PC rendering at 3K. In a couple years time that will be in reach of normal PC players. For console player that will be in reach round about 2023...when the console gen after this one hits.

Consoles have their place - mainly for convenience and "it just works". To pretend that they will ever be on par with PCs performance wise is insane though. The business model alone precludes the possibility.

[jasong]

Not to rain on your parade...but all the E3 demos were running on PC gear afaik - generally many times more powerful than even next gen console specs.

I do get that. That's just standard practice though. If the games get released and then turn out to be significantly lower graphically than the E3 demos, then we can be upset. But they're all working on dev hardware and if they have the expectation they can get that level of detail on a console, then great.

Remember that glorious BF4 demo a while back? Yeah...dual 7990 and liquid cooled i7 PC rendering at 3K. In a couple years time that will be in reach of normal PC players. For console player that will be in reach round about 2023...when the console gen after this one hits.

Even in 2 years of PC development, dual 7990 level performance isn't going to be in reach of 'most' PC owners. So sure, if you spend exorbitantly you'll get graphics that totally cream any console that can ever be built. But when they release, to spend either $400 on a PC or the same $400 on a console, is there any question which would give you better graphics?

Consoles have their place - mainly for convenience and "it just works". To pretend that they will ever be on par with PCs performance wise is insane though. The business model alone precludes the possibility.

Well as I said, The Division/Titanfall/Destiny looks as good as anything else I've seen. Of course PCs will scale pretty much infinitely if you can spend the money. But then you're after this zen thing and I don't really care; I just want to play the games.