Tetsuo Time

As some of you may know the subject of Personal Computer gaming is near and dear to me. A personal computer whether it be a Windows PC or a Mac are the main places where I play my video games. However, it seems especially lately that certain sites and publications want to spin certain news about PC sales to seem like it's the death knell for PC gaming.

But then I read an article like this and I'm glad to see that at least one other person can see what is going on and I agree with him and couldn't have said it better myself. Most people who are crying doom for PC gaming are those who have consoles and for some reason begrudge PC gamers like me from joining the fun of having new games.

There are only two that comes close to wooing me over is the PS3 because they allow you to use the keyboard and mouse for UT3 but that's just one game that supports it and I don't think many others do. The other one is Wii but that's only because of their first party games and I would have that system on the side of my personal computers... not as a replacement.
( I want moar commentary! )

As some of you may know the subject of Personal Computer gaming is near and dear to me. A personal computer whether it be a Windows PC or a Mac are the main places where I play my video games. However, it seems especially lately that certain sites and publications want to spin certain news about PC sales to seem like it's the death knell for PC gaming.

But then I read an article like this and I'm glad to see that at least one other person can see what is going on and I agree with him and couldn't have said it better myself. Most people who are crying doom for PC gaming are those who have consoles and for some reason begrudge PC gamers like me from joining the fun of having new games.

There are only two that comes close to wooing me over is the PS3 because they allow you to use the keyboard and mouse for UT3 but that's just one game that supports it and I don't think many others do. The other one is Wii but that's only because of their first party games and I would have that system on the side of my personal computers... not as a replacement.
( I want moar commentary! )

( See it inside.. )

I wonder if the sharks have frikkin' laser beams on their heads? The major from Ghost in The Shell is overdue for her checkup in my robot repair bay. ;)

Stay away from my homes self-destruct button!

In this entry I want to talk about a PC Gamer Podcast that interests me...

( Internet rodeo inside..... )

For "Attack of the show" G4TV wanted to yet again talk about whether or not PC gaming is dyeing. I am kind of like *sigh* not again. This ALWAYS happens when new console releases are imminent. Sure consoles are hot right now because new ones are coming out but if a system is capable of playing games people are always going to want to play games on it. They are making cell phone games even iPod games for crying out loud.

At one time PC gaming was even more a niche market than it is now. Like when Wolfenstein 3D first came out and earlier and I didn't mind because it made it more special to me almost like.. underground gaming. I don't think the PC should have to compete with consoles it could be it's own thing.

Although one thing to face is the fact that consoles are becoming more PC like day by day I mean they are even going to release a linux desktop distribution for the PS3 from the people who used to make Yellow Dog Linux for the PPC Mac. They've already started using PC components in consoles for a while now especially video cards.

Also to be against PCs is biting the hand that feeds you because most development is done on the PC and without the PC there wouldn't be game modifications.

If push comes to shove I would hook up a console to a computer using a TV tuner card or hook it up to some kind of switch and pick and choose which games I would want to play on which system. In my opinion, the PC should always be the home to first person shooters, real time strategy, sims type and other games that play best with the mouse at the very least. In fact I'm still planning on replacing the TV with a computer equipped with an HDTV tuner card.

In the end though I kind of think that G4TV has ALWAYS been against the PC they have always been putting in anti-PC propaganda on TV! =p

There's one thing that I forgot to mention is I actually only game about maybe 10 percent of the time I'm on a computer. So I like having a machine that can do everything and gaming and at the same time reduce the amount of devices I have to use to do so rather than have 10 boxes each doing their own individual thing...

Instead of having a whole rack with a DVD player, Consoles, DVR, VCR, Rack Stereo, and other dedicated components I'd rather have a computer with a DVD drive which can burn and read all disc formats, a TV Tuner card, a cable box if necessary and maybe a console.

I think it's not accurate to compare consoles and computers in price because I use computers for much more than just games.. and don't think that putting a Desktop Linux distribution on the PS3 suddenly makes it a great desktop computer. The PS3 doesn't have enough RAM to serve as a day to day desktop computer for someone like me as far as I know. 512MB is on board, half for video.. half for system. While it would have plenty of ram for Video it leaves something to be desired for system. I also like being able to have the OS on all the time and not have to shut down the system to play a game. That's what I used to have to do when I was a child and I had a primitive PC.

It also doesn't mean that you'd automatically be able to run Linux games and emulators on the PS3. This is because especially emulators are so tied to a specific system (like intel for example) that it would have to be rewritten for the CPU in the PS3... and most emulators are done as hobbies by non professional developers.

Anyway one possible setup for me would be a 24 inch iMac with a TV tuner card, a Wii, and a nice set of 5.1 computer speakers and a wireless keyboard\mouse. This particular setup would definitely reduce the wires. I would dual boot OS X and Windows if I have to and then I would have so many good games that I would not have enough time to play them all... heck I already do and I have a Mac Mini, PC Laptop and a Dreamcast hooked up to that laptop via an old USB TV Tuner card.

If price where no object put in a Mac Pro with a 30 inch Apple cinema display or one of those 4k (four thousand something line) resolution projectors I have read about recently.

One thing I hope though is by the consoles having what is essentially the same graphics chips that could potentially be put into a computer that it might bring down the price of graphics chips and improve the price situation on the computer so that even if you get a budget PC you would not get a crappy intel integrated graphics chip... or at least they would work on those so that they would be on par with other graphics chips. Before anyone says anything about non gamers not needing a good graphics card the future is getting more graphically intense with Windows Vista and Mac OS X 10.5 and higher and they will need every bit of graphics chip you can throw at them.

Today Apple has released Boot Camp. It's a program that allows you to partition your intel based mac's hard drive, install windows with appropriate drivers and dual boot between it and Mac OS X. On the Mac gaming message board I already see people running around like chickens with their heads cut off proclaiming this as the end of the mac gaming market but I don't see it this way.

( More inside... )