GamerDad

I had been thinking along similar lines ... I recall that 15 months after Jedi Knight II came out, it *still* cost $50 ... yet I recently bought three 'new release' games - Pariah, Project Snowblind and Boiling Point - for a total less than that!

It is amazing how quickly this happens as the industry matures. It is also interesting ... I wonder how this works in terms of reports recently how EBGames / GameSpot are really making the Used gear push due to profitability. Does it mean that they are more quickly writing off the low-profit new stuff, in order to get the low-price sale and the more likely trade-in and high-profit used-resale?

Think about it - rather than make $3 for a $50 game, they make $2 for selling it at $20, then give back $5, then sell for $15, for a total profit of $12 rather than $3!

Mike

I can't claim to know for sure, but I think you're absolutely right. This doesn't really explain PC price dumping though.

Nice one Dave. I hate you now. But then again you helped ease me into this console world and the water is fine. I still hate you - but at least I have someone to dump PC reviews on.

Ha! Bring on the Euro Devs and cheaply produced crap! I'm ready to take on all of it!

Console games still rock. I'll be playing a lot of those too.

--Dave

I'm still jealous, Dave. I'm going to have to be a console girl for a while here yet. But just you wait, though. I'll be back.......

If you're interested in some commentary on my article...

http://games.slashdot.org/games/05/07/2 ... ml?tid=206

--Dave

You're a braver man than I, Dave. I haven't managed to get slashdotted working here yet, and my experiences with it before make me glad.

As long as people are reading it, that's a good thing I think. Making it on Slashdot assures me of that at least. It was nice of that Grimrod guy to make the submission.

--Dave

I've always been a PC Gamer... I do play some console games,; I'm currently playing Sphinx on the PS2

Sure PC games requirements seem to be like hitting a moving target, a new game comes out and you need a new upgrade, more often than not it's the graphic card, if you're lucky it's more memory (remember when 16MB of RAM was a scary purchase?)

But at least a person CAN upgrade their system... if you don't like the graphics on a PS2, that was it... the programmers had to code for that systems available resources. I'll refrain from those people that will mod their console, they don't represent the average gamer

Another advantage of the PC over a console... patches, patches patches... sure a game on a PC will come out with patches, but the same game that was ported to or ported from, probably has the same bugs, sometimes fatally, to the extent that a game forces the person to restart from new game (Sphynx for example; you're not supposed to save in the second 'mummy mode, better to wait when you're back to Sphynx, or else reloading the save game just stops and you begin again)

How about Mods?
I bet the PCers who have Morrowind probably got more than their moneys worth with mods that simulated a Star Wars theme, added houses to store all your stuff in, provide you with that sword you accidentally sold, and you can't remember where you sold it. Did the Xbox version provide that much game play?

Controls in the PC are better, I picked up XIII (Thirteen) for the console, I originally got in console form, a simple of moving out of hiding and aiming a gun was freaking frustrating, extra long fingers might've helped... whereas the PC version, was just like any other FPS; I only played BF1942and it's sequels and Call of Duty, and it's PC sequel, controls were exactly the same, aiming was just a mouse click away

Some good points, Raedwulf, though I do want to point out there are plenty of houses to store your stuff in on the Xbox version of Morrowind. My younger son plays House in there all the time. The houses of people that have died in the course of the game, or if you really want a specific one you can just kill the current owner. As far as the "sword you accidentally sold", that's all available too. No Star Wars mod, though. That one you got me on. For that, I'd rather play KOTOR, though.

I play games on anything that will stand still for it, but right now I can't afford to play anything more complicated than The Neverhood on PC right now (I LOVE that game, though). Been playing a lot of online Flash games lately.

That's an ugly ugly bug in Sphynx, though. Hadn't heard about it.

I wish you'd have touched on the openness of the PC platform Dave, because that's one thing the consoles are never going to have as long as they're sold at a loss, with licensing being the moneymaker.

I would be amazed and delighted at any of the big three allowing you to write games / software for their console without having to join a developer program, buy specialized devkits, etc. The systems themselves are using more and more accessible hardware, the only limiting factor is protection and licensing.

Microsoft is looking like they want to at least provide an avenue for the serious indie developers, via Live Arcade. But all those games have proved themselves in the PC indie market first.

So unless there's a change, the PC is where you're first going to find the Gishes, the golf?s, and the Darwinias. Heck, even the Nanaca Crashes.

There's still just some awesome experiences on the pc that you can't get on the consoles. And that's why I pc game.

I have generally upgraded the 'not old-fashioned' way ... by purchasing a new laptop. Personally, from the time 11 years ago I had a Compaq capable of playing Doom in the car, I have preferred laptop gaming. It is the most expensive possible way to play a game, but also what I prefer.

Recently I upgraded a desktop system for the first time since putting a 3dFX Voodoo card (you know, the one that *added* 3d to your existing video card) to a Pentium 120 system years ago. I put in a new nVidia 'mid-range' card and a DVD drive (system only had a CD-RW).

I love PC gaming, it's just the games recently ...

Mike

txa1265 wrote:I have generally upgraded the 'not old-fashioned' way ... by purchasing a new laptop. Personally, from the time 11 years ago I had a Compaq capable of playing Doom in the car, I have preferred laptop gaming. It is the most expensive possible way to play a game, but also what I prefer.

Recently I upgraded a desktop system for the first time since putting a 3dFX Voodoo card (you know, the one that *added* 3d to your existing video card) to a Pentium 120 system years ago. I put in a new nVidia 'mid-range' card and a DVD drive (system only had a CD-RW).

I love PC gaming, it's just the games recently ...

Mike

Dude, consider the games you've been playing! When you willingly play Pariah and Dungeon Lords... well... you get what you ask for.

--Dave

Says the guy who reviewed Aquaman for this site.
http://www.gamerdad.com/detail.cfm?itemID=1829