With the potential launch of new Consoles from Sony and Microsoft coming in 2019, where does the PC stand?
- I have spoke about this very subject previously on this Blog and how the 2 platforms differ from one another, the pro's, the con's of each and why certain stereotypes exist about each group. This problem is not as prevalent in today's society, but the same stigma about PC's and Consoles still exists among the hardcore users. Console users look at PC gamers as elitist arseholes, and PC Users consider themselves to be part of the ''PC Master Race'' and look down on Console users as being ''Console Peasants''. There are of course, much more stereotypes of each, but these are the main arguments I have personally witnessed on forums, social media outlets, videos and much more. But now with the release of the new generations of consoles looming ever closer, is there any need for this animosity to exist between the 2 groups? Hopefully I will be able to get close to answering that very question in this blog post.
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There are several groups among gamers that set them apart, and they all exist on both console and PC. First are those that are Graphic whores. Anything that is close to looking realistic is among the top reason for them to game. Games such as Battlefield V, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, FarCry 5 and Final Fantasy XV just to name a few are those that are favoured by these gamers. Next we have those that prefer story based games, they don't care if the game is super graphically impressive, or a simple 8 bit looking game, if the story is good, they will play it. Another group is the stylized gamers, they love games that are visually imaginative and are almost an escapism from reality. We Happy Few, Breath of the Wild, Alice Madness Returns and Ori and the Blind Forest are those that take imagination to another level. Finally there are those that are multiplayer competitive players. Weather that be a Battle Royal type game, PubG, Fortnite, or a Role Playing Game like World of Warcraft, Star Trek/Wars online, among thousands more, where the competitive nature takes precedence over anything else. There is of course those that mix and match, like myself who prefers single player, story based games that are stylized to a certain degree, where as the kids prefer games that are graphically impressive but have a multiplayer competitiveness too.
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The question is, Console or PC?
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There are compelling arguments for choosing one or the other, but now the new Xbox and PS5 is closer to be released, when they do finally drop, is this argument really necessary?
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Consoles for a long time were based on proprietary hardware and software that were as far removed from PC's as a fish on acid and a born again Christian palm tree. Since the early 70's through to the 2000's, this was the norm for most consoles and handhelds. Now both the Xbox One and PS4 are using a modified AMD CPU which is based of the Bulldozer architecture of the FX series of AMD CPU's found in many PC's around the world. And the PS4 even has a Radeon 7890 equivalent graphics chip, again made by AMD with Microsoft still using a proprietary hardware to drive its graphics.
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PC's are ever evolving with new hardware released on almost a weekly bases, compared to Consoles which update anywhere from 3-6 years. With so many different brands, models and different combinations of hardware, including software available for PC, it can be difficult to design a game to work well with them all, this is why you can see many glitches and bugs in games on PC. On the other side of that coin, Console hardware remains identical, making game design on these platforms much easier. With PC hardware, there is healthy competition from the 3 major brands, Intel, AMD and Nvidia. This has the added benefit of us, the end users benefiting from this competition, as each company try to one up each other whenever a new bit of kit is released. Along side this ever evolving platform, the PC has now evolved to the point that 'Ray Tracing' can now be seen running in real time in game, something that was only ever seen in film and cinema as this technology used to take days if not weeks to render a single CGI scene. This makes the games graphics look more realistic than ever before. Something that consoles at present could only dream of doing.
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So what is next for Consoles?
Image Source/Credit
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The next generation of Consoles have to seriously up their game if they are to compete with PC Gaming hardware. To that end, Consoles, in particular, the Ps5 is rumoured to be using desktop PC hardware. Current generation AMD CPU's are named Ryzen using the Zen+ architecture that have closed the gap massively with Intel, and in some instances, beating the competition out right. The 3rd gen of Ryzen (using the Zen 2 architecture) will use a 7nm process, be more power efficient and run at higher clock speeds. These chips are already been sampling to partners such as ASUS, Gigabyte, Asrock and MSI to name a few for there 2019 release date. With this, it is rumoured that Sony will use this new chip in an 8 core, 16 thread flavour for their upcoming PS5. Combining with this new and impressive chip will be another AMD property that has been in the works for some time now. A graphics chip code named 'Navi' will be utilized also. The rumour mill has said that a high end Navi chip will be the equivalent of current gen Nvidia RTX 2080, without the ray tracing. Again using that DNA strand thickness, 7nm process which improves power consumption and better clock speeds. If combined with some high speed DDR4 or shared GRRD5 using AMD's infinity fabric, the PS5 has the potential to be the equivalent to most mid range PC's, but for half the cost.
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If the PS5 specs and rumours are anything to go by, then the new Console from Microsoft (rumoured to have a similar chip to the PS5) will be a worthy contender also in the gaming arena. This is all conjecture at the moment as there is no official word from Sony or Microsoft as to what hardware will be used. There is no doubt though that Consoles are finally seeing the benefits of utilizing PC hardware over weaker proprietary hardware that cost much more in R&D than simply using 3rd party hardware from the realm of PC.
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It is hard to deny that gaming on PC is far superior than any console, if you have the money for it. But if you were to put a $400 console and $400 PC head to head, the console will easily win in gaming performance. And with the next gen of Consoles pegged to have some serious hardware for around the $500 mark Consoles will smash a PC of equal value. Regardless of the next gen consoles, a $5,000 PC with a 32 core, 64 thread CPU, 2 RTX Titans in SLI, 64Gb of super fast DDR4, a slick motherboard and high capacity NVME drives will out perform any console.
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But what costs 5k for a PC now may well be seen in the next, next gen gaming console in 7 years time. It is a simple trickle down effect that we are seeing more and more of. Your curved OLED TV may be top of the line today, but there will be a better model out next year.
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I suppose in a way, you have to think about convenience and knowledge. Those that have the in depth knowledge of the PC world will undoubtedly lean more towards buying a PC, however, if you have no knowledge, and want something that is simple, easy to use and convenient, a console is the way forward. Unless you are a graphical whore and a console doesn't have the fidelity you want or you need ray tracing and over 120 frames per second gaming, then you will simply have to pay for that privileged. The majority of gamers simply can not afford to splash out $2k on a decent high end gaming PC. $500 is much more appealing.
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You then also have the exclusives and game availability. Sony's recent exclusives are phenomenally good, so too are Microsoft's, this sometimes persuades consumers to choose those respective consoles. However, PC has a much, much, much larger library of games available, from the triple A titles to the millions of Indie titles out there, with more than a fair few that cost nothing to play. This is not including any browser based games, of which there are countless. This library of available games persuades gamers to invest that extra money into PC.
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Its basically deciding on what it is you want or need. I say, ''Why Choose?'' Myself, my better half and 3 kids all have a gaming PC, and each of the kids also have a Console to play on also. It is the best of both worlds and allows myself, a Tech Journalist to explore everything each platform has to offer. Though I am a PC gamer through and through, I appreciate the console side also. Its what I started playing on as a kid in the 80's playing on the original NES and Master System.
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Should the stereotypes and stigma about console and PC gamers exist? Well. If you're not an arrogant arsehole then, no. simply because as of when the next generation of consoles are released in 2019/2020, those consoles will be fully utilizing desktop hardware and will be on par with mid range PC's. Hell. It wouldn't surprise me if you could switch out hardware and upgrade a console in a similar fashion as a PC.
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Either way, regardless of which platform you choose, Console hardware is making the shift over to using superior hardware that is only found in the aggressively competitive PC market, giving consoles that much needed boost in game performance. This is more necessary than you know as 4K at 60fps gaming is slowly becoming the norm for all gamers.
What is your preferred gaming platform and why did you choose it? Let us know in the comments below.
Stu @TechMojo
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