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Xbox 360 vs. new PC... thoughts?
eternalRecursor
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Synopsis: I need something on which to play BioShock.
Elaboration: I've assumed for a while that I'd get a 360, but even with the new 3-year warranty, I have serious reservations about the machine's longevity. I've waited, hoping for a price drop and/or a better build, but BioShock is forcing my hand, and I'm going to have to make a decision sooner rather than later.
Aside from BioShock, I'd probably pick up Gears of War, Dead Rising, and a couple Xbox gems I missed last gen, while looking forward to the likes of Mass Effect and RE5 (Halo 3 I could take or leave). Whatever I do, I won't go hog wild, as I already own a Wii and work 40-60 hour weeks besides.
But another thing I've been considering is getting a new PC for the living room to use as a DVR/media center, as well as for general use. I figured it'd be bare-bones, as I've used a laptop for the past 8 years and have abandoned top-of-the-line PC gaming (and from what I have played, I also loathe keyboard controls). However, given my concerns about the 360, and the fact that BioShock (and soon, Gears) will be on the PC, I'm thinking that perhaps a gaming PC would be a better option.
I'm definitely leaning towards just getting a PC now, but will I regret not getting a 360? Are there non-PC exclusives I should definitely not miss? And how well/differently do PC games these days control with a gamepad vs. keyboard/mouse?
Elaboration: I've assumed for a while that I'd get a 360, but even with the new 3-year warranty, I have serious reservations about the machine's longevity. I've waited, hoping for a price drop and/or a better build, but BioShock is forcing my hand, and I'm going to have to make a decision sooner rather than later.
Aside from BioShock, I'd probably pick up Gears of War, Dead Rising, and a couple Xbox gems I missed last gen, while looking forward to the likes of Mass Effect and RE5 (Halo 3 I could take or leave). Whatever I do, I won't go hog wild, as I already own a Wii and work 40-60 hour weeks besides.
But another thing I've been considering is getting a new PC for the living room to use as a DVR/media center, as well as for general use. I figured it'd be bare-bones, as I've used a laptop for the past 8 years and have abandoned top-of-the-line PC gaming (and from what I have played, I also loathe keyboard controls). However, given my concerns about the 360, and the fact that BioShock (and soon, Gears) will be on the PC, I'm thinking that perhaps a gaming PC would be a better option.
I'm definitely leaning towards just getting a PC now, but will I regret not getting a 360? Are there non-PC exclusives I should definitely not miss? And how well/differently do PC games these days control with a gamepad vs. keyboard/mouse?
eternalRecursor on
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So I'd say definitely go for a PC. Depending on what you need to buy (and it sounds like you need to buy EVERYTHING) it'll be more expensive, but hey, you're not paying for XBOX Live or anything, and it'll certainly last a long long time. Plus you can upgrade it when it gets old, vs a 360, which you can't do jack shit to except pray that the Red Ring of Death does not appear.
The hardware problems for the 360 are undeniable, but they're doing a very good job of cleaning up the problem. I had to send mine back, and the customer service was excellent; the turn-around time barely 2 weeks. With the 3 year warranty you know you're covered without paying Best Buy an extra $50, and you can expect Microsoft to continually upgrade the hardware to avoid previous problems (otherwise they'd never invest a billion dollars in just upgrading the warranty for a flawed machine).
I would absolutely recommend the 360.
Well, if I decide against a 360, I would instead spend that cash to bolster what would have been a bare-bones PC. What's the marginal cost on such an upgrade, these days? And would BioShock, or any other game, still look better on the 360?
Depends on how far you go with your PC (sorry for misunderstanding your OP a bit). The 360 version will look fantastic, bested (I suspect) only by top-of-the-line PCs. It's a powerful machine. We won't know until release though. The thing about the 360 is that you know it'll look good, it'll start running as soon as you put it into your console, and that's the end of it. Worst-case scenario at this point is being without it for 2 weeks sometime down the line for a replacement.
its been 2 weeks and i still havent received my coffin. that being said, with a 360 you pay about 1/4 the cost for a game that will probably look only slightly better on the pc, and you have the guarantee that it will play whatever games come out in the systems lifetime. opposed to the pc, and constantly having to upgrade, patch, etc.
i intend to save up and get a top of the line pc in a couple months, myself, but if i had to chose right now i would stick with the 360.
360 Gamertag: Baronskatenbass Steam: BaronVonSnakPak HgL: AnsonLuap
Also, $400 versus however much you'd spend on a PC is a big deal, too.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
Sorry to hear that Baron, I really haven't heard of too many people going over 2 weeks
Have you called the support line to double-check everything is set up properly? I know mine was slightly delayed (they actually lost it in the warehouse somehow), but it was found quickly after I called and I had it in 2 weeks. I didn't get a coffin though (at this point they weren't doing coffins outside of the US. I believe they've changed that now), so I was paying shipping to them myself.
Though that said, they have not just ported the game between the two platforms, they have a dedicated PC team to really polish and work the PC version, a new PC friendly UI (No Oblivion bullshit here) and optimisation.
While Bioshock is ostensibly a 360 game it isnt just ported to PC.
My thought is all the games coming out on 360 this fall will be on PC next fall, so you know if you can wait sure, but the 360 is cheap, robust for games and will play all of the games to their full potential.
Except unlike Jade Empire, it's the first game in a planned trilogy which is intended to span the lifetime of the 360 with additional episodic downloadable content to fill the space between releases of the main titles.
They aren't going to divert resources to a PC port until the series is done on the 360 - and that will be 5 years from now. And at that point, why bother?
Other 360 games to look forward to asides from the ones already mentioned: Assassin's Creed, Rock Band, Blue Dragon, Lost Oddessy, Eternal Sonata, plus the other 2 Mass Effect games. Dead Rising 2 is probably also inevitable at this point.
Every time.
Curse you, devil machine.
However, as others have said, the cost of building a PC that'll run 360/PC titles at comparable levels is going to be a lot more than just buying a 360.
I've never wanted to hug you more.
To the OP, you will get more use out of a new computer in the long run.
The PC will, however, be more expensive, almost guaranteed. It's a matter of which will be more useful for you in the long run.
Gamewise, it depends what you like. And remember, you can always wait awhile to get a 360 (what I'm doing btw) so that it'll already have a ton of good games out for it. Plus there's some sort of minor hardware upgrade coming out in the near future for the 360. (Found it, their switching to a 65 nanometer process SOI processor, whatever that means.).
I think the difference is that the 360 will run games very well several years from now, as the gaming PC's ability to do so wanes rapidly. I'm really noticing this on my PC (I've spent about $500 upgrading it after 4 years owning it, and it still runs pretty much every modern game like garbage). The biggest problem with upgrading an old PC is major technology changes that pretty much require an almost complete overhaul of the PC. The 360 should never have that problem.
Dont underestimate how quickly your PC becomes outdated is what I say. Doesnt mean you cant play and enjoy the games at all, you will. Outdated doesnt mean cant run games, it just means cant run games at max.
If you do go for PC gaming, building one on a small budget is probably more of a waste of money than a 360 for less money. Imo if you build a new PC save up for longer and go super top end. Especially now with Vista and DX10 and dual cores etc becoming more and more prevalent. They will be standard in 5 years, you dont want to start things off already on the backfoot.
See I don't understand this. I have had a pc thats about that same age and it runs everything fine. Just because a game comes out with ultra extreme settings doesn't mean you have to use them.
i bought my pc 4 years ago, and 2 years later the games looked worse and worse, because devs dont give a shit about optimizing code for older systems. its now to the point where i see a new pc game id like, but have to pass because i dont have the hardware.
in 4 years time, youll have to get the 360 fixed, once, or twice, or...
in 4 years time, youll have to spend to upgrade the pc if you dont want to see the quality of your games go down drastically.
360 Gamertag: Baronskatenbass Steam: BaronVonSnakPak HgL: AnsonLuap
Maybe. I used to be 90% pc gamer. Since the 360 I have hardly touched the pc. I even built a brand new top of the line system a few months ago and it is pretty much collecting dust. Well except for porn. Anywho I just find if I have any time to game it is more enjoyable to do it on my sofa with the 360 controller firmly in hand.
I guess it is dependent on how much you paid for your PC when you got it. Mine was somewhat midrange when I bought it, and I've spent a good $500 or so keeping it semi up to date. I've basically hit my limit as far as how useful my gaming PC is right now. I can't run modern games at acceptable framerates without using ultra-low resolutions (for instance, FEAR, I have to run at 640x480 to get it over 30 FPS with medium quality textures). The only real exception to this is Half-life 2, which Valve did an unbelievable job of scaling to lower PCs while still looking great (at the cost of obscenely long load-times it seems).
I've basically given up on this PC, since I'd have to replace pretty much everything to get it to run modern games at acceptable framerates and resolutions. I'm not at all trying to run anything on "ultra extreme" settings, because it would probably melt my graphics card. I'm just trying to get them to run, and they really aren't doing so very well.
A PC will do that for 6 months after you get it. Then you'll have to turn down the details or upgrade.
I'm really happy I got a 360. IMO, it has better games than the PC ever had (this depends on what you like, obviously) and they were all made for the exact hardware configuration that I have.
If option 2 is cheaper, I'm still struggling if it'd be worthwhile to miss out on 360 exclusives or wait for them to be ported, if at all. That's balanced by the fact that, though I'm an enthusiast, the time I have to play games is ever-dwindling - and that being the case, will I really miss what I can't play? That's hard to predict.
The PC also has longevity on its side. If my 360 dies in the long run, my library's kaput; while if I game on the PC, I'll always have backwards compatibility.
Thanks for all your input thus far. I've lurked for years and almost never posted, but it's nice to know a nub can get thoughtful responses from this forum.
You will pay more for it, though. probably 800-1000 dollars for a great gaming rig.
Mine cost me 600+400 for the graphics card when I bought it 4 years ago. Its still going strong, runs oblivion on high settings and everything. Get a good PC and it will last slightly longer than a console.
Well to be fair your video card will probably cost as much as the 360 if you going for a good gaming rig. Think I spent 300 on my video card alone when I upgraded. If you have limited time I think the 360 is the absolutely the best choice. You spend less time dicking with direct x, drivers and optimizing and more time playing.
The quality of games on your PC, graphics/etc won't go down over time. They will get better, though how much better depends on how much you spend on your computer now. There will be a point where you have to start lowering the graphics settings of games, but thats because the games are becoming higher quality. Running a new game on medium graphics settings will likely still look better than running a 2 year old game at highest settings.
The only problem with a PC is that eventually, you won't have room to lower graphics anymore, and then will have to upgrade or play older games. But its not like PC games will look worse over time.
(Semantics if you wish, assuming you defrag regularly, etc, keep your system healthy)
3ds friend code: 2981-6032-4118
Yeah, people spend too much on graphics cards.
I spent $135 on my X1950pro. Most expensive part of my computer. I'm running every game out currently at highest settings, albiet 1280x1024(Older monitor).
3ds friend code: 2981-6032-4118
Well I am pretty sure you are not running anything new on max. My 8800 struggles on some stuff. Old games sure. I admit that HL2 at 150 fps is over kill. But even CoH and NWN2 wouldn't run well maxxed out with your card.
I still have my Dreamcast and crack it open for some gaming sessions now and again.
I dont have my 5 year old PC though. It got upgraded then eventually I got a new one.
And while I can still play any and all PC games EVER made on my current PC, there is something nice about having a console well after its lifespan and breaking it out for some nostalgia. More so than playing old games on a PC. Like when Starcraft 2 was announced I installed that again and it was ok but after like 20 minutes I went right back to contemporary RTS games on the PC and it showed.
But going back to DC and even earlier consoles you can still appreciate the quality.
This kind of means Im advocating getting a 360, but only if you want it now. Definetly pick one up eventually, much like the classic consoles it is good to have one.
My machine must be magic, because people always think I'm lying.
I currently run:
WiC Beta at nearly highest(just no AA/AF)
Oblivion at highest(That was a bummer, I thought it could get better)
Company of Heroes at around highest(Forget exact settings)
Supreme commander at around highest(same as CoH)
Insurgency Mod for HL2 at Highest(Full AA/AF)
BF2142 at highest I believe(didn't play that long, didn't like it)
STALKER at highest, except no AA(which is buggy) and textures down one notch(out of like 8 notches, if I remember right).
Not my fault if your computer doesn't like you.
3ds friend code: 2981-6032-4118
Edit: Complete lie, nevermind.
There is nothing to justify the argument that you a full upgrade every two years. I just now upgraded my Geforce 6800 128MB, but only because World in Conflict really needed the extra video memory. I'm still rocking AGP and new games still look and run great after I tweak them.
My advice would be to get a mid range video card and an XBox 360, when the new revision comes out. Otherwise, you are going to feel left out when games like GTAIV, Burnout Paradise, and Soul Calibur IV come out.
I would wait on the 360 though. They really need to get their shit sorted out. If Bioshock is good when it comes out, it'll still be good a couple months later.
That would probably be it, then. I have a CRT.