PC Gaming PC gaming has MMO’s (massive multi-player online) where thousands of people can play with each other and/or against each other in vast lands. There are also FPS (first person shooter) and RTS (real time strategy) games where teams can play against each other. You also have a mouse and keyboard which some people prefer over a console controller. The negatives of PC gaming though is the cheating. Some people really enjoy ruining other peoples time by cheating and it seems almost unstoppable with PC gaming. There is only one way to really stop it and that’s using services like OnLive where the game itself is on a server and its streamed to you while you play. The downfall of this is you need high speed internet (between 3 and 5 Mb/s) which a lot of people still don’t have. The cost of playing PC games is a mixed bag as well. You have your pay to play games (World of Waraft and Starwars: The Old Republic for instance) which cost $15 a month. This is fine except for the parents who’s child asks to shell out this every month. Then there are buy to play games which you buy the game in the store and play online for free (Guild Wars 2 and Diablo 3 for instance). Then there is free to play. Now free to play can be a crap shoot because all these games have a cash shop. This is fine when they just sell cosmetic things but when they start selling better weapons and such it can become a nightmare because it can become more than $15 a month, plus if you don’t pay you’re not on an even playing field with people who do.
Console Gaming
Console games have also have FPS and RTS games but very few MMO’s. You have a controller which some people prefer over a mouse and keyboard. There is also cheating on consoles but I think its less than on the PC (I could be wrong). A new console game can cost as much as $60 and even more if you get the uber awesome version. You can also buy used games (this option may vanish with the next generation of consoles). Then if you have an Xbox 360 you have to pay $60 a year (there are discounts at times) for Xbox live which to me seems like a good deal for what you get. Consoles generally you just pay for the game and play as much as you want. There aren’t many free games on consoles. What does the future bring? This is a hard question to ask. Neither Microsoft, Nor Sony are saying much. There is the Nintendo Wii U which does look promising, but there are still things we don’t know about it. When thinking about the next generation of consoles it just brings more questions than answers. What will the next Xbox use for game distribution for instance? Will they go Blu-ray? Pure download? Or something else? I’m hoping the next consoles (especially the Xbox) will bring the best of PC and Console gaming together. Hopefully they’ll have a wide range of controllers, guns, mouse and keyboard, controllers, wheels, flight sticks…etc. Also I know this is to much to ask for but I hope they make it harder for modders and cheaters. I know there have been a lot of rumors and speculation on what the next Xbox will be like. The internet has brought rumors about the next Xbox, Kinect and there was even an article on Surface right before Microsoft’s event (which ended up being false). Also there was a 56 page document that claimed the specs and such for the next Xbox that was taken down not long after it was put up. This could have been real, or not. My guess (and also what Paul Thurrott guessed as well) is it could all be misinformation. Here is what we know.- There will be a third Xbox coming out.
- It will be more powerful than the Xbox 360.
- There will be a Kinect 2.
- The next Kinext will be more powerful.
- It might cost $299.
- There might be some Augmented Reality gasses coming out in 2014.
- The OS might be using the NT core found in Windows 8, RT and Phone.
- It might come with Kinect v2.
- The next Kinect may not need as much room to play games.
- The next Kinect may allow you to use props (swords, guns…etc).
All Comments
The Wii is for casual and family gaming where as the Xbox is for hard core gaming and the PS3 is a mix of hard core gaming and multimedia interests.
 I think Wii U is going (not the Wii) Will have an equal amount of hard core and causal gaming. I didn’t mention the Wii I said “Wii U” the new console.
well robert i must disagree except there may be a chance that there are some hard core games but mostly casual gaming.
I guess we’ll see. The Wii U is going to be as powerful as the other consoles unlike the Wii which was as powerful as the first gen Xbox and came out around the same time as the 360. I think Nintendo is going to make a play at the more Hardcore games.Â
The Wii when it came out was cheap because they didn’t use next gen
processor and graphics, they were just showing off their motion
controllers which was unique at the time. The Wii U looks like it is
using higher end graphics and processors so it’ll probably be more
expensive at launch than the Wii was.
Nintendo must sees that the Wii was a fad. It sold like hotcakes and was #1 for a while but that tapered down because they didn’t have the draw of hardcore games. Everyone I know that has a Wii though doesn’t use it and I know about 6 people who have one (more than half of them have Xbox’s and use them regularly). The Wii had great motion control and thats what sold it. I think they’re going to be afraid that the same will happen with the Wii U if they don’t make a play for hardcore gamers. What Nintendo showed at E3 I think is just what they had at the time, as the Wii U comes closer to coming out I think they’ll show more hardcore games and if not then at some point after they will. Nintendo has to compete with the next Xbox and PS4 especially how that Microsoft showed their hand with Smart Glass which looks to do very similar things that Nintendo is trying to do with their Wii U controller (and because you can use any tablet Smart Glass will be more attractive to gamers). Also Kinect even though they’re putting support for it in hardcore games its still big with causal gamers and that won’t stop with the next version of the Xbox and Kinect 2. Nintendo can’t afford to not go after the hardcore market because its bigger than the casual market. Nintendo’s biggest pulls are Mario, Metroid and Zelda, they need more. I think Zombi U will do well, I think they’ll go all in with shooters like COD 4, maybe even the next Battlefield game, and others. I think they’ll come out with exclusive hardcore games as well. They’re going to have to to keep up with Microsoft and Sony unless they want to keep being #3.