Why should I build a gaming rig rather than buy a ps3?

[0098386]

I think you'd better clarify just WHO you are directing that comment to sir.

Not you sir .

Totally man. Like your comments are completely valid

Rather than just reposting them I'd love to hear why you think they're wrong.

"Consoles are a simple, casual experience."

Yup. You buy a console in a box, you take the console out of the box, you plug some wires in. You're good to go. There's no setup, no calibration. Games are simplified (autoaim is usually enabled on console games), no complex games like Civilization, Warcraft.

"There's barely any customisation or options! Forced to use a certain type of controller, no ability to run mods (unless its UT3 on PS3), locked OS, barely any user replaceable parts"

Yup. You're forced to use a controller. On a PC you can use any device you want, hell use GlovePie and play Left4Dead 2 with a midi keyboard.
Console OS's are locked. Sony even removed the Install Other OS feature recently.
Tip: Console OS' and iPod/iPhone OS' are locked. OSX, Windows are not.

"Playing online is free and you don't have to subscribe to any services to unlock the full potential of the system"

Yup. There is no "PC Plus" or "PC Live Gold". The online potential is maxed out on PC gaming at no extra cost.
Unless you're playing an subscription-based MMO.

"I'd definitely go for a PC. Even a cheap PC is now more powerful than a home console"

Yup. A £100 graphics card will run Modern Warfare 2 at 720-1080p at max settings. The console versions are only running at 640p (SD in PAL regions).

"Well technically an iPod touch can do almost everything that an iMac can do"

I'm sorry you absolutely missed the context that, slightly satirical, comment was made in.

"Infact the PS3 is notorious for frequent, large firmware updates."

Yup. Only recently have they upgraded their firmware updating system to support smaller firmware patches. Previously the user had to download a full firmware.

It's generally not a good idea to advise other people on subjects you don't know much about.

 

[chocolate632]

Yup. You're forced to use a controller. On a PC you can use any device you want, hell use GlovePie and play Left4Dead 2 with a midi keyboard.
Console OS's are locked. Sony even removed the Install Other OS feature recently.

LMAO imagine fighting a tank in L4D2 using a midi keyboard

 

[0098386]

LMAO imagine fighting a tank in L4D2 using a midi keyboard

Give it a try
http://sites.google.com/site/carlkenner/glovepie

 

[apolloa]

Not you sir .

Good, that's ok then

I still think this is a daft question to ask. I can argue the PS3, you can argue the PC. But whilst they can both do the same things obviously there is a world of difference of functionality?

You can connect a PC up to other devices for more functionality, you can upgrade it's parts etc. Building a PC purely for gaming is just daft, you build a PC for gaming and the thousands of other things you'll do. A gaming PC is just a PC with very powerful components, nothing more.

I think the best advice to the OP is if you already have a PC, think about getting rid of it to replace it with a new built machine, And then get a PS3 later maybe? You can easily buy a monitor that can take both a PS3 and a PC.
You really need to think what you want out of the machine?

 

[mixel]

You will occasionally see them when you venture outside. It would take too long to explain the differences, so I recommend taking a time out from world of warcraft and go see for yourself. Just walk around saying "hi" to people, and the first one that says "eeeww go away" is a girl.

LOL been there done that, married with daughter now... Nice try though. (daughter and wife who both appreciate PC and console games btw, Minecraft particularly at the moment). What I was alluding to is the fact that you've pigeonholed half the population AND PC gamers in a way which makes you sound like a male chauvinistic, clueless kid. (or as Dagless suggested, a troll)

I can testify to this comment by Dagless';

"Even a cheap PC is now more powerful than a home console" - That’s true depending on how you define "cheap" and "Power" .. Certainly multi-platform titles will run rings around the PS3 (and 360) when ran on very limited PC hardware. My 2008 iMac with the old 8800GS runs RE5, Dead Rising 2 and GTA4 much better than any console.

But then there are the PS3 exclusives which look incredible and I cant imagine them running as well on anything else without the PS3's combination of big budget backing and strange hardware. Generally they're the exception to the rule though.


You can't go wrong with either option really. It should all come down to what games you want to play.

 

[mixel]

Building a PC purely for gaming is just daft, you build a PC for gaming and the thousands of other things you'll do. A gaming PC is just a PC with very powerful components, nothing more.

I disagree.. Making a great gaming Mac is prohibitively expensive - a lot of the "other things you'll do" I'd much rather do on a Mac and don't demand the extra horsepower anyway.. I have an iMac for Photoshop, work and net stuff.. And a custom PC tower for gaming. Together they probably still cost less than a pimped out MacPro of comparable gaming performance. Having a gaming PC makes a lot of sense in some use cases.

My gaming PC is almost exclusively a Steam machine.

 

[mark28]

I'd go for a console. For the price of a gaming rig, you could easily get a PS3, moderate to big HD TV(assuming you don't have one already), and quite a few games. Of course you can even buy more games if you already have the TV. Another advantage to console games is that they are not serial based, so you can easily sell a game once you beat it/have no reason to play it anymore. I know several people that do this.

Huh?

An ATI 4850 ( desktop ) or GTX 260 ( desktop ) will easily run everything maxed, except maybe crysis on 1920 x 1200 and they cost nothing really.

You can build yourself a pretty descent AMD rig at the cost of a PS3 excluding screen.

 

[miknos]

SPAMBOXNET is a wise man

 

[smirk]

@Ozreth, this has probably gone on way too long, but why don't you tell us what you're looking to get out of the machine. Do you already have an HDTV and blu-ray player? Would you even use the PS3 to watch movies?

I own an iMac, PC, and PS3. I'm not a hardcore gamer, but I enjoy playing games once in awhile. I use my PS3 almost daily for watching Hulu, DVDs or Blu-ray discs, streaming Netflix, or watching other videos served off of my server. We sometimes have friends over to play Rock Band, and it's pretty fun having a room full of people all playing/singing along. It's also fun lounging on the couch playing games like Little Big Planet without having to sit at a desk two feet from a screen. I love my PS3, but use it mostly as a media player and for social/casual games. The occasional firmware updates are not an issue for me. I also like how the PS3 automatically detects game updates and forces you to install them.

I use my PC for Steam games and some apps that are PC-only or PC-best. For awhile I was addicted to Torchlight and played that all the time on there. At the time, I couldn't imagine not having a PC for games. Same with Oblivion: the game rocks and got even better from all the free mods that the PC version lets you install. Like I said, I'm not a hardcore gamer, so building my "gaming rig" really just consisted of building a PC with decent parts and then buying a decent video card. I think the whole thing cost around $400-$500 in 2008. This year I bought a new video card on sale and overclocked the CPU; it's nice to be able to incrementally upgrade your gaming machine, something you can't do with a console -- although it could be argued that you don't need to because console games will never overtax the hardware.

I use my Mac for everything else: web, email, photos, music, and a few Steam games.

I think everyone uses these devices for different things, to scratch different itches as it were, and you will get better advice if you tell us what you already own and what you're trying to get out of a new machine.

 

[JackAxe]

@ smirk,

I like that, different things to scratch different itches. It's why I have my Macs, my Wii, and my PC -- which has a BILLION inputs on it.

 

[xparaparafreakx]

PC first then PS3.

Please don't go crazy with i7, gtx 480, ati 5870, ati 6870, etc etc. You be surprise what an e7300 & a gts 250 can do at 1920x1200. Yes its a huge learning curve to figure out what parts to get if you a mac user.

I ended up with a shuttle pc. Built it and goes nice with all my mac stuff.

Steam sales. After xmas, a HUGE steam sale. Most PC gamers spend their money on that sale.

For PS3, start with uncharted 1 and 2 and MGS 4.