XBOX 360 vs. PC

[Creed]

I've always been a PC gamer, I bought my PS2 to play racing and fighting games.I used to believe that all other games are better on a PC,my opinion has changed.I know two people who own a XBOX and they are very happy with it.

I have a 3.7Mhz AMD,1.5GB ram and a X800.At the moment I have not found a game that I can't play at high graphics incl GRAW,Oblivion,X3,Titan Quest but I will have to upgrade next year to be able to play the Dual core games.

I saw the XBOX games and they are awesome and a few breathtaking games are about to be released soon.I only have time to play on 1 platform and I am considering buying a XBOX 360.

For my next upgrade I will need
1.New dualcore motherboard
2.Dualcore CPU
3.New FX card

I am expecting to pay no less than R6000 for the upgrade.

Now for the XBOX

Xbox 360 will carry an estimated retail price of R3 699 and R2 699 rand for the Xbox 360 Core System when it launches in South Africa on 29 September.

From http://games.iafrica.com/features/943207.htm


Now the specs: http://hardware.teamxbox.com/articles/xbox/1144/The-Xbox-360-System-Specifications/p1

Custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU 3 symmetrical cores running at 3.2 GHz each
2 hardware threads per core; 6 hardware threads total
1 VMX-128 vector unit per core; 3 total
128 VMX-128 registers per hardware thread
1 MB L2 cache


CPU Game Math Performance 9 billion dot product operations per second

Custom ATI Graphics Processor 500 MHz
10 MB embedded DRAM
48-way parallel floating-point dynamically-scheduled shader pipelines
Unified shader architecture

Polygon Performance 500 million triangles per second

Pixel Fill Rate 16 gigasamples per second fillrate using 4X MSAA

Shader Performance 48 billion shader operations per second

Memory 512 MB GDDR3 RAM
700 MHz DDR
Unified memory architecture

Memory Bandwidth 22.4 GB/s memory interface bus bandwidth
256 GB/s memory bandwidth to EDRAM
21.6 GB/s front-side bus

Overall System Floating-Point Performance 1 TFLOP

Storage Detachable and upgradeable 20 GB hard drive
12X dual-layer DVD-ROM
Memory unit support starting at 64 MB

I/O Support for up to 4 wireless game controllers
3 USB 2.0 ports
2 memory unit slots

Optimized for Online Instant, out-of-the-box access to Xbox Live features, including Xbox Live Marketplace for downloadable content, Gamer Profile for digital identity and voice chat to talk to friends while playing games, watching movies or listening to music
Built in Ethernet Port
Wi-Fi Ready: 802.11 A, B and G
Video Camera Ready


Digital Media Support Support for DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, JPEG Photo CD
Stream media from portable music devices, digital cameras, Windows XP PCs
Rip music to Xbox 360 hard drive
Custom playlists in every game
Windows Media Center Extender built in
Interactive, full screen 3D visualizers

HD Game Support All games supported at 16:9, 720p and 1080i, anti-aliasing
Standard definition and high definition video output supported

Audio Multichannel surround sound output
Supports 48 KHz 16-bit audio
320 independent decompression channels
32-bit audio processing
Over 256 audio channels

System Orientation Stands vertically or horizontally

Customizable Face Plates Interchangeable to personalize the console

Sorry about the long quote but I wanted to show what the XBOX offers.

To biuld a equivalent PC will be very,very expensive

I can LAN + play online with the XBOX and the quality of the games are at the very least equal to PC games.

Now what do you think, PC upgrade or XBOX?

 

[nGAGEd55]

if only you could use a keyboard and mouse on an XBOX

 

[Elfreako]

if only you could use a keyboard and mouse on an XBOX

hmmmm, yeah! does it have USB? would a USB keyboard work? like on the PS2?

 

[Elfreako]

yeah look at this http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?pr...le_frag_xbox&gclid=CMTgn_i33YcCFRoeSwodaGD-nA

im sure a normal USB keyboard + mouse would work...like on the PS2 (or was that a special one? cant remember)

 

[Creed]

It does have USB.I'm not sure if it takes keyboards but it should.

From my first post:

I/O Support for up to 4 wireless game controllers
3 USB 2.0 ports
2 memory unit slots

Hehe sorry, u posted wile I was making this post

 

[Elfreako]

well for me the hole appeal of consoles is the multiplayer aspect, and its even more so with these new gen consoles. I am def gona pick myself up one of them but want to see the Wii first.

 

[Elfreako]

After a bit of research it seems that microsoft has disabled keyboard and mouse support in most games to try keep online experience fair. They may however add this at a later stage, bit of a downer.

 

[BCO]

My biggest gripe with consoles is the controller, playing FPS or RTS is sooooo lame with a traditional controller. Keyboard and mouse functionality (or a Wii-mote) would go a long way in getting me to buy a console. My (limited) experience with the X360 was seriously dampened by having to use a controller.

 

[Skeptik]

Does this gadget have an Operating System?

 

[useless]

In monetary terms you will be better off with the X360 since you wont need to upgrade every 6 months if you had a PC and wanted to keep up with the technology.

Yet, if you are a serious PC gamer and that is your hobby stick to it if it makes you happy.

I got an X360 for the sole reason not to upgrade my PC since it was getting ridiculously expensive. Most of the top games heading for the PC will be out on the X360 with the exception of some RPG and FPS titles.

Playing a FPS game on the X360 takes some time to get used to but in the end you will have more control due to the simple fact that all the buttons are at your finger tips.

I for instance prefer GRAW on the X360 due to the simple fact if i compare it to the PC version i also own its miles ahead in graphical and playing terms. A plus is that you dont need to buy a HD TV to enjoy it, simply buy the VGA HD cable and connect your X360 to your PC LCD/CRT screen for some HD goodness.

 

[ubberfunk]

My biggest gripe with consoles is the controller, playing FPS or RTS is sooooo lame with a traditional controller. Keyboard and mouse functionality (or a Wii-mote) would go a long way in getting me to buy a console. My (limited) experience with the X360 was seriously dampened by having to use a controller.

Funny thing is i felt the same way when i first got my x-box(not 360) amazingly i got used to it in a couple hours and bobs your uncle!!! halo 1 and halo 2 done and dusted 4 player spilt screen in 1 week.

as per a previous topic about a keyboard and mouse,i do know that there is a special keyboard for online games for x-box live,similar to z-board only for online games such as fantasy star online ect ect,but most games for any console is adapted for the controller.Most games companies who have made any sort of FPS for any console generally use auto aim,meaning when the cross-hair gets any near the target it will automatically locks on which makes FPS easier to play than your normal mouse and keyboard based FPS...thats comming from a quake,CS and HL fan!!!

 

[GavinMannion]

Slightly OT but I can't wait until Vista comes up properly and Vista Live is in service as well.

I have heard we are going to be able to play Halo 3 on the Xbox 360 against guys on Vista PC's... That will forever answer which machine is better for gaming ..

I used to hate consoles until I realised that the amount of money I had spent on my pc to play games could have bought me two consoles and 200 cases of beer. So now I have 1 console and 400 cases of beer .. Happy man.

Seriously I would say the consoles are for people who enjoy playing games but not for people who live for playing games.

Played DOA4 against my brother in law last night whilst sitting on the couch and drinking beer. Much more entertaining than sitting our my computer in the study...

 

[Scooby_Doo]

Never, i enjoy my PC far more, mods, more control and multiplayer. and i haven't upgraded in almost 3 years and can still play most games at a med-high. I really hate the way console games work, feel and play. As well as how expensive console games are.

 

[useless]

Never, i enjoy my PC far more, mods, more control and multiplayer. and i haven't upgraded in almost 3 years and can still play most games at a med-high. I really hate the way console games work, feel and play. As well as how expensive console games are.

you would be amazed at how friendly and hassle free Xbox 360 multiplayer games are online... no hassles with Punkbuster, game versions, hackers and cheaters can be reported due to the nickname which is a must in the online LIVE service.

If you also take into consideration the pricing of PC games and the finished product you will get a fright. Sure its only R299 but then do you take into consideration the occasional rushed game for which you need a patch and have to wait for it to be out?

At least on the Xbox 360 or consoles as a whole you get true plug & play with games.

 

[spiderz]

i'll stick with my PC and BF2

 

[useless]

if you can have the best of both worlds then be it!

 

[Scooby_Doo]

you would be amazed at how friendly and hassle free Xbox 360 multiplayer games are online... no hassles with Punkbuster, game versions, hackers and cheaters can be reported due to the nickname which is a must in the online LIVE service.

If you also take into consideration the pricing of PC games and the finished product you will get a fright. Sure its only R299 but then do you take into consideration the occasional rushed game for which you need a patch and have to wait for it to be out?

At least on the Xbox 360 or consoles as a whole you get true plug & play with games.

Still i will take all the cheaters, bugs and all, just cuz i don't like the "feel" of Xboxes, i have always found more freedom with mouse keyboard combo, that stupid little control is painfull for me at best. But thats just me.

 

[lilDeath]

I wanna have both
It will feel like the good old days, de ja vu!!, with the commodore when I get my XBOX360

 

[useless]

aye, each to his own tastes Scooby_Doo!

 

[ubberfunk]

Never, i enjoy my PC far more, mods, more control and multiplayer. and i haven't upgraded in almost 3 years and can still play most games at a med-high. I really hate the way console games work, feel and play. As well as how expensive console games are.

Yes there is alot more content when it comes to PC's,The best FPS i have ever played was Goldeneye for N64 and Halo saga on x-box,Halo for one had a co-op mod/multiplayer,I have never seen one damn PC FPS besides Doom original series to have this.

someone please refresh my memory if they have any FPS shooters for PC's with a fully operating multi player co op mod.

It boils down to personal taste