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- When will AGI be achieved? Posted on April 24th, 2025 | 49 comments
Your next gaming console is?
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Why would anyone want a console? (Score:5, Insightful)
I genuinely do not understand why anyone would want a gaming console. A PC can play games just fine, and you need a PC anyway, for work or school or whatever. Spend a bit extra, and it's a gaming PC. Why mess with a console?
Re:Why would anyone want a console? (Score:4, Interesting)
As a long time PC gamer earlier this year I bought a PS4 and have used quite a bit. And you are right for the most part, but here was my anecdotal reasons:
- I am still running a i7-2600K. For current gen PC games I would have to go a full CPU/RAM/GPU/Motherboard upgrade. Even with a mid tier GPU I was looking at $800 total. A PS4 Pro is half that at retail, and used was $300
- My PC still works great and plays the type of games I enjoy on PC which won't ever work on console (Strategy games, eg. Factorio, Rimworld,etc)
- Most every "AAA" title I would want to enjoy on PC are also on consoles and still look quite fantasic
- I can play on my big TV on my couch without needing a second PC or some type of KVM/Extension/Stream system.
- Exclusives like FF7R which may or not ever make it to PC
Really it came down to "I want to play FF7R and Cyberpunk this year" and a PS4 was by far cheapest and least friction for that goal. Now, I already had decent, if quite old gaming PC. I still love PC gaming but the PC hardware rat race of sorts has become less important as I have gotten older.
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- I am still running a i7-2600K. For current gen PC games I would have to go a full CPU/RAM/GPU/Motherboard upgrade. Even with a mid tier GPU I was looking at $800 total. A PS4 Pro is half that at retail, and used was $300
Not really though? I'm running a i5-3470 Optiplex special which is slightly newer but slower and not overclockable. All modern games run great, like Doom Eternal doesn't drop below 60fps, Half Life Alyx is pretty solidly above 90fps for the most part on medium. And that's with a GTX1070. The 1660 Super gets you the same results [anandtech.com] for like $230 brand new or less used.
I'm not really into the rat race any more either, but it's not necessary unless you want to run everything in 4K at 144hz or something. I got thi
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Really. I have an i5-3570K (not overclocked, GTX 1060) and can't run Battlefield 1, a game that is over 3 years old, on low settings in 1080p with a decent framerate. Thing is, alot of current gen games on PC use CPU heavily and a simple GPU upgrade wont remove the bottleneck that is an 8 year old CPU. I'm in a similar situation and got myself a PS4 Pro about a year ago because I didn't want to upgrade a mobo+cpu+ram combination that's still perfectly viable for most non-gaming usage.
Re: Why would anyone want a console? (Score:2)
I have the same cpu and I played Battlefield 1 pretty much close to ultra on gtx 980
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I slipped a decent GPU in an old Xeon server and it did a fine job when gaming at 1080p. I think modern GPUs are a bit over spec when it comes to 1080p and the main trouble of gpu+cpu+motherboard is when going to 4K.
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I genuinely do not understand why anyone would want a gaming console. A PC can play games just fine, and you need a PC anyway, for work or school or whatever. Spend a bit extra, and it's a gaming PC. Why mess with a console?
Because I don't have to manage it and wait for it to update. I can be playing where I left off within 30 seconds of turning it on. I don't have to deal with driver issues, windows updates, and game updates.
I stopped playing games on a PC because I had to maintain a separate Windows system to do it (Linux on desktop, but still wouldn't want to game on my revenue-generating computer even if it were Windows). Because this system was not always-on, every time I wanted to play it'd try to download more update
Re:Why would anyone want a console? (Score:5, Informative)
Because I don't have to manage it and wait for it to update.
Every time I play a game on PS4 I have to update PS4. Then I have to update the game. Even if I just bought the game, I have to update the game. And the update servers are slow.
I'm not having this one, at all.
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It's kind of strange that people who are supposedly able to build and maintain a gaming PC aren't able to set a few options and let the console and installed games update during time they don't use it.
It's kind of strange that you think it's strange that someone would spend money on a game, and then want to play it the same day.
I also have a PS4, and no amount of options avoid what the op was describing.
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Turn on updates during sleep mode. Put your PS4 to sleep. Done.
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But you know it will work reliably on the console. I'm sure you'd have to update the PC game and OS more frequently, but also drivers in addition to that, and hope everything still works properly in the end.
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Because I don't have to manage it and wait for it to update.
Every time I play a game on PS4 I have to update PS4. Then I have to update the game. Even if I just bought the game, I have to update the game. And the update servers are slow.
I'm not having this one, at all.
I miss the pre-internet connected console era. Consoles used to be much better before they followed the PC fad of waiting for updates.
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I got my kids a PS4. They like playing it and it doesn't require much effort to keep running. There are pros (no wires! no yanking the console off the shelf!) and cons (no wires? great, let's play "find the missing controller," oh, it's taking a nap with a doll), but the pros far outweigh the cons, mostly from an ease of use and maintenance standpoint.
I don't really play games anymore, other than time-waster puzzle games on the phone, but it is fun to play fighting games or co-op games with the kids without
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Basically agreeing with your second paragraph on the grounds that it's the only mention of smartphones in the discussion. And I'm also biased in favor of puzzle games.
I actually think this one is a surprisingly well-considered poll as measured by the standard of recent Slashdot polls. Good coverage in the options, though I still miss ol' Cowboy Neal. Maybe his favorite gaming console was an abacus or slide rule?
Then again, I don't like to spend much time on games. It usually feels wasted, sometimes addictiv
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...Good coverage in the options, though I still miss ol' Cowboy Neal. Maybe his favorite gaming console was an abacus or slide rule?
Funny you should mention that. I almost selected the 'Other' radio button, because the first answer that popped into my head was 'abacus'. But I selected 'I don't play video games' instead, on the assumption that solitaire on my phone doesn't qualify.
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I genuinely don't understand why anyone wouldn't have both a PC and consoles (yes plural). I also have younger kids. Consoles are better for them than PCs (what do you mean I need a 20 minute windows update?). Their friends also are on Xbox Live or PSN. Now when Sony embraces cross platform play this will be less of a requirement, but until that day...
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Is that any worse than 'What do you mean I need a Playstation firmware and a game update? Didn't they both update last week?'
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I'm 63. My kids have kids :) But I've never really been a console gamer. I've had two over the past 40 or so years. An Intellivision my brother gave me back in the 80's and I bought an XBox360 back in 2010 for an exclusive to XBox only piece of software. When a year later it made it to the PC, I sold the XBox and my account to a friend.
And now my big screen TV is sitting in the Music Room and isn't easily visible through the keyboard, mic stands, guitars, and mixer (and cables) :)
[John]
Re:Why would anyone want a console? (Score:5, Insightful)
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really you would have to be pretty fucking dense not to see the desirability for a gaming console for most people.
I'm pretty sure they know about it but just want to claim some sort of technological superiority - just like how there are console "fanboys" too.
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The same experience thing can't be overstated. Back when I used to play PC games like Medal of Honour and Joint Ops online people with better systems had a distinct advantage.
There isn't much developers can really do about it either. For example some monitors let you display a reticle and because it's the monitor doing it the PC can't detect it. And they wouldn't dare cap the frame rate so people in 144Hz monitors and expensive GPUs don't see any benefit.
You can get some advantage on console with better con
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Why mess with a console?
It's about the games. Period. If you want to play a game and the game is only made for a particular machine, that's the machine you need to play the game.
I could just decide that I don't care about any games that aren't made for the PC but the truth is: I do care. There are few enough games I genuinely enjoy and some of them aren't made for the PC.
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Why, in your mind, does it have to be either/or instead of both?
I've got an Xbox One X in the living room and a Core i7-7820x with 64GB RAM, a pair of Samsung 970 Pro 512GB M.2 NVMe drives in a RAID 0 stripe with 4 1.5TB WD Black 7200 RPM spinners in a RAID 5 with a pair of Radeon Vega 64's in my office. Does the PC run higher resolutions and frame rates, of course it does... does it replace having a console in the living room that serves as a very capable gaming platform in its own right, and a highly usef
Re: Why would anyone want a console? (Score:2)
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Some people don't want to mess with drivers, upgrades, softwares, costs, etc. They just want them to work right away.
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Because gaming laptops are pretty terrible for work and not very portable. Because having to connect the TV and some controllers to the work laptop when playing games is entirely unappealing. Because PC gaming mostly means dealing with Windows. Because PC gaming is never a level playing field. Because you never know whether the next game you buy will run acceptably on your hardware.
With a console you will be using the controllers that the game developers expect you to use, and your performance will be what
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(I've never owned a game console in my life, not even so much as an Atari 2600. Closest was
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A gaming console is an appliance. It lives in the TV cabinet under the TV. My computer is a heavy desktop PC in my office with a dozen cables coming out of it and it runs Linux. While it's plenty powerful enough to run games I can't run games on it because it's Linux and I'm not going to unplug it, shift it to the lounge and plug it all back in again. If I want to play Forza I want to be able to sit on the couch and press one button on the controller to start it up, not spend 20 minutes shagging around shif
Re: Why would anyone want a console? (Score:1)
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I genuinely do not understand why anyone would want a gaming console. A PC can play games just fine, and you need a PC anyway, for work or school or whatever. Spend a bit extra, and it's a gaming PC. Why mess with a console?
You don't have children do you?
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Well... You usually don't need to worry about Video driver updates, DirectX patches, Visual C++ and .NET framework redistributables, and various other Windows 10 and Steam updates hosing your XBox or Playstation every few months like you do with a WIndows gaming PC.
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None of that has been a problem for years, though. The PC has become a reasonably stable platform, and game installers take care of any special needs they have.
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My favorite franchise is The Legend of Zelda which is a Nintendo exclusive. I have a 3DX SL, a Wii, and a WiiU. No switch because Breath of The Wild runs fine in the U but as the next Zelda will probably be the launch title for the new console, that's where I'm going.
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Re: Why would anyone want a console? (Score:1)
I have them all because I have the money and it is cheap entertainment.
Brother in law does Xbox. Couple hundred bucks and we have fun. Friends has playstation, same story.
It's for fun, dont overthink it. I save enough buying used games anyways.
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Biggest reason: console exclusives.
Gaming consoles are defined by their games. And personally, I always bought consoles with a game in mind. If I want to play Mario, I am going to buy a Nintendo console, because it is what you need to play Mario. The last time I bought a console, it was a PS4-Pro, because I wanted to play Monster Hunter World. I could have waited for the PC version, but I couldn't have played with my friends, who had PS4s.
Of course, I don't normally buy a system for just one game. I usually
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Re: Why would anyone want a console? (Score:2)
Between the Atari 2600 era and the first Wii, I was a die hard computer gamer. But honestly you cant compare the two, not because of their technical features but because of the game play. For the same reason that games made for a computer with keyboard and mouse can be great, console games with a reduced set of controls can be great. Now I mostly play console games because its more convenient and I have limited time and can share the experience easier with the family. Computer gaming is often a solitary exp
Hassle free gaming (Score:2)
You get a game, you know it is going to launch without fiddling and that you can finish the campaign without the game failing, and you know the same game will still work the same on the same system even years down the road.
It's for people who want to troubleshoot their games as little as possible. I've done PC gaming before, but I'll take console gaming for the reliability.
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Ease of use and stability.
For many years I built gaming PC's, and there was always some shit that was unstable, just a bit slower than the rest, software that needed updating for this or that. Until I got sick of it (around the release of GTA IV, which I had a hell of a time running) and bought a Wii and after a while a PS3. The latter turned into a PS4, and that will turn into a PS5. I love it. it sits below the TV, unobtrusive. I pop it on and within 2 minutes I'm gaming away. Never had any issue with the
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I genuinely do not understand why anyone would want a gaming console. A PC can play games just fine, and you need a PC anyway, for work or school or whatever. Spend a bit extra, and it's a gaming PC. Why mess with a console?
You don't buy the console for yourself, you buy it for your kids, so they will stop bugging you to use your computer for video games.
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Because my friends are on Xbox and if I want to play with them I have to own one. Games like Halo and Division 2 PC players decimate Console players because the mouse and keyboard is a massive advantage so you cant have them all in the same servers.
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Social gaming (Score:2)
I feel consoles are also good for family game time. We still frequently use the Wii, even my wife who hates games enjoys Super Mario and Wii Sports with myself and our son.
I still game on the PC far more than anything because keyboard
Let me explain that for you (Score:2)
(Disclaimer: this is a repost of a comment I made a while back)
Worthwhile Gaming PC: North of 650 Euros in hardware. Fiddling with the hardware, OS and installations. Bulky, fussy, noisy.
Xbox One S: 200 Euros. Unpack, hook up, turn on, works.
Hardware and OS and System and Software Delivery and Services all built by the same people.
Just like Apple, only way cheaper.
I've got a complete setup with 27" screen, soundbar, keyboard and multiple controllers and still have spent less than for a gaming PC setup.
I got
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Thin client (Score:2)
It will be my Linux laptop with Stadia, GeForce Now, Vortex.gg or some similar remote gaming platform.
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The only upside to game streaming is up-front cost. Long term costs are probably comparable, quality is lower, latency sucks. It just doesn't seem worthwhile.
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A very large number of people are within 10 milliseconds of an AWS region and there are EC2 instances with 96 cores and 8 GPUs.
Game streaming sucks today. Tomorrow? Don't be so sure.
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2020 is one hell of a year.
https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fventurebeat.com%2F2020%2F0... [venturebeat.com]
Re: Thin client (Score:1)
No, long term costs are much higher.
Do you think they do that out of the goodness of their hearts?
No, they are doing it to make more profit!
TANSTAAFL
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It will be my Linux laptop with Stadia, GeForce Now, Vortex.gg or some similar remote gaming platform.
Similarly on a linux laptop, but I only play dcss so don't need any of that other crap.
Console people getting burned over and over (Score:3)
Going from NES to SNES was an amazing leap. SNES to PSX was an amazing leap. PSX to PS2 was another amazing leap. PS2 to PS3 was a noticeable difference but less than amazing.
PS4/Xbone felt like a small improvement, not worth the cost, then came the hardware iterations.
Consoles have gone the way of AAA games at this point. If you want the real thing, you need to wait a couple of years for the full release as a reasonable price.
1. Design next gen console, remove some critical features. Media blitz.
2. Re-release same console with the critical features it should have had to begin with. Address reliability issues. Add PRO to name. Raise the price. Media blitz.
3. Re-release the re-release with another feature. Maybe make it smaller. Remove some features. Add X to name. Raise price. Big ad spend.
4. Repeat.
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I hear you, I do, but even if you only believe 40% of this, it should be a pretty wicked box:
https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gizchina.com%2F2020%2F... [gizchina.com]
Whether they're actually going to manage an AI that doesn't run straight at your gun is a different matter.
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/dev/console (Score:5, Funny)
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PC -- upgraded video card (Score:1)
and maybe mame...
Retropie / RPi (Score:2)
My next console: Atari VCS (Score:1)
ipad pro, baby (Score:1)
I play fortnite on my ipad pro and it's great. I don't need anything else!
A chessboard (Score:3)
Re: A chessboard (Score:1)
Current is good enough (Score:1)
I have no plans on buying a “next” gaming console. I’m perfectly happy with the PC, Wii, and Wii U I’ve already got, and have plenty of games I haven’t had time to finish yet.
Atari VCS (Score:2)
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A long time ago, my next console will be... (Score:1)
VT00 (Score:3)
Switch Lite (Score:2)
Definitely PC here! (Score:3)
It may sound weird, but I feel like I'm "too old for consoles". I mean, I'm in my late 40's and still enjoy some video games. But the whole thing of sitting on the couch, tying up the big screen TV to play a game on it? Nah ... not for me. I mean, I've got the rest of the family here who usually wants to watch something on it, and they don't want to watch me playing a console game.
And sure, I could just attach a console to a computer monitor and play in the office? But like others said; why bother? Console makers have been screwing all of us on the costs of the whole thing. I think our family went through a total of 3 Playstation 4's now. Failed optical drive in one. Another just refused to power on or stay powered on. The hardware just isn't very durable. And you're stuck with all the limitations like the proprietary webcam, controllers and so forth. Not that the hardware is really bad or anything. But it always costs a bit of a premium and you're just buying duplicates of things you own already for your PC. And on top of all that, you pretty much have to maintain a subscription to the Playstation Network too, or else you lose ability to play most games multiplayer.
I'd far prefer putting the money into my PC, where I can do more with it than JUST play games.
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Surely tying up the big screen TV actively doing something (narrating the adventure story/plotting strategies to save the hostage or dismantle the bomb/reading the road ahead to shave some seconds of the lap time/whatever) perhaps even with friends online is better use of the big screen TV than passively watching the latest whore TV (paradise hotel, ex on the beach or what have you) or any other non-interactive show for that matter, wouldn't you say? ;-)
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A de10-nano running MiSTer (Score:1)
Simulate classic hardware on an FPGA with MiSTer and a de10-nano. With 128MB of RAM and a 32GB sd card it'll run everything it supports for about $350 CDN shipped.
https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2FMiSTer-devel%2FMain_MiSTer%2Fwiki
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Emulation Station (Score:2)
My next gaming system I get will be an arcade box that I build. The older arcade and console games are just a ton of fun to pick up and play. No loading screens. No updates. No full motion video cutscenes that take up tons of playing time. Just straight into the game and time to play.
Windows 10 (Score:2)
Oculus Quest & Linux Laptop (Score:2)
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Same here: Two Oculus Quests in the household and a number of Linux laptops, and that's it (we seem to have been successful at keeping the kids away from mobile games so far). If it doesn't exist on Arch Linux (& AUR), Oculus Quest, Sidequest, Steam (Linux), Lutris (including Wine support), we won't even try.
The biggest annoyances about using a "console" type gaming platform are vendor lock-in and privacy invasion. The worst one I have used is Playstation, but Quest is quite close. After we got the Ques
A Sega Genesis (Score:3)
Obviously a Sega Master System that I can use as a "game machine" cover for when personal computers are outlawed.
I''l spend time on it using CollapseOS
https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcollapseos.org%2F [collapseos.org]
Console Dev (Score:1)
Intellivision Amico (Score:1)
I'm a computer gamer since my Commodore 128. The only exceptions were a Sega Saturn that I bought when I was in the military (having a gaming PC was not possible) and an X-Box 360 that I bought to play Dance Central during parties (the only other game that I bought for the 360 was Virtua Fighter 5, but I didn't play it because I hate gamepads).
Right now, the only console that looks interesting to me is the Intellivision Amico. I'm not interested much with the "retro" games for the console, but I'm certainly
Stadia (Score:1)
Emulation all the way! (Score:1)
NES, SNES, Megadrive, Arcade (Mame/FBA/etc). No loading times, better games, you can play an entire credit while sitting on the WC. My old PSVita and my older PSP are hacked just for this.
Next Gen can't beat that!
As for next gen sony and xbox (Score:2)
People need to get over the hardware war. It's going to be about exclusives. People need to come to terms with the fact that these are going to be basically identical graphically with amazing load times. It really comes down to what exclusives you are after.
A Tesla - Probably the Cybertruck (Score:2)
I'm trying to hold off until the Cybertruck arrives, to replace my truck, but thinking seriously about a model 3 or Y. But the ultimate console has 4 wheel drive, a stainless steel exoskeleton, dual motors and bullet proof glass. :)
MiSTer FPGA . . . if it ever goes off backorder. (Score:2)
Console backwards compat sucks (Score:2)
I definitely get the appeal of consoles, but I've felt burned every time I've bought one, because then when the next gen comes out, all of my investment in games for the prior console seems like such a waste. We have an original Xbox still because there's this ONE game the kids still like to play occasionally. We have an Xbox 360 still for the same reason. We have a crate of Wii games, though I finally got rid of the Wii itself because the emulator for it is good enough.
On the PC side, we have a Steam libra
Proven technology! (Score:2)
Atari 2600 VCS
Xbox One X (Score:2)
I always take last gen. Mature, fully debugged, top quality titles with all dlc super cheap, hardware cheap.
Always a good deal IMHO.
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