I have both a decent spec PC which cost about 300 quid with a mid range card and an xbox, and the performance of the pc craps all over my xbox, I can still play it on my TV through the HDMI out on my pc and I can use my xbox controllers aswell so I think the whole " I can play on my tv in the living room" thing is something that is slowly becoming less and less exclusive to consoles. Of course a console at the moment is easier because theres no waiting to boot up etc and its a bit more "portable" but as far as performance goes I don't think you can beat a pc. I also like the odd muck about on MS flight simulator which would be awful on a console for so many reasons.



My pc cost around £330 which is an amd Phenom x6 3.2 ghz processor with 12 gb ram

overkill maybe but meh!.. , I haven't decided to overclock it yet as I haven't felt the need. I used my hard drives out of my old pc to save a a few quid and put in a radeon 6850 card which is a decent mid range card.

nevermind

Bots

trust me, you can get systems (minus monitor) that out perform the xbox/PS by a large margin for around £300



There are plenty of prebuilt on overclockers.

That's the main reason I wouldn't invest in a gaming standard PC and keep it updated. I think the fact that everything is in one place on a console and you don't have to fuss about installing stuff and updating drivers to get the game to work just makes it a much simpler experience.

Exactly, also on a console you can play your mates online because again everyone has a console.



Messing around trying to make a PC like a console is a bit pointless to me, the only reason I would get a PC is to have amazing FPS (Frames per second I mean) and Graphics, of which don't really matter enough to me to justify buying and updating one.

I'm tempted to buy another Xbox 360 as I haven't had one of the new ones. Currently have a PS3 but I arn't a big gamer at all any more currently only have 2 games but mainly use it to watch my Blu rays. Have missed been able to play games such as GOW3. Does any one know any offers going on good deals?

None of my mates play PC games but I've met loads of people playing PC games. There is definitely more of a 'community' with the ability to chat a lot easier and the transition to forums, IRC, etc. simpler.

Apparently the next Xbox will be sold on a similar basis as a mobile phone contract. Eg. console only £450 ish, console with 12 months Xbox Live £200 up front plus £12 a month, console with 24 months Xbox Live £100 up front and £12 a month, console with 24 months Xbox Live plus music, TV & movies subscriptions £0 up front and £25 a month.



They have started trialing it by selling current gen 360s in the states for $89 plus 24 months Live subscription at $14.99. That's a £250 console for £60 up front.



I think it's a brilliant concept on two fronts. Firstly take up of the new console will be far higher than usual. A 'normal' console release sees relatively slow sales as people are put off by the massive price they put on them to recover the development costs as quickly as possible. But this way, there would be potentially nothing to pay up front and many people are already paying for Live anyway, so upgrading to the new console could be extremely cheap. Secondly it will massively increase the take up of Live if people are getting it when they buy the console and know they are paying for it.

Clever by Microsoft if true...

No one know any good deals going about for a 360 which isn't the 4gb version?

Sainsbury's were doing save £60 on a new console when you spend £30 on games or accesseries, not 100% sure if this makes it a decent price or if the offers still on though.

That sounds decent but also pretty crud. If it becomes a 'contract' situation, what happens to the kids that want to go out and spend their Christmas money on one? What about the younger people who want to get one, but maybe don't have the credit rating? How many parents do you know that buy their children mobile phones on contract? Maybe teenagers, but not children. If Microsoft go that way, it will only make Nintendo do even better IMO. They already have the under-12 market by the balls, if Microsoft basically go out and say we only want people to be paying monthly for our service like a phone, are they basically saying they don't want offline gamers anymore? If they value the console at £400+, they're pricing out quite a large percentage of people who just want to go to a shop and buy a console, especially if those people decide at a later date that they want to invest in Live.



It's a good idea from Microsoft, and it will definitely work for a portion of gamers, but I wouldn't be interested in taking something out on a contract and, judging by the many people I know with 360s and PS3s, I doubt they would be either.

Those figures aren't real, just examples. In this scenario the contract idea is optional. You can still buy the console outright if you choose to and the estimation of £450-£500 includes the assumption that it'll come with an improved Kinect sensor. It's basically just an interest free deal assuming you're paying for Live anyway. I know I wouldn't be paying £400+ for a console on launch, I'd wait at least 12 months until the price had halved.



The PS3 was £400 at launch in the UK, so I'd say the next gen from both Sony and MS will at least match that.

The next Xbox won't come out for £400. I think realistically it'll be £350 tops.



I do think the option to pay monthly is a good move in terms of encouraging people to take up the new console at launch when the prices are at their highest and also getting people signed up to Xbox live gold.



The current deal they have is you get a new Xbox + kinect sensor for $99 if you sign up to a 2 year Xbox live gold subscription which runs at $15 a month. So overall you work out to have paid more then if you had just bought the console outright, but you do get to spread out the cost quite a lot.



There's a lot of people out there who would be interested in the new machine but maybe couldn't pay out 3-400 in one go for a machine plus peripherals and games, but could pay, say £15 per month over 24 months making a total outlay for the machine of £360.



More importantly, they'll have to carry over Gamerscore and achievements, right?

That sounds like a really good idea. I would imagine most people who buy an xbox would want a live subscription anyway, so it makes sense really.

If, by the time the next gen consoles come around, I have space for more than one console then I will seriously consider buying the next iterations from both Sony and Microsoft, especially if a deal like this becomes reality.

Its already a reality in the US. I imagine if it takes off there then we will see a similar scheme here. Im pretty sure doing it for the 360 now is just a dry run ahead of new consoles being announced/launched next year

I'm currently not interested in a new console. I'm not really interested in my current console if I'm being honest, I'm having far more fun playing small, 69p games on my iPod than I am playing £40 games on my PS3. IMO, developers really need to give up this cinema-esque experience we currently get with games and go back to getting the core gameplay and longevity right. I remember when I was a kid growing up, every time I got a new game, my mates at school would be telling me about a new one that was also great. Now when I speak to people, it's all CoD and Fifa; where's the innovation? Fresh ideas? Where's the challenge? Trophies and achievements just don't cut it for me. Maybe I'm just being old man grumpy, but every time I go to the gaming shops, read reviews etc., I always feel underwhelmed. Console gaming is getting boring now, maybe I need to buy a Wii and play some kiddy games to truly appreciate what I have on the PS3. Or maybe I just need to start playing the minis and so on on the PS Store, as I imagine those quirky small games are quite fun.

Try the Japanese market. Generally rubbish controls and game play but overall thats where the best ideas come from.

I created a Japanese PSN account once to try and download their crazy demos, but the language barrier got in the way.



I like the Japanese and their crazy ideas. I'd love to see the Monster Hunter games over here.

There are still enough good games about, it's just the marketing men know what sells. If people stopped buying stupid military FPS games by the bucketload, developers might look a bit further afield. There have been plenty of fantastic games over the last 12 months, far more than I've been able to keep up with anyway.



We're now 20 years+ into the development cycle of computer games. I really think we've run out of genuinely new ideas. What is there that hasn't already been done?

Had the last week off work so finally had chance to give my ps3 a proper go rather than the odd hour I usually get. Got really into LA Noire even though alot people I know don't like it cos its not GTA. Journey and Arkham City are better than I thought they would be too!

FIFA 12 has got to be the worst football game I've ever played. I've seen more realism from World Cup Italia '90 & European Club Soccer on the Mega Drive. At least you can pass to a player and strikers play up front on that game!

Know the feeling mate. Most backward game ever.

I don't really get your point. Are you suggesting you can't pass to players in FIFA? And that strikers don't play up front?



Both seem relatively bizarre suggestions. I could understand criticism of the lack of variety and ping pong passing, but not that.