Just exactly how much games do you guys play? From what you said, you clearly don't know a lot.
I play a fair amount. I follow the technology more closely than I play the games (but I am a gamer, to be sure).
Technologically, I dare say the consoles are far superior to the the best graphics card on the market at the moment. It is useless comparing clock speeds and numbers. Consoles have an entirely different architecture. Take Nintendo Gamecube for example, they have engineered it to do one thing and one thing only, and that is to play games. On the other hand, graphics cards on PCs have to deal with many other applications. And for the price of a GeForce III, you can buy several consoles.
You would be mistaken, I fear. The X-Box is considered to be more powerful than the PS2, generally. The reasons for this are that the 733MHz P3 CPU is faster than the MIPS CPU core (what is it, 292MHz?) of the PS2. Also, the GeForce 3 in the X-Box is considered to be generally faster than the graphics hardware in the PS2. ArsTechnica did a nice article on this a while back. The GeForce 3 to CPU atchitecture in the X-Box is indeed enhanced to a degree over a standard PC architecture, so there is a slight speed increase there.
But look at a high end PC. A 2GHz P4 with 400MHz Rambus memory and a GeForce 3 Ti has more power in the 3D hardware and far more power in the CPU than the X-Box, PS2, etc. Same goes for a G4 DP 800 + GeForce 3, for instance.
It's impressive what console makers do with hardware at that cost--and I love my PS2. But just look at the hardware before making as statement to the effect that consoles are far superior to PC's, when they simply arent, price aside.
Also--most consoles are fixed at around 640x480 res. Some new consoles can output an anamorphic signal and show an added resolution that way, but that's about it. I am aware that the PS2, for instance, is capable of much higher resolutions than std TV res, but nothing supports it. Meanwhile, I am playing Alice, Quake 3, and UT at 1280x1024 on a clear 19" CRT. With very high framerates.
Finally, games are supposed to be fun, not demos to show pretty graphics. Don't be graphics tarts. Have you played games like Zelda or Super Monkey Ball? Console games are more fun, end of question.
Well, it's a matter of opinion. I happen to agree with you to a degree. Not necessarily grouping these types of games into "console" games but just "simpler" games that aren't 3D demos, as you say. This is why I keep a few Amigas and an Apple IIgs on my desks. There's some old classics to be enjoyed therein.
blakespot
