BleepingComputer.com: Why consoles annoy the crap out of me...

I used to be a console addict. I had a Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Playstation (played religiously) and even got an Xbox...although I sold it a few months after I purchased it. I'm a strict FPS gamer on the PC and my hardware is quite powerful to ensure the most current games run smooth and pretty with maxed settings.

So anyway, I recently got a PS3 Slim so that I could play Madden NFL 11. Although it can be fun I realized why consoles now stink. Games are ported between consoles. So this Madden game wasn't really made to play on a PS3. It looks *MEH* due to the RSX that is based upon old DX9 hardware. At 1080p it stutters all the time, heck it even stutters at 720p. There's no native anti-aliasing either, so all games have jaggies even at 1080p.

Then there's this fan that is quite audible. I understand the PS3 Slim is supposedly the cooler of the consoles and supposedly quieter than a Xbox 360 but this is quite annoying. I have my PC set up so that it is full DX11 gaming capable but remains quiet and cool throughout my gaming experience. To hear this fan in the PS3 is just annoying. Even if I used it as a Blu-Ray player I find it unacceptable because most living rooms are quiet.

One last thing? Occasional lock ups! I run Windows 7 and can play games for hours on end without any problem. My system never hangs. I've had this PS3 lock up on me twice during a Madden NFL 11 game. Why should a supposedly stable console ever lock up?

I can only hope that Gran Turismo 5 is great because Madden NFL 11 is a disappointment. If GT5 is bad then I have wasted my money on a console for the last time.

/rant

Yeah some of those consoles are bad, I use my PC only. That Way I know what I have in it and can know that it will be quiet and powerful, and yes I have a friend with a PS3 and it has issues with lockups, also the same for his Xbox!

Another thing I cannot figure out is that it came with a 250GB hard drive but the game still loads off of the disc. Wouldn't it be smarter to have it install most of the media onto the hard drive that way it doesn't contribute to the stuttering or wear and tear of the BD-ROM drive?

The hard drive is for storing media such as game saves and pics and music but, yes I would think that to, it is most likely an issue of the game developers wanting the base of the game stay on the disc. But yes that would be a factor of slowness in loading games if the data was on the hard drive it would be much faster game play and much faster loading.

It is a Blu-Ray disc so the transfer rates are quicker. I have read that the Xbox 360 version allows you to install it on the hard drive.

The 360 allows installs to the harddrive. And it vastly improves game quality in Wide open area type games (GTA, Star Ocean, Boarderlands, etc). You still need the disc to play but the performance is far better and it salvages your DVD drive from burning down the system.

BlackSpyder, on Oct 3 2010, 04:03 PM, said:

True but the Xbox 360 lacked too many features for me to consider it.

• No wireless (only recently added to the "Slim" version but previously $79 extra)
  
• No Blu-Ray (which was a big killer for me)
  
• Not free to play online
  
• Not gigabit ethernet
  
• No Bluetooth
  
• Loud (compared to the PS3)
  
• RROD issues mean poor QA on Microsoft's side

Poor quality Control is the story of the Xbox360. I'm on my 3rd reman unit this year. Not gonna argue that point the big thing that made me switch to only an Xbox (besides the high price of a PS3) is GT4 was no where near the game Forza was and Forza 2 was available on time and GT5 was back logged for 2-3 years, after Forza 3 came out.

Game Devs will tell you the PS3 is hard to work with due to the new nature of the multicore processors. It hurts sony now put will pay off for the industry later (hopfully they won't go the way of Sega when they unleashed the fist online gaming system, Dreamcast)

BlackSpyder, on Oct 3 2010, 08:32 PM, said:

The Xbox 360 has a multicore Xenon processor, 3 cores to be exact. The PS3's Cell is a Power Processor Element (PPE), which is a 2-way multithreaded core that acts as the controller for eight Synergistic Processing Elements (SPE) - 1 disabled for yields, 1 for the PS3 OS and the other 6 for developers. Because game developers can code easily for a triple core Xenon that is in the Xbox 360 they merely port games to the PS3 and concentrate on the single PPE on the Cell. Games that are made purely for the PS3 actually perform better and faster because they can put sound, physics, etc on the 6 available SPEs. These games actually look great and impress me. Madden NFL 11 does not because it's not taking advantage of the full power of the PS3.

This post has been edited by JonM33: 03 October 2010 - 08:17 PM

Im not much of a console gamer either-I love gaming on my PC. However, I do have a Xbox and a Xbox 360 because sometimes its nice to be able to have friends over and play games multiplayer all in the same room, I dont know about you, but I dont have 4 high end gaming consoles or room for them, or 4 of every game I own. . .

As this has been my first console since I had the original Xbox and sold it (Dec 2002) I don't know what it's like to invite friends over to play games. I have always done it online for nearly the past decade.

well, I admit I dont do it much myself, and in all honesty, that is the only real advantage I see to them at all. In fact, the only reason I have the regular xbox is I bought it from a pawn shop when the 360 came out cuz I couldnt afford a 360 then and I had no internet and no decent computer to game with, and I got internet and a good gaming rig, and now, I have a xbox 360 elite, but the only real reason I have that is my brother bought it for me for christmas, if I had had to buy it I probably wuldnt have it, and it usually only gets used as a DVD player, I rarely use it for anything else, golf on occasion. . .

What's funny is games that were made only for the PS3, such as LittleBigPlanet and Uncharted, run like butter and look freaking amazing. LBP is by far one of the most advanced games with graphics, lighting, effects, physics, sound, etc that I have ever played. Too bad all developers couldn't put that much effort into a product. Of course LBP also takes advantage of the 6 SPEs that the PS3's Cell has.

This post has been edited by JonM33: 04 October 2010 - 11:52 PM

After another week of gaming (mostly) on the PS3 I think I have changed my mind. I got Wet and Star Wars: Force Unleashed for the PS3. After playing some more LittleBigPlanet and Uncharted I think I would be a console gamer if it weren't for my FPS games on the PC. I always dislike having to upgrade my graphics card. I have usually got the latest and greatest ATi cards. From a Radeon 9700 Pro ($399), Radeon X800XT All-In-Wonder ($383), Radeon X1900XT ($534), Radeon HD 4830 ($89) and now currently Radeon HD 5850 ($269). That's almost $1700 in graphics cards since 2002! Not to mention all the CPU, motherboard and RAM upgrades over the years.

Then I look at a $299 PS3. Of course it was far more expensive when it came out but the game selection is just massive for the PS3. It's also a Blu-Ray player and digital media player. In 2 weeks I will get Gran Turismo 5 for the PS3 - which will satisfy my racing urges.

All my old FPS (PC) games that I used to play are either not even installed and gathering dust or thrown in the trash. My old original COD and CODUO game. My COD4 game. Soldier of Fortune 2 game. GRAW2 game. Joint Ops game. My Vietcong game. All my Unreal Tournament games. My Rainbow Six Vegas 2 game. My Battlefield 2 game and it's expansions/boosters. Sniper Ghost Warrior and Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising too. All gone. The only one left is Bad Company 2.

So I think no more graphics cards upgrades for me. Even if the PS3 (and consoles in general) are not as powerful and advanced as the PC, at least I won't get bored with the selection.

This post has been edited by JonM33: 12 October 2010 - 01:38 AM

Hehe course you dont have to spend that much in graphics cards, a well buiilt computer will last 4-5 years. Heck, Ive had 2 gaming rigs in the last 10, the first with a ATI 1250 which was definetly low end which I ran until that computer fried, and this one which ive had for about 2 1/2 years has a 3870 x2, and that card still performs up with the best of them, granted it doesnt do directx11, but neither does your ps3. . . love the card, only spent $400 bucks on it.