# Are games consoles basically turning into PCs?



## Wolveryeti (Jun 28, 2009)

You can now get mice and keyboards for them, surf the internet, relay chat, watch dvds on them. How long before we get one with 'edutainment' software or wordprocessing stuff with printer attachment as a sales mechanism to encourage parents to get them for their kids?


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## Kanda (Jun 28, 2009)

Still not a PC.


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## isitme (Jun 28, 2009)

it's like how loads of people use their computers as a tv now it's easy to get ahold of movies online, they are all turning into one thing

i think nintendo are really smart by just carrying on making consoles more and more consoley. they've got their own thing which noone else is interested in competing with them for


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## Wolveryeti (Jun 28, 2009)

Its not inconceivable that someone somewhere along the line is going to have the idea of creating what is basically a dual-boot laptop that you can use as both a computer and a console, easily connectable to tv and controllers.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 28, 2009)

Mega PC anyone?


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## isitme (Jun 28, 2009)

laptops already play most games and are easy to connect to the TV and get controllers for


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## Wolveryeti (Jun 28, 2009)

isitme said:


> laptops already play most games and are easy to connect to the TV and get controllers for



a) Nobody really does it (do they?)
b) USB ports are really easy to fuck up
c) I checked the back of my laptop and the back of my TV and you're talking bollocks


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## isitme (Jun 28, 2009)

i had controllers for my laptop but i lost them when i moved

it's dead easy to plug your computer into your telly, you just buy a cable for about fiver. it looks shit on a shit telly, but....


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## fogbat (Jun 28, 2009)

Wolveryeti said:


> Its not inconceivable that someone somewhere along the line is going to have the idea of creating what is basically a dual-boot laptop that you can use as both a computer and a console, easily connectable to tv and controllers.



Why not just play games on the PC side?

The advantage of consoles over PCs for games is their standardised parts.


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## Epona (Jun 28, 2009)

I suppose (as a PC gamer myself) the attraction of consoles is that you will never buy a game for your console, take it home, and find yourself absolutely stumped thinking "Oh Shit, it doesn't work, let's download the patch, check online forums for known hardware compatibility issues and bugs, download the latest video drivers, and if that doesn't work go out and spend half a week's wages (dependent upon what you need and what your wages are!) on a new graphics card/more RAM/new processor" etc.  And as a PC gamer for over 15 years now I've found myself in that position a few times!


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Jun 28, 2009)

Wolveryeti said:


> a) Nobody really does it (do they?)
> b) USB ports are really easy to fuck up
> c) I checked the back of my laptop and the back of my TV and you're talking bollocks




I can't really see what you'd gain by making a hybrid. I'm sure the xbox shares enough parts with a PC that it wouldn't be that hard, but doubt there would be enough of a market.

Traditionaly you didn't play PC games on the TV, because of the resolution, but with Hi Def TV's this is changing. 

I'd be surprised if you laptop didn't have tv out. It will be s video though, which is a small round hole, which you'd need a converter for.


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## Silva (Jun 29, 2009)

A few years ago, when the original x-box was still in the works, me and a friend did a study on a "gamer" mode for Windows just for kicks - games would be able to run normally as they do now, but would also be bootable into a streamlined version of the OS, loading only the drivers required to play the game (if a game was strictly offline no network drivers would be loaded, no controllers, same thing, and so on). 

Eventually, we dismissed the idea because we were pretty much designing a _console_ without the advantages of being one.


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## Bob_the_lost (Jun 30, 2009)

Wolveryeti said:


> Its not inconceivable that someone somewhere along the line is going to have the idea of creating what is basically a dual-boot laptop that you can use as both a computer and a console, easily connectable to tv and controllers.


Yes it is. The hardware is incompatible.

Games consoles, with the exception of the Wii use high powered graphics processors and cpus. These eat power, take up space and require large, heavy cooling systems. This would make your laptop heavy and run for about 15 seconds on it's batery.

Course, you could go with the wii style system but you're still talking about a heavy, inefficient laptop and you're not exactly going to get your motion sensitive remote out on the train.


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## Bob_the_lost (Jun 30, 2009)

Are they PCs? Yes but they are specialist machines with non standard CPU designs so the software for them is less common. You can get linux for PS3 or XBox360 iirc.


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## kyser_soze (Jun 30, 2009)

> I checked the back of my laptop and the back of my TV and you're talking bollocks



PCI or HDMI, plus S-VHS if you're not fussy about resolution, have been attached to PCs and HD tellys for ages now. Our Bravia has a specific PC input socket, as well as HDMI.

Certainly by intent, the PS3 was designed as a media centre rather than just a console...


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## Cloud (Jul 1, 2009)

I'd be happy with a box that played games, had net access and never crashed or screwed up.

Surely not too much to ask?


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## Crispy (Jul 2, 2009)

Cloud said:


> I'd be happy with a box that played games, had net access and never crashed or screwed up.
> 
> Surely not too much to ask?


PS3


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