Sony's PSN down "for a day or two"

[Azazel]

Not having dedicated servers work via the internets is clearly paying off for these people  .   Has anyone seen anything about people going back to PC?   I'm not holding out much hope console FPS players are going to switch to a mouse but we're talking about a LOT of people.  There must be some affect on PC sales.

How much does a decent gaming rig cost? Plus $ for an OS, fucking around with drivers, etc etc.

How much does a XBox360/PS3 cost?

[Engels]

Depends a bit on where you're coming from. I don't own a TV, and my monitor only has VGA and DVI, so I'd have to get either a TV or some type of conversion gear in order to use a console. It would still be a bit cheaper than a new rig, especially if I cheaped out on the TV, but thanks to the console market, I've not had to update my PC in 4 years. Eventually I will have to, probably this summer sometime, but that will last me another 4 years or so. Then I reuse my monitor, case, DVD, hard drives, PSU, then I'm left with vid card, memory, cpu and mobo, which a judicious upgrade can get you up and running with around $800 for an excellent rig. Cost of TV and console probably exceeds that. Add extra money if you don't want crappy TV speaker sound.

But this is somewhat neither here nor there. Sony screwed the pooch with both PSN and SOE, so its not really about the PlayStation perse, but just about anything Sony does from now on that requires your credit card.

[Tebonas]

I see this hurting Sony, but not the Xbox 360.

While fucking around with drivers seems to be a thing of the past with Windows 7, a gaming rig still costs at least double what a console costs.

[Azazel]

double? It's a little more than that around here...

[Azazel]

Depends a bit on where you're coming from. I don't own a TV, and my monitor only has VGA and DVI, so I'd have to get either a TV or some type of conversion gear in order to use a console. It would still be a bit cheaper than a new rig, especially if I cheaped out on the TV, but thanks to the console market, I've not had to update my PC in 4 years. Eventually I will have to, probably this summer sometime, but that will last me another 4 years or so. Then I reuse my monitor, case, DVD, hard drives, PSU, then I'm left with vid card, memory, cpu and mobo, which a judicious upgrade can get you up and running with around $800 for an excellent rig. Cost of TV and console probably exceeds that. Add extra money if you don't want crappy TV speaker sound.

But this is somewhat neither here nor there. Sony screwed the pooch with both PSN and SOE, so its not really about the PlayStation perse, but just about anything Sony does from now on that requires your credit card.

I'm talking about most people. Nothing personal toward you, but If you don't own a TV, you're in quite an unusual situation and a tiny, tiny minority. So small, I don't think anyone would take your personal situation into consideration. Homes with multiple TVs and multiple consoles would probably easily outnumber your situation, particularly when we're talking about potential game-player-machine customers.

[Tebonas]

My "one-level-behind state of the art" rig cost me 900 Euros while the 60GB PS3 cost 500 Euros. I just googled the new prices and the PS3 costs 300 Euros now. I humbly stand corrected. Double to three times the price.

[Hawkbit]

Netflix officially not working now - for whatever reason they're requiring being logged into PSN now for it to work.  Inconvenient, but at least we have it on the Wii and the crappy TV.

[tgr]

I'm talking about most people. Nothing personal toward you, but If you don't own a TV, you're in quite an unusual situation and a tiny, tiny minority.

I also do not own a TV (and I connect the 360 to my 24"), but there's a reason for that: there's actually a yearly tax of around £300 which norwegians have to pay for owning a TV. I'd rather watch series on either the 30" or the 24" than pay £300 for the right to own a TV. vOv

[Merusk]

1% of US households do not own a TV at all.  1%.

Approximatly 80% of US homes have a personal computer. Want to guess how many of those can run a FPS vs how many just use an integral video chip on their low-end processor? 

As someone with a 5-year old machine that wasn't top-end but one tier down, you don't have fun in FPSes on your PC when it's that old.  Despite the games being developed for consoles, the PC crowd demands higher res textures and features that kill rigs like mine, even when turned-down.  Or if you get decent performance they look like ass so you wonder why you bought it for the PC instead of the console.

Plus, as mentioned, computer chairs suck.  And you feel more closed-off from your family and friends sitting in front of that monitor. 

[Morat20]

I'm talking about most people. Nothing personal toward you, but If you don't own a TV, you're in quite an unusual situation and a tiny, tiny minority. So small, I don't think anyone would take your personal situation into consideration. Homes with multiple TVs and multiple consoles would probably easily outnumber your situation, particularly when we're talking about potential game-player-machine customers.

I never kept my PC cutting edge, but I generally upgraded it regularly (memory and video cards), and would replace it as soon as I couldn't run whatever new game I wanted. I was lucky in that I didn't play a lot of shooters -- more RTS and RPG's -- so I could go five or six years, minimum, on a mid-level gaming rig without problems.

Then my wife got an Xbox. IMy PC is like 8 or 9 years old (single core Pentium IV), I replaced the video card solely because the last one died not as an upgrade. I added memory back in 2006. I sorta need a new PC, but I don't want to fork out the money (1000 to 1200 for my usual mid-level rig + professional Windows 7 + Home Office) when an Xbox is...300 dollars.

I mean I really want to play Diablo III and SC2, but on the other hand -- it's going to wait until my PC absolutely DIES and I have to replace it anyways.

If I had a PS3, I'd probably buy an Xbox at this point though. I wouldn't go back to PC games.

On the bright side, I saw Jade Empire on the Xbox Classics list -- somehow missed that one, always wanted to play it...

[Nija]

$50 and 2 minutes on craigslist and anyone could own a TV. For less than $50 you could use the VGA on a computer monitor.

I'm still gaming on a C2D based computer that I built 3 years ago for $900.

[Paelos]

1% of US households do not own a TV at all.  1%.

I wonder what % of that 1% are serial killers?

[Mrbloodworth]

Netflix officially not working now - for whatever reason they're requiring being logged into PSN now for it to work.  Inconvenient, but at least we have it on the Wii and the crappy TV.

I used it last night.

[JWIV]

It took a few tries, but yah, I've got Netflix working right now.

[01101010]

1% of US households do not own a TV at all.  1%.

I wonder what % of that 1% are serial killers?

I am not one - that I know of.

[Engels]

Heh, way to run with my somewhat disingenuous comment! In any event, it was meant to be more of a social commentary than a realistic fiscal analysis. Bottom line is, most folks have already forked over money for a big ole TV and a cable subscription with internet bundled into it; a console can be cheap because its somewhat of an add on.

For serial killers like me, who have neither cable or a TV, the costs of acquiring a console is steeper since it involves buying into a whole media system that I've avoided since the early 90s. A computer system to my liking, with a generous monitor and a mid to high range video card, is going to end up being a bit more expensive than a TV, cable subscription and a console, but then again, its a computer. Not only do I get access to off the beaten path games like World of Tanks, but its a one stop for just about everything else, be it work, music, TV and well, anything else. When living in an apartment, its nice to have it all in one place.

But again, this is a derail. Sony's woes affect anyone who gave them money for internet services, it seems.

[Morat20]

FYI, I am so dependent on Xbox-mediated Netflix to my TV that if my Xbox red-ringed, I'd have to fight the urge to just run out and buy a new one that second rather than try to get it fixed.

[Rasix]

This whole thing may actually affect my shopping habits.  I'll probably buy LA Noire on 360 if this keeps up.  Luckily Witcher 2 stalls that decision for a while.  Dark Souls?  Maybe on the 360 as well.  We'll have to see where everyone's getting it, and they may be shunning Sony due to this.

I just wish my elite was a hell of a lot quieter.  The next 360 needs to do something about that.  It also needs to come with wireless built-in this time, or I'm done with them.   These last months have shown I can be a pretty dedicated PC gamer when there's a lack of console games I'm dying to play and my rig is passable.  Only my Mass Effect save game predicament has had me for much time on either console this calendar year. 

[Sky]

One of my buddies from my Planetside days was a huge PC geek/builder back then. Since, he has gone completely console and his words were something akin to, "I doubt I'll ever go back to sitting in a chair in front of my computer horsing around with a mouse and keyboard. Rather sit in my nice comfy lazyboy with a controller and shoot bitches on my big screen."

I played Planetside on my big screen. Accurately, with a mouse and keyboard from my comfy sofa.

The console vs pc thing is funny. Since "most people" (may I see your polling data, please) would need a pc for their facebook nonsense. Console + laptop = decent gaming pc (unless you live on the prison continent). Not to mention: Steam. PC gaming is the best it has ever been. So is console gaming.

My long-standing anti-console bias is that while a console is initially cheaper for the hardware, you're stuck with shitty, underperforming hardware for years without being able to upgrade it; you pay a premium for games; and it's a mostly a unitasker. Also lolz controller for shooters. So there. I can play the slapfight, too!

I just shut off my cable box, but I'm more of a parallel killer.

[Rasix]

 

[Mrbloodworth]

I have yet to pay for the network. However the PS3 is rather integrated to my media consumption. So, while its fun to be all, "haha sony", it sucks for people like me who enjoy the things the PS3 offers more than xbox.

Thankfully Netflix still works for me.

To consoles credit, having a known hardware configuration is a boon to development.

[Sky]

[Rendakor]

This whole thing may actually affect my shopping habits.  I'll probably buy LA Noire on 360 if this keeps up.  Luckily Witcher 2 stalls that decision for a while.  Dark Souls?  Maybe on the 360 as well.  We'll have to see where everyone's getting it, and they may be shunning Sony due to this.

I just wish my elite was a hell of a lot quieter.  The next 360 needs to do something about that.  It also needs to come with wireless built-in this time, or I'm done with them.   These last months have shown I can be a pretty dedicated PC gamer when there's a lack of console games I'm dying to play and my rig is passable.  Only my Mass Effect save game predicament has had me for much time on either console this calendar year. 

The new 360 model does have wireless built in.

[tgr]

So now you can have random disconnects on the console as well.

[HaemishM]

Not having dedicated servers work via the internets is clearly paying off for these people  .   Has anyone seen anything about people going back to PC?   I'm not holding out much hope console FPS players are going to switch to a mouse but we're talking about a LOT of people.  There must be some affect on PC sales.

How much does a decent gaming rig cost? Plus $ for an OS, fucking around with drivers, etc etc.

How much does a XBox360/PS3 cost?

You can go down to Best Buy with a little knowledge and find a decent gaming rig (HP or Compaq) for around $400, spend another $100-$150 on a mid-range video card (even have them install it) so total of around $500-$600. No, it won't blow the doors off of anything, but it will be comparable to what you'd get with a 360.

EDIT: Add another $100-$150 for a decent monitor if you don't have one. Add about $10-$20 instead if you have an HDTV.

[Rasix]

You can go down to Best Buy with a little knowledge and find a decent gaming rig (HP or Compaq) for around $400, spend another $100-$150 on a mid-range video card (even have them install it) so total of around $500-$600. No, it won't blow the doors off of anything, but it will be comparable to what you'd get with a 360.

I'm 90% sure that's terrible advice.

[HaemishM]

Maybe so, but my wife's PC that I bought less than 2 years ago cost about the same - a Compaq with a AMD X2 dual core processor. The only thing we added was a decent video card. Seems to be running fine to me.

[Xuri]

How much does a decent gaming rig cost? Plus $ for an OS, fucking around with drivers, etc etc.

It's called "tweaking" and "optimizing" you noob! 

[Xuri]

Also, apparently Eidos wants to play with hackers too!
Anonymous Splinter Group Implicated in Game Company Hack

Rumors about the result of this hack:
* ~9,000 résumés from Eidos
* information on at least 80,000 Deus Ex users (as in.. fans signing up to hear more about the game, or what?)
* "src" - which could be anything. or nothing.

[Merusk]

"A Little Knowledge" to you or I is a vast chasm to the average user. You know, the one who actually pays for services like Geek Squad and thinks it's a good deal.  There's a shitload of those people.

Consoles are an appliance.  You plug it in, it works.  That's what people want.  

Think of something you don't like doing or lack the skill to do.  Somewhere out there, someone's lauging at you for being a sucker and paying extra instead of doing it yourself.  Now ask yourself why you don't just learn how to do it and apply that to consoles and PCs.  Listening to you all talk about how they could just do this or that and get so much better is like listening to the field guys laugh at how badly their neighbors mangle DIY home repairs all over again.  

[Morat20]

There's a reason I pay a guy a ridiculous amount to replace a three-way switch for my ceiling fan. If I did it myself, I'd probably burn the house down.

And hell, I hate mucking around with my PC -- especially for bleeding edge stuff -- so much that having a console that WORKS is such a damn relief.

No driver conflicts, no weird video card issues, no trying to figure out what version of Nvidia drivers I need to use because something broke CoH or whatever in the last patch....

I want to play SWTOR and Diable III and SC2, so I'll have to upgrade my PC. But I really don't want to.

[Amaron]

How much does a decent gaming rig cost? Plus $ for an OS, fucking around with drivers, etc etc.

It's the "decent" part that's so easy now.  Really there is only one requirement for a computer to be decent.  It has to have a PCIx slot.   If you have that you can plug in a cheap video card and you're gaming.   Monitor doesn't matter anymore as any card you'll buy can output 1080p to a TV these days.

How much do they charge to install a video card anyways?   If it's anything more than $25 that's highway robbery.   Though somehow I bet it's $50.

[HaemishM]

Probably $25-$50, I think. Yes, it's a fairly easy install, but not to people who know nothing about computers.

[Fordel]

Show most people the inside of a computer, and you might as well be showing them the inside of the human brain.

[ffc]

I'm all about console = just works - old hardware, but with this PSN business and releases like New Vegas or more recently Portal 2 freezing on me the equation ends up negative.