This generation will be the weakest yet.

They've kinda launched really underpowered and into a time of a PC renascence, one where you can build a gaming PC for practically the same price and it is way more powerful. It is only going to get worse for them as these low level APIs become more and more mainstream, they increase the performance of these low end GPUs massively and high end wise, Mantle gave BF4 a 60% increase!

I just don't see how the consoles can compete with that, especially since year after year hardware gets massively more powerful. These new consoles struggle to do 1920 x 1080p, I mean Sony advertised Killzone at 1080p... yet it is, what they didn't tell you is it was 960 x 1080p and upscaled lol.

In launches past consoles have launched more powerful than PC or on par with high end. Since the PC has been evolving however this is the first time they've launched WAY behind the PC, it isn't even close and it is quite depressing. That fact alone just doesn't have me excited at owning one.

What is even worse is now the PC has a stable distribution platform in Steam (well not so stable lately lol) and it means every game will come to Steam unless it is first party. Titanfall at the 360 launch window would never have come to PC as well, however the market is much bigger now, especially for EA who have Origin. It is another wind out of the sails of the Xbox One, I'm always going to choose to play it on PC, it runs better, it looks better and it has better controls in the keyboard and house or controller if you wish.

It suddenly makes me think Nintendo aren't screwed, I would buy a Nintendo console because it is the only place to get Nintendo games. However when I look at the PS4 and Xbox One, most of their games are on PC and their exclusives are just kinda weak these days, especially Sony.. where are your games? Infamous was bland and mediocre, the Order 1866 is like... what is it? People are getting excited over fluff. Then I think Killzone, Uncharted... all these games are so generic, I can get these on any platform. GT hasn't been good since the PS2 era, again the PC sims have just overtaken consoles by so much. Xbox One has Halo and Gears and Kinect whatever, again, none of that is interesting. Then all the good stuff is third party and on PC and better on PC...

I just look at these consoles and think that they cannot possibly last that long, they're already on dated hardware as it is. I can bet by 2017 we've got the PS5 and Xbox Two and they'll be x86 based so there is no leap required, all games will just be ported from the PC.

Then I end up thinking, is there any need for these consoles when there is the PC? No, apart from Nintendo, there isn't really and it wouldn't surprise me if Sony continue to struggle financially and find it hard to commit to a PS5 and Microsoft end up selling Xbox off to Amazon or someone.

@gajbutler: It would only make sense to eliminate consoles all together and have the software companies make all games exclusive for PC. Than that way people could spend $500 and be able to play the same games as the people that spend a lot of money on their PC. Alienware should produce a system that's comparable in pricing to what a console would be. I really don't see consoles being around too much longer. Perhaps this will be the last gen for consoles.

I see plenty of reasons to own consoles myself. How else will I be able to play Forza 5, Dead Rising 3, Killer Instinct, Halo, Gears of War, Infamous Second Son, Killzone, etc., etc. There's still plenty of games that I can only get on consoles, even more when you include the obvious Nintendo.

Yea, another consoles are bad and PC is better because I like the PC. This isn't even the first anit-console topic that used this cover story.

I bet the consoles improves games just as much as PC does. As a consoles and PC games, I can say both are good in a few ways and bad in others. The worse thing for gamers is just one or the others.

The main worries I have for the future of gaming: the damage that the oculus rift can do, over flowing with indie games, and a pure DD market. All these worries are coming from the PC mostly.

No one but a very small percentage of super nerds cares about powerful PC's and graphics and crap. The overwhelmingly majority of gamers just want to push a button, pick up a controller (or phone or tablet) and be in a game. They don't care about pixels or 1080p or GPUs or RAM. Hell, a 360 game on a TV looks just as good if not better than your super Alienware PC games do. And you don't have to put up with all the bull in downloading and updating drivers, getting errors and viruses and crap.

Consoles> PC. Why? Better games, cheaper price.

Gameplay>graphics. PC fanboys are full of themselves if they think the future consists of everybody buying expensive super computers just to be able to play games. It's ridiculous.

PS4 and Xbox One is considered dated hardware now? Right.......and Wii U can barely keep up with technology from 2005. *major rolls eyes*

Hmm, i smell a systemwars debate here.

But first of all i think its a bad idea to talk like PC is the master race, besides the obvious fact that consoles 6months out of the gate has sold close to 12mill units in a time where pcsales again again again is dropping, mainly because people are moving to tablets and smartphones, but for fun sake lets talk gamers only

Not to mention that with consoles 90% of the time all you do is put in the blu-ray and your playing, most pc gamers cant say the same and i dont know anyone who havent had to sit and either watch a black screen or fumble with settings for hours.

And last the really really really really obvious , Game dev´s know the money is on the consoles so without them, you wouldn't see half of the games you see to day and they would be full of DRM.

So enjoy your "pcmasterrace" i will go play me some Red Dead.... Beyond two souls, Heavy Rain, Dead Rising 3, The Last of US, Lego City and many many many more titles.

I hear ya I for one don't care about pc games I'd much rather pick up a controller and sit in front of my big hdtv and play a console game.

It is just your opinion and I respect that .

PC have bigger library and better games , console games are mostly for casual gamers . There are very few games on consoles that interest core gamers . Console gaming used to be amazing back in PS2 days (Dino Crisis , Metal Gear Solid 3 , Tekken etc) . Now every game is about performing QTEs , watching cutscenes and then blowing shit up . Same formula is used in every single game now and now it is running stale .

I do agree that gameplay matters more but as I've stated above , consoles games are running stale when it comes to gameplay . PC have a lot more better games when it comes to skill based gameplays ; Total War , The Witcher , World in Conflict , The Book of Unwritten Tales , ArmA 3 etc . Not everyone can play those games because those aren't streamlined for casual audience and targeted for core gamers . This is coming from a guy who played both on PCs and Consoles .

@Cloud_imperium: Haha, this was funny to read, pc games have bigger library and better games :D Your library consists of mostly crappy indie games and half ass ported console games. And your telling me that pc games are better than console games? Please mention one exclucive game on the pc that is better than The Last Of Us which is just a Ps3 game btw.

Don't be mad dude . The games I listed are all AAA games . PC have indie + AA + AAA games . Even if you include just AAA games , PC still have bigger library . That said , lot of people are calling PS4 , the "indiestation" and I see sony fanboys damage controlling it everywhere . Again , I played both on PC and consoles . I played TLOU as well ,and my point still stands which is "There are very few games on consoles that interest core gamers." , TLOU is just one of those games but it still lacks on gameplay side and can't be compared to gameplay of PC games (Console lacks genres , 80% games on consoles are action games) . No need to act like a corporate slave .

Don't be mad dude . The games I listed are all AAA games . PC have indie + AA + AAA games . Even if you include just AAA games , PC still have bigger library . That said , lot of people are calling PS4 , the "indiestation" and I see sony fanboys damage controlling it everywhere . Again , I played both on PC and consoles . I played TLOU as well ,and my point still stands which is "There are very few games on consoles that interest core gamers." , TLOU is just one of those games but it still lacks on gameplay side and can't be compared to gameplay of PC games (Console lacks genres , 80% games on consoles are action games) . No need to act like a corporate slave .

The main advantage of consoles for me used to be split-screen multiplayer. But no one seems interested in adding that to their games anymore :(

Diminishing returns games look less impressive as technology gets better.

Why would Sony Fanboys be doing any damage control? PS4 is outselling XBONE. I used to be a Nintendo-Only person but since the Wii was essentially a casual-therapy-grandma machine and Wii U is essentially an HD SNES I have gone PlayStation and not looked back. I'd say 50% of my library is exclusives to PlayStation and I'd not be able to play those games on the PC (even though I have a rig that could handle anything I'd throw at it).

@gajbutler: PC's have always been more powerful... As far as exclusives, that is your opinion. It's not fact that you think Infamous is bland or even Uncharted and The Order. You haven't even played these games... You do know that the new consoles also have x86 right?

Last generation fell behind in terms of power fairly quickly yet still managed to produce some excellent games later in their cycles... it isn't about power. If you just care about power, play PC. But there are millions and millions of people who still enjoy playing consoles, and that's why they aren't going away unless streaming replaces them that quickly. Time will tell how good this generation becomes. The new consoles are definitely an upgrade over the past ones, so we should be seeing some truly impressive games in the future. Of course, it's hard to impress a PC snob, which is why they should stick to their PC and constantly upgrading it.

This, right here. As an rpg fan, consoles aren't even coming out with the traditional style rpgs like.. Wasteland 2, Divinity: Original Sin, Pillars of Eternity, Torment: Tides of Numenera.. say, only action/rpg hybrids, pretty much.

That's the main thing for me about not wanting a new console and sticking with pc, the different types of games like these that don't even exist on consoles. I could care less about graphics/power/pixles, ect..

The reason why consoles lack a couple of genres is only because these genres are pretty much made to be played with a mouse and keyboard.

There's nothing super about Alienware. You just basically admitted knowing nothing about PC gaming whatsoever.

The whole PC / console war is dumb. We're all playing video games at the end of the day. Just on different platforms. Plus PC gamers are the first to whine and moan when a good looking console game they want to play is not released on PC.

I swear all PC elitists might as well all wear t-shirts with a blank game cover case on the front that says 'PC release?' as the game title on the box cover art right about the ESRB rating. Lmao!

Fanboy bullshit aside, if we can see more new IP's like The Last Of Us, Watch Dogs, or Titanfall, next gen could be promising indeed. So far, many of the most anticipated, upcoming games are nothing but sequels. Even PS4 / X1 biggest launch titles were sequels.

I have no interest in Titanfall for example, but I think it's dope to see a dev at least try something different. It's a shame though, as soon as a new IP is well received, people are already posting their wishlists for what they want in the sequel. Devs see this as a cash cow franchise to be milked.

Computer technology for general consumers isn't all about pushing more power anymore. It's mostly about fitting that power into smaller sizes. There's a lot of things to consider.

PC + Nintendo = i have more awesome games than i have time to play.

PlayStation = I have more awesome games than I have time to play.

I'm with you. I bought my Xbox 360 for the Gears and Halo franchises, and am glad I did. Ditto with the Nintendo Wii.

You don't sound like you have clue one.

I tend to own both consoles and gaming PCs, and good God, no, no... Not better games; not even close. And this round, the PC will end up being cheaper: a decent PC a few generations past the current console hardware can already be purchased for the same price, games are cheaper and go on sale often.

I don't understand the Gameplay >graphics thing. PC has both. I can't think of any type of gameplay the PC doesn't have, though the reverse is also becoming true as time goes on.

Yes, actually the consoles this generation are exceptionally weaker than the current PC generation of chips and cards. At least a few generations behind. I remember this was the opposite when the Xbox 360/PS3 came out. This is the main reason I have not picked up a Xbox One or PS4 already. :(

@Gammit10: Actually the gap isn't as big you make it out to be but honestly I don't think it matters regardless. The average person can look at Battlefield 4 on both PC and PS4 and they wouldn't be able tell much of a difference, maybe faster framerate and better textures sure, but I'm sure there really isn't much of a difference. What the consoles lack in power they can make up for in artstyle.

There's no making up for anything inherently inferior...

The only reason to own a console is for a handful of good exclusive titles every generation which are a quick rent and play for other gamers.

Ya its pretty bad when consoles are struggling even to do 1080p. My pc can do 1080p with tons of extra antialiasing and super sampling piled ontop of that with fps to spare, depending on the games complexity of course. Some games I can run 16xAA with 8x Supersampling 16 AF also, some maybe half that, either way my games look superior to anything this gen will ever make.

They released really average hardware this time around, its not like it was back in 2005. When xbox 360 came out, its hardware was actually more powerful then my pc at the time. But this time around, my pc is 10x or more faster then a ps4 or xbox1... maybe even more then that.

Not quite sure why these consoles cost 400-500 dollars either, its just a motherboard,cpu and gpu all integrated together in 1 board, it should be less based on the mass scale of production these things go through.

Im almost thinking this is a placeholder this gen for a faster release into another console sooner. I cant really seeing it last as long as it did from 2005-2013. The cpus in these consoles are slow as crap.

Totally agree

i disagree. PC exclusives > console exclusives. Civ5 says hello

invalid argument. multiplats look MUCH better on PC, and it's the goddamn same game you play on console.

Skyrim with KB+M and good graphics > Skyrim with gamepad and shit graphics

@Gammit10: Ok, maybe you can answer my question, please name one Pc exclusive that you consider better than The Last Of Us?

I play games on PC, not because of some elitist attitude about hardware, but because I can work on the computer when I'm not playing. It's more convenient. Then again, I don't keep up with the latest games.

While I have no plans of buying a Wii U at this point, I have to give praise to Nintendo for trying something different. Next gen graphics are amazing, but the wow factor quickly wears off. I still play L4D2, it's still tons of fun and the dated graphics isn't bothersome one bit.

I play games on pc and on consoles and i enjoy console games best

And that's just vanilla. Modded Skyrim or, in my case, New Vegas shit on any console game from a dizzy height. Sure it takes a while to set everything up perfect for your tastes but the sky's the limit for what those types of sandbox environments offer with mods.

The gap is that big, which as a former(?)-hopeful Xbox One or PS4 owner, I lament.. I disagree; every person I've spoken to can tell the difference between a PC and PS4 when playing Battlefield 4. That's why gaming sites dedicate articles to the visual differences. Faster framerates and better textures are a night and day difference to me. Playing around 30 fps frustrates me and many others. 60 fps is a minimum for me, but that is also anecdotal.

What you said last about artstyle is completely irrelevant unless you are misusing the word from the way it often is used. Art style typically refers to the developers' conscious choice at approaching how the game will look, and includes a multitude of factors such as visual appeal and potential hardware limits of the targeted platform(s). Are there individual games that used a different art style because the developers felt limited by hardware? Sure. But you can't make a broad-sweeping statement like that about console games in general. Regardless, whatever art style is used by the developers, consoles and PCs typically get the same treatment unless the game is significantly hindered by a lack of power on a specific platform.

I am not going to get drawn into a subjective debate that's not worth my time, which is why I made my original comment. I can list a score of PC exclusive games that are better in my opinion, but it won't matter because you might not enjoy those games at all. That all comes down to taste: if you think The Last Of US is amazing; good for you. Different people like different things. I won't debate that. But what I will debate is incoherent and subjective claims such as Box X's games are inherently better than Box's Y's games, therefore box X. Or sweeping generalizations about subjective claims, such as the one you made, like Box Z only has *insert-game-type-B-here*.

Not a good excuse as many of these games have been on consoles in the past.

When gaming got really mainstream, we stopped seeing it though.

Isn't this a cinematic game with scripted, automated & mediocre gameplay ?

Somehow i knew you could not answer that simple question Gammit10

@bussinrounds: Not to sound like MR know it all but you are wrong, it`s obvious that mouse and keyboard is a must for games like Dota, league of legends, wow etc.. And all i can say to that other thing you wrote about The Last Of Us is that over 6 million people will probably disagree with you on that statement. Anyone please name an exclusive game for the pc that you consider better than The Last Of Us? Im just a gamer btw and i play on all consoles and pc. Not a fanboy of any sort, but i know when i have experienced the best game ever made after playing videogames for 3 decades and that title goes to the The Last Of Us from my point of view.

@RimacBugatti:

stupidest thing i've ever heard. will never happen. gaming PCs cost too much money. would cost double the cost of consoles to get the same output. (including all the accessories you'd need for a PC)

Civ5? LOL I don't give a crap about strategy games, or MMO's. That's all PC is good for.

I dunno...I was watching a friend play Infamous Second Son just recently today and it managed to impress me more than most PC games, which tend to have this same-y generic type of look. This is just my opinion but honestly when I look at most PC games... most of the art just seems drab, dull, uninspired. If Second Son looks this good early on, I can only wonder what future PS4 games would look like 3-4 years from now. O_o

Exclusives will always drive consoles, and ease of use for the masses. PC fans always overlook this fact and only want to talk about genres that are on PC, like shooters, MMOs and more shooters. They always compare power and forget about what people buy systems for, the games.

Well if we're looking at screenshots then yes its easier to tell the difference especially when captured at higher resolutions but if you're playing both platforms on a TV then you wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference at all. Considering its price, the PS4 packs a lot of graphical horsepower and I doubt you could build a PC that's comparatively priced that can match it, let alone exceed it.

As for artstyle, what I'm saying is it doesn't matter how powerful a platform is if the artstyle looks bland or boring. As good as something like, say, Crysis looks, it pales in comparison to Flower or Journey on PSN, which looks visually more appealing IMO. I can guarantee you that several years from now, Flower and Journey will have aged considerably well while Crysis will look outdated when stacked up against newer games.

I don't want to play PC games because I don't want to use a keyboard and mouse to do actions that are much more efficient and tight on a controller. I also don't have any interest in mods or other user-created content, which is mostly what PC gamers brag about spending time playing anyway.

I can't even play Minecraft on my computer, it lags a bit. I can't imagine what people spend on a computer nowadays just to play games on it. Not to mention, you have to constantly upgrade your computer to be able to play the newest games. And you might run into compatibility issues.

I find that playing games on a computer, I often get distracted and want to do other things at the same time like browse the web, play music, and run downloads. Similarly, I can get distracted by video games on the computer whenever I am trying to work on something else.

I do think some kinds of games still work better on computers, like MMO's and RTS's. But overall I am a handheld/console gamer first and foremost.

gamepad is plug-play on PC, so you don't need to use keyboard and mouse. some multiplats play better with a gamepad anyway. i'm also not a huge fan of mods, but i use some occasional graphics mods on games like Skyrim or Dark Souls.

i haven't upgraded my GPU for years, and i'm still playing new games. you don't need to upgrade your PC as often as people think. also compatibility issues are so 90's. it's not a problem anymore.

here's my estimated price of PC gaming (what it costs to me); ~$1000 initial price tag (you can go lower if you want). upgrading GPU with about $200 every 3 years (cheap gaming cards can max out new games. you don't need the absolute most powerful ones, although they would obviously be even more future-proof)

basicly i would guess that i spend about the same amount of money to GPUs during 1 console gen, than what the console would cost to buy as new. why am i only counting the GPU price? because i need a PC anyway for work/entertainment/studies, so to me it comes down to asking wether i buy a GPU for my PC or a new console. and i must say that it's an easy decicion for me... GPU.

e: oh, and ofcourse games are much cheaper on PC.

##@b3gv5m63: People will continue to be frustrated with the gap between PC and consoles. I personally could care less as I have a $3500 PC and PS4 and Xbox One. But PC lacks the exclusives that are on consoles only. Consoles have the games and PC has the visuals. The gap is growing and the only way to close the gap is to price the consoles as when 3DO and Neo Geo came out. Around $800 if I remember correctly. And a $3000 card that isn't going to be utilized but by a fraction. Not to mention dual GTX 690's out perform The Titan Z. That saves you $1000. I wouldn't mind paying $600 for a console with better performance but after seeing games like Infamous Second Son it looks like they know how to push the hardware to it's full potential. Gaming isn't gaming anymore anyways. It's all the same old crap. I actually went back to my Dreamcast this week.

Power is Overated !