Were Consoles EVER Ahead Of PC?

was there ever a point in time when consoles were ahead of what could be done on PC, or have consoles always been obsolete on release?

If you're strictly speaking about hardware no, I dont think so

Now if by "ahead" you mean being better/superior then imho they always were. Their games always appeal to me more then PCs

After the arcade days consoles were introducede into the home, at this point pc's weren't being used for games in the household so I guess they were ahead.

Not really, maybe in the 90's at points when PC's weren't so geared towards gaming, it's hard to tell. The current console generation was already behind the PC on launch, although the Xbox360 was on a par with a high end gaming PC at the time. Those were the early days of GPU's becoming a major technology in PC gaming though, nowadays things are different. GPU's jump in power more often and more noteably because of the huge market for them.

After the arcade days consoles were introducede into the home, at this point pc's weren't being used for games in the household so I guess they were ahead.

tom_woolley

I've had a gaming PC in my house since the C64 in the mid-80s. And actually, when the video game market crashed in the early-mid 80's only Computer Gaming remained unaffected: the consoles all died while computer gamers were getting such classics as Wizardry, Ultima (which is the root of all JRPGs), M.U.L.E., etc.

The Dreamcast was really advanced with games like Shenmue, Soul Caliber and Dead or Alive 2.

Sure. N64.

I don't recall the PC having anything like Wave Race 64 back in 1996, not even with the later 3dfx Voodoo and Voodoo 2. The other consoles of the time (PSX, Saturn) didn't have anything as good either. Besides being a fun game to play, it's one reason why I'm very fond of it.

Wave Race 64

Hermits get a boner over graphics

Sure. N64.

I don't recall the PC having anything like Wave Race 64 back in 1996, not even with the later 3dfx Voodoo and Voodoo 2. The other consoles of the time (PSX, Saturn) didn't have anything as good either. Besides being a fun game to play, it's one reason why I'm very fond of it.

Wave Race 64

jun_aka_pekto

[QUOTE="jun_aka_pekto"]

Sure. N64.

I don't recall the PC having anything like Wave Race 64 back in 1996, not even with the later 3dfx Voodoo and Voodoo 2. The other consoles of the time (PSX, Saturn) didn't have anything as good either. Besides being a fun game to play, it's one reason why I'm very fond of it.

Wave Race 64

GunSmith1_basic

The water physics in Wave Race 64 was something totally new (and welcome). The gameplay was also totally fluid. The best PCs in 1996 would've have a hard time running Quake at 640x480 and keep framerates a consistent 20 fps because it used software mode at the time. The 3dfx Voodoo wasn't widespread until January 1997. I got mine in December 1996 only because of a promotion from Computability who regarded me as a valued customer (I spent a lot of money on them back then).

N64 I think for a short time, that's about it. No, this gen wasn't better than PC out the gate, we had very beefy GPUs, and crossfire/SLI options, then right as the PS3 released, the 8800 GTX came out and spit in their faces

The Dreamcast was really advanced with games like Shenmue, Soul Caliber and Dead or Alive 2.

ZombeGoast

[QUOTE="GunSmith1_basic"][QUOTE="jun_aka_pekto"]

Sure. N64.

I don't recall the PC having anything like Wave Race 64 back in 1996, not even with the later 3dfx Voodoo and Voodoo 2. The other consoles of the time (PSX, Saturn) didn't have anything as good either. Besides being a fun game to play, it's one reason why I'm very fond of it.

Wave Race 64

jun_aka_pekto

The water physics in Wave Race 64 was something totally new (and welcome). The gameplay was also totally fluid. The best PCs in 1996 would've have a hard time running Quake at 640x480 and keep framerates a consistent 20 fps because it used software mode at the time. The 3dfx Voodoo wasn't widespread until January 1997. I got mine in December 1996 only because of a promotion from Computability who regarded me as a valued customer (I spent a lot of money on them back then).

Yes, right now. there are more games I want on consoles than on PC.

Yes, right now. there are more games I want on consoles than on PC.

turtlethetaffer

[QUOTE="jun_aka_pekto"]

[QUOTE="GunSmith1_basic"] quake was 1996. Waverace being a racer has a clear advantage in screenshots but I don't think there is a comparison in technical aspectsDragonfireXZ95

The water physics in Wave Race 64 was something totally new (and welcome). The gameplay was also totally fluid. The best PCs in 1996 would've have a hard time running Quake at 640x480 and keep framerates a consistent 20 fps because it used software mode at the time. The 3dfx Voodoo wasn't widespread until January 1997. I got mine in December 1996 only because of a promotion from Computability who regarded me as a valued customer (I spent a lot of money on them back then).

The first wide use of OpenGL (for games) I know of is the 3dfx variant*. That's why 3dfx and the Quake games were perfect complements.

* I eagerly awaited the 3dfx patch for Quake that turned it into GLQuake. That's why people should distinguish Quake from GLQuake. GLQuake was heaven on Earth. Quake? Bleh. :lol:

Overclockers should thank Quake though. Quake in software mode was so bad, it singlehandedly popularized overclocking on the PC.

[QUOTE="ZombeGoast"]

The Dreamcast was really advanced with games like Shenmue, Soul Caliber and Dead or Alive 2.

DragonfireXZ95

LOL, yeah right

shenmue

half life

not to mention shenmue was open world with hundreds of npc's populating the world with their own daily routines. shenmue was way ahead of half life from a technical standpoint

[QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

Yes, right now. there are more games I want on consoles than on PC.

DragonfireXZ95

He's so bad for preferring games on console over PC!

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"][QUOTE="ZombeGoast"]

The Dreamcast was really advanced with games like Shenmue, Soul Caliber and Dead or Alive 2.

black_chamber99

LOL, yeah right

shenmue

half life

not to mention shenmue was open world with hundreds of npc's populating the world with their own daily routines. shenmue was way ahead of half life from a technical standpoint

Uh huh. And the rest of these?

[QUOTE="black_chamber99"]

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"] Shenmue came out in 1999. Half Life came out in 1998, which was well ahead of what Shenmue was capable of producing.DragonfireXZ95

LOL, yeah right

shenmue

half life

not to mention shenmue was open world with hundreds of npc's populating the world with their own daily routines. shenmue was way ahead of half life from a technical standpoint

Uh huh. And the rest of these?

and half life 1 at its best still doesn't look better than the worst screens you could find

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]

[QUOTE="black_chamber99"]

LOL, yeah right

shenmue

half life

not to mention shenmue was open world with hundreds of npc's populating the world with their own daily routines. shenmue was way ahead of half life from a technical standpoint

black_chamber99

Uh huh. And the rest of these?

and half life 1 at its best still doesn't look better than the worst screens you could find

You know that pic you posted? That's a high res pic posted from a PC emulator.

Anyway, they are pretty close. Shenmue is a year newer, which is kinda sad.

I agree with N64. It took the PC a long time to get something that looked better than mario 64 and waverace 64.

NES in the 80s (DOS PC was sucking back then), Turbografx-16 (even Amiga owners were turned on by it), Neo-Geo (arcade machine in the form of a console), 3DO (for a short time it had better graphics than PC altho that's debatable due to Doom being far superior on PC), PSX (super fast 3D graphics), N64 (hardware filtered 3D graphics), Dreamcast (sh*tload of polygons), PS2 (the launch games sucked but GT3's cars looked better than anything back then), Xbox (pixel shading before PC games), 360 (parallax mapping before PC games, unified shaders)

That's about it.

But I'm talking strictly about game graphics.

In raw power, PC was always ahead.

Yes, right now. there are more games I want on consoles than on PC.

turtlethetaffer

Does this have to do with the fact that you own consoles, but no gaming PC?

Yes, when PSX launched. Also...PS2 graphics were ahead of PC ones in 2000, same (altough to a smaller degree) with Xbox in 2001. This gen was actually the first one where consoles didn't surpass PC graphically at launch

yes in the snes nes and at the start of this gen

yes in the snes nes and at the start of this gen

mariokart64fan

SNES? Nope. PCs already were doing 3d graphics by the time SNES launched and also has VGA standard

[QUOTE="mariokart64fan"]

yes in the snes nes and at the start of this gen

AdrianWerner

SNES? Nope. PCs already were doing 3d graphics by the time SNES launched and also has VGA standard

Actually, SNES was pretty competitive.

PC:

SNES:

PC games often lacked the budgets that console games had, since high-end PC games were a more niche market. Although, the gap has narrowed considerably now that the cost of PC development has gotten quite cheap thanks to all the middleware that's available today. It's a lot easier to tap into the PC's power without going overbudget than it was back in 1999, when we were still in somewhat of the broze age.

Nope. At release, consoles are typically more powerful that what a majority of PCs are using, but there are always people that are running SLI/XFire setups with crazy powerfull rigs that just put the consoles to shame.

Actually, SNES was pretty competitive.

SNES:

nameless12345

Still far behind PC. PC was doing real 3D back then, unlike fake one in Pilotwings

[QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

Yes, right now. there are more games I want on consoles than on PC.

Ly_the_Fairy

Does this have to do with the fact that you own consoles, but no gaming PC?

No. It has everything to do with the fact that there are more games on consoles and handhelds that interest me than on PC. Yeah it happens. Get over it.

As I recall, the SNES struggled just to play a very dumbed down port of Wing Commander, which was a pretty old game by the time it hit the SNES.

[QUOTE="Ly_the_Fairy"]

[QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

Yes, right now. there are more games I want on consoles than on PC.

turtlethetaffer

Does this have to do with the fact that you own consoles, but no gaming PC?

No. It has everything to do with the fact that there are more games on consoles and handhelds that interest me than on PC. Yeah it happens. Get over it.

[QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

[QUOTE="Ly_the_Fairy"]

Does this have to do with the fact that you own consoles, but no gaming PC?

kraken2109

No. It has everything to do with the fact that there are more games on consoles and handhelds that interest me than on PC. Yeah it happens. Get over it.

[QUOTE="kraken2109"][QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

No. It has everything to do with the fact that there are more games on consoles and handhelds that interest me than on PC. Yeah it happens. Get over it.

madmenno

[QUOTE="DragonfireXZ95"]

[QUOTE="black_chamber99"]

LOL, yeah right

shenmue

/snip

half life

/snip

not to mention shenmue was open world with hundreds of npc's populating the world with their own daily routines. shenmue was way ahead of half life from a technical standpoint

black_chamber99

Uh huh. And the rest of these?

/snip

and half life 1 at its best still doesn't look better than the worst screens you could find

I agree, Shenmue at the time was probably the best loking game I had ever seen. One of my favorite games ever too.

[QUOTE="kraken2109"][QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

No. It has everything to do with the fact that there are more games on consoles and handhelds that interest me than on PC. Yeah it happens. Get over it.

madmenno

get back on topic. this is not about what your prefer

Only once at the launch of the 360 it had a more powerful GPU architecture than what was available on PC graphics cards, but that timed exclusivitey probably cost MS some serious coin. Within a short period of time PC was enjoying the lead again and never looked back.

I agree with N64. It took the PC a long time to get something that looked better than mario 64 and waverace 64.

AntiType

Nah. Just the water physics of both games. It did make me giggle with delight though.:lol:

Usually in every gen there has been at least one console that on release offers the latest there is. But they were always overshadowed by arcades and then PC's.

[QUOTE="AntiType"]

I agree with N64. It took the PC a long time to get something that looked better than mario 64 and waverace 64.

jun_aka_pekto

Nah. Just the water physics of both games. It did make me giggle with delight though.:lol:

It would be nice if some day those interested in games that require any sort of control over cursor/crosshair or turning play said games on PC hence the games would be better designed around an optimal control scheme(w.r.t shooters for instance) especially since these sort of games tend to be more resource intensive(but on fixed console hardware this leads to lower fov, lower native resolutions, more blur, etc. over time rather than definitive improvements in image quality) while on consoles we get more games that controllers are actually good for such as just about any game with 2D movement such as fighting games, shmups, and platformers and games like Infamous 2 and SMG2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkroLroovM8&hd=1&t=2m41s

Yes mario 64 had 3d acceleration when no pc games had it.

[QUOTE="Ly_the_Fairy"]

[QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

Yes, right now. there are more games I want on consoles than on PC.

turtlethetaffer

Does this have to do with the fact that you own consoles, but no gaming PC?

No. It has everything to do with the fact that there are more games on consoles and handhelds that interest me than on PC. Yeah it happens. Get over it.

That's quite an angry response to my question.