@Pedro:
I'm going to address this exchange because it shows that many people really do argue that $ for $ a PC can be had for superior quality at the PS4 price point.
"Its obvious that your bias is getting the best of you because you are not relying on being objective." - Frankly, that statement is kind of insulting. I said at the onset that I'm a PC gamer, I'm really not biased to consoles. I buy 9 games for PC for every 1 on buy on console right now. For all that I'm about to talk about the PS4, I don't even own a single Sony console or handheld.
"Trivializing the two free games is comical because the PS4 library is currently and would ALWAYS be weaker than the PC simply due to the full backward compatibility... add $60 to the PS4 price for online functionality and additional $120 for two retail games to match the system mentioned"
- Two multiple-year old games worth $10 each are not on par with two brand new $60 games, and the comment on the backwards compatibility of the PS4 is a non-sequitor (it has nothing to do with the money value of the games). $120 will buy you the same games on the PS4's launch that it does on the PC for the same price, you can't use that as an excuse to jack up the price of a PS4. I will, however, buy your argument that the $60 online cost should be considered, but I note there that you'd have to factor in the features of X-Live and PS+, and that they are currently handing out free games like candy.
"the system including the upgrade graphics card would surpass the PS4 and would not simply equal it."
- The 7870 at 2500 Gflops is slightly faster than the PS4 at ~2000 Gflops is slightly faster than the 7850 at 1600 Gflops. The 7870 is indeed a little bit faster (25% potentially), but it's also driving the price of your suggested rig to $200+ above the PS4. That's a 50+% price increase for a 25% performance gain.
" Also streaming games would not be available for sometime and don't pretend as if services like Onlive does not exist."
- I'm referring to hardware-based streaming and recording of your games with services like Twitch, not the OnLive stuff. Nvidia is rolling out Shadowplay on their newest graphics cards, but it's a beta feature for their newest stuff while the PS4 and X1 will do it out of the box.
"As for games running better on the PS4 than this PC in the future is unfounded. Your speculation holds no merit."
- It is speculation, which means it can't be proven directly, but it certainly isn't meritorious to predict that developers will be able to optimize their games more effectively for consoles over time than they will be able to do on PC. I have a really nice gaming rig, and RAGE doesn't play all that well because it's a crappy console port. Unless the market shifts, games are always going to be better optimized for consoles.
"I also like the jump from a $200 graphics card to $350 graphics card. Mentioning the initial cost of the PC has some sort of merit but lets keep it real, if you have something that serves an existing purpose then upgrading for more functionality would equate to being less overall. "
- I have no argument with that. If you have a PC with a modern processor, mobo, Ram, HDD, etc. then it's probably worth just upgrading that machine. But I think you seriously are taking it for granted that the old computer people have lieing around is going to have a good quad-core CPU with 8GB of ram and a nice hard drive. You're also taking it for granted that they are okay having their family computer used for gaming. People that do have a nice setup are also very likely to have a nice GPU anyway and not need a console in the first place. I never directed this article at people who are in a good position to upgrade, because it admittedly makes a lot less sense. That's where the $350 number came from, I was conceding for a little less than a PS4 you can take your Core i5 PC and make it a rig with double the PS4's horsepower.
"The reality is particularly simple. The PS4 does not or will not offer more to the gamer than a new PC that cost $640. "
- Even including PS+ the price of a PS4 is only $460. And your $640 machine lacks a lot of all-in-one entertainment system options. Having a blu-ray player, a controller, and the ability to have it in a sleek and quiet package are actually a pretty big deal to a lot of people. It's both silly to ride on the argument that a PS4 is inferior to a machine costing $200+ more than it does (you would hope so), and it's objectively false to say it doesn't "offer more to the gamer" when there are absolutely tangible features your $640 machine lacks versus a PS4.
"As for long term gaming, PC is cheaper. This myth of PC gaming being out of the average person reach is just that a myth. By next year this supposed affordability gap is going to shrink even more with the rise in APU sales and performance.
- I have no doubt a PC in a year's time will give much better performance for the money than it does today. Consoles' performance is stagnant, which is why I would totally agree that a PC gives much better value for your money than the aging PS3. Eventually the PC market will catch back up to these consoles and pass them. It's also quite possible the PS4 and X1 will be cheaper in a year's time, so it could be a while. But none of this really matters when we're talking about the hardware and pricing available right now. At this very moment, there is no $400 PC that can do what a PS4 can do. There just isn't.
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