EB on consoles

[duncan.gill]

Does anyone know if you could play EB on an Xbox 360?

Does anyone know of any EB-like games that can be played (properly) on consoles - I never know how they work utilise the controls properly.

[Aemilius Paulus]

I don't think ANY true RTS can be played on consoles. I have heard that there were actually mobile phone versions of PC RTS games such as Empire Earth, but not any console RTS games. Usually people buy consoles to play other games, such as FPS and RPGs. Not only that, but there is also the controls issue - mainly the absolute lack of hotkeys due to the abscence of a keyboard.

Computers are just better platforms than a console, not to mention that everyone has computers, while in order to play a console game you have to first buy the console, which cannot be used for anything else except video games.

[desert]

Hey, these days you can watch DVDs and listen to music on them as well. And probably some other things...

If you want an example of an RTS successfully ported to a console, just look at Battle for Middle Earth 2.

[a completely inoffensive name]

RTS are so horrible on consoles especially turn based heavy mouse clicking ones like EB. Honestly, the only games suited for a console controller are shooters (first and third) and RPG's.

[Gleemonex]

Indeed, consoles were only [1] good for platformers, party games and special-input games (viz. the Logitech wheels + Gran Turismo) until they started converging with PCs. Most console fans who refute criticism of consoles usually bring up convergence issues to do so ("You can get a mouse and keyboard for the PS3!", "Consoles have had hard drives since the original XboX", et al).

That being said, I think any Total War console game would only work if keyboard, mouse and 1080HD output were requirements. IOW, if it was actually a PC game in disguise.

-Glee

[1] I don't use the term 'only' here as an insult. Gran Turismo is my favourite gaming series along with Total War.

[Senshi]

Honestly, the only games suited for a console controller are shooters (first and third) and RPG's.

In my opinion consoles are only good for fun games, Adventures, Jump&Runs or RPGs, but not for any game requiring a direct and precise input.

Generally it's of course possibly to play everything with any device (e.g. I play EB with a graphics tablet and even my joystick works with it, and I even can play action games like BF or UT with my tablet, but it's just not the real deal of course), the question is if it makes sense. Having a relative direct input like a mouse is good for every program where you have to be quick and precise on spots. If the program requires more "feeling" and subtle inputs, go for a throttle control-joystick or a gamepad. A graphic tablet featuring absolute direct input is only in very few games useful (e.g. Paradox strategy games)

Shooters on consoles are extremly weird, having no high reaction input device as a computer mouse there is far less atmosphere and immersive feeling. RPGs or Adventures or some "unconvential" action games featuring indirect controls (e.g. Assassins Creed) are perfect for consoles too, I'm relating to "crosshair"-shooters (including autoaim-games like GTA, one of the dumbest features ever).

Actually, I still don't see the sense of consoles when there are PCs, despite their "party aspect" or when they offer really innovative and unique features like the Wii

[Marius Dynamite]

If they put a mouse & keyboard on a console I think RTS would be fine. They probably will one day as well you know.


As far as shooters goes it's all down to preference. While some find shooters on consoles weird, I feel that way about PC shooters. I've never liked using the mouse to aim, to me it feels like a point&click excercise. I respect that their is enough people playing shooters on both platforms to conclude that both control types are entirely sound.

With RTS its clear the analogue control is just not suitable. The need to get the pointer to a certain point in the screen instantly is not a feature of analogue sticks and it is necessary for RTS.

Actually, I still don't see the sense of consoles when there are PCs, despite their "party aspect" or when they offer really innovative and unique features like the Wii

Trust me, the sense is there otherwise they wouldn't sell as well as they do.

Consoles are like PC's dedicated to gaming. For that reason, they are cheaper than PCs. A £200 PC's wouldn't really be able to play the games out nowadays would it?

This PC I got for around £600 last year won't run Gears of War as well as my Xbox, if at all. Admittedly some people could build really good PC's at a good price but for those who can't the console is there for them.

[||Lz3||]

do you guys even remember price??

Console (PS3) $400 USDLS -you can play ANY game you want (for that console that is) with the HIGHEST graphics available and no lag whatsoever.

PC, in order to get a pc to work with maximun graphics you need at least like $12000 to get a good computer.


besides... a console is easier to use and you get used to the games faster.
at the end ... it doesnt matter. PC gamers will always prefer PC while console gamers will stick to consoles.

I for one feel that console games are more fast paced (sp?) well.. faster... while PC games are slower paced but more complex...

lately I've been playing a lot of console games but pretty much nothing with my computer (I blame the fact that it can't even run M2TW)


NOTES:
1- I don't like shooters on pcs... feels weird after being playing all your life with thumbsticks
2- a +1 for the pc games are the modding comunities :P
3- My biggest gripe with pc gaming is the high price compared to console gaming

[desert]

$12,000 for a good computer? You can buy a top-of-the-line computer for less than $5000, or build one for for less than $4000.

Enjoy your PCs and consoles while you can, for within twenty years all electronic media will be experienced via a nanochip implanted in your brain.

[||Lz3||]

$12,000 for a good computer? You can buy a top-of-the-line computer for less than $5000, or build one for for less than $4000.

NOT here... <.< (in fact 12'000 is too low... I just didn't want to say the actual price hehe it would cost me bout 19000 to get a good computer capable of runing games at max graphics...< .<

[teh1337tim]

dam u all must t them at rip off full retail prices

my comp is top of the line in everything, runs any game max...
and ps3 n xbox playing everything on max is kinda false
consoles graphics are based mainly upon top of the line chipsets
(as ps3 was built of the 7900s or early 8xxx serries, i 4got and 360 off the 1xxx or 2xxx serries)
as today.. we've gone from 7900s as second gen to first gen gtx 280s 260s and 9xxx
(quad sli 9800x2-sli = quad sli)

$3800 everything at max no prob no lag (constant 200+ fps)

o ya and consoles getting best fps is kinda bull, all console games are designed to run at 60fps
(the fastest a normal human eye can see)

anyways back on topic

one thing with fps on consoles (i play console and pc)
is the low reaction times compare to mouses
it kinda cuts the corner turning and aiming on FPS games and will affect rts game on a normal
ps3/xbox controller w/out any add ons

O to the person who said u can play ps3 w/ a keyboard and mouse

SHHHH don't let those nup 10 yr olds kno my secret on call of duty 4 and crysis :D

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

I built a near top of the line computer for $1800US.



I have seen RTS on consoles before, the simple old fashioned types. I have (somewhere) Red Alert for the PS1.

[Senshi]

Yes, there are multiple RTS conversions and I even remember some RTS games specifically made for consoles (though they were a commercial flop and I can't remember their names).

The good old myth of "consoles are cheaper than computers compared to perfomance offered" did work some 5-6 years ago perhaps, but it's really outdated. You can play even graphic monsters like Crysis on maximum settings with a 700€-PC, you just have to build it yourself and look for good&cheap sources (ebay traders, one of the many computer online stores...).

I won't explain in detail why consoles , cumulating all costs (initial price of hardware, upgradeability throughout the next years, software prices etc.), are more expensive related to offered perfomance as I'm sure there are already multiple such topics to be found in the net. Or you can do the little mathematics yourself if you are bored. ;)

The big difference is not the price, but this: Consoles are just WAY simpler than computers.
No need to spend hours trying to dig into the actual hardware market to find out what graphic card or processor is the best to upgrade your computer, no buggering around with nasty bluescreens, failing applications, no "everlasting" loading times (Booting up PC, inserting disc, starting application, loading...) etc.
Consoles instead simply....work! An enormous advantage
Using computers on long-term-base is surely more efficient and also cheaper, but it requires a lot more attention and "work", otherwise one easily risks to buy not the perfect choice, but either a perfomancewise bad component or to buy a good one for an exaggerated price...

o ya and consoles getting best fps is kinda bull, all console games are designed to run at 60fps
(the fastest a normal human eye can see)

Where did you get that info? According to my knowledge and the things I learned in school the human brain is in average capable of (conscious) processing 23-24 images "recorded" by the eye, the eye itself is capable of several hundred images, but as our brain is just to incompetent ;) it filters in advance.

That's why almost every cinematic movie or TV show is recorded in 24fps-videostreams, every image more just would increase the size and cost of valuable film material and would be "wasted".


@Lz3: are you making a joke? 12,000 or 19,000$ for a computer?

It would actually be rather difficult to find something that expensive (except some rip-off offers)...
Or do you live in the Antarctics and have to get your computer personally airmailed?


And I fear we are so incredibly offtopic now...

[||Lz3||]

hehe my bad I forgot to convert the currencies hehehe it was not 19000 but rather 1900 USDL :P (my xbox was 400 usdls hehe


technology here has too many frigin taxes!

besides 700 euros is waaaay more than what a console costs... :P
(and if you say "well I still need the computer", well if you didn't had to play in that computer it would coust like 350 euros, wich is more or less the price of a console)

[craziii]

rts on consoles :( come on, it should not hapen.

I upgraded my pc with 800 dollars worth of parts (only cuz I bought a 200$ case) I play crysis on high settings in 1200 resolution.

where do you all live that you need 5000 dollars to build a good pc??? I mean where?

[desert]

Alright, so, the computer I was thinking of would have cost 4-5 grand to buy a year ago. Now the parts are cheaper, apparently. You can get that same computer, which would still be a very good computer(Crysis-on-max-settings-good), from, say, a custom PC site for about $3000. Putting it together yourself probably wouldn't set you back more than $2,000.

[mlp071]

Console games should stay on consoles and PC games should stay on PC.

Otherwise you get Frankenstein type hybrids with lot of porting problems,that are not good enough for neither.

Plus most of the popular games are heavily modded, and that is almost impossible to pull on consoles right now.
Example: just play ES IV: Oblivion(an RPG) on console(it will be Vanilla no choices there) and then do it on PC with just top 10 mods(and you can add infinite number of mods for PC) and see the difference in gameplay , depth, even graphics.It's like Vanilla RTW comparing to EB, meaning light years apart.

Not to mention control problems for RTS and other type of games.Add keyboard and mouse to console and you get E-Machine PC (low cost PC in USA)

"Cross gaming platform" is just poor developers excuse for trying to hide their greed and lack of their effort to make something more in depth today.I would rather see version of TW that can have whole world playable and moddable like Europa Universalis series(even if that means lower graphics) but that is not happening if you place any console in equation.

No offense to anyone, but if Total War Series ever goes to crossgaming platform or anything that touches consoles, i ain't buying it anymore.

[teh1337tim]

Not to mention control problems for RTS and other type of games.Add keyboard and mouse to console and you get E-Machine PC (low cost PC in USA)

"Cross gaming platform" is just poor developers excuse for trying to hide their greed and lack of their effort to make something more in depth today.

SHH... dont tell emachines i have reactivated my old computer of the same windows xp 7 times upgradng everythign from easy machine.. to ubber machine



cross gaming platform can sometimes be good, i mean look at how activision made call of duty 4 for pc ps3 xbox etc... some are good but rest are plain dumb...but i would never say its just a lame excuse... gamming industry is one of the few industries thats still thriving in this economic mess...

tbh, just looking at techforums etc and surfing can get u a load more information than lets say,
um 10 classes of computer learning etc

O ya, if u dig a old thread about gaming rigs, ull find what my specs are (a true killer)

anyways... Rts + console = epic phail - end of story (unless some developer makes it as indepth as EB does then nope)

[Senshi]

Of course a 700$ computer is more expensive than a console, but that is the initial price. And even for that money you get way more perfomance than a Xbox360 or PS3 can offer.

Furthermore, that is what I meant by "cumulated costs", your console is as is, and usually they are already outdated when they are released. There is far better technology for computers avaible than what is put in the named consoles.
A 700$-computer instead will reach a point after (depends on personal wishes) 2-4 years where you want to upgrade some part. Depends on current technology revolutions, it's usually the processor or graphic card which can't display "High" settings fluently any more.
So you go and buy the current price/perfomance-winner, usually for about 150-250€. Now your computer offers graphical power exceeding the one of your old console greatly, and that for a relatively poor price.
As said, I don't want to (and it's a bit difficult to do this in a non-native language) calculate all of this here...

No offense to anyone, but if Total War Series ever goes to crossgaming platform or anything that touches consoles, i ain't buying it anymore.

What do you mean by crossgaming? If the game is developed for multiple platforms? I have no problem with that...Call of Duty 4 works perfectly on computer as it was really programmed for it, and it rocks. Nothing more to expect. And if they have the team and the plan to program it parallel on multiple platforms to reach more customers, fine by me.

What I have a problem is platform conversions...if a game is developed for Xbox360/PS3 and then just reprogrammed to fit on computers the hardware requirements usually are absurdly high (example: Race Driver GRID, Mass Effect). Reason? Bad programming. There were an enormous 2 guys working the conversion of GRID....Codemasters just wanted to milk another willing cow cheaply...

[Connacht]

However, the price of a computer could vary a lot.
Here in Italy I'm just looking for some pc prices on Google and I find very good gaming platforms (maybe some are not absolutely the latest best of the best ultra advanced powah blah blah but you don't need to run NASA programs) from 500 € to 1300 €.

So, you can still obtain a perfectly working machine for a good honest price, without having to eat dog food for months.

[-Praetor-]

I built a near top of the line computer for $1800US.



I have seen RTS on consoles before, the simple old fashioned types. I have (somewhere) Red Alert for the PS1.

One year ago, I also built a top of the line PC with $1200 US

And that`s in Chile.

[||Lz3||]

nevermind hehe...

I still bealive that consoles are more cost-efficient but have less depth customization and well... less max capabilities...

[Gleemonex]

Console games should stay on consoles and PC games should stay on PC.

Otherwise you get Frankenstein type hybrids with lot of porting problems,that are not good enough for neither.

Too late.

Consoles have USB ports, and some come with KB+mouse kits (PS3). They have hard drives. Console releases are now for-profit public betas with later patches, just like their PC counterparts.

Meanwhile, PCs are getting smaller, and fewer and fewer people are building their own boxen. They just grab one off the Dell site, and when it shows up they just plug in everything and it works [1]. DirectX now pulls double-duty for XboX and PCs, blurring the lines even further.

I'm not sure how I feel about it, but the convergence has begun.

-Glee

--------------------
[1] in theory