PC vs. Console

Whether it's fragging an out-of-state friend online in "Unreal Tournament" or having Mario duke it out against the dreaded Pikachu in "Super Smash Bros. Melee," many college students will find their thumbs becoming numb as their grades plummet into oblivion thanks to the wonderful world of video games.\nEvolving from the early days of Atari and "Pong," the gaming industry now finds itself generating $6 billion to $7 billion in yearly revenue, nearly equaling that of the motion picture industry. Gone from hardware production are former industry leaders like Sega, replaced by tech giants Sony and Microsoft, each introducing new systems to battle the incumbent Nintendo and the personal computer for gaming supremacy. \n"So what's with these new X-cube-box-station-things I've been hearing about?" you ask.\nGrowing interests in gaming has led to the development of Sony's Playstation 2, Ninendo's Gamecube and Microsoft's XBOX, all of which offer great gaming capabilities, with slight variations in hardware and software. \nThe PS2 and the XBOX will burn the biggest hole in your wallet at $300 apiece, but they also function as DVD players, unlike the $200 Gamecube that is strictly for gaming and is geared more towards a younger audience. Each system has also been left open to the possibility of modem add-ons for Internet access in the future. \nOn the tech side, Microsoft's XBOX comes charging in with a Pentium III 733-megahertz processor compared to roughly 295-MHz on the now 1-year-old PS2 and 485 MHz on the Gamecube. Top of the line PC processors still lead the pack at a whopping 2-Ghz (2000 MHz), which is more than enough juice to bring you into gaming ecstasy.\nMicrosoft's battle plan against both PCs and consoles includes featuring a 8-gigabyte hard drive in the XBOX -- the first ever on a console, allowing for games to load quicker and for larger saved games with expanded options.\n"On football I've got a 25-year franchise option. You can't do that on other systems," junior Brandon Quarles says, who is a fan of "NFL 2K2."\nFor those of you who are into having one piece of electronics capable of doing everything from word processing, storing mp3s and playing DVDs to running games and small countries, PCs might be the way to go. Bidding wars between Intel and AMD have lowered costs of parts, allowing entry-level systems to run as low as $600, but they might require a little more tech know-how to hook up than your basic console. \nAt times software can even become a factor when deciding whether to buy one console instead of another thanks to contracts guaranteeing exclusive rights to certain games. For instance, you won't be seeing the Gamecube's "Luigi's Mansion" on XBOX, but then again Playstation 2's epic "Final Fantasy X" won't be appearing on either of Sony's competitors' systems. \n"I've always been a Nintendo fan -- I've been playing since I was 4 years old. I just prefer their games, like Mario and Zelda," sophomore Brandon Rutledge says. \nPCs also offer their players the ability to create their own levels or game modifications and truly create another level of interactivity that cannot be found with consoles. The modification of the game "Half-Life" called "Counter-Strike" was originally developed by players outside the original company and became the number one online first-person-shooter. Seeing this, the creators of "Half-Life" bought the rights to "Counter-Strike" and made a retail version, but the product was still really a grass roots development, by the fans, for the fans.\nThanks to the Internet computer gamers no longer have play their versions of "Black and White" or "Quake" alone, but can now play online with upwards of 64 people in some games or in the same room as other gamers via a LAN (Local Area Network). This practice has spawned global tournaments, allowed for the creation of cyber-teams of players called "clans," led to the development of the IU Gaming Club and has even enabled certain skilled players around the world to make a living as professional gamers. \n"I recently went to (a tournament) this past weekend in Louisville that had about 550 people," says Mitchell McCall, who is currently organizing his own "Hoosierdaddy LAN War" in Bloomington for later this spring. \n"It's more than just games. You share mp3s and it's fun just going out to grab some food at 3 a.m. with a group of people."\nTrying to attract online gamers, many console titles like the first-person-shooter "Halo" for the XBOX are now built with multiplayer gaming in mind, and often allow for up to four players to play side by side. Convergence works both ways as "Halo" is currently in development for the PC while consoles prepare for the arrival of the PC's "Black and White," according to gamespot.com.\nMaking a decision in the game market is even more difficult these days since each system seems to have its own ups and downs. \n"For instance, the XBOX controller is huge, your hands cramp up after playing it for awhile," Rutledge says. "But on the other hand the PS2 you can play all the original PS1 games as well, so it's just got a larger library of games."\nThe ability for PCs to differ in model also allows for games to be produced with the ability to be played on numerous systems with different specifications, unlike console games, which work only on the platform they are produced for. That is to say if your friend has a recent PC, you can probably swap games, but if your buddy has a Playstation 2 and you have a Gamecube, you're out of luck. \nNowadays it's even possible to download old Nintendo or Sega games off the internet and play them on computers through applications called Emulators, but some wonder if this really creates the same atmosphere as being able to just recline in a chair while playing "Madden NFL 2002."\n"PC games just don't appeal to me, I just like games I can play on the television," Rutledge says.\nMicrosoft isn't the only company to jump the gap between PC and consoles as the XBOX uses graphics cards made by nVidia -- the same company making top of the line GeForce cards for the PC.\nWhen it comes down to it, the PC and all three consoles offer high quality gaming with just enough difference between them so that gamers can figure out what suits their own interests, whether it's the large game availability of the PS2, the adaptability of the PC, support by a computer giant in the XBOX or the comfort of seeing familiar on screen faces in the Gamecube. Regardless of which companies survive or fail, the market has proven gaming is here to stay.