John Romero, the co-founder of id Software, believes that traditional video game consoles are not needed. Romero helped design many well-known games including Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake. Romero prefers gaming on a PC and says that PCs are “way more powerful than consoles. They keep getting faster and faster, while consoles sit for six years without changing, or if they do they there are minor changes.”
What impact do you think tablets will have on the traditional console business in the future?
“That’s kind of something that I wrote about on my blog in 2005, which was bye-bye consoles. I was thinking more about the PC, itself, being so powerful. Your PCs at home if you’re upgrading them are powerful machines. They’re way more powerful than consoles. They keep getting faster and faster, while consoles sit for six years without changing, or if they do they there are minor changes. There’s been this truth in the games business. It’s been happening for a while, but they’ve gotten to the point now with the technology and the price differential, why don’t I just get a PC? Why would I spend more money beyond the console when a PC can deliver Wi-Fi video at HD resolutions. I can play my console games on my PC and blast it to the screen and use a wireless controller? What I didn’t foresee in 2005 was the rise of the post-PC, which are all these tablets now. These are the things that actually will probably be the end of the consoles. The new iPad has crazy fast graphics and it’s a fast machine and it delivers great games. It can mirror the graphics to a giant HD screen and it’s basically just showing you that you don’t need a console.”
Bullshits
BULLSHITS EVERYWHERE!
This ^
cool story
This doesn’t surprise me at all, it’s just PC Overlordy-ness
consoles have more entertain except from ps consoles
What The Fuck…..
true.i have seen many players playing ps and they act strange,they dont seem to have fun with this piece of shit
He really doesn’t understand why consoles are popular then.
agree, that guys living in a fantasy land full of graphic whores a.k.a pc gamers
No, PC fanboys.
I enjoy both PC and console gaming and I don’t really care about graphics that much, I care more about how a game looks artistically rather than graphically.
I do agree with this, but consoles are more accessible to those who aren’t tech savvy or don’t want to buy a computer for gaming as they may not be used to playing with a keyboard and mouse.
Yeah. Sure your PC is more powerful than your average console if you’re running with a Core i7 and a GeForce GTX580. But many people don’t have the income or the know-how to have a computer like that. So they prefer buying a whole system for about the same price as one high-end processor that’s easier to use and play games nearly as well.
And usually better games. :P
His mindset is that if another choice is more powerful than the other, the less powerful choice will go away and if anyone nows the history of gaming you now that is not true at all.
Ahahahaha… Wrong in 2005 and still going
Romero is a has-been. Anyone heard of Daikatana? My point exactly. Asshole.
Comments like this is why we need a like button!
thats why i give it +1 to support that comment.
Nice one. lol
I’ve heard of it, but he’s still an asshole..so point taken..
n64 was the greatest console! pc was useless then and i remember its games verry well
you madam, are an idiot
what a blind moron. never in my life did I ever consider gaming on a pc, maybe emulators but that’s it. from the moment consoles dies out that’s when I’m done with gaming, which will not happen anytime soon thankfully.
A classic PC developer prefers PC gaming??
I know! I’m amazed too!
why i am not surprice
This is very true. But you know why the PC hasn’t overtaken the consoles? It’s because amazing developers like Nintendo don’t make anything for the PC, and consoles are way cheaper than a decent PC. It really falls down to the price.
But some nintendo games can be played on a emulator.
And all the 90 million people who bought Wiis know how to and have PCs that can run Brawl through Dolphin, right?
yeah, like 2 or 3 years after release -.-
Yeah, and PC gaming is way more expensive than a $600 price tag console. The problem with PC gaming is the fact that you always have to upgrade lots of times just to keep up playing games. Consoles may not be more powerful than PCs, but at least you don’t have to worry if the game will work or not on the system unlike PC. Also, it’s true that PCs are more powerful than consoles, but is it power that people are looking for when it comes to gaming? If it were; then, there wouldn’t be any consoles today. You play games for games, not for the system it’s on.
Hah, you’re all wrong and it’s funny.
I bet this guy wasn’t saying stupid shit like this when Doom was out selling the pc back on the 32 bit SAGA
tablets, no. tablets suck for gaming. hardly any good games, and the games that are good are $1 games that take an hour to beat, so nothing much for hardcore gamers there. Plus the touch screen controls are annoying. PCs, maybe. The thing is PCs are more powerful, but that’s only if you’re willing to dump $1000 into one. So I think that PCs will only kill consoles if it becomes cheap enough to buy a PC that can run games. And even then I doubt it. Most people dont want to deal with all the crap they have to go through for PC gaming to work. Plus PCs become outdated every few years, then you have to dump another $1000 into one. I don’t think consoles are going away anytime soon.
just a bitter man mad cuz his games dont do well on consoles
Pretty moronic statement there, “pc are way more powerful than consoles”. that’s only true with high-end PCs and even then the cost of making games that can fully utilize those PC’s processing power is way to high, that’s why games are beginning to cost more and more money
Isn’t a console a computer?
In a sense, yes, but consoles are made strictly or mostly for gaming. PCs, including gaming PCs, do more than that.
a console is a computer it can do whatever a pc can do just cause it doesn’t run windows or apple doesn’t mean its not a computer those operating systems aren’t going to be the only major ones for long
What does a PC do that a console can’t?
When was the last time you saw someone recording music on a console, or making a movie? When was the last time you saw someone running battlefield 3 on ultra with 64 players on a console? The PC also has superior internet capabilities (the Wii and the PS3 internet browsers are garbage) as well as the thousands of free to play flash games on the internet (they count too). Also, there’s stuff like word processors, and general productivity stuff that you can’t do on consoles. Native headphone support, as well. You don’t need to buy an overpriced pair of turtle beaches for headphones on a PC.
You must play on PC so John can make you his bitch!
PC doesn’t have proper controller and it require some stuff & power to play the targeted game, unlike consoles. Its true that PCs evolve every year but the graphics doesn’t. That’s why consoles stays for more than 6 years.
That’s not really true, there are plenty of ‘proper controllers’ for the PC on the market. And it’s plenty powerful. Consoles stick around for 6+ years because of a focused effort by developers to keep making games based on the same hardware over a period of time AND the fact that home consoles have been around for so many years, most people don’t see any need to change.
So while the Doom Designer is ‘technically’ right, in practice he’s wrong because most people are comfortable on home consoles.
that guy deserves a punch in the face.
no hes a fucking genius, without him you couldn’t play your shitty Cock of Duty on your ShitBox 360.
Assuming he plays or has either of those, dipshit.
u can always have a quick one… game
I would honestly shoot myself if I had to use an IPad for games instead of a console.
so many styles of games just don’t work on a touch screen…
If you have the money to make and maintain a gaming PC, then yeah, it’s pretty amazing. Being able to play Skyward Sword in HD through emulation (calm down, I bought the game legally and I don’t share files) is great. I wouldn’t say it outright replaces home consoles though. There are too many games on home consoles that aren’t on PCs for someone to say that.
LOL PC elitist much, Romero? What is this, the 1990s?
You cant play mario o zelda or metroid on a PC. (Im aware of philips)
You can play most Mario, Zelda, and Metroid games on the PC through emulation. The newer Wii ones that use the wiimote are trickier, but there are workarounds for it (granted, the workarounds aren’t perfect but it works)
Takes a while before they’re available, though. Plus, I don’t like the idea of stealing from a company that cares for their consumers.
emulation isn’t stealing, it’s completely legal in fact. The illegal bit is if you obtain the game files through online sharing sites instead of buying the game yourself. Not sure what you’ve being doing to think emulation is illegal lol…
Whilst PC gaming is impressive visually, it offers nothing in terms of gameplay. The PS3’s GPU is what 8 years old now? And the PC is hardly 8 years ahead of the PS3. Consoles are so optimized for gaming, they can last 6-7 years without being blown out of the water by the PC. It takes roughly 10 years before a PC technology can emulate a console. Also as someone said earlier, they lack Nintendo and Sony and even Microsoft themselves at times.
It’s more because of the game being built to specific hardware as opposed to consoles being more powerful than PCs, I think. I mean, think about. Why are PC ports of current gen games always smoother and better looking, PCs can’t be that much weaker.
The problem is that console games are limited to 1280×720 resolution games (although they are advertised as having 1080p support, it isn’t true; it’s all upscaled) at what would be medium settings on PC, as well as only being able to run at 30 FPS. A PC can run it at 1920×1080 resolution at 60 FPS, with additional eye candy like anti-aliasing to boot.
This guy is right. Tablets, smartphones, and PCs are all computer gaming machines, they just have different outputs/inputs. Microsoft and Sony consoles are just cut-down PCs. So tablets, smartphones, will damage sales for Microsoft/Sony Consoles(cut-down PCs) because they will compete against each other and Apple is has more brand power than Microsoft/Sony.
However, smartphone and tablet sales will not affect Nintendo Consoles because Nintendo consoles are Home arcade machines (approx. 70% arcade, %30 percent computer). There are huge differences between arcade games and pc games, just look at the 80s (NES and Comodore 64 and etc.).
Nintendo does not have direct competition at the moment. Sega was the last home arcade system maker. That is why Wii sales do not interfere much with PS3/360/PC sales and vise versa. Most Hardcore gamers spend lots of time on COMPUTER games and ARCADE games so they dont buy shit like the PS3/360 and they build a powerful gaming PC to play computer games and a Nintendo console to play arcade games. Many PS3/Xbox gamers are just little kids/teenagers that don’t know how to build/can’t afford $1000 gaming PCs.
In the next few years, you will see PC game developers (EPIC Games, Crytek, Valve) making AAA titles for phones and tablets. The PC versions will always be the best but all of these will affect the sales Microsoft and Sony consoles.
Tablets will not affect Nintendo if Nintendo keeps making consoles like the NES, SNES, Wii, Gameboys, DS, 3Ds, and possibly the Wii U. If they make consoles like the N64/Gamecube(Cut-down PCs), they will have poor sales.
Damn, that was longer than i expected.
That’s what she said.
Wow. A guy who’s had all of his major sucesses on the PC thinks console are dead. Just another PC elitist snob. Why don’t you learn to appreciate all forms of interactive entertainment? Someone like him is always prophesising the end of console gaming. They’re nowhere close to being right. Leave luck to heaven.
Of course you don’t need a console to play games. I was just playing football (soccer) outside a few minutes ago.
>Console fags gettin buttmad over pc master race.
SHIGGY DIGGY DOO
>PC
>Master Race
Choose one.
In other words, the PC is so powerful, you don’t even know how much is being used, you don’t even know if for the 300$ video card is even needed to play games like, let’s say, Minecraft.
Console are only meant to play games, all the capacity they have is to do that, play games.
What’s the point of having o much power if you are even going to use all of it.
Who gives a shit what this cow thinks? Just another “pc elitist” pig. He should go back to playing wolf/doom/quake on his pc and shut up.
Romero, I respect the hell out of what you have done for the industry, and Doom and Doom II are some of my favorite games ever, but after Daikatana your opinions don’t hold much weight.
You know what else doesn’t change?
Using a keyboard and mouse. Lamesauce.
Sure you can use a controller with PC games but PC game devs can’t make games specifically for any peripheral because they’d lose sales of the game from all the people who don’t want to have to but a game AND a controller just to play a game.
In other words, PC will never have mass-produced games with cool things like Wii U controller or other system-specific native peripherals.
So if all you care about is graphics… sure, PCs are great. If you care about gameplay, you’ll never do better than a console.
The end.
Most PC driving games are made to be played on a driving wheel periphal. There are generally different preset control settings available depending on what you’re using in most games now, but yeah, what you are saying was indeed the case several years ago.
Keyboard & Mouse are the best controllers for RTS & Shooters though, the latter being the big popular genre at the moment, so I doubt too many people would be bothered.
to be honest the one thing that winds me with pc gaming at the moment is steam, i have bought less for the pc because of this. also console are a fun thing to play you know the games will play and not faff about with compatibility.
there are some games that do work better on pc and there are games that work better console, i would never buy racing games for pc as it is easier to play the game with others on console. touch pads have limitations to, i bought one to play some games on to see what it was like it was like stepping back 10 years in some cases graphically or just real short games. also the screens can be oversensitive and the battery power just goes.
What’s wrong with Steam?