Middle Class Gamers in HD Millinieum

[Anubis_]

Yes I wont hide it.. I am a middle class gamer..

I cant afford half the things I want but I manage.
So are you, and you, and you way in the back. Stop picking your nose thats nasty.


Needless to say I won't be able to afford a next gen system. *Sigh* I told myself this wasnt a big deal, but with the release of the PS3 Today. I feel like I'm behind the curve..

Woe is me.. But on the brighter side. I know that even if I did have 600 frikin bucks I would'nt get one. First Im waiting for the recal, Then after that for them to drop the price.

Here's my theory.. call me crazy


The PS3 is so expensive cause its got blue ray right?
Well i don't think blue ray is gonna out do dvd like sony thinks it will.
I think hd dvd will still be around for a few years.

unlike the beta tape to vcr, and the vcr to dvd transition. standard televisions can handle the hd dvd to blue ray. You wouldnt be able to tell the difference between the two on the standard televisions owned by most americans.

When the standard television goes from regular to hd then the blue ray era will come. But before then, I won't say it wont be worth it. But its kinda more than you need.

I say give it 2 to 3 years before the hd dvd to blue ray transition.(Who knows, maybe sooner)

I think the PS3 will do well and It has a good line up for its release but. I still think its only gonna do half as well as it should with that price tag.

I think and I hope like hell, That sony will create a ps3 line without blue ray which will be alot cheaper.

But never the less, I still couldn't aford a Xbox 360, or a Wii for that matter.

Not to much want the 360, I could see myself owning a Wii before anything. I think the nunchaku controler is neat. I would rather have a PS3, but right now you could own two Wii's for the price of one PS3.

*Laughs puts hand on forhead* Ahhh porness..


Be proud standup and raise your hand and say.. I'm not gonna have a next gen system not cause i don't want one. Just cause I'm to friki poor.

[tank1]

Im gonna a next gen console but only because me trust fund just finished and ive just got my hands on 2500 quid kekeke.
Otherwise id be twiddling my thumbs this xmas.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: tank1 on 2006-11-17 11:51 ]</font>

[Out_Kast]

I'm not going to be able to afford, probably, any more consoles, unless their price drops to around £70. Which I doubt. Highly. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif .

[RoninJoku]

Um how about those of us who really can't afford a next-gen system, but have really wacked out priorities and are getting one anyway?

*raises hand*

http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Blitzkommando]

I've been gaming in 'high-definition' for years now on my PC and most often at framerates averaging well above the 30FPS cap of most consoles. If you want to get technical, HD starts at 720x480 which means if your computer runs at 1024x768 you are running at a HD resolution. I myself recently upgraded, through the most wonderful thing under capitalism, a sale, a 22" monitor for under $300. The result is that I'm running 1680x1050, not quite 1920x1080 or 1920x1200, but seeing that most of these games today are running in 720P (720x480@60) I'm getting a much, much clearer picture with the higher resolution and the pixels are far smaller than on a television leading to better clarity and definition. Add to that the addition of texture filtering and anti-alias and a console simply can't beat out the visual quality of a computer.

I'm not trying to bash consoles here, I'm planning on getting a Wii eventually myself. But the fact is that HD resolutions are nothing new if you've been playing PC games for years. While the screens for televisions are usually larger (unless you have $1400 to drop on a 30" monitor) they lack clarity and definition that a computer monitor can bring because they are spreading the pixels out so much. In essence, the smaller the television that supports the higher the resolution, the more clear and well defined the picture will be because it will be using smaller pixel sizes to do so. The reason televisions are able to get away with their relatively low resolutions for the screen size is because the users will be sitting further away and thus won't be able to notice the difference as much, but to a well-trained eye it becomes blatantly obvious.

It's difficult to have the top end game systems and a top end computer, so generally people choose one or the other. I chose the computer because I use it far more than the television and game sytem. I've been completely spoiled with my computer and when I look back even at the GameCube I notice just how low of a resolution the analog gamesystems ran at. Certainly 720p is far superior to 480p (or 480i) but it still is a good deal lower than what I am used to seeing. When consoles are exclusively running at 1080p and not cracking under the pressure, nor are upscaling from 720p, will be when they will finally be able to mostly match their PC counterparts. But, even then, 1920x1200 and 2560x1600 will likely become even more common among computers.

EDIT: I suppose I didn't get to my point. My point is that if you game on a PC you can already get to HD content very easily and have been able to do so since... well the days of Super VGA really. So, all is not lost so to speak for the masses.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Norvekh on 2006-11-17 14:06 ]</font>

[HUnewearl_Meira]

On 2006-11-17 11:37, Anubis_ wrote:
The PS3 is so expensive cause its got blue ray right?
Well i don't think blue ray is gonna out do dvd like sony thinks it will.
I think hd dvd will still be around for a few years.

unlike the beta tape to vcr, and the vcr to dvd transition. standard televisions can handle the hd dvd to blue ray. You wouldnt be able to tell the difference between the two on the standard televisions owned by most americans.


We didn't switch from Beta to VCR. Beta and VHS were direct competitors when the home video market became convenient. VHS won despite Beta's higher quality because the equipment was more affordable and the patent holders didn't charge absurd royalties to use it.



When the standard television goes from regular to hd then the blue ray era will come. But before then, I won't say it wont be worth it. But its kinda more than you need.

I say give it 2 to 3 years before the hd dvd to blue ray transition.(Who knows, maybe sooner)


There is a difference between DVD and HD-DVD. HD-DVD has a higher capacity than DVD, allowing for movies in High Definition, for HDTVs.

Blu-Ray has a slightly higher data capacity, but not significantly. This means that it is vaguely better, but not so much that it can honestly be seen as a generation beyond HD-DVD. I wouldn't expect a movie on a Blu-Ray disc to be really any higher quality than a movie on an HD-DVD disc.

Much like Betamax and VHS, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are competing directly. In fact, the similarities are striking:


Betamax and Blu-Ray are both technically better than their rivals.
Betamax and Blu-Ray are both far more expensive than their rivals.
Betamax and Blu-Ray are both subject to unusually high royalties.
VHS and HD-DVD are both relatively affordable.
Superficial point: VHS and HD-DVD are both named with acronyms.
Betamax and Blu-Ray are both named with words.


I find it interesting to observe that both of our failing video formats have been named with words, and both of our successful foramts have been named with acronyms--


Successful Formats
VHS
DVD

Failling Formats
Betamax
Laser Disc


If history tells us anything, HD-DVD will be added to the successful list, and Blu-Ray will be added to the Failling list.

[RuneLateralus]

Being a gamer with earning only less than $15,000 a year while having bills to pay is bad enough for me. But found some ways to save up.

I would put some money on the side when I was saving up for the 360 and that worked for me...but I saved money for a bit. I found you would be surprised how fast $50 off your paychecks (when you could save that much) would add up fast.

As for my LCD TV and my (hopefully) Wii...well, the TV was extra money I saved up from working with my dad (it was payment for two years, so it was quite a bit). And the Wii...I don't suggest you do it, but I find Blackjack a way to earn a little bit extra money if you are old enough and smart enough to walk away when you double/triple your money. I think my friends need to learn that more often.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: RuneLateralus on 2006-11-17 15:30 ]</font>

[ShadowDragon28]

Totally relate to what your saying in your post Anubis.

I'm in the Game Art & Design major at Westwood College of technology, working to get my BoS Degree. Due to RL expenses I havn't the kind of spare momey to get a fancy new-fangled PS3, neither are their any games on it yet that even interest me.

See, it took me 3 months to save up for a *pre-owned* Slim PS2 and a few select games, and four months of saving up my spare money to buy an onyx DS Lite and one game.

I'll wait until the onyx Wii is out, will I ever get a PS3? not unless a "Grandia 4", a "PSU 2", or some awesomely unique game like Okami comes out for the PS3.