Uh, no. No non-casual console title renders anywhere near actual 720p. It's all significantly lower and upscaled to that output.
Absolutely false. This is a misconception that has been thrown around for years now. Of course there are some games that run below 720P.
Take a look at this list. There are plenty of games that run at 1280x720P natively on both the 360 and PS3.
Battlefield 3 = 1280x704
8800GTS 640mb which performs nearly as well as 8800GT was released in Nov '06, same as PS3.
Around 2006 when PS3 launched, this is what a decent gaming system would have been:
$200 E6300/E6400, maybe even a $300 E6600, overclocked
P965 board $90-100
4GB Ram = $100 (don't remember the exact price)
8800GTS 640mb =
$450
Add HDD, case, PSU = $200
Add OS = $100
==============
$1140 - without a monitor
Back then 23-24 inch monitors were very expensive too. On the other hand, most people probably had 32 inch or larger TVs.
Now, I personally purchased an 8800GTS 320mb on July 30, 2007 for $270 on Newegg. I remember the 8800GTS 640 cost $90-100 more at the time. So still, about $360-370.
I use my PC for games and other things. I am not a student right now which is why I don't really need a personal laptop. But I can see how for most people building a desktop is way more expensive than getting a console. Most students now get laptops. So to them, they'd need to buy a $1000+ desktop with a monitor, and their $600-1000 laptop. It's much easier and cheaper to get a laptop + a console than to have a desktop + a laptop. Not to mention if you play a wider variety of games, consoles have far more of those type of games (party games, sports, fighting, action adventure, platformers, you have dance/music style games such as guitar hero, etc.)
Also, you could have purchased an Xbox360 Premium for $399 or Core for $299 in
November of 2005. Back then, the best CPU was something like an Opteron 165 or Athlon X2. Those CPUs are completely inadequate today. There is no way under any circumstances a gaming PC in 2005-2006 was cheaper than buying a new Xbox360/PS3 console. I am pretty sure in November of 2005, an X1900XT cost more than $300.
If 8800GTS 640mb is so "great", how come none of us are using it? The fact is that we buy PC hardware because we want the best graphics. So inherently the PC hobby is more expensive. The cost eventually might fall in PC's favour if you buy A LOT of games. If you own 100-120 games, then PC gaming will be cheaper, esp. if you keep buying them from Steam for $5-15.
Still, most people who buy consoles want to game on a 42-60+ inch TV, not on a tiny 19-23 inch monitor. They don't want game at a desk but while on a couch, do not want to worry about driver issues, bugs, texture swapping such as in Rage, and just want to pay $300-400 for that. And they want to play games when their friends come over, something the PC just cannot offer.
Also, like I said, some genres on PC are severely lacking. I mean if you don't like FPS or strategy games, you just removed at least 50% of the reason for owning a gaming PC. I like those genres which is why I still game on the PC. I did meet people that have no interest in strategy or FPS games though.
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