[geeks] nVidia 8800GT for Apple Mac Pro

[Nadine Miller]

Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> On May 21, 2008, at 16:37 , Mark wrote:
> 
>> On 21 May 2008, at 21:27, Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
>>
>>> Bill Bradford wrote:
>>>> On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 02:48:36PM -0400, Joshua Boyd wrote:
>>>>> Besides, at this point if one wants to play games on their computer,
>>>>> they should probably just get a PS3 and install linux, right? ;)
>>>> I *hate* console gaming controllers.  Give me a mouse and keyboard.
>>>
>>> You can get those on a PS3 too.
>>
>> So if you can use a keyboard and mouse, why don't more people port 
>> MMOGs to the PS3? If I could get EVE Online, or something like it on 
>> the PS3 I'd abandon PC gaming entirely.
> 
> Because console game are marketed primarily to people who want instant 
> action satisfaction, shallow stories, and guided on-rails game play.

I disagree with that.  There are multiple ways to look at the gaming 
market, and I think the way that console game marketing looks at gamer 
is based on "hard core" vs "casual" gamers.  The majority of game sales 
are made off of the hard core market that has certain expectations about 
game dynamics, tropes, and difficulty levels.

The reason why Nintendo has decided to target "casual" gaming is to 
bring in people who would otherwise not purchase a console, or games for 
their computer (because the majority of them do have computers).  They 
proved the viability of this market in the sales of the Nintendo DS. 
Nintendo chose not to target "hard core" gamers in an effort to expand 
their market because it's more expensive (development wise), and also 
because Nintendo was already associated with family/children's games, 
and overcoming that perception would be more difficult than driving 
sales to people who hadn't previously owned consoles.

> Personally, I don't see why they do that.  A game should be designed to 
> be a good game first and foremost.

You have a misunderstanding of the business of games.  A game is 
designed to be sold; if it is a good game on top of that, then that's a 
bonus.  This is why so much moeny has been dumped into MMO's; the 
companies reap more ROI from them due to monthly billing--gaming becomes 
a service instead of a one-time payment.

> I think the game companies might find the console gamers like it too.

There are some games like that.  For instance, I've never seen a PC game 
with the "alignment" system like that of Fable (well, OK, they ported 
Fable to the PC, but it was XBOX first).  Gladius (console only AFAIK) 
is a strategy which is comparable to X-Com, IMO.

One of the big constraints with console games is the need for first 
party testing and approval of games to get the console logo on them.

=Nadine=