Console mods: no, command line: please? : V - Skyrim

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:03 pm

It is entirely possible to harm hardware via software, if the software is done with enough low-level code. Simple method would be to software overclock the CPU and GPU, while simultaneously either telling the CPU / GPU fans to stop running, or run very slowly. Software can also really screw up a hard-drive (by formatting the MBR) though this is fixable. Speakers can be ruined by driving them with lower frequencies than they were designed to handle.

Obviously these things can be mitigated by a user or internal hardware sensors, but if we are talking about messing with a headless machine (and the hacker doesn't care about the data) it is certainly possible to at least make it very expensive to fix the machine again. Hell, a simple BIOS flash could possibly pop a capacitor on the motherboard, if not simply make the computer no longer boot.

Okay you're right there but that's not the context I was referring to. Bethesda itself likely doesn't have access to low enough level code to do those things to a video game console, much less a user through mods. You aren't going to physically damage a computer/game console with a program that doesn't take such low level control of the hardware.

The most popular misconception is that you can "push the console too hard" with a game and cause it to break. That isn't going to happen unless there's something wrong with the console to begin with. Computers are designed to run at full capacity and don't get "overworked" if something is "too much" for them, which is what the logic of mods being able to break consoles stems from. It's simply not something that would happen with a properly designed machine.

» Tue May 17, 2011 5:11 am

You bought a console to save money and join the crowd. There are naturally pros and cons with every purchase in life. This is one of them.

» Tue May 17, 2011 9:02 am

You can't assume a console player has any of these things and since his post was directed at console players switching to PC my comment is valid. Also looking back over his post he seems to have left out the PSU as well. Let me see you build a PC without one.

Bottom line is, a really good mid range PC is three times the price of the current console but only twice the cost at release. I remember, I was there. I had an Xbox and was looking to get the next gen. I had to choose between a 600$ baseline 360, an 800$ elite or a 2000$ P4 PC. I chose PC(for the modding) although it really wasn't worth it then as all I did was game.

1200$ US. <--THAT is how much a decent mid range PC costs right now that will out perform the current gen console and with an upgrade investment equaling about half the cost of the new console will compete with the next gen. That's a 4x or better cpu, min 4gig ddr3, 64bit OS, 5770 ATI or better, min 19"WS monitor.

If ALL you do is gaming then PC is not by any means(even with the cheap cost of hardware these days) a economical plausibility for most people on the current gen.

HOWEVER at the start of the next gen an opportunity will present itself to those console gamers that would like to do more than game and at that time the price difference between the new console and a comparable PC will be negligible. Just about that time anyone that switched right now will be buying another PC and will have spent overall 2 to 3 times as much as the console gamer had with 2 generations of consoles.

So what have we learned? Console gaming IS much, much cheaper than PC gaming overall and those that ONLY game should stick to a console. Me? I'll shell out the extra money for game modding, image editing, video authoring, cd and dvd burning, web site coding and anything else I get into down the road.

I was going to do a cheap build to prove you wrong, but I don't even have to.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227314
It still costs more than the xbox, but it also does more.
Hook it up to the tv you would need for the console.

It is true that a gaming pc costs more than a console, but the high prices I see quoted on a regular basis around here are asinine. In general, pc games cost $10 less than console games(though Activision and possibly Bethesda are trying to change this), so that is a point in favor of the gaming pc if we're thinking long term.

» Tue May 17, 2011 4:16 am

Console mods are out of the question, but is it possible for Bethesda to give console gamers at least a command line? This may be a terrible stereotype, but most gamers who play enough to get into modding are serious enough gamers to have. bought the needed accessories like a PC...

Fixed that for you, seriously if you want mods buy a pc. the 360/ps3 couldnt even handle the editing tools b/c of ram limitations.

» Tue May 17, 2011 11:11 am

Unfortunately, console gamers will never have mods. Only DLC. it's the sad truth. Although nowadays consoles are becoming more and more like computers. Maybe the PS4 or the Xbox-Squared will sponsor modifications.

» Tue May 17, 2011 8:26 am

You bought a console to save money and join the crowd. There are naturally pros and cons with every purchase in life. This is one of them.

Remember how we console players had that cheat in Morrowind for restoring health, magicka, and fatigue. that svcked, it ruined the game and was too tempting for me.

Consoles are good for those of us with little willpower when it comes to cheating in a videogame.

I play Xbox 360, and i DONT want a command line, however some way to fix game-killing bugs in quests would be nice. I couldn't do the mages guild on my first oblivion game because of that.

» Tue May 17, 2011 4:19 pm

More likely microsoft would ban people from xbox live accessing the console as a form of cheating. In fact, they'll probably ban for any unofficially pre-approved content.