» Sat May 28, 2011 10:03 am It's not that a construction set cannot run in a console. I'm pretty sure the OS (or is it called SKU? ) in an xbox is just a stripped-down version of Windows. I guess, depending whether is embedded in solid state or a hard drive, you may call it firmware. But, in any case, you add a few libraries and a GUI, et viola. I believe PS3 runs on some unix-based OS, not sure, though. The problem with the consoles and construction sets is that consoles have one purpose only: gaming** , or, in the view of the producers of games and consoles, to sell you games and add-ons and take your money through proprietary means like GFWL.. So, they are not going to allow Joe Schmodder to give you free content for your console and cheat them out of profits. ** I know nowadays you can play/download movies through consoles, etc, but that still is controlled by the proprietary means of the manufacturers and cost you money.
You'd think "well, isn't the same true with computers?" Well, no really. Construction sets and modding have been a part of computer gaming for a long, long time, and construction sets were used to create more interest in a company's titles, starting with user-created maps, and it now has evolved to a point that the game can be completely re-written to fit whatever the player's taste is. Even for games which do not offer construction sets, being on a computer, they can be hacked and modified because you have access to the file system and open source tools.
Now, as for the PC vs console thing (personal preferences notwithstanding):
First, you'd have to go some time in the past to begin to understand the PC preference. Games played in consoles were always (and still are in my view) very repetitive in nature, where you'd have to press a combination of buttons over and over again, whereas in a PC game, you'd have a great variety of control and choice of action; in-game actions were not repetitive in nature. Nowadays developers are more and more "consolizing" games to give them the same feeling across platforms, but to us long time computer gamers, that's a bad thing
Speaking of controls, even nowadays with consoles, you have 1 controller with what 7 buttons? With a PC, you have as many buttons just in a mouse, let alone all the keys on a keyboard. PC controls are easier to use as well: it is much easier to control/pinpoint direction/aim with the mouse using your wrist than it is controlling/pinpointing direction/aim with your thumb on a tiny joystick. Needless to say, after playing countless hours with a console controller you'll get used to it.I personally don't have anything against consoles. If you want to play in a console, your choice. But as it is at the moment, you see all those threads that say "wouldn't it be cool if..." well, on a PC, it can be done. And for those who say it is too expensive, well, yes, a computer is more expensive than a console, but then again steak is more expensive than ground beef.
