Gaming Signal: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - PC or 360?

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion shipped to stores for the PC and the Xbox 360 today and will be arriving for sale in stores tomorrow. (3/21/06)

I have to admit that I am conflicted on which version to buy since I have both an Xbox 360 and a "beefy" PC. (Yes, I put beef in my PC, don't you?) I have attached a link to a good article at IGN on the topic but the reviewers in the article left it to personal choice. What is your opinion? Please post your ideas in the "Discussion" links below if you have an opinion on the subject.

IGN: Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion - PC or 360?

From my perspective, there is only one option. That's the PC version. I don't have a 360 yet and given the lack of availability - I won't be getting one soon. Futhermore, I believe Gaming Steve felt it was easier to target spells using a mouse and keyboard, but changing styles was easier using a 360 controller. Finally, there is the whole cost thing which is looking to be a 20 buck difference this week.

Posted by Tim on Monday March 20, 2006 at 3:25 PM

So the PC ver will be 20 bucks cheaper if I read you correctly? Hmmmm less $cheddar$ and (only slightly) better graphics for the PC. That might be the answer, but I hate to admit it, I like the whole 360 gamer score thingy.

What to do... WHAT TO DO?!?!?!

Posted by Trent on Monday March 20, 2006 at 3:30 PM

Well I have uncoupled my PC from the HDTV so thats a nod for the 360 version. I really like widescreen gaming, so much that I'm considering a 16:9 format LCD monitor in the future. I of course will not buy one until the HDCP fiasco is resolved. If you are interested in the fiasco look here.

(Scott, since you have near the same vid card as I do this might interest you.)

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_nvidia_hdcp_support/

Posted by Trent on Monday March 20, 2006 at 3:43 PM

I don't think that the scorey thing would ever be reason enough to buy an XBox game over the PC version, would it? With the PC version you save money, and the controls will be better. The graphics on your PC may or may not be better than a 360 now, but your PC graphics will improve over time, and you 360, sadly, will not.

Ergo, I've not purchased a 360 to date. If there ends up being enough killer games for the 360 that will not be ported to the PC, then I'll consider it. So far that number of killer games is 0. Yeah, companies are saying now that there will be 360-exclusive titles, but they said that about Fable on the XBox, too.

I'm not against consoles by any means. I just want to get the most gaming bang for my buck.

Posted by Kevin on Monday March 20, 2006 at 4:21 PM

Another point to the PC version will be modifications. The 360 version won't allow you to put in modifications or play Total conversions. I just posted a tidbit talking about the release of the development kit for Oblivion. So another one for them wacky PC gamers...

Posted by Tim on Monday March 20, 2006 at 4:27 PM

It will be a long time before I add a Blu-Ray DVD player to my gaming PC, and even longer before I demand that it playback those DVDs at HD quality. I don't watch DVDs on my PC now, why would I in the future? This HDCP thing, while real, just doesn't affect most folks in a way that matters.

Media center PCs matter - no doubt when they ship with Blu-Ray they will ship with HDCP-enabled video cards.

Oh, and this pretty much indicates that the XBOX360 will NEVER support Blu-Ray DVD, right? I mean, it could support the drive but not HD playback - no way to retrofit the chip into it.

Posted by Scott on Monday March 20, 2006 at 8:28 PM

Good points Scott, but my real point was that I researched the vid card purchase very well and I thought I was getting something totally compatible with Vista. Turns out is was not even though all the HW is there to make it compatible. Leadtek just did not generate the unique ID in the chip during manufacturing. I feel duped.

I agree as well, blue-ray / HDDVD is not really that important other than the fact that I did want to switch this vid card to my MCE box when I upgrade again but that is apparently moot now as this card is not compatible in that way.

I understand that you might not ever watch vid on a PC, but I do, and I had planned to with this card.

Don't you feel duped by Leadtek though?

As it stands right now I would need a new ($500) vid card AND HDCP monitor ($700) to get this compatibility. I thought the $500 I already blew on a vid card was going to be sufficient for the future.

I don't know, I guess I'm the only one who actually wants what I paid for.

If a class action pops up on this issue I will definately try to get in on it. Leadtek has lost me as a customer.

Posted by Trent on Tuesday March 21, 2006 at 9:32 AM

Seeing how I lack the necessary $cheddar$ to put more beef into my PC, or buy the perpetually (or is it?) sold-out XBox 360, I think I'll just keep what I have in my pocket and wait for it to hit the $5 bin.

Posted by Peter on Tuesday March 21, 2006 at 9:52 AM

Trent, I still think you're making more out this than it is really there. The card supports Vista - it will work and it will operate exactly the way it does now as a great card for DX9 (no bets on DX10 - it's not fair to assume it would either.)

All your DVDs will play just fine, and anything you download from the net will work fine as well.

It won't enable playback of HDCP content on an HDCP screen at full resolution. It will play the content back, just not at full resolution. And this content will have to come from either a Blu-Ray or HDDVD drive, with media to go with it. I know you're an early adopter, but not even you could seriously see yourself with all that before early 2007, right?

Of course, which manufacturer DID include the chip? Last I checked none of them had, so you're no longer going to buy cards from any of the board vendors?

Posted by Scott on Wednesday March 22, 2006 at 8:09 AM

Hmmm from the later articles I have read, there is PCB space already laid out on these cards for the chip and they just didn't do the work of putting them on. At least on the GTX cards, unsure on your GT.

I'll see if I can find an article to support that. I think Tech Report might be where I need to look.

I very well might be making too big a deal out of this but none of this changes the fact that when I researched the card purchase (right or wrong) I thought I was dropping money on a Vista futureproof card.

I honestly would NOT have purchased a new card had I known of this issue I would have waited and dropped my $500 on a card I could use on Vista.

When the box (and marketing blurbs) says it does something, and it doesn't, I feel duped.

Posted by Trent on Wednesday March 22, 2006 at 2:14 PM