" Why would I start paying for a service that doesn't cost them anything? "
This. I'm playing on (and paying for) xbox live in order to keep the Microsoft servers running - somethign which doesn't cost Activision anything. This would be another nail in the coffin for the company in the eyes of 'public' (by this I mean us geeks who care about these kind of things) perception. However, the effect this might have on the wider audience might not be so great; sure some would refuse to pay but some people buy Fifa and CoD every year (i'm in the UK) and paying a bit more is nothing for them. "
Rest assured, the services Microsoft offers are more than paid for by advertisements (and their sale of games on XBL if you want to count those). They do not host any games -- they only provide 'matchmaking' which companies have offered free of charge for years. Hell, you can still find games for diablo and starcraft on battle.net. More than that, Valve still runs their own servers for CS1.6 for which they do not charge players. There is no need for Microsoft to charge for their online component other than the fact that they've gotten away with it because the players let them. It is that simple fact that has led the publishers to believe that they can do they same, and they have had little reason to believe otherwise.
As with all Elder Scrolls games, PC. It allows for greater customizability/modability and a generally preferable control scheme (and I believe you can hook up a 360/PS3 controller if that's your deal regardless). Oblivion is fairly old, and your current hardware should run it fine. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:System_Requirements
If you're against getting it on PC for whatever reason, I doubt either console version has significant differences. I do not recall any uproar over bad framerates or resolutions on either platform as I've seen from other games.
" I get the feeling a lot of people who argue for PCs aren't really gamers. The money you have to invest got a little lower over the years, but the general rule of thumb is that u need every 2 years an upgrade or better a new machine. A capable gaming PC without a screen is about 600e atm. And u can calculate to pump at least another 400 2 years leater. So that's definitely more expensive than a console. On the other hand it's not so easy to compare costs. There are additional costs coming to console owners, too. Peripherals, TV, live costs etc. Concerning the topic, well everything u say is just a bunch of claims. Crysis 2 and Rage aren't even released yet. And just claiming they build the bet engines, maybe but maybe we had to look at more variables. "
An initial investment of $500-600 will do just fine as long as you don't need to be on the bleeding edge. Spending $400 every two years seems asinine. I have built several gaming machines, never spending more than $500 (excluding screen). All of these machines lasted at least 4 years, and all have outlasted the relevant console generations.
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