Explain why console games can't be played on PC

Ryraiden · Feb 6, 2015

Hello everyone,

I was just wondering, consoles are mere PC's, then how are their CD's dedicated only to them. is it because they use a special DVD/BluRay drives, or is it the HDD or the OS... i really have no clue, but i'd like to have someone explaining it to me.

Thanks in advance

juanrdp · Feb 6, 2015

Ryraiden :

Mainly because neither Microsoft nor SONY want that the SO embeded in their consoles could be run in a Pc (that would mean two main branches and a lot of work on the Pc branch due the very diferent hardware a Pc could have) and no one made a emulator for a modern console for a Pc.

Ryraiden · Feb 6, 2015

So you're basically saying, that its the OS that makes the difference and not the hardware.... so in theory, if one install the PS4 OS on a PC, then it will be possible to play PS4 games on PC..... ?!??

spdragoo · Feb 6, 2015

And where are you going to get the PS4 OS? It's not available for purchase, because Sony considers it to be their proprietary OS for their hardware.

Bottom line, if you want to play games that are PS4-exclusive, pony up the cash for a PS4. Otherwise, just buy the PC ports of the games.

juanrdp · Feb 6, 2015

Ryraiden :

And why would SONY givMicrosoft or e their own SO to install in a PC even if they develop all the drivers and changes needed to support PC parts?

And if they made it and try charge like 100-150€ for each one like Win7 licenses cost you really think that a lot of people would purchase one or for each one sold they would get 10 pirated to be installed?

1 - Would them sell less consoles (hardware)
2 - Need to develop a lot of changes in the SO (that cost money)
3 - Have the software PC Piracy problem

It's a loose-loose situation for them.

gamerk316 · Feb 6, 2015

Different HW architecture, and specialized OS.

Granted, the HW may not be anything special, but because you have EXACTLY ONE HW spec to code against, there is a lot of low-level coding that is used in games that would prevent them from running on a system that didn't have EXACTLY the same HW setup. Seriously, I've seen things coding down to the level where developers are making assumptions about bus timings. You never code like that on a PC because there is such a wide amount of HW, but on a console, you can, as each console is identical.

As for the software, you have a specialized OS running APIs that simply don't exist elsewhere. Take the XB1: Sure, it's running Windows 8 under the hood, but a specialized version that's managed by a small RTOS kernel, running a specialized version of DX11, and various other APIs that a PC version of Windows simply doesn't have access to. Likewise, the PS4 is using a fork of FreeBSD, but has much the same differences as the XB1 version of Windows.

Ryuraiden · Feb 9, 2015

spdragoo :

now now, don't judge me and get aggresive, i'm just here to know why i can't make a normal pc read console CD's.

Ryuraiden · Feb 9, 2015

gamerk316 :

Different HW architecture, and specialized OS.

Granted, the HW may not be anything special, but because you have EXACTLY ONE HW spec to code against, there is a lot of low-level coding that is used in games that would prevent them from running on a system that didn't have EXACTLY the same HW setup. Seriously, I've seen things coding down to the level where developers are making assumptions about bus timings. You never code like that on a PC because there is such a wide amount of HW, but on a console, you can, as each console is identical.

As for the software, you have a specialized OS running APIs that simply don't exist elsewhere. Take the XB1: Sure, it's running Windows 8 under the hood, but a specialized version that's managed by a small RTOS kernel, running a specialized version of DX11, and various other APIs that a PC version of Windows simply doesn't have access to. Likewise, the PS4 is using a fork of FreeBSD, but has much the same differences as the XB1 version of Windows.

So in theory, the OS cannot be ripped from the console, as the HW does have an influence on how this work.,..

gamerk316 · Feb 9, 2015

Ryuraiden :

Pretty much. While I can't speak much for coding of the XB1/PS4, I know as late as the Wii, some developers were taking advantage of HW specific features and undefined behavior in the HW for some extra performance/features. That type of stuff can NEVER work natively on a general purpose PC. Likewise, I've seen 360/PS3 games that rely on some very specific bus timings, which also would fail to run on anything except the same exact HW/SW configuration.

Ryuraiden · Feb 9, 2015

@gamerk316
Allright, thanks for your reply... i actually want to mark your answer as the solution to my question.... but i don't know how XD

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