Anyone recently switch from PC to console?

[jlee]

My R9 290 just died (lesson learned - don't buy used), so I'm looking at ~$330 for a GTX 970 or ~$360 for a PS4. I've owned a couple of consoles in the past (PS2/360) but have generally been a PC gamer for the last 15+ years and I'm not sure if I'll be happy with the switch. Graphics are on par with PC games, as far as I can tell, but my general genre is keyboard/mouse FPS so I'll have to adjust to console controllers/etc. 😛

Edit: Well, SlickDeals has answered this question by providing a $298 GTX 970. 😛

 

[TeknoBug]

Yes after 25+ years of PC gaming, this past summer I gave up on it and got both the PS4 and XB1, no hoops to jump through to get games to work or have decent framerates anymore. FPS games with the controller kind of sucks though, although I've gotten used to it in Destiny and CoD AW pretty quickly, can't say the same in BF4.

For now my i7 is gathering dust.

 

[chimaxi83]

Graphics really aren't on par between PC/consoles. Even though they're compressed Youtube videos, a lot of them show differences between PC/console in recent games. It's not huge, it's not game changing, but it's definitely there. You'd have to look for it though, in my opinion.

That being said, console gaming has a MUCH cheaper price of entry, but you won't get the amazing game sales that we get on PC. I haven't switched necessarily, but I've been on PS4/X1 and haven't played a game on my PC in a few months :/

Do you have any friends with newer consoles? Try them out. My biggest hangup was playing an FPS with a controller. I'm not that great, but I'm good enough.

Right now I'm debating which system to get the new Dragon Age on. The only game I know I will play on PC is The Witcher 3.

 

[jlee]

Roommate has a PS4 and a complete library I can borrow, so I got lucky re: games.

There's no appreciable difference in graphics to me. I haven't done side by side, but as long as it looks good I am happy. Far better than the 360 days, anyway!

 

[chimaxi83]

You'd probably be just fine with a console then. Just imagine... PC you have to upgrade yearly, versus a console we'll all have for at least another 5 years lol. I've been happy with mine, and I'm a former PC master race snob.

 

[jlee]

I've gotten by with skipping generations so far (i5 750 to 3570k, 5870 to R9 290), but it is getting expensive now, haha. My desktop will probably get relegated to VMware duty and I'll have to learn how to deal with a controller. 😛

 

[sxr7171]

Oddly I think given the current state of consoles this is best time to go PC. But that's just me. Still no doubt it's a headache, but with Win 8.1 it's been much better.

Also the unwritten contract with console gamers has been broken this year by Ubisoft with their release of AC Unity. Game has dips below 30fps. I suspect given this gen of consoles are basically PCs it will happen again.

But in any case to each their own. And if you are not annoyed by aliasing etc. console games look pretty darn good.

 

[jlee]

Why would you say that? I haven't had any headaches with games - I'm just tired of buying hardware. 😛

 

[zerocool84]

Yes after 25+ years of PC gaming, this past summer I gave up on it and got both the PS4 and XB1, no hoops to jump through to get games to work or have decent framerates anymore. FPS games with the controller kind of sucks though, although I've gotten used to it in Destiny and CoD AW pretty quickly, can't say the same in BF4.

For now my i7 is gathering dust.

I was in the same boat. Growing up and into adult hood I did 90% PC gaming. I got older, busier, and tired of keeping up with drivers, driver bugs, hunting down new gear to be able to run the newest games, I got tired of it. I haven't played a game on my PC in like two years and I'm just enjoying playing games.

 

[sxr7171]

Why would you say that? I haven't had any headaches with games - I'm just tired of buying hardware. 😛

I'm just talking about stuff like tweaking, messing with settings, NVinpsector, display driver uninstaller, waiting for patches etc.

Also somehow it turns out I end up reinstalling Windows every 6 months. Even though that takes about 15 minutes these days with a USB installer.

It's different from just putting the disc in and playing. And most people really like that.

Here's a concrete example. Because Ubisoft is so bad I have to edit the gamerprofile.xml file every time I change in game settings so that somehow it doesn't switch to 1080i. This is bug in several Ubisoft engines. Things like putting in a command line for NFS rivals to run at 60fps.

Now some of these things could be seen as an advantage in that you have options console gamers don't but for most people it's not worth it.

 

[Fox5]

Consoles are definitely simpler. I have a PC setup in my living room as a dedicated video game console, and there are certainly hassles that don't exist on consoles. Graphics are noticeably better on PC though, all games run at 1080p instead of some, and I can go beyond that with higher res and anti aliasing. And nvidia's drivers do a good job of auto-adjusting settings on games now.

But I'm already a PC gamer. Although at this point, I'm looking at dedicating a PC for gaming and just streaming from it, and running Linux on my PC for work and web browsing.

 

[Qbah]

Bought a PS4 a few months ago. While the graphics aren't as good as maxed PC, they're good enough for me not to care about the difference. Maybe in a year or two I'll go back to PC (will need to upgrade my PC too... it's getting a bit old 🙂 ), but right now I enjoy my PS4 🙂 I'll see how things change when a new Fallout / Elder Scrolls game comes out. Modding has been a huge part of me enjoying those games in 2nd+ runs, so I'll revisit my PC then for sure.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I used to be both, but now just the opposite. Absolutely no interest in this gen at this point.

Updating every year is a very outdated mindset. You can thank last gen for that. My rig is going on 3 years old and still runs everything just fine. No tweaking, no 'waiting for drivers', no installing Windows every other month (people who do that have their own issues, not due to PC's or games).

You don't need a 290/970 to play 99% of games on high without issue. Blame that on bad drivers and devs poor optimization. Older cards actually run them better.

They don't just work on consoles because they are better/simpler. They work because that is where the money is spent....but then YOU the customer are also the ones who are basically paying for it in higher prices over the life of your system (games). Regardless of what they package in a console, you still can do all of that plus more on a PC.

Add to all that the fact that this gen has already proven to be as problematic for consoles (if not more so since you are at the mercy of MS/Sony/Devs to fix any issues) as PC's in terms of bad OS's updates, and buggy game releases, how can anyone sit here and pretend they are 'better' at this point?

All this coming from someone who is certainly not a graphics or pc snob. Just reading these uninformed outdated mindset posts makes a person go wtf?

 

[alcoholbob]

Graphics really aren't on par between PC/consoles. Even though they're compressed Youtube videos, a lot of them show differences between PC/console in recent games. It's not huge, it's not game changing, but it's definitely there. You'd have to look for it though, in my opinion.

That being said, console gaming has a MUCH cheaper price of entry, but you won't get the amazing game sales that we get on PC. I haven't switched necessarily, but I've been on PS4/X1 and haven't played a game on my PC in a few months :/

Do you have any friends with newer consoles? Try them out. My biggest hangup was playing an FPS with a controller. I'm not that great, but I'm good enough.

Right now I'm debating which system to get the new Dragon Age on. The only game I know I will play on PC is The Witcher 3.

Yeah but on a console you are sitting (hopefully) on couch and far away so the differences in details are harder to spot.

 

[HeXen]

I'm both. My PS4 and PC sit side by side connected to the big screen.

I
Updating every year is a very outdated mindset. You can thank last gen for that. My rig is going on 3 years old and still runs everything just fine. No tweaking, no 'waiting for drivers', no installing Windows every other month (people who do that have their own issues, not due to PC's or games).

I dunno about that. I have a i7/680gtx oc and I'm starting to see newer releases really bog it down. Certainly some of it can be contributed to waiting for patches or newer video drivers but you're still waiting and it's necessary to over compensate where possible. Texture and other graphical mods are really hard on my system too when trying to max out games just for 1080p.
Project Cars beta, Metro LL, Unity, HH Cryptic Graves all have my PC dipping well below 30 fps at times.

And even for the games that get blamed for being poorly optimized, it's a staple of PC gaming and to play maxed out I always say you have to compensate for those poorly optimized games....It's never going to change.
With MGS 5, Witcher 3...etc on the horizon, I'm on the course to upgrade.

 

[mmntech]

I did a number of years ago, during what I call the Dark Ages of PC gaming. That was back at the height of buggy games, SecuROM, always-on DRM, and install limits. Right now, I'm both. PC is my primary gaming rig, but I also have a PS4. I don't play it that much since the games for it are expensive here.

If you're used to playing games with an R9 290, the PS4 will be a step back in the graphics department. It still looks good, but it won't look as good. A lot of games only run at 30fps as well, where you'd get full 60fps on that setup. Especially with the GTX 970. Plus there's no option to mod your games.

The big advantages console has are no fuss gaming, and exclusives. Which is why Sony or Nintendo's systems are usually a good choice for PC gamers. There are very few Xbox games that don't eventually wind up on Windows. Also, certain games (*cough* Ubisoft) aren't well optimized for PC, so they're usually a better bet to buy for console.

Personally, I'd pick the GTX 970. So far the PS4 hasn't impressed me. There's nothing wrong with it exactly, but it does have some missing functionality and none of the games have wowed me. You're not going to miss anything if you wait a year or two before getting one.

 

[shortylickens]

Switch?


No, but I added a console this summer so I could play Mario Kart 8.

It was worth it. And when we finally get an original Metroid and Zelda it will be like a big bonus.

 

[jlee]

The biggest draw for the PS4 now is I can snag a game off the shelf in the next room - I won't have to buy any games until my roommate leaves (likely over a year out).

I used to be both, but now just the opposite. Absolutely no interest in this gen at this point.

Updating every year is a very outdated mindset. You can thank last gen for that. My rig is going on 3 years old and still runs everything just fine. No tweaking, no 'waiting for drivers', no installing Windows every other month (people who do that have their own issues, not due to PC's or games).

You don't need a 290/970 to play 99% of games on high without issue. Blame that on bad drivers and devs poor optimization. Older cards actually run them better.

They don't just work on consoles because they are better/simpler. They work because that is where the money is spent....but then YOU the customer are also the ones who are basically paying for it in higher prices over the life of your system (games). Regardless of what they package in a console, you still can do all of that plus more on a PC.

Add to all that the fact that this gen has already proven to be as problematic for consoles (if not more so since you are at the mercy of MS/Sony/Devs to fix any issues) as PC's in terms of bad OS's updates, and buggy game releases, how can anyone sit here and pretend they are 'better' at this point?

All this coming from someone who is certainly not a graphics or pc snob. Just reading these uninformed outdated mindset posts makes a person go wtf?

I upgraded from a 5870 to an R9 290 because I couldn't run games (e.g. Tomb Raider) max'd out anymore. Even going R9 290 to crossfire 290's was an improvement, but I backed detail down from max to high and it still looked fine / was playable on a single card.

Add in that I'm lucky if I play something for 20 minutes a week, it's hard to keep spending money on hardware.

Meh. Maybe I'll stick with Civ and 10-15yo games that my integrated graphics can handle and see if I even care. 😛

 

[chimaxi83]

I used to be both, but now just the opposite. Absolutely no interest in this gen at this point.

Updating every year is a very outdated mindset. You can thank last gen for that. My rig is going on 3 years old and still runs everything just fine. No tweaking, no 'waiting for drivers', no installing Windows every other month (people who do that have their own issues, not due to PC's or games).

You don't need a 290/970 to play 99% of games on high without issue. Blame that on bad drivers and devs poor optimization. Older cards actually run them better.

They don't just work on consoles because they are better/simpler. They work because that is where the money is spent....but then YOU the customer are also the ones who are basically paying for it in higher prices over the life of your system (games). Regardless of what they package in a console, you still can do all of that plus more on a PC.

Add to all that the fact that this gen has already proven to be as problematic for consoles (if not more so since you are at the mercy of MS/Sony/Devs to fix any issues) as PC's in terms of bad OS's updates, and buggy game releases, how can anyone sit here and pretend they are 'better' at this point?

All this coming from someone who is certainly not a graphics or pc snob. Just reading these uninformed outdated mindset posts makes a person go wtf?

Whoa. Calm down there seriousbro. I shouldn't have said upgrade every year. To help you understand it better, what I meant was upgrade a whole hell of a lot more than a console.

Last console cycle was 7-8 years. If you wanted to keep a PC capable of settings that differentiated it from a console during that time, that meant upgrades every 2-3 years. Now, if you're OK with an old ass PC that needs medium settings across the board, then by all means, sell your PC and just get a console.

The point is that consoles are much easier to consider plug and play.

And "older cards actually run them better", but everyone is uninformed and outdated? Heuheuheuheu.

 

[TeknoBug]

Oddly I think given the current state of consoles this is best time to go PC. But that's just me. Still no doubt it's a headache, but with Win 8.1 it's been much better.

Also the unwritten contract with console gamers has been broken this year by Ubisoft with their release of AC Unity. Game has dips below 30fps. I suspect given this gen of consoles are basically PCs it will happen again.

But in any case to each their own. And if you are not annoyed by aliasing etc. console games look pretty darn good.

There's more and more AAA title companies that's just trashing PC versions of their games lately, and I sometimes wonder if it's on purpose- Ubisoft even had the balls to say Far Cry 4 will have equal graphics on PC and console, we saw what they did with Watch Dogs and it took someone to create a mod to unlock graphics settings for that game.

I'll probably still game on PC when a good MMO game comes out, other than that, sports games are almost non existent on PC (I did get PES 2015 though and already have it for PS4 too) and some good racing games are on the horizon for the consoles although I already have a big library of racing games on PC.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Whoa. Calm down there seriousbro. I shouldn't have said upgrade every year. To help you understand it better, what I meant was upgrade a whole hell of a lot more than a console.

Last console cycle was 7-8 years. If you wanted to keep a PC capable of settings that differentiated it from a console during that time, that meant upgrades every 2-3 years. Now, if you're OK with an old ass PC that needs medium settings across the board, then by all means, sell your PC and just get a console.

The point is that consoles are much easier to consider plug and play.

And "older cards actually run them better", but everyone is uninformed and outdated? Heuheuheuheu.

You clearly aren't clear on the subject, so I won't bother to try to make you understand. Just go play your console games. I'm not telling you not to. There are benefits to both, I just think the lines are much more skewed to PC this gen than the other way.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I'm both. My PS4 and PC sit side by side connected to the big screen.



I dunno about that. I have a i7/680gtx oc and I'm starting to see newer releases really bog it down. Certainly some of it can be contributed to waiting for patches or newer video drivers but you're still waiting and it's necessary to over compensate where possible. Texture and other graphical mods are really hard on my system too when trying to max out games just for 1080p.
Project Cars beta, Metro LL, Unity, HH Cryptic Graves all have my PC dipping well below 30 fps at times.

And even for the games that get blamed for being poorly optimized, it's a staple of PC gaming and to play maxed out I always say you have to compensate for those poorly optimized games....It's never going to change.
With MGS 5, Witcher 3...etc on the horizon, I'm on the course to upgrade.

I can't speak to the specific games you mention as I haven't played them...but I've recently played A:I, FC3 and Mordor on a 480 and all set on high/ultra with no issues at all. The way I look at it though is if I'm only paying $5-30(for release) for a game vs $40-60 then it's a reasonable tradeoff. I don't buy games that are known to have tons of issues and am unwilling to shell out another $350-500 just to play them "sorta bug free". I guess that is the difference, even so I have no issues playing games on medium considering unless the ONLY thing you do on a PC is play games, the tradeoff is minimal. I'm playing games AND streaming at the same time w/o issue, and my system certainly isn't top of the line.

If a number of games I'm interested in come out exclusively on one or more of them, then yes, I will probably get one, but as of yet, I haven't seen a need.

 

[HitAnyKey]

Not really a switch but its easier to sneak in a game or two on the sofa. Both have their Pros/Cons.

 

[Sulaco]

No, simply because there are too many games and genres that can only be played and/or excel on one platform or the other. For instance, I'm a strategy and sim fan. That's simply not going to happen on a console. Period.
And I've been playing FPS on consoles for as long as they've existed, but there's simply no denying that the kb+m combo is and likely always will be light years better for FPS. Console/gamepad can still be plenty playable and fun, but compared to PC setup there simply is no comparison.

That said, the PC is obviously and unambiguously the "hobbyist" platform; that is to say the returns are usually greater, but at a higher entry point, and with more potential issues required. So people who generally enjoy playing PC also usually enjoy the hardware side as a hobby.

My last PC I built this time of year in 2009 and it lasted me up until two weeks ago when I built the PC in my sig. Could it play everything "maxed"? No way, but it could play everything at or above most console levels and lasted me a solid 5 years.

No denying the cost is higher, but its a different experience as well.

I don't think you can go wrong either way. It just depends on what you want out of your games, and what kinds of games you're playing.

 

[Blanky]

I do more on console partly because it's cheaper to pay new games on them (play, then sell--I just played Far Cry 4 legally all out for around $18 through the end of the campaign) and my tv is bigger. Also guaranteed to run well (almost!).

It's not fair to compare consoles to a PC it with high end cards, though. Although the new gen consoles do have fairly decent video cards in them, a few years from now you could get the same performance from a really cheap PC.

If you're into strategy games consoles don't exist for you.