PC Perspective makes a mockery of console ownership.

[Gunslinger08]

Yep, it's not a competition. And if it was then PC lost a long time ago. I have all three (PC, PS3, X360) and I play on the PC 95% of the time, only taking breaks for stellar PS3 games like Uncharted and MLB The Show. Resistance is also really good. Xbox, I almost never play anymore. I bought Forza 4 but just couldn't get into it.

I also have my PC hooked up to my TV. Works fine, though it isn't exactly as user friendly as a console.

I'm the same way. I play most of my games on PC, except for great PS3 games. I have a 360 that rarely gets played - generally I only play 360 games when they're easier to get on Goozex than PS3 games.

I love PC gaming, but it's not for everyone or even a majority of people. I don't think the hardcore PC gamers that think consoles should die realize that most families couldn't handle current PC gaming. Most parents of younger gamers don't own a high performance computer or even have the money or know how on how to acquire one. Same goes for a lot of older gamers that support themselves. Console gaming is definitely cheaper and a majority of people don't care about resolutions higher than 720p or super realistic textures. I don't know how, but most people also don't mind playing first person games on a controller (which IMO is crappy). Console gamers also generally get better patch support and they have fewer launch issues, due to the locked down hardware. There's just not enough value added on the PC side for a majority of gamers. It doesn't make sense to spend $1000 for a "game machine" that may need driver updates, community patches, and random tweaks vs. spending $200 for a "game machine" that usually just works right when you turn it on, pending firmware updates and automatic title updates. I know there are hiccups on consoles too, but the price difference is the biggest factor.

I would like to think that services like OnLive could bring some people back into PC gaming, but I'm not sure. I don't think that most console gamers want to play on a computer monitor or sit in their living room with a mouse and keyboard. I think we are more of a niche market than a lot of people want to admit.

 

[s1njin]

You said:

> I think this is my biggest gripe. I don't want to buy a title on release and fight with it only to find out they rushed it and it needs to be patched (if they patch it at all).

Since many 306 and PS3 games need patching these days, implying this is unique to PCs seemed like trolling to me.

Oh - gotcha. This is on me as I didn't clarify enough - I should have said 'needs a patch to play' as in the plethora of problems the BF3 folks had getting online, etc. shortly after launch.

I could have been more clear - but it was not my intent to troll. :whiste:

 

[peonyu]

You said:

> I think this is my biggest gripe. I don't want to buy a title on release and fight with it only to find out they rushed it and it needs to be patched (if they patch it at all).

Since many 306 and PS3 games need patching these days, implying this is unique to PCs seemed like trolling to me.

Alot of console games need patching but its setup so that even a monkey could do it. Pop the game in and if your console in online, a box pops up almost immediately prompting to DL a patch, click yes to install update. Done.

PC you usually have to look up the patches, dl them and install. Not hard at all but it is more effort than the zero effort the consoles need.

 

[homercles337]

If he can't honestly see why it is easier to connect and use a console on a TV than it is to do the same for a PC then he is fooling himself.

Surely you jest. Hooking a windows PC up to a TV is profoundly simple. I recently purchased a HDTV and my old windows machine (which is about 6 years old) hooked up with a quick HDMI to the TV, audio to my receiver, and power to the wall holes...done. I use it for movies, but could easily hookup my wireless xbox controller. Oh, and for control i have had a mini wireless keyboard (the size of an average remote) with touch pad for years (i use it for giving talks). What is easier about consoles? Because that process i just described is profoundly easy.

 

[obidamnkenobi]

Alot of console games need patching but its setup so that even a monkey could do it. Pop the game in and if your console in online, a box pops up almost immediately prompting to DL a patch, click yes to install update. Done.

PC you usually have to look up the patches, dl them and install. Not hard at all but it is more effort than the zero effort the consoles need.

Usually? Several of the common DD systems update automatically. I know Steam and Impulse does it flawlessly, and I think Origin? Starcraft 2 does it without input from me as well. Don't remember the last time I had to look up a patch..

And I don't have to pay do update in the background either! Suck it PS pluss!! (sorry I just noticed that on my PS3 couple days ago, still pissed)

 

[peonyu]

Usually? Several of the common DD systems update automatically. I know Steam and Impulse does it flawlessly, and I think Origin? Starcraft 2 does it without input from me as well. Don't remember the last time I had to look up a patch..

And I don't have to pay do update in the background either! Suck it PS pluss!! (sorry I just noticed that on my PS3 couple days ago, still pissed)

Yea there are exceptions. Blizzard games are of course, exceptional in their ease of use. Steam streamlines everything for PC users. But there are still games that use the old fashioned way of updating. Thats no problem in my book.

I was thinking more along the lines of Grandma picking out something for her grand kid, a auto updating Wii is more appealing than a PC which probably terrifies her.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I :wub: Steam.

I do have a few older games on CD/DVD that require manual patches, and with Neverwinter Nights 1 - 2 doing a fresh install required having the updater download ~20 patches in sequence from Bioware one after another. That's the exception though since I try to buy all my PC games through Steam.

 

[Golgatha]

Funny how many times the pro console crowd use LIES or exaggeration to score cheap shots.

No doubt. The last PS3 game I purchased required both a game install and patch before I could play it.

 

[Veliko]

Surely you jest. Hooking a windows PC up to a TV is profoundly simple. I recently purchased a HDTV and my old windows machine (which is about 6 years old) hooked up with a quick HDMI to the TV, audio to my receiver, and power to the wall holes...done. I use it for movies, but could easily hookup my wireless xbox controller. Oh, and for control i have had a mini wireless keyboard (the size of an average remote) with touch pad for years (i use it for giving talks). What is easier about consoles? Because that process i just described is profoundly easy.

You haven't hooked a PC up to the TV, you have hooked up a low-powered device that you use for one purpose to the TV. Which is pretty much a console.

Hooking up your main PC to the TV is a pain because most people have it in a completely separate room. Unplugging it and moving it around can be a big hassle.

 

[Veliko]

No doubt. The last PS3 game I purchased required both a game install and patch before I could play it.

There is a huge difference between the patching required for PC games and those required for console games.

 

[darkewaffle]

Surely you jest. Hooking a windows PC up to a TV is profoundly simple. I recently purchased a HDTV and my old windows machine (which is about 6 years old) hooked up with a quick HDMI to the TV, audio to my receiver, and power to the wall holes...done. I use it for movies, but could easily hookup my wireless xbox controller. Oh, and for control i have had a mini wireless keyboard (the size of an average remote) with touch pad for years (i use it for giving talks). What is easier about consoles? Because that process i just described is profoundly easy.

Doesn't mean it always works. Personally I have my HTPC hooked up to a 32" TV and I have to play basically every game in Windowed mode. Any game that tries to display in fullscreen is subjected to some sort of improper upscaling that I've yet to resolve; it's playable but completely unreadable and just looks like crap, basically extremely blurry. I may have found an answer for it buried deep in some Toms Hardware forum post, but I've yet to get around to trying it. Regardless, I have been able to plug and play consoles to the same TV, so I think there's still something to be said for simplicity.

 

[shortylickens]

That article is embarrassing, it's like reading an article by a cutlery fanatic on why spoons are better than forks.

If he can't honestly see why it is easier to connect and use a console on a TV than it is to do the same for a PC then he is fooling himself.

Your PC should already be connected.


As for the article:
If you totaled up all the console users combined you wouldnt even be close to the number of WoW subscribers. And they pay a fee every month to play. PC gaming is making ridiculous money.
Casual games are also a strong PC advantage, but the consoles are catching up there too.

 

[Veliko]

Your PC should already be connected.

Why would it already be connected? Most people have their PC in a different room to their TV.

As for the article:
If you totaled up all the console users combined you wouldnt even be close to the number of WoW subscribers. And they pay a fee every month to play. PC gaming is making ridiculous money.
Casual games are also a strong PC advantage, but the consoles are catching up there too.

All this PC gaming money is directed to one or two companes - Blizzard and Valve.

If there was so much in it then all this 'consolisation' wouldn't exist.

 

[AdamK47]

It's a good read, but I fear it's beyond the comprehension of your average console gamer. What cannot be understood by them simply does not exist. It's a valiant effort though.

 

[shortylickens]

Why would it already be connected? Most people have their PC in a different room to their TV.



All this PC gaming money is directed to one or two companes - Blizzard and Valve.

If there was so much in it then all this 'consolisation' wouldn't exist.

The consolization is in all the other games, especially shooters.
And Blizzard & Valve also happen to be the two best gaming companies because they deliver quality products at a reasonable price. Also because they dont consolize their games.

(Sorry for the Z in deference to your S. I dont think theres a proper way to spell those words.)

 

[Veliko]

The consolization is in all the other games, especially shooters.
And Blizzard & Valve also happen to be the two best gaming companies because they deliver quality products at a reasonable price. Also because they dont consolize their games.

(Sorry for the Z in deference to your S. I dont think theres a proper way to spell those words.)

Right, but it's disingenuous to say that there is all that money in PC gaming when it is all being funnelled to two companies.

People have been moaning about the dumbing down of WoW for a long time and when it comes to Diablo that is a very arcadey game anyway.

 

[obidamnkenobi]

There is a huge difference between the patching required for PC games and those required for console games.

yeah sure is; on the PC Steam does it automatically while I can browse the web or play another game. On a console the whole thing stops for a painfully long time while it downloads and then installs to what I can only assume is a 500 rpm hard drive.

 

[darkewaffle]

If you totaled up all the console users combined you wouldnt even be close to the number of WoW subscribers. And they pay a fee every month to play. PC gaming is making ridiculous money.
Casual games are also a strong PC advantage, but the consoles are catching up there too.

Seriously? Even the original Xbox sold twice as many consoles as WoW has customers. And the 360/PS3 have both sold twice as much as that, and the Wii is approaching 4x as much.

Also because they dont consolize their games.

WoW is one of the most "consolized" games around.

 

[darkewaffle]

yeah sure is; on the PC Steam does it automatically while I can browse the web or play another game. On a console the whole thing stops for a painfully long time while it downloads and then installs to what I can only assume is a 500 rpm hard drive.

So replace it. That's one of those things that's so wonderful about a PC, right?

Though last I checked getting a hard drive that spins faster doesn't offer much of a performance increase in a console and simply makes them hotter. Could be outdated.

 

[Veliko]

yeah sure is; on the PC Steam does it automatically while I can browse the web or play another game. On a console the whole thing stops for a painfully long time while it downloads and then installs to what I can only assume is a 500 rpm hard drive.

Someone on the Internet being deliberately obtuse? Surely not.

 

[Dankk]

WoW is one of the most "consolized" games around.

Could you elaborate on this? I hate getting into PC/console flamewars, but I'm interested as to why you say WoW is "consolized."

 

[shortylickens]

Could you elaborate on this? I hate getting into PC/console flamewars, but I'm interested as to why you say WoW is "consolized."

It really isnt. Dont ask if you dont wanna get into a flame war, because I think thats what he was looking for.

 

[Pacman4]

The purpose of this thread is to highlight that console gaming isn't the bargin bin experience it purports to be, and you should always know that in most cases, your console experience will be inferior to the PC, especially if we're talking MP{particularly racing games with 25-35 grid spots}.....also, I doubt there's a console game that looks better than FEAR2005 maxed, in fact, I wonder if there's a console game that looks better than the big hits from 2004, ie, HL2, D3, Far Cry.

People spend outrageous amounts of money building sim rigs to play GT5 and FM3/4, but why?.....do you really think either of those games are the best sims, are you even aware of how limited the options and forcefeedback is compared to PC games?

I just installed NMC's high res pack* for FO3, and damn, what a diff, I could only imagine the disgusting mess both FO3 and New Vegas must be on console, not to forget that Vegas is one of the best "shooters" of all time, oh yes, yes indeed, but on console you're using a friggin gamepad{sad, almost depressing, lol}.

*e8400+4gig+6850=cheap as chips PC still pumping out GENUINE 1200p....I'm also DX11 maxing Dirt3 and F1 2011.

Also, if you're a multiplatformer but focus on PC, please don't come in here and point that out, you're not the target audience, the target audience are those who think that consoles offer value for money, when what they really offer is a terrible interpretation of PC gaming.

 

[Veliko]

Pacman, you sound woefully ignorant about why people play on games consoles. I don't see how you can talk about what the purpose of the thread is when you didn't offer an opinion in the OP and the article you linked to doesn't make that claim either.

I currently own/rent a BF3 server with some other people but I don't see how that means my experience is automatically better than those who either play the game on the console or don't have their own server.

Do you game on the PC because you enjoy it or because it gives you a feeling of superiority over others?

 

[s1njin]

One of the biggest factors in choosing where I game, at the end of the day, is which of my friends is playing on what. That pushes me towards my end result. BF3 might be better on the PC, but if all my friends are rocking the 360 it doesn't really matter to me that BF3 looks or plays better on PC. Gaming has gone social, and in THAT regard its really hard to beat how LIVE makes creating a party and having it persist in game easy peazy. Playing with your friends makes up for all sorts of graphical shortcomings.

So logically, w/ the Rig I have I'm going to be playing Skyrim on PC. However, back to my original rant - there is no reason why they couldn't make the friggin' game aware of all of my cores. Even after launch and the 1.3 patch they have optimized for Core 2 Duo - I have two more cores and I want to use them damnit.