Traitor to the Cause

[Susan Arendt]

Traitor to the Cause

Dragon Age: Origins just may make Susan Arendt turn her back on her console gaming ways.

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[wrecker77]

Yeaaaah... your heads going on a pike. Heritec!

Beleive it or not, I never get any shit from pc gamer elitest. They just insist on not buying any consoles.

 

[KarumaK]

Fallen to the ways of the PC have you? Very well, we were prepared for this day.

*Intercom static* "Launch the strike team."

It's sad that this is how things must end.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I agree, Dragon Age will probably be better on PC, no question.

However the quality of my PC decrees that I purchase it on console, maybe when I'm a rich bastard and/or can actually afford a new PC I'll pick up Dragon Age for it in the bargain bin.

 

[DeathWyrmNexus]

Fallen to the ways of the PC have you? Very well, we were prepared for this day.

*Intercom static* "Launch the strike team."

It's sad that this is how things must end.

Order acknowledged and confirmed. Platoon A - D of the Frat Boys units, drunk and ready.

In all seriousness though, I find this a tad disappointing. No, not Susan. I don't give a fuck as I agree with her stance that it is irrelevant what she plays it on. I am simply disappointed that apparently the game is going to be annoying to play on my Xbox 360. That said, I hope I have one of those Savant Epiphanies and am able to intuit the game like some pathetic version of Neo, thus sparing me the desire to lament my lack of desire for PC gaming.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

because I find playing on PC to be claustrophobic and overly complicated. I've never managed to persuade my fingers to master mouse/keyboard controls,

First John and now you Susan, is there something about the Escapist team that has never pulled the guts out of a machine just because?

It just puzzles me as from my first outing on the ZX81 - way before we had fancy things like colours, graphics and sound - I was hacking at the system, trying to make it do what I wanted it to do.

Consoles, to me at least, seem so sterile that I really can't get used to them. If I've not got Firefox getting me Escapist updates, Thunderbird/Skype and Steam bringing me messages, Yedit/Ywrite poking me to write something there instead of the forums and Winamp tootling away while I play - it just doesn't seem like it's working.

And talk about confusing...two joysticks, 7 buttons, two shoulders and a tilt monitor? I used to get confused with Defender or Asteroids; what's so hard about mouselook with cursors and twin-fire?

Maybe that's the sticking point between PC and Console? PC's like to have lots of things going - but concentrating on one thing at a time, while consoles throw the entire spree into the controls?

And redefinable controls. C'mon consoles, we had that down before you lot were even in the SNES stage.

But I'm wandering, as usual, it's the PC in me.

The thing that nailed consoles to the floor, for me, was Red Alert. My PC was still working on coal fires when the PS1 version came out, and out of curiosity I took a look.

I've never laughed so much at a game before. It simply couldn't compete. Fair enough, for platform games and fighting games, consoles still rule and yes, Goldeneye still kicks in 99% of PC FPSs; BUT...I can emulate all of them.

My little rig here, which I can play anything up to Crysis on, cost me £400. (about $650)

The only thing I can't do at the moment - which I want to - is play LBP, and even the moist tones of Stephen Fry can't persuade me that far.

 

[capt.fodder]

I'm really stuck on this one. I have been a PC gamer for a long time (even longer if you consider the C64 "PC-like") but I broke down and bought my first console since I owned an Intellivision. But Dragon Age... This thing is torturing me. My PC is oldish for games (quad core, 4GB, but only an 8800GTS) but I'm betting it would handle it ok. When I heard there was no tactical view on the PS3 version I was crestfallen. "But, but, but BG2 is my favourite game EVER!" and I need that tactical overhead view, man. NEED IT.

I hate choices like this, but I have to admit I like *articles* like this. I figured I was being wishy-washy, but if a hard-core console person is saying what I'm thinking, well, I guess I'm right to be confused.

 

[Susan Arendt]

because I find playing on PC to be claustrophobic and overly complicated. I've never managed to persuade my fingers to master mouse/keyboard controls,

First John and now you Susan, is there something about the Escapist team that has never pulled the guts out of a machine just because?

It just puzzles me as from my first outing on the ZX81 - way before we had fancy things like colours, graphics and sound - I was hacking at the system, trying to make it do what I wanted it to do.

Consoles, to me at least, seem so sterile that I really can't get used to them. If I've not got Firefox getting me Escapist updates, Thunderbird/Skype and Steam bringing me messages, Yedit/Ywrite poking me to write something there instead of the forums and Winamp tootling away while I play - it just doesn't seem like it's working.

And talk about confusing...two joysticks, 7 buttons, two shoulders and a tilt monitor? I used to get confused with Defender or Asteroids; what's so hard about mouselook with cursors and twin-fire?

Maybe that's the sticking point between PC and Console? PC's like to have lots of things going - but concentrating on one thing at a time, while consoles throw the entire spree into the controls?

And redefinable controls. C'mon consoles, we had that down before you lot were even in the SNES stage.

But I'm wandering, as usual, it's the PC in me.

The thing that nailed consoles to the floor, for me, was Red Alert. My PC was still working on coal fires when the PS1 version came out, and out of curiosity I took a look.

I've never laughed so much at a game before. It simply couldn't compete. Fair enough, for platform games and fighting games, consoles still rule and yes, Goldeneye still kicks in 99% of PC FPSs; BUT...I can emulate all of them.

My little rig here, which I can play anything up to Crysis on, cost me £400. (about $650)

The only thing I can't do at the moment - which I want to - is play LBP, and even the moist tones of Stephen Fry can't persuade me that far.

I couldn't possibly care less about fiddling around with a PC's innards. If you enjoy it, great, rock on with your bad self, but I simply have no interest. Never have. If you don't like consoles, fine, don't play on them, but kindly don't look down your nose at me simply because I do.

 

[mattttherman3]

I would like to play it on a pc, but no pc in my house can run it, and my parents are not willing to buy a new computer(although they should because my laptop runs better than their desktop by A LOT). And my laptop can barely run Age of Empires 3. Also when I see pc gameplay of console games, there seems to be less lag, much less in fact. Oh well I'm still getting Dragon Age Origins for my 360, Bioware is infalible.

 

[omicron1]

Welcome to the dork side.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

If you don't like consoles, fine, don't play on them, but kindly don't look down your nose at me simply because I do.

...

I don't believe I've ever looked down on someone because of what they play a game on. I just don't, or can't, see why the perception of PCs is overpriced and complex to use.

That's not an attack in any way, it's just that I cannot see it, though I've tried. Maybe because I've been hacking for so long.

Seriously, if that appeared to be an attack, it really wasn't.

 

[Valiance]

"admitting that the "best" platform is far from an irrefutable fact, but rather a condition that shifts based on the player and the game. "

I wish more people would understand this, really.

Like, really.

Some things feel better with a gamepad; sometimes I don't wanna bother spending the precursor hour or so to make sure the game actually -works- on my computer after tweaking graphics settings and looking up command line options...

But for most of the games I prefer, most of them would feel better on a PC, eh? I guess I'll get DA:O for my PC, and then run it at 800x600 since that's probably the best I can do.

 

[Rawker]

I find her "Sorry my dear, but frankly I don't give a damn." attitude should be commended.

 

[John Funk]

First John and now you Susan, is there something about the Escapist team that has never pulled the guts out of a machine just because?

Hey, hey! I built my computer!

Buuuut I also tend to be a bit less than coordinated when it comes to fine motor skills, so I'd rather not do things "just because" and break 'em

 

[Kuliani]

because I find playing on PC to be claustrophobic and overly complicated. I've never managed to persuade my fingers to master mouse/keyboard controls,

First John and now you Susan, is there something about the Escapist team that has never pulled the guts out of a machine just because?

Besides the IT guys obviously being able to, there are several of us that can put together a PC from scratch. I used to work for a guy that sold pretty-much-the-same-machine to his clients and I had to build them; I won a bet that I could build one of those computers blindfolded and it would work. Of course, it was the repetitiveness of it that allowed that to happen...

I don't actually own a console, never have. I've played on friend's consoles enough, but from all the years of PCing, I have the console skills of a blind man with grease on his hands.

 

[stompythebeast]

I still have a crush on you, even if you are a console gamer. I accept you as you are.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

First John and now you Susan, is there something about the Escapist team that has never pulled the guts out of a machine just because?

Hey, hey! I built my computer!

Buuuut I also tend to be a bit less than coordinated when it comes to fine motor skills, so I'd rather not do things "just because" and break 'em

I just remember you saying that you and your friend were having difficulty setting up a TF2 match and I was trying to get to grips with how something like that was complex.

(And I have at least 3 PCs that might be slightly broke )

I don't actually own a console, never have. I've played on friend's consoles enough, but from all the years of PCing, I have the console skills of a blind man with grease on his hands.

Man, when I catch a nerve...

It was just interesting to see how the article appeared to say that people who turn from consoles to PCs were being traitors and there is this growing resentment against the "pure" PC owners. As someone who has made the choice not to get one, not through loyalty, it confuses me why there's such an animosity still.

We all make jokes about Apple's i-everything, Nintendos sequel obsession, Sonys atrocious advertising and Microsofts pay to play attitude, but because the PC is often a scratchbuilt system, there's a level of complexity that just goes with the system. And people seem to see this as an elitist thing when it really isn't.

What does get our ire though, is when console ports deliberately ignore the system differences. That's why the whole L4D2 and Modern shoot-people-in-the-face causes such huge disputes.

 

[John Funk]

First John and now you Susan, is there something about the Escapist team that has never pulled the guts out of a machine just because?

Hey, hey! I built my computer!

Buuuut I also tend to be a bit less than coordinated when it comes to fine motor skills, so I'd rather not do things "just because" and break 'em

I just remember you saying that you and your friend were having difficulty setting up a TF2 match and I was trying to get to grips with how something like that was complex.

(And I have at least 3 PCs that might be slightly broke )

My friend was trying to get it to work on a laptop over a wireless network while on the other end of the country. It's mighty hard to explain something in that scenario.

 

[The Austin]

I really dont see why people think PC's are better.
As a once-PC gamer, I have to say, I enjoy my Xbox more than I ever enjoyed my PC.

edit: Another great story Susan,
Almost as good as "How Not to Get a Job as a Games Journalist"

 

[MiodekPL]

Damn - I just can't think how hard a PC can be to someone. I find it so easy to use, that I never considered having a console myself. And yes - PC games should be played on a PC.