A question for PC Gamers. Why all the hostility towards console gamers/gaming?

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I'm going to go old school Escapist and search bar nazi this [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.827536-PC-Console-gaming-segregation?page=1]. We've already had this thread multiple times before and it's getting old. There isn't anything really to say that hasn't been said in all the other ones. Eg Some console and PC gamers are shit heads, PC has superior hardware and options/console has better accessibility, Some people like to play devils advocate, no real gamers hates another for platform choice, etc.

 

[RicoADF]

What if many of us find more creativity in the PC department as well? I can't get the games I want on consoles. I'm primarily an adventure and RPG game fan. I can't get Baldur's Gate or Edna & Harvey on a console, so I prefer PC.

And that applies generally. I think you will find more often that console games are more available on PC, than PC games being available on console so you're better off with a PC no matter what type of game you enjoy. Unless you absolutely adore JRPGS and they are the only thing you play.

I'm not saying preferring PC over console is elitist, I generally prefer my PC for the same reasons, esp the nice cheap games. But to think less of people, hating on them for having consoles or thinking that graphics and better technology makes a good game is being elitist. Not saying you are, just elaborating what I meant by the comment you quoted

 

[Pink Gregory]

It's not about elitism, it's about certain people being pricks and having the ammunition to do so.

 

[sweetylnumb]

You guys get all the games we want. We have to fill the holes in our hearts with hatred.

 

[Varrdy]

Although I have a PC, I also have an X-Box 360 so I suppose I should be shot immediately, right? Take into account the fact that, in my younger days, I also had a Mega Drive and a SNES SIDE-BY-SIDE and you'd think they'd bring back hanging!

Nah!

Although much may be talked about the "Elite" PC gamer, it's mostly tongue-in-cheek or gentle prodding these days. Sure there are those that champion their platform(s) of choice but it's rare to find someone who is actually genuinely snotty to those who don't share his / her opinion on what is best. Sure PC gamers have mods but a console owner doesn't have to worry about his machine meeting the minimum system requirements.

I do find it hilarious that a lot of PC gamers are crying that GTA V is not available on the PC when so many PC gamers also lambasted the GTA IV PC port as being sub-par. I've got GTA IV for the PC (I didn't have an X-Box at the time) and while it's not the best port, at least it has Independence FM, which is the funniest thing I've heard on the "radio" in years!

I will be getting GTA V for the X-Box at some point, for the record. Sooner rather than later I hope!

 

[Silvanus]

Most of it's tongue-in-cheek, I think (well... I hope, rather).

I far prefer the PC as my platform-of-choice. It's the best (for me), and I will occasionally joke about the "inferiority" of the consoles with my console-playing friends.

...But I still play consoles too.

 

[mrhateful]

snip

I was going to make a big lengthy post but you pretty much covered all bases.

I just want to reiterate one important point, PC gamers get upset when their games are dumbed down in order to facilitate the lesser capabilities of the consoles. For instance the new amnesia game had almost all its features removed simply because inventory management and the likes are too difficult to do on a controller.

Things like this is why PC Gamer generally resent consoles as a concept, which leads to some PC gamers(the minority) blaming the move toward consoles, on the people who promote consoles aka the console gamers.

 

[Doom972]

I know you probably mean well, but the title is extreme. Calling it hate is harsh. Many PC gamers don't care much for consoles, others dismiss them for being too limited and therefore not worthwhile.

There is sometimes frustration when a game that should come out on the PC doesn't (like a sequel to a game that was on PC), or when a multi-platform game is being dumbed down for consoles.

 

[n00beffect]

Hostility? Hm, I don't know about that, I mean, I'm not one to hang around in forums a lot (you know, cause I have life. Ha!.. That is so not true...) but even when I do, I've never quite noticed hostility, per se. I even did a thread myself, a while back (as have many others) asking console gamers why they prefer consoles.

I guess there must be some hostility out there (as is with everything, on the internet), but it hasn't caught my attention. And, although I find PC gaming to be more- intuitive, in a sense, compared to console gaming (mostly because of the keyboard+mouse configuration and the fact that you can upgrade and manage your machine), I usually tend to regard console gaming with a lot of respect, and view it as a form of 'true' gaming (you know, controller in hand, mashing away at keys, et al.) and I also even envy console gamers for having good exclusive titles, but not in a hostile way.

Also, a good laptop is a lot easier to carry around when you move a lot from place to place.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Oh boy, another PC vs Console or "PC gamers are elitist" topic in sheep's clothing.

As for how it happened, mainstream publishers favored Consoles heavily over PC as their primary market for years, leading to a slight disparity between the PC version and console versions of multiplatform games. (they favored consoles because it was the "safe" option compared to PC, and no, I don't just mean lower piracy rates)

Some people took exception to that and overreacted, second wave responders retorted with an "elitist" title for PC gamers, Yahtzee makes a joke about this trend that people are still mindlessly parroting to this day.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

There's reasonably little actual hostility on these forums at least. Most of it is self-referential ironic humour.

That said, they get blamed for most of the piracy, they get shitty ports more often than consoles, and as technology advances at faster rates, I assume the 'consoles are holding back games because of their physical limitations' argument will become more valid.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

A lot of the hostility is sort of joking/not really serious.

That being said, I've been a big PC gamer and console gamer for years, and, to some degree, I can kind of understand why a lot of PC Gamers feel like old-school, complex PC games are being phased out in favor of more action-packed and less cerebral games that sell better on consoles, and then they just do a quick port to PC.

Because of that, I think a lot of PC gamers blame consoles for great IPs such as 'Syndicate' being turned from a strategy game into a FPS, and the same thing happening with "X-Com: The Bureau" (some hardcore enthusiasts were also turned off by a lot of the simplifying that took place in "X-Com: Enemy Unknown"). I know some were also mad at them turning "Dragon Age 2" into a much more action-oriented game than the original Dragon Age (which was supposed to be something of a revitalization of the 'Baldur's Gate' type of RPG). Whether justified or not, I think a lot of PC Gamers blame console gamers for these sorts of things happening.

Now personally, I think a lot of this is baloney. If you look on Steam there are tons of hyper-complex, large scale strategy games available for relatively cheap (since these games rarely rely on lots of flashy graphics) such as 'Endless Space', 'World of Tanks', 'Crusader Kings 2', 'Dominions 3', and the "Total War' games continue to get (in my opinion) better.

 

[ForumSafari]

I have seen several comments around how PC is the "Greatest gaming device" and how several PC gamers consider themselves to be "elites"

Most of those are tongue in cheek but the PC does offer quite a few advantages for not a huge difference in price. There's a difference between saying that the device is better and that the person using the device is better, for one thing everyone with a console could go out and buy a PC if they really wanted to. Most of the actual hostility is due to...

or those on console calling them "elitist".

This. I've seen about twenty times more PC gamers being called elitist than I have PC gamers being elitist. Naturally when the PC gamers are being blamed for an attitude they by and large don't have, being intentionally teased about their choice of money sink and are having petitions like

https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/rockstar-games-dont-make-a-pc-version-of-gta-v#share

and you can start to see why maybe some people get a bit prickly.

 

[Joccaren]

Oh god, why did a Objective/Subjective argument pop up -.-

Lets settle this here. When you say 'Good', 'Bad', 'Better', 'Worse' you are no longer talking objectively. Full stop.
"The PC has better hardware" is not an objective statement. You have not qualified 'Better'. The PC has more advanced hardware? Sure. Stronger hardware? Sure. Hardware with greater technical capabilities? Sure. 'Better' hardware? Define better.

An example. Murder is not, objectively, a bad thing. It is a thing. That is all that you can objectively say about it; Murder is the act of taking another person's life. It is not objectively bad. Welcome to nihilism. Now, we all understand murder as bad as that is our subjective moral code, and judged by our moral code we can say murder is bad, however that is not an objective statement. The only objective statement that can be made along those lines is 'Murder is considered an evil act by the moral code in question'.

Continuing from this, we can therefore not call either the PC or console objectively better. We can state facts about that, and how a majority might perceive those facts, but there is no objective measure here. A PC has more options for peripherals, a far larger library of games, often cheaper games, more powerful hardware and several exclusive genres, however that does not make it 'Better' objectively. It means, objectively, it has those qualities. Subjectively you can perceive those qualities to be important or unimportant dependant on who is judging. This is, conveniently enough, why you cannot make an objective statement about these sorts of things; because people's opinions of what constitutes 'better' differ, and hence so does what is 'better'.

Now, back to you forum, and the rest of this... debate...

 

[Darxide]

Pfft, I don't need to explain myself to the inferior race of consolers.

(Yes, it's a joke. I'm still baffled why people don't understand that. Perhaps consolers really *ARE* inferior...)

 

[Vegosiux]

As a member of the Glorious PC Master Race™ I hold no hate for console gamers, but, for some of the reasons already stated (input customization, porting, holding games hostage, yadda yadda) I wouldn't miss consoles that much if they were suddenly gone.

 

[crimsonshrouds]

The hypocrisy of both sides in this thread is just something that makes me all warm inside and i think i threw up a little in my mouth. Its like the thread for the torchlight 2 thread where it wasn't getting a port to consoles. The thread was going great until a "PC elitist" came in and shit on everybody. The words "glad it isn't getting dumbed down" was used for absolutely no reason other than smug self-satisfaction.

 

[Parasondox]

I have seen several comments around how PC is the "Greatest gaming device" and how several PC gamers consider themselves to be "elites"

Most of those are tongue in cheek but the PC does offer quite a few advantages for not a huge difference in price. There's a difference between saying that the device is better and that the person using the device is better, for one thing everyone with a console could go out and buy a PC if they really wanted to. Most of the actual hostility is due to...

or those on console calling them "elitist".

This. I've seen about twenty times more PC gamers being called elitist than I have PC gamers being elitist. Naturally when the PC gamers are being blamed for an attitude they by and large don't have, being intentionally teased about their choice of money sink and are having petitions like

https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/rockstar-games-dont-make-a-pc-version-of-gta-v#share

and you can start to see why maybe some people get a bit prickly.

Wait wait wait!! Are you telling me someone actually did a petition about stopping GTA V being on PC? What kind of low life pathetic person would do such a thing. I know the internet is filled with trolls with nothing else to do but WHAT THE FUCK!?!? Why can't gamers get along and mostly why don't the trolls just go back under the bridge they came from. I see why PC gamers are pissed.

 

[kasperbbs]

You should use search, there are so many duscussions on this subject that i probably wouldn't bother to count.
As for reasons for this, its probably: jealousy ,self assurance ,stupidity ,kids. Oddly enough i see more topics about so called 'PC elitists' than actual people hating on consoles. No matter, soon enough the war between xbone and ps4 will start and everyone will forget about us for a while.

 

[KazeAizen]

You can doubt it all you want, it's completely true. Brand new consoles are usually comparable to last year's PCs, and the gap swiftly widens from there, as the PC is in a constant state of evolution whereas the console stays relatively static for years.

And frankly, as someone with limited disposable income, I appreciate consoles keeping the overhead down on PC gaming by...well...sucking. Thanks to this absurdly long console generation even seriously aged hardware is still performing famously well.

Sucking? Seriously you are just gonna go right there and say it? That's one thing I wish PC people would just stop saying about consoles. It doesn't make the two any friendlier toward each other and that is unacceptable. Anyway the hardware put into the consoles these days is powerful and probably on par with modern PCs. Here is the problem. Developing a game that utilizes those specs right out of the gate is uber expensive and a huge risk if not an outright dumb move. Until devs can figure out how to make it cost effective or get a bigger budget or something along those lines its hard to push consoles to the brink at the beginning of their life.

You are coming off as if you absolutely hate consoles and truly do think PCs are the best and only way to game. Not sure if you mean to come off like that but you are.