A rant on PC fanboyism

[Elsarild]

I am a PC elitist, I believe PC is the best choice for gaming, and I have blamed consoles for the dumbing down of my favorite franchies, but as much as I balme consoles, the fault lies with the developer, and I can't blame them to try and appeal to a broader market in the end.

I have no problem with you playing your console, orthe games your play, or even console exclusive games.

And I have no problem with the interface, If i had I woulnd't own a Xbox controller for my Pc, but some games just play better on Pc, and others better on consoles, and I still think it's sad how developers need to expand their market into consoles with games that dosen't work very well there, and as such need to add in help, in form of, auto aim or other things.

Shooters belong on a Pc, or even a console with a mouse, I can't for the life of me find any reason why I would want to play shooters on a console, but driving games however do work much better with analog sticks or a wheel, and there consoles have a greater advantage by not forcing the user to buy exstra equipment to play it properly.

 

[DracoSuave]

If PC gaming is better than console gaming, what barriers are stopping it from being the most popular outside of certain PC-based genres (MMOs, RTSs, etc)

I hate to say this, but there are reasons that the PC isn't as prevalent a platform and you can't simply handwave those reasons with a 'It's just better' and a torrent of fanboyism while decrying the fact that the platform is dying.

Those are to contradictory opinions. Either it is better or it is dying.

Fact is, some -aspects- of PC gaming is better, but others are absolutely terrible. Developers will mention the problems inherent in having less unified hardware than consoles. Comparing raw stats between a console and a PC is as valid as comparing the clock speed of an intel and an AMD. That's nice , band allut the numbers aren't comparable given the architecture differences.
My PS3 might have had its network hacked... but I don't have to run and do research on the latest anti-virus and anti-spyware in order to use it without having a million pop-ups up.

In fact... looking at the Ram issue of a console vs a PC, how much of the RAM in a console is dedicated to the game itself? Almost all of it. How much in a PC? Well, let's see, running your anti spyware, anti virus, directx, drivers, drivers, more drivers, SecoRom, Steam, and whatever other non-game related cruft you need to run to keep things going smoothly, plus interface elements for each of the above?

It's. Not. Comparable. If you think it is, you're wrong.

Fact: PC Gaming isn't making as much money as console gaming.

That's the ONLY fact that matters, and if you can't get THAT through your head, then blaming consoles, console gamers, or anyone else is a waste of time and bandwidth. Instead, look at THAT problem, and do what you can to solve it, not make it worse.

Cause, how do those boycotts [http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/13/how-not-to-boycott-modern-warfare-2/] work out for ya?

 

[Treblaine]

Like the Nintendo fanboys desperately trying to argue that Wii-U doesn't need real analogue sticks to be a true hardcore gaming platform. There is now way nub-sliders are better than true analogue sticks, especially in a time when even portable handheld devices are embracing analogue sticks.

It is a fact that PC is better than consoles.

However it is fanboyism to say that makes it better for everyone as a lot of people are just too casual to appreciate it or master it.

I find it interesting that Nintendo fanboys rant about 360 gamers much the same as 360-fanboys rant about PC gamers. And the teasing-belittlement similarly goes the other way.

I dont care for the wii-u but how can YOU say that stuff about analogue sticks. youre a pc gamer you dont use analogue sticks.

Uuuuuh, it's a platform preference, not a religion. I'm not bound by one system for life.

I play plenty of console games because I don't like to take an insular and closed perspective of gaming. If only console gamers would give PC games the same chance I give console games.

I have put in over 20 hours of playtime into MW2's Spec-ops missions on Xbox 360 and I have hit the wall. It was fairly nice on the lower difficulty but now on Hardened and Veteran the Gamepad controls are just not satisfying any-more with the raised challenge, I've tried with FPS-Freek add-ons and without. I just have to hang back and be such a sniping bastard to get through the challenges, the problem is I can't have a sensitivity that is both quick enough and accurate enough.

By the way, I highly recommend FPS-Freek stick-extensions, they really help improve your aiming... but still no where near as good as with PC.

I also recently played Portal on 360. It was interesting, the devs did a valiant job but there I just could not do things with 360 controller I could with Mouse + Keyboard. And it was NOT down to number of inputs, there were plenty, the problem was ergonomics. I did not have the mechanical advantage for fast or small and precise movements, it just was no where near as fluid to move around.

I also plug in my 360 controller to my PC for the minority of games on PC where a gamepad is more suitable (obviously NOT any First/Third person shooter, anything that requires aiming) but the point is I HAVE THE CHOICE! I use gamepad if it suits me, or mouse+KB. And I can remap the control layout without being branded a "hacker" by XBL and accused of cheating.

See, I have an INFORMED opinion when I state that PC is better than 360, I have used both extensively to know what I am talking about.

Examples of relatively recent console games I have played to completion:
-Halo 1, 2, 3 and ODST
-MGS3 & MGS4
-Gears of War
-Uncharted
-Killzone 2
-Resistance 1 & 2
-Zelda: Twilight Princess (gamecube version)
-Modern Warfare 2

 

[Vordark]

As a former PC gamer who now games pretty much exclusively on the Xbox 360, here are my reasons for going this route:

1. I'm tired of spending $500 to $700 more on my computer to play the PC titles that come out, then having to buy a new machine in another two years. Mainstream PC games are expected to "push the envelope" when it comes to graphics, which means that without top of the line hardware the games look like ass.

2. With great hardware comes great driver dancing and DirectX tinkering. I cannot believe this is still an issue, but so many of my PC gaming friends get bitten by this it's just insane. It took one of my friends nearly two weeks to figure out which combination of video card driver and DirectX version she needed to get Dragon Age 2 to consent to run on her machine.

3. Anti-piracy "protections" kill my inner child. All games publishers assume their customers are thieves and go out of their way to guard against people copying their stuff and while this is certainly true for console games, games released on the PC take this to ridiculous extremes. I've had games inspect the software on my hard drive and fail to install or run if they saw something they didn't like. My favorite example is the abject fear publishers seem to have for "Alcohol", which I used to use to mount ISO images as though they were drives. Buying a sixty dollar game only to have to clean your hard drive of anything the publisher deems inappropriate is completely unacceptable.

4. I stopped running Windows two years ago. That's pretty much synonymous with "I'm no longer able to play PC games."

All that said, I despise the dumbing down of video games. Regenerating health, totally linear game play and the complete lack of any challenge beyond "Push The B Button Here" are all plagues that can be laid squarely at the feet of the console generation. If the trend doesn't reverse itself soon, I likely won't be a console gamer much longer either.

 

[Treblaine]

I hate to say this, but there are reasons that the PC isn't as prevalent a platform and you can't simply handwave those reasons with a 'It's just better' and a torrent of fanboyism while decrying the fact that the platform is dying.

Those are to contradictory opinions. Either it is better or it is dying.

Wii outsold 360.

Honda Civic outsold Ferrari.

What is you point? That Wii is better than 360? Honda is a better car than a Farrari?

My point is you can dumb things down - make it WORSE - and MORE people will buy it.

Even Microsoft are doing this with Kinect and a refusal to release a new generation of hardware to keep pace with PC.

It is not contradictory because quantity can beat quality. Quantity is not better for each individual, it is better for the corporations so they are likes by everyone but loved by no one (except those who love a certain familiarity).

 

[aarontg]

I don't have a favorite platform that I would go out of my way to defend. I think that every platform has their ups and downs and that there's room on this earth for all of them. You can replicate playing dragon age on the consoles by playing it on pc with one had tied behind you back just like (in my case) it's more cumbersome to play an fps with a keyboard and mouse. The low cost and quick start up for consoles is always a plus but you can never get that satisfaction of running a good game on high settings like on the pc.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Are people actually upset about this? If so, that's the issue...oversensitivity.

Do you remember when there was bickering over the specs of the 2 consoles? The thing is, the difference is fairly negligable in comparison to how a good PC can dwarf them both.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

-The PC version of Battlefield 3 was the only version shown all through E3 and the developers have gone to great lengths to maximise the graphics potential.

I'm not talking about graphical potential, I'm talking about artistic freedom. The more advanced hardware becomes the more easier it is to realize amazing ideas. It's not always about how amazing a game can look.

-Witcher 2, obviously made with PC first and foremost. Any Xbox 360 port is still long away and if it was in any way a priority it would be done by now.

I disagree. The UI was optimized for a console controller rather than keyboard and mouse. This is quite sad giving that CD Projekt claimed their focus was the PC.

-Elder Scrolls V: I believe this was also PC lead all though E3.

Nope. Bethesda even claimed their man focus were the consoles and one of the developers(I think) stated that they would just port the game to the PC.

-Rage may be made with consoles in mind but Carmack has repeatedly said he has designed the game to scale very well on powerful PCs, so if it looks great on 360 it looks AMAZING on a powerful PC! He is lead programmer and is committed to PC gaming.

He said the game was developed with consoles in mind, not the PC. I find it very hard to take the guy seriously after the bullshit that was Doom 3 and Daikatana. Rage is being developed for consoles first and foremost and I refuse to support a developer that straight out lies and abandons its main audience. The same goes for Bethesda.

Thing is we have just had a lot of high profile foul-ups like Crysis 2, Duke Nukem and Bulletstorm that seem to have given up on PC, but they have paid for that by generally being called inferior to their predecessor.

Like anyone gives a shit. They sold marginally well on the consoles so now everyone is claiming PC gaming is just not worth it whilst failing to realize there hasn't been a decent PC centric game for quite a while now. I don't understand what publishers (fuck them) and developers want from PC gamers. Do they expect us to just buy every single shitty port they churn out on the market? It seems that nowadays if a port doesn't sell well at least ONE developer will start spewing bullshit about how PC gaming is just not worth it whereas without PC gaming the majority of modern developers wouldn't even exist.

-Black Ops PC gets dedicated servers (sold $100 million worth on Steam in only 3 months)

Call of Duty is a terrible franchise and Activision has made it quite clear how much they give a shit about PC gamers. Besides, have you seen how horribly optimized that game is? Fuck them, seriously.

If my memory isn't fucking with me right now, Bad Company 2 did the same thing. BC2 was the biggest piece of shit to hit the PC market in quite a while.

-Fable series back on PC

It was a port and it was a shitty port at that. Besides, the Fable 3 sucked.

-Kinect officially coming to PC

The concept behind "Kinect" is quite interesting and the technology used might end up revolutionizing a lot of things. One of the things it won't revolutionize, however, is gaming. One of the main problem is lack of GOOD third party support. As of now the only games released for the Kinect are just plain shit. The other problem is the fact that there's no way to actually "move" your character which pretty much means any decent games that will come out for it will most likely be rail shooters.

-Street fighter returns to PC with Arcade Edition (after brief exodus with Super SF)

Oh please. Capcom straight out promised they won't re-release SF2 a gajillion times and they did just that. Also, Arcade Edition is a port is it not?

 

[Treblaine]

It is a fact that PC is better than consoles.

Better is and always will be subjective so to say as a fact that one is better than the other is nothing but crap.

However it is fanboyism to say that makes it better for everyone as a lot of people are just too casual to appreciate it or master it.

You really think that the only reason people would prefer consoles to PC is that they aren't hardcore enough? What a load of condescending horseshit. That remark truly is the mark of a deluded fanboy.

No it really is a fact. Here is a short list of facts:

-Graphical power= better on PC, look at the benchmarks
-Controls= US military and law-enforcement virtual training programs have determined Mouse + keyboard are better than ANY other input device for aiming and movement in first/third person perspective
-Customisation= undeniably better on PC
-Online= dedicated servers are STANDARD on PC, anything less NOT ACCEPTED.
-Mods= you cannot mod 360/PS3 without being banned
-Games Price= steam sales? There are no better deals in the industry.

And isn't this thread full of people saying PC games are too complicated? Has a load of features they don't care about? Please...

OK, if you don't care about quality, controls, customisation, online, mods or price THEN it is still better... you just have low standards.

Am I saying they aren't hardcore enough. Is that so unreasonable when so many of them say "those wii-tards are too casual for 360 games". I'm sorry they hold the delusion that just because they are more hardcore than wii that they are "the best", no. It goes higher and better with PC.

Wii<360<PC

Why do I prefer PC gaming? Because I prefer the best!

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

In fact... looking at the Ram issue of a console vs a PC, how much of the RAM in a console is dedicated to the game itself? Almost all of it. How much in a PC? Well, let's see, running your anti spyware, anti virus, directx, drivers, drivers, more drivers, SecoRom, Steam, and whatever other non-game related cruft you need to run to keep things going smoothly, plus interface elements for each of the above?

It's. Not. Comparable. If you think it is, you're wrong.

You're right, it's not comparable. 'Almost all' of 512Mb is nowhere near the same as "around half" (Windows is a resource pig) of 4Gb plus another 512-1024Mb of dedicated GPU RAM.

 

[DracoSuave]

It is a fact that PC is better than consoles.

Better is and always will be subjective so to say as a fact that one is better than the other is nothing but crap.

However it is fanboyism to say that makes it better for everyone as a lot of people are just too casual to appreciate it or master it.

You really think that the only reason people would prefer consoles to PC is that they aren't hardcore enough? What a load of condescending horseshit. That remark truly is the mark of a deluded fanboy.

No it really is a fact. Here is a short list of facts:[/qyuote]

The dealing-with-bullshit factor is zero on consoles and huge on PCs.

Running a good console system requires hooking up an HDMI cable to the tv, and plugging it, and syncing a controller. Done.

Running a good computer system requires doing those things, then making sure your system is secure, keeping that maintained, dealing with manufacturers that may or may not have proper drivers, and software publishers that may, or may not, have your hardware configuration in question...

It's called the 'dealing with bullshit' factor. PCs have bullshit you HAVE to deal with. Consoles do not.

Remember that the next time you join a 'hate on DRM' thread. You're dealing with bullshit.

And some people have no patience for the bullshit.

 

[SinisterGehe]

You saying only PC gamers hate console gamers? Lol I have seen plenty of Console gamers saying how noobish and bad PC gamers are.

Also, I play PC because I have always had PC. I don't have TV... And most of all: I am unable to use console controller properly thanks to my neurological condition on my right hand and torso... I can not play console, so I play PC..

Also...

Why do PC gamers have to take shit from Console gamers, why do we need to get the bad ports sold to us with high price tag? See, the question goes both ways...

Answer is: Everyone including me, you and the next guy are all assholes... It is part of humanity, get used to it. Also stop doing this rants about *Insert platform*-Fanboyism/Elitism, you can't change anything if we all stop whining about these things maybe they will disappear someday -.-...

 

[Pat8u]

I ignored everyone who used taht avatar they are mostly banned now

OT: Yea....why can''t we all get along why please tell me why

 

[RA92]

Oh God, this thread again?

You know what? Cry some more.

 

[The Heik]

Hi there. I'm a PC gamer and I don't hate console gamers.

Actually, most of us don't, just so happends that the ones who do are usually pretty loud about it.

Isn't that always the case huh? The minorities seem to be the most heard group in any situation, whilst the general majority doesn't give a flying skeet disc unless people start complaining about everyone based upon the words of the few.

Sigh....why can't crazy people be crazy alone?

 

[Rienimportant]

Yeah I'm a PC gamer. I'd like to apologize for the tools that are the loud-mouthed trolls, I hate them too.
I do prefer the PC as my gaming platform, mostly because I've used it all my life and never had a console to use regularly haha. So I've never understood why exactly it always gets turned into such a big issue. Although I would really love it if they started making games for all of the platforms, that would be really nice haha.

 

[Xaio30]

I like the disclaimer at the top. It made me lose all the initial anger of "being called a fanboy".
And I agree with you. The PC elitists are a sad, sad tumor on the PC community.