Company

[Canadamus Prime]

Of course if I were getting the Mass Effect 3, which I'm not for reasons I shall not discuss here, I would still be able to play it from my couch and on my widescreen TV even with the PC version. But I'm not buying either version of the game, again for reasons I shall not discuss here, and besides I hate online multiplayer anyway.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

.. Well Erin you and I are in the same boat. Why don't you befriend me on Steam and we'll play a game together?

OT: I know how she feels. Even though I myself have an Xbox 360, I hardly have any friends who own an Xbox 360 or bother playing online. Some who do own one, only use it to watch Netflix rather then wanting me to join their games on MW3 or something. On Steam, no one I have as a friend is into TF2 like how i'm into it. So despite the console or platform I am playing on I am friendless ... :{

Well, that's the thing about online gaming; it's not something you have to do with friends. I rarely play with friends unless it's splitscreen or LAN.

"What he cares about is that when he puts the disk in his Xbox or PS3, it works. A simple demand that, even with the added robustness of Steam and its ilk, PC gaming often fails to offer."

That's what killed PC gaming for me. I don't want to buy a new computer every 6 months, or a new graphics card that cost the same as a new computer, just to play what I want. When I was buying PC games I would have the hassle of reading the dreaded requirements: does my graphic card supports bumpmapping level 324563 and quadruple anti-alising? It was just horrible.

Today I play happily on my Xbox 360, and buy some casual games on the PC.

You do realize that such hyperbole is just going to infuriate the PC people into frothing bouts of nerd rage right? I'm not saying that you won't want/need to upgrade your PC more often than consoles but those are measured in years and its not like you need to buy a whole new computer each time.

Also, system requirements aren't confusing if you just stop to think about it (though I understand the jargon is intimidating). The only thing which should possibly trip you up is the model of your processor and video card, both of which are easily found by going to your control panel. Example:

Starcraft II
Windows® XP/Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 (Updated with the latest Service Packs) with DirectX® 9.0c
2.6 GHz Pentium® IV or equivalent AMD Athlon® processor
128 MB PCIe NVIDIA® GeForce® 6600 GT or ATI Radeon® 9800 PRO video card or better
12 GB available HD space
1 GB RAM (1.5 GB required for Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 users)
DVD-ROM drive
Broadband Internet connection
1024X720 minimum display resolution

Some people can't afford a gaming PC every year. I got my compy a year ago, upgraded the Processor and Graphics Card, and it still has a seizure if New Vegas is running, or the map gets crowded in Supreme Commander. I haven't been able to run a PC game released this year on the thing, even on the lowest settings.

My PS3 on the other hand, runs everything fine, and has never given me trouble in 2 years.

See, that's where your ignorance shows. A gaming PC, in this day and age, lasts for years before you have to do even the most minor upgrade, and you can keep going for ages without upgrading just by lowering the settings. System requirements haven't been increasing as quickly as you're suggesting since the late 90's.

 

[Awexsome]

Very true on the ease of access point. It's why I mostly spend my time on the 360.

I've lost track of the number of times I've had crashes to desktop, steam not responding or not connecting to servers (TF2 loadouts), laggy frame rates because of variable game and PC specs, and other issues while my Xbox has red ringed only once in many years. I remember an old Extra Credits episode too where they talked about how graphics are no longer the driving force behind upgrading anymore. The current PS3 and 360 specs are still good enough after so long.

In the end the PC fanboys/elitists are no better themselves than the console fanboys that would trash others on exclusive games or other meaningless issues. It's all preference. No clear superior answer.

 

[ElPatron]

I love how since 2007 people have been ripping on 360 gamers for their inferior gaming experience, but at the 11th hour a bunch of people are (threatening/claiming they are) boycotting ME3 because of Origin.

Man I'm lucky I stuck with my shitty console version and don't have to worry about Origin or being blocked from playing because of faulty DRM or any shit like that.

Enjoy your not playing, Origin boycotters.

Their choice.

One way of looking at this: I loathe Bioware games altogether (no, not even Neverwinter Nights - come at me, Biodrones) so trough my point of view, you're actually the one making a mistake. Ahah, enjoy your subpar game full of clichés.

So, what you said is, like, your opinion, man. If they refuse to play the game, or prefer to enjoy their gaming session trough the power of uTorrent, it's their choice. Many will probably visit a private sales website and buy it used, or just shamelessly pirate it.

Another way to look at this: If I don't want my PC games to have Origin or DRM, why should I give money to them by buying a console version anyway?

Either way, nobody is wrong, nor right. It's a matter of opinions, and I sure did not like the sound of your "holier-than-thou" attitude.

I might not like Bioware games, but at least I respect their choice. They like Bioware games, but don't want the "compromise" that DRM is.

Disclaimer: I own an xbox 360 and a PSP and I have nothing against consoles apart from the fact that we get shitty ports and even today's "core games" like CoD and Gears of War are pretty causal

 

[gunner1905]

Damn is ME3 already out? I still haven't finished my hardest difficulty ME2 playthrough (from 2 years ago) yet.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

.. Well Erin you and I are in the same boat. Why don't you befriend me on Steam and we'll play a game together?

OT: I know how she feels. Even though I myself have an Xbox 360, I hardly have any friends who own an Xbox 360 or bother playing online. Some who do own one, only use it to watch Netflix rather then wanting me to join their games on MW3 or something. On Steam, no one I have as a friend is into TF2 like how i'm into it. So despite the console or platform I am playing on I am friendless ... :{

Well, that's the thing about online gaming; it's not something you have to do with friends. I rarely play with friends unless it's splitscreen or LAN.

"What he cares about is that when he puts the disk in his Xbox or PS3, it works. A simple demand that, even with the added robustness of Steam and its ilk, PC gaming often fails to offer."

That's what killed PC gaming for me. I don't want to buy a new computer every 6 months, or a new graphics card that cost the same as a new computer, just to play what I want. When I was buying PC games I would have the hassle of reading the dreaded requirements: does my graphic card supports bumpmapping level 324563 and quadruple anti-alising? It was just horrible.

Today I play happily on my Xbox 360, and buy some casual games on the PC.

You do realize that such hyperbole is just going to infuriate the PC people into frothing bouts of nerd rage right? I'm not saying that you won't want/need to upgrade your PC more often than consoles but those are measured in years and its not like you need to buy a whole new computer each time.

Also, system requirements aren't confusing if you just stop to think about it (though I understand the jargon is intimidating). The only thing which should possibly trip you up is the model of your processor and video card, both of which are easily found by going to your control panel. Example:

Starcraft II
Windows® XP/Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 (Updated with the latest Service Packs) with DirectX® 9.0c
2.6 GHz Pentium® IV or equivalent AMD Athlon® processor
128 MB PCIe NVIDIA® GeForce® 6600 GT or ATI Radeon® 9800 PRO video card or better
12 GB available HD space
1 GB RAM (1.5 GB required for Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 users)
DVD-ROM drive
Broadband Internet connection
1024X720 minimum display resolution

Some people can't afford a gaming PC every year. I got my compy a year ago, upgraded the Processor and Graphics Card, and it still has a seizure if New Vegas is running, or the map gets crowded in Supreme Commander. I haven't been able to run a PC game released this year on the thing, even on the lowest settings.

My PS3 on the other hand, runs everything fine, and has never given me trouble in 2 years.

See, that's where your ignorance shows. A gaming PC, in this day and age, lasts for years before you have to do even the most minor upgrade, and you can keep going for ages without upgrading just by lowering the settings. System requirements haven't been increasing as quickly as you're suggesting since the late 90's.

Not quite seeing where I am spewing ignorance. I bought a mid-range PC for $400 a year ago. I threw in an upgraded processor and graphics card. It ran Oblivion well, Fallout 3 well. any game this year? Nada. 7-8 FPS. Even on lowest.

Or are you saying my experience is not what I experienced?

I'm saying a mid-range PC != a gaming PC. If you had spent $600, instead of $400, we wouldn't be having this discussion. For that matter, $400 isn't exactly "mid range," unless you built it yourself; that's dirt cheap for a modern computer, and way the heck on the low end for something pre-built.

Edit: Also, Oblivion came out in 2005, Fallout 3 came out a year or two after that. Was your PC capable of playing 2011 games in 2011 (assuming that's what you meant by "a year ago")? Because if so, you haven't listed one.

 

[octafish]

Hmmmmmm, my sister is the only person I know who owns a console. (Three actually, because she bought a PS3 a fortnight ago, before that it was just the Wii and GameCube) That isn't to say most of my friends are PC gamers, there are only a couple of us left, most have gone Mac. That said most of the Macs run XP in Boot Camp so we still get together and LAN games from GOG once in a blue moon. My experience is more and more with randoms these days is all I'm saying, and in Australia, on PC, randoms aren't that bad.

 

[Ohlookit'sMatty]

Didn't I read this in a tweet?

-M

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

You should only play pc games if you place experience above comfort.
Why?
pc
1:cramped over your keyboard. (better experience)

Console
2:sitting on a comfortable couch with your controller in your hand's.(better comfort)

The choice depends on how you like your gaming.

Just get a comfy chair for your PC and that issue goes away.
(Plus, I've got my 360 plugged into one of my desktop's monitors, so it's a moot point for me.)

try playing an fps without instinctively bending forward when the action becomes heavy.

Personally, for some inexplicible reason, I stand up when the action mounts! Especially in first person... I find my shoulders sometimes turn too, when I am in combat and trying to turn... I must look like a right tool, but hey, at least im into the game!!

OT: Good to see a PC gamer who can appreciate a console gamers way! I don't have the time or expertese to run half of the games, nor can I be bothered to try and get a gaming spec computer, and chose all the parts, and then spend what would be hours of trawling through the internet trying to work out how to install the game properly, eventually giving up and having no fun what so ever... and my xbox holds me at knife point if I so much as think about turning my laptop on in it's vicinity! :S

 

[ElPatron]

Not quite seeing where I am spewing ignorance. I bought a mid-range PC for $400 a year ago. I threw in an upgraded processor and graphics card. It ran Oblivion well, Fallout 3 well. any game this year? Nada. 7-8 FPS. Even on lowest.

"mid-range" for $400?

Excuse me, but if you chose the parts and paid someone to build it, it would be "mid range".

If you paid a brand to throw piss-poor components and expected that a simple upgrade could escape a "bottleneck" then you were wrong. Brands can shove cardboard inside their products and still charge top dollar for it.

If you bought it yourself from scratch, then you chose some kind of component that bottlenecked it. I made the mistake of trusting a cheap PSU brand and it didn't have enough power to let me play BF2. Which isn't exactly the most recent game available.

 

[Centrophy]

Erin will also have company with the extra 15 dollars US a month or whatever it is Microsoft charges you for the privilege of using your own internet connection.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

.. Well Erin you and I are in the same boat. Why don't you befriend me on Steam and we'll play a game together?

OT: I know how she feels. Even though I myself have an Xbox 360, I hardly have any friends who own an Xbox 360 or bother playing online. Some who do own one, only use it to watch Netflix rather then wanting me to join their games on MW3 or something. On Steam, no one I have as a friend is into TF2 like how i'm into it. So despite the console or platform I am playing on I am friendless ... :{

Well, that's the thing about online gaming; it's not something you have to do with friends. I rarely play with friends unless it's splitscreen or LAN.

"What he cares about is that when he puts the disk in his Xbox or PS3, it works. A simple demand that, even with the added robustness of Steam and its ilk, PC gaming often fails to offer."

That's what killed PC gaming for me. I don't want to buy a new computer every 6 months, or a new graphics card that cost the same as a new computer, just to play what I want. When I was buying PC games I would have the hassle of reading the dreaded requirements: does my graphic card supports bumpmapping level 324563 and quadruple anti-alising? It was just horrible.

Today I play happily on my Xbox 360, and buy some casual games on the PC.

You do realize that such hyperbole is just going to infuriate the PC people into frothing bouts of nerd rage right? I'm not saying that you won't want/need to upgrade your PC more often than consoles but those are measured in years and its not like you need to buy a whole new computer each time.

Also, system requirements aren't confusing if you just stop to think about it (though I understand the jargon is intimidating). The only thing which should possibly trip you up is the model of your processor and video card, both of which are easily found by going to your control panel. Example:

Starcraft II
Windows® XP/Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 (Updated with the latest Service Packs) with DirectX® 9.0c
2.6 GHz Pentium® IV or equivalent AMD Athlon® processor
128 MB PCIe NVIDIA® GeForce® 6600 GT or ATI Radeon® 9800 PRO video card or better
12 GB available HD space
1 GB RAM (1.5 GB required for Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 users)
DVD-ROM drive
Broadband Internet connection
1024X720 minimum display resolution

Some people can't afford a gaming PC every year. I got my compy a year ago, upgraded the Processor and Graphics Card, and it still has a seizure if New Vegas is running, or the map gets crowded in Supreme Commander. I haven't been able to run a PC game released this year on the thing, even on the lowest settings.

My PS3 on the other hand, runs everything fine, and has never given me trouble in 2 years.

See, that's where your ignorance shows. A gaming PC, in this day and age, lasts for years before you have to do even the most minor upgrade, and you can keep going for ages without upgrading just by lowering the settings. System requirements haven't been increasing as quickly as you're suggesting since the late 90's.

Not quite seeing where I am spewing ignorance. I bought a mid-range PC for $400 a year ago. I threw in an upgraded processor and graphics card. It ran Oblivion well, Fallout 3 well. any game this year? Nada. 7-8 FPS. Even on lowest.

Or are you saying my experience is not what I experienced?

I'm saying a mid-range PC != a gaming PC. If you had spent $600, instead of $400, we wouldn't be having this discussion. For that matter, $400 isn't exactly "mid range," unless you built it yourself; that's dirt cheap for a modern computer, and way the heck on the low end for something pre-built.

Edit: Also, Oblivion came out in 2005, Fallout 3 came out a year or two after that. Was your PC capable of playing 2011 games in 2011 (assuming that's what you meant by "a year ago")? Because if so, you haven't listed one.

The point still stands that for the same price as my computer (400 + 80 (GC) + 125 (Processor) I bought a PS3 ($280) and 8 games.

You may get somewhat better graphics on the PC, but it is a helluva lot more expensive.

Unless you need a computer for things like word processing and internet browsing anyway, in which case the PC costs an extra $200 for high quality gaming, while the PS3 runs anywhere from $250-$600 depending on when in its lifecycle you buy/bought it. You might have had a case last gen, where the PS2 eventually dropped to $50-$100 at the end of its life cycle, but it's just not accurate anymore.

 

[truestatic]

Welp, you're more than welcome to play with me and my group of bros. I can understand feeling excluded from a circle like this, but as a PC gamer, over my time in various communities for various games, I have made a bunch of very good online friends who I have a great time with and play with frequently. Since the death of the split screen experience, I don't think there's a lot of difference between making connections with like minded gamers online, and playing with your RL pals, each in your own living room. Spread your wings. Find good people, internationally if necessary. We exist, and we're great company.

Cheers!

 

[lacktheknack]

It may be inferior hardware, but it is much more fun to play on my 103" mega-fallus television.

Hook up your computer to your TV with a gamepad.

(world explodes)

(Turns out it's an 11-year-old crappy P.C. and the images it projects across the screen for the 0.6 seconds before the GPU melts are fugly)

(If you have a crappy 11 year old computer and a 103" mega-phallus TV, you're doing it wrong)

 

[Something Amyss]

I hate K+M, and I'm not a graphics whore. People can preach to me the powerful tools of a proper graphics card or an interface I hate for gaming, but I don't care. It's not even about my couch.

Never really got the problem, anyway: You can buy and play with friends, or stick to your moral high ground and game alone, aloof and superior. Or you can spend twice as much to try and split the difference. Something for everyone.

 

[darksakul]

I want to point out Mass Effect 3 is going to have a PS3 release

 

[Jbowdown]

Not quite seeing where I am spewing ignorance. I bought a mid-range PC for $400 a year ago. I threw in an upgraded processor and graphics card. It ran Oblivion well, Fallout 3 well. any game this year? Nada. 7-8 FPS. Even on lowest.

Or are you saying my experience is not what I experienced?

The point still stands that for the same price as my computer (400 + 80 (GC) + 125 (Processor) I bought a PS3 ($280) and 8 games.

You may get somewhat better graphics on the PC, but it is a helluva lot more expensive.

I'm now actually quite interested in the hardware you had in your pre-built system and what you 'upgraded' it with. An $80 GPU and a $125 CPU is still on the low-end of the spectrum in each of the respective hardware categories. It seems to me that you upgraded your low-end system with just more low-end parts. Also, free advice for everyone reading this, don't ever buy a pre-built PC unless you know for a fact that it has a clean or OEM version of Windows 7 64-bit on it. Powerspec and Sager are good examples of a companies that uses clean installations on their retail computers. Much of the bottleneck on name-brand computers will come from the 20-30 extra background processes and programs these companies install on the system combined with all the limitations a 32-bit OS now has for gaming.

My system has cost me around 1,100 dollars last year after a few upgrades to the $800 base model I bought and I'd consider that a mid-range gaming computer. Even my 'mid-range' computer plays every game I throw at it on ultra-high settings with at least 4x AA on without a hit on FPS (this includes New Vegas, Skyrim high-res pack, Crysis and Deus Ex: HR to name a few). But of course I don't just game on it as I also use it as a media server, for web-browsing, business, and Video/Audio Editing (of which the first editing job paid for the cost of the original unit). Computers are like cars, spend a little more on quality components and you'll more than make up the cost in the added longevity of the product.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I prefer the feel of a nice controller in my hands over an awkward keyboard and mouse where I have a million button maps to remember.

Yes I know I can get a 360 controller for the PC. I still don't care though. Also my computer is crap, I quite happy to not spend £500+ for a new one to then buy a £40 game to go with it. I'll just use my perfectly functional 360.

I'm quite the opposite. The 360 controller is uncomfortable for me and I just know the Gamecube controller has seen the last of it's usability for me. I don't even own a Wii. Keyboard and precision mouse control FTW!

Also I like my shiny tray. I'm using it right now!

Spoiler: I'm just going to giggle and post this here.

My thoughts on tablets can be explained elsewhere.