Jimquisition: The Beautiful Irony of PC Gaming

Jun 11, 2008
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Kapol said:
My main problem with PC gaming is (and this is something I'll likely take a lot of crap for and is entirely personal preference) the mouse and keyboard layout. I hate mouse and keyboard. It drives me insane. Don't get me wrong, I still play some that require it from time to time. Games like Killing Floor get used every so often. But, as I'm getting more into PC gaming thanks to having a decent laptop and a fairly good gaming rig, I normally just end up using my wired 360 controller at this point. But not having controller as an option has caused me to not buy games I otherwise would have bought in a heartbeat.

Other then that, my problem with the main platform of PC gaming, Steam, is that you don't actually own your games and they reserve the right to take access to them away from you for just about any reason they can think of. That, for me, is a major problem. And since a lot of bigger-named games are using Steam as their DRM, it makes it unavoidable.

I do think that it's fairly funny that the same group who says 'graphics don't matter as much as gameplay' to defend their 'system of choice' so quickly go to the fact that PC games can have better graphics as a defense.
You do know that is the is more or less the same with every game. Go read the Terms for Black Ops or any other game and they basically state you have bought a "licence" to use one copy of the game. Technically speaking you can't even lend games to your friends.
 

Mana Fiend

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Alas, I'm running my gaming on a laptop with integrated graphics, so I can't get my copy of Amnesia to run. Heck, it's even bugging trying to run 2-player TF2. True, I do love games like Cthulhu Saves the World, Torchlight and Recattear (wow, 3 RPGs... Guess my favourite genre :p), but the reason why I prefer home consoles to PCs is that I like to sit back with a controller in hand and look over the situation presented on screen. Plus, I suck at shooters and RTSes, so having a keyboard and mouse over a controller is not a major problem.

However, I do have to agree that the versitility of a PC is wonderful. My steam is chock full of little indie games that wouldn't exist on a console, such as The Path (in fact, anything by Tale of Tales), Beat Hazard and the afformentioned Recattear. It's just that I prefer to play with a controller than a mouse.

Still, excellent video, and a discussion I often have with my more PC-focused brother.
 

Kapol

Watch the spinning tails...
May 2, 2010
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Glademaster said:
Kapol said:
My main problem with PC gaming is (and this is something I'll likely take a lot of crap for and is entirely personal preference) the mouse and keyboard layout. I hate mouse and keyboard. It drives me insane. Don't get me wrong, I still play some that require it from time to time. Games like Killing Floor get used every so often. But, as I'm getting more into PC gaming thanks to having a decent laptop and a fairly good gaming rig, I normally just end up using my wired 360 controller at this point. But not having controller as an option has caused me to not buy games I otherwise would have bought in a heartbeat.

Other then that, my problem with the main platform of PC gaming, Steam, is that you don't actually own your games and they reserve the right to take access to them away from you for just about any reason they can think of. That, for me, is a major problem. And since a lot of bigger-named games are using Steam as their DRM, it makes it unavoidable.

I do think that it's fairly funny that the same group who says 'graphics don't matter as much as gameplay' to defend their 'system of choice' so quickly go to the fact that PC games can have better graphics as a defense.
You do know that is the is more or less the same with every game. Go read the Terms for Black Ops or any other game and they basically state you have bought a "licence" to use one copy of the game. Technically speaking you can't even lend games to your friends.
True, but normally you can only get banned from single games unless you do something like get caught pirating on consoles. And even then, bans are hard to 'earn.' I've heard many a story of people doing nothing and getting banned from Steam, cutting them off from access to every single steam game they have, online and off. It's not like Sony or Microsoft is just going to come to your house and take your physical copies if you get banned from their systems.

What doesn't help is that Steam has horrible customer support from what I hear. Again, I've never had to deal with them thankfully, but I've heard multiple stories from many different people saying the Steam support isn't very good. And so if you want to appeal your banning, then you're going to have to deal with that on top of the ban itself.

I do understand what you mean though. Technically, I suppose many of these companies COULD come to your house and take your games... though I've never heard of that happening and would be shocked if it ever did.
 

Swifteye

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Apr 15, 2010
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Matthew94 said:
Swifteye said:
Matthew94 said:
Swifteye said:
Matthew94 said:
Swifteye said:
Hm. Well as someone who has tried getting into PC gaming I have some issues with your statements Mr. sterling. For one thing when you say people can play most pc games what kind of games are you referring to? Anyone can play the endless sea of flash games but actual games that you buy welllll. Okay. So I have a new windows 7 computer right? Okay I didn't build it myself it was a gift from my father so it's new and I keep it running well. Okay then lets go and play Spore that game came out a year or so ago and I actually liked it. Won't really run on my windows 7. Okay. Lets play dragon age instead. It works! For a day. After a whole day of playing my computer needs to empty out all the cache and restart just to get rid of the lag the game gives me and this is even with special software just to run video games better.

Ya know that doom game you were talking about? I hate doom and all shooting games especially during that era but ya know what I did play back then? Point and click adventure games like pajama sam and cluefinders. and I can't really play those things on my windows 7 either. Luckily I have an old vista laptop that can play those games but still. New hardware sometimes has some serious roadblocks for old software. That said I can get privateer and some old games to run on my system but it's a shot in the dark to do so.

One of these days i'm going to buy a computer piece by piece and get all the specs checked out and even build it with my own two hands. That computer will get me into PC gaming no problem and pretty much any game new or old would run well and all these problems would go away. But so far that Computer has been estimated to be about 770 dollars. Kind of more expensive than say buying a PS3 getting a littlebig planet combo deal that bundles an extra controller. and then just getting a 50 dollar gift card for psn and going to town. You have some nice points but it still doesn't negate the fact that PCs are a variable system and nothing is quite concrete as it is when you get a console.
Do you even have a dedicated GPU?
Hmm. I might not. I should know this but I can't think of what that is.
GPU aka Graphics Card

If you don't have a dedicated one then that is why it's hard to run any new games.
That's probably it cause I remember trying to play total war shogun 2 and it was just unplayable I mean cut scenes just completely lagged and everything was unmovable. And I find that really annoying. This is a relatively fresh computer and the fact that a game a couple years younger can be unplayable. Well it says alot without saying too much.
All it says is your dad bought you a bad PC for gaming.

Just get a decent GPU and make sure you have a spare PCIe socket and can afford the extra power draw and install it, it will make games run fine.
*sigh* I don't really want to fiddle with the insides of my computer given that it's the only one in the house that really works. I'd rather just have my computer like it is now play games on my consoles and then when I get around to building another computer i'll make a note about the graphics card.
 
Jun 11, 2008
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Kapol said:
Glademaster said:
Kapol said:
My main problem with PC gaming is (and this is something I'll likely take a lot of crap for and is entirely personal preference) the mouse and keyboard layout. I hate mouse and keyboard. It drives me insane. Don't get me wrong, I still play some that require it from time to time. Games like Killing Floor get used every so often. But, as I'm getting more into PC gaming thanks to having a decent laptop and a fairly good gaming rig, I normally just end up using my wired 360 controller at this point. But not having controller as an option has caused me to not buy games I otherwise would have bought in a heartbeat.

Other then that, my problem with the main platform of PC gaming, Steam, is that you don't actually own your games and they reserve the right to take access to them away from you for just about any reason they can think of. That, for me, is a major problem. And since a lot of bigger-named games are using Steam as their DRM, it makes it unavoidable.

I do think that it's fairly funny that the same group who says 'graphics don't matter as much as gameplay' to defend their 'system of choice' so quickly go to the fact that PC games can have better graphics as a defense.
You do know that is the is more or less the same with every game. Go read the Terms for Black Ops or any other game and they basically state you have bought a "licence" to use one copy of the game. Technically speaking you can't even lend games to your friends.
True, but normally you can only get banned from single games unless you do something like get caught pirating on consoles. And even then, bans are hard to 'earn.' I've heard many a story of people doing nothing and getting banned from Steam, cutting them off from access to every single steam game they have, online and off. It's not like Sony or Microsoft is just going to come to your house and take your physical copies if you get banned from their systems.

What doesn't help is that Steam has horrible customer support from what I hear. Again, I've never had to deal with them thankfully, but I've heard multiple stories from many different people saying the Steam support isn't very good. And so if you want to appeal your banning, then you're going to have to deal with that on top of the ban itself.

I do understand what you mean though. Technically, I suppose many of these companies COULD come to your house and take your games... though I've never heard of that happening and would be shocked if it ever did.
The only reason it happens more often on Steam is that it is easier on Steam and the only complaint I would have with Steam support is that they are a bit slow but other than that they have been fine for me. Although usually when that happens in the wrong they do get their accounts back from what I have heard.
 

Vigormortis

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CManator said:
Ok i can understand RTS and P&C, but FPS just baffles me. I don't play fps much anyway but it's beyond me how the left and right sticks are flawed for it of how m&k are better suited. Maybe I just lack imagination.

As for the hardware, no idea. Due to never owning my own pc, i'm pretty computarded. I can run programs and internets well enough, but specs are foreign to me. I may have to get a friend to explain this stuff to me afte I get it. I pretty much overheard my friend talking about giving their pc away and jumped at the offer. It'll be nice to join the 21st century lol
Well, controllers are inherently flawed for first-person gaming because they impose an unnecessary delay in how quickly you can turn. Think of it this way. Let's say you want to move move a cup full of water from one spot on the table to another. What's the quickest way to do it? Freely moving it by picking it up and placing where you want? Or, sliding it to the desired position, having to do it slowly so as to not spill? The same logic applies to a controller. With an analog stick, you are limited to how far you can tilt it. Then, after you do, you have to wait for the game to turn your character to where you want. It's not only slower, it's less accurate. Whereas with a mouse, you are free to move it as far as you want, provided you have the desk space. This lets you be as fast, slow, and accurate as you want. There's even been studies performed that indicate the vast differences in performance, reaction time, and accuracy when comparing mice to analog sticks. If I had a link, I'd post it.

Regardless, on to the free PC. If you can find out the hardware specs, let me know. I'd be more the willing to help you upgrade (if the need/desire is there) so it'll play just about anything you want. :)
 

qeinar

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Graphics has never really meant the world to me when it comes to a game, so using it as a arguemnt for getting a pc have just seemed a tad wrong (although some people i know will go: "awmahgawd insane graphics i need this to live O_O", at that point it's hard to not point out they'd get a better experience with it on pc, since well the graphics will be better there). Most of the people i know that don't tend to play pc, but stick to consoles usually have the complaint that they wanna sit on the couch and play on the tv with a controller, to which i usually respond: well you can do that on a pc aswell. You can have any setup you like with a pc, which is one of it's strengths.
 

5t3v0

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anthony87 said:
Fair play for talking about PC graphics and not bringing up Crysis.
This isn't about graphics. If it were, it would be mentioned every second word or something.

o/t: One thing I love about PC gaming is actually getting in there and building one. I think us hardware-heads don't upgrade yearly because we NEED to. Some get this euphoric feeling over it, knowing that you built something yourself.
 

Vigormortis

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Kakulukia said:
Vigormortis said:
Can you play [...] every PS1 game on your PS3? I thought not.
Yes you can. You should have gone with PS2 in your example... :p

OT: Good points, but I still prefer consoles, more specifically the PS3, because its exclusives are fucking awesome. And my shitty laptop can play most of the games he mentioned in the video, so I'm only missing out on games that do require a massive rig. And they mostly don't interest me.
Actually, thank you for pointing that out. That's actually what I meant. I should probably fix that in the original post.

bombadilillo said:
So your arguement about price gets blown away and you pretend that wasnt the point at all??

Funny because you post was entirely about price, nice try but changing the subject does not work. You know what I have? I got a n64 and NES all hooked up to a crt in my garage, so yeah, I CAN play all those old games too. So You can argue convenience, but I still don't have to buy SMB 3 again. ;)

The point stands, you pay 50$ a new release that I can rent for dirt cheep. So in the long, short and medium runs, console is cheaper. Try and refute that without wondering off on tangents.
I'm sorry but, is this a joke? This has to be a joke. It's almost like you're not even reading or really responding to my, or even your own, original post. Either that or you're just trolling me. I'm thinkin' the latter.

It's funny to me that, after addressing every point you try to counter me with, you just try to pass it off as me "changing the subject". Seems to me you have no reasonable argument or counter-point and are just defaulting to repeating yourself and insulting me. At the same time, you only reenforce my point.

You have Super Mario Bros 3? Good for you. So do I. I guess we can both go and play it again. But what about, say, something more recent? Or even something a year or so old? Let's go back and play Batman: Arkham Asylum. I'm sorry, what's that? You only rented it back then? Oh, that's a shame. I guess you'll have to pay for it again if you want to play along. Gee, seems to me you're gonna pay more to play it over time than I paid to get it once and play forever.

But, this is all moot. I said this exact same thing in my first post but you either over looked it, didn't comprehend it, or just actively ignored it because you had no reasonable retort except to repeat yourself and say I was "wondering off on tangents". And, frankly, I expect the same thing to occur with this post. Either way, I'm just going to ignore you.

Oh, and by the way. Saying you can still go back and play SMB3 doesn't help your case buddy. You bought that game back in the day. That's why you can go back and play it again. If you had only rented it, you'd be s.o.l.

[edit] Upon taking a quick glance at your profile, I notice you're already up to six ticks in your forum health meter. Why does this not surprise me?
 

ImprovizoR

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I'm a PC gamer so I know for a very long time that graphics don't make a good game. How else would you explain that vanilla Morrowind is better than modded Oblivion. Or that the most played game on Steam is still Counter Strike 1.6!!! Most PC gamers I know also don't care about graphics that much. All they care about is frames per second. I see it everywhere. PC gamers that I know have no problem running the game on lowest settings if they can get more frames per second. We just love playing at 60+ fps. Sure I like a pretty game too, but there are only a few games that actually benefit from amazing graphics. Crysis for example, wouldn't be half as fun if it wasn't a graphical marvel.
Atmosphere is more important than polygons and other graphical effects. New Deus Ex is a perfect example. Most Source games look better than Deus Ex in terms of graphics, but the atmosphere is top-notch. I really dog the black and yellow it uses as a canvas for everything.
 

TsunamiWombat

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A Chainsword, fantastic! Swift Justice or Hells Teeth pattern? It looks like Swift Justice. It's definatly not Hecate - Hecates are rounded off and are lighter for parrying.

...Why yes, I am a nerd.
 

Jumplion

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bahumat42 said:
Again not really?
stating a fact doesnt mean that you can't have you opinions that disagree with it. For example take this
Avatar is a beautiful movie
But i hate it.
(both true facts but lets not divert the topic too much)

Another example would be to say i was trying to convince somebody that aston martins are amazing cars, primarily i love them due to their looks and everything else is unimportant to me, but in the case of trying to convince some body of other tastes then the point of its speed or mileage would be valid to raise.
That's not what I'm trying to say. From where I stand, you're saying that these are just opinions. I'm saying that these are inconsistencies from fervent PC gamers (and make no mistake, I am one as well).

It's more like, say, if someone was going on about how visuals don't matter in a story, and then lambasting someone for having a 24-inch Plasma TV when their 46-inch LCD brings out a much higher quality picture with three times the refresh rate. Or, say, someone goes on to state how they don't care how bad their car looks so long as it gives good mileage, and then one day goes off about aesthetics of aerodynamic cars and sleek design scoffing at others who can't keep up with modern design.

Now, there's a difference between simply trying to get the best out of your machine, graphics-wise or not, and just doing a 180 in the "graphics don't matter" department which is what I see at times.
 

42

Australian Justice
Jan 30, 2010
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Baneat said:
sir.rutthed said:
Error 200 Stream not found. Please fix.
Works just fine.

A: What's that big sword?
B: What's that game that looked like Serious Sam but had a few weapons I haven't seen?
It's Serious Sam 3!!! with new weapons!!!
 

Hyper-space

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Nov 25, 2008
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As a great man once said: "Thank God, for me".

Beautiful episodes and THE reason for your continued contribution to this site.
 

Iron Lightning

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Oct 19, 2009
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Wow, I completely agree. I never thought I'd say that about one of Jim's videos.

Also, a half-mainstream gaming show mentioned The Void which means it might be finally coming into the public consciousness, awesome.
 

Not G. Ivingname

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Nov 18, 2009
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Jim Sterling said:
Why didn't you mention currently the best selling game on PC right now, Minecraft?

It runs on about anything that runs FLASH, it would of been laughed at in the quack era by its graphics alone, yet it has sold more copies of any game ever before its official release.