PC Gaming is Cool And All... But...

[Waaghpowa]

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Allow me to refer you to posts made by:

Dexter111
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/9.306929.12359215

And Ultratwinkie
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/9.306929.12359607

People have been claiming doomsday of PC gaming since the 80's.

Who here owns both a PC AND a console?

Me, but mainly because I love the Metal Gear series too much to miss.

 

[CodeOrange]

Console, PC.

Ain't nothin but forks and spoons. There are things eaten with a fork, things eaten with a spoon, some things can be eaten with either, but no real conflict amongst silverware.

EDIT: Goddamn, you people and your sporks. From now on, when I tell this analogy, I'm gonna mention every utensil I can think of.

Emulators?

Dohoho.

 

[Waaghpowa]

People have been claiming doomsday of PC gaming since the 80's.

Who here owns both a PC AND a console?

Me, but mainly because I love the Metal Gear series too much to miss.

You mean you own a Metal Gear to TV adapter, not a PS3 =D

Same thing.

 

[Throwitawaynow]

more functional

You were being sarcastic right? PC games require like 5 minutes of checking every time you want to play, you're usually reliant on other companies servers. The downloading, installing, updating always take longer than consoles. Consoles are FAR more functional than pcs.

 

[Racecarlock]

See, if PC gamers want to claim that PCs > Consoles, then fine.

My problem is when they shout it in your face or when they start whole threads about how they are somehow "superior" to the rest of the gaming community.

You chose to play a video game on your PC rather than play it on a video game system. Good God, you're a shining beacon of human achievement.

This. Oh god so much this. Congratulations, you can navigate hundreds of tedious and unintuitive menus and know what game stats mean. What do you want? A freaking medal? I will say though that one big thing that PC gamers around here never seem to mention but the PC has going for it is freeware games. These are games released under the public license that you can get for no charge whatsoever. You want to play pinball? Future pinball along with some table downloads has your back. Want a good yet open source space flight and trading sim? Get vega strike. Want a free MMORPG and RTS combined? Savage fucking 2. I haven't seen any of that on the console marketplaces yet. But I do prefer console controls more. And no, I am not going to defend that because I already have, several times. The guy I was defending to was just too stubborn to let me use my game pads in peace.

 

[scott91575]

more functional

You were being sarcastic right? PC games require like 5 minutes of checking every time you want to play, you're usually reliant on other companies servers. The downloading, installing, updating always take longer than consoles. Consoles are FAR more functional than pcs.

I don't know what games you are playing. Dedicated servers are in no way a bad thing. Being reliant on one company's server is not a good thing. Although, on PC, if you want, you can still stick to the developer's/publisher's servers (in many games it is just like consoles where there are not any dedicated servers, and something many PC gamers hate).

If people want to make a legit point about PC multiplayer, I will hand one to you. It's much easier to cheat on the PC. That is the one thing I do not like.

 

[mrwoo6]

Just to point out, cross platform gaming will never be truly balanced because the precision of mouse and keyboard is too far ahead of controllers to keep it balanced.

Except for the fact that its not... Common myth number one spread by PC gamers. The range of depth on a mouse for aiming is the exact same as any analog stick. Most console games do have an aiming support, but thats mostly to help offset lag issues. While we could argue back and forth all day between how precise you nudge your mouse compared to how precise I can nudge my analog stick, its just easier to call BS and say it comes down to preference.

As for PC gaming, I honestly think its a trend thats dying out quickly. As soon as consoles get some of the benefits of Steam, and can handle a massive ammount of data storage, PC gaming will start to die off. The only thing keeping PC gaming alive is indie developers, pirates, and Steam (and Steam-like services).

The problem with PC's is compatability. More often than not getting a computer that will run every game is downright impossible. Its entirely too much of a hastle, and its not something that can spread mass appeal. Gaming consoles don't need you to install drivers, to install the games, etc. And once they can get to the point where they openly embrace mods and have a price cut to games (and/or daily deals, like Steam), PC gaming is really going to take a hit - just cattering to indie devs and MMORPGers

At this point I am sick of this, and it's an outright lie. I have no issues playing games on PC. As for installing, see my point earlier. The time it takes to install is way less the added time to the loading screens you see in consoles.

Your mouse vs. analog stick point is laughable. If you honestly think the aiming assist is there for lag, then why is it not needed for PC's? PC's don't use a special style of internet. For lag you modify the hit box, not add in aiming assist. Plus, if it's for lag why is it there for single player?

Oh, and good luck playing a RTS with a controller.

BTW...PC gaming is a $16+ Billion industry and growing at a 20% rate. If anything, consoles are scared by the fact computers are taking new forms and stealing away huge chunks of their revenue.

I was agree with you, right up until you had go and say; BTW...PC gaming is a $16+ Billion industry and growing at a 20% rate. If anything, consoles are scared by the fact computers are taking new forms and stealing away huge chunks of their revenue.

Sure we do take some of there revenue, but "huge chunks?" That's just laughable. PC gaming doesn't even slightly scare consoles in terms of revenue.

 

[JET1971]

My feeling has always been that the human interface hardware is what most defined what you were using. Software is massively interchangeable and you can kludge pretty much anything into working anywhere... but there is no substituting a joystick in a fighting game, or a mouse in RTS, or a gamepad in a platformer, or a wheel for a driving game.

or KB/Mouse in a MMO or RPG. and a joystick in a flight sim.

But still having a gamepad on a console is not an advantage. Thats what annoys me in these topics is console players repeating some propaganda they heard that is completly untrue.

 

[Penguin_Factory]

Also, and this is where I'll probably lose most people, I think controllers are more natural feeling than a mouse an keyboard.

I prefer console controllers for third person games and and anything involving land based vehicles, and keyboard/mouse for everything else. Especially FPS games. Console FPS controls have improved greatly this generation, but I still can't quite get used to aiming with an analogue stick.

 

[Karma168]

That said, consoles are cheaper initially but are outdated and have to be completely replaced. PCs cost more at the start but upgrading can be cheaper.

I've never understood that argument. Say i can by a cutting edge top of the line gaming pc for £1000 or the new console for £400. That pc will have to last maybe 12+ years (2.5 console cycles) before it's become cheaper, add to that you've likely replaced the 'guts' of the computer at least twice in that time then you're looking at maybe 15 years before it's better.

 

[Jerubbaal]

more functional

You were being sarcastic right? PC games require like 5 minutes of checking every time you want to play, you're usually reliant on other companies servers. The downloading, installing, updating always take longer than consoles. Consoles are FAR more functional than pcs.

5 minutes? All I have to do is double click ventrilo, double click steam, and check that my mouse, headphones, and powercord are plugged in. Takes me less time than it takes to start up a console.

 

[scott91575]

Just to point out, cross platform gaming will never be truly balanced because the precision of mouse and keyboard is too far ahead of controllers to keep it balanced.

Except for the fact that its not... Common myth number one spread by PC gamers. The range of depth on a mouse for aiming is the exact same as any analog stick. Most console games do have an aiming support, but thats mostly to help offset lag issues. While we could argue back and forth all day between how precise you nudge your mouse compared to how precise I can nudge my analog stick, its just easier to call BS and say it comes down to preference.

As for PC gaming, I honestly think its a trend thats dying out quickly. As soon as consoles get some of the benefits of Steam, and can handle a massive ammount of data storage, PC gaming will start to die off. The only thing keeping PC gaming alive is indie developers, pirates, and Steam (and Steam-like services).

The problem with PC's is compatability. More often than not getting a computer that will run every game is downright impossible. Its entirely too much of a hastle, and its not something that can spread mass appeal. Gaming consoles don't need you to install drivers, to install the games, etc. And once they can get to the point where they openly embrace mods and have a price cut to games (and/or daily deals, like Steam), PC gaming is really going to take a hit - just cattering to indie devs and MMORPGers

At this point I am sick of this, and it's an outright lie. I have no issues playing games on PC. As for installing, see my point earlier. The time it takes to install is way less the added time to the loading screens you see in consoles.

Your mouse vs. analog stick point is laughable. If you honestly think the aiming assist is there for lag, then why is it not needed for PC's? PC's don't use a special style of internet. For lag you modify the hit box, not add in aiming assist. Plus, if it's for lag why is it there for single player?

Oh, and good luck playing a RTS with a controller.

BTW...PC gaming is a $16+ Billion industry and growing at a 20% rate. If anything, consoles are scared by the fact computers are taking new forms and stealing away huge chunks of their revenue.

I was agree with you, right up until you had go and say; BTW...PC gaming is a $16+ Billion industry and growing at a 20% rate. If anything, consoles are scared by the fact computers are taking new forms and stealing away huge chunks of their revenue.

Sure we do take some of there revenue, but "huge chunks?" That's just laughable. PC gaming doesn't even slightly scare consoles in terms of revenue.

All you have to do is look at the mobile market. That is the harbinger. Mobile operating systems that work on anything from phones to tablets are taking away from what was a huge market for Nintendo and a lesser degree Sony. Operating systems and hardware advances that allow gaming on a multitude of devices are something that scares companies like Nintendo and Sony. Microsoft is trying to be a part of it and they don't rely on their console as much, but you can already see how Nintendo took a big hit on their 3DS and the pricing of the Sony Vita.

People are starting to want something that works across all their platforms, from their desktop to laptop to tablet to phone. That is something consoles do not offer by being such a closed source. They are trying to branch out into offering things you find on PC's, but it's still really limited.

 

[Throwitawaynow]

more functional

You were being sarcastic right? PC games require like 5 minutes of checking every time you want to play, you're usually reliant on other companies servers. The downloading, installing, updating always take longer than consoles. Consoles are FAR more functional than pcs.

I don't know what games you are playing. Dedicated servers are in no way a bad thing. Being reliant on one company's server is not a good thing. Although, on PC, if you want, you can still stick to the developer's/publisher's servers (in many games it is just like consoles where there are not any dedicated servers, and something many PC gamers hate).

If people want to make a legit point about PC multiplayer, I will hand one to you. It's much easier to cheat on the PC. That is the one thing I do not like.

I meant like ubisoft servers that went down and screwed over people. I recently got ME2 because I had it for xbox 360 and wanted to play it again (it was that free deal). You had to download the game, and each individual DLC seperately. They were also on different pages. You then had to install the dlcs in the correct folder and registering them to your account. You also had to sign in like 3 times in the specific site, the ea site, then again when you got everything to confirm. For witcher 2 I had to create a GOG account, log in download it, confirm the paypal account, register on the witcher 2 site then after loading it up multiple times for patching and troll dlc.

If any of that was on a console it would consist of putting in the cd and click update, download dlc while inside the game without even having to exit.

 

[Throwitawaynow]

more functional

You were being sarcastic right? PC games require like 5 minutes of checking every time you want to play, you're usually reliant on other companies servers. The downloading, installing, updating always take longer than consoles. Consoles are FAR more functional than pcs.

5 minutes? All I have to do is double click ventrilo, double click steam, and check that my mouse, headphones, and powercord are plugged in. Takes me less time than it takes to start up a console.

Double click ventrilo, connect to server, server is full. Double click steam, update steam, restart, double click game, update game, if counter strike download map, go in game tell them server is full. Connect to ventrilo again.

Edit: not to mention the installing, and downloading of steam and game. And launching a pc takes longer than launching a console.