PC gaming is dead to me now.

[Vampire cat]

My first PC I had for 6 years. Every game I ever tried to play on that exept one (a game I don't even remember, so can't have been very interestin XD) worked without any head pain. Last summer I got a new one, it came to me defective and I was too lazy to send it back so I dealt with a lot of crashes... Now I've had it repaired, and again there are no problems. I'm not facing a single game that I cannot just install and play.

I think I may be extremely lucky when it comes to PC gaming, possibly gaming in general. I have yet to see a single bug while playing Skyrim, Fallout: New Vegas was a nearly flawless experience, I've only ever seen the blue screen of death two times (on my school-issued laptop), and my taste in gaming fits perfectly with many of the more recent free-to-play MMO's showing up, as well as last years biggest titles that are considered best on the PC.

---

On the other hand, my brother and I had a PS2... It took FOREVER to load even the smallest detail, and the lack of updates, patches, mods and addons didn't allow for a life anywhere near as long. Then I played on my roomies PS3, and it may just be the games I played but it barely loads any faster than the PS2 XD.

N64 though... Couple of my favorite games of all time are on there =3.

 

[Sirron Kcuch]

I have a 360 for high end games and a low end PC for stuff like Gmod, TF2, Quake III and HL2, which are the best PC games, in my opinion.

I think that should be normal, since the best part of PC gaming is free online, Steam (it's awesome), mods and keyboard and mouse (arguably). You get the best of both worlds at a reasonable price.

I mean, everybody has a computer that can run HL2 nowadays.
And you don't need a super awesome computer to run BF3, because you already have an Xbox, PS3 or whatever.

"But BF on PC is sooo much better"
Suck it up, investing on a powerful PC when owning a console is retarded. Especially since it's just slight differences in gaming

 

[Evil_Noodles]

SWTOR ended up sucking anyways no thanks to it being a rip off clone to an MMO that's over seven years old and shouldn't matter anymore. And since Diablo 3 isn't coming to any console, I say I care less to that too.

Get. The. Fuck. Out.

I seriously just spat tea all over my desk. A* buddy.

 

[ElPatron]

PC gaming has its plusses, but for many people, it's not an economic or long-term solution, and frankly, the attitude of PC gamers alone makes me not want to play.

- Cheap initial investment (250? 3 years ago was cheap compared to a PS3)
- Upgradeable (in 3 years, did not have any new parts because it didn't need anything to run newer games)
- Cheaper games (45-50? for a new game, compared to )
- Replay value of modded games
- You can get a good gaming screen for as low as 200?, let's see you buying an HDTV for less than 400?
(note, you might already have a HDTV, but people who buy computers also scavenge their screens so it's a win for PC)
- Multiplayer. Few games have P2P connection, most have dedicated servers. No host advantage issues, and no annoying host migration.
- It's also a work station. You can't do school work/anything related to your job in a console (although you can read your email in some)


You're already losing money by buying a console.



Trust me, I own a 360 and a PSP-3004 (bought this Christmas, buying consoles and operative systems is like surgery. Don't let a med student chop you, wait at least 5 years)

I have a 360 for high end games and a low end PC for stuff like Gmod, TF2, Quake III and HL2, which are the best PC games, in my opinion.

I think that should be normal, since the best part of PC gaming is free online, Steam (it's awesome), mods and keyboard and mouse (arguably). You get the best of both worlds at a reasonable price.

I mean, everybody has a computer that can run HL2 nowadays.
And you don't need a super awesome computer to run BF3, because you already have an Xbox, PS3 or whatever.

"But BF on PC is sooo much better"
Suck it up, investing on a powerful PC when owning a console is retarded. Especially since it's just slight differences in gaming

Refer to the part where I said I have a 250? computer that is 3 years old and can run Crysis/BF3 at 1680x1050 (some stuff high, other very high)with no problems.


"HURR I NEED $2500 TO RUN A GAME ONLY A FEW MONTHS OLD"

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

I will never understand why this is a goddamn debate!!

SOME PEOPLE LIKE PC GAMING. For a variety of understandable, normal reasons!

SOME PEOPLE LIKE CONSOLE GAMING. Also for a variety of understandable, normal reasons!

THIS. IS. NOT. A. FUCKING. CLASS. WAR. "PC master race" is a myth. Treat each other's hobbies; and more to the point, each other, with some fucking respect. I might not be able to stop you all spouting moronic half-truths at each other but I can damn well voice my disapproval. It's just plain embarrassing.

- You can get a good gaming screen for as low as 200?, let's see you buying an HDTV for less than 400?

As far as I'm concerned, the clincher on this kind of thing is thus: you can plug your PC into an HDTV. You can purchase a USB Xbox 360 controller on the cheap that pretty much all Windows games have support for out-of-the-box. Combine 'em?

Console experience with PC hardware; hey presto. No console does that. (Of course the cons of PC gaming still rear their ugly heads, but the experience is mostly identical, if not superior due to smoother frame rates 'n junk)

 

[CAPPINJACK]

Obvious troll is obvious.

He posted and replied once. Hit and run troll.

 

[Bvenged]

You do know that being a console gamer is an embarrassment. And you will be thrown in with the crowds of frat-boy CoD players, and be despised by pretty much everyone.

Also, who uses a sound card anymore?

I'm an ex-PC gamer turned console player; and while I have my own reasons for quitting & yet almost completely disagree with the OPs reasons, I think your post is unjust. I refuse to touch COD, I dabble in halo and enjoy Battlefield. I just purchased The Sims 3, had unbound fun with From Dust, run hundred of old ladies over on Saints Row and ploughed my way through 3 play-throughs of Skyrim. Not once have I regretted switching from PC to 360.

Console gaming didn't get popular for its limitations, it got popular for its mainstream protocols, cheap simplicity and easy social connectivity - basically it's newbie-friendly. While I am saving up for a new PC to tank BF3 and Skyrim with more freedom, I do not regret one bit buying them for console. While PC gaming would better suit someone like me I just can't resist the hassle-free HDMI widescreen TV surround sound no-frills approach to entertainment that the console market has. It's not an embarrassment to me and I'm a total computer nerd. I know you can do all of that with a computer but it's gonna' cost you an ungodly amount of faffing around; and while I'm completely up for that A LOT of people aren't and it's just so much damn cheaper to stick to something like a games console. It was the fact that MOST of my friends weren't up for that hassle with PC gaming that I made the switch to consoles for them.

I get disturbed more by "frat-boy Cod players" in online forums than I ever do on console. Simple solution there on the console, mute/block communications. Or my best advice would be to not play such a personally lowly game.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

I can't even get a mod to work on Minecraft, I'm that hopeless. The thought of putting 900 or so bucks into a decent gaming PC only to find walls of requirements and tinkering just to get a game to work scares me.

Now, that would be a point if you couldn't get the actual game to work, but you can. So what are you trying to say, that because modding is too complicated for you (never mind that there are complete step by step tutorials everywhere you download mods from in the first place), PC gaming is too complicated?

Well... yeah.

I've taken a step by step tutorial to try and install the program that let's you download mods and get them to work. I don't know what it is, but I am legitimately hopeless when it comes to computer technology. I can sit down all day if I have to, but I'll never figure it out. I have a few games on my lab top that I downloaded from steam, and CoD 4 required Punkbuster to work (my Labtop couldn't handle it in the first place). I literally had no idea where to start when it popped up. Looked up tutorials, got confused within the first ten seconds. Missed steps, didn't understand what the person meant as his folder looked different than mine.

I really do envy PC gaming and people who are generally good with code and tech savvy stuff. But I am very much not ready for it. Words like video cards and drivers fly over my head, and I'm too much of a lazy person to really take the time and research it.

 

[Magnus]

Great, and now you can get a 360 and eventually get to the granny-shagging stage of owning a an X-Box, you know when you're afraid to turn it on in case the next time it dies on you

 

[Memoriae]

That's exaclty why I don't play PC games either. I always run into some issue whether minor or major that takes hours of googling to find a solution that someone found on some forum. And, I'm very knowlegdeable about PCs too, I have a Bachelor's in computer networking. I'd rather just pop the game into my PS3, sit on my recliner in front of my TV, invert the y-axis, and get to playing right away without any tweaking. I kinda love tweaking everything on my PC too; I hacked and edited the shell32.dll file on Windows XP for the purpose of changing all my icons. But, when it comes to games, I just want to play. Plus, I hate using a keyboard for movement because keyboards are digital and not analog like an analog stick.

The problem here is the assumption that having a degree in networking means that you're completely aware of every possible thing that goes on with different tasks.

And as I love bursting bubbles, here goes.

Some of the more complex issues that I've had to fix in my time as a engineer are caused by people who either claim to "know a bit about PCs", or have some kind of education in a field that seems connected with PCs. A little (or even a lot) of knowledge is fucking dangerous.

And you've also shot your own argument down. You're happy to fuck about with shell and change icons on your desktop, and "love tweaking everything" on your PC, but you're somehow out of that enthusiasm when it comes to gaming? Seriously, if you loved it as much as you seem to profess, then you'd love it more. Driver tweaks, configs, everything.

Oh, and inverting Y on the consoles is a tweak.


But back to the OP... If you're having widespread problems with a large number of games, then maybe it isn't the games that are at fault. Maybe it's the PC itself that is slowly dying. You can't notice it in anything else? Well, the first criteria for picking out a PC is "Do I want to play games?". The first thing that someone should be asking themselves is about the single most taxing thing on the system.
It's the most taxing, therefore the most likely place that you're going to be able to pre-empt a system failure in.

The smart money is on you having more issues with your PC down the line. I give it maybe 6 months or so...


And back on track... I love PC gaming. Yes, I have consoles as well, but there are just some games that work better on consoles (e.g. fighting, racing, and 3rd person action games), and some that work massively better on PCs (e.g. RTS, MMO, and FPS), so I have the best of both worlds.

Yeah, I get screwed on both side for shitty DRM, but as our hobby lays fully within the realm of an industry failing to get its head around the whole "pirates gonna pirate" thing, then it'll calm itself down.

And while we're on the topic of DRM... Steam, I still love you. Enough that all of my installed games are added as non-Steam games. So much more sense using a single area to launch everything from, instead of hunting through the Start Menu..

 

[octafish]

I can't remember what comes after SET BLASTER any more, I think A=220 but the rest I'm drawing a blank. I remember writing Autoexec.bat files for all my games and having to allocate memory for some reason, I think the command was SYSMEM but that doesn't look right (My memory is failing). It was a huge step up learning that stuff from the relative simplicity of LOAD "*",8,1.

Gaming on PC is a hell of a lot easier than it used to be.

 

[Snoozer]

I bought a Ps3 when the control measures for Pc games took over and I had to reprogram the GTA4.exe because there was no command to start the game in there ...
Now I'm back to Pc. First of all because Steam works very good, offers low prices on games and also because on a console you are limited with what you can play.
You can't play titles that are too old for the console itself and you miss out strategy games. Actually you almost end up with shooters only. The only advantage a console has, is the multiplayer with 2-4 friends, but hardly any games support that.

 

[endtherapture]

The loading times are ridiculous on console.

Skyrim for instance, my friend was playing it on his PS3. The load times were ridiculous. I have to wait about 5-10 seconds for a new area to load in Skyrim. He was waiting about a minute. I'll keep my short load times thanks. The game was also significantly worse looking and also doesn't have any mods.

Mods are the best reason to game on PC.

People who claim they don't like gaming on PC because "PCs are for work", "It's harder to control", "I don't like it", "My Xbox is better" are just silly.

 

[Mugen]

That's exaclty why I don't play PC games either. I always run into some issue whether minor or major that takes hours of googling to find a solution that someone found on some forum. And, I'm very knowlegdeable about PCs too, I have a Bachelor's in computer networking. I'd rather just pop the game into my PS3, sit on my recliner in front of my TV, invert the y-axis, and get to playing right away without any tweaking. I kinda love tweaking everything on my PC too; I hacked and edited the shell32.dll file on Windows XP for the purpose of changing all my icons. But, when it comes to games, I just want to play. Plus, I hate using a keyboard for movement because keyboards are digital and not analog like an analog stick.

id just like to say, i appreciate that you went to the effort to write ''invert the y axis''.

eff all this lame pc vs console fanyboy stuff...it should be scholarly, gentleman inverted gamers vs the unwashed illiterate masses whos minds are so simple they see 3 dimensional space in 2 dimensions.

 

[PonceyMcTosserFaic]

I totally know where he is coming from. I've ran the gauntlet, sifted through the forums and help pages and tore my hair out in frustration too. I guess the only difference is that i love computers and tech, not to mention feeling like einstein when i do fix a problem.

But at the same time i do love my 360 and all the cool games and fun times i've had. Just putting in the cd and it's off, maybe an update here and there but those are done in like 1 or 2 minutes.

 

[bobfish92]

Just get a gaming laptop after doing a little research. The only game I can't play so far is that old Starship Troopers one. I have problems with the laptop, but thats because its 2nd hand and old and needs a repaste - It overheats, but it runs every game so far fine. I see gaming laptops as a bit of a cross-breed of console and PC, with the best of both. Far better graphics and controls, reliability (in the fact that it will play everything not in the actual won't break) of consoles.

 

[LiquidSolstice]

PC gaming has its plusses, but for many people, it's not an economic or long-term solution, and frankly, the attitude of PC gamers alone makes me not want to play.

- Cheap initial investment (250? 3 years ago was cheap compared to a PS3)

...cheap? If you're using that number as a reference of PC purchasing budget, I would love to see you get a case and everything that goes in it for that money.

- Upgradeable (in 3 years, did not have any new parts because it didn't need anything to run newer games)

See, that's funny, because in 4 years, I've never needed to upgrade any of the parts in my 360 either.

- Cheaper games (45-50? for a new game, compared to )

Erm, I'm not entirely sure what part of Europe or wherever you live, but that's exactly what I pay for my 360 games (including tax).

- Replay value of modded games

If you can get them to work, and at that, if you can preserve your original game with ease, and on top of that, if it doesn't affect the DRM, sure.

- You can get a good gaming screen for as low as 200?, let's see you buying an HDTV for less than 400?
(note, you might already have a HDTV, but people who buy computers also scavenge their screens so it's a win for PC)

Oh? I need to buy a new HDTV to play games on my 360? Why the fuck can't I use the beautiful 24inch LED 1080p 2ms response time monitor that I have hooked up to my work computer already? Dual inputs are awesome, aren't they? I just negated 400? of your point with a "Select Input" button. "Buy an HDTV", you sir are hilarious ;D Not everyone plays their consoles on an actual TV, and seeing as all my TV content is either downloaded or On Demand in some way or another, I don't know why I'd waste any money on an HD Monitor that has a TV tuner in it (which is all an HDTV is anyway)

- Multiplayer. Few games have P2P connection, most have dedicated servers. No host advantage issues, and no annoying host migration.

The popular ones don't seem to have dedicated servers, does that mean I shouldn't be playing the popular games? Is that a worthy trade-off for being a godly PC gamer? And in my experience, dedicated servers on PC games means nothing more than creating custom textured maps that resemble Wal-Mart using light machine guns that shoot grenades.

- It's also a work station. You can't do school work/anything related to your job in a console (although you can read your email in some)

....and why oh why would I want to read my email on the same machine I use to play games on? I draw a clear line between work and play. I'm either working, or I'm playing. I don't ever mix the two. My phone checks my email and handles my chatting. My tablet checks my email and handles my chatting. My laptop handles my word processing too.

Why do I need to combine any of those? That's a terrible excuse. When was the last time you saw a car company advertising it's car saying "Oh! You can eat a fast-food meal in your car! You can't do that on a motorcycle! Buy our car!"

Yes, you could, but do you need too?

You're already losing money by buying a console.

And you've already lost this argument.

Trust me, I own a 360 and a PSP-3004

Trust you? The guy who expects me to forgo my current computer monitor and buy a brand new 400? HDTV for the sake of using a console? No thanks.

(bought this Christmas, buying consoles and operative systems is like surgery. Don't let a med student chop you, wait at least 5 years)

Oh, don't even worry, buddy. It's been four years since I paid $400 (that's about 312 in your money) for my 360 Elite with 2 controllers, Halo 3, and Fable 2, and I still have no doubt that I will be just fine for the next 5 years. Because when the next Xbox comes out, I'll only have to buy it once and it will last me again.

All arguments I've heard before, pretty much none of it holding any water at all.

 

[Vegosiux]

Like I said, you guys can call me a PC half wit if you want. Tar and feather me, drag me to center of town square and have little children and e-trolls throw peanuts and rocks at me for their amusement.

But it's no fun if you're a willing victim

But thing is, it's always kind of silly to tell other people how their way of gaming sucks because you're having problems with it.

 

[ezeroast]

Good. One less obnoxious prick going around with a superiority complex.

Dont worry there are still millions left, like me

 

[predatorpulse7]

Like I said, you guys can call me a PC half wit if you want. Tar and feather me, drag me to center of town square and have little children and e-trolls throw peanuts and rocks at me for their amusement. I don't care.

Fuck PC gaming, I quit. Oh and I mean my Realtek driver for Bioshock, just isn't....you know, I'm not even going to go there..lol

Dude. Sometimes people just want to plug in a machine to a screen, put in a game and have it... work. Whether you believe it for not, PC gamers aren't those people.

I stand adamantly by that PC gaming is a hobby that should - and often does - encompass all aspects of PC technology. A PC gamer should know the ins and outs of their machines, they should relish upgrading and building computers, they should be as good with the electronics as they are with the final output.

A lot of PC gamers aren't, and they're "PC gamers" because they want shinier games at higher resolutions with the comfort of mouse and keyboard control. And that's fine. But at the end of a day, a PC gamer really should love more than that. It should be a time-consuming, difficult hobby. There's a reason console gaming still exists despite PCs being built that are better than consoles on the market, and it's this very reason - PC gaming is hard. And giving up is no more a sign of defeat than it is just an indication that PC gaming isn't for you.

No reason to declare the whole hobby is dead, no reason to feel like you're being judged for it. You "quit" for an affable reason - it was hard. This does not make you stupid, and it doesn't make people who continue to stick with it morons. You just wanted to enjoy your leisure time and have it not be a chore. This is normal. This is why console games exist; they're easy, they're cheaper, and that's not a bad thing. Do whatever it takes to get the most out of the time you have reserved for entertainment, and fuck everyone who says otherwise.

I'm a PC gamer, and I absolutely agree. The elitism that comes with PC gaming is abysmal and I really don't understand. PC gaming and console gaming are two completely different sorts of hobbies, it really is oranges and apples; and yeah, sure, they both play games, but that should be no reason at all to compare the hobbies. They just attract too different a bunch of player bases.

An objective fact is that PCs are better than consoles, at least from a technical standpoint. They run more games, at better quality, at relatively cheaper prices than consoles do. This is indisputable. The bells and whistles - or the curses, if you'd rather look at it this way - is that it will not be an instant process.

As I mentioned, it is hard. And I think a lot of PC gamers take refuge in this - "I worked harder for a better machine than yours; this makes me better than you!" It's a disgusting attitude, whatever the reasoning behind it, and it needs to stop. PC and console gaming exist, they won't go away and mindlessly throwing shit at one another will never change the fact that this is our spare time we're talking about and you do what you enjoy most! I mean, really. I like that PC gaming can be a difficult beast. I like that it's often a struggle, because it makes it all the more beautiful when I've finally crafted myself a machine that can play all the games I enjoy flawlessly.

Some won't. It's more than understandable - it's just LOGICAL, that they would gravitate towards console gaming. Mind you, console gaming flings insults at people who have, say, picked the "wrong" console, so it's not to say that community is entirely doing itself a service in that regard. But console vs PC? Fuck. If you can't be bothered to understand why someone would pick one over the other, and vice versa, you're a fucking moron and you have no respect from me.

LOL, you couldn't be more wrong. You are talking about the very "elite" PC gamers. There are A LOT of PC gamers in this world and I'd wager that most don't follow this pattern. Those guys you are talking about up there, they take their hobby to the next step. It's like with gamers becoming professional gamers.

Most pc gamers know what's in their system but that hardly means that they are tech savy but most couldn't put it back together if you dismantled their computer. Heck, I've been gaming on PC since I was 13 and most I can do is replace my GPU and ram. Why? Because I was never that interested in pc's so as to rip its guts and put it back together. On the software side most things I learned had to do with operating systems and that's only cause I wanted to play games. You are talking about a VERY VOCAL minority that brags about their tech constantly(those guys that fap about graphics) and who actually are tech savy most times but again, that hardly represents the majority of pc gamers. It's like in the case of COD players. I don't like COD but most guys/girls that play it are ok people. What's COD most famous for? 13 year old freaking out on it and annoying the rest of the players. Again, a vocal minority.

I am a lazy guy. I admit it. But after gaming on this platform for 13 years I can't exactly say it was HARD. It was harder for me learning to use the computer than playing the actual games since I had no teacher and I was in the first 2-3 kids in my hood that got PC's. But the process of installing and playing games on the PC being HARD? Come on.

Sure, it isn't as plug and play as consoles but after the initial 20 minute install(sometimes even less), it's the same bloody thing. As someone before me wrote, people who aren't familiar with computers in general shouldn't be pc gamers because then it looks quite complicated(to install and play I mean) when it usually isn't.

If PC gaming was a chore, we would have far far fewer people playing on this platform. Unless yoy think people would rather be stubborn and stick with this more complex platform instead of taking the easy way out and choosing a console? Guess what, I would wager that with the exception of North America(and maybe Japan), elsewhere people still game mostly on PC and no, not all of them are techheads nor do they have the latest graphics card.

Console gaming is the easiest to do, PC gaming is not as easy but still quite easy IMO.