Poll: Do PC gamers have an image problem?

[Pink Gregory]

Someone reported that third post? It's clearly a joke, that ain't fair.

OT: I know PCs are better, but I still play console probably more often. WHAT EVAH, AH DO WHAT AH WANT.

 

[Genocidicles]

Where did you get such an interesting picture?

Me and my hive minded brethren formed it with our raw mental power.

Spoiler

I just searched transhuman or posthuman on Google. Can't remember which.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

People who play PC games aren't necessarily these things. People who declare themselves "PC GAMERS" and argue against consoles are generally all of these things.

I do most of my gaming on a high end pc I built. It's not like I don't like pc gaming but every time I see someone listing off all the reasons pc gaming is better its like "ugh, you're that guy."

PC gamers don't just think they're better, they KNOW they're better because their hardware is undeniably better. Oh and these "controllers" that are ergonomically designed to comfortably fit in your hands? Pff, how can one even play a game if not with one hand on a mouse and the other navigating around 40 keys sprawled out on a flat surface optimizing the amount of precision one could potentially have? Also PCs are more expensive, so if you don't have a good one you're probably just spiteful that you aren't as rich as they are.

God forbid someone wants to just sit down and play a videogame for fun. Maximizing efficiency and optimal graphics are the heart and soul of every recreational activity.

 

[teebeeohh]

ok for people who still take that shit serious(on both sides): The PC gaming master race thing was a joke because the older ones among us have seen the PC "die" as a gaming platform for 20 years and when people who started gaming in the late xbox era tell me how my PC is irrelevant because of how awesome the 360 is they get snark.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Yes. Very yes.
Gamer elitism and faction-behavior has been around for ages. (Sega vs Nintendo, anyone?)

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

When someone says you don't have to get a $1000 pc to game on and can instead buy a mid range pc like $500 thats still "better", you'll still be playing games on fucking medium settings that look the same as console except now you have to go through the hassle of adjusting the graphics setting so the frame rate don't skip. Nice buy

To preface this, I'm a collector who will play any damn thing as long as it's fun. I built my PC for $350 bucks, and right now I'm running Tomb Raider on ultra with no TressFX hair at 41 fps, and Bioshock Infinite on ultra, somewhere between 32-37 fps (it likes to jump, especially VRAM usage). I was also able to mod out my Skyrim to gorgeous mode without a problem. Since nobody ever believes me when I say this, I'll detail how this happened:

Case - Cooler Master Black Lite $50
CPU - Intel i3 3.1 Ghz dual-core $75
Mobo - Intel generic-ass 1155 $25
Video Card - Nvidia GTX 465 1GB $75
HDD - Western Digital Caviar 2TB $80
Lite-on DVD/CD burner - $15
Microsoft keyboard/optical mouse - $30
Monitor - HDTV that the consoles use, over DVI at 1080p

If you set up Windows correctly, use game booster, keep your drive defragmented, keep your drivers up to date, and listen to this guy tweakguides.com, you can squeeze so much mileage out of your games. I'll probably need to upgrade when everything in the world is running UE4 (or settle for medium/high), but I could spend less than the amount of a PS4 on a video card and that should handle what's going to really change.

The point of this post isn't to shove some superiority in you or anyone's face, but to make a point that I can do just fine and be perfectly satisfied without spending $1000-2000 on a rig. I'd love to have a triple-monitor setup with an SLI rig and an i7 to push it, but I don't need it. I can have a better experience with my multiplats compared to consoles already without having to do that, and should I come into some money I actually have the ability and freedom to improve it further. The rush when powering up a $2000 rig is extremely powerful and never fades, and I suppose that can get to people's heads and convince them that their wealth combined with computer assembly knowledge (which is less complicated than a Lego spaceship) makes them somehow superior as people. It's bullshit, and I don't really care what anyone does with your free time, and now I'm wasting too much of yours.

My gaming laptop that I bought 4 years ago has pretty much the same specs (i3, 4 gigs of ram, decent Nvidia graphics card to keep my gaming needs afloat). Do you mind if I inquire what resolution you play on? My laptop only has 1600x900 resolution and if I play on anything less the visuals look muddy. So, to counter this I plug into my HD tv (with display port to hdmi) and play on 1280x720. The only game I was able to fully play with this set up was Spec Ops the Line which I was able to run at highest visuals (I've been meaning to try it with Metro 2033). Its the resolution that dives up the processing power and I do use game booster get a little more mileage. At an HD tv's pixel density, you can hardly see a difference between 720 and full 1080 on a game and they both look great.

Its mostly just annoying to navigate Windows with a keyboard and mouse on a tv with no desk in front of me and switching between big and small font requires me to log off and on and I'm too cheap to buy peripherals to make things easier to use so I'm stuck flipping back and forth between emulating a keyboard and mouse and an xbox controller using motion joy on my ps3 controller. So I just get more convenience with a console at this point in my life.

But I totes agree with you. There is no "one way" to game and silly to push it on people. I obviously love both my laptop and ps3 but I have my own set of problems which is why I use both. And you're not wasting my time fyi. Its pretty awesome how you were able to set up a sweet pc for that cheap but I would never be able to work done on a computer without a monitor. I guess I'm not good buying things. My mouse alone cost $60

 

[Bradeck]

Let me put the question another way. If PC gamers are represented by Gabe Newell, and console gamers are represented by Cliffy B, who has an image problem?

If our games are not "locked upon purchase" and your games require extra peripherals to run properly, who has a better system?

Struggle all you want, but I can still play games from my childhood, without going out and buying the machine they came on.

 

[Ciartan]

Oh for gods sake, not this thread again....
Some people are assholes.
Deal with it.

 

[Woodsey]

Nope, my mum says I look hot in all my clothes.

 

[TrulyBritish]

My PC has red LED fans with 3 speed settings.

Fuck your consoles


Joking aside, I have consoles and a gaming PC.

Am I a hybrid that will bring about the end of days?

You must be like the gaming messiah, bring love and trying to unite two bitterly feuding factions, one seeming elitist and evil, the other simplistic and rather native.
Hold on, I may be thinking of Disneys Pocahontas...

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tYwZr97r8Os/ULRbUnlD_sI/AAAAAAAAC-w/KRAoIcCL-gw/s1600/pc+gaming+master+race.jpg

Since when does the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race give a shit about what the dimwitted, unwashed console plebs think?

Who cares about image? It's all about them megs, man. Them gigs. Do you have adequate hertz? How many pixels? My mouse has 17 buttons on it. My keyboard glows. That's all that matters.

My intake and exhaust fans are illuminated. If you have a problem with that image, it's only because the radiance has blinded you.

HAHAHAHA that's fucking hilarious, great painting. It's a shame you got warned for this.

Anyway, back on topic... from my experience online, gamers in general have an image problem, but every PC gamer I know personally has nothing against consoles or mobile or anything, it must be a "angry internet men" thing. My only platform is PC because it's been a part of my house since I was a kid, and also because consoles and console games are ridiculously expensive in my part of the world, so I work with what I have.

 

[BeeGeenie]

I think all the other commenters have made it pretty clear. It's not PC gamers specifically, it's just that Google, and the internet in general, is a very judgmental place.

I spend most of my time on my laptop, but my consoles have their good points too.

Celebrate diversity and love all the game platforms!

 

[kingthrall]

I'm a console gamer as well but one who doesn't particularly thing consoles are superior. I just prefer to use a computer AND game simultaneously. Therefore I consider myself in a someone neutral position when I say that when PC gamers talk about consoles, they tend to do so in a negative way as though they are inferior. I know this isn't the case for all, as I assume that those who don't mind consoles aren't vocal about it.
The remedy? I don't think there is ome. People will always attack those they feel are inferior, since as you say the Escapist is more populated for PC gamers, people on this website don't attack PC gamers as much.

I googled Console players are and this came up in the autofill

-Stupid
-Idiots
-Not real gamers
-(not so nice word for disabled people lol)

Its just all the memes and streamlined stuff that makes the search engine come up with this kind of rubbish.
Anyway ive yet to see any decent console games that were worth me investing in. tekken and street fighter are the only games I liked on console and its really not worth getting it over that.

I always loved sega megadrve though, toejam and earl and all those great games

 

[Zeke63]

i mean pc is just a better deal... it makes me sad some of my bras gonna get a ps4 or 720 its just a collassal waste of monye. no steam sales, weaker specs etc. I mean lol my mac book from 2010 is still running games really well infinite and tomb raider run seamlessly

 

[itsthesheppy]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tYwZr97r8Os/ULRbUnlD_sI/AAAAAAAAC-w/KRAoIcCL-gw/s1600/pc+gaming+master+race.jpg

Since when does the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race give a shit about what the dimwitted, unwashed console plebs think?

Who cares about image? It's all about them megs, man. Them gigs. Do you have adequate hertz? How many pixels? My mouse has 17 buttons on it. My keyboard glows. That's all that matters.

My intake and exhaust fans are illuminated. If you have a problem with that image, it's only because the radiance has blinded you.

HAHAHAHA that's fucking hilarious, great painting. It's a shame you got warned for this.

Anyway, back on topic... from my experience online, gamers in general have an image problem, but every PC gamer I know personally has nothing against consoles or mobile or anything, it must be a "angry internet men" thing. My only platform is PC because it's been a part of my house since I was a kid, and also because consoles and console games are ridiculously expensive in my part of the world, so I work with what I have.

Yeah, I'm not sure why I got warned. The moderation on this board is strange. I've outright insulted and publicly demeaned folks before, gone into threads and essentially denigrated the very existence of the thread, and been fine. I come into this one and I'm like "Oh, neat, an opportunity to post that funny picture and goof around about PC gamers" and BAM, warning.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

Snippity snip

I think I may have quoted the wrong person initially, regardless it worked out okay. I should start by pointing out that the Nvidia chip in your laptop, even if it's the same series as its desktop counterpart, is going to be the lesser M series chip. It more than likely has less shader abilities, and probably has lower clock speeds/will downclock to prevent overheating and damage. On the HDTV, I play at 1920x1080. My TV (a Visio) hates 1280x720, and will upscale it and make it look like ass if I try. I put my computer sideways on my entertainment center, flanked on both sides by a 360 and a PS3. I have a wide behind-the-couch style table in front of the entertainment center with the keyboard and mouse on it. All the computing, including work and chatting with you guys, is done this way in my living room, right when you walk in the door. I just have the cleartype font at 125% scale (150% doesn't gel with 1080p). I don't get headaches or anything, and it's a joy to fix customer's computers remotely this way. Even if I got a monitor, I don't know that I'd let go of being able to have my office in my living room. When I want to sit on the couch, all I have to do is switch the video input and it's all good.

If I may suggest the seemingly dangerous way I pulled this off, most of the parts came from Ebay, and I've been doing it that way since I built an Athlon XP Nforce chipset computer years ago. If you only bid on items in unopened boxes, you have 2 means to cover your ass if something's broke. You can file a claim with Paypal and get your money back from the seller, or (because you're the one who opened the box) you are covered under warranty and can get a replacement through the manufacturer. The only problem I've ever had is that I had to replace the thermal compound on this GTX 465 after a few months because it was hitting 80c load (which isn't really too hot to play, I just don't like it).

While I understand that elitism is everywhere (I play Dark Souls, on my PC...holy shit plebs!), if I considered myself some kind of PC ambassador, I get much more joy out out of making the PC seem less expensive and intimidating than it really is. If you isolate and scare people away, that's less people that end up choosing the platform, which is a lower attachment rate for publishers to decide to bank on. I'd say the worst thing that happened here was that people decided to take Yahtzee's "master race" joke out of context and wear it as a badge of honor. It has multiple, horrible connotations and makes others want no part of it.

About your laptop again, I'd suggest reading up on tweakguides about your Nvidia driver utility. Some games might be using the Intel imbedded video chipset, or a setting or two might be bringing the frames down with little to no benefit. He's also got a nice BIOS guide, you might want to raise the amount of system RAM that the video chip is borrowing if that's too low (512 at a bare minimum if you can). You might also be served well by replacing a 1GB or 2GB stick with a 4GB, and raising your Windows paging file to 1.5-2x the amount of your system RAM, as that paging file in combination with the Nvidia chip is liable to leave you with too low an amount of system RAM to handle its business. All your parts are in synergy, and too little of one can be enough of a bottleneck to disallow the other parts to shine and do their thing.

If you have any questions for me, I'm more than happy to help out and see you satisfied with your gameplay. This is what I do for a living, I live and breathe it, and it's impossible to bother me. At the worst I'm just happy to have someone to talk to.

 

[Gitty101]

Lieutenant PC Gaming Elitist reporting for duty-...

Oh... this doesn't seem to be my sort of thread. I mean, people reaching compromises and acknowledging that both PCs and Consoles have their own merits? Pesh, where's all the douchebag elitism got to?

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Snippity snip

Snip

Lol. I actually screen snipped your advice to play with later. I too, work in tech support but its part of a work program at my college so I'm guess I'm what you'd call a junior techy cause my only training comes from helping people with their computers for the last 2ish years and talking with my bosses about computer stuff. Your advice is all true but a point I was trying to make with my original post is that unless you have a heavy end gaming pc, most people are either going to run games at medium settings on a pre-build or spend time a bunch of time build one for cheaps or tweak the shit out of what they got (the boat I'm in). I just don't like people who hop online and say "Buy any pc and you won't have any problems and it'll be better than a console!"

I'm a busy college student at this time of my life and I don't have time play around for just any game. Of course, there are games I'm more than willing to make the time for but for the average AAA title I'd rather just plug and play in a console. Hell, I'm even getting too lazy for that and I've only been playing games I've downloaded on my Vita. I still live at home (pity me) so I don't have man-cave to work with either but I know I'll eventually have more free time and I'll totally get into this

 

[TheLycanKing144]

While some of what you say about SOME PC gamers is true (it's certainly not all) the same can be said about all people that stick to or prefer one platform over another, there are just as many arrogant Xbox, PS3, Wii etc...users out there too.

Mainly the reason they act like this is because they are trying to justify their purchase, and when the other system ends up doing something just as good or better, it causes some people to feel inferior about it. So to make themselves feel better they try to "put down" the other platforms and the people that like them more.

I myself am a PlayStation guy, so naturally I think the PS3 is better, but that does that mean that it really is. It's better for me, it's ok for someone else to like the 360 better or the PC better or the Wii U, that's their opinion and that's what works for them. I will never tell anyone that what I like is right and what they like is wrong.

Also to be perfectly honest, I think PC gamers tend to over exaggerate things, especially graphics. I have played plenty of games on both PC and consoles and I did not see much of a difference.

 

[Gameguy20100]

Why Is there never a "I really don't care" option