The Glorious PC Gaming Master Race

[Imre Csete]

I never understood why putting effort into making your game run can be considered as a disadvantage.

It's not like you have to host an SQL server for data packages (hi there Dragon Age Toolset!). If twiddling with the VGA drivers and whatnots gives me the best performance my PC is capable of, then I just can't think why I shouldn't invest a few minutes of my life to make it happen.

 

[Woodsey]

How many PC gamers actually continuously upgrade their machine? It's expensive and pointless. I'm a PC gamer and have friends who are also PC gamers and I never witnessed this phenomenon.

A lot of people tend to rather over do the amount of problems they're going to face on a PC. The amount of times I see console players list "drivers" specifically as a reason for avoiding PC gaming is baffling.

Um... Little point out. The term "Master Race" comes from racism, not elitism. Two different things, you know.

The former derives from the latter.

 

[rofltehcat]

PC gaming may be more expensive in the short run but in the long run it is much cheaper.

Why? First of all, you don't need that great a rig anyways. Normally, 750? in well balanced components (just 150? more than a PS4 and the Xbone may be cheaper at first but will milk you with XBlive subscriptions forever) is more than enough and about continual upgrading... nobody except a few guys actually does that. Most people never upgrade and are fine. This is actually a great time to switch to PC gaming because once we have more detailed performance specs of the two next gen consoles, you can just buy a PC that is slightly better than their specs and will be fine for the whole next gaming generation.

Moreover, look at prices of console games vs. prices of PC games. I'm not just talking about brand-new titles here but also the way the prices of games change. PC games drop in prices much faster and much lower than console games. Plus you have access to a huge backlog of games you can grab for 10-15? off steam/gog/retail budget bins. Add the great indie titles.

In the end, you also won't be bound to a single company that can basically dictate everything to you. Chances are that with the termination of used games sales, M$ will be able to dictate prices for everything. Price drops? Unlikely when they can just sell everything for 60?. They will be abusing the shit out of that monopoly and will do anything to make switching away from their system as painful as possible.
And if you get a Xbone, they'll milk you hard.

 

[Sticky]

"A top-of-the-range desktop PC costs a lot more, but I wouldn't just be paying to buy into the new games club. I'd be paying for an entire history of games, safely filed away on GOG.com and the Steam listings."

No it's still not worth it Yahtzee. Not when it costs thousands of dollars for a man to accomplish. Shame on you and everyone who agrees with this.

And shame on you for not actually knowing how much it costs, never taking the time to research it, and instead spouting nonsense that you parrot from other people who also know as little as you do about the subject.

No really, without going to Newegg or googling what an IBM workstation costs, how much do you think it costs to make a good gaming PC from the ground up? I want to hear this one.

 

[n00beffect]

You can?t take it back, it?s ours now.

I just upgraded with a Samsung 256GB SSD and I?m going to upgrade my graphics card to a GTX 770 awaiting the arrival of my Oculus Rift soon.

I?m also looking forward to 4K monitors coming up and you can?t stop me!

Fuck yeah, man! Nice! I bought and Alienware Mx14 Laptop, Intel i7 quad 2.30GhZ, Nvidia GT650M, 6GB memory and I skimped a bit on the hard drive, only 500GB, but that's plenty for me. And yeah, it cost me short of £1200, but you know what? It was totally worth it. I imagine if I had bought all the current gen consoles, that would have probably cost me a lot more, and for what? To play a handful of exclusive titles, and the whole 'stick it in and play' thing, which, to be honest, for PC is 'stick it in, next, next, install and play', so it's pretty much the same.

Edit: Oh, and not to mention that after you've already installed it(which some people have a *major* problem with, for some reason??) it's merely 'double-click and play', so it's even better.

 

[KungFuJazzHands]

PC gaming isn't expensive, not when compared to what console gamers are paying for their fix. My four-year-old $1200 PC has paid for itself multiple times over. $60 titles are a rarity, we get reasonable Day One discounts, we get massive discounts anywhere from a few weeks to a few months after release, and we get free games directly from the publishers or bundled with our gaming hardware. Not only that, the prices for PC hardware have been reduced drastically since the mid-2000s -- you can now spend less than $700 and get a very passable gaming computer.

Outside of one example, I haven't payed full price for a PC game in over seven years. People who claim "PC gaming is just too expensive when compared to console gaming" don't know what they're talking about.

 

[Mcupobob]

I don't understand why people say its PC gaming is inconvenient. Maybe when it comes to installing hard copies? Been awhile since I've done that, steam and GOG have made installing pretty idiot proof. If you have a good enough rig you rarely run into hardware or software problems. Also it doesn't cost much for a decent gaming rig if you know what your doing, $600 and some clever shopping and your good to go for a good couple of years without needing a upgrade and those upgrades can be spaced out over the course of your computers life.

I'll concede that PC gaming isn't as convenient as a console, but you don't have to invest much time into learning the ropes. In the end you'll get far more bang for your buck. Used to be strictly a console gamer in till my xbox died after that invested some time and money into a gaming rig and haven't looked back since.

 

[Lightknight]

I have to admit that I only built my pc to play certain games on my pc that weren't as enjoyable on my console (I accidentally bought Skyrim for the ps3 and it didn't work until after 5 months of patches, during which time I was able to patiently wait for good pc component deals and then put them together to make my master pc what it is today).

Now that I have it and a strong steam library, I am honestly beginning to see my consoles as media, exclusive titles and party gaming machines more than my primary dedicated gaming machines. That was completely unnanticipated but now I have greater control over my environment and can even begin to encorporate third party modding that can be really extensive for some titles. Not only that but if I want to browse the internet, it's only a click away and not completely enfuriating with a search utility that has no place in this world.

I will say that I haven't had any issues with Steam games on my computer. But I'm also on the high-tech side of the computer industry in which I call into very large companies across the US and resolve significant networking issues. So when I had a driver issues with Skyrim after updating my monitor I knew that rolling back the change I'd made would resolve that. My mother, however, would likely have had to give me a call about the problem and whether or not she was right to fix it with a hammer, magnets, and water.

 

[neppakyo]

Can't believe there are still stupid people out there.. wait a sec, yes I can. A good PC gaming rig like most people have said only costs around $700, and will pretty much play games over 30FPS on high settings.

I usually upgrade a part on my pc every 1-3 years, and depending on architecture changes.

Asus M4A785TD-EVO Motherboard from 2009
Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition from 2009
2 TB Western digital black edition HDD from 2011
DVD RW drive from 2008
Geforce GT 660 from a few months ago
16GB ram from a few months ago (upgraded from 6GB from 2009)
Logitech G15 gaming keyboard from 2005
Rzer Taipan mouse from a few months ago
Asus 24" Monitor from a few months ago (now primary)
LG 20" Monitor from 2009 (now secondary)
Logitech 5.1 surround sound speakers from 2011

See, I have a decent rig for gaming, plays everything, just upgrade a few things along the years to keep the system above average and cheap.

I am a proud member of the Glorious PC master race.

Captcha: Rowboat, which MS doesn't have enough of when the xbone titanic hits the iceberg.

 

[Eacaraxe_v1legacy]

Yeah all junk I have to pay extra for. No thank you.

Did you not understand the point the person to whom you're responding is making, and that which the link he posts demonstrates, is that PC gaming is cheaper than console gaming especially figuring in savings from lowered PC game prices and constant sales?

Also what if I don't want to play RTS or MMOs or Western RPGs or other genres that are normally associated w/ PC gaming? I don't care for Skyrim, it bored me on consoles, it'll bore me on PC. As of right now, the only two things on PC that interest me are Poker Night at the Inventory and TF2.

Then what, pray tell, is your idea of a good game that isn't as you put it, "popcorn entertainment"?

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Still going strong on a GTX 465 and a Core 2 Quad. Maybe this generation will get me to upgrade at least the video card if not build a new pc. I see no point in getting a console this gen unless the exclusives have have the words "Pikmin" or "Metroid" in the title and they are well received by most reviews. On top of that, I'd have to buy a box that implies Nintendo wishes to urinate on me, so I am still skeptical about that.

 

[Eacaraxe_v1legacy]

But not less than $400. Sorry not buying into it. I may not be poor but I certainly have interests outside of gaming and I'm not going to senselessly blow my money. I'm not going to constantly upgrade my PC with parts just to get something running properly.

My current laptop cost $400 last December, and plays anything that came out in the last six months just fine, especially when you consider "low" graphical settings are still consistently of higher quality than you'll get on consoles.

 

[nodlimax]

The thing with being able to play almost every game in PC history even though your system is just 1 month old is one of the huge advantages the PC has over the consoles. And after having the current console generation for so long console gamers will now really feel to the problem of missing the backwards compatibility.

In addition we can currently see how the console systems get locked down even more to only run certain components. We'll see if you will be able to get something like the Occulus Rift to run on a PS4/Xbone or if you have use a MS or Sony specific alternative which most likely will be far inferior to the Rift.

Anyway, I never felt like being part of the "master race". I was able to see the "start and play" advantage of the consoles. But they're losing this stuff rapidly as they try to be these "all in one" systems (=> basically a PC in your living room....). At the same time everyone that doesn't wear fanboy glasses should have been able to see that PC always has a performance advantage over consoles if build properly. You cannot push the best hardware into a 500-600$ system. In 99% of the cases it will be inferior performance wise to the 2000$ PC. It's simple logic.

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

why can't backwards compatability be emulated?
this gen is 7+ years old, the new gen must easily be able to emulate them.
cost? charge people to download the emulator on PSN/XBL

 

[DTWolfwood]

I am far too tickled by this picture not to give you props for it! XD

I'm just glad i stuck to PC gaming. That and the fact i like RTS and they don't exist on the consoles lol

 

[Entitled]

Maybe all of gaming is elitist, especially in a world where one-third of the population doesn't even have electricity, let alone an internet connection. But if I'm going to enable someone's elitism, it's going to be the guy who's elitist because he's smarter. Not the one who's elitist because of fucking bullshit.

That's a nice conclusion.

There are some elitists who arbitrarily describe themselves as the "elite", based on random priviledge that they got. Money, taste, skill, etc. Even literal racists considering themselves a literal Master Race, are elitists that way.

Then there are the "elitists" whose message seems to be more inclusive, as a "be smart" challenge for their surroundings. "Look how much I have learned! Follow me if you can!"

PC gamers can often sound like the former, when talking about expensive rigs, and complicated control mechanics, but really, I think at the core of their arguments, most of them are really just standing up for people being more knowledgeable and free, and in control of their own games, instead of eating up whatever "The Man" offers.

 

[Eacaraxe_v1legacy]

Anyway, I never felt like being part of the "master race". I was able to see the "start and play" advantage of the consoles. But they're losing this stuff rapidly as they try to be these "all in one" systems (=> basically a PC in your living room....)...It's simple logic.

That's what made me switch entirely to PC after a lifetime of playing on both consoles and PC. Consoles adapted the worst aspects of PC gaming, while the drawbacks of PC gaming have gone almost entirely by the wayside.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

For $535 you can get a computer that can run almost every single game at above 40 fps on ULTRA settings at 1080p (yeah, your consoles don't run at 1080p). Also keep in mind that gaming computers aren't magical machines that can only be used for playing video games like consoles. Also, video game prices for pc are on sale ALL the time. Skyrim was on sale for 30 dollars about a month and a half after it was released. Actually GOOD games come out for 15 dollars all the time. Mods, dedicated servers, gaming community servers, free to play games, mmos, real time strategy, etc ,etc. Also no paying to play online. Choice between using a keyboard/mouse or gamepad. Upgradeability. Games that have communities for decades. (CoD 2, Bf 1942, CS 1.6, etc).

If you are serious about getting the best deal for a gaming system, PC is the only option. Everything else is secondary.

Yeah all junk I have to pay extra for. No thank you. Also what if I don't want to play RTS or MMOs or Western RPGs or other genres that are normally associated w/ PC gaming? I don't care for Skyrim, it bored me on consoles, it'll bore me on PC. As of right now, the only two things on PC that interest me are Poker Night at the Inventory and TF2.

Sorry, you're not convincing me that PC gaming is a good thing to jump onto, you're only convincing me that it's good for popcorn entertainment. I can get that via my 3DS already.

Also your PC jargon of 1080p and stuff like that doesn't mean a thing to me.

you can now spend less than $700 and get a very passable gaming computer.

But not less than $400. Sorry not buying into it. I may not be poor but I certainly have interests outside of gaming and I'm not going to senselessly blow my money. I'm not going to constantly upgrade my PC with parts just to get something running properly.

Also your PC jargon of 1080p and stuff like that doesn't mean a thing to me.

Wat? That's not PC jargon. PC Jargon would be referring to it as 1920X1080. 1080P is the highest resolution HDTV standard, the one that Blu-Rays output at and most modern TVs have as a native resolution.

As for the price, you can pretty much knock off $250 of any stated PC price, because that's what you need to spend just to get a basic word processing, internet, and e-mail machine -- which you might not have noticed is pretty much a necessity for living and working in the modern world. What's more, you save a crapload of money in the longrun going with PC, thanks to things like steam sales and indie bundles. Not to mention, if you're comparing it to the Xbox, you don't need to pay a monthly fee to Microsoft to access the stuff you're already paying for from the game publisher and your ISP. You have to do that on the Xbox, unless you want crippled online functionality.

Finally, pray tell, what genres of games do you actually like that you can get on consoles but not the PC? I think you'll be surprised at what's available.