What IS PC gaming these days?

[Xanadu84]

I'd say that the point of PC gaming is that it is more varied and open then consoles. It has the shooters, action adventure games and multiplayer of consoles, minus a handful of exclusives. Its got MOBAS and MMO's, a wider variety of indies, more casuals, more backwards compatible stuff, more F2P, more RTS...okay, please don't take this as a, "PC's are always superior" rant, because its not. PC's just fill a broader variety of niches. It sounds like your interests are best served on PC. That makes you a PC gamer through and through. Maybe thats not something to lord over other gamers, but it does mean that you found the platform that's best for you. If its posible to make some kind of judgement on your gaming tastes, then it would be done by genre, as flawed as that understanding can be. Sounds like your tastes line up perfectly with the PC.

 

[Holythirteen]

If literally all you do is use your pc to emulate console systems, I'm not sure you could call yourself a PC Gamer. But that's probably not possible, if you're that nostalgic you probably have some PC game you pop in once in a while. Wow it's really hard to own a PC and not be a PC gamer if you define it loosely enough.

When I'm asked this question, I usually say 'no'. It will usually be some 20ish guy who bought more than three major PC titles in the last year and he will look at me funny when I have to explain the only major titles I bought were on 360. Sure anybody who's ever played minesweeper or solitaire can call themselves a "PC gamer" if they really want to, but context matters boys and girls.

As a bare minimum baseline, I would say anybody who enjoyed Minecraft could say they were a PC gamer in this context, then he/she and the asking party would have something to talk about.

I like to say I'm a PC gamer "at heart". This also gets me funny looks.

 

[Fluffythepoo]

PC gaming is when you make a PC vs Consoles thread, which only gives you time to play games for a half hour.

Ahh. so true. Or watching tvs shows on your comp all night, despite having the game opened up beside them.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Seriously? Nice. Although I'm kind of surprised with a projector like that you have it set up at a desk -- my plan involves a couch, a tray table, and a wireless keyboard and mouse

Those are monitors, btw.

 

[DarklordKyo]

It's like an RPG gamer playing on consoles that're dominated by FPSes. Sure most see console gaming as Call of Duty, but it doesn't have to be, you're still a gamer in my book even if the only game you play is Angry Birds. All that really matters in my opinion is whether or not you're having fun with what you're playing.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

PC gaming is when you play games on a PC.
It doesn't matter what game it is. It doesn't matter what genre it is.
If you're playing Scribblenauts Unlimited on the PC then you're PC gaming.

No.

The thread isn't about defining the act of gaming on a PC - that would be pointless. We are trying to unveil the essence of PC gaming of the day, as a standalone subject. This involves more than pointing out the obvious fact of what an individual is doing when performing the physical act of gaming on a PC, as if the Being of a thing were determined only, and fully, by the way it is brought to presence.

Normally I wouldn't be bothered refuting posts like this, but it's far too common to see people writing simplistic "/thread" answers which shut down all thinking before the question has a chance to be asked.

 

[Mrkillhappy]

I'd say from my friends who typically play on pc it is a lot of competitive multiplayer shooters and RTS's but I find myself revisiting classics I missed out on mostly due to my craptops integrated graphics card (though I bought it for school with no gaming intent as I don't have the money for modern pc gameing) and the fact that around their release time I would be about ages six to eight.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

It's using this

To play this.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/212680/

And thinking that it's perfectly reasonable.

Projections on your walls? Nice.

Are they long or short throw projectors and how are they mounted?

I've occasionally used a lecture theatre at my local uni to play new releases and deafen my ears.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Seriously? Nice. Although I'm kind of surprised with a projector like that you have it set up at a desk -- my plan involves a couch, a tray table, and a wireless keyboard and mouse

Those are monitors, btw.

They are? I seriously thought it was a projector, being projected on the wall instead of a screen. Do you have some sort of bias lighting behind them or something? That's kind of a weird glow behind them, and I can't pick out the edges of the individual screens, it just looks like one big screen with some giant windows open. Also, are some of them on their sides for some reason? Cool setup either way.

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

They are? I seriously thought it was a projector, being projected on the wall instead of a screen. Do you have some sort of bias lighting behind them or something? That's kind of a weird glow behind them, and I can't pick out the edges of the individual screens, it just looks like one big screen with some giant windows open. Also, are some of them on their sides for some reason? Cool setup either way.

It's a coder thing. One of my friends is a dev at a major software company and his office has lots of screens on their sides.
It also seems to be a trendy new thing as well... only really sprung up after flat-screens got cheap. My dad was a programmer in the 80s-90s and they never did that back then.

OT: PC gaming is playing games** on the PC that are designed to play best on the PC. That's kind of what it means for me.
Now, if you want to weed out people who just play solitaire, you just have to define games** as "real games", whatever your definition of that is.

 

[Snotnarok]

That's a long way of asking how do others define what it's to be to be a PC Gamer.

I don't really get the need to generalize yourself or group yourself but if you play a game that is indeed on a personal computer you are gaming on a PC, thus PC gamer.

 

[Evil Smurf]

PC gaming is when you play games on a PC.
It doesn't matter what game it is. It doesn't matter what genre it is.
If you're playing Scribblenauts Unlimited on the PC then you're PC gaming.

Yep, thread over. If you own the computer, and you are playing a game on it, be it patience or TF2, you are a PC gamer.

 

[Josiahfk]

Back when all of this gaming stuff first gained mainstream popularity, console gaming didn't have internet access that's all.
These days there isn't much difference except PC gaming can have a much higher quality standard since they're so much more powerful

I still prefer using both consoles and PC, depending on the mood and the specific game really.

 

[mad825]

Technically every form of Video Game is run on a "PC" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer]

Your XBOX360 yep, that's a PC.
PS3 yep.
3DS that's a pc to.

Don't you just hate definitions

Eh, all PCs are computers but not all computers are PCs.

OTCs will always be what they have always been. A common means of use for dedicated digital software/hardware. There are many devices that can do it's job but for the majority it cannot do it well.

Just like the camera today, the majority of use the camera on our moblie phones however it cannot provide the same quality and features that are needed/wanted by enthusiasts and professionals.

 

[I.Muir]

Whatever it wants to be but unfortunately this usually depends on devs deciding to give us games. These are usually ports and I imagine they equate console piracy as pc piracy because that's where it downloads to.

Just remember... everything comes to the pc in the end
Everything has the capacity to look better if it was made for pc
There is no play style to which a pc can not adapt to
The hardware and software is not locked, can be upgraded and there are ways around most problems

 

[D_West]

I guess I'll recommend some good and recent PC exclusive games

Serious Sam 3: Play it if you long for those DOOM like days of fast paced shootan action. It has a slow start, but builds up to be a pretty great experience. Also, Jewel of the Nile is a good expansion pack.
Torchlight 2: An excellent introduction to the ARPG genre. It's $20 and the devs are cool.
Path of Exile: A free ARPG that's a little harder to grasp. Has a lot of potential, still in beta though.
Civ V: Another great intro to 4x strategy games. Play Civ 4 with mods if you really get into it.

Of course there are the standard multiplayer games that are out now, like TF2, Starcraft 2, and Doter 2. You can also dip into the excellent amount of multiplatform games that have come out recently.

All in all, it's a great time to be a PC gamer, especially with the unsure future of the next generation of consoles.

 

[Entitled]

Please, guys, don't be such useless nitpickers.

Yeah, obviously if you play on a PC, you can grammatically get away with calling yourself a "PC gamer". But what the OP asked, is what PC gamers as a subculture and community consist of.
You can terrorize children with your scary Halloween costume all you want, but that's still not most people would call a "terrorist". You can call yoursef a hipster, and no one will think that you are talking about the 1940's jazz subculture.

Words can have asumed implications, and project a certain image.


Basically, I disagree with the OP that nowadays PC gaming is mostly considered to be about multiplayer. Specifically, it's as much about multiplayer, as console gaming is all about military shooters.

Yeah, those are the biggest ones, and those are the ones that most people are likely to be recognized, but at the same time, if you go to any place where people proudly self-identify as hardcore PC gamers, you will mostly see that they are proud of the exact interests that you have listed: indie games, emulators, also maybe mods, old-school RPGs, and RTS, and so on.

Overall, the main value of PC gaming that people are proud of, seems to be independence in the sense of not relying on a first party, not relying on publishers at all, having the right to fix things, upgrade and fine-tune games, whether it's about graphics, or gameplay mechanics, or game production.

 

[Yuuki]

Overall, the main value of PC gaming that people are proud of, seems to be independence in the sense of not relying on a first party, not relying on publishers at all, having the right to fix things, upgrade and fine-tune games, whether it's about graphics, or gameplay mechanics, or game production.

This is the main thing for me. Don't forget controllers too, there is a freedom to use whatever controller fits the purpose and that's where PC gaming really shines for me (graphics aside).
Mouse + keyboard for BF3, Crysis 3, Starcraft, WoW, Street Fighter IV, LoL, etc. Gamepad for Dirt 3, HAWX, etc.

 

[Doom972]

PC gaming is when you play games on a PC.
It doesn't matter what game it is. It doesn't matter what genre it is.
If you're playing Scribblenauts Unlimited on the PC then you're PC gaming.

^This.

The PC has the largest and most diverse gaming library due to its flexible controls (you can use a keyboard, mouse, joystock, gamepad, etc.) and its awesome backwards-compatibility. MOBAs, MMOs, and RTSs are a large part of the PC gaming audience but I doubt that they're even half of it when combined.

If you spend a lot of time playing games on your PC, you're a PC gamer.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Technically every form of Video Game is run on a "PC" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer]

Your XBOX360 yep, that's a PC.
PS3 yep.
3DS that's a pc to.

Don't you just hate definitions

I see what you're trying to imply but video game consoles are a very specialized use computer, rather than the general use desktop we imagine when we say "PC". Consoles do playing video games well and everything else horribly to be honest. This is compared to a PC, which can do what ever the hell you want with it. Playing games included. PCs are used to make most video games for consoles, so naturally, a PC can do gaming just as well, and in some cases better than a console.

Slapping the label of "PC" on handhelds and consoles is just silly. Had you said that they were all "computers" you'd have a point. A "PC"? No. Not if handling an internet browser is a struggle.