Alright, you got me convinced...

[CyberAkuma]

As much as I lvoe PC gaming, I've fianlly decided on giving up on that and buying a console.
Not that there is anything wrong with gaming on a PC - quite the contrary, it has been singlehandedly the only way I've been experiencing new videogames for the past years in the most desirable way ever.

But now, I've finally come to realize that this is sadly not longe rthe case, or at least will not be in the future...

Reason #1
NO BIG GAMES

I'm not saying that PC gaming is dying here, but rather than game developers seem to care more about developing games for consoles more than PC. This will be particulary a strong argument in Reason #2 further down on the list, but let's just discuss this for a bit.

It seems like the grand games that are being released are just solely for consoles.
GTA4, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Fable 2, Ninja Gaiden II, Devil May Cry 4, Resident Evil 5 etc.

I'm not saying that these games listed are a reason to own an Xbox 360, but rather my growing concern that game developers are prioritizing the consoles rather than the PC for this big heavily anticipated games. While games for the PC are in enormous ammounts annually I feel that the average lineup of big games cannot be compared to what is being released for the consoles. And I'm highly willing to discuss this issue with anyone that disagrees.

Reason #2

The games that *DO* make it for the PC are absolutely horrible ports.

I cannot possibly stress this point enough. The list of terrible PC ports of console games have been a vast river of crap that has plagued us PC gamers for nearly years.
Resident Evil 4 for the PC, Assassins Creed for PC, Guitar Hero III for PC, Stranglehold for PC, Onimusha 2 for PC, Halo 1/2 for PC, Final Fantasy for PC, the list just goes on and on.
I really don't see the point anymore to wait 6-24 months to wait for a console game to be ported to PC and coders not giving two shits about the game being ported resulting in a despicable PC port of the game.
This just strengthens my argument that in a lot of ways, I should give up gaming on the PC for these console games.


Reason #3

I'm tired of my hardware getting obsolete, devaluating fast and me having to upgrade.

I bought my nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB videocard in late December month. It cost me $270 bucks which was then the quite possibly cheapest price for it and quite probably the best videocard by then.
Today that card does not exist anymore, there's however a revised version of that card that is slightly better and it's for $100 less. And this is just in a timelap of barely 4 months.
The upcoming next generation of nVidia GeForce cards are upon us with the launch of 9800GX2 and the now upcoming series og 9800GT and GTX. My videocard that was spanking brand new is slowly becoming obsolete. I'm tired of upgrading, I'm tired of wasting money on new motherboard standards because Intels new series of chipsets and CPU sockets switch every 1-2 years and I'm bloody tired of having to spend more money on new DDR RAM because my old is obsolete. And please don't get me started on how absolutely horrible those pre-assembled "Gaming" PCs are that HP and DELL are trying to sell to people that get charged up the a-hole for terrible hardware pre-assembled inside a PC case. I would never ever in my entire life buy any barebone computer from those places and let them rip me off a liver for hardware that is sub-standard.

I am willing to discuss any of tehse listed issues, and unlisted if you can come up with any that are to be seriously concidered about what I'm trying to say here.

Now I just have to run off and fid a place that sells Xbox360 with long warranties and that they hopefully won't break...

 

[Credge]

I recently upgraded my PC that I've had for about 6 years... it's been able to run everything without a hitch up until late 2007. $1000 every 6 years is about what you pay for consoles.

Despite having played games for the majority of my life (some 18 years now?) both on PC and console, I still can't get used to clunky console controls. FPS games are simply terrible on consoles and, especially lately, have all become incredibly dumbed down snooze fests that play themselves. Yeah, I've got to point my gun in the general direction of the bad guy... but I don't have to actually do much more than that as 99% of console FPS have auto-lock features akin to what Serious Sam had.

The biggest problem that I have with console gaming, besides the controls, is the absolute lack of customization. I can't decrease the number of brown pixels I can see for an increase of, very needed, performance... I can't change the resolutions, the FoV, the AA settings... none of it. Yeah, most console games are supposed to not have slow downs, but this really isn't the case. I'm not fine with a "solid" 30 FPS at all, but I have to put up with it anyway.

The biggest thing, for me, is playability. If a game controls terribly then the game is terrible on a very fundamental level. There is no getting past it. I don't care how engaging the story is, deep the combat system, or how much my brain will grow after spending an hour trying to figure out how to do a spin kick... because it's not as simple as just A and B anymore.

 

[LisaB1138]

You haven't abandoned PC gaming, you just expanded your gaming horizon. It doesn't have to be either/or. Do some research and pick the version that appeals to you the most.

 

[Razzle Bathbone]

If it's big-budget electronic games you want, then consoles are definitely the place to be.

As the years go by though, I find the big-budget games get less and less interesting, while indie games get more and more interesting. And if you want indie games, the PC is the only platform that matters.

 

[Razzle Bathbone]

Actually, LisaB said it better. I plan on getting a Wii soon to expand my own horizons. Only a religious zealot would refuse to use a particular platform on principle.

 

[AnGeL.SLayer]

Ya know, I'm all for expanding my horizon and all but I'd like systems that didn't want to self destruct all the time. I don't want to go out and spend money on something that is going to explode if I don't dance around it. Also PS3's are basically computers with limited possibilities and a controller instead of a keyboard and mouse. They happen to cost as much as a decent computer as well. So I'd rather get a computer that I can personally upgrade than a PS3 that will sooner or later become what the PS is now. People are only into the whole consoles because two new systems have come out at relatively the same time. You will find that in the end the PC will always rise back to the top. It's just waiting in the shadows while the consoles have their moment in the spot light. PC's just make too much sense for long term use than any console ever will.


^_^

 

[Break]

Despite having played games for the majority of my life (some 18 years now?) both on PC and console, I still can't get used to clunky console controls. FPS games are simply terrible on consoles and, especially lately, have all become incredibly dumbed down snooze fests that play themselves. Yeah, I've got to point my gun in the general direction of the bad guy... but I don't have to actually do much more than that as 99% of console FPS have auto-lock features akin to what Serious Sam had.

The hell? You are aware that games exist outside the FPS genre, right? Using only games the OP mentioned, we've got:
GTA4 - Playing this on a PC works good.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - This'll probably work fine on the mouse and keyboard, but who gives a fuck about that when it's coming out on the wii?
Fable 2 - I have no idea how they're going have this play, on any format, so I'll leave this out.
Ninja Gaiden II - No. Oh, god no. Not on your life.
Devil May Cry 4 - Again, I fail to see how the mouse and keyboard setup could lend itself well to games like this.
Resident Evil 5 - It's a shooter, yet... The control system is the reason why the GC version of RE4 is more exciting than the Wii version.

And then the entire concept of racing games which is a laughable mess on the PC without a wheel peripheral. Sure, the mouse and keyboard is better for shooters. But they're not the only games.

 

[Anarchemitis]

Why I love playing PC? Because it's great, although admittedly the newest game I bought was 2 years old, and the one I play most is almost 5 years old.
Oh well. I never cared for playing alot for shiny graphics, unless it was a movie.

 

[sammyfreak]

I generally prefer console controlls in most games and since i dont really like RTS my 360 was an easy choice.

Another thing that i really like about consoles is the plug and play, i dont need to update drivers and patches download without any hassle.

Online play is not nearly as good as in most PC games and being forced to use a headset instead of a keyboard can be annoying when communicating with, cretins.

So my advice would be to have a console with a lesser equiped PC for PC exclusive games! (Who would willingly miss Starcraft 2?)

 

[shadow skill]

Part of the problem is the type of games that are actually good on a keyboard/mouse. Most of the games you brought up would play like ass on a keyboard/mouse. It also does not help that no one has the sense to not use a general purpose operating system for a task that would do well to have an OS tuned for performance from the ground up. Not to mention keeping one company from having a stranglehold on the PC game market through it's OS that was never even built for gaming in the first place. Of course as long as people believe that it is the difference in hardware that damages PC game performance the most, the game makers will be able to get away with feeding the hardware manufacturers with games that are practically designed to force an upgrade even though they do not do much, if anything different from Doom or Quake.

The sad thing is that when it comes right down to it there are only two components that a dev house is going to be concerned about when they are writing their game when they look at performance; the cpu and the graphics card. They do not really have to worry about any quirks in the ram or hard drive when trying to get performance out of the product, yet people actually believe that the hardware configurations are the biggest issue! There are only three manufacturers with respect to those two components which all function on simillar principles; this really is not as big of a problem for the game maker as it is for the OS maker because it comes down to driver interactions when you start talking about peripherals. In short much of the problem rests with the consumer who is ignorant, and simply does not know he or she is being screwed by these people.

I totally agree with your sentiment on the bad port issue, but I also see the reverse, to date UT3 on the PS3 is the most complete PC game port ever released, it's pretty sad actually but it is in part a function of the PS3's design that enabled such a thing to finally occur. I would argue that games like Mass Effect will end up being better on the PC however, so it is not all lost. If I was looking to buy just one console at this point I would not even consider the 360, I see no reason to pay for online play when the PC or PS3 port will offer it for free. Nor am I going to get a machine that has the spectre of hardware failure looming over it (All hardware fails but not like this white box.) the money I spend on the thing would be better spent on PC upgrades, a Wii and a few games, a PS3, or my bills.

The fact that you close your post referencing a long warranty and hoping that it doesn't break just shows how bad the build quality of the hardware is. You shouldn't have that fear in your mind when thinking of getting a console. I would say get a Wii, or a PS3 or both but stick with your PC for most of the games that go to the 360 that do not look like they will go to one of the other two consoles. You may have to spend a bit of money to upgrade but at least you won't be living under the cloud of "Is this the day my 360 red rings, or decides to eat my brand fucking new game disc?"

 

[runtheplacered]

They happen to cost as much as a decent computer as well.

Good points. I'd like to add that getting the most out of your Xbox or Ps3 requires an incredibly expensive television. Sure, it's not a must.. but it's an expense worth noting.

 

[Inquisitor94]

Ya know, I'm all for expanding my horizon and all but I'd like systems that didn't want to self destruct all the time. I don't want to go out and spend money on something that is going to explode if I don't dance around it. Also PS3's are basically computers with limited possibilities and a controller instead of a keyboard and mouse. They happen to cost as much as a decent computer as well. So I'd rather get a computer that I can personally upgrade than a PS3 that will sooner or later become what the PS is now. People are only into the whole consoles because two new systems have come out at relatively the same time. You will find that in the end the PC will always rise back to the top. It's just waiting in the shadows while the consoles have their moment in the spot light. PC's just make too much sense for long term use than any console ever will.


^_^

So I guess that just because the PC gaming market may have some potential in the future, we must all abandon console games and rush to play World of Warcraft, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. Cause, I mean, it's not like their will be any new consoles coming out at cheaper prices than it would take to max out the game playing capeability of your computer, and heaven forebid the thought that they would have some sort of backwards capeability system.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

Good points. I'd like to add that getting the most out of your Xbox or Ps3 requires an incredibly expensive television. Sure, it's not a must.. but it's an expense worth noting.

Also worth noting is the "multitask defense" used so often in defense of gaming PCs... my HD set* (4 years old, $500USD at time of purchase) is also used for my VCR, DVD, and television viewing. Heck, I even use my 360 for more than games; last night I rented "Michael Clayton" through Xbox Live, for instance.

It all comes down to your usage case, really, as to which platform will be the best for you.

-- Steve

* Admittedly, it's only a 26" widescreen CRT model, but that's ample given the size of my living room.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Meh, that's a typical argument for someone giving up on PC, but, this is the one I can't stand most:

"Reason #3

I'm tired of my hardware getting obsolete, devaluating fast and me having to upgrade."

You bought an 8800GT, and now you are calling it Obsolete? Seriously, this guy must be in an insane asylum and playing around on someones laptop or something... Cuz that card will last a LONG time.

EDIT: FOrgot to mention, your reasons are fine, but, they aren't reasons for ABANDONING PC gaming, actually, those are very stupid reasons for abandoning it, getting a console and having the best of both worlds, now that's a great reason, but, saying you've done all this with PC gaming and haven't enjoyed it, you've done something wrong man, there's so many more benefits with PC gaming than gaming on consoles, and besides, most shoddy ports can be modded to not be so shoddy anymore.

Do you even mod games man? Mods are more than half the fun!

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

Do you even mod games man? Mods are more than half the fun!

This is the one thing that would switch me from console to PC. These mods--I wish to try them.

 

[stompy]

I never really understand how FPS player ***** 'bout controllers. I can play pretty alright with them.

Back on topic- Just becuase you bought a console, doesn't mean you have to stop PC gaming. I mean, if my computer could run some games I like, I'd be on it a lot more, but I'd still enjoy my X360, becuase it's got games that I'd rather play on console, than on PC.

Regardless of what you think, congrats on your purchase. Hope you enjoy it.

Edit: Muckraker. Hazzar!

 

[Fire Daemon]

I personally perfer consoles because usually I get a gaming console as a presant from some nice people meaning I spend my money on the games I like. I don't want to ship out $600 (AUS) for a better PC when I could buy 6 new games.

Also nothing on PC interests me apart from CoD4 (that I already have) and to be honest, PC FPS controls are horrible!

There I said it!

 

[x434343]

My 360 can't run Crysis, my PC can't run Rock band. Thus, they live in a battle to be the best. One, got in December '07 with 2 Raedeon cards (X1550's). One, bought just in January. Neither is better.