Are You Put Off PC Gaming...
- Thread starter NeutralMunchHotel
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I want to make it clear that I am coming from the angle of someone who is not a PC gamer, someone who doesn't care about PC gaming, someone who only wants the occasional PC game.Jandau said:
1) Many times there is a problem with the game itself. And the fact is, there are so many things that must be required to run a game that soon it becomes tiresome to bother getting them in place.
2) It was a family computer, something that wasn't designed with gaming in mind. And this brings me back to my point - I don't want to spend money on things to upgrade my computer to run games that need stupidly high end computers to run
3) Yet again, I honestly can't be bothered to spend hours configuring my computer to run the game. That is a chore, gaming is/should be fun. I WANT the simplicity of being able to play a fantastic game at any time, and I don't have much technical knowledge, and I'll admit that.
My high end PC cost me about £1000. But I've rarely bought a game for more than £10. Sometimes as cheap at about £3 including postage.
Then when you consider that consoles such as the Xbox360 seem to break down every year or two, so you're forking out about £200-300 every time you buy a new one, when you do the math it's no more expensive.
As for games working, well the only ones that haven't worked are older games. I'd love to play Infogram's Silver again.
BTW I have XP, so maybe Vista is part of the problem.
Then when you consider that consoles such as the Xbox360 seem to break down every year or two, so you're forking out about £200-300 every time you buy a new one, when you do the math it's no more expensive.
As for games working, well the only ones that haven't worked are older games. I'd love to play Infogram's Silver again.
BTW I have XP, so maybe Vista is part of the problem.
I am not put off by the prices. The way I look at it, yes, a console is cheaper, but the games are $60+
I can, with my 2 year old PC, get a brand new game, for probably $10+ cheaper. Some of the super graphics games I'll shell out the extra cash so I can get the performance on my PS3. (I'm going to get CoD:MW2 for my PS3)
For recommended games, Sins of a Solar Empire should be able to be scaled to your computer. The Orange Box certainly can. I can play TF2 on my $300 laptop.
I can, with my 2 year old PC, get a brand new game, for probably $10+ cheaper. Some of the super graphics games I'll shell out the extra cash so I can get the performance on my PS3. (I'm going to get CoD:MW2 for my PS3)
For recommended games, Sins of a Solar Empire should be able to be scaled to your computer. The Orange Box certainly can. I can play TF2 on my $300 laptop.
Eclectic Dreck:
in regards to your second point, when somthing goes wrong with a pc game (which to the op, is NOT in fact very frequently) you can generally fix it yourself, whereas if somthing goes wrong with a console game you have to wait for the devs to fix it, if they ever do that is. and console games DO have the same issues as pc games, only thing is people never talk about them, at least not as much as they do with pc games.
to the op, you DONT have to configure you entire computer, just install the drivers and your good to go. and most games DO have an auto-detect settings feature that does work pretty well, if your taking more than a few mins playing with settings you have no clue what the hell your doing.
while pc's arent idiot proof, they offer something consoles dont, a learning experience. building and upkeeping your computer for a year will teach you more than a hundred consoles EVER would. also, while its intimidating to build the first time, forums and guides are very helpful for that.
in regards to your second point, when somthing goes wrong with a pc game (which to the op, is NOT in fact very frequently) you can generally fix it yourself, whereas if somthing goes wrong with a console game you have to wait for the devs to fix it, if they ever do that is. and console games DO have the same issues as pc games, only thing is people never talk about them, at least not as much as they do with pc games.
to the op, you DONT have to configure you entire computer, just install the drivers and your good to go. and most games DO have an auto-detect settings feature that does work pretty well, if your taking more than a few mins playing with settings you have no clue what the hell your doing.
while pc's arent idiot proof, they offer something consoles dont, a learning experience. building and upkeeping your computer for a year will teach you more than a hundred consoles EVER would. also, while its intimidating to build the first time, forums and guides are very helpful for that.
Actually, PC Elitists upgrade every year. Normal people with normal budgets figure that they're already going to buy a computer, so they might as well buy one which can play games. I'm playing on a laptop (again, elitists will tell you that there is no such thing as a gaming laptop) with a 2,13 dual core processor, 4GB of RAM and an NVidia GeForce 9600 GT. If this is all gibberish to you, it means Mass Effect runs faster and better-looking than on a 360, Crysis on High/Very High settings, as well as functioning as an entertainment system. I don't intend to get an upgrade for the next 4 or 5 years. All this cost me $1000.The Maddest March Hare said:I'm put off by the control method and the constant upgrade costs. With a console you're set for that console's entire lifespan, and it's becoming a trend to have back compatibility, so last gen works too. On the other hand, PCs need upgrading yearly. Something that cost me £800 this year could cost me another £200 next year on upgrades
The addition of anti-aliasing isn't worth that much to me XD
Also, get Neverwinter Nights and the expansions. They're quite old but great fun. Hours of great gameplay to be had.
I'd also like to mention, not for you but for those that don't know, that if you didn't get that same PC in laptop form (I.E. a desktop) it would probably cost you half as much, give or take $100-200. However, you don't get a monitor or keyboard with that money... which really leaves you about only $200 behind the laptop depending on what size you use.Clashero said:
The plus to a desktop is that you can use the same monitor for as long as it works, so you save in the long run over a laptop.
That's sort of the point of a PC. Choice. I can choose to get the best stuff and pay a lot more or I can wait a year for the best stuff to be mediocre, get it, and be just as able to play new games than if I would have spent a crap ton of money on new things.
Because, really, the only true expensive bit of PC gaming are video cards, and they generally come in leap advancements instead of gradual advancements.
I feel this is a GREAT point^. The average person can barely tell what pc is best sitting on the shelf at a dell kiosk must less reading through specs to build their own. And for PC gamers to say that PC gaming isn't expensive is a bit misleading yeah it isn't expensive if your a hobbyist that enjoys such things but for a dad buying a PC for his son heck yeah its expensive.Jumplion said:
I don't run around telling people who bought AR15s for 1500 bucks they got robbed just because I can build one for 600 bucks from parts. So why are PC gamers so defensive of the afordability (sp)of their hobby? So for some PC gaming works, and works good, but for those of us who's hobby is just gaming rather than hardware it's a massive pain in the butt trying to figure out what works with what and at what settings and yeah... So for the hobbyist a good PC might cost 500 buck, but for me the cheapest i'll get is 800 just because it's not something I can do on my own (building one)
All I can say to this (besides the fact that I personally hated Neverwinter Nights) is that you get what you pay for. If you have the money and the know-how to upgrade a PC well, it quickly outstrips even the newest consoles.The Maddest March Hare said:I'm put off by the control method and the constant upgrade costs. With a console you're set for that console's entire lifespan, and it's becoming a trend to have back compatibility, so last gen works too. On the other hand, PCs need upgrading yearly. Something that cost me £800 this year could cost me another £200 next year on upgrades
The addition of anti-aliasing isn't worth that much to me XD
Also, get Neverwinter Nights and the expansions. They're quite old but great fun. Hours of great gameplay to be had.
Three of the last four games I bought for the PC fomat wouldn't work for some arbitrary unexplainable reason. And none of these games were system hogs either. I am one of the few people who actually prefers a console for my FPS games so I never buy them on PC. They were RPGs or RTSs and one was SiMS 3.
I will say this though, no matter what kind of headaches PC gaming can offer, there is simply no other way to play some games. Specifically, RTS games which is one of my favorite genre. I have tried to play the console RTS games they've been trying to force feed us over the last few years. Some are even pretty well done like C&C3 for Xbox, but the PC versions will always be preferable. No matter how well they map the controller, it's always too retrictive when compared to the ease of using a Mouse/Keyboard setup. Especially when they consoles add things like unit caps which C&C has never had in the past.
I will say this though, no matter what kind of headaches PC gaming can offer, there is simply no other way to play some games. Specifically, RTS games which is one of my favorite genre. I have tried to play the console RTS games they've been trying to force feed us over the last few years. Some are even pretty well done like C&C3 for Xbox, but the PC versions will always be preferable. No matter how well they map the controller, it's always too retrictive when compared to the ease of using a Mouse/Keyboard setup. Especially when they consoles add things like unit caps which C&C has never had in the past.
yeah im definitely put off by the $1000+ price tag of a good gaming computer, plus monthly fees, plus the cost of new hardware when the old becomes outdated. The controls don't help either.
Definitely. I was an avid PC gamer at one point, but hardware costs ave spiralled out of hand and it's gotten ridiculous. That and PCs are getting more and more unreliable... Or maybe that's just my bad luck.
Either way, console gaming as become much more practical for me. That, and a lot of my friends are on XBox Live more often than not so it's uch easier to get a hold of friends, play a game, and just chill out.
Either way, console gaming as become much more practical for me. That, and a lot of my friends are on XBox Live more often than not so it's uch easier to get a hold of friends, play a game, and just chill out.
I don't know how it is in the rest of the world but in Denmark, PC games cost about 50-70% of console games so...
Not that it would make any difference to me. I'll stick to my PC for a while yet thank you.
Not that it would make any difference to me. I'll stick to my PC for a while yet thank you.
I have a two or three year old vista machine, and I have not had much trouble with it.
Hell, I have not had to upgrade it until now, and that will just be a RAM upgrade at about £20.
As for good games that run on old machines:
If you like shooters go for source games, they'll work on almost anything
and for strategy, try X-COM, dirt cheap and bloody brilliant, only about 50MB in size too.
Hell, I have not had to upgrade it until now, and that will just be a RAM upgrade at about £20.
As for good games that run on old machines:
If you like shooters go for source games, they'll work on almost anything
and for strategy, try X-COM, dirt cheap and bloody brilliant, only about 50MB in size too.
no i didnt put off pc gaming put ive spent a lot of money on my pc for all the games on it and all the updates
I'm put off by the snobs that think they're the gods of gaming. Seriously, get over yourselves.
Having said that, I'm also put off by the large cost of getting a high end PC. The CHEAPEST rig I can find around here is about a thousand dollars minimum. Not worth it to me. Before a PC fan starts recommending 600 different things to me, keep in mind I live in a very rural place where PC hardware is kinda rare. So none of your suggestions would work for me.
But I'm put on PC gaming thanks to the saving graces of Star Wars: Empire At War, Starcraft, and Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst. (I still hate using a keyboard, though. >.<)And thankfully my low end laptop can play them all.
Having said that, I'm also put off by the large cost of getting a high end PC. The CHEAPEST rig I can find around here is about a thousand dollars minimum. Not worth it to me. Before a PC fan starts recommending 600 different things to me, keep in mind I live in a very rural place where PC hardware is kinda rare. So none of your suggestions would work for me.
But I'm put on PC gaming thanks to the saving graces of Star Wars: Empire At War, Starcraft, and Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst. (I still hate using a keyboard, though. >.<)And thankfully my low end laptop can play them all.