Leave me alone PC gamers!

[Hamtier]

In the years before PC gaming got as big as it is,i had to sit and listen to the pointless banther some of the console fanboys were murrmerring.
now,years later,i just kinda got imprevious to it.
and the PC elitist really are more or less the same as those console fanboys.
although they have some reasonable points when you try to discuss it with them(not always though) which is a little refreshing,but still doesnt justify some of the behaviour..
in the end there will always be people that are "elitist" to a particulair platform.
you should just get your points across and if they don't want to listen,
just let them be and just..Play..why should you care?

 

[Hamtier]

simple fact is consoles play games at half graphics for half the amount of years a pc wud whoever buys a pc for anything less then £500 is an idiot

it is true IF you replace parts like every year and get a new setup every 3-5 years.
to get the maximum potential.
otherwise this is just not true.

 

[VeneratedWulfen93]

I frequent these forums enough, I'm on a games design course and its all I bloody do when I'm not reading about video games on the internet. I don't feel like a slave at all. Microsoft charges me £40 a year when I earn £125 a week. I buy around 2 games a month, this week I'm buying Dishonoured.

I don't feel entitled to anything other than games and I get them. As soon as all the stuff you go on about effects me then I'll raise my fists in anger or when I get a job in the industry then I'll take action because then it will be my job.

Freedom? Trapped? Seriously? I can buy whatever games I want and play them whenever I want. You can rant about faceless corporations and such but unless it becomes and inconvinience to me then I won't care until I actually have a chance to do something rather than sign useless petitions or boycott developers because I didn't like a game.

Well, okay, you really want me to show you your cage? Okay, how's this: I pay nothing to play online and if I wanted to tomorrow I could grab a better looking, smoother running copy of Dishonoured for free, and I could play it with whatever interface I want from controller to mouse, hell I've even seen people make VR visors out of the new Sony 3D headset, I could use that and have my head motions tracked by a camera to simulate the right stick motion. THAT is freedom!

And no you can't buy whatever games you want, can you play The Old Republic? No? How about Guild Wars 2? No? How about something as simple as Fallout 2? Not even that? Well now, I really can play ANY game I want as I have TWO DECADES OF SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT waiting to be explored, where as you can't even play original Xbox games unless Microsoft decides that game isn't one they need to make an HD remake of.

Let's take piracy off the table real quick, though when you speak of freedom the ability to pirate things is a good sticking point. While I love piracy as a concept I haven't played a game I haven't bought all the way through, if I like something I always buy it, but I always wait for a steam sale. You see because you own their system you have to pay more for each game because the publisher has to pay a licensing fee to Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo to even print the game using their DRM. This means that I could buy Dishonored tomorrow for $50 bucks on steam, or I could get it on 360 for $60.

While $10 dollars doesn't seem like that much when we look at bigger deals on even mildly older games it becomes insane. Earlier this year I purchased the whole Grand Theft Auto Collection off of Steam for $12. Twelve. Fucking. Dollars. That collection goes from the original top down, through two, three, vice city, San Andreas, and 4 complete with expansions.

Right now if I walked into a GameStop and wanted to buy Grand Theft Auto 4 Complete for 360, even after it's been out for so long, I'd STILL have to pay $30 dollars, more than double the price for a fraction of the content. I bet if I wait sometime this year I'll be able to grab Dishonored for 20 bucks, and I'm also willing to bet that it won't be that cheap on 360 for a couple years.

Accessories are the same, though less for Sony as they were nice and implemented Bluetooth so you can buy off brand.

Thing is, I wouldn't mind if you weren't defending the 360. If you don't see how the 360 is a blight on the games industry then you clearly aren't as deep in the scene as you think you are. You may spend a lot of time in the scene, but spending a lot of time at a hospital doesn't make a doctor

If you don't critically analyze the nature of your surroundings and even looking outside your niche, well then you're just another cow with it's head down being herded to slaughter.


Huh... my captcha was "mast beef"... that's sort of creepy given my final line.

Its a blight but its what I've got. It has served me well and let me down once. Of course I'll defend my shitbox when its given me 4 years of gaming enjoyment. My PS2 and Gamecube gave me the same also, roughly at least.

If I cold snap my fingers and fix all problems then I would. But for now I prefer xbox excusives and playing with my friends. That will never change, unless one of my friends tries to murder me or something.

I hate pirates because they just give the media and industry a target. You are also exemplifying the elitist motif by the way, viewing yourself as a better gamer because of your system. SO I guess I won't bow my head, I'll look right at the choppy death machine and stride into it knowingly because if I'm gonna get fucked over I might as well enjoy it.

 

[GAunderrated]

Majority of my AAA titles on steam (well in the 50's) were 5 bucks on steam (amazing sales) while majority of my console sales (before I got really into steam) were in the 60 dollar range (plus tax). Looking at my shelf I have 22 Ps3 games all bought new.

Now for this fun experiment I am going to throw in the cost for my gaming rig that I upgrade every 5 years or so ($829) plus the 250 bucks I spent on steam (tax free) bringing it to about 1,079 bucks.

My Ps3 I bought a year or two after release for about 400 bucks. Now i'll add the 22 games I bought for 60 bucks bringing it around 1,720 bucks before tax, after tax its around 1,870. Now some of you might say "well I never buy new my games are normally around the 30 dollar range". I'll adjust the math for you people. Now putting at the games at 30 bucks plus tax the total comes out to $1,152. Even if I bought the console game on sale I still payed more than my PC with twice as much games and of course smoother gameplay.

If you prefer consoles that's great (I own all 3 consoles this generation) but if you want to say you don't like PC gaming because its too expensive well that functionally is not true (in my opinion). There is nothing wrong with having a preference over something but don't make excuses.

For the people who scream "PC is too hard to setup, I just want to plug and play", I would tell those people that nothing they buy this day and age is plug and play so why expect gaming to do so?

Phones require setup
TV/cable require setup
washers/dryers require setup
computers require setup
dishwasher require setup
water heater require setup
e-readers require setup
tablets require setup
Even game consoles require setup

None of these have plug and play capabilities. Consoles used to be plug and play last generation but with the firmware updates, xbox live/psn services to play online, online pass codes, and patches. There are plenty of console waiting time that prevents my plug and play.


Well I think I went on an unnecessary rant but with that said, my consoles still serve a great purpose in my gaming. However, I am not going to pretend that they are still plug and play and don't have massive downsides that are only getting worse every year.

 

[LobsterFeng]

How has this thread not been locked yet?

Anyway, this is the most pointless thread that I ever spent so much time reading other peoples posts.

Honestly, I just like playing games on all platforms, yeah?

 

[AnotherAvatar]

Its a blight but its what I've got. It has served me well and let me down once. Of course I'll defend my shitbox when its given me 4 years of gaming enjoyment. My PS2 and Gamecube gave me the same also, roughly at least.

If I cold snap my fingers and fix all problems then I would. But for now I prefer xbox excusives and playing with my friends. That will never change, unless one of my friends tries to murder me or something.

I hate pirates because they just give the media and industry a target. You are also exemplifying the elitist motif by the way, viewing yourself as a better gamer because of your system. SO I guess I won't bow my head, I'll look right at the choppy death machine and stride into it knowingly because if I'm gonna get fucked over I might as well enjoy it.

Fair enough, I mean it's not like being a console gamer should have any shame to it, and I know for a fact that you've had fun with your system as I had great times with my 360 back when Dead Rising first came out. I only push against consoles so hard because I hate how the industry treats you guys, because I used to be a pure console gamer and so I've been there. Hell, I've only been PC gaming for only about 2 years now, and wouldn't haven even got a gaming PC if I wasn't already building one to produce music on. Having one just opened my eyes about a lot of shit in the console scene.

Like I said, you have good reasons for staying, and I do miss playing with friends because unless you will it to be, or are aiming for the MMO crowd, gaming with friends on PC is a few steps harder than console.

I feel an odd need to go out on a high note here so let me say this: Know that PC gamers have nothing against console gamers, from what I've observed all our bitching is more about how the companies that make consoles are dicks, not the players (though some people complain about the young kids on XBOX live acting like dicks, but if it weren't for consoles they'd just be acting the same way on a PC). I wish that consoles makers didn't give me so many reasons to dislike them as it's probably going to stop me from buying next gen, as you said, and that will keep me from console exclusives that I'll just have to sit around praying for a port of that probably will never come out because of the Piracy issue.

I think it's safe to say that all of us posting here hope that console makers will see all these issues, see the customers it's losing them, and that the next gen will be a totally changed paradigm where the console crowd is treated with the respect they deserve (yes, even the foul mouthed 12-year-old Call of Duty kids).

 

[mavkiel]

Jeez, I wonder WHY they bash you so very hard about having a seriously inferior, overpriced, inconvenient, technologically obsolete and locked down system.

And just so that you're aware, if you're not already:
Consoles are the cause for all the bad things in the industry. Not for the industry mind you, but in the industry. What we game-playing folk want.

TL;DR: Fuck consoles.

Second this post. How many games were trashed because the dev wanted to fit it on a console? If my pc version didnt suffer because of consoles, I wouldn't care at all.

 

[Thamian]

Reading this thread, I've found myself engaging in some good old fashioned navel gazing, and come to some conclusions, but first a disclaimer:

I'm a more or less completely purebred PC gamer. Only actual console I've ever had was a Sega Mega drive when I was at some nebulous age in the mid single figures, and my only interaction with modern consoles is setting them up for club nights and wandering off and leaving them to the tender mercies of drunk students.

Furthermore, being severely dyspraxic I just cannot get my hands around console controllers. Just can't coordinate the fingers of both hands to work together that way. Or atleast, I probably could, it's just that I would need to spend many, many moons practicing at it before I was even a tenth as capable as I am with mouse and keyboard, and frankly, I'm likely to have put the bastard thing through the screen long before then in frustration.

And I have a simmering resentment of consoles.

I think it was just something I picked up from the PC gaming zeitgeist in the early-mid 2000s, and as for where that came from I'm thinking we have to look at what happened to gaming as a whole at around that time.

1)Mass market game design was on the rise.

2)The space-sim genre (a beloved of mine) died the death.

3)Consoles stole the limelight off the PC as the biggest platform for gaming.

I think most of us can agree that we all miss the days of games that were... specialist. The days when survival horror was scary, when RTS games other than starcraft carried really serious weight in the market, when the Space-sim was a viable genre, when AAA games weren't all being homogenised into safe, sound investments.

And all this went wrong, at the same time as consoles became THE platforms for gaming. I think it's only human to link the two trends together. That annoyance festers and you get embittered sods like me who mourned the slow death PC gaming appeared to be under going, and looked down on the unwashed masses of console gamers.

As for those who proclaim that PC gaming is alive, well, healthy, etc. yes it is, for the moment, and it's down to the fact that we're badly over due for a new console generation. At this point in the cycle, the PC's advantages in hardware power, graphical quality and so on are at their peak. When the next generation comes in, they will most definitely have the edge in terms of hardware resources, atleast for the average gamer on the average gamer's budget.

 

[Private Custard]

I prefer gaming on the PC, due to better graphics, mods, faster load times and the satisfaction that I put it all together myself!

I hate mouse and keyboard controls in anything but RTS though, so I use the best thing that consoles ever did for the world of gaming......a pad (a 360 one, it fits perfectly).

Gaming's like a salad bar. You take the bits you want and leave the rest. I don't go back to my table in the restaurant and ***** about how much I hate iceberg lettuce......I enjoy my potato salad and onion rings!

 

[baconmaster]

I have no doubt that a PC is better for gaming than a console. That's pretty hard to deny when the PC offers better graphics, mod support, more freedom, better deals on games, and so on. The only real downside is that every game needs to be installed (something becoming more common on consoles, too) and, for some crazy ass reason that I will never understand, my games sometimes work fine for months before deciding to permanently stop working. But that's rare

All that said, the PC elitist group is by far the most annoying group in the gaming community. Sometimes I think they don't even enjoy games. "I won't buy Dark Souls because the resolution makes it unplayable!" Sure. 1080p has always existed. Silent Hill would've been unplayable without it! "The original Mass Effect was the only good one! The sequels are for CODfags!" Ok, we could improve the clunky gameplay and cut-and-paste sidequests, but the people want more inventory management and numbers that increase! Everyone who thinks we should improve the actual gameplay is an idiot!

And for the claim that consoles "killed" certain genres... Well, maybe, but that claim is greatly exaggerated. The RTS is one good example because they're intolerable with controllers. Survival Horror, however, is not. That genre was still quite alive when the Ps2 was at it's peak. For some reason, it was abandoned once this generation of consoles began. Probably because games are becoming more mainstream so an action oriented game is much more profitable. Many of us console owners would absolutely love to see a new survival horror series.

7 year old racist kids who play nothing but the latest Call of Duty are better than PC elitists.... Well, not quite

 

[ex275w]

The original Mass Effect was the only good one! The sequels are for CODfags!" Ok, we could improve the clunky gameplay and cut-and-paste sidequests, but the people want more inventory management and numbers that increase! Everyone who thinks we should improve the actual gameplay is an idiot!

The gameplay did "improve" but they didn't need to add ammo, remove gun customization, remove inventory management, remove healing and simplify the level up system so half your levels don't do anything.

On the other hand, PC (with 360 controller) and Wii compliment each other well. PC can do 4x games, RTS games, Adventure games, and FPS games while Consoles do games like Brawlers, 2D and 3D Platformers and Fighting games really well. i guess many are forgetting portable gaming which also has its advantages over consoles and PC.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

great for you? Again, I do not care how more 'economic' it is, I'm still sinking money I do not have into a machine for the sole purpose of gaming, when I already have a gaming console.

saying "i spent all my money on a junker car from an impound lot, therefore I don't care that you bought a nice new car for less than I bought my junker" Is not an argument for it being better. It's just an acknowledgement that you made a bad choice on how to spend your money in the past and are now stuck with that poor decision.

Why should I play a port when the original is on the system I already own?

Most games are developed for both systems at the same time so your question does not make much sense. There isn't a 'system it was originally developed for' there are multiple systems that it was developed for in parallel. Barring extreme circumstances where the developers are really bad at their jobs(which likely means either version of it will be garbage) the two games are pretty much exactly the same. Only the PC version has a lot more support, a lot less restrictions and is almost always cheaper.

My Daddy wants to buy me a gaming laptop so we can play GW II together, and if so then fine, I'll play it with him, but that's the only reason I'd get a gaming laptop/computer: to play with my friends.

Why do you think that there are 'gaming' computers? There are powerful computers that can be used for gaming, but there aren't computers that are specifically and only for gaming. That's the whole point, to be able to do everything off of a single system rather than having tons of superfluous and less powerful hardware.

And if you really can't think of anything else than ME PLAY VIDEOGAMES to do with your computer then that's your fault for being unimaginative. My PC can help cure cancer while I'm asleep. It can be harnessed to help compute equations for NASA, discover new stars, fight malaria. I can have a screensaver that works with other computer to generate abstract paintings. I don't even have a basic cable TV connection because my computer can just stream TV shows in HD off of corporate websites without commercials. I don't need a blueray player because my computer can already read BR/DVD/CD and plug into my TV to play them on a large screen. I barely even have any clutter now because I don't need to keep very many physical disks because I can store everything electronically as CD images or access them from an offsite library through steam or google's storage infastructure. I can play any music I want through pandora or my personal library while I'm gaming without having to fire up other electronics. I can alt tab and browse the internet while I'm waiting for a multiplayer game to start. If I don't understand something I can instantly access wikipedia. I'm not restricted to talking to other people who have XBOX live, I can text cellphones, make phone calls, talk to anyone on any instant messaging platform.

And that is only just the beginning of what I can do with my 'gaming' computer.

I do not care about specs, I care about if I'm having fun -_-

I said nothing about specs. That another point entirely. I'm talking economics and consolidation of computing power both in the short term and more pronouncedly so in the long term(which both does and does not have to do with system specs.)

 

[Vigormortis]

Because I can't afford the start up cost of a gaming PC.

But hey, I'll offer you the same challenge I give to any PC "master race" type;

Show me a PC build from the ground up, WITHOUT USING "MIDNIGHT MADNESS"-style SALES OR AUCTIONS THAT PROBABLY WON'T EVEN BE AROUND WHEN I TRY IT, that can run Sleeping Dogs on max settings with the HD patch at 50+fps for 200-300$ American, and I'll burn every console I own on Youtube. You up for that?

[sub]I've never claimed to be a card-carrying member of the "PC master race", but...[/sub]

Sure am. Assuming you can show me a console that can run Sleeping Dogs at any resolution above 720p at more than 25~30 frames per second, with the same level of graphical fidelity as the "max" settings on the PC build.

You show me that and I'll show you a PC, priced around $300, that can run Sleeping Dogs at max settings. Or were you under the impression that expecting us to find PC hardware that can run Sleeping Dogs at better graphical settings than a console, for less than the price of a console, was a fair challenge?

Uhhh, if that were the case, this clunker of a PC I have right now, which goes back to the PS2 days, would be able to run current gen games, and it can't.

Yes, the startup cost on a gaming PC is more expensive.

So...are you saying a computer that cost between $200 and $400 "back in the PS2 days" should have equivalent hardware specs as one built today within the same price range?

I'm confused. Would you expect your PS2 to run PS3 games; like Sleeping Dogs?

. . . . . . . . . . .

No one's really denying that the initial "start-up" cost of a gaming PC is higher than that of a console. (and if they are they're idiots) Especially today, seeing as the consoles are running 7+ year old hardware.

However, a "current gen" gaming PC is not only superior, on a technical scale, to todays consoles, it also has an incredible number of features, functions, and services your average console doesn't.

Now, it's true the consoles are gaining a few of these features, but at a cost. Just about everything you "add" to a console beyond plopping a disc into the tray and playing, even something as simple as gaming/chatting online, comes at a cost.

Those costs start to add up rather quickly. And, with the increased prices of games and other peripherals, you often end up spending far more, over the course of your ownership, on a console than you do for a PC.

Regardless, I've no qualms with someone's choice of gaming platform. Hell, I own, and regularly game on (when I can), a PC, a Wii, and an Xbox360. And that's not counting the bevy of older consoles I've got tucked away in a closet.

You want to game on the PS3? Go right ahead. No skin off my bones. You prefer your Wii? Great! Let's play some Smash Bros together. You stick more to PC? Cool. I'll see you in TF2 or SC2.

What you game on is your preference. It's not something to judge someone by. If someone does so, they're an ass.

 

[BenTheWolf]

The barrier to entry for PC gaming is that much higher.

Its true, our barrier to entry is the ability to read the instructions on the box.

I'm reasonably tech savvy, certainly I'm the one in my house people come to when technology breaks, and I wouldn't have the foggiest how to do it.

/facepalm. Having more knowledge then the other people living in your house just means you live with dumb arses.

Maybe this is all because I dislike Minecraft...

What does not liking minecraft have to do with anything. I don't like minecraft either, but it doesn't make your argument any the less silly. An at the moment i have this horrible feeling that the reason you think consoles are better for gaming is that you are just to willfully ignorant to get a PC to operate... An i'd hate to think that, but given the level of ignorance you display, its the only conclusion i can draw.[/quote]


Congratulations. You descended to the level of personal insults rather than answering the points.

I will concede that consoles are not better machines than PCs. Anything else would be stupid.

However the barrier for entry on a PC is higher. Namely because in order to play AAA games you have to spend a considerable amount on a gaming rig, or build your own. Most people do not have the savvy to build one, if you do then I doff my cap to you, so it's back to spending money. I'm no financial expert but I believe gaming rigs are more expensive than the major consoles.

Incidentally neither I or my family are 'dumb arses' to the best of my knowledge. It's just that they prefer to read books than play computer games, thus rendering computing skills as somewhat arbitrary beyond the ability to word process and surf the internet.

I'd argue that the whole thread is largely a matter of opinion. I think that my Xbox 360 is the best console for me to play games on. Why? Because I like the controller and my most played games include FIFA, Halo and Forza which are either not on Pc, or render the bonuses I would gain from playing on Pc as minimal.

I also feel ill around elitism. Which is probably why I struggled in my interview at Oxford University last year. Or maybe that was just because I was dumb, I obviously wouldn't know.

 

[Vigormortis]

Rightfully?

Reminds me, you know I find it funny that this phenomenon seems unique to gamers.

See, I never have been harassed by gearheads and car affecionados for not owning one of their own built from scratch street rods.

I never have gotten crap from people who built their own homes for buying a pre-built home.

Yet me having fun on a console is just intolerable to the "master race"...

What is more important about a toy than a car or a house?

Not that I don't agree, as gaming is filled with people (not just PC players) that will berate someone else for their gaming preferences, but I have to say something here.

I know plenty of people, gear heads in this case, who would laugh their collective asses off if I told them my rinky-dink, cheapo Saturn was better and more fun to drive than their 30~40k muscle car.

Likewise, I've seen plenty of people "make fun of" others for buying pre-built homes. They go on and on about how "inferior" those types of homes are. How bland and boring they look.

But you know what? Those types of people are a very small minority. A vocal minority, sure, but certainly not indicative of the entire collective of gear-heads or home owners.

The exact same logic applies to gamers; PC or otherwise.

That doesn't make those types of people any less obnoxious, of course, but it also doesn't mean that everyone is that obnoxious.

 

[Vigormortis]

Captcha derp. Caused a double post.

Guh....I REALLY hate these SolvMedia captchas.

 

[Coffeejack]

NO!!! NEVER!!!

LOOK AT THESE GRAPHICS! LOOK AT THEM!!!

A lovely still-picture. Very vibrant and colorful. Did you make it with your console?

Is that the Bitter Coast from Vvardenfell?

 

[Coffeejack]

I think it stems from a lack of social graces and the inability to structure eloquent points and arguments. Standards of education and behaviour are going down, so I am saddened but not surprised when I read Platform vs. Platform arguments on the internet. YouTube is the worst offender (that I have visited), but I must say that people on The Escapist seem a great deal more mature on thee whole.