Misunderstanding PC gaming

[Gavmando]

Well, as someone who has spent the last 3 hours trying to install Starcraft 2 on my PC, I have got to say, consoles are FAR easier to get games to work on.

I have a pretty decent computer. I dont have any fancy settings. I just wanted a machine that was powerful and would run things without any fuss. But, once again, i've had problems with installing a PC game. This is not a new thing. Oh no. I have been doing this kind of thing for years with PC's. I can count on one hand the amount of times i've had a game that I have installed on a PC and it has worked straight away. I'm really not kidding about this. Since I was a kid, I have always had problems with PC's. Always.

I have never had trouble with installing something on a console.

The only reason I play stuff on PC's is because I like RTS' and you just cant play them on consoles.

Yes I know i'm having a rant, but i'm angry and frustrated that I couldnt just install a game and then play it. It's really not that hard a concept now is it? Unfortunately PC's just dont work. (Easily.)

 

[Adon Cabre]

Since we are getting in this whole PC-Consoles debate on price range,I have to say that PC gaming on the whole isn't really that expensive if you look at it long term. It's merely a stereotype that stems from the uber nerds of the PC gaming community that like to get extremely expensive hardware for their PC to build "supermachines".

I bought(not built, bought) my PC for roughly 750 dollars back in early 2009. It's mid 2013, 4 and a half years later and the only hardware change I've made was to get a 200 dollar graphics card in 2012. So I invested roughly 1000 bucks in hardware and I doubt that I will change ANYTHING in my rig in the next 3-4 years or so since I run most games on high with no issues(1000 bucks in hardware that will last me a good 8 or so years if not more while running 90% of games on high settings doesn't sound that bad). And the games are usually cheaper than their console equivalents, sometimes even half price, with better looking graphics(for the good ports at least) and strong mod support from the community, which really tends to extend the life of particular games.

Console gaming might look cheap at first glance, with you shelling about 300 bucks for the machine or so but people don't factor the big screen TV and the fact that console releases are goddam expensive. As a member of the "pc master race", when I go and check out games at the local store I cringe at the 50-70 dollar price tag for most games on the shelf for console releases(even more for the special editions) whereas PC releases tend to be at least one third cheaper and their price seems to go down faster as well. Heck, as a gamer period, I cringe whenever I see ANY game over 50 bucks, most of the stuff I buy tends to hover around the 30 dollar mark or less so it blows my mind to think that there are people who pay 60 bucks or more on a semi-regular basis so they can play on their "cheaper" machines. And services like Steam or GOG are so easy to use that even my sister would have no problem with them and she's hardly skilled with a PC. Uplay and Origin are crap though, that has to be said.

If you buy four console games per year day one, you already spent about 240 bucks(or more), almost the price you paid for your original console. Add that over say 4 years and you're hitting the 900 dollar mark on games alone. That's a lot of money and I know quite a few people that buy a hell of a lot more than 4 games per year(though not always DAY 1 releases of course) on consoles. And with 900 bucks I could buy a s**tload of games on the PC, whether new or old.

While in the end hardware+games might make the PC a bit more expensive than consoles, in the long run the overall costs are actually pretty close depending on your gaming habits. The difference certainly isn't "hundreds or thousands" of dollars as some pundits put it. I won't even mention the advantages the PC has, which come into focus now even more now that consoles have decided that for the next gen they are gonna be low grade PC's(without the advantages of PC's),annoying the hell out of you just so you can access your games, have no backwards compatibility and aspire more to be TV's than gaming devices.

We are supposed to be the "PC master race" but where I come from it's the rich kids that have consoles, not the other way round. I suppose it's because we think about the pricing of games(cause we want to buy many games in the conceivable future), not the initial investment. Considering that we have prices in Euros, it makes the console games even more expensive.

[HEADING=3]How Much Is Your Time Worth?[/HEADING]
If you pay $45 dollars for a game like Skyrim that will provide 80+ hours of game-play and multiple playthroughs, you've just spent < $2 per hour. That's pretty cheap. The market is not concerned with hoarders who do nothing but scavenge for the cheapest sales. The Market is invested in quality games and a diverse volume of titles for its base. But as Sim City showed us, the PC is much more difficult to find a quality product; even the process of finding that sale necessitates another account on top of Steam, Amazon, Origin and Windows Live activation key. Then you have to download it and start on the necessary configurations -- this shouldn't be happening in 2013, and I feel sorry for those who put themselves through such rigor.

Believe me, I do have spurts of jealousy when AC II and a host of other titles show up on Amazon for $4; but then I think, "wait a minute, I don't have time to play them all, and that upcoming Remember Me just feels more fresh and creative". And so I buy the more expensive $50+ title in its first or second week. Quality will not discourage a high cost. Why do you think Apple and it's small variety of tech is dominating aspects of the tech market? No one cares how the hardware is made as long as it looks good, feels good, and works to a crisp consistency of excellence. There's no debating how console exclusives all share these characteristics. 3rd Party games often need tons of patches, but 1st party exclusives require no effort at all; just slip the disk in and start the campaign -- mere seconds; not that you'd know anything about that. (And believe it or not, most PC users find configuration and modding to be a hassle.)

Coming to PS3 & PS4.
Closest thing PC gets is Splinter Cell;
But no Keifer Sutherland!​

What more, and because of piracy, PC exclusives like the Witcher and Thief will be coming to Gen4. The Playstation 3 saw dozens of creative exclusives rock the industry, but Gen4 will take it to another level.

[HEADING=3]Amazing how PC Purists Lose Sight of the Magic of Games[/HEADING]
Just buy a console, or you'll be gawking at the hundreds of pictures and media articles dedicated to console exclusives that are sure to flood the internet within the next two years.

 

[endtherapture]

Just buy a console, or you'll be gawking at the hundreds of pictures and media articles dedicated to console exclusives that are sure to flood the internet within the next two years.

Why would I want to buy a console so I can play Halo again? So I can play CoD again? So I can play Uncharted again?

I can be playing Rome Total War 2 on PC. I can be modding The Witcher 3. I'll have Fallout 4 to mod. I'll be playing Project Eternity, Wasteland 2 and Divinity: Original Sin. All that creativety...it's not coming to consoles.

Consoles might be good for you, but personally I don't have any problem running games - everything I buy off Steam works instantly, same with GoG.com and physical copies. Also the console exclusives don't bother me. I'd prefer to be playing the PC exlusives that are coming out in the next few years than these "console exlusives" you're harping on about so matter-of-factly when you can only name Uncharted and The Last of Us.

Currently more people are PC gaming than ever. My housemate, my friends on my university course, random girls I follow on Twitter. It's simply the most easy and accessible way to play games. You make a Steam account, you acquire cheap games through that or the Humble Bundle. 99% of the time they work without any problems. Everyone is doing it and if you're still stuck in the early 2000s period of "PC gaming is so bloody hard, just buy a console it's easier" then you are an idiot.

And if I want the console experience I just plug my laptop into my HDTV and plug a controller in. Done.

Also what's up with your formatting style? You're in a forum, you're not writing a bloody news article.

 

[josemlopes]

Well, to be fair about cost, think about it like this:

The Xbox 360 is 7 years old now. Therefore, if someone got an xbox on launch and that xbox hasn't failed on him (I know, it's a huge stretch, but it's a hypothetical), then that person would have had his Xbox 360 for 7 years while only paying $400 (or whatever the launch price of the Xbox 360 was, I honestly don't remember).

Now on the flip side, does anyone use a 7 year old PC for playing modern games? Hell no. So if someone got a new gaming PC at the same that that the xbox 360 was released, they've more than likely upgraded that PC at least once.

Therefore, the Xbox 360 would still cost less if it survived for the entire console cycle than a PC would.

Now, of course we live in the real world where this isn't necessarily the case. My Xbox 360 has died 3 times, so the initial cost of $400 + $300 worth of repairs + $50 a year of Xbox Live puts the grand total at $1050. Combine that with the much greater cost of games on the Xbox 360 versus the PC, and the two platforms come out to cost about the same, even if you end up having to upgrade your PC in the middle of the console cycle.

So I definitely wouldn't say that PC gaming costs less than console gaming, it ends up costing the same amount, or more depending on the PC you get, but while the costs are about equal, you do get a better experience on the PC, what with being able to play more games, at higher resolutions, with better graphics, and with mods.

It also depends a lot on how long a generation lasts, PS2 gen was about 4 years, right?
Either way, another thing is also the amount of money that you save with the games. Now you have stuff like Humble Bundle, Steam Sales, the other bundle deals from other places. Things like the Alan Wake Collection for 1$ or every GTA game ever for 7$ are kind of a big deal if you are into playing games that you left behind. You also get to play much older games that arent from the current generation.

All in all it just depends on what the consumer wants out if his system

 

[Adon Cabre]

Just buy a console, or you'll be gawking at the hundreds of pictures and media articles dedicated to console exclusives that are sure to flood the internet within the next two years.

Why would I want to buy a console so I can play Halo again? So I can play CoD again? So I can play Uncharted again?

I can be playing Rome Total War 2 on PC. I can be modding The Witcher 3. I'll have Fallout 4 to mod. I'll be playing Project Eternity, Wasteland 2 and Divinity: Original Sin. All that creativety...it's not coming to consoles.

Consoles might be good for you, but personally I don't have any problem running games - everything I buy off Steam works instantly, same with GoG.com and physical copies. Also the console exclusives don't bother me. I'd prefer to be playing the PC exlusives that are coming out in the next few years than these "console exlusives" you're harping on about so matter-of-factly when you can only name Uncharted and The Last of Us.

Currently more people are PC gaming than ever. My housemate, my friends on my university course, random girls I follow on Twitter. It's simply the most easy and accessible way to play games. You make a Steam account, you acquire cheap games through that or the Humble Bundle. 99% of the time they work without any problems. Everyone is doing it and if you're still stuck in the early 2000s period of "PC gaming is so bloody hard, just buy a console it's easier" then you are an idiot.

And if I want the console experience I just plug my laptop into my HDTV and plug a controller in. Done.

Also what's up with your formatting style? You're in a forum, you're not writing a bloody news article.

SimCity Is Broken,
And It's Not Just the Servers
​

[HEADING=3]And When Publishers Answer to No One?[/HEADING]

You would think that freeing a company of the big bad Console market would make triple-A titles more intuitive to a wider audience. Not so, because now they don't have to meet the standards of Microsoft and SONY's quality management. They can put out whatever they want, and in what ever condition they like. Take it or leave it, but remember, it's a PC exclusive.

[HEADING=3]I've Never Said That PC Gaming Was Bad[/HEADING]
I just said that it was close-minded to stick to one format when better and more experimental exclusives are coming for the consoles. But if you're happy with the status quo, by all means, enjoy your Amazon, Steam, Origin and Windows Live accounts. Yeah, that doesn't sound in the least bit troublesome or work heavy.

You know, all of the IT guys I worked with only used their PC for MMO's. They actually used consoles for hard-core games and for the exclusives; PC modding is for such a small community, but the internet always has room for a vocal minority.

[h4]As for the formatting; it's easy to plug-in commands.[/h4]

 

[endtherapture]

[HEADING=3]And When Publishers Answer to No One?[/HEADING]

You would think that freeing a company of the big bad Console market would make triple-A titles more intuitive to a wider audience. Not so, because now they don't have to meet the standards of Microsoft and SONY's quality management. They can put out whatever they want, and in what ever condition they like. Take it or leave it, but remember, it's a PC exclusive.

You do realise PC games have to have publishers too? There's quality testing there too. Saying PC games have no standards for release makes you seem like an idiot.

Also you forget games like Skyrim are still incredibly broken on consoles. Skyrim just plain doesn't work on PS3. Where is your quality now?

I just said that it was close-minded to stick to one format when better and more experimental exclusives are coming for the consoles. But if you're happy with the status quo, by all means, enjoy your Amazon, Steam, Origin and Windows Live accounts. Yeah, that doesn't sound in the least bit troublesome or work heavy.

I have a Steam account. I have an Amazon account - doesn't everyone? How are you going to buy stuff? That's not a problem just for PC gaming, it's for everyone. It's not problematic. Everyone has loads of accounts for email, forums, social networks, Play.com and Amazon. And you forget consolse require dedicated accounts too...so another moot point.

You know, all of the IT guys I worked with only used their PC for MMO's. They actually used consoles for hard-core games and for the exclusives; PC modding is for such a small community, but the internet always has room for a vocal minority.

Thanks for your anecdotal evidence. My anecdotal evidence shows a lot more people are PC gaming. My girlfriend will never own an Xbox but she often uses her PC to play The Sims and The Walking Dead games.

Modding is just mainstream now. Everyone is doing it. Stop acting like it's some obscure thing. Modding is as easy and clicking the "install" button on the Nexus mod page or Steam workshop for many games.

 

[rasputin0009]

The way I see it is that since I'm going to need a computer for school/work/life, I might as well game on it too. And gaming capable computers got a whole lot cheaper over the last 2 years even. Down to the point where I can go to a retail store, pick up a $300 machine and play most modern games at console quality.

But issues still come up with PC gaming. I remember where Deus Ex: Human Revolution would have a game-breaking framerate after 10 min of playing, and I know my computer could handle it since I can play BF3 at max settings. So after 2 hours of googling, I found the solution to the problem which involved me going into the game's code and changing one little zero to a one. I shouldn't have had to do that. Pretty sure it was related to my hardware (not sure what), but I wouldn't have had that problem with a console (Well, there's Skyrim on PS3 having game-breaking framerate for like 6 months, which I quit playing because of that).


Also, software is incredibly cheaper. 6 month old (or earlier) games can be found at half price on Steam quite often.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

I'll be playing Project Eternity, Wasteland 2 and Divinity: Original Sin. All that creativety...it's not coming to consoles.

Not unless a game makes a huge splash and someone decides to throw money at the devs. Without that, assuming the devs would even agree to it (and given the vitriol Brian Fargo has been spitting about the industry since inXile started the Wasteland 2 KS campaign there's no certainty inXile would take the offer), if these new PC (many of them slated to be release in Win, Mac and Linux flavours) indie and mid-tier titles are going to go to another platform it'll be to iOS and Android devices.

Modding is just mainstream now. Everyone is doing it. Stop acting like it's some obscure thing. Modding is as easy and clicking the "install" button on the Nexus mod page or Steam workshop for many games.

It's mainstream enough that publishers/devs with big modding communities constantly monitor them to see what people are doing with their game, what's working really well and what sort of shit is popular... or in Bethesda's case, what fixes the community has come up with for their shitty coding.

 

[LetalisK]

Edit: I messed up my quote(I thought I had copy/pasted my response into the box when I hadn't so instead it was just a big quote of the person >.<) and went back to fix it, but never mind. It's not worth it to continue a discussion with someone who can't be bothered to back up their argument and instead resorts to distracting with red herrings that aren't being contested and have little relevance to their primary argument. Peace out.