PC Gaming Elitism

[Fusionxl]

...and if you like mmo's those are basically non existant besides a few, such as ffxi or star ocean

I'm sorry, this is probably a flamebait, but I simply couldn't hold myself back

For your information, World of Warcraft has about 12 million subscribers who pay 20 dollars every month + additional 20 for every expansion ( 2 of which are practically must-buy for every half-serious player ). Minor fees for keeping the servers running included, they earn more than some small countries. The people take it so seriously the tickets to the last BlizzCon ( Blizzard fanfest ) were sold out with 8 seconds.

In addition to that, there is EVE Online with about half a million subscribers who happily fly to Iceland every year to talk with the developers about the future of the game. In fact, the playerbase is so loyal that quite a large % have been playing for over 6 years since beta.

MMOs are the most "serious business" games out there, please be sure you have some experience with what you are talking about before you claim you know the truth. That it all

 

[acosn]

no offense, i'd love,love to see you beat me in tps or racing or fighting games on the pc vs. me and my controller.

and what drawbacks are you talking about...? the only drawback i really see is no modding really, it is possible but a pain, and if you like mmo's those are basically non existant besides a few, such as ffxi or star ocean

Er. It'd appear as though we're agreeing here since I too said that racing games and a handful of other genres do actually function better on consoles. Sometimes having fewer possible buttons is a good thing.

Drawbacks of a console? Well I'm glad you asked!

-The controller doesn't lend itself to certain genres. It's so bad in some cases that entire genres like RTS's more or less do not see much representation on consoles.

-Some genres are simply non-existent without said holding back via controllers- MMO's stand up as one.

-No modding. Period. You pay for DLC, which is as close as you can get.

-Less control over your game. We're starting to see DLC become common place on PC's but we still basically have control over what we spent our money on.

-Your Xbox 360 red rings. You send it back and wait weeks for it to come back repaired. Hopefully.

My computer's graphics card dies, I run down to fry's, buy a new one and slap it in. Worst case scenario my PC's down and out for a day. If I'm really bothered to chase down the warranty (Oh wait, graphics cards last longer than 2 years unless you're just bad. How long does your console system last?)

-My PC multi-tasks, and is for multiple things. The same PC I game on also has all my music, I watch movies on it, I browse the web, I post on forums, all my college papers are done on it, and more. Reasonably speaking, how many of those things are done on a console?

-I have steam, effectively meaning that so long as I have an internet connection I can more or less have access to almost all my games so long as I have my laptop.

Look at all 'dem disks you'd need to do the same with a console system. And when I said "almost all" I really meant all of them- the ones not supported through steam don't even have CD checks (WoW, WC3, ect)

 

[Nomanslander]

Every gaming platform has its elitists. The PC is no different.

Although PC gamers sorta have a reason to be....=P

Still doesn't make it a good thing!!

lol

 

[HotFezz8]

So I'm browsing Facebook and I discover a group entitled "Consoles Suck".

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114331846058&ref=nf

I begin to read the group description and realize just why some people hate PC gaming or at least PC gamers. I'm a PC gamer at heart (even though I do own consoles). PC games to me are much more complex and satisfying than others on a console. This, however, just makes me ashamed of who I am. Any thoughts?

Every gaming platform has its elitists. The PC is no different.

yeah pretty much this. picture the halo fans. that said the most ardent supporters i ever met were Total War freaks, and they didn't really care about the console.

 

[Kiju]

I'm only a PC gamer because I prefer mouse/keyboard over analog control...call me picky, but I just aim better with the sensitivity and manipulation of a mouse.

 

[ucciolord1]

I just consider myself more nerdy than dedicated console gamers, seeing as I have devoted most of my money and all of my social life (versus the console player's sacrifice of just some of his money and most of his social life) to the fine art of blowing stuff up.
Maybe not better, but definitely more of a geek.

 

[asdasdasdasda]

The PC is better then every other game platform in every possible way other then ease of use and control preferences. Yes, I am elitist.

Glad to be one, too.

 

[Carlston]

So I'm browsing Facebook and I discover a group entitled "Consoles Suck".

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114331846058&ref=nf

I begin to read the group description and realize just why some people hate PC gaming or at least PC gamers. I'm a PC gamer at heart (even though I do own consoles). PC games to me are much more complex and satisfying than others on a console. This, however, just makes me ashamed of who I am. Any thoughts?

Same reason the threads "Consoles rule, PC suck" rolls my eyes...

Ashamed of who you are? You need to delve less into it then. Consoles say back around NES were better in translated games compare to say a C-64. Pirates on a NES was the shit, on a c-64 it loaded for like 30 minutes.

But now since everything is cross the board and consoles are just PC hardware in a neat plastic shell. Feel nothing bad. I still like the fact I can upgrade my pc and keep all my old crap on it for 400 bucks, now a days that's a entire console which chances are refuses backwards compatability.

I have one pc...

I have 2 consoles on my tv stand, ps3 and WII.

And like 8 old consoles in storage.

But on the old pc i still have my folders from the 386 days. I like that.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

no offense, i'd love,love to see you beat me in tps or racing or fighting games on the pc vs. me and my controller.

and what drawbacks are you talking about...? the only drawback i really see is no modding really, it is possible but a pain, and if you like mmo's those are basically non existant besides a few, such as ffxi or star ocean

Er. It'd appear as though we're agreeing here since I too said that racing games and a handful of other genres do actually function better on consoles. Sometimes having fewer possible buttons is a good thing.

Drawbacks of a console? Well I'm glad you asked!

-The controller doesn't lend itself to certain genres. It's so bad in some cases that entire genres like RTS's more or less do not see much representation on consoles.

-Some genres are simply non-existent without said holding back via controllers- MMO's stand up as one.

-No modding. Period. You pay for DLC, which is as close as you can get.

-Less control over your game. We're starting to see DLC become common place on PC's but we still basically have control over what we spent our money on.

-Your Xbox 360 red rings. You send it back and wait weeks for it to come back repaired. Hopefully.

My computer's graphics card dies, I run down to fry's, buy a new one and slap it in. Worst case scenario my PC's down and out for a day. If I'm really bothered to chase down the warranty (Oh wait, graphics cards last longer than 2 years unless you're just bad. How long does your console system last?)

-My PC multi-tasks, and is for multiple things. The same PC I game on also has all my music, I watch movies on it, I browse the web, I post on forums, all my college papers are done on it, and more. Reasonably speaking, how many of those things are done on a console?

-I have steam, effectively meaning that so long as I have an internet connection I can more or less have access to almost all my games so long as I have my laptop.

Look at all 'dem disks you'd need to do the same with a console system. And when I said "almost all" I really meant all of them- the ones not supported through steam don't even have CD checks (WoW, WC3, ect)

-you could say the same about keyboard+mouse for certain genres, so that point is null

-mmo's are technically there, so are RTS, its just not too many people play them (star ocean and ffxi did have a decent following though), people dont play consoles for RTS's and MMO's, not often at least, tom clancy's end war and red alert and halo wars were all there, played em and they were alright, but generally those are pc based genre's, the control really isn't that bad, sure not 100% of what a mouse and keyboard can do, but its still perfectly enjoyable, as many people have proven by buying those games i pointed out.

-modding is very possible, my friend does it on occasion, its just a bit of a pain to do it, and if the game itself can't stand alone for being a good game, then im not buying it in the first place, so modding is wonderful, yes, but not necessary, as millions of console players obviously would agree on

-more control? i dont see where you are going with that point.

-free repair? easy. i have yet to have one red ring on me anyways, and i hardly use it anymore since i have my ps3, plus thats an old arguement since the jaspr has come out, they are more reliable,and your poking at once console, when we were originally talking about all in general


- once again, your pointing at something null, the console has and never will try and do multiple things, otherwise its just a pc, its a GAMING platform, it has a set use of hardware on it, which plays games 100% of the time, while pc's, i can't tell you how many times i have had something not work for me on it, with some of the most outrageous and weird errors i had no idea existed, hte whole point of a console is pop in and play, no hassle, no waiting for installations, no hoping to god this game works on the rig (btw my ps3 and wii can use the internet, shhhhhh...not many people know about that, watching porn with no virus's, not too shabby)

- once again, you have to install and hope it works on your pc/laptop, i have had games from steam not install because of busy servers and a few other various reasons, while i can just as easily know for a fact that my game when i pop it into my console will work on command , as alot alot alot of people had pointed out on here (various threads about it) people like having hard copies, therefore going the whole point of you pointing out steam (which i do use, and is nice, but i do like having hard copies of games when possible)

only a few of your reasons have anything to do with actually playing on a console, in which they weren't even just arguements that i could understand as being points, if you really really like modding that much, then go ahead and play pc, im fine with that, otherwise, i like my games for what they are originally, and will play it amazingly from the start on console with 100% assurance that it will work

really i have all systems and i use them all just about equally, so i understand where you are coming from on some of this, but its non essential, completely, for some of the reasons you are spitting out, and that is why people love and play consoles

 

[LordZ]

I find it funny when people say PC gaming is too expensive while paying $60 per game on a console.

People who think you have to spend even $1000 on a PC to play games have no clue wtf they are talking about. You can game on much less.

I game on both console and PC. Personally, I have a lot more fun on a PC.

As for the post above, I think it's funny that you fail to realize the weakness of a console is that everything done on a console can be done better on a PC. This is the nature of the console being nothing more than a stripped down PC. I thought Microsoft got into consoles to take over but they got into it to hurry consoles to their doom. The 360 is basically one generation away from being nothing more than a prebuilt PC with a specialized OS. I expect the next Xbox wont even be a console but just Xbox Windows.

 

[acosn]

-you could say the same about keyboard+mouse for certain genres, so that point is null

Actually, no. With the exception of racing games and fighters there's really no medium that doesn't translate as well, if not better onto the mouse / keyboard rigging.

-mmo's are technically there, so are RTS, its just not too many people play them (star ocean and ffxi did have a decent following though), people dont play consoles for RTS's and MMO's, not often at least, tom clancy's end war and red alert and halo wars were all there, played em and they were alright, but generally those are pc based genre's, the control really isn't that bad, sure not 100% of what a mouse and keyboard can do, but its still perfectly enjoyable, as many people have proven by buying those games i pointed out.

If few people play the games then few games of that genre get released. It's why you're not seeing many WW2 RTS's or space centric RTS's. A stubborn community doesn't lend itself to high sales. Steady sales, maybe, but not high sales.

End War hardly made any ripples. Maybe blips on the radar. Same with Halo Wars and RA3. I'll just leave it at this: There's no sign on the horizon of more end war games, the studio that made halo wars is now closed, and EA is effectively pulling the plug on the C+C franchise with C+C4. Console strategy games? what strategy games? I'm seeing a lot of ports.

-modding is very possible, my friend does it on occasion, its just a bit of a pain to do it, and if the game itself can't stand alone for being a good game, then im not buying it in the first place, so modding is wonderful, yes, but not necessary, as millions of console players obviously would agree on

A massive part of why games like WC3 and SC remained popular long after they were more or less "in the grave" was due to modding. It might not be conventional modding since blizzard took a lot of the guess work out of it, but it's modding none the less. Mods can breath life into a game that previously had none. In some cases when you're looking at games like Half Life 2 the number of mods are staggering.

-free repair? easy. i have yet to have one red ring on me anyways, and i hardly use it anymore since i have my ps3, plus thats an old arguement since the jaspr has come out, they are more reliable,and your poking at once console, when we were originally talking about all in general

If any console system breaks you're mailing it to someone else to fix. If you so much as try to open it you're invalidating the warranty.

- once again, your pointing at something null, the console has and never will try and do multiple things, otherwise its just a pc, its a GAMING platform, it has a set use of hardware on it, which plays games 100% of the time, while pc's, i can't tell you how many times i have had something not work for me on it, with some of the most outrageous and weird errors i had no idea existed, hte whole point of a console is pop in and play, no hassle, no waiting for installations, no hoping to god this game works on the rig (btw my ps3 and wii can use the internet, shhhhhh...not many people know about that, watching porn with no virus's, not too shabby)

Things console systems do now that they didn't 10 years ago:

-Connect to the internet for both multiplayer and web browsing as well as DLC and updates.
-playing DVD's and blue ray movies.
-Play music.

Don't be delusional. Everyone's trying to make sure their console reaches as broad an audience as possible.

Anyone who spends 2 seconds to learn their computer's system specs will then know what games they can and can't play.

if you get error messages chances are someone else does too, spend another 2 minutes on any relevant tech support forum and suddenly you have a solution.

Oh, and viruses? Easy- download any of the many free anti-viruses, download firefox, and run the noscript add on. Download the free spyware protection and blamo. Unless you're the terminally lazy type that not only opens emails they don't trust, but click links in them and install attachments you'll never get anything malicious unless it's already been cast in a wide net.

- once again, you have to install and hope it works on your pc/laptop, i have had games from steam not install because of busy servers and a few other various reasons, while i can just as easily know for a fact that my game when i pop it into my console will work on command , as alot alot alot of people had pointed out on here (various threads about it) people like having hard copies, therefore going the whole point of you pointing out steam (which i do use, and is nice, but i do like having hard copies of games when possible)

I like having hard copies too.

I also like not having to bring my whole CD collection to college with me, and back home again when I visit the parents.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Every gaming platform has its elitists. The PC is no different.

God damn it, why does everyone always seem to say what I want to say?

Good show, however.

 

[Funkysandwich]

A big factor in my decision to not buy a current gen console was the fact that everyone I know who has one has had it replaced at least once in three years.

That's not great, considering the warranty will run out eventually. What happens when they stop making 360's or PS3's? If I'm going to spend $500 plus on a console, I want it to last forever.

So I built a gaming PC out of a couple of cheap parts, which runs all newly released games and can be upgraded whenever I feel like it.

I'm not really an elitist, I still enjoy console gaming but I can't justify the expense when I know I'll be lucky if it lasts 3 years.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

-you could say the same about keyboard+mouse for certain genres, so that point is null

Actually, no. With the exception of racing games and fighters there's really no medium that doesn't translate as well, if not better onto the mouse / keyboard rigging.

-mmo's are technically there, so are RTS, its just not too many people play them (star ocean and ffxi did have a decent following though), people dont play consoles for RTS's and MMO's, not often at least, tom clancy's end war and red alert and halo wars were all there, played em and they were alright, but generally those are pc based genre's, the control really isn't that bad, sure not 100% of what a mouse and keyboard can do, but its still perfectly enjoyable, as many people have proven by buying those games i pointed out.

If few people play the games then few games of that genre get released. It's why you're not seeing many WW2 RTS's or space centric RTS's. A stubborn community doesn't lend itself to high sales. Steady sales, maybe, but not high sales.

End War hardly made any ripples. Maybe blips on the radar. Same with Halo Wars and RA3. I'll just leave it at this: There's no sign on the horizon of more end war games, the studio that made halo wars is now closed, and EA is effectively pulling the plug on the C+C franchise with C+C4. Console strategy games? what strategy games? I'm seeing a lot of ports.

-modding is very possible, my friend does it on occasion, its just a bit of a pain to do it, and if the game itself can't stand alone for being a good game, then im not buying it in the first place, so modding is wonderful, yes, but not necessary, as millions of console players obviously would agree on

A massive part of why games like WC3 and SC remained popular long after they were more or less "in the grave" was due to modding. It might not be conventional modding since blizzard took a lot of the guess work out of it, but it's modding none the less. Mods can breath life into a game that previously had none. In some cases when you're looking at games like Half Life 2 the number of mods are staggering.

-free repair? easy. i have yet to have one red ring on me anyways, and i hardly use it anymore since i have my ps3, plus thats an old arguement since the jaspr has come out, they are more reliable,and your poking at once console, when we were originally talking about all in general

If any console system breaks you're mailing it to someone else to fix. If you so much as try to open it you're invalidating the warranty.

- once again, your pointing at something null, the console has and never will try and do multiple things, otherwise its just a pc, its a GAMING platform, it has a set use of hardware on it, which plays games 100% of the time, while pc's, i can't tell you how many times i have had something not work for me on it, with some of the most outrageous and weird errors i had no idea existed, hte whole point of a console is pop in and play, no hassle, no waiting for installations, no hoping to god this game works on the rig (btw my ps3 and wii can use the internet, shhhhhh...not many people know about that, watching porn with no virus's, not too shabby)

Things console systems do now that they didn't 10 years ago:

-Connect to the internet for both multiplayer and web browsing as well as DLC and updates.
-playing DVD's and blue ray movies.
-Play music.

Don't be delusional. Everyone's trying to make sure their console reaches as broad an audience as possible.

Anyone who spends 2 seconds to learn their computer's system specs will then know what games they can and can't play.

if you get error messages chances are someone else does too, spend another 2 minutes on any relevant tech support forum and suddenly you have a solution.

Oh, and viruses? Easy- download any of the many free anti-viruses, download firefox, and run the noscript add on. Download the free spyware protection and blamo. Unless you're the terminally lazy type that not only opens emails they don't trust, but click links in them and install attachments you'll never get anything malicious unless it's already been cast in a wide net.

- once again, you have to install and hope it works on your pc/laptop, i have had games from steam not install because of busy servers and a few other various reasons, while i can just as easily know for a fact that my game when i pop it into my console will work on command , as alot alot alot of people had pointed out on here (various threads about it) people like having hard copies, therefore going the whole point of you pointing out steam (which i do use, and is nice, but i do like having hard copies of games when possible)

I like having hard copies too.

I also like not having to bring my whole CD collection to college with me, and back home again when I visit the parents.

-like i also said earlier, third person shooters, hell i forgot to mention action/adventure games, there is a reason they come out on console, (using your own point there, about mmo's and rts's) so there are 4 different game types alone that are built around the console, and ports? all i hear about from pc elitists are how they are getting port after port from console, so obviously that is going plenty both ways

-and i did not ever say i doubt modding, you are making points and trying to argue against me like im a against it, so really all this about mods isn't necessary when i agreed saying they were nice, just not necessary, people buy the games for the game itself, not to see what little tinkerings people did with it on the side, there are still plenty of console games that are popular that are old as you are stating about some pc games, i pull out tons of old games all the time to give them another playthrough, as my friends tend to come over whenever i do too

-and.....? that means zero work for me, i send it in and someone does the work and frustration for me, and nearly 90% of console owners i know these days have more then one console, more then likely a pc too,(especially the xbox that your pointing at) so if you really had to, they would have more then one if they are that addicted to games

- not true. i look at the specs and it happens not just to me, as it happens to numerous amounts of people, so dont play that one like its simple and cut dry, and i have done that with many of websites, sometimes the questions get answered while other times they are 2 year old questions that have been buried and died out, in which im left with a game i can't sell back and can't run, when the whole time had i bought it for the console i could have been enjoying it from the first second i put it in

- oh just being a smartass here like you were, ps2 came out 10 years ago, therefore it did all those things actually, and on ps1 you could play music just fine which is even older

- and the virus thing, i was being a sarcastic smartass about that, i know its not that hard to avoid virus's, but in the point of porn, there is no garuntee on a pc that you wont get any

- my last point you dodged the first part, so i dont know if you have a response to that, but really how much luggage do you have going to college? i could fit more easily if needed in one load, i didn't bring my whole fucking house with me, and why would you bring it all back when visiting? you aren't gonna be there long, so whats the point? and you can technically fit them all on one long circular pole unless you are super afraid it'll get scratched somehow (highly unlikely as it is)

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I find it funny when people say PC gaming is too expensive while paying $60 per game on a console.

People who think you have to spend even $1000 on a PC to play games have no clue wtf they are talking about. You can game on much less.

I game on both console and PC. Personally, I have a lot more fun on a PC.

As for the post above, I think it's funny that you fail to realize the weakness of a console is that everything done on a console can be done better on a PC. This is the nature of the console being nothing more than a stripped down PC. I thought Microsoft got into consoles to take over but they got into it to hurry consoles to their doom. The 360 is basically one generation away from being nothing more than a prebuilt PC with a specialized OS. I expect the next Xbox wont even be a console but just Xbox Windows.

hmm....REALYLLY? lolwut? FUUUUUUUUUUUU im baffled by this statement. i dont think any single person could have figured this out. good freaking job, that just saved hours of pondering about this subject!!!

first off, i have all systems including a decent pc, and i just ordered 2 games from pc that are coming today, so i am far from a console fanboy, i just was playing the devils advocate there, and the whole point of systems are a set amount of hardware that runs flawlessly when you need it to, with no installations, just plug n play, which obviously a mass majority of the world prefers, thats more or less in a nutshell why people do consoles over pc

 

[Korten12]

pc elisits are just as bad as console fanboys, they refuse to admit it but they are. they have all these reasons why they think their console/pc is better and thats fine but they cant accept it when someone else is different. almost like a racist. or atleast someone who hates others ideas and such and wishes to force them upon others.

 

[shadowelancer]

In my personal oppinion this is a dark time to be a pc gamer. Not because everyone that uses pc games are bad people but because companies that make pc games are going down a bad path (see ubisofts recent drm system) and with the seemingly YEARLY updates to the windows os it makes it difficult to stay on top. Being a console gamer is cheaper because you only have to update your current console generation every 3-4 years while pc gamers need to update there pc MONTHLY if they want to stay top of the line. Ill admit that for some games id happily be a pc gamer but for financial reasons i probably never will be i just will never have that much spare income that i can constantly upgrade my system.

 

[AlanShore]

In my personal oppinion this is a dark time to be a pc gamer. Not because everyone that uses pc games are bad people but because companies that make pc games are going down a bad path (see ubisofts recent drm system) and with the seemingly YEARLY updates to the windows os it makes it difficult to stay on top. Being a console gamer is cheaper because you only have to update your current console generation every 3-4 years while pc gamers need to update there pc MONTHLY if they want to stay top of the line. Ill admit that for some games id happily be a pc gamer but for financial reasons i probably never will be i just will never have that much spare income that i can constantly upgrade my system.

That part about having to upgrade monthly is total BS and I'm sick of seeing it in every argument against PC gaming. Yes, you CAN upgrade every month if you want but you'd have to be a complete idiot to do that. If you pick your components carefully and don't just blindly buy whatever is the most expensive option, you can get away with upgrading every 2-3 years and spend ~£700 doing it.