Poll: PC vs Console reasons

[SpAc3man]

Supposedly Valve is working on a 10 foot interface for Steam that is optimised for use with a controller. Once we have that people can quite comfortably game on a PC in their living room on the 42" LCD while sitting in an armchair. I have even heard talk that Dell will start pre-loading Steam to use this new interface on platforms like the Alienware X51 [http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-x51/pd] which is about the size of an Xbox 360 but with many times the performance capabilities. I'm calling it now. Valve is going to help OEM computer manufacturers push PC based gaming systems into the living room to compete with consoles more directly.


EDIT: Quick update on that. Noticed the Alienware X51 already comes preloaded with Steam and Portal and there is a pretty good selection of games to throw in when you buy online. Go figure.

 

[malestrithe]

I don't like gaming on a PC. I'm not into modding, I don't like the controls, and so on. But that's not the only reason for me not to game on a PC. For me, my livelihood is dependent on me keeping a PC as a tool and not an entertainment center. I use a word processor to type. I use crossword puzzle making software to make crosswords. I use Corel Publisher to make fliers. I use the internet to search for article writing leads and to look for work. The only way I can do those things is if I don't use the computer to play games on it.

 

[Snotnarok]

No, it's not really a good excuse because when my 360 died I hooked my controllers to my PC, all the 360 games I lost I got back for 15 bucks total. I hit two buttons it goes to my TV via HDMI. So I can sit back with 360/PS2/PS1 controllers/mouse and keyboard.

Am I against consoles? I have 10 from past generations and a PS3 and an dead xbox 360 so I like a lot of consoles, just not this generation so much. My PC does the same and more, the games are cheaper, and I can do my art and whatever. So there's no real point for a 'modern' console when my PC does it and more, what does a console do beyond a PC? Nothing. But if someone doesn't need the 'more' then a console is just fine.

 

[Smertnik]

As far as this particular reasoning goes, no, not really. You can easily hook up your PC to a TV, plug in one of the many available controllers and have the same "couch experience" as on a console.

 

[Breadline]

Ok, I won't use an excuse. I just prefer playing on consoles and if you don't like that, tough shit. I don't see why I should have to explain my preferences to people who will just insult or condescend me over them. But seriously, fuck off and just let me play the way I want to.

I swear in all these threads you're usually the first person to get noticeably upset. And in threads that specifically relate to PCs you always seem to be one of the first to turn it into some PC elitist issue.

After a while I started realizing the reason I'd always notice your avatar was because you are often the first person to get vehemently defensive about your preference towards consoles.

It's often enough to be a pattern. You are part of the problem, not the solution, understand that hate only begets more hate.

 

[Anthony Wells]

Here's my two cents. no it is not a good excuse on its own. Honestly for convenience i dont have to download a bunch of stuff to use my ps3 controller on my ps3. however i dont side either way. inherently some things are better controlled with mouse and keyboard fps, rts (this one especially), mmorpg, etc. platformers both third and first person plus side scrollers..are better with a controller (for me at least). everything has its place. the console is a convenience albeit slightly more expensive in the long run thing. and the pc is a overall superior thing if you pump the time into it. Why is that so hard to understand for some people? But again to answer your question: no it is not, but soem games are better played with controller and its more convenient to not have to download drivers and configure stuff..just pop in and play.


EDIT: the tv thing is a non issue for me since i dont have a widescreen HDtv so hooking up my computer to it would be a downgrade in quality.

 

[Torrasque]

The only counter I can think to your argument is that it is hard or awkward to play PC on a couch. Most PC games that I play or would want to play, require a keyboard and mouse. Even if you have a wireless keyboard and mouse, it is awkward to play on the couch unless you have a small table set up or something.
One of the paladins in my guild would always boast that he played WoW on his 50" TV while sitting on the couch, and I'm pretty sure that he had a small table set up so he wouldn't have to have the keyboard on his lap or the mouse on some coaster or something.

So yeah, saying you prefer console over PC because you use a controller or because you like sitting on a couch, is no good defence for consoles. I play my consoles while sitting on my beanbag chair, and I've played starcraft the same way (which can feel awkward at times).

 

[Eventidal]

Why bother with splitscreen when everything is on-line anyway? The only reason people use splitscreen was because internet access wasn't universal. However, 20 years later, internet is widely used.

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO

This is the reason multiplayer has gone from something fun to a boring chore for me these days. Multiplayer is no longer a fun social feature. It's a given, it's a grind, it's a rise to the top fighting against scores of annoying kids spouting profanity into their microphones. It's restricted, cordoned-off, sectioned-away, points-based leaderboard fights. Compare Halo online to playing local multiplayer. Local is a blast, where you set your rules and have at it in really fun ways. I can't tell you how much fun I've had with that. If online could possibly deliver the same experience, Halo would be undisputed champion over CoD. But no. Only with friends can you actually choose custom settings, because the sanctity of rankings must come before all else. Even with friends, it's not as fun as offline.

If you can't punch the guy next to you, if you don't actually have that real-life communication and feedback, it's not the same thing. Not even close. I can't stand the focus on online. For one, I've never experienced lag-free matches in any game or connnection I've tried. For two, the experience of playing with people and the non-stat-driven nature of offline multiplayer simply cannot be matched with online. In my eyes, it's an inherently and objectively worse experience in more ways than one. So to say what you said completely flies in the face of that. God forbid more people in the industry start thinking like that and I may never again be able to play with friends offline. Maybe next generation will take out all local connectivity features entirely.

 

[Guffe]

I play my wii from the same chair I play my computer games on.
So poll option "no" for me.
I think it's silly to debate consoles vs pc anyways since I think you should just play what you find suits you. But that's just me.

 

[Vault101]

I prefer a desk

I feel more alert..more focused (also mosue/keyboard)

theres a reason I sit on an office chair ti play my console

 

[scar_47]

Really it depends on your set up, ie only having one computer or tv kinda kills being able to use a pc hooked up to the tv if your sharing either, like me I occasionally play older pc titles on the household pc whick cannot be relocated into my room for obvious reasons thus I'm forced to play pc games outside of my setup along with limited usage kinda kills it for me. I get that the whole "excuse" not being very difficult to overcome but adjusting your gaming setup could involve some effort and expense and most people won't do that for something they perceive as equal. I think it's mostly being used because its a quick response requiring little effort instead of trying to actually articulate a position.

 

[Bvenged]

Preferring to sit on a couch, in my opinion, is a legitimate reason to rather a console over a PC. While I can't speak for anyone else, I've always placed my PC on a desk in it's own room, or a part of another room (such as the dining room). I think it's important to have separate areas to work and play to remain productive. I know that a PC can be connected to a television, but frankly, I don't have a keyboard and mouse with cords long enough to reach the PC. Focusing on work (which I use a PC to do) can also become quite difficult if I'm lying on a couch and moving the PC from desk to television just seems to much work. Console at television for games, PC at desk for PC exclusives (or games I rather have on the PC); works for me, maybe not for others.

I do agree, however, that a controller should not be the only reason to choose a console over a PC, there are other factors.

Good piont, but there are video cards that will wirelessly digitally transmit a signal from your PC to the T.V, so you don't actually have to move your computer from your desk. and you can also use a wirless contoller too. so you can have your computer in a seperate room while connecting it to the T.V. Personally I have a laptop so it is easy for me. I will see if I can find the card or device that trnsmitts your computer signal to the T.V (I believe it uses a small device similar to onlive to communicate with the T.V from the computer, but just video signal over lan which means near zero latency)

Edit: for example you could use this card to transmit a signal, I don't know about other options
http://www.guru3d.com/news/galaxy-outs-slick-nvidia-gtx460-with-wireless-tv-connectivity/

Yeah, I'm one for the best of both worlds, but that TV card is nothing short of expensive in its own right. Just to be a kicker, hooking up your PC to your TV and using a controller for gaming is all well and dandy assuming you don't mind the hassle it will be to do that. But then if you need to browse the internet or write a document. It'll become a pain in the arse... then you have to get some kind of tray on your lap and a wireless mouse/keyboard, but that's not comfortable so why not save yourself some inconvenience, time and money and buy a cheap-ass PC/Laptop for business and purchase a console for gaming. Hassle free and you're only losing out on a bit of modding and graphical enhancement for the time being.

Maybe a lot of people don't wan't a bulky-ass PC at the front of their living room. We all know laptops are quite incapable, so why not slip a console between under the stand and keep the PC for work in another room.

(For the record, I'm on both sides. My PC is actually hooked up to my TV and so is my console, but I prefer to game with the console as my PC is a bag of crap at the moment)

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

Who cares?

Tens of thousands of people.

Why does it matter what people choose as their gaming device?

1) Developing for a PC is free. Developing for a console requires the company to buy a license to do so(costing the company money it could use to further develop a game)

2) Developing ports is also costly, as often times developers more familiar with a system must be called in to code for it to run on a different PC/Console system. This means hiring people(or a 3rd party studio) that would otherwise be unnecessary. Again costing the developer more money.

3) It is restrictive in terms of what you can do, as you have to develop for your lowest common denominator. Hence controls can be unnecessarily simplified to the point where it's bad for the game. And graphics can and often are stunted. Often times the mouse is not properly coded for resulting in weird sensitivity rates(such as mass effect games or Skyrim.)

 

[Da Orky Man]

Why bother with splitscreen when everything is on-line anyway? The only reason people use splitscreen was because internet access wasn't universal. However, 20 years later, internet is widely used.

No. Just no. Online is NOT a replacement for splitscreen. Can you really say that playing aginst some faceless guy who may or may not even be on a mic is equal to playing against someone sitting next to you? Not all gamers are antisocial enough to not have any friends they can bear to be in the same room as.

 

[Abedeus]

Or I can get a gamepad on PC and play from my bed, but still have mouse and keyboard for RPGs and FPS.

Why bother with splitscreen when everything is on-line anyway? The only reason people use splitscreen was because internet access wasn't universal. However, 20 years later, internet is widely used.

No. Just no. Online is NOT a replacement for splitscreen. Can you really say that playing aginst some faceless guy who may or may not even be on a mic is equal to playing against someone sitting next to you? Not all gamers are antisocial enough to not have any friends they can bear to be in the same room as.

Woah woah WOAH, easy there, you are really defensive for some reason.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Why bother with splitscreen when everything is on-line anyway? The only reason people use splitscreen was because internet access wasn't universal. However, 20 years later, internet is widely used.

No. Just no. Online is NOT a replacement for splitscreen. Can you really say that playing aginst some faceless guy who may or may not even be on a mic is equal to playing against someone sitting next to you? Not all gamers are antisocial enough to not have any friends they can bear to be in the same room as.

Or you know play with friends who you know online instead of having to move stuff between houses all of the time. Just putting it out there.

 

[Da Orky Man]

Why bother with splitscreen when everything is on-line anyway? The only reason people use splitscreen was because internet access wasn't universal. However, 20 years later, internet is widely used.

No. Just no. Online is NOT a replacement for splitscreen. Can you really say that playing aginst some faceless guy who may or may not even be on a mic is equal to playing against someone sitting next to you? Not all gamers are antisocial enough to not have any friends they can bear to be in the same room as.

That's assuming anyone can muster the strength to play a game at someone's house. Everyone I knew rather play online, because going over to someone's house (which may or may not be falling apart) was a chore.

Hell, even the console fanboys I knew liked online over split screen.

Why bother with splitscreen when everything is on-line anyway? The only reason people use splitscreen was because internet access wasn't universal. However, 20 years later, internet is widely used.

No. Just no. Online is NOT a replacement for splitscreen. Can you really say that playing aginst some faceless guy who may or may not even be on a mic is equal to playing against someone sitting next to you? Not all gamers are antisocial enough to not have any friends they can bear to be in the same room as.

Or you know play with friends who you know online instead of having to move stuff between houses all of the time. Just putting it out there.

I never siad splitscreen is a replacement for online. And how much stuff do you need to move between houses? A controoler, that's about all. My brother and I play games together a lot, though we xan't with most because it doesn't offer splitscreen, meaning we'd have to fork over more money just to play together.

 

[The White Hunter]

Ehhh this thread >_o

My PC is for work and my consoles are for play, to put it bluntly, if the two are not seperate then I do not work and trust me on this: I barely work as it is.

While I can't speak for anyone else, I've always placed my PC on a desk in it's own room, or a part of another room (such as the dining room). I think it's important to have separate areas to work and play to remain productive.

See, I'm not the only one who has this approach to the issue.

I also enjoy the sheer laziness involved in console gaming, but then I've always had consoles throughout my life starting way back with a second hand master system and mega drive back in the early nineties, and through with the playstations and nintendo handhelds.

So I've never been a PC gamer. Though I occasionally enjoy a game thats on steam dirt cheap, like Painkiller, I will generally prefer the ease of the console's that I know and love.

For most people a big factor is the cost of entry for PC gaming, I'm not gonna go around and tally up a price for it all but the last time I looked into it I would've spent about twice as much as my PS3 cost at the time as a minimum. Whilst it is true that over time you save more on cheaper games you need to also take into account that a large entry cost can be daunting and off putting to consumers; a good example is the tuition fee issue here in the UK, where they were recently recapped at around £9000 a year, whilst they altered the nature of paying it back to make it in reality cheaper than the previous cap of just over £3000, the barrier to entry is much steeper and therefor much more offputting to begin with.

It's also worth noting that many gamers use trade ins to get the newest titles and reduce the costs for themselves, making use of the offers in stores of the "Trade in X get Y for £5" variety. The gamers that do this could lose out in terms of physical media for the PC because most stores in the UK won't accept returns or trade-ins of PC software. Steam is a viable alternative, since it's easy to use and everything is well priced with frequent sales sweetening the deal, but it's still nice to be able to trade in games for credit and put them towards future things and alot of people plain and simple like to have a physical copy of a game. I for one enjoy being able to browse my game shelf for things to play; this isn't just games it extends to why I have shelf after shelf of movies and CD's too.

So since I've rambled on for a bit long here I should wrap this up.
Some people like consoles for a variety of reasons; convenience, entry price, laziness, seperating their work/play area, etc. Overall I'd say the TV issue is a pretty valid reason for not wanting to use your PC for gaming, especially since it fits in nicely with work/play being seperate, but barring yourself from the PC over controllers is pretty silly; especially if you own a 360 controller which you can typically plug and play, my dualshock 3 is a bit more of a pain in the ass but M&K works fine for L4D2 most of the time.

So my question is do you think controller or T.V should be reason for playing on console or pc

Should be a ? there my good man; forgive my grammar nazism but as a teacher it's my job and it's a tough habit to break.

In short:
T.V. Yes, under circumstance.
Controller not really no. Find some drivers or splash out on a 360 controller.

Also: please Escapist's don't come at me with Steam, I went over Steam above and I use Steam alongside my consoles. I don't wish to have arguments over Console Vs. PC, it's a waste of time, people like what they like.