Why are MOST PC gamers full of so much hatred towards Consoles?

[archvile93]

Two words: console exclusives.

 

[GBlair88]

It swings both ways. Most people don't care what anyone else plays but some PC fanboys will flamebait the console fanboys and vice versa. When the pirated games figures were posted on this site a few days ago there were quite a few anti-PC remarks made by the console fanboys.

it's because we don't have to upgrade our systems every month or so

I've had this PC for two years and haven't had to upgrade anything.

 

[mitchell271]

it's because we don't have to upgrade our systems every month or so

 

[Spark Ignition]

Ok so this is less a rational debate and more people screaming in each other's faces about how rational they're being and how the debate is bullshit in the first place.

Personally I've never been into pc. I started gaming when I was a kid and never got the hang of using a mouse and keys. Now I own a £250 laptop with a trackpad. So my ps2 and lately 360 have always been a much more accessible and enjoyable choice for me, although recently, what with controller support on pc and the fact I can HDMI my laptop to a 32" tv, I have been experimenting with pc games, mainly because of Steam, and the fantastic deals and support it offers.

I can see the original point though. I have encountered many, many people in RL and online who laughed in my face when I said I played COD, or L4D on an xbox.

I think it's a combination of both PC gamers having paid more for their tech and being more defensive of it, and the general douchebaggery of 90% of Earth's population wanting to rub their more expensive possessions in other people's faces. Why would a man driving an Aston Martin rip the piss out of a guy in a Vauxhall? Cos he likes people to know how much 'better' he is.

I will say this is a valid point to raise, as it is a pretty common prejudice, at least in my experience. Us 360 players in particular have a bad rep right now for 'dumbing down games' and being 'ignorant fratboys'. Just assuming that's the truth does NOT help matters, and makes it more likely devs will think that's the case and design mroe games aimed at that demographic.

Let's share the game love, people.

 

[Callate]

so i brought the intelligent discussion here.

But you started off with a slur against PC users. How do you think they'd react to that?

How about "Why are people so defensive about their own choice of machine?"

Because that's going to be a discussion, what you've created here is an argument.

If you consider that a "slur" or any form of offensive comment, then you must be very easily offended.

Yeah. This. Not helping.

If you're genuinely interested in people's opinion and not just starting a rant, you need to tone things down a notch. And that starts with not coming at things like the people you're interrogating have something to be defensive about.

That one of your first replies is to call someone who offers fairly gentle criticsm of the way the OP was phrased "easily offended" might give one pause for thought. Even if that particular line can be shrugged off, we still have

full of PC gamers (fanboys, if you will)

It almost seems like they get enjoyment out of starting pointless arguments and debates.

They just start bringing up the whole "Specs vs Specs" debate, and never state factual statements on why they hate/dislike consoles/console gamers.

And suggesting there's nothing a PC gamer has reason to be offended by in that bale of overgeneralizations is rather oblivious at best. "Oh, is the fanboy-troll getting in a snit?"

Now, to make an offering as though the original post were phrased more appropriately- as both a PC gamer and a console gamer, albeit a fairly limited one- many of the people who game on PCs have been "in the game" for some time. Depending on when they started playing games, they may have had to reconfigure their computers to boot DOS differently depending on whether their game used EMS or XMS memory, and at the very least they probably scanned through long pages of benchmarks trying to figure out which video card would offer the features and frame rates to allow them to play upcoming titles. There's a continuity to the PC that makes it seem like they've been loyally following one console for many years (even if their Windows 7 machine would flake out if it actually tried to play their Windows 95 games) that doesn't exist for someone who's moved even from the Playstation to the Playstation 3. Some PC gamers feel that the extra time and devotion they've put towards their machines ought to be rewarded, or recognized. And it's true, a modern gaming PC is in many regards a much more powerful machine than a console with regard to the resolution it can display, the number of polygons it can push, and the number of effects it can implement on those polygons while maintaining frame rate.

Despite that perception of work put in and platform superiority, many PC gamers have watched any number of titles fail to be developed for the PC, including series that had their beginnings on the PC. Deep keyboard-and-mouse interfaces have been rejiggered with gamepads in mind. Incompetent and half-hearted ports have been made, some failing to consider PC control options, some limiting resolutions as low as 640x480, some simply so slapdash that they run like a brick in spite of the greater amount of computational power thrown at them. Their loyalty has been betrayed.

In short, I suspect most PC gamers who do feel compelled to rage against console users- which I must stress is not to be assumed to be the majority, vocal or otherwise- are raging more against the industry itself, not against the people who use consoles. At worst, they feel the console gamer is complicit in the movements of the market which have caused them- the "originals", the people who have put in the hard years and the hard work- to get an increasinly smaller portion of the pie because the game companies that "ought to" be rewarding their love and devotion instead feel a need to make profits.

Now, personally, I think there ought to be room for both. I do get frustrated with the way the industry moves, and the way exclusives and DLC are rolling out is some cause for concern for everybody. And there are a lot of games that ought to be on the PC, that would be great (and possibly, have better versions) on the PC, but don't because of piracy concerns and lower sales numbers and whatnot. And some of the PC users don't help things by complaining endlessly and threatening to boycott ports rather than supporting them or, worse, encouraging piracy of games like it was a way to "punish" the industry that's mistreated them rather than a short-sighted way of cutting their own throat.

But I also think that more people playing video games, whether it's on a PC or a XBox 360 or a DSi or an iPhone, is a good thing. It makes it less likely that the market will crash and bleed out like it did in the eighties. It makes it that much less likely that people like Jack Thompson or Joseph Lieberman will be able to shanghai the public attention with "videogames are corrupting our children" ploys in the future, because their intended audience is that much more likely to say "Hey, [I/my spouse/my kids/my parents/my friends] play those games you're ranting about, you ignorant doofus." It means a viable and diverse market for everything from little Flash games to enormous AAA open-world games.

But that doesn't mean that I don't understand the PC gamer's frustration. And I think this is one of those cases where "I don't understand how you can think that way" is really an indictment of the speaker, not the ones spoken of.

 

[knuckles2812]

Simply put: consoles have caused games to be dumbed down over the generations. If I wanted to do nothing but spend twenty hours pulling a trigger to cause loud noises, I'd go to a gun range. What a concept, eh? PC gamers discovered the greatness of FPS games in the nineties. We were ready to move on ten years ago. But unfortunately, soccer moms, frat boys, and children under ten all decided to pick that time to get into gaming and ruin it for the rest of us.

But truthfully, we also just plain enjoy watching console gamers squirm when they realize the limitations of their chosen platform. Always a riot.

I have a few things to say about this post. First off, pulling a trigger or clicking isn't really too much of a difference. Let's be honest for a second, I play shooters on both the PC and consoles and honestly I don't see a LOT of difference. I mean pull the trigger and make loud noises... point and click and make loud noises... it's really all the same. As far as "limitations" are concerned... I like consoles because sure there are limitations, but everyone is getting the EXACT SAME EXPERIENCE as the other person as far as graphics and speed go (unless you count their internet connection, which plagues PC gamers and Console gamers alike). As far as who decided to start picking on who decided to pick up gaming at what time... you gotta realize that the people who started gaming as kids have started growing up. I started gaming when I was 4 years old... 1988. I'm almost 27 years old now. I hate to break it to you, but the gaming community is growing up. The little girls who loved the super mario brothers are the same soccer moms who continue to love the super mario brothers because that was a happy part of their life. The jerk who used to bully you for your lunch money loved tecmo bowl... who grew up to be the douchebag who sits down at the bar and gets drunk and probably obnoxiously close to you and talks to you like he's your best friend, then goes home and plays madden. The geeks who grew up playing Final Fantasy 3 are now the geeks who play Final Fantasy 13 or WoW. I mean people don't change much and as they grow older, they tend to stick with the things that work for them. Okay, rant over. Before I finish, however... I just want to end off saying that whether or not you're a PC gamer or a Console gamer, it doesn't matter. The purpose of gaming is to have fun... it's a game. If you are more worried about how AWESOME your computer setup is or how cheap your console is and forget about the game... you really aren't much of a gamer anyways. Enjoy the GAMES. Enjoy the time you have getting into the story... learning how it works... doing something FREAKIN' SWEET to tell your friends about. Just have fun

 

[Kelethor]

Consoles have simply made gaming more accessible and mainstream.

Translation: Increased the amount of money going into developers and publishers pockets, therefore increasing the quality of games with each passing year.

Fixed for you. You can thank me later.

Yea...because MW2 and Black Ops were so much better than CoD 2, amirite? Or were there just more shinies added and features dropped?

That's what I thought. If these developers were to spend the extra revenue to create something original and feature-rich, that would be a different story. Instead they just take the money and churn out a "new" version of the same FPS we've played a million times already each year. To please the lowest common denominator. Namely, console kiddies who really like titties and explosions.

I won't go so far to say that nothing good has come from consoles, but the majority of stuff worth playing is brought to us by the indie developers (see avatar). Roughly the same amount of decent products are released by indie devs on the PC, however, and they don't have charges imposed upon them by services like XBL.

The sheer amount of things wrong with your post are unbelievable. For starters, CoD is not the only game in existence. You'll need more than one example. And to say that CoD 2 is better than the modern ones is entirely subjective. A poll held on this very website showed that CoD4 is the favourite around here, so make of that what you will.

Secondly, you act as if there are no unique games on consoles today. That is a blatant lie. Brutal Legend, Limbo, Deathspank, Mass Effect, Uncharted, Borderlands, Assassin's Creed and Red Dead Redemption were all on consoles and are all fantastic original properties. I know a couple of those were on the PC, but my point still stands.

Some amazing games come out on the PC, others on consoles, and to deny that would be blatant fanboyism. (Yay for made up words)

Just because consoles get exclusives does not mean that the majority of those exclusives aren't also simplistic. That's the entire point I'm trying to make here...point-and-click adventure games that I was playing in the DOS days were more challenging intellectually than 99% of all console games released today. For a brief period, it seemed as though developers actually regarded their customers as fully functional human beings, and gave them games that reflected that. Not the case any more, and you can bet your ass that I blame consoles for that.

You want more examples beyond CoD? Shit, I can give you a laundry list. Halo, Battlefield, Bioshock, Elder Scrolls, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, Resistance, Killzone. Many of which are console exclusive, and many of which are top sellers. Sure, these game series may have been novel in the beginning, but they were never truly anything new. And now they've all taken on an identity indistinguishable from one another. That identity? Simple. Laid back. That's what console gamers want. That's what SELLS on consoles. And that's why we never see daring developers now. Want to try something new? EA and/or Activision will buy you up before it's complete and add your studio to the team working on their next cookie-cutter FPS.

Iv no beef with anyone here, but calling Bioshock laid back and safe is a lie. it was essentially system shock (which came from the PC) But steam punk. it was not laid back, nor was it relaxed. it was a psychological, horrifying, fun experience the likes of which I have yet to enjoy anywhere else. except, on System shock.


Sure, it had a sequel that's sole purpose was too cash in on the first one's amazing success, But System Shock did that too. and it was a PC exclusive. Companies that produce games for PC dont care any more about you than they do about the Console crowd. your just another 60 bucks too them. and they don't give a shit were that sixty bucks comes from. weather it's from jaded, bitter PC gamers (Not calling you one) or the angsty, self entitled, whiny, snot nosed little shits who play on Xbox (not calling anyone here that)

 

[TheScottishFella]

Well this is a big question, as I am a PC Gamer but also a Console Gamer with PC being my main playing base. I guess PC users are quick to remind where console games came from in the first place and what console they are on but is also a way to try and prove that they bought the right thing to play games. It is annoying I know, to even have this debate, but in the end fanboys and Flamers will always exist I hope that helps.

 

[Weaver]

I don't think MOST PC gamers are.
I own a mountain of consoles and I've been PC gaming for a very, very long time.

I don't hate console gamers or consoles, but I feel the PC is the better platform. I realize this is my opinion and don't preach it.

What I don't like about your thread OP is you treat it as if console gamers have washed their hands of the whole situation. I've been attacked on sites for being a PC gamer before with no provocation, you're information is entirely anecdotal.

For instance, on the alien vs. predator forums (for the new one) I posted a thread about mouse smoothing when the demo was released. This was followed by "OMG YOU FUCKING PC GAMERS, JUST STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT THINGS AND LEARN TO USE A CONTROLLER!" Which is as hilarious as it is sad, as the game had legitimate mouse input errors if you had vsync on, further posted by the support staff.

 

[TheLiham]

I tend to use consoles for 2 reasons:

1. I can't afford a current gen gaming pc.

2. Consoles are optimized for gaming.

I have nothing against pc gamers but I'll stick to my consoles for now

 

[Lord Doomhammer]

$1395 for my Sager laptop

$300 xbox360 + ...alot for a 65" 3D HDTV + ...even more for a Bose surround sound system...

Look, I've spent alot on each thing, I like playing games on both, and I like doing other stuff on both, be it 3d modeling on my PC or watching 3d movies on my giant ass tv. I play halo on my xbox and tf2 and wow on my pc. Each has it's best stuff and I like em both.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

But you CANNOT deny that the majority of PC gamers are exactly how the OP describes, they outnumber the reasonable PC gamers.

Can and will. The act of rubbishing consoles is as basic as CAPSLOCKING. It's rude, smarmy and most of us have already made our decision, one way or the other.

That's not to say we won't poke fun at XBLA's screamers, PSN's price or Wii...just being wii. Let's face it, we take shit for being expensive, over-complicated elitist pirates no matter what we do, and the consoles fight among themselves all the time as well.

Seriously, take a look here:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.255311-XBLA-Organizes-House-Party-With-Torchlight-Beyond-Good-Evil-HD

The first person asks how Torchlight can work on the Console. I'd ask similar, given that it has 15 or so buttons that need to be pressed.
Then you come in and hammer him. he wasn't bashing consoles...or at least it didn't seem that way, he was just asking how you can translate a game based on lots of different key presses to a system that only has a fixed number.

But you probably have already labelled him a PC ELITIST! See how upsetting that can be?

If you're defining all or most PC gamers by what

at least ONE person, but usually more,

say, then don't you think you're being as bad as you label us to be?

Look, for some reason root is being nice enough to be coy about your OP,

Hey, I'm not THAT bad

 

[Soxafloppin]

Because consoles are more vastly more popular, regardless of how much better they believe PC's are, i think that fills them with rage.

Yep, you got us. That's why we hate Justin Bieber and Twilight too. Not because they suck. Nope, that couldn't be it.

But console gaming doesn't suck.

 

[logiman]

It`s the fact that we spend like 10 times more money for high tech PCs and some of the most awesome games don`t get released at all (eg Red Dead Redemption, MGS4, etc) or really late (AC series, GTA4, etc) because consoles are the real money makers for Game Developers.

..and to be frankly, most console gamers more or less shallower (to be nice) than dedicated PC gamers..also aim assist on controller does not make you PGL-worthy

..and games can also be "dumbed down" by developers for the lack of buttons or w/e to be "console-worthy"..basicly why you`ll never see a 360/PS3 port of the Total War or Civilization series

Crytek (the ones who made FarCry 1 and 2 and Crysis and are now working on Crysis 2) say that PCs are a generation ahead of the 360/PS3, so they made a compromise on the PC platform regarding graphics (at least) so they can sell the game on conoles too.

PC gamers are also ussualy older.

 

[JAWZxZ]

Usually in most threads you come across, full of PC gamers (fanboys, if you will) and Console gamers, it always turns into a gigantic flame war on what is better.

One thing that i always did notice is that the PC gamers are usually the ones to start the whole war. It almost seems like they get enjoyment out of starting pointless arguments and debates. Big deal, you paid nearly 1 grand, maybe more just so you can game with a mouse and a keyboard. Paying more for your gaming situation gives you no excuse to talk down on people who pay less for their gaming set ups (I.e console gamers).

I also see no legitimate reasons being stated as to why they hate console gaming. They just start bringing up the whole "Specs vs Specs" debate, and never state factual statements on why they hate/dislike consoles/console gamers.

Why can't you enjoy both? I'm a console gamer/ex PC gamer, but i enjoyed both without bad mouthing on or the other.

I respect both console and PC gamers highly, and i honestly don't see why there always has to be a pointless argument over which is better.


Well if someone can easily tell which machine you own, you're biased. Your entire OP consisted of you slagging off PC gamers for talking down to console owners,

Both platforms have pros and cons, along with excellent games. Some fantastic games are on the PC which are not cross-platform. Some Fantastic games are on the console which are also exclusive.

Thanks for reading, and i hope you do respect this post as a form of ones opinion.

Well, if someone can easily tell which machine you own, you're biased. Your entire OP consisted of you slagging off PC gamers for talking down to console owners. How do you expect people to show legitimate point in a form of debate when you start the thread off like that?

The reason most PC gamers dislike console owners is simply, they're ignorant of the wider scope of gaming. Many console owners will hail their PS3 as "the best platform, graphically" which of course ladies and gentlemen is completely wrong in every sense of the word. Most console owners don't consider PC gaming as a legitimate option. I've found the more "hardcore" gamers at school started out on consoles and gravitated towards the PC when they realised that's where the true challenge lies. It's just blind ignorance on the console owner's part to consider the only choice is either Xbox 360 or PS3.

When you're ready to face gaming maturely and seriously, without the limitations of Sony and Microsoft deciding what you can play, or a ceiling on your hardware, buy a PC. Until then, you just enjoy calling people "gay" over Xbox Live and listening to kids with unbroken voices screaming down your ear.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

At least some of the 'hostility' can be explained by the following question: When was the last time you saw a slap-dash port of a PC title released on a console? Not very often you say? Hmm.

See, when you reverse that scenario, you'll find there are a metric ton of badly/lazily ported console titles that hit the PC, and far too many multiplatform releases to count where it's obvious to anyone who has sat down and played them that all the development focus went towards the console version, and the PC version suffered for it.

And this is why simply by existing and dominating the market focus, PC gamers quite often come to resent consoles simply because they exist - if developers weren't concentrating on console titles to the detriment of corresponding releases on the PC, we'd be content to simply remain smug in the knowledge of our platform's superiority and you wouldn't see these sorts of stupid 'discussions' cropping up. But as it is now, the existence of your segment of the gaming market is negatively impacting the quality of the games we see released in ours, and that doesn't sit well at all.

 

[WOPR]

Usually in most threads you come across, full of PC gamers (fanboys, if you will) and Console gamers, it always turns into a gigantic flame war on what is better.

One thing that i always did notice is that the PC gamers are usually the ones to start the whole war. It almost seems like they get enjoyment out of starting pointless arguments and debates. Big deal, you paid nearly 1 grand, maybe more just so you can game with a mouse and a keyboard. Paying more for your gaming situation gives you no excuse to talk down on people who pay less for their gaming set ups (I.e console gamers).

I also see no legitimate reasons being stated as to why they hate console gaming. They just start bringing up the whole "Specs vs Specs" debate, and never state factual statements on why they hate/dislike consoles/console gamers.

Why can't you enjoy both? I'm a console gamer/ex PC gamer, but i enjoyed both without bad mouthing on or the other.

I respect both console and PC gamers highly, and i honestly don't see why there always has to be a pointless argument over which is better.

Both platforms have pros and cons, along with excellent games. Some fantastic games are on the PC which are not cross-platform. Some Fantastic games are on the console which are also exclusive.

Thanks for reading, and i hope you do respect this post as a form of ones opinion.

Speaking from a point of view where I don't fan-boy over anything (...except the Armored Core series) I hope this will help

PC games are just better
...now I know what you're going to say but just hear me out here

when's the last time you saw an RTS work on a console?
...
when did the last console have a decent MMORPG?
...
name one shooter where a joystick makes better precision aiming then a mouse

now I should mention, I love games, reguardless of the system I use; Wii, 360, Dreamcast, PS1, my computer

I love them all

but I noticed something

I always came back to the computer
always

...I should also mention that are there any consoles with a countless number of free games? both multiplayer, and single player? (if you don't see what I'm getting at, check out Newgrounds or Kongregate)

now, I wouldn't say computer games are better in EVERY way

Consoles are simpler, letting them appeal to a larger audience

for example... Look at Team Fortress 2, all the item choices, needing to work as a team, multiple classes

now look at Halo, your health comes back, it's all the same basic weapons, people CAN (and have) solo'ed and won it for their whole team

you can't pull that in most computer shooters


now for another example

Consoles appeal better to children

...now that may sound rude but think about it

what would a kid rather do?
buy the game, install the game, make sure they have enough HD space, make sure they have the right specs, click the proper icon to launch it, set up the options (brightness, contrast, etc.), go through countless tutorials, then finally be able to play the game only to find out that they suck online?

or

buy game, put it in system, hit play

now then as for the flamers you mentioned, I blame the internet (and 4chan)

as for consoles, some games work better!

imagine No More Heroes on a computer... wouldn't work would it?
think of playing Mario and other platformers on a keyboard... again, no
think of how you would play Castle Crashers with a keyboard and mouse... not very good is it?

so both have strengths and weaknesses

====================
IN SHORT (side note)
====================

PC gamers act high and mighty because of how much they have to know to play

example

compare a Console RPG (Mass Effect / Final Fantasy)
to a Computer RPG (The Witcher / Neverwinter Nights)

...see the difference?

EDIT: I should mention that despite what I said I'm playing my 360 right now, because Ikaruga is freaking AWESOME!

 

[zahr]

Consoles have simply made gaming more accessible and mainstream.

That is a euphemism for "dumbed down."

Call it what you like, doesn't change what's happened.

And for what it's worth, these arguments are usually PC gamers responding to not-so-subtle trolls like the OP.