gaming Let's Be HONEST About PC Gaming

[Guest]

I've been a gamer for as long as I can remember, and I remember getting into PC gaming in the late 90s. I was off of it for a while when I moved to consoles, but I came back in about 2009. I built my new rig and I was full throttle into PC for about 5 years. After I got married though, console gaming became more convenient again, so I moved back and forth for a while and today  I am kind of in the middle. There are still so many things I love about PC, and many things I love about consoles, but honestly... The whole PC master race thing... It's killed my love for PC quite a bit.

 

Not because of the aura of superiority, but because often times... PC gamers can't ever admit when something about PC gaming sucks. Let's be blunt, there are tons of things that suck and tons of things that PC gamers will claim that is either untrue, or mostly untrue. Some of my favorites:

 

 

"You're saving so much money!"

 

This is a steaming load. I'm sorry, I've built a few PCs and I ALWAYS get my parts via sales and the best deals I can find. I do not buy pre-builds and I only build my own and I can say that the whole "you save so much money" argument always purposefully leaves out factors that make a huge difference. For starters, even on the PC Master Race reddit where it attempts to claim PCs are cheaper it uses a build that still costs around $500... That isn't even including a monitor, keyboard, or mouse. For $500, I could have a PS4, a year of PS+ and a game. For $500 by their logic you could have... ALMOST a PC. Not to mention that PC will need upgrading long before you need to buy another console.

 

I have had my PC for some time and in the time I've had it, I have had a PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, 3DS, all of which combines have been cheaper than this ONE PC. And this one PC now needs upgrades. Many will argue that you make the savings in games, but honestly, that's hardly true either.

 

"STEAM SALES!"

 

Steam sales are nice and we often end up with a lot of games for like a $1, but let's be honest: a lot of these games were ones we weren't going to buy. If you focus only on the games that you would have bought on a console you realize that the sales on Steam on AAA titles is close to the same as what you'd pay for the used game price of said games. That is something that many forget to factor in: consoles let you play used games which means you can buy cheaper. I picked up Resident Evil 6 for $5. That's lower than I've ever seen it on a steam sale. If you only factor in the games you are actually going to play, you realize you're paying close to the same as if you bought used.

 

"PC PORTS ARE THE BEST"

 

Except when they don't work which is often. Let's not  lie, many PC games are released buggy, unfinished, poorly optimized and take forever to get patched. While it happens to console games too, so many PC gamers try to glaze over this like it doesn't exist at all. Hell PC also gets ports super late, hell it took 2 years to get GTA V on the PC.

 

"Console exclusives suck"

 

Telling people that they don't like a platform because they just like the wrong games is super shitty, but I've seen it happen. I've seen Nintendo fans be told they would love PC if they "liked better games". Not only does this not convert anyone, it is also super incorrect. What games someone likes is subjective, so it's not really a reason for why PC is "better"

 

"4K!"

 

Valve already confirmed that less than 2% of Steam users are using 4k.

 

"Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo are EVILLLLL!"

 

The same could be said about every company.

 

"Console are basically PCs already."

 

There are still many differences. The advantage of consoles if you buy a box, you put the game in the box and you know it'll work no worries of compatibility, needing upgrades, etc.

 

I am not knocking PC as a platform, it's a fantastic platform, and I love it, but can we please stop pretending that it doesn't have ANY problems for the sake of trying to convince console gamers to switch to it. If they like the platform they like the platform, but lying to them doesn't make them find it anymore appealing.

[Jest (Inactive) 875]

 

 

"You're saving so much money!"

 

I agree that this is a lie, you can buy an xbox for the costs of a high end graphics card.

 

 

 

"STEAM SALES!"

 

I would say this is partly true / untrue depending on the person. If you are the impulsive by anything type because of a sale, this point is true, but if you just stick to the actual games you want then it's not true. Though what steam does is flunk games which aren't doing well on the purchases to get some extra revenue for them or do sales in conjunction with a game that has just had a paid DLC come out.

 

 

 

"Console exclusives suck"

 

Yeah this is a lie too, in fact console exclusives are better than PC in my opinion, but most hardcore PC gamers try and find excuses to feel superior

 

 

 

"Console are basically PCs already."

 

They are being slightly more similar but still have huge differences, I don't get why people say this.

 

All in all it all boils down to the fact that people like to argue over pointless crap. Be it windows vs Mac, PS4 vs Xbox, Google vs Firefox, LoL vs DoTa. The type of people who do this in my opinion either have some kind of insecurity issues going on or just try and stir things up for sake of argument. Obviously if someone says it once or twice then you aren't immediately an idiot, but these people who try and base their whole lives on:

 

#PCMASTERRACE I totally don't have any insecurities I swear

 

Need to get out of the house more  x) 

[cider float 2,538]

Meh, ever since I got into PC gaming and left consoles I never looked back. One of the most important thing though is what types of games you can play. I got really into MMORPGs and there is no question PC gaming is almost the only choice for MMORPGs. Online gaming in general has been centered on PC gaming yes sure consoles all got online gaming now but they were imitating PC gaming of course. And now you can even browse the net on some of these consoles but hey, PC gaming does all that plus more, if you wanted to play some music you just play it on your music player programs, you can browse the net while playing games alt+tabbed out, you can video and screenshot gaming more easily without going through all that trouble and while even playing a game edit your videos and screenshots. Building or buying a PC rig for gaming not is just for gaming but will keep your work or homework close to you, so you can play a few round and get back to work anytime. There are some things you have to remember to update and all that jazz but it's still more comfortable to play PC than consoles. 

 

Sure there are some console games I would like to try like God of War but when I did try any of these single player games they come out boring and generic nowadays. I've also stalled a lot on MMORPGs these days. And I guess on this stance when gaming becomes stale you still got your PC computer that isn't taking up space for nothing you can use it to go into music or video designing with the internet on hand.

 

Also though I got a television as a gift I don't use it at all. No need for a television when you PC game.

[Guest]

 

 

I got really into MMORPGs and there is no question PC gaming is almost the only choice for MMORPGs.

 

 

Not so much anymore. Two of the biggest new MMOs are now on consoles, so the whole "PC exclusive genres" is slowly becoming just RTS games really. Hell even MOBAs are on consoles now.

 

 

 

Online gaming in general has been centered on PC gaming yes sure consoles all got online gaming now but they were imitating PC gaming of course.

 

Honestly as someone who does both, I agree it has been more or less copying PC gaming, but console gaming's online is a bit more refined. All games play across a single network, contacting your friends you don't need to log into Steam then log into Skype, then log into Origin because everyone doesn't play the same games. Consoles you only need one service. There is an advantage there to having a singular unified service. All of your achievements are on one service, all your friends are on the same service, etc.

 

 

 

There are some things you have to remember to update and all that jazz but it's still more comfortable to play PC than consoles. 

 

Ehhhh, I'd say that's subjective because the average person does not want to learn how to build a PC or what they need to upgrade next. It's more convenient to just buy the next Playstation. Also many people prefer sitting on a couch versus at a desk chair. While PCs can be plugged into TVs, it's just a feature that has never really caught on.

[joanro 247]

 

 

"STEAM SALES!"

 

I think Steam sales are good. Considering you don't have to have a membership to take advantage of the deals they have like you sometimes have to with consoles. You also have other options like Humble Bundle, GOG, Greenmangaming, etc.,. It's not necessarily limited to just Steam. Also, it's free to play online.

 

 

 

"PC PORTS ARE THE BEST"

 

Yes, there are PC bad ports, like Batman Arkham Knight and Mortal Kombat X, but I would say those are more the exception rather than the rule. Seeing as you have more control over how the game runs, I would say the PC ports are potentially the best port of the game you can have.

 

 

 

"Console exclusives suck"

 

This isn't really exclusive to the PC community. Fanboys from all sides always seem to hate on each others exclusives.

[Guest]

 

 

I think Steam sales are good. Considering you don't have to have a membership to take advantage of the deals they have like you sometimes have to with consoles. You also have other options like Humble Bundle, GOG, Greenmangaming, etc.,. It's not necessarily limited to just Steam. Also, it's free to play online.

 

My point is they about balance out to about the same price.

 

 

 

Yes, there are PC bad ports, like Batman Arkham Knight and Mortal Kombat X, but I would say those are more the exception rather than the rule. Seeing as you have more control over how the game runs, I would say the PC ports are potentially the best port of the game you can have.

 

Not true, actually, it's become more and more common that PC ports have issues with them. While you can control how the game runs, having to tinker with the game or install third party patches I don't think counts as a "good port" when the game needs to be fixed by fans. I've been buying PC for a long time and I will say that bad ports have become very commonplace especially for AAA titles. It has become the rule that if a PC game comes out at the same time, it is usually bug ridden, the only exception seems to be when the PC port comes out almost a year later.

 

 

 

This isn't really exclusive to the PC community. Fanboys from all sides always seem to hate on each others exclusives.

 

My point is that it isn't a good argument. 

[joanro 247]

 

 

Not true, actually, it's become more and more common that PC ports have issues with them. While you can control how the game runs, having to tinker with the game or install third party patches I don't think counts as a "good port" when the game needs to be fixed by fans. I've been buying PC for a long time and I will say that bad ports have become very commonplace especially for AAA titles. It has become the rule that if a PC game comes out at the same time, it is usually bug ridden, the only exception seems to be when the PC port comes out almost a year later.

 

I am mainly a console gamer. I have less than 20 games on PC so I wouldn't really know. I personally haven't had too bad of an experience with the games I've bought, but I do recall Resident Evil Revelations 2 having really bad frame drops when it was released. They did eventually fix the problem though.

[bamboozled321 57]

"You're saving so much money!"

 

You can save money, but you can also spend too much money, this question is contextual and completely depends on what an individual would be looking for in their gaming experience. Anecdotally I can tell you that I built my PC in 2007, It originally had an i5 760, 8GB DDR3 RAM, and a 260 GTX. I initially spent 700 dollars on this machine, and over the years all I have replaced was the GPU once, a used 670 GTX which I purchased selling my old card. In total I've spent 800 dollars. I still use this set up to this day and can run the vast majority of current releases at high settings @1080p with a perfectly reasonable frame rate on average, certainly higher than 30FPS. This has been within the span of a console generation and more. I call that money saved, but I have a strong enough head not to purchase better hardware because I know that will land me in the net negative. With my next point I also...

 

"STEAM SALES!"

 

pirate my games, saving me even more money. There's no arguing that pirating games is easier on the PC platform, and that this eventually equates to money saved. Illegal or not, it's an option that exists, although with some added negatives.

 

 

"PC PORTS ARE THE BEST"

 

Depends on the game, some ports are terrible, some are rather good. Plenty of console releases are broken on launch, especially now-a-days, so the line seems to be blurring. You would have to run an analysis on how console games vs PC games run at launch, and how their ports perform. Good luck with coming up with objective criteria figuring that out.

 

 

"Console exclusives suck"

 

Another highly contextual point, what people like and what they don't like is impossible to concisely or even reasonably say with any kind of consistency, it's at least partially a gamble.

 

 

"4K!"

 

This is a terrible point of argument, most people don't play 4K, and if they do they're clearly spending far out of the bracket to even compete with consoles. One could argue that having this option could be better, but when costs are put into the equation, the likelihood of one supporting the console, or downgrading from this option would probably be higher, of course this is another highly contextual point and would depend on ones financial situation.

 

Like I said a million times, the argument is contextual, you have to treat each individual individually and ask them what they're looking for when it comes to gaming, these kinds of arguments are completely superfluous and anybody who can't clearly see or reflect on any potential negative of either platform is completely ignorant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2016 by bamboozled321

[Jonny Music 3,412]

Heck, even I know for a fact PC is not always perfect.

 

Sure it may have advantages over consoles, but that doesn't mean they are the ultimate platform. I would need multiple platforms in order to be content to what I want to play. A Gaming Laptop PC and Wii U as an 8th Gen example, is the perfect combination for me, as I still love playing 1st party games from Nintendo, while I can enjoy 3rd party games on PC because of the custom graphical advantages PC has.

 

"You're saving so much money!"

 

I may or may not be saving money because the truth of the matter is, I need to build a Gaming/Editing Workstation Rig as soon as possible. Some parts I may need to get could be expensive parts. Consumer parts just won't cut it for what I personally and professionally need.

 

For example, a server/workstation CPU like the Xeons from Intel would perfectly satisfy my needs because of how much reliability I need from the parts. Heck, I will certainly need ECC memory (and higher L3 cache. Especially ECC RAM as well) as I get very annoyed when my gaming laptop crashes on me for many reasons, especially when rendering. When I need to render a project, I have no time for mid-render crashes. And I will be taking professionalism for my independent production company very seriously for my new Rig I plan to build in the future.

As for the GPU side of things, I still plan on getting Gaming-grade GPUs, not Professional GPUs, as those are too much for what their main purpose is.

 

"STEAM SALES!"

 

They are nice. Though I can't really take advantage of them at the moment, due to the sticky financial situation I'm in.

 

"PC PORTS ARE THE BEST"

 

That would be true for a certain percentage of them. However, there are factors that make them not so. Like optimization issues, dev time to work on the PC ports, etc.

 

"Console exclusives suck"

 

That is not necessarily true either. We all have our own preferences as to which exclusive games we like or not. I grew up with Nintendo, so I am willing to get the current (or retro) consoles to play those exclusives authentically instead of having to use Emulators on PC as it is considered piracy if you don't have the original game.

 

"4K!"

 

While 4K is rapidly gaining in popularity and use (especially being able to record 4K on your smartphones already), not everyone is fortunate enough to adapt to the latest technologies so soon.

 

Heck, I plan on making my future rig to be capable of 4K gaming, editing and rendering (and VR as well). As I am serious with my profession for video production.

 

 

And those are my two cents on the matter.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Jonny Music

[Guest]

 

 

You can save money, but you can also spend too much money, this question is contextual and completely depends on what an individual would be looking for in their gaming experience. Anecdotally I can tell you that I built my PC in 2007, It originally had an i5 760, 8GB DDR3 RAM, and a 260 GTX. I initially spent 700 dollars on this machine, and over the years all I have replaced was the GPU once, a used 670 GTX which I purchased selling my old card. In total I've spent 800 dollars. I still use this set up to this day and can run the vast majority of current releases at high settings @1080p with a perfectly reasonable frame rate on average, certainly higher than 30FPS. This has been within the span of a console generation and more. I call that money saved, but I have a strong enough head not to purchase better hardware because I know that will land me in the net negative. With my next point I also...

 

Yeah, but the question is: the games you purchased on PC if you had gotten them on console would you have paid less for them or the same, because if you paid around the same, you're not really saving anything because think of it like this:

 

Let's say I bought 5 games for my console total. Let's say they are all $60 games, and I also got this $800 gaming PC and a $350 PS3 (which realistically it dropped to that price very fast)

 

So if I  bought these 5 games on steam sales for say... $30-40 a pop maybe one of them for $15 which is about what one would expect for $60 games in steam sales. I could realistically buy used games for my console and wait about the same time it takes for the PC prices to go down and pay... About the same for the console releases. So really you'd only be saving money just BARELY if you got tons of good sales in a row and it'll take a long time before you reach that saved money.

 

The truth is, while you CAN save money with PC, it's actually very difficult to do so unless you are super thrifty and pay close attention.

 

 

 

pirate my games, saving me even more money. There's no arguing that pirating games is easier on the PC platform, and that this eventually equates to money saved. Illegal or not, it's an option that exists, although with some added negatives.

 

That doesn't really count, because by that logic consoles are free because I could just steal games as well. Let's leave stealing out of the argument because really it's not something we should advocate here and it's not really a fair element to include because realistically anything is cheaper if everyone steals it. I could get cheap console games by stealing them from friend's houses, but I'm not throwing that in because 1. It's a crappy thing to do. 2. It's illegal. and 3. We're proposing the argument to a regular average person and you generally don't want to advocate stealing.

 

Not to mention this forum if I recall has a policy on discussion of piracy in terms of advocating. I'm going to have to ask you not advocate piracy here because it goes against the forum's rules.

 

 

 

Depends on the game, some ports are terrible, some are rather good. Plenty of console releases are broken on launch, especially now-a-days, so the line seems to be blurring. You would have to run an analysis on how console games vs PC games run at launch, and how their ports perform. Good luck with coming up with objective criteria figuring that out.

 

From what I've seen it seems to be that PCs get more complaints of bad ports.

 

 

 

Like I said a million times, the argument is contextual, you have to treat each individual individually and ask them what they're looking for when it comes to gaming, these kinds of arguments are completely superfluous and anybody who can't clearly see or reflect on any potential negative of either platform is completely ignorant.

 

That's sort of my point, I'm saying that telling people that PC is objectively better because of these reasons is incorrect.

 

 

 

Sure it may have advantages over consoles, but that doesn't mean they are the ultimate platform

 

Precisely.

[PE Brony 1,712]

Thanks for this! 

 

I used to have a roommate that was obsessed with his computers and laptops. Heck, I'm obviously typing this on my laptop! I love my laptop! But I rarely use it to play games. Over the years, I've found I much more enjoy the feel of a good, comfortable controller (Xbox, Dreamcast, N64 are my favorites) and I can't stand trying to play most games with a mouse, but mostly because of the keyboard.

 

The only PC games that I've kept over the years are Roller Coaster Tycoon, and the Command and Conquer collection up to Yuri's Revenge. RTS games are great with a mouse and keyboard! However, trying to play one with an Xbox controller is a freaking nightmare (looking at you C&C RA3 and Halo Wars...)

 

 

That roommate I mentioned was adamant that his version of Skyrim on PC was far superior to my 360 version because he downloaded a graphics mod that let him see detailed ants crawling along a stump while mine just looked like an afterthought. Frankly, I told him that that point literally held no sway over my opinion of the game because the gameplay, missions and weapon choices were not affected at all by any of his precious pixels.

[Scrubbed user 3,416]

Here's my take:

 

"You're saving so much money!"

 

The upfront cost to get into PC gaming is always going to be greater, but you don't have to pay to to play online (other than the internet bill), and a lot of the more popular games are less expensive than popular games on console. I do keep a PC part picker page for the components and peripherals of my PC, and... well... let's just say my bank account hates me. Some of the first games I bought on Steam were ones I had on PS3 that I was able to re-buy for next to nothing. For example, I got Borderlands GOTY and Borderlands 2 for $10. I bought both of those new for $60 each. There are quite a lot of games in my Steam library that are either older, or I didn't pay full-price for.

 

"STEAM SALES!"

 

I do agree with you here, most of the games on sale are not on my radar. But, as I'm sure you know, sales do happen quite often, and some games one might want would be on sale. I'm actually glad I found The Witcher 3 and MGS V for $30. 

 

"PC PORTS ARE THE BEST"

 

Typically, the PC version will be better, but only if the developers took the time to be sure that it runs well, even on lower end systems. There are those shitty, lazy ports (Arkham Knight) that do pop up every once in a while, but typically, the PC version will be better. I would be willing to wait a couple of months for a PC version if the end result is a better optimized game.

 

Although, Rockstar taking 18 months to bring out the PC version of GTA V is pretty dumb.

 

"Console exclusives suck"

 

Hostageware sucks.

 

"4K!"

 

As much as I would love to boast that I have a system that can do 4K, I couldn't quite do it at a FPS much higher than 30-35. 4K is demanding as hell, and we aren't at the point where it's mainstream. While my PC can do 4K, and run a VR headset, (I plan to buy an HTC Vive) I have a 1440p monitor, and I'm fine with that.

 

"Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo are EVILLLLL!"

 

Companies with terrible, short-sighted business practices are evil. Even PC Master Race certified companies *cough* Oculus *cough* are called out when they do something stupid.

 

"Console are basically PCs already."

 

The PS4 and Xbone have PC-grade hardware, but it's the respective OS's they run on that creates the closed platform that Sony and Microsoft runs them on, coupled with them also being fixed hardware means they aren't truly PCs. They've just become multi-media machines, which is where they blur the line with a box that plays games and a PC.

Edited April 15, 2016 by Azure Flare

[Guest]

 

 

The upfront cost to get into PC gaming is always going to be greater, but you don't have to pay to to play online (other than the internet bill), and a lot of the more popular games are less expensive than popular games on console. I do keep a PC part picker page for the components and peripherals of my PC, and... well... let's just say my bank account hates me. Some of the first games I bought on Steam were ones I had on PS3 that I was able to re-buy for next to nothing. For example, I got Borderlands GOTY and Borderlands 2 for $10. I bought both of those new for $60 each. There are quite a lot of games in my Steam library that are either older, or I didn't pay full-price for.

 

Yeah but you have to meet a lot of sales for games that you can get CONSIDERABLY lower than used console games before you start tasting the savings. That can take a while and sometimes not even happen at all before the end of your PC's lifespan. It really depends on how diligent you are, but generally speaking only a handful of PC gamers end up actually saving money.

 

 

 

I do agree with you here, most of the games on sale are not on my radar. But, as I'm sure you know, sales do happen quite often, and some games one might want would be on sale. I'm actually glad I found The Witcher 3 and MGS V for $30. 

 

Yeah but as I said, you can get those games used on consoles now for about the same, it's really a matter of waiting, just like you do on PC.

 

 

 

Typically, the PC version will be better, but only if the developers took the time to be sure that it runs well, even on lower end systems. There are those shitty, lazy ports (Arkham Knight) that do pop up every once in a while, but typically, the PC version will be better. I would be willing to wait a couple of months for a PC version if the end result is a better optimized game.   Although, Rockstar taking 18 months to bring out the PC version of GTA V is pretty dumb.

 

Lately the trend has been PC ports have been half assed.

[bamboozled321 57]

Yeah, but the question is: the games you purchased on PC if you had gotten them on console would you have paid less for them or the same, because if you paid around the same, you're not really saving anything because think of it like this:

 

That wasn't the question though, the question, or rather argument you were trying to refute was "You're saving so much money!"

 

 

 

Let's say I bought 5 games for my console total. Let's say they are all $60 games, and I also got this $800 gaming PC and a $350 PS3 (which realistically it dropped to that price very fast)...

 

I don't think anybody is arguing against the short term financial benefits to purchasing consoles, but again if you now go into the next console generation, you have to buy a new console, that's an added 300-400 dollars depending on the conditions of the market and the hardware you decide to purchase. I don't have to buy anything with my PC and chances are I can reasonably run the games on that old hardware with similar results that the new console hardware will be offering based on past trends of console releases and the incremental improvement in processing capabilities, which by the way may I add that this gap is getting smaller and smaller as the generations continue. That will then equate to savings down the line, we're talking in a span of 7+ years here. Whether or not those savings are deemed negligible or not is irrelevant, savings are savings, and the short term savings a console may provide will inevitably turn into a long term net negative. If higher front line costs then equate to savings in the future, then that is clearly the option you want to go for if your primary objective is saving money.

 

 

 

That doesn't really count, because by that logic consoles are free because I could just steal games as well. Let's leave stealing out of the argument because really it's not something we should advocate here and it's not really a fair element to include because realistically anything is cheaper if everyone steals it. I could get cheap console games by stealing them from friend's houses, but I'm not throwing that in because 1. It's a crappy thing to do. 2. It's illegal. and 3. We're proposing the argument to a regular average person and you generally don't want to advocate stealing.

 

"Do not post links to pirated material. This includes torrents and links to direct downloads on cloud storage services. Not only do laws pertaining to piracy change periodically and vary from country to country, we also want to respect the rights and hard work of content creators. Furthermore, do not attempt to upload and host copyrighted material on this forum, or post in-depth guides on how to receive pirated content."

 

Nobody is advocating piracy, nor am I breaking any rules. I have already mentioned that I am not interested in any moral debates, the fact of the matter is that piracy exists and is an option to consumers. That option then will result in reduced costs, it perfectly counts in this argument. I am literally an example of somebody who has saved thousands of dollars over the last 10 years because of my choices, may you deem them right or wrong, which clearly shows an example of somebody who has saved considerable amounts of money vs if I had been purchasing consoles and by no other means, had to also purchase the software to go along with it. You forget that piracy also exists on consoles, and nobody has set up any parameters for this debate. Hardware theft vs software theft is also a different ballgame, it's reasonable for one to pirate software because it results in infinity less legal hot water vs physically stealing items. The risk:reward ratio is not the same. Millions upon millions of people pirate software daily, I would argue the activity is a lot more regular among the public than you seem to think. Based on the reduced risk of PC piracy, plus the simplicity for consumers to acquire pirated software, I argue it's a direct competitor with game studios and should be taken into consideration within the parameters of this debate, but I suppose this is a conversation for another day.

 

For the sake of this argument, I will concede and pretend that we are only talking about legal purchases, let's make the lines more clear and not include used software or hardware, only new, full price retail options. Even if this is the case, like i mentioned above, I'm still saving considerably down the line long term on hardware costs due to the flexibility and universal landscape that is Microsoft Windows. I think anybody with basic knowledge of hardware peripherals and their costs can come to this conclusion, and people tend to grossly overspend on PC hardware because they're told they need specific pieces of hardware to run certain games and other pieces of software, resulting in even higher upfront costs due to a lack of knowledge and experience.

 

But anyways,

 

That's sort of my point, I'm saying that telling people that PC is objectively better because of these reasons is incorrect.

 

Well at least we can agree on something.

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2016 by bamboozled321

[Guest]

 

 

That wasn't the question though, the question, or rather argument you were trying to refute was "You're saving so much money!"

 

 

Yes and my counter point to your argument is: "are you REALLY saving that much if you buy from steam sales versus buying used console games?" And the answer is pretty clear: not that much. Savings may be savings, but when we're talking negligible amounts that will only appear if you shop exactly the right way, I am willing to wager that a majority of PC gamers don't save money. Many of them did not switch to save money either from what I gather.

 

 

 

I don't think anybody is arguing against the short term financial benefits to purchasing consoles, but again if you now go into the next console generation, you have to buy a new console, that's an added 300-400 dollars depending on the conditions of the market and the hardware you decide to purchase. I don't have to buy anything with my PC and chances are I can reasonably run the games on that old hardware with similar results that the new console hardware will be offering based on past trends of console releases and the incremental improvement in processing capabilities, which by the way may I add that this gap is getting smaller and smaller as the generations continue. That will then equate to savings down the line, we're talking in a span of 7+ years here. Whether or not those savings are deemed negligible or not is irrelevant, savings are savings, and the short term savings a console may provide will inevitably turn into a long term net negative. If higher front line costs then equate to savings in the future, then that is clearly the option you want to go for if your primary objective is saving money.

 

Problem is that most people who build a PC to switch from consoles build a rather cheap PC that will need upgrades long before 7 years, so really to get that 7 year mark where you don't need upgrades you need to spend a pretty penny. Enough of a penny to where you basically won't be saving money until way farther down the road.

 

 

 

Nobody is advocating piracy, nor am I breaking any rules. I have already mentioned that I am not interested in any moral debates, the fact of the matter is that piracy exists and is an option to consumers.

 

It's not "really" an option though, anymore than stealing consoles is an option. Sure it's there and you could technically do it, but we're not talking about a five finger discount here, we're talking for customers who are legitimate and don't believe in just stealing stuff.

 

 

 

That option then will result in reduced costs, it perfectly counts in this argument. I am literally an example of somebody who has saved thousands of dollars over the last 10 years because of my choices, may you deem them right or wrong, which clearly shows an example of somebody who has saved considerable amounts of money vs if I had been purchasing consoles and by no other means, had to also purchase the software to go along with it. You forget that piracy also exists on consoles, and nobody has set up any parameters for this debate.

 

I think it kind of went without saying that when we were talking about money that we meant legal means. Otherwise anyone could argue that consoles are cheaper if you just pirate all your games because you can just get a $300 console vs. a $500+ PC and all your games for free.

 

I am also setting the parameter now: legal customers. We are discussing only LEGAL options of obtaining games.

 

 

 

Hardware theft vs software theft is also a different ballgame, it's reasonable for one to pirate software because it results in infinity less legal hot water vs physically stealing items. The risk:reward ratio is not the same. Millions upon millions of people pirate software daily, I would argue the activity is a lot more regular among the public than you seem to think. Based on the reduced risk of PC piracy, plus the simplicity for consumers to acquire pirated software, I argue it's a direct competitor with game studios and should be taken into consideration within the parameters of this debate, but I suppose this is a conversation for another day.

 

How about we save that for another debate, huh? We're not going to bring piracy into this. I've decided this debate is not encompassing piracy.

 

 

 

For the sake of this argument, I will concede and pretend that we are only talking about legal purchases, let's make the lines more clear and not include used software or hardware, only new, full price retail options. Even if this is the case, like i mentioned above, I'm still saving considerably down the line long term on hardware costs due to the flexibility and universal landscape that is Microsoft Windows. I think anybody with basic knowledge of hardware peripherals and their costs can come to this conclusion, and people tend to grossly overspend on PC hardware because they're told they need specific pieces of hardware to run certain games and other pieces of software, resulting in even higher upfront costs due to a lack of knowledge and experience.

 

 

Not true. In fact even if you build a relatively cheap build your chances of saving money are very slim even if you are very good with computers. I built PCs for a living and I definitely avoided buying overkill for my machine but I tried to focus on future proof. Most of my parts I got for about less than half of their retail price and this PC still has not really cost less than my consoles at the time which I owned just as many games for. Sure I saved a lot on Steam sales, but by the time I was even catching up to my console savings, I was already due for upgrades. This PC is easily lasted close to 6 years, but it has not outlasted a console which I have paid considerably less for. Sure I can upgrade some stuff for a minor price, but I've actually kept a record of how much I've spent on PC gaming vs. console gaming since I built this PC and to give you an idea:

 

I will need to save another $500 on steam games before this PC has "paid for itself". And before I do that, I may need to upgrade a graphics card long before then.

 

The only people I seem to see actually end up saving money are people who play a LOT of games so they buy a lot of games regardless so they end up reeping the savings from Steam sales instantly.

 

While you CAN save money on PC, it requires the right kind of person to be able to accomplish that, so advertising PC to non-PC gamers as "you'll save money!" is not an honest advertisement to them because chances are: they won't unless they are a very specific customer.

[cider float 2,538]

 

Not so much anymore. Two of the biggest new MMOs are now on consoles, so the whole "PC exclusive genres" is slowly becoming just RTS games really. Hell even MOBAs are on consoles now.

 

 

Honestly as someone who does both, I agree it has been more or less copying PC gaming, but console gaming's online is a bit more refined. All games play across a single network, contacting your friends you don't need to log into Steam then log into Skype, then log into Origin because everyone doesn't play the same games. Consoles you only need one service. There is an advantage there to having a singular unified service. All of your achievements are on one service, all your friends are on the same service, etc.

 

 

Ehhhh, I'd say that's subjective because the average person does not want to learn how to build a PC or what they need to upgrade next. It's more convenient to just buy the next Playstation. Also many people prefer sitting on a couch versus at a desk chair. While PCs can be plugged into TVs, it's just a feature that has never really caught on.

Looks like really stereotypical MMOs.

[Holiday Agnaktor 1,436]

As a PC gamer, I can say that I don't really disagree with you.

 

Yep, console gaming is cheaper, steam sales aren't a big deal at all, I don't know any person who uses 4K stuff, and sometimes getting something to work on PC requires just a little bit more work.

 

BUT.

PC has some things that I really appreciate, that consoles don't really have.

 

Firstly, a mouse and keyboard, and the ability to plug in any kind of controller you want, like steering wheels.

I like shooters, and playing a shooter with a controller makes me not want to play the game anymore. Also, racing games are just that much more fun if you have an actual steering wheel to play with.

 

Secondly, mods.

I'm currently playing Skyrim again, and I'm drowning it in mods. I love mods.

Yeah, Skyrim on console also has mods, but that's through some weird mod system, and certain mods that I want aren't available.

 

also you can't pirate stuff on consoles but shhhhhh

[Envy 6,169]

Can we all be honest and say we all shouldn't care at all about what gaming platform people prefer, like there's plenty of more important things to rant about , I don't give af if you play Nintendo 64 or PS4

 

Sadly, in the gaming community there's a large widespread mindset of "I don't like it, so you can't like it either" across all platforms. I really don't understand why people can't just let others be. Other people's choices in platform(s) really has no effect on me.

[Holiday Agnaktor 1,436]

 

 

You should know everything he said was bull, but you absolutely can pirate on consoles.

 

Well, I think he's pretty much right. PC gaming isn't the ultimate best thing out there.

 

What? You can pirate on consoles? How does that even work?!  :-o

[Ninjaed 526]

@@Frosty Frost,

 

Chips exist to bypass the authenticity check. Then you burn your DVD and voilà, free (illegal) game! It's harder when it's cartridges like for the 3DS but stuff exists for that too. Point is, of course piracy exists for consoles. However, OP said this debate should not include them so yeah.

 

@@Zumbuh,

 

What exactly did OP lie about?

 

@,

 

Yup, for many games people don't even know the developer, only the publisher...when they actually pay attention to who the publisher is. Pokémon could have been developed by Sony, Microsoft, Sega, Capcom...it'd have still been Pokémon, and that's all that matters. Same for a lot of things actually. I listen to songs or themes for which I don't know who the composer is. And I don't care. Nor do I care if said composer is a rapist/murderer/high on drugs. I like the music, don't usually care about the rest.

[Holiday Agnaktor 1,436]

@@Ninjaed,

Huh. This world is scarier than I thought. :awuh:

[Black Sabbath 2,486]

Also lying about platforms like op did here gets you nowhere

I just had the most crazy idea ever, how about instead of just claiming that OP is lying about PC gaming without any kind of facts or arguments maybe you should actually try to prove that's he's lying? 

[Ninjaed 526]

@@Zumbuh,

 

Try playing Pokémon Sun/Moon on your PC. There, that's one thing.

Also the PS4 has more games than those 2 you've cited. They may be the only ones that appeal to you though, in which case it's probably not worth the while for you. However, that's not proving the OP is lying in any way.

[Envy 6,169]

Pirating is illegal and thus is a completely illegitimate and scummy point to be made for PC gaming if you ask me. It's one thing to do it, it's another thing to sit here and be all smug and look down upon console gamers and try to make illegal downloading of console games on your PC as a point that makes consoles "pointless".

 

I've never come out of a conversation with PC elitists not thinking that they're the worst of the gaming community and that says a lot. >.>

[Holiday Agnaktor 1,436]

@@Zumbuh,

 

Oooh, there's Monster Hunter too, that game is fantastic, yet sadly not on PC. Oh, we got Fire Emblem too, Super Smash Brothers, and I have no idea what other games for PS4 and Xbox One are, because I don't own any consoles myself.

 

Also, I have a really good computer, runs everything I throw at it on ultra, except for Dishonored 2, which it almost can't run at all. Consoles don't have problems like that, because those games were made for console.