I never said I play for the image, and I never said I don't play games socially, but you have my blessing to feel sorry for me.
Why haven't you bought a PC yet?
- Thread starter Gipsy Danger
- Start date
I never said I play for the image, and I never said I don't play games socially, but you have my blessing to feel sorry for me.
I have a pc because I needed one for work and other stuff, it's basically a multi purpose machine, and since I needed to start from scratch, I built one with a decent gpu that could run most of last gen games well (don't know about this gen, I actually haven't really played any, lol)
Outside of the points mentioned in the OP, I think one of the issues is that most people (at least it was true for me) already have a computer or some sort for daily tasks but they're usually in the form of laptop, tablet or maybe small form factor computer like iMac which are not really upgradeable, so it would mean they're buying a computer just for gaming, for me I wouldn't have built one just for that.
To me I think pc gaming culture is a bit different and I don't really approach it the same way as consoles (not saying you can't, but I wouldn't), so I wouldn't build a computer with say a $400 budget unless I'm only planning to run older games and sure that it would give me satisfactory performance with all games I play.
Lastly, having to buy a console for exclusives is also a factor for some. So financially it's still a bit overwhelming for someone who has to buy a console or two for the exclusive games they want to play. For some it's not about "PC has no exclusives" but the fact that consoles have exclusives they wanted to play and some of those are franchises they are familiar with.
Outside of the points mentioned in the OP, I think one of the issues is that most people (at least it was true for me) already have a computer or some sort for daily tasks but they're usually in the form of laptop, tablet or maybe small form factor computer like iMac which are not really upgradeable, so it would mean they're buying a computer just for gaming, for me I wouldn't have built one just for that.
To me I think pc gaming culture is a bit different and I don't really approach it the same way as consoles (not saying you can't, but I wouldn't), so I wouldn't build a computer with say a $400 budget unless I'm only planning to run older games and sure that it would give me satisfactory performance with all games I play.
Lastly, having to buy a console for exclusives is also a factor for some. So financially it's still a bit overwhelming for someone who has to buy a console or two for the exclusive games they want to play. For some it's not about "PC has no exclusives" but the fact that consoles have exclusives they wanted to play and some of those are franchises they are familiar with.
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
I get what you are saying, but every time someone uses the whole "Pc master race" thing unironically, it comes off as petty jealousy.
Like this dude
"Oh, you think you're so good with your fancy indoor toilets and your high-faluting not having sex with your sister ways!"
UncleLeo!?
Banned
I don't know if anyone has said this, but I must have physical copies of my games and that is in fact a reason, among others, as to why I don't want to go to PC. I have avoided great games because I must have a physical copy (like Ace Attorney Dual Destinies).
Canis lupus
Member
When people ask these questions, do they really think most people don't have pc's?
Well duh of course you don't see people bragging about mastuh raze stuff in pc games, there's no one to brag to. The elitists almost exclusively dwell in console centric places and that's where the annoyances come from. In what kind of la la land have you been living in where these obnoxious fanboys are fiction?
Well duh of course you don't see people bragging about mastuh raze stuff in pc games, there's no one to brag to. The elitists almost exclusively dwell in console centric places and that's where the annoyances come from. In what kind of la la land have you been living in where these obnoxious fanboys are fiction?
You guys are definitely paying much more on average than PC gamers either way. A 'great deal' on a new, $60 console game is finding it for like $10 off or something. And on rare occasions, you'll find something at like $40-45, new. To really game cheaply on console, you basically have to stick to the used market. Its do-able, I agree. This is how I did it. But it also meant that I was usually sticking to older games, and only got maybe 2-3 new games a year. Lastly, all those used games I bought? Developers didn't see a single penny of it.
So yea, you all aren't always paying the full $60 a game, but its no myth that buying games on console is generally a lot more expensive on average.
The price and online community is probably the main factor for people.
I think it's worth it but can see why people wouldn't be happy about it. And it is expensive. People say you can get a decent rig for cheap but if you're going with PC gaming you might as well get a good rig.
That being said, a lot of money is definitely saved over time. No one can deny that Steam/GOG/Humble sales are amazing. One of the biggest PC advantages.
I think it's worth it but can see why people wouldn't be happy about it. And it is expensive. People say you can get a decent rig for cheap but if you're going with PC gaming you might as well get a good rig.
That being said, a lot of money is definitely saved over time. No one can deny that Steam/GOG/Humble sales are amazing. One of the biggest PC advantages.
Give War A Chance
Member
- Not sticking a PC in my living room, because I'd want to use the PC for more than just gaming, and I'm not browsing the internet, shopping online etc., in my living room. Which would mean I'd need to put the PC in an office, and that's very anti-social for the people in my residence.
- Not paying more than $500 to play games. I didn't buy a PS3 until it dropped under $500, and I wouldn't buy any future console that costs over $500. Also, I like the convenience and comfort of know that on November 15, 2013 and November 15, 2023, my PS4 will be able to play games at the highest possible quality of the $400 machine I purchased without having to upgrade anything along the way.
- My favorite games last generation were Nintendo and Sony exclusives. They don't appear on PC, so I'd have to buy the consoles AND a PC to play everything I want to play. Meh.
- I'll probably always be a console gamer at heart. I've enjoyed Diablo III way more on PS4 than I did on PC. There's no reason rationalization for it, but it is what it is. Strange.
Those are probably the biggest reasons.
- Not paying more than $500 to play games. I didn't buy a PS3 until it dropped under $500, and I wouldn't buy any future console that costs over $500. Also, I like the convenience and comfort of know that on November 15, 2013 and November 15, 2023, my PS4 will be able to play games at the highest possible quality of the $400 machine I purchased without having to upgrade anything along the way.
- My favorite games last generation were Nintendo and Sony exclusives. They don't appear on PC, so I'd have to buy the consoles AND a PC to play everything I want to play. Meh.
- I'll probably always be a console gamer at heart. I've enjoyed Diablo III way more on PS4 than I did on PC. There's no reason rationalization for it, but it is what it is. Strange.
Those are probably the biggest reasons.
Once I got PSN+ I stopped buying games. Steam and PSN hold hefty backlogs for me! Also PSN+ gives me Vita goodies too. I did a lot of portable gaming this year on that and the iPad.
Sentenza
Member
Not ones competent for gaming, obviously.
Which is precisely the point and what makes that claim some absolute, embarrassing bullshit which is almost painful to read.
Alx
Member
I think I'm just too lazy to look into all the specifications/requirements/performance/support questions to bother building a PC (or even looking for an appropriate configuration). I like gaming to be a simple and straightforward experience (especially considering I get less free time to spend on them), so consoles are a better environment for me. Besides I mostly like arcade-style games, and those barely exist on PC.
Oh and I don't care about graphics. Games stopped being ugly 15 years ago, so I'm fine whatever the platform, now.
Oh and I don't care about graphics. Games stopped being ugly 15 years ago, so I'm fine whatever the platform, now.
Makoto-Yuki
Banned
I'm lazy and a tight ass.
I'm not spending loads of time trying to figure out what parts to get then spending close to £1000 on it just to play games in a higher quality of performance which is just gonna eventually degrade over time. I know everyone says it's easy to build a PC and I have a little experience doing so but I just don't want to have to build it and risk damage. It might be easy but I'll fuck it up somehow.
It's much easier/cheaper to just spend £350 (ps4) on a console. Buy my games. Plug into wall, hdmi into tv and off I go. Games will be of less performance/visuals but honestly I don't care about that too much. I don't need to keep upgrading parts...All I gotta do is buy the new console when it comes out in 5, 6 or 7 years whatever it may be.
Yes PC is better if you want the best perfomance/graphics but not worth the money/effort for me personally. I'm happy with my PS4.
I'm not spending loads of time trying to figure out what parts to get then spending close to £1000 on it just to play games in a higher quality of performance which is just gonna eventually degrade over time. I know everyone says it's easy to build a PC and I have a little experience doing so but I just don't want to have to build it and risk damage. It might be easy but I'll fuck it up somehow.
It's much easier/cheaper to just spend £350 (ps4) on a console. Buy my games. Plug into wall, hdmi into tv and off I go. Games will be of less performance/visuals but honestly I don't care about that too much. I don't need to keep upgrading parts...All I gotta do is buy the new console when it comes out in 5, 6 or 7 years whatever it may be.
Yes PC is better if you want the best perfomance/graphics but not worth the money/effort for me personally. I'm happy with my PS4.
Seeing as everyone seems to know the specs of their consoles I'll just promote one of my favourite aspects of pc gaming: upgrading and tinkering.
I've always self built a budget pc since I first read a half life review. Currently I have managed to piece together a fairly capable i5 3570k and gtx 750 ti rig and I set myself a £150 a year limit on upgrades. By re-selling old components before they are seriously out of date you can easily keep up with the arms race.
It's like the original meta game in my opinion.
However I do really want to play destiny as well so will buy either xbone or ps4 when price is right. I have a wii u for Nintendo exclusives when the price dropped low enough.
I've always self built a budget pc since I first read a half life review. Currently I have managed to piece together a fairly capable i5 3570k and gtx 750 ti rig and I set myself a £150 a year limit on upgrades. By re-selling old components before they are seriously out of date you can easily keep up with the arms race.
It's like the original meta game in my opinion.
However I do really want to play destiny as well so will buy either xbone or ps4 when price is right. I have a wii u for Nintendo exclusives when the price dropped low enough.
Well if the community was that bad and online play was something g you wanted to do, then it is 100% relevant. Personally I utterly disagree that the multiple communities that make up the "PC community" are bad. The freedom to move around servers and meet and play with great people is absolutely trivial. Matchmaking and random games on other platforms don't even come close. But I guess that's just my experience of things for the many years that I've played.
My only issue with online gaming on PC is that it often requires secondary software apps to use voice communication. I really miss how on console, all you do is plug in a mic and bam, you're talking to everybody. Unless you're gaming with friends or a tight-knit community on PC, you're typically not going to get any decent communication or chat going. In terms of the people, they are no better/worse than the people on console. Believe it or not, they are all normal human beings just like everybody else and aren't all indoctrinated in some cult where all they talk about is how great their computers are. From from it, really. Nobody gives a toss what sort of PC you have. Nobody is going to look down on you because you're not running something with Ultra settings like they are.
There is waaay more to gaming on PC than just better graphics. This is definitely one of the biggest misconceptions I tend to hear.
Black Mantis
Member
I have a decent laptop from 4 years ago, can run the likes of Crysis and BF3 pretty good. I've been thinking about upgrading a lot, however, the release of the Xbox One has put it on the back-burner for a while. Seeing the DR3 issues PC gamers have had, is another reason I prefer consoles.
I'll upgrade when a few more pc exclusive games come out, that I can't get on console and really can't run on my laptop.
I'll upgrade when a few more pc exclusive games come out, that I can't get on console and really can't run on my laptop.
AdventureRacing
Member
Then how in the world would that impact your enjoyment of playing the actual games? If this PC master race sentiment is so common, point it out to me. We're currently posting in one of if not the biggest gaming communities. Where are all the people posting this stuff?
If you want i can easily find you all the console gamers looking down on other platforms like smartphones, wii, wii U or 3DS. Yet seemingly it only matters when this supposed contingent of PC gamers does this.
If you're going for the small form factor approach, then it is certainly expensive. Definitely didn't want a hulking tower in my front room, yet wanted a box that could take a full length card. That costs money. Great thing now I've made it all in all, although I can hear noise from inside recently which means I possibly need to unscrew it and deal with some cable tidy issues. (another "I like consoles" point - I'm happy to tinker and get inside, many people are not)
When I did PC building classes at work somebody (didn't listen) managed to put a CPU in to the socket without opening the latch.
After bending about 6-7 pins (intel socket 1156), I still got it fixed in a few minutes and booted into windows.
It's quite hard to break things, it's usually DOA than users fault.
After bending about 6-7 pins (intel socket 1156), I still got it fixed in a few minutes and booted into windows.
It's quite hard to break things, it's usually DOA than users fault.
Atraveller
Banned
Even though DR3 on PC is a mess, it's still a much better mess than the Xbone version.
Well, the consoles don't do that out of the gate either.
jellies_two
Member
I only have limited time to game.
if I bought a pc it would take all my available time in component selection modification driver update benchmarking comparing configuring files for games that are not optimized reading forums and worst of all, I much prefer osx and Linux, so dealing with windows in order to play games is flat out annoying.
another reason is pc form factor: I like the console noise heat power and size equation. For the size heat speed and power you can't beat a console.
another reason is games for consoles are built for controllers. I hated diablo3 on pc and loved it on console.
another reason is I have a deep distrust of evangelicals. If you would stop begging me to join, I might even be interested. Well, no I wouldn't, but it's another reason. I don't have any desire to promote consoles to a pc gamer, I figure they know the advantages, why do you keep telling me I need to be a valve and Microsoft customer?
if I bought a pc it would take all my available time in component selection modification driver update benchmarking comparing configuring files for games that are not optimized reading forums and worst of all, I much prefer osx and Linux, so dealing with windows in order to play games is flat out annoying.
another reason is pc form factor: I like the console noise heat power and size equation. For the size heat speed and power you can't beat a console.
another reason is games for consoles are built for controllers. I hated diablo3 on pc and loved it on console.
another reason is I have a deep distrust of evangelicals. If you would stop begging me to join, I might even be interested. Well, no I wouldn't, but it's another reason. I don't have any desire to promote consoles to a pc gamer, I figure they know the advantages, why do you keep telling me I need to be a valve and Microsoft customer?
Gipsy Danger
Member
I meant to put gaming PCs but I fucked up. Pretty sure you know that though or at least could figure it out from the context. I'm not claiming people should buy PCs because everyone has a PC of some sort.
BrokenEchelon
Banned
Because I build all of my PCs.
AdventureRacing
Member
I've slowly become a PC only gamer but it had nothing to do with graphics. Unless you're trying to play some top of the line game like crysis no tinkering is needed. I know i certainly never bother with that stuff.
In terms of arcade styles of games there are heaps available on PC as well. That can be one down side of PC gaming, it can be a little harder to find the good games.
You could find endless examples. It just shows how selective people are being when they complain about the PC master race stuff and ignore the countless examples of console gamers doing the same.
Minsc
Gold Member
Everyone may have their reasons (which may be more convenience than truth, even a cheap laptop is capable of playing hundreds of great games), but the bottom line is pretty much any platform you don't have means you're missing out on a ton of great games, which is doubly true of PC simply because of how vast the gaming library is over the decades.
SquirrelSoup
Member
For me it's definitely this.
I do play on PC, and you won't hear me complain about the variety or number of games available on it, but... The games i like the most (fighting games, jrpgs and musou games) happen to be pretty poorly represented on PC.
Yes, there are some. Street fighter is on PC, and so is Trails in the Sky.
But when i look what i'm playing right now and what i will be playing in a bit, none of it is. (Blazblue CP then Under Night/Persona Arena, Pirate Warriors 2 then Samurai Warriors 4, Neptunia V then one of the Atelier games probably. )
Justice_dp
Member
So clutered bad looking office equipent got replaced with exxxxxxtreme(ly bad looking) gamers equipment? I'm not quite sure if this pictures are ironic or not?
Anyway: I'm a gamer first and have most platforms since 1996. I got around 100 games on my steam account, around 200 PC games as CD/DVDs. Got arround 600 console and handheld games too. A stupid purge in the late 90ties reduced the number of games drastically. But most of the items I own physically I played for a long time and I still love to play those games. The steam games I own are largley untouched to be honest. Despite a large amount of great games in the list and a more than capable hardware to run them.
And here is the thing, why I don't like pc gaming that much currently:
It's only software I can access. Nothing collectible, nothing to put on your shelf. Nothing that tell's me it has any value. I can't bring myself to game something that I paid like 2-5 and that is simply an icon in a list. And alone the idea that any game I "own" is worth nothing hurts me. I like to chose one or two great games very month.
Maybe pay a premium for them but get a colletible, a disk, an artbook and a soundtrack.
And not some download key or disk with an activation key.
Maybe I'm stupid to care about "useless" stuff and old fashioned. But I like to get physical objects. I don't like to worry or even care about configuring anything or modding anything. Try it all two or three years, but it never feels right.
MrCunningham
Member
It wasn't any harder to build a PC from 15 years ago than it is now. Nothing has really changed on the requirements and mother boards with integrated sound cards and modems were available. I guess there are more online tutorials and how tos now, and more online shopping options. But very little has actually changed since then in the assembly of a PC.
derExperte
Member
I hope you realize that especially your comments always come across as completely insufferable and obnoxious too when it comes to anything regarding PC gaming. It's really bad and exactly what you pretend to hate so much (while also using every opportunity to declare how much better OSX/Apple is, talk about vocal elitism). And that goes for most of the 'PC gamers are so mean' crowd. Please get off your own high horses.
Canis lupus
Member
I can go into Aldi and buy a cheap Medion desktop pc for 600 euro with GTX750 which is more than adequate to play all the games. Hell even the much cheaper models with Intel HD graphics should give you a good time. If you're able to afford a console for ~3-400 euro you'll likely also have a modern desktop or laptop which can play the latest games. There's a reason why console people will not change platforms.
Who says it's impacting my enjoyment of playing games? You don't see the elitist crap on Gaf because it's banned.
Sanctuary
Member
Well, relative to getting a PC that has a noticeable perfomance increase, it is actually quite a bit higher. It also depends on whether or not you want to build a "futureproof" (one that will remain relevant at least a good three to four years). The kind of PCs that people talk about costing only $800 or less typically won't give you noticeable improvements over say a PS4 or Xbone in regards to games. It's everything else that you're really paying for. A really good mid-high graphics card alone is around $300 - $400.
It's easier, but it hasn't changed that much since the early 2000s. I remember buying my first prebuilt in 98. I had to send it back four times due to random hardware issues, plus I had no idea how to troubleshoot it myself. In 2001 I built my first PC, and it was a nightmare. I got it up and running, but ran into a bunch of issues as the months progressed and had to keep taking in to the shop. On the way home from a "repair", the ram jostled loose and I had to take it back to the shop and pay them to tell me that's what had happened. That was definitely a learning experience. Each time I would build a new PC, the process was a lot easier for me, but it wasn't because things had become so mainstreamed that a blind monkey could do it on their first try.
The main reason it could be considered easier now is because of all of the Youtube tutorials that are available, but the actual assembly process is essentially the same as it was over a decade ago. There are still plenty of people who would not want to spend even $600 on a project like this, and if they were going to get a gaming PC, would either buy it from Wal-Mart prebuilt, or have an online botique type shop build one for them (at a 30% - 50% markup).
The worst thing about building my own systems has always been the gigantic heatsinks. I absolutely hated putting them on due to how heavy they were and how progressively heavier and taller they got as time went on. With my most recent system I just said "fuck it" and decided to finally go water. That's a whole other can of worms to have to consider, but in terms of cracking the motherboard either during assembly or transport, it's a non issue.
Sentenza
Member
I can't even tell what the hella are you talking about.
It's either that you have poor ability to discern what you are looking at or you are just trying too hard to confirm your bias.
There's no "exxxxxxxtreme" stuffi n that picture. It's just a common screen, a fairly plain keyboard and two accessories (an Oculus Rift Developer Kit and a Nvidia Shield).
Then do it?
Not sure why what you "could" do is relevant, if you don't.
I meant more on the lines of console games generally having larger communities in games like COD. Plus many people have console gamer friends not PC gamer friends.
PC communities can get way more into a game though. Can make the experience much more fun.
Small forms are pretty but if you're a serious PC gamer, upgrading them can be hard. Graphics card sizes vary too much.
How will changing cables around fix the noise? Cleaning out dust, changing thermal paste or upgrading your cooling can work though.
For the price of PC gaming you get plenty of positives though. Mods, flexibility, great graphics, loads of amazing PC only titles, a huge support network, amazing sales, lots of options.
A lot of people are saying it's too time consuming. It's true that if a game doesn't work it can be a nightmare but 90% of the time there's no problem. Updating drivers and download special stuff isn't the big issue people are making it out to be.
Give War A Chance
Member
Very true, but by the same token, a ton of PC gamers have backlogs they'll never finish.
Tack that backlog on top of having 1, or even 2... or in some insane world, 3 consoles? You won't be able to even play a tenth of all the great games on the platform.
It's not like the N64 days where you can fit an entire generation's worth of videogames in a a picture taken from your cell phone. There are plenty of people that won't even be able to play all of the PS4 games they want to, and they only own a PS4, haha.
Yup, became a PC gamer a little over 2 years ago and still from time to time I think how buying a gaming PC was the best purchase I have ever done.
Gipsy Danger
Member
Did you read the PC Gamer article I posted in the OP? It gives one of the best explanations of why we talk about the platform the way we do. We do it because no one else is going to.
I don't agree with this at all. Unless you've bought a very recent desktop PC, its unlikely you'll have something that can play the latest games. If your PC is more than a couple years old, its unlikely that your integrated graphics or lowly bottom-feeder graphics card is going to be adequate at all for modern 1080p gaming.
Gotcha. And quite true. I certainly don't have any friends who game on PC.
Agreed. I used to think *exactly* like a lot of the people in here.
But I was wrong about so much of it.
Wow. A lot of these responses make me sad. It's amazingly scary how firm a grip the console manufacturers have on some people. Yikes.
Anyway, I like the freedom and variety that PC offers. Customization, mods, graphics/options.
I always find it funny when Xbox and PS people fight about who has the most exclusives, meanwhile, I'm over here thinking "Uhh, PC has the most exclusives of all 4, but OK.jpg." Oh and Nintendo has the BEST exclusives, btw.
And most importantly of all, it's cheaper than owning a console. I spent $1000.15(exactly) on my rig 3 years ago. I've spent less than half that on videogames ever since. Steam, GamersGate, GreenManGaming, GetGamesGo, BundleStars, Amazon, Origin--pretty much every retailer here: (CheapShark)--There's NEVER a reason to pay $60 for a game. I can already hear; "But the developer deserves full support, bruh" lol Again, the firm grip these people are under is scary.
Anyway, I like the freedom and variety that PC offers. Customization, mods, graphics/options.
I always find it funny when Xbox and PS people fight about who has the most exclusives, meanwhile, I'm over here thinking "Uhh, PC has the most exclusives of all 4, but OK.jpg." Oh and Nintendo has the BEST exclusives, btw.
And most importantly of all, it's cheaper than owning a console. I spent $1000.15(exactly) on my rig 3 years ago. I've spent less than half that on videogames ever since. Steam, GamersGate, GreenManGaming, GetGamesGo, BundleStars, Amazon, Origin--pretty much every retailer here: (CheapShark)--There's NEVER a reason to pay $60 for a game. I can already hear; "But the developer deserves full support, bruh" lol Again, the firm grip these people are under is scary.
I started a console gamer for 20+ years and currently own a PS3 360 WiiU PC 3DS and iPad
Noisepurge
Member
i used to have, but buying a new GFX card and more memory every two years and changing the motherboard as the different memory/processor/PCI/PCI-E/AGP cards were not compatible just got cumbersome. A single console runs all the latest games for 8 years straight.
And i'm one of those who don't want to sit on the computer any more after 8 hours of sitting on a computer at work.
(i have a custom built laptop at home nowadays, it can run some modern games, bought it two years ago for 1000$)
And i'm one of those who don't want to sit on the computer any more after 8 hours of sitting on a computer at work.
(i have a custom built laptop at home nowadays, it can run some modern games, bought it two years ago for 1000$)
Same. I think I would have quit gaming for the most part if I stuck with consoles
Atraveller
Banned
Upgrading every 2 years just to make the latest games run? If that was not a hyperbole, then you must be going for the low ends hardware every time you upgrade, which is not a smart move. Shop smart, future proof.
Also about a console lasting 8 years, how well does it run?