For those who refuse to game on a PC, what holds you back?

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Turrican2 said:
One word - Windows
I don't want to waste my time with drivers, optimzation and co anymore.
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I've literally spent 0 seconds on these issues in the past 3 years. Ya'll need to come up with new ghost stories.

Also I find the cost issue to be overblown. I would have a PC anyways, so IMO, the only difference is the gpu. The gpu I have is comparable in cost to a PS4 (gtx 970), and PC gaming is way cheaper on the software side (my avg steam game purchase is probably under $6 USD). Even if you had to buy a pc, I game with an i5 2500k (a CPU from 2011) so all the "you need a $2000 pc" stuff is BS. I easily save the difference on steam sales/humble bundle/just cheaper game prices in general.
 
RichiRamjag said:
You could just stop hoarding the consoles and start buying digital. Do what works for you I guess. As a 30 year old myself with little time, I don't get what would push me toward a PC specifically. If anything, my wife and son hated back when I gamed primarily on PC as I didn't have it set up in the living room at the time and i was typically wearing a headset and off on my own.
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Well some games just can't be played digitally (Freedom Fighters, Silent HIll 2 and 3 are unavailable, Shinobi is glitchy, for example), and I have kept the consoles so I can go back and play any old games I have.

I ended up being more willing than I expected to put work into getting around the issues. My PC rig is in my bedroom, I usually play in there for competitive games (like Rocket League) and strategy games. For living room play, I bought an HDMI to cat5 converter, ran 100 ft. of cat6 cable around my apartment to my TV, and bought a 50 ft. USB extender and a lapboard. Those combined with a wireless Xbox360 controller allow me to play in the living room or bedroom, controller or keyboard/mouse. I've comfortably played stuff like FTL as well as MGSV in my living room, and got my girlfriend into Cities Skylines in the process.

I don't have to buy new consoles, I can just upgrade PC parts as I go. I can go all digital without worrying that my library will carry over to the next PlayStation or Nintendo. Also, emulators allow me to play on my PC any old games I own or games that I can't own.

Of course, the trade-off is that I've had to deal with Windows 10 bullshit, driver problems, the hassle of actually building the damn thing, and pretty much any other issue PC gamers can think of.
 
Sad Affleck said:
The actually valid argument that people in this thread have made is about the slight but existing chance that you might face an issue that is specific to your setup and those cases are indeed a hassle to troubleshoot. The counter-argument is that if you are running a properly maintained system (basically any PC that isn't bogged down by bloatware, adware and viruses and is kept up to date software wise) the chance that you will encounter such an issue is very small.
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This just isn't true. My gaming PC is dedicated to games and sits under my TV like a console. It's got nothing but games on it. I don't even browse the web on it. It's streamlined and well maintained and I still encounter issues every now and then.
 
StrangeADT said:
Auto updates. Maybe I've clicked a couple dialogue boxes? Certainly less time than I've spent waiting for the damn PS4 to have yet another fucking stability update right when I'm looking to play.
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I've spent literally 0 seconds waiting for a PS4 stability update in the last 3 years. Ya'll need to come up with new ghost stories..
 
Vipu said:
Im a bit interested of this, where can I find this and is there list of the games?
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It's not made by me, it's from an article series Metacritic publishes every year. Here's the one for 2016.

They also made another relevant point:
In total, there were 178 PC games receiving positive reviews in the past year, more than in any other year since we began compiling these year-end surveys in 2009 (and far more than any other gaming platform this year).
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GamerMax73 said:
Here's the thing, the number of reasons you can legitimately put down to decade-old hearsay are rather small and probably centres around - you can plug a controller in, windows auto updates, steam as a big picture mode.

Everything else is largely two sides of the same coin with neither being wrong in their arguments. The problem for me comes when you then suggest PC gaming is totally seamless and doesn't have it's problems. Both do, I'm willing to admit the pitfalls of choosing console as a gaming platform.

Fact-strewn broadside rebuttals tend to be more antagonistic than helpful. Tone down the rhetoric and more people might listen.



This paragraph is spot on.
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That sentence doesn't work out of context:

SatelliteOfLove said:
Your post is more than sufficient. A subjective post of reasons that have served you well.

It's the ones who dabble in decade-old hearsay that get that fact-strewn broadsides of rebuttals. If only they learned from your wisdom.
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Subjective reasons should not be slandered, objective facts need to be loaded into cannons to drown out confirmed bullshit, no quarter. The only danger is it being leveled against the former.
 
"I don't care about performance" is always a strange one, to me.

Digital Foundry has been around for years. Comparing performance differences between PlayStation and Xbox versions of the same games blew up during the PS3/360 gen and I don't believe has slowed any this gen. People have been using those differences to inform which console they buy their games on for years. There are instances going back well over a decade now that demonstrate console owners care a fare whack about performance..

Do people think "I like my games to run well" means - and only means - constantly keeping up with the latest graphics cards and spending hours tuning settings before they can be enjoyed?
 
The better question is: Why do you never see a thread like this from console fans trying to convince PC gamers to jump ship? What's with the zealotry and tribalism from the PC camp?
 
Bumhead said:
"I don't care about performance" is always a strange one, to me.

Digital Foundry has been around for years. Comparing performance differences between PlayStation and Xbox versions of the same games blew up during the PS3/360 gen and I don't believe has slowed any this gen. People have been using those differences to inform which console they buy their games on for years. There are instances going back well over a decade now that demonstrate console owners care a fare whack about performance..

Do people think "I like my games to run well" means - and only means - constantly keeping up with the latest graphics cards and spending hours tuning settings before they can be enjoyed?
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I think what they really mean is "to a point". That point being what defines a PC to a console and their advantages/disadvantages. Presented with two identical consoles with the same price point but one with better graphics they wouldn't pick a random console, they'd pick the console with better visuals.
 
FelixFFM said:
The better question is: Why do you never see a thread like this from console fans trying to convince PC gamers to jump ship? What's with the zealotry and tribalism from the PC camp?
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The preface of this thread is just so inquire what holds non-PC players from gaming on PC not to convince people to jump ship.
 
Durante said:
You just need to look at this list, and count everything which is rated 75 or above and only on PC. I actually got more than 46, but maybe it's because some games received the sufficient number of reviews after they published the article.
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Isnt there any faster way to check than click every game open and go check if its on consoles too? damn I dont want to spend 1h to check some pc exclusives
 
Bumhead said:
"I don't care about performance" is always a strange one, to me.

Digital Foundry has been around for years. Comparing performance differences between PlayStation and Xbox versions of the same games blew up during the PS3/360 gen and I don't believe has slowed any this gen. People have been using those differences to inform which console they buy their games on for years. There are instances going back well over a decade now that demonstrate console owners care a fare whack about performance..

Do people think "I like my games to run well" means - and only means - constantly keeping up with the latest graphics cards and spending hours tuning settings before they can be enjoyed?
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Keep in mind DF is a site that appeals to the hardcore.

When people say "I don't care about performance" they really mean "I'm fine with the performance on the console I own." Outside of the hardcore, most are just buying and playing on one console and at most maybe looked at performance a bit when deciding which console to buy. More likely they were swayed by brand loyalty and where their more serious gamer friends who adopted new gen consoles earlier are playing their online games.

Thus saying they don't care about performance is just dismissing one of the only benefits they'd get by going PC, since people saying that tend to be console only gamers who only play the big AAA mainstream multiplats and console exclusives. None of the other benefits of PCs are really applicable if they're completely satisfied playing those games and aren't looking to branch out. Thus they say they don't care about performance to mean they don't care about moving to PC, spending more money, being on a platform their gaming friends aren't just to get better FPS and graphics in the same games.

A lot of the PC ethusiasts have a hard time seeing that a lot of the things we all love about PC gaming just aren't things that matter to someone who's just playing CoD, Madden, FIFA, GTA, Uncharted, Gears of War etc. and has no interest in branching out across genres, control schemes etc. The only real appeal of PC for those types would be getting the best looking and running versions of those games (console exclusives aside of course) and a lot of people just don't care at all/enough about that to take the PC plunge. And there's nothing wrong with that.
 
FelixFFM said:
Why would this question be asked if the intent is not to convince them?
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The intent is to only and hopefully inform the misinformed on perceptions that aren't accurate. What they do with it after is their call, but this was not a thread to get new Pc gamers, simply address misconceptions.
 
horkrux said:
Meanwhile I just bought the retail version of Banner Saga 2, an indie title. There is no lack of physical.
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It's far from uncommon that a game isn't available in-box, no internet required. Shelf space for PC is tiny here, and it's full of old games (I mean, you'll find Roller Coaster Tycoon 1+2 there...)
 
Marty Chinn said:
This just isn't true. My gaming PC is dedicated to games and sits under my TV like a console. It's got nothing but games on it. I don't even browse the web on it. It's streamlined and well maintained and I still encounter issues every now and then.
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Issues that have something to do with your setup or problematic games? Do you have an example?
 
Massa said:
I've spent literally 0 seconds waiting for a PS4 stability update in the last 3 years. Ya'll need to come up with new ghost stories..
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My point still stands. The original complaint was about spending time dealing with drivers. Consoles get updates to their drivers too - they're just not explicitly labeled as such cause console updates tend to not tell you all that they're doing. I have spent exactly 0 seconds in at least the past 3 years dealing with issues with games due to driver issues. Factoring in time spent updating is irrelevant because that exists on all platforms nowadays. I have an auto update client for taking care of graphics drivers so it's no different than the console auto updates.
 
Marty Chinn said:
This just isn't true. My gaming PC is dedicated to games and sits under my TV like a console. It's got nothing but games on it. I don't even browse the web on it. It's streamlined and well maintained and I still encounter issues every now and then.
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Same here. Had plenty of issues, some total brick walls too. You see others having troubles in the threads on here and plenty on the Steam community pages too. Having to deal with this stuff is part and parcel, you either find it acceptable or don't.

EDIT:

I've not had any driver issues but I've had plenty of other weirdo ones and they are always bespoke to each game.
 
Physical/Digital is an interesting place, and it's becoming more interesting when you talk about indie games.

I think if you're already all-digital, you get a better deal on PC, particularly if you're willing to buy digital-only indie games. On PC you can at least get games like Hyper Light Drifter or Momodora on GOG or Humble where you get a DRM-free executable. IndieBox and GameTrust have released a few indie PC games at retail that come with DRM-free discs and Steam keys.
 
univbee said:
It's definitely an oversimplified argument, it goes a bit deeper than those things.

- Some people are stressed as FUCK and may barely have the energy to flop on their couch and pick up the controller. With PC it's pretty much guaranteed there's going to be more to it than that in some capacity. Not necessarily every time, but it doesn't take more than once or twice for people to go "fuck this"

- It's definitely better than it was, but controller support on PC can still have some flaky issues. I'm using an Xbox One controller wirelessly and about 2/3rds of the time I have to unplug and replug the official wireless adapter to get it to behave. And it didn't work for Killer Instinct when it launched on PC.

And even if you are playing a game which does everything the console does with the controller, you can't really play online with it because you are going to get wrecked against kb+m players. Hell, John Carmack gave a lengthy talk going really heavily into the technical reasons why this is the case.
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I can only speak for myself but my old Xbox 360 controller is working fine for me. The only games I play with a k/m are RTS games and point and click style because I just can't seem to grasp controlling with a keyboard. The mouse I can use, not the keyboard but the option is there which supports the benefits of PC gaming for me.

univbee said:
4k's definitely going to be awesome when it's more viable but it's way too expensive to get into it currently for the vast majority of people when you factor in the fact that tons of people would need new screens (I don't know anyone with a 4K TV yet, myself included, and I bought fucking LaserDiscs back in the day) and it's just not quite there yet no matter how much money you dump into a PC rig (for 4K60 without turning settings down considerably in a lot of cases). Maybe with the next line of Geforce cards, but even then I'm looking at a bare minimum double the price of a PS4 Pro just on that video card (in Canada), and I still only have a 2500K CPU which might not be enough so I'd have to replace everything there and on and on and on.

Meanwhile in Japan the bestselling games are on the 240p 3DS and no one really gives a shit.
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They will give a shit when they play on the Switch screen in comparison.
 
Well my overall pov and suggestion is anyone who can do both I highly suggest it. Being able to buy exclusives for console of choice, but also be able to buy multiplatform games on Pc and run them to look through the roof gorgeous and smooth, is the way I feel most should roll if they can. So for anyone who can afford a Pc and have avoided it for some of the reasons in this thread, I really suggest to do both and enjoy those multiplatform games in a totally different light, and enjoy exclusives wherever they may land.
 
I didn't do PC gaming for a long time because I would often run into tech problems with games on my laptop, and I've long preferred the experience of console gaming on my couch.

I recently bought the Alienware Alpha r2 with 960 and things have been better, but I still find so many PC games that simply won't run or have annoying issue, such as always launching in windowed mode, making me have to reach for the keyboard every time. Gamepad support is still not great on plenty of titles too, and even new titles like Resident Evil 7 seem to have issues (input seems incredibly laggy, even on menus).

I know I have to be prepared to face tech problems if I sit down to relax with any PC game for the first time, and this can often be a poor experience compared to console gaming.
 
I'm terrible with keyboards (index finger typer here) and they don't feel good to play games on. I could get a dedicated gaming keyboard one but hell I even play an FPS with a controller on PC.

Mouse is great, but even with a controller plugged something is just missing.
 
I like to collect physical copies of games, and stare at them for hours. It's also a great way to show off your wealth and status to anyone that visits you.

And as stupid as it sounds - my gamescore keeps me tied to my xbox. I cannot abandon it now - waaay too many hours lost in order to unlock achievements. It means absolutely nothing, yet so much. They sucked me in.
 
sugarman said:
It's better to own all the consoles and get all the exclusives than have a really good pc
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I know this is a drive by shitpost, but I can't help but respond to that with a massive WHY?!

If you've got the money to drop on 3 new consoles, plus 2 updated versions of those consoles down the line, plus their exclusive games then you'd surely have the money to buy a decent PC along with them.
 
You know, even if I could make a pc that could serve as a console, set it up in my living room, etc I would still want another pc sitting on a desk ... To act as a pc.
 
If you're fine with 30fps, I do think a PC is a pretty hard-sell for someone who wants to play in the livingroom on a controller.

sugarman said:
It's better to own all the consoles and get all the exclusives than have a really good pc
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Most of the Xbox's exclusives are on the PC anyway.

The Dude said:
Well my overall pov and suggestion is anyone who can do both I highly suggest it. Being able to buy exclusives for console of choice, but also be able to buy multiplatform games on Pc and run them to look through the roof gorgeous and smooth, is the way I feel most should roll if they can. So for anyone who can afford a Pc and have avoided it for some of the reasons in this thread, I really suggest to do both and enjoy those multiplatform games in a totally different light, and enjoy exclusives wherever they may land.
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I do very much enjoy a PC and PS4 in the livingroom.

encephalon said:
You know, even if I could make a pc that could serve as a console, set it up in my living room, etc I would still want another pc sitting on a desk ... To act as a pc.
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You will need another PC or laptop, yeah.
 
Yea I've always done both. Had a strong Pc and always owned the consoles and just rolled wherever. It's worth the investment I feel for the time you get out a Pc.

Getting new Pc parts is only required for when a person wants to truly max every game and keep up with that, it's the enthusiasts side of Pc gaming. But one could buy a top gpu and go a handful of years with it just fine. That's where the biggest and main portion of the cash should go.

And these days it's mainly about that gpu in a machine.
 
PC doesn't have enough likeable marketing people, like Larry Hryb for Xbox. They validate my choice of gaming platform.
 
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