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[nbthedude]

To the OP - what if someone has zero interest in building a PC, managing settings, configuring stuff, updating drivers, and all of the additional work that goes into owning and using a PC for games? Can they still be a "hardcore gamer?"

I plan on building my first gaming PC this year, because I decided all of that stuff actually sounds pretty awesome. I have always enjoyed hobbies where you get to build and customize something, and where tweaking, optimizing, and regular maintenance are part of the experience. The fact that I can get better performance from all of that (relative to a console) is pretty awesome. The fact that there are fewer and fewer console exclusives (and that trend will likely continue) and that games are often cheaper on PC will probably mean that more of my gaming gets done on a PC once I have one.

But I totally get people that don't want to deal with that stuff and that don't understand how anyone could enjoy it. And a PC can never 100% replace a console experience (and vice versa).

I don't think "hardcore" is necessarily a positive or negative descriptor. As has been discussed earlier in this thread, I wish I had just said "enthusiast" because it carries less of a bragging connotation, which I did not intend.

But to answer your question more directly, well, yes. Actually I do think the people who are really into a hobby are the kind of people more prone to enjoy customizing their experience, getting hands on, and gain a better understanding the underlying parts of their hobby. As I indicated with examples in the OP, this is generally true with other hobbies. I had a friend in high school with was a skater and he was really into customizing his board and exited when he got some new high quality ball bearings. I have another friend into model trains and he has designed his own custom town surrounding the train. It literally takes up half his garage. Even hobbies that do not grant this ability generally still cultivate an interest in the process. People who are into guitars, for example, can often tell you a lot about the history of the materials used by Gibson and how the production process has changed.

This doesn't mean people who aren't interested in is stuff are not as "cool" or anything. As I said in the OP, there are areas in all our lives that we just dip our toes into and are casual consumers in those areas. But I do think the kind of people who visit gaming message boards regularly, the kind of people who spend a lot of time talking about and playing videogames, are the kind of people who would generally really dig the experience of building their own ultimate gaming system and learning more about the underlying parts. They are generally the kind of people that would find that process rewarding and interesting.

Are there outliers for whom that doesn't apply? Sure, there are always outliers. But I was speaking in general. And that was only one of five reasons I laid out for why I think the platform should be a staple for gaming enthusiast. You'll notice that I never said anything in the OP about forgoing consoles nor did I try to turn this into a console vs. PC fight to the death thread. That unfortunately just happened. I was just laying out all the reasons PC should really be considered an invaluable platform for an enthusiast.

 

[Serandur]

I am no stranger to consoles and have historically played on various home consoles and handhelds, but the one constant platform that never ceases to disappoint me and has become my favorite is the PC. I love the variability, the modularity, digital game sales, the exulting excitation caused by new hardware, etc. I even love tinkering with graphical settings and getting the best image quality I can while retaining frame rates simply not likely on the modern console scene. In fact, a large motivator for me to move towards the PC as my preferred general platform was the aberration of 3D console frame-rates.

The realization of sub-30 fps on a vast majority of my PS3 collection eventually drove me insane and now, even after playing on my meager laptop for a year instead, I find the performance of so many of my PS3 games to be, if not unplayable, quite uncomfortable. That's not to say I do not value any console exclusives. I would love to play Ni No Kuni at the moment, for example (60 fps being its target makes it all the more bearable), but it's just too expensive for me (a problem never problematic with PC games due to the nature of PC game sales) and console exclusives are exclusive arbitrarily, not out of necessity or for any reasoning of technical benefit. Sometime next year, I hope to finally build my first rig... not before at least the Maxwell and Volcanic Islands GPUs come out, though.

For any who prefer playing on consoles, I mean no disrespect and do not wish to force my viewpoint on you. This is merely my mentality approaching platform preference.

 

[nbthedude]

Negatory, OP.

Pository, random poster who responded to none of my points and in all probability didn't read them.

 

[Everdred]

Would it make sense to build a PC with spec types similar to the next gen consoles, such as an AMD processor and a similar GPU? Would it mean that it would be more optimized than current gen, based on the fact that the next consoles are very PC-like?

 

[mkenyon]

Would it make sense to build a PC with spec types similar to the next gen consoles, such as an AMD processor and a similar GPU? Would it mean that it would be more optimized than current gen, based on the fact that the next consoles are very PC-like?

Nope.

 

[nbthedude]

Would it make sense to build a PC with spec types similar to the next gen consoles, such as an AMD processor and a similar GPU? Would it mean that it would be more optimized than current gen, based on the fact that the next consoles are very PC-like?

Generally speaking, right now you get better performance bang for your buck with an intel processor and an AMD graphics card.

But you could definitely build a reasonable, middle of the road PC that would perform about like those consoles for around $550-$600. Check the neogaf PC building thread. The first post in that Building thread has a wealth of info and Hazaro's basic templates at different price points serve as good guidelines and it is frequently updated. The people in the thread itself are also really generally friendly and glad to help customize beyond those templates and offer advice/explanations.

 

[Madrugador]

PC gaming has been an amazing experience for me (I was a console guy before this generation). Having PC as my main platform has been one of the best gaming decision I've ever made.

I still play consoles (and handhelds) for the exclusives of course, but in the end almost everything I play is on PC.

 

[vixlar]

First of all, freat OP.

Now, I've been a console player since Atari 2600. I had a good rig 8 year ago, but when I bought my laptop I abandoned PC gaming, except for Civilization 4. My laptop died in January, and seeing all the bullshit on next gen consoles I decided to build a new rig. You gonna laugh, my Nvidia card doesn't even have a fan. An i3 processor, but a shitty motherboard. I didn't buy a display so I use the HDMI to connect to my HDTV. No soundcard, so the sound goes trough the HDMI. 500 gb SATA. 8 gb RAM (kingston). I spent 6,000 mexican pesos (450 us dlls). I'm really happy with my PC!!!!

I really don't know how good is with new games, the most recent game I play with this is Portal 2, and is fantastic. Graphically is miles ahead of X360 version (I own that too).

Now, I read a post that said that his graphics card died and he has to buy a new one. Let me tell you something about my Xbox: Error 71... twice. And I couldn't just repair it for myself, I had to send it to technical service.

The inicial setup may be a little expensive, but is your decision. If you want to buy the high performance parts, it could be really expensive, but, believe me, if you just want to have fun, aim start wit a low/middle rig, and later invest on the parts you think could improve your experience. Remember you can sell your used parts or build a new rig with those.

And the game prices!!!! It all started with Steam sales and now all its competitors try to make a better sale offers. The only winners are us.

My X360 HD is already full. I moved some games to my memory and that, but I'm still on the limit. If I want to change my disc I must buy a really expensive HD, and I have the falcon, and is really difficult to get the old model. And I know I can buy a Laptop SATA and put it on the case. But, I must get a special series of disc, I must configure it wit a special software and I must disarm the case. And suposedly I love consoles for its simplicity. With PC I only plug any disc I want on the SATA slot, and voila.

And if you are worried about the complexity and setup and obscure configurations... let me tell you, even as I am a Computer Engineer, I've been all this years far from Gaming rigs. I was afraid because I didn't know anything about new Graphic cards, or best setups, but I decided to take the risk (and read on the PC thread) and no worries. Steam and Nvidia do all the dirty job for you.

I hate playing on KB/M. For me controller is much better. I haven't bought my adaptor yet. But many people are afraid that the competitive on controller is a bad idea. But I have a friend who is really good on BF3 PS3, and when he jumped to BF3 PC, he decided to play with controller... and he is really good!!! There's no significant advantage on his enemies. Again, he is REALLY good in that game, I'm not telling that any regular Joe can beat KB players with a controller.

For exclusives, is sad, you can't have all things in the life. But if you go with any console, you are losing many exclusives too. And PC has good exclusives, like Civilization, Don't Starve or Starcraft 2.

If my financial health allow it, maybe I will buy a PS4 in the future, for the fighting games. There are still some games I hadn't ought for the X360 yet, like Borderlands 2 or Tomb Raider, but I want to buy then for PC instead, and enjoy then on all their glory.

 

[bideogamer]

It already is my home. Thanks OP.

Seriously though, something about PC gaming that isn't brought up enough is that... IT'S A PC! I can do so much more with my PC horsepower than play games in 1080p, I can run a media server, use Adobe Premiere to edit all my DSLR footage, 3D model, and so much more. You just aren't creating content on a console, only consuming.

 

[USC-fan]

Build one yourself. With the power draw of modern PCs, you can already do this. At the very least, you can build the platform which will be easily upgraded for 4K resolution with a video card swap.

TMK, there is no 'official' Steambox. It's more of a platform that multiple companies will be producing. Has this changed?

Yes Im going to build my own. I just like most games on steam to support controllers.

 

[Karsticles]

The only game out on PC that I care about is DotA2. Every other title I'm interested in and enjoy is only on consoles. PC offers almost nothing for me as a platform.

 

[nbthedude]

Yes Im going to build my own. I just like most games on steam to support controllers.

Pretty much the vast majority made in the last 4 years already do.

I was talking about this with my friend who just built a gaming pc last month since it is in his livng room. Out of the 74 games he owns, only 4 do not support controller.

Obviously there are certain genres that don't (RTS and MMO) but most other games do.

 

[Omnistalgic]

@OP longest Post Ever...

Favorite games are still on Sony's console though, and they are exclusives. I do agree that enthusiast do tend to the core of the industry so to speak, but even consoles are getting a piece of that with indy titles debuting on many digital platforms. Game industry is not the same as movies/books, so I think in this industry, there will always be room for both.

I love me some Journey and Thomas was Alone, but I also am looking forward to The Last of Us and GT6, and Knack. I don't think you really need to express yourself through the customization options of PC just to connect with the heart of the industry either.

 

[Wolf Akela]

I transitioned to PCs because consoles are slow and have inferior hardware quality. If something breaks, I have to jump through hoops to fix it myself, or pay a lot of money to get it fixed. They're also siphoning the negatives of PC gaming (installs, codes, inconvenience, etc) so there are less reasons for me to stick around. I'm never in a rush to play the flavor of the month games, and I have so many PC games I haven't played much because I spend too much time playing other games.

Consoles are dead to me, especially with their direction of being PC-lites (inferior multimedia functions, x86 architecture, etc).

 

[kortez320]

I'll be there day one for PS4 but I support the aim of the OP. There's a lot going on in the PC market right now. Games like Planetside 2 or Hawken are showing that graphics development isn't as tied down to the last generation as a lot of people would tell you and there are entire genres that basically don't exist on console. Plus mods, cheaper games, yada yada yada.

What I love about it though is precisely what people hate about it. Digging through INI files is fun for me and building a new computer then overclocking it and running benchmarks all day is pretty awesome. I get excited for driver updates.

Still though Sony has shown me enough first party wise the last couple years that the PS4 is certainly worth investing in.

 

[JerryThePredator]

Was this needed?

"Hey everyone, buy a PC! They are better than consoles!"

 

[-Amon-]

The analogy is apt, regardless of how it affects you emotionally.

Just to remind what kind of childish idea we're talking about.

PC = Ferrari
Consoles = Panda

That's something i could only hear coming out from some 15 year old kid without having an emotional response, the facepalm type to be precise. And only thinking that someone could find that kind of reasoning "apt" ... well, i could avoid laughing only i that comes from one of the kid's peers.

 

[nbthedude]

Was this needed?

"Hey everyone, buy a PC! They are better than consoles!"

Hey poster, was this comment needed?

Read the OP before making a reductionist comment that it already addresses.

 

[TheD]

Just to remind what kind of childish idea we're talking about.

PC = Ferrari
Consoles = Panda

That's something i could only hear coming out from some 15 year old kid without having an emotional response, the facepalm type to be precise. And only thinking that someone could find that kind of reasoning "apt" ... well, i could avoid laughing only i that comes from one of the kid's peers.

It is correct thing to say, the 360, PS3 and Wii are very out of date tech wise and telling people to go from a gaming PC to them is like telling people to go from a supercar to something like the panda.

 

[hemtae]

Just to remind what kind of childish idea we're talking about.

PC = Ferrari
Consoles = Panda

That's something i could only hear coming out from some 15 year old kid without having an emotional response, the facepalm type to be precise. And only thinking that someone could find that kind of reasoning "apt" ... well, i could avoid laughing only i that comes from one of the kid's peers.

I'm not entirely sure what exactly your problem is but PC gaming does have higher performance than console gaming

 

[Gully State]

Was this needed?

"Hey everyone, buy a PC! They are better than consoles!"

Not the point of his post.

 

[mkenyon]

Just to remind what kind of childish idea we're talking about.

PC = Ferrari
Consoles = Panda

That's something i could only hear coming out from some 15 year old kid without having an emotional response, the facepalm type to be precise. And only thinking that someone could find that kind of reasoning "apt" ... well, i could avoid laughing only i that comes from one of the kid's peers.

Give the person a bit of credit. It's hyperbolic, which makes it funny. It's also apt in that the performance of a current PC is that strikingly different.

From Tech Report's review of the Titan:

Oh, before we go on, I should mention that the GK110 chips aboard Titan cards will have one of their 15 SMX units disabled. On a big chip like this, disabling an area in order to improve yields is a very familiar practice. Let's put that into perspective using my favorite point of reference. The loss of the SMX adds up to about two Xbox 360s worth of processing power—192 ALUs and 16 texture units at nearly twice the clock speed of an Xbox. But don't worry; the GK110 has 14 more SMX units on hand

28 360s.

 

[coldfoot]

Ha ha ha ha (deep breath) ha ha ha ha.

Thank you for this excellent rebuttal, I have been thoroughly ether'd and have nothing to say against this.
But please do feel free to share the number of people who use and are happy with using a kb/m on the couch, if you have them. I can at least give 160M or so reasons why people prefer controllers.

 

[Woo-Fu]

It already is because you're not a hardcore gamer otherwise.

 

[-CM-]

As a hardcore gamer who got into PC gaming again in 2010....no.

 

[kortez320]

Hardcore gamer is a really embarassing term. Need to figure out something else to call it at some point.

 

[nbthedude]

As a hardcore gamer who got into PC gaming again in 2010....no.

Thanks for your insightful contribution and deconstruction of the points made in the OP. Would read again.

 

[FACE]

Hey, has anyone here played The Age of Decadence? It sounds fantastic.

 

[Beerman462]

50 PC exclusive games in 2013

 

[mkenyon]

Thanks for your insightful contribution and deconstruction of the points made in the OP. Would read again.

Definitely. I hate the inclination for twitter-esque or youtube type one line responses. Drives me totally batty.

If you are going to participate in discourse, at least try and say *something* rather than clutter up a thread with meaningless tripe.

 

[Trent Strong]

I've had problems that required a lot of research to fix on probably 50% of my PC games. Bioshock will still not run on my PC to this day, no matter what I do. I bought Crysis 3 for the PC and it won't run with my graphics card because it's not a DX11 card. My PC is hooked up to my TV, so half or more of my games' UI and font is too small for me to read. A big percentage of my PC games that have controller support have horrible controller support, usually taking the form of the analoge sticks not working smoothly. The only reason I still play games on my PC is because of steam sales. If it wasn't for the massive discounts from steam sales I would have given up PC gaming a long time ago. Its a pain in the ass.

 

[nbthedude]

Definitely. I hate the inclination for twitter-esque or youtube type one line responses. Drives me totally batty.

If you are going to participate in discourse, at least try and say *something* rather than clutter up a thread with meaningless tripe.

I agree. But at least twitter is a good medium for pithy snark. Youtube comments, however, encourage my commitment to misanthropy.

 

[Beerman462]

Was this needed?

"Hey everyone, buy a PC! They are better than consoles!"

Thread whining?

 

[Trent Strong]

Definitely. I hate the inclination for twitter-esque or youtube type one line responses. Drives me totally batty.

If you are going to participate in discourse, at least try and say *something* rather than clutter up a thread with meaningless tripe.

Oh please. "Participate in Discourse"? This is a goddamn video game forum. How boring would this place be if people couldn't post one-liners?

 

[Odrion]

Should? They've already been since the dawn of time.

 

[Platinum_D]

I recently builted a gaming PC and i've been loving it but i also love gaming on consoles for their exclusives so i guess it all comes down to taste and preference

 

[Beerman462]

I've had problems that required a lot of research to fix on probably 50% of my PC games. Bioshock will still not run on my PC to this day, no matter what I do. I bought Crysis 3 for the PC and it won't run with my graphics card because it's not a DX11 card. My PC is hooked up to my TV, so half or more of my games' UI and font is too small for me to read. A big percentage of my PC games that have controller support have horrible controller support, usually taking the form of the analoge sticks not working smoothly. The only reason I still play games on my PC is because of steam sales. If it wasn't for the massive discounts from steam sales I would have given up PC gaming a long time ago. Its a pain in the ass.

What video card do you have? Bioshock ran on my 8800GT like 6 years ago.

 

[Satchel]

New games on Steam in Australia are more expensive than physical releases.

Add to that the up front cost of a good gaming PC, then the need to potentially upgrade (at the very least individual components) every couple of years or so to keep up, and aaahhh no thanks.

Also, PC is where DRM was born. Why would PC be my bastion?

 

[SirButterstick]

Thank you for this excellent rebuttal, I have been thoroughly ether'd and have nothing to say against this.
But please do feel free to share the number of people who use and are happy with using a kb/m on the couch, if you have them. I can at least give 160M or so reasons why people prefer controllers.

Well, you're the one saying inane things, so . . . . .

 

[Trent Strong]

What video card do you have? Bioshock ran on my 8800GT like 6 years ago.

GTX 260. I've long since bought and passed Bioshock on the 360, so it doesn't matter that it doesn't work at this point, but it's strange.

 

[Beerman462]

GTX 260. I've long since bought and passed Bioshock on the 360, so it doesn't matter that it doesn't work at this point, but it's strange.

Your doing it wrong

 

[dazzgc]

It's absolutely bewildering how many people assume they need to upgrade pcs every year/every few years to "keep up". Where did this FUD stem from?

 

[Grief.exe]

GTX 260. I've long since bought and passed Bioshock on the 360, so it doesn't matter that it doesn't work at this point, but it's strange.

Bioshock 1 is one of the worst ports of all time though, not really a good example.

 

[JCG]

Interesting OP. I used to be a hardcore gamer, but the fact that my laptop absolutely sucks at anything other than entry-level gaming due to persistent heat issues and not having that high specs to begin with even when it was new (2010) has had the unfortunate effect of making a good chunk of my Steam collection functionally useless and allowing me to drift away a little, but I definitely plan to resolve that with a proper desktop machine in the near future.

 

[Ardenyal]

Jumping back into the hardware upgrade loop is not an attractive proposition for me. Multiplats might be better on PC but other than that there is not much that I would be playing on PCs. Don't care about LoL, Dota, Starcraft, WoW which seem to have the most vital communities on PC.

 

[TheD]

GTX 260. I've long since bought and passed Bioshock on the 360, so it doesn't matter that it doesn't work at this point, but it's strange.

I ran Bioshock fine on my GTX260, you might have something wrong with your PC.

 

[OzPinoy]

New games on Steam in Australia are more expensive than physical releases.

Where you've been? Heard of Greenmangaming and such? They offer cheap price for steam games than the Steampowered store.

I'm also from Australia and also a heavy pc gamer with 891 individual game steam content.

 

[Trent Strong]

Your doing it wrong

Yeah, I'm sure other 260s can run it. I don't know what the problem is. But that's kind of the point, there are a lot of weird problems with PC games. Just go to the steam forums to see people having all kinds of problems with all kinds of PC games.

 

[coldfoot]

Well, you're the one saying inane things, so . . . . .

My argument is simple, count the number of consoles in living rooms vs. PC's. If PC's were just as convenient as consoles, more people would have had them, right?
Now what is your supporting evidence that kb/m is easy to use on a couch? Why is Steam developing a big picture mode and why are more and more PC games are supporting controllers?

 

[mkenyon]

Oh please. "Participate in Discourse"? This is a goddamn video game forum. How boring would this place be if people couldn't post one-liners?

Excuse me. I mean shitty one liners. It needs to be at least witty or insightful if it is going down that route.