The State of PC Gaming | NEW POLICY POLL, VOTE NOW

[Fingolfin269]

Both can live side by side just fine. However, I remember back when I had my C64 the EB was packed full of PC titles. Now I'm lucky if I find an end cap at Gamestop. I think the main problem the PC market faces is that eventually consoles are going to start incorporating the main gripe PC gamers have: keyboard/mouse support. Once that happens the only advantage over a console is resolution and later in console life cycles will be processing power.

 

[samduhman]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Both can live side by side just fine. However, I remember back when I had my C64 the EB was packed full of PC titles. Now I'm lucky if I find an end cap at Gamestop. I think the main problem the PC market faces is that eventually consoles are going to start incorporating the main gripe PC gamers have: keyboard/mouse support. Once that happens the only advantage over a console is resolution and later in console life cycles will be processing power.

I agree that they both can live side by side. However, the problem is the army of 360 owners who feel the 360 is a better gaming platform than the pc. PC gaming is under attack by the ex pc gamers who didn't feel like upgrading anymore or who grew up and feel they don't have time to invest in building/tweeking/moding and pc gaming anymore. These now 360 fanboys feel the need to stab the platform that gave them many hours of fun in the back. I also think it has something to do with envy, jealousy. They no longer have the most powerful gaming platform and feel they must make themselves feel better about their decision to leave pc gaming. Their loss.

Gamestop gave up on pc gaming because they saw more money in being a pawn shop, period. If they weren't allowed to resell games I'd bet you see a difference in the stock they carry.

 

[Schadenfroh]

This thread was put in place via popular vote by the Anandtech PC Gaming subforum community.

Please use this thread to discuss PC Gaming as a whole, how Console Gaming and PC Gaming compare, and/or which is the best. It is encouraged (but not required) that the majority of pure PC Gaming versus Console Gaming debates be isolated to this thread.

Hate PC or Console Gaming? If one dislikes PC Gaming or Console Gaming, then feel free to block the subforum if one wishes to avoid accidental clicks by clicking:
Profile > Personal Options > Category Blocking > (highlight either PC Gaming or Console Gaming) > Update Profile.

I would like to remind everyone that forum policy still applies.

Periodic polls will take place in this thread's OP to check feedback from members. Two replies were moved here from the proposal thread (the first two replies).

New poll started on April 14, will run for a week (Lock all other obvious "State of PC Gaming" threads with link to this thread)

Voting for Lock all obvious PC Gaming versus Console gaming threads with a link to this one? has concluded. Results after a week were: 16 Yes, 3 no. Measure passes.

Voting for Lock all other obvious "State of PC Gaming" type threads with a link to this one? has concluded. Results after a week were: 10 yes, 3 no. Measure passes.

Voting for Should future changes to "State of PC Gaming" policy require a 2/3 majority? has concluded. Results after a week were: 24 Yes, 10 no. Measure passes.

Voting for Lock all news article threads directly relating to PC versus Consoles with a link to this thread along with a reply to this thread containing the content of the OP of the locked thread? has concluded. Results after a week were 30 yes, 22 No. Measure failed to achieve 2/3 majority.

Voting for Abolish this thread and State of PC Gaming (Console versus PC) Discussion Consolidation Effort Entirely has concluded. Results after a week were: 30 Yes, 30 no. Measure failed to achieve 2/3 majority.

Let me know if any measures you seek the community to vote on in regards to this thread.

If any of you guys wish me to rerun either of these polls, let me know and I will post them again (in case you guys seek to repeal the measures passed recently). If you guys have any proposals to change the conditions of this thread, let me know and I will create a week long poll to see if the community approves.

It should also be noted that I plan to reset this thread (lock existing and start an identical new one) to reduce length after this current poll concludes (along with a temporary sticky).

 

[KeithTalent]

I don't have a problem with console gaming per se and in fact I've had many, many enjoyable hours playing console games in the past. My issue is with how PC games are now being affected by the entire console market. Things such as the half-assed ports of console games to PC which are becoming more and more commonplace. The whole auto-aim phenomenon which, though somewhat necessary in console FPS', has degraded the overall playing ability of gamers and has effectively "dumbed-down" games for everyone. I will not mention the whole 'cost of hardware' argument because I've never really found that to be valid.

With that said the overall state of PC Gaming appears to be relatively healthy, particularly coming off one of the best release years in recent memory. I mean I now own a Playstation 3, but I've never once considered playing a game on it since everything I really want to play is on PC anyway. I've actually gone and looked at the available PS3 games atthe store and wow, there is a tonne of worthless crap out there, so I feel pretty comfortable sticking with my PC.

KT

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: samduhman


I agree that they both can live side by side. However, the problem is the army of 360 owners who feel the 360 is a better gaming platform than the pc. PC gaming is under attack by the ex pc gamers who didn't feel like upgrading anymore or who grew up and feel they don't have time to invest in building/tweeking/moding and pc gaming anymore. These now 360 fanboys feel the need to stab the platform that gave them many hours of fun in the back. I also think it has something to do with envy, jealousy. They no longer have the most powerful gaming platform and feel they must make themselves feel better about their decision to leave pc gaming. Their loss.

Making blanket statements like that does not help "your side" of the discussion. It just plays right into the stereotype of "elitist PC gamers" IMO.

It is the kind of hyperbole that offends the console gamers. Then they take umbrage, and return fire. Very little constructive dialog will emerge from a discussion filled with character assassinations of that sort, i.e. painting former PC gamers as an army of 360 owners bent on ruining PC gaming to compensate for, what was it? hardware inadequacies? :roll:

 

[The Bakery]

Eh...

Consoles offer longevity and stability - PCs offer flexibility and performance.

The only issue I have is if a developer decides to develop a game for the console first,
and then port to the PC. I only take issue with this if the PC product is inferior to what
it would be had it gone through PC development solely.

That, to me, is dicking the PC market for the console buck.

Also, arguing over PS3 and Xbox360 is hilarious, considering the limited differences
between each set of system specs - especially when comparing options of a PC rig.

Console fanboys are ill informed and have the itchiest of itchy forum trigger fingers.
I liken it to AMD and INTEL, except it's more ridiculous because at any given time
there is only really one console on each side.

Doesn't it really come down to who has the best games?

Oh yeah, back to the developers.

I'm just one of those people that likes to be in control of their stuff. I want the
video card I want - the hard drive size I want. I want to be able to use my
purchase to it's maximum potential.

Consoles don't offer me that and I use my computer for work, so that's where
the money goes.

Edit - teehehehe http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/moltencore/

 

[BD2003]

Its not so much that PC gaming is dying, it's that its terribly stagnant. There was a time in the late 90s/early 2000s when 3d video and audio hardware were just coming out. It was also when online gaming was really beginning to take off. Back then, the PC's competition in the console arena was the n64/ps1, which couldnt even hold a candle to a voodoo 1, and you definitely weren't going online with them.

Fast forward to today and what do we have on the PC? A glut of FPSes and RTSes, the Sims and WoW. The online experience has barely changed from the pick a server, join a server method. We're still manually patching, downloading drivers etc, etc. The games may have changed, but the experience of PC gaming has changed very little. And maybe it's just me, but it feels like hardware has less and less staying power than it used to.

And then you look over at the console side, and you see the 360 with excellent high res gfx, an incredible integrated online service, where patching takes 15 seconds, inviting a buddy into your game takes 5, and everyone has the ability to chat without running long wires to the back of their desktop case. You also see the Wii, which is taking control to the next level, even if its graphics and online are pretty substandard. Hell, the PS3 can even run linux, and UT3 supports a mouse/keyboard.

Unless the entire PC gaming biz gets their act together soon, theres going to come a point where I'd rather buy a PS3 and hook it up to a KVM switch and *just play* without having to deal with all the extra baggage that comes with modern PC gaming. Less than a year ago, I'd have laughed at the idea of not only playing, but actually preferring the console versions of FPS games. I still don't like the controls, but everything else about the experience has just been entirely superior.

I used to consider the PC my primary platform. I havent given up on it entirely, but at this point, the only games I'm really excited about are spore and starcraft 2. Those two are good enough for me to upgrade my hardware for.

 

[The Bakery]

Absolutely, but with companies like Valve, with Steam, the digital delivery system is much
better than a manual solution.

And it's getting better.

I think that as an industry, the PC gaming market will change for the better with digital
content delivery, updates and multiplayer.

I hope so anyways, there seems to be no excuse for someone not designing an attractive and
easy to use solution to these problems.

 

[RS8]

I used to own a 360 but returned it so I can build a new gaming PC instead; I'll eventually purchase a 360 and PS3 again for the usual console only stuff. My biggest problem is sports games, I don't care for EA since their ports and console versions are trash, but I'd love to see a proper next-gen PC version of the Winning Eleven series and somehow wish that Sega/2k would do NG PC ports of their 2k franchises =

Games like MGS4 (which probably won't get a PC port) and a bunch of console RPGs don't make things any easier. Lost Odyssey, Final Fantasy, etc. I haven't heard of plans for a GTA4 PC release either. At least we're getting Mass Effect.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: The Bakery
Absolutely, but with companies like Valve, with Steam, the digital delivery system is much
better than a manual solution.

And it's getting better.

I think that as an industry, the PC gaming market will change for the better with digital
content delivery, updates and multiplayer.

I hope so anyways, there seems to be no excuse for someone not designing an attractive and
easy to use solution to these problems.

I think it definitely has the potential to change for the better, but I still get the feeling that the PC gaming experience will never be as streamlined as the console gaming experience, not because they can't make it so, but because the drive and the will to do so isnt there, especially without some sort of unifying platform for everyone to coalesce around.

Its all entirely riding on steam IMO. Either they completely blow it and PC games are left to Peggle, WoW and bad console ports, or they nail it and make PC gaming the "premium" experience it used to be. I'm leaning more towards nail it at this point, but I think it'll take 2-3 years before its really evident. That might be too little too late. Not that PC gaming will ever die completely, but there is going to be a certain tipping point where consumers, publishers and developers stop wasting their time and money on developing for the PC when the ROI just isnt there, and it'll be a much steeper hill to climb.

 

[silverghost]

Originally posted by: BD2003
I'm leaning more towards nail it at this point, but I think it'll take 2-3 years before its really evident. That might be too little too late. Not that PC gaming will ever die completely, but there is going to be a certain tipping point where consumers, publishers and developers stop wasting their time and money on developing for the PC when the ROI just isnt there, and it'll be a much steeper hill to climb.

Its already hitting that point, I was reading on another forum that this guy who works in the Industry had 12 great ideas for games for the PC, but none of them where picked up because the publisher felt that they couldn't make money on it.

Thats the problem with PC gaming....they don't sell that well in relation to Consoles and you have a major piracy problem with games, outsides of MMO games like WoW.

Its almost pointless to spend $600 on a topend Video card just for 2-3 games a year that will be able to use them. High end video cards are being coming more and more pointless with the lack of applications to drive improvements.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: silverghost

Originally posted by: BD2003
I'm leaning more towards nail it at this point, but I think it'll take 2-3 years before its really evident. That might be too little too late. Not that PC gaming will ever die completely, but there is going to be a certain tipping point where consumers, publishers and developers stop wasting their time and money on developing for the PC when the ROI just isnt there, and it'll be a much steeper hill to climb.

Its already hitting that point, I was reading on another forum that this guy who works in the Industry had 12 great ideas for games for the PC, but none of them where picked up because the publisher felt that they couldn't make money on it.

Thats the problem with PC gaming....they don't sell that well in relation to Consoles and you have a major piracy problem with games, outsides of MMO games like WoW.

Its almost pointless to spend $600 on a topend Video card just for 2-3 games a year that will be able to use them. High end video cards are being coming more and more pointless with the lack of applications to drive improvements.

I'm not surprised. The console equation is easy, you make the game, everyone who has the system can buy it, and they know that. Making it for the PC is going to be quite a different story. Development is aiming at a moving target that they have to time just right, or the game will be too far ahead or far behind the technology. Forget about selling anything but peggle to casual gamers, most of them don't even know their own specs let alone that anything else exists. People arent even buying desktops anymore, the top seller nowadays is a laptop with integrated graphics. How are they supposed to make money when there are SO many barriers to entry for potential PC gamers?

Now imagine if you could just download steam, and you've just opened a door into the gaming world. Not only could it be a platform for selling games to current gamers, but it could *vastly* simplify the process. Patches and other updates should be automatic. Demos should be a click away. Steam itself should be able to analyze the your system and tell you whether or not you can run a game, or recommend upgrades if you cant.

Seriously, its such a tragic situation. PC gaming used to be incredible. Consoles used to be like cheap toys compared to them. Its like a whole new platform was launched back in the early days of 3dfx and aureal and directx and all that, and its just languished since then without any major updates.

I dont consider piracy to be anything but a scapegoat. Piracy has always been an issue for PCs, and its a major issue for consoles as well. Piracy has never been stopped, and it never will be. Heres the real issue: piracy is relatively difficult unless you know what youre doing. But so is PC gaming in general, with understanding system specs, bugfixing, patching, etc. The same people with the skills to get a modern PC game running almost certainly can figure out how to pirate. Consoles are so easy to use, that despite there being people who know how to mod one to pirate, theres enough people dont and are perfectly willing to buy the game. Thats the single thing that needs to change. The priorities are completely backwards. Rather than making it harder to pirate the games, and in the process making it harder to use and enjoy the game, they should be making it *easier* to buy it.

 

[DanInPhilly]

I built my first high-ed PC a few months ago. And I tried a few PC games, going for the older cheaper ones: FEAR, Far Cry, Hitman 2 (the last two were only $10 each on Direct2Drive). I like the PC games a lot, despite years of playing only xbox. But I rarely had problems; I only got kicked out of Hitman a couple times and had to reboot.

Now suppose my rig was a few years old, and I tried to run a new game. Would it be screwing up constantly? If so, I'd go back to xbox. Maybe the PC game makers should assume everyone has a 2005 computer; the quality would still be decent, and everyone would be able to run their games without difficulty.

 

[emblem]

I think a lot of why people choose console gaming is also because of the social aspect of it. What I mean is that most people have consoles and not pc's. When I was deciding whether or not to get a 360 or build a gaming pc I leaned towards 360 because I had a good amount of friends how had 360s. I wanted to play online with them, borrow games, etc. I haven't regretted that at all. Nothing more fun than just turning 360 on, signing on to XBL, and playing some CoD4 or whatever. I really like XBL also. Yes some of those features might be available for free on PC, but does it really matter? It's only $50 a year and if you search on Amazon you can find it for about $30.

I have a capable gaming pc now but I still mostly play 360 games just because I like playing with my friends.

 

[kaioshade]

I used to be hard core into both pc gaming and console gaming. I always loved the FPS games with KB/m and the consoles for the JRPG's. Now that i am a bit older, the pc has become more of my work tool and the console has been my main platform of choice (Playstation 3 specifically). I still have a semi-decent card in my machine (7800gtx) and i still play the occassional game on my pc, but as of now the console is my choice.

This is not to say that consoles are better or anything of that nature, but upgrading and tweaking isnt as important to me, as just putting in a game and playing. Also, my tastes in games have changed a bit. I am more into jrpgs more than ever, and falling out of the fps crowd a bit. Action games are starting to get a good representation on pcs (Assassins Creed and DMC4, as examples), but I think it will be a while until i can see Armored Core 4, or Folklore on the pc side, Much less Final Fantasy XIII or Metal Gear Solid 4.

 

[The Bakery]

Its almost pointless to spend $600 on a topend Video card just for 2-3 games a year that will be able to use them. High end video cards are being coming more and more pointless with the lack of applications to drive improvements.

People who do that are equivalent to the ones that buy $3,000 plasma screens just to play Halo 3.

The real issue, in my opinion is that console users don't HAVE to know windows, don't HAVE to know
how to download something, set screen resoultions, troubleshoot their routers and firewalls. They
just have to plug it in and it works.

The counterpoint is that computers offer performance and flexibility.

There is too much money in the hardware and software PC gaming market for it to just sink under
the weight of console competition. However, I do see developers moving more towards consoles
unless the PC market get REAL user friendly.

Consoles aren't anything to sneeze at but let's face it, they are the lowest common denominator.

 

[Jakeisbest]

This solves the agrument!

Over all I find I play my PC much more than my consoles. However pc gaming is much more intensive feeling, if you know what I mean? PC gaming also tends to be more fun becuase I think multiplayer on the PC is much more evolved than on consoles.

When I want to relax after work, however, its much more fun to lay on the couch with a wireless controller in hand than to be sitting hunched over my PC searching for Head Shots!

 

[kb3edk]

What's the state of PC gaming?

Well, if you're a Linux or Mac user it's pretty sorry right now. But as a Windows gamer I'm pretty happy where the market's at. Samduhman up near the top of the thread mentions Xbox 360, and how it's stealing away a large portion of the Windows gamer user base. Well that's the "glass half empty" take on the situation.

The "glass half full" opposite of it is that for every gamer we lose to 360 due to upgrade/bug fatigue, we are probably gaining another gamer who has "outgrown" his/her console and is moving to Windows for greater performance and flexibility. Rather than ridicule my 360-playing friends I tell them how much I like 360 games like BioShock, Oblivion, and Gears Of War and then point out to them how I think each of these games is better on Windows than 360, and that's why I game on a PC. You can at least HAVE this conversation with a 360 gamer, unlike other consoles out there. Well, unless you're trying to sell a Wii gamer on the merits of Peggle or something

 

[IL2SturmovikPilot]

I started out on consoles,getting a PS1 for a Christmas present in 99',had a lot of fun playing Spyro and Crash Bandicoot series,later moved on to the PS2 in 03' and was a fan of games like SOCOM,San Andreas,Ace Combat and the like,later bought a Xbox 360 a little over a year ago,but there was very few games on it i liked,the Community sucked,the games were overpriced,so when it RRoD'ed back in August,i didn't even play 360 ever again,last Christmas,i sold my PS2 + Several games for it to my cousins combined for $80.

First PC Game was Carnivores,a FPS game where you hunt down Dinosaurs,then later on i bought Sim City 3000,then later on i bought Blitzkrieg,the game that bought me into RTS/RTT,the following year i bought Rise of Nations Gold,getting me into RTS/RTT even more,and a couple years ago,i bought Rome: Total War,i like dthe game,but it,along with Empire Earth II,made me realize that i needed a better PC to play those games good,and to be able to play newer games like Medieval 2: Total War and even Crysis,so i began looking into building my own PC,however,to no real success since i couldn't afford it since i was (And still am) jobless,but eventually my parents bought me this Dell PC in my sig,and now i could actually play games,and thus,is my PC Gaming History up to now.

Personally,i consider consoles the home of JRPG's/Sports/Fighting game,and good for people who don't want to deal with the complexity/cost of PC,while PC is for people who like MMO's/RTS/FPS/Simulator games and the like and don't mind troubleshooting and the extra cost.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: kb3edk
What's the state of PC gaming?

Well, if you're a Linux or Mac user it's pretty sorry right now. But as a Windows gamer I'm pretty happy where the market's at. Samduhman up near the top of the thread mentions Xbox 360, and how it's stealing away a large portion of the Windows gamer user base. Well that's the "glass half empty" take on the situation.

The "glass half full" opposite of it is that for every gamer we lose to 360 due to upgrade/bug fatigue, we are probably gaining another gamer who has "outgrown" his/her console and is moving to Windows for greater performance and flexibility. Rather than ridicule my 360-playing friends I tell them how much I like 360 games like BioShock, Oblivion, and Gears Of War and then point out to them how I think each of these games is better on Windows than 360, and that's why I game on a PC. You can at least HAVE this conversation with a 360 gamer, unlike other consoles out there. Well, unless you're trying to sell a Wii gamer on the merits of Peggle or something

Are those games really *better* though? Theres plenty of ways one could argue just the opposite. I dont disagree that there are certain aspects in which they are superior, but if I'm being perfectly honest, I find the concept of "graduating" from console to PC a bit ridiculous.

Top PC Games of 2007:

1. PC World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack*, Vivendi 2.25mm
2. PC World Of Warcraft, Vivendi 914K
3. PC The Sims 2 Seasons Expansion Pack, Electronic Arts 433K
4. PC Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare*, Activision 383K
5. PC Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars*, Electronic Arts 343K
6. PC Sim City 4 Deluxe, Electronic Arts 284K
7. PC The Sims 2, Electronic Arts 281K
8. PC The Sims 2, Bon Voyage Expansion Pack Electronic Arts 271K
9. PC MS Age Of Empires III, Microsoft 259K
10. PC The Sims 2 Pets Expansion Pack, Electronic Arts 236K

The glass isnt half full, its almost empty. The gamers ARE leaving. Whether or not you believe the PC or Console is superior, PC gaming is a niche composed of WoW and Sims players. Both of which are great games for sure, but hardly the kind of hardcore games that going to get console gamers to "move up" to the PC.

There comes a point in every console cycle about 2-3 years in, where the PC graphics have evolved to the point that theyre so superior (at least on the top end), that the consoles begin to look really weak, and all the "PC gaming is dead" talk really goes away. I dont see that happening nearly as much this time around, because it seems like rather than the consoles getting second hand PC ports of games like Doom 3 and HL2, the PCs are the ones getting the second hand ports.

Let me put it this way: I want to believe that the PC is superior...I'd love the option to throw more money at gaming and get a better experience out of it. But its just not the simple anymore IMO.

 

[EvilComputer92]

I like the idea of STEAM using an integrated friends list and voice chat. That's the thing that I miss the most when I switch between my 360 and PC. It's so easy to just invite a friend into your game and easily talk with them without having to worry about what application to use for voice chat and port forwarding for games.

What I don't like is how games are tied to your account, a DRM of sorts.

What consoles need now are two things. These have already been implemented into some games like UT3, but I would like to see it become much more common

1. More user customization and mods. This is where the PC really has a huge advantage. Games that were released five years ago still have active communities that put out entire total conversions and map packs for free.

Meanwhile, Microsoft charges $10 for 3 measly Halo 3 maps.

2. Keyboard/Mouse support

This is really easy to implement. Of course, it doesn't really fit with the image of sitting on your couch with a controller, but games should still allow it. I think this would cause a lot of PC gamers to go for consoles since one of the issues a lot of people say is the controller. Kb/m is clearly superior in FPS and RTS games, and always will be. You could also have servers in games that allow only controllers to even the skill gap, though that would segregate the community.

1. PC World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack*, Vivendi 2.25mm
2. PC World Of Warcraft, Vivendi 914K
3. PC The Sims 2 Seasons Expansion Pack, Electronic Arts 433K
4. PC Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare*, Activision 383K
5. PC Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars*, Electronic Arts 343K
6. PC Sim City 4 Deluxe, Electronic Arts 284K
7. PC The Sims 2, Electronic Arts 281K
8. PC The Sims 2, Bon Voyage Expansion Pack Electronic Arts 271K
9. PC MS Age Of Empires III, Microsoft 259K
10. PC The Sims 2 Pets Expansion Pack, Electronic Arts 236K

I don't think that list is very accurate. Crysis sold over a million copies and it's not on there. I think that list was made around October or so, so some of the games that came around the holidays are not included. Also the list doesn't account for digital distribution which is probably a large part of PC gaming sales. This probably explains why the list is dominated by the Sims and WoW. Crysis would have the #2 spot on there, and that's probably the most hardcore PC game you can buy.

 

[gplracer]

I am tired of people saying, "I play console because I am tired of having to upgrade my pc...." If consoles are better about longevity then I will clean the dust off of my original xbox and buy call of duty 4 for the xbox. No wait! You mean i have to upgrade and buy a new xbox to do that......

This argument does make sense. Personally there is room for both pc games and console games. Console games are easier to use but usually cater to a younger or more arcade type of player. Note i said usually. I play racing games, mainly rfactor. I did play Grand Prix Legends. Rfactor is a really good racing simulation. It is not like any of the racing games for the consoles which have graphical qualities that make them look real but the sim part is only real enough so that it does not interfere with being somewhat easy. Rfactor has many vehicle and track mods that are done by the online racing community. This type of flexibility has not been done in a console game. It just depends on what you like. Either one can be better. It depends on what you are looking for. I play Call of Duty 4 at 1920x1200. Can I do the same thing on a console game? Granted the console is easier to hook up to my 65" television with surround sound.

Computers will always be used for other things. My other hobby is photography and I like having the fastest computer possible for working with photoshop and other editing programs. The cost of my console was $199. The price of my 8800gt. I already had the pc for other purposes. I think we are finding that most people do not have pc's capable of having graphics that are equal to that of one of the modern consoles. They see an xbox 360 or a ps3 and think wow revolutionary. They do not realize pc games see the new games as an evolution that is always going on. My son is in 5th grade. He plays pc games and has a 7800gt video card. Most of his friends at school laugh at him because he plays games on a pc. They say pc's suck. They do not look as good as a consoles.... I told him to let it go. People always think what they have and what they have seen is the best. Many parents would rather see the kids on the console instead of messing up their computer because they do taxes and finances on it.

 

[narreth]

What most people don't realize is since the PC is used for other things, if you go with a PC build you would normally go with as a usual PC upgrade and just stick a 8800GT in there ($200 which is alot less than a console) you have more graphic power than a console. Cost shouldn't really be an argument IMO.

 

[Magnulus]

Laptops are definitely not good for PC gaming. My brother bought a laptop a year and a half ago, mostly not to play games on, and the integrated ATI graphics is now quite, quite dated and he soon discovered it was time to upgrade his desktop, or else no cool games like Bioshock for him. You can't really upgrade most laptops, so they are pretty much dead ends.

I can't even take the so-called "gaming laptop" concept very seriously, except maybe for the rare person who "just can't get enough Quake" on that business trip. If PC developers are forced to focus heavily on the growing laptop market, it is really going to hurt PC gaming's technical developement. It's a platform where low-power integrated graphics and low powered processors are considered acceptable tradeoffs. Heck, even the concept of a "quiet gaming PC" is more realistic than a gaming laptop that will have some staying power.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
I don't have a problem with console gaming per se and in fact I've had many, many enjoyable hours playing console games in the past. My issue is with how PC games are now being affected by the entire console market. Things such as the half-assed ports of console games to PC which are becoming more and more commonplace. The whole auto-aim phenomenon which, though somewhat necessary in console FPS', has degraded the overall playing ability of gamers and has effectively "dumbed-down" games for everyone. I will not mention the whole 'cost of hardware' argument because I've never really found that to be valid.

With that said the overall state of PC Gaming appears to be relatively healthy, particularly coming off one of the best release years in recent memory. I mean I now own a Playstation 3, but I've never once considered playing a game on it since everything I really want to play is on PC anyway. I've actually gone and looked at the available PS3 games atthe store and wow, there is a tonne of worthless crap out there, so I feel pretty comfortable sticking with my PC.

KT

That's because it's not valid, and it hasn't been valid for over a year (unless you're comparing to the Wii, of course, that cheap little hussy). It's easy to build a PC for the same price as a 360 (not even necessarily the Elite, but the cheaper Premium) that plays all of the 360 titles at the same or better graphical resolution (and a few extra thrills to boot). Anyone can build a computer. People just don't want to, and they formulate flawed arguments to justify it. It's okay to be lazy, but they should at least admit it

The LEGITIMATE reason to buy a console is for the console-exclusive titles. It's why I have a PS3. It's why I'll always own consoles. If I want to play enough games on a particular platform (whether it's a PC or a console), then I'll buy that platform and the games for it. It's as simple as that. Real gamers don't subscribe to the "PC vs Console" bullshit. It's the fanboys that are bringing everyone down. They're both perfectly legitimate forms of gaming, and there's nothing wrong with that.

When people build PCs they seem to get it into their head that it has to be the BEST gaming rig that they can afford. That has never been true, but people still feel that they need to spend $1000+ on gaming rigs. I spent $800 on mine and it's pretty awesome, but that was my choice; if I wanted to play games at the same resolution as the 360, I could have spent the bare minimum and done that instead.

That doesn't make the 360 inferior. It's a gaming platform. It's specialized for gaming and media. It does a good job. PCs do a good job at gaming, too.