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PC gaming : is it worth it?
Ghettone
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
First off i would like to say im new to the forums and if i have placed this in the wrong section then i am sorry.
now for my issue, with the market how it is and pretty much every game being on console, Is it worth it to buy a $800-$900 computer when an only handful of games are PC only. yes i know games like starcraft 2 are going to be PC only and i do wanna see if they destroyed the franchise or kept the pace from starcraft going. For the most part i think all the great titles are on console right now.
I would really like to hear peoples opinions and ideas about this.
thz in advance.
Ghettone.
now for my issue, with the market how it is and pretty much every game being on console, Is it worth it to buy a $800-$900 computer when an only handful of games are PC only. yes i know games like starcraft 2 are going to be PC only and i do wanna see if they destroyed the franchise or kept the pace from starcraft going. For the most part i think all the great titles are on console right now.
I would really like to hear peoples opinions and ideas about this.
thz in advance.
Ghettone.
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Best visual fidelity and best control scheme, PC is without compare.
If you're willing to control (most of) your games like ass, and don't mind the pixels, the jaggies and the general inferiority of consoles, then consoles are the best bang for buck and you shouldn't get a gaming PC.
All of BlackDove's points as well as having the biggest and probably best catalog of games available.
It's a matter of preference and economic feasibility more so than a matter of one being superior than the other.
No actually, one is clearly superior over the others, once you eliminate the preference and economic feasibility.
You're right though, PC is deficient in social gaming over consoles on average. However that can be tweaked to work as well.
As far as feet and couch, we don't live 5 years ago. All PC's can connect to TV's today.
I enjoy both.
I think the flag is racist....but then again, it is part of history.
I dunno about you but my current gaming computer will destroy anything I throw at it, and it was only about $600 (excluding monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers/etc. but including my OS).
Being a PC gamer has never, ever been cheaper than it has been these past 1-2 years.
The secret is though, to buy your computer from a local computer shop instead of a mail-order big box place.
A mouse allows you to define a position in your visual field. It allows an exact map between hand position and visual position.
An analogue stick merely allows you to define an acceleration. Ugh.
EDIT: ANY GAME THAT PUTS IN MOUSE ACCELERATION AS A DEFAULT FAILS
MOUSE ACCELERATION IS HORRIBLE
CAPSLOCK IS NEEDED TO GET OVER JUST HOW CRAP MOUSE ACCELERATION IS
If you do not, consoles are for you.
are you a DIY person? computer gaming might be more up your alley. oftentimes (especially with brand new games or obscure games) there isn't a walkthrough for everything- things like depth of field and turret sensitivity and technical glitches (network or actual game startup or whatever) might have to be worked out. it is potentially a lot more involved and challenging, versus just popping a disc in a console. but you get the gratification of having set it up yourself- and with the tweaks you (and the rest of the community) figured out, you can have a more specific and maybe even superior experience playing a game.
sort of like how some guys prefer to buy an old, beat up muscle car; they claim it is more fun and rewarding and ultimately will have better performance... so it's up to you whether you find that sort of user-defined experience as gratifying or just intimidating
so yeah
i'd say it depends on the person, if we're saying that money is immaterial
You can build a really really good computer for around 500-600 dollars. Not to mention computers do more than consoles.
haha assuming this is a realpost this is such bad advice; you will always get ripped off locally by some fat middle aged balding man behind the counter charging you $300 for a 2004 CPU.
Go to http://www.newegg.com and get an amazing deal. PC gaming is definitely worth it.
Assuming this isn't just an opener to yet another "PC GAMING IS DOOOOOMED!!!!" Thread (forgive my cynicism, but we've had a lot of them in the past), then whether PC gaming is "worth it" to you largely depends on what you're looking for. It's pretty much the same question you could ask about getting a Wii.
Platform exclusives occur less and less frequently these days, although those that do tend to be either:
a) major "Killer App" franchises (Halo, Uncharted), or
b) Indie games (XBL, PSN)
With largely everything in-between being multiplatform, or at least multiple platform. There's certainly no shortage of AAA titles on the PC. Uncharted 2 is one of the few games I wish I could play on the PS3, but then if I just had that then I wouldn't have been able to play Mass Effect 2. Other games tend to be tailored towards specific platforms. Valve games for example are heavily tailored towards the PC, not just in things like gameplay design and interface (which can be adapted for platform), but things like DLC which Valve have made a policy of releasing for free. This is something they aren't allowed to do on the 360, they have to charge for it. A few other games companies follow this line as well (Relic have been awesome with free updates for DoW2). Bioware games tend to run better on a decent PC, especially games like Dragon Age which had a clear PC bias in their development.
I'd say the primary motivator in your choice of platform is really in deciding which of the more "exclusive" games franchises you want to play the most, because whatever you get you're going to end up playing some awesome games, and likely missing out on some other awesome games. But if you care about these awesome games and don't care about those awesome games, then that's the decision made.
There are benefits and some drawbacks to PC Gaming. In general, getting a game to run is pretty simple these days, the concept that PC Gaming is so much "harder" than gaming on a console doesn't really hold as much water as it used to. With system requirements pretty much remaining stagnant until the current console generation passes, these days you can easily get a Crysis level computer. It'll play games for years still, at least until the end of the current console generation. Personally I bought my PC about 3 years ago. About the only thing I've swapped out is the graphics card (burned out), otherwise it's exactly the same system, and it'll likely be playing games for years to come with no additions at all. I guess you could call that one of the benefits of the console lifecycle.
You can easily hook up your PC to a TV if that's your thing, but it depends how much of a priority that is for you. Generally speaking, PC games tend to win out quite a lot in the visuals department. Occasionally console to PC ports aren't up to scratch, but that's much rarer these days. More of an issue is when companies like Ubisoft decide to delay games for months on end and then saddle them with reprehensible (and fairly problematic) DRM. So that's also something you might want to keep in mind.
Me personally, I'm big time on RTS's, so for me it's a no brainer. I play a lot of DoW2 and SupCom 2, and I'm looking forward to Starcraft 2. The PC also has a really huge and vibrant indie scene, which is something I love. I was a huge fan of King's Bounty, and I love games like STALKER (both are your slightly more obscure, Eastern Block / Russian developed games). Games like Fallout 3 are multiplatform but the PC version benefits massively from the mod community. Steam is an ace system, I can't stress that enough, to a large extent Steam is modern PC Gaming.
Ultimately though the console experience is a usually a little simpler to use, I won't deny that. But I'd say that the primary questions you should be asking yourself are:
1) What are my favourite games / styles of games?
2) Which of the platforms best caters to them?
If you're a huge fan of Gears of War, Bayonetta, and Final Fantasy, it's obvious you should be getting a 360 (or swap out Gears for Uncharted and replace with PS3).
As for Starcraft 2, all signs from the beta is that it's a freaking awesome game. Even the singleplayer's looking pretty interesting in what they're doing with it.
If you want to play RTS games or deep RPGs or most interesting indie games or any mods or any flight sims or any sims in general or get patches for some games or aim with a mouse or run at high resolutions or play older games easily or buy all your games online instantly or play most good turn based strategy games or anything like that, the PC is the winner hands-down.
If you want to game from your couch (and you can't figure out how to connect your computer to your TV), play some JRPGs, play the occasional exclusive, play most fighting games and some action/adventure games, or never have to worry about being unable to fix a technical problem (because consoles either don't have problems or have problems that you can't fix), then go with consoles.
Anybody who likes WoW by definition has to use a PC so
Yeah, this too. Building a computer is incredibly easy. You need a philips screwdriver, a computer with internet access (for reference in case you actually do mess something up) and two hours of your time, tops.
If you have a good local computer shop, they can (should/will?) mount your CPU and heatsink for you, usually for free, and that is far and away the most difficult part of putting a computer together. After that, everything snaps together.
In the grand scheme of things, a coffee table from Ikea or a TV stand is exactly 400 times more difficult to assemble than a computer.
even putting the CPU/heatsink on is easy. Mine was just "put the CPU in this little box, close this tiny latch, then pop these four plugs on your heatsink in the holes"
most heatsinks come with adhesive on them so you don't need to worry about applying it yourself
I may have been spoiled by the local computer shop, Memory Express. It is basically Newegg, except its a physical store you can go to. Are there not places like that in the States?
The real mom & pop computer shops - yeah. Stay well away.
Xbox 360: is it worth it?
Nintendo Wii: is it worth it?
and so on
PC gaming offers a different gaming library and somewhat of a different experience. I really don't understand these kinds of questions. It's worth it if it's worth it. Worth is an entirely subjective quantity. Do you prefer using KB&M? Do you like games that are only available on the PC and not on consoles? If so, PC gaming is probably worth it. If not, well it may still be worth it. Or not. Who knows?
Nobody can tell you whether or not PC gaming is "worth it." It's only "worth it" for you if you decide it is.
"Everyone who is capable of logical thought should be able to see why you shouldn't sell lifetime subscriptions to an MMO. Cell phone companies and drug dealers don't offer lifetime subscriptions either, guess why?" - Mugaaz
Well, I'm the only one on target here so far. Trying to decide what system is superior is asinine, and trying to have an objective discussion on worth is inane.
But no reading my posts probably isn't worth it if you just want to regurgitate and perpetuate the same inane horseshit that keeps popping up in this and other gaming forums.
A system merely provides you with a potential experience. If the software and the experience match what you want, it's worth it. If not, it isn't. That's all there is to it.
no, your post was dead on and I agree with what you said :P
Edit: both have their advantages, but I still love pcgaming.
Oh ok
Yes. The combination of Steam and Direct2Drive have gotten me a lot of really good deals on slightly older games.
Well if you like shooters and don't mind joystick controls then I guess all the great titles are on consoles.
Anyway, these days a gaming PC doesn't cost a whole lot more than a non-gaming PC. That is, if all you want is to play console games with better settings and at 1080p and close to 60fps while the so called HD consoels can't even hit 720p on a lot of games, say $600 for the computer + OS. If you want to really push Crysis, or one of the other really demanding games then you could probably spend more.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Heck, even newer games frequently see 50% weekend sales. And older stuff? Well it's hard to argue with when a game you've been interested in gets dropped to £5 or something ridiculous like that.
You seriously see your Steam list grow, even if you don't have the time to play the games you buy. You buy them for later because man that's a good deal.
Gaming just via Steam sales is ludicrously cheap, and builds a collection pretty sharpish.
Please don't forget about GoG.com, either. If there's ever been a classic game from the past decade that you have fond memories of, they will usually have it. None of their games are over $10 either, PLUS they have manuals in .pdf format, soundtracks, wallpapers and avatar icons, and to top it off, all completely DRM free.
Personally, I prefer PC Gaming. For one, my wife has control of the TV. :P For two, the PC tends to have better games, imo.
Consoles are great mostly for 3rd person adventure games, racing games, and fighting games. Also, building a PC is simple, and if you go all out to start with, you won't have to worry about any huge upgrades for a while. I had my PC built for roughly $1000 back in 2005, and the only thing I've had done to it since is upgrade OS to win7, and added RAM, $200 for it all, and I most likely have another 3 years to go before I need any major upgrades.
Haha, yeah, if I was beholden to the TV, I'd never get to play any games.
And yes, gog.com is awesome. Steam is good, but if it's a choice between Steam and GOG, I prefer to go with GOG. I can still use Steam's community features, and the games I get are completely DRM free.
bing!
put the vast majority of your budget towards a graphics card and you are set.
depending on your resolution ... 1680x1050 and under 5770, above that get a 5830. you can get the 5830 for almost the "right" price now.. I spotted one for $205 and that is a pretty smokin card for the money.
Hang out in steam/voice programs/IRC and easily join up with friends or communities makes multiplayer all the more enjoyable and convenient.
Not to mention the catalog and what you can do with your games (alt-tab, how I love thee)
Yeah, playing some FPS's would've been a pain for me if not for community servers. Generally speaking, playing with guys from PA is usually a LOT more fun than playing with random pubs, and the whole point of the server is that for large games like Battlefield or Team fortress, you just simply jump into the server and start playing with the community.
It's far preferable to trying to "friend" everyone from said community because there are hundreds of people here. Instead of trying to cobble together a group of 30 people to play a game, you just jump in Vent / the server.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)