I feel forced to buy a new PC for gaming

As a very cheap person, I tried to buy an Xbox recently to cure the itch for my need to play some sort of FPS with friends online. My first buy was BF3.

I find I am extremely disappointed with the graphics and the controls. I feel like I am not in control at all and the jaggies and low quality textures/lighting just annoy me.

Since the 360 has been out for so long, it obviously has become equivalently outdated.

I find to truly enjoy the game the way it was meant to be played, and not be annoyed by low FPS and a sub-par gaming experience, I am forced to shell out ~1500 for a good PC and monitor.

Money isn't really the issue. I am just afraid that if I buy this thing then it will be useless 4-5 years from now when PC gaming takes a turn for the worse. Sales are already an extremely small fraction of console counterparts.

The only fact that eases my qualms is that Gamerankings still shows some games for the PC on their "top' list.

I read an article that depicted video card companies as highly cyclical and that their success in high end sales (computer cards) largely depends on the console life cycle: more sales at the end of the life of the current consoles. This article hit home as I believe this fact to be the reason why I am even considering pouring money into a console.

If I had considered this idea 1-2 years ago, I would have quickly shrugged the idea off and would have never considered a PC again. I have been enjoying my Macbook Pro and iMac for a good while now. Myself, I have had no need for a PC thus far.

BF3's sub-parity on the console, and BF3's supremacy on the PC has influenced my wants/needs.

I just need reassurance I guess? What do you guys think of this argument : PC vs console and the life of PC gaming.

You can get a BF3-worthy rig for less than $1000. Hell, I play with a lowly 5850 on a mix of high/medium at 1900x1200 and it runs and looks great.

If you've ever tasted the sweet sweet nectar of PC gaming within the last ~4 years, an Xbox just won't cut it. Every time I visit my brother and watch him play his Xbox I can't help but notice how bad it looks, not to mention the clunky controls. Don't get me wrong, certain games work just as well if not better on console (3rd person action/platformers mostly).

If you shop smart including used parts on the FS section, you can build a very worthy rig for less than you think.

Money isn't really the issue. I am just afraid that if I buy this thing then it will be useless 4-5 years from now when PC gaming takes a turn for the worse. Sales are already an extremely small fraction of console counterparts.

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I don't think this will happen, and there are a plethora of things a gaming PC can do besides gaming... I'm pretty sure you know that so your money won't be wasted.

The way I see it is, majority of the good console games are released for PC anyway, and the advantage here is that console ports are usually $10-20 cheaper, Steam always has sells, the indie games are usually better than XBLA games, usually if ported correctly, better textures and increased resolutions, and every so often, a gem does come along that blows console games out of the water(BF3). I don't think PC gaming will ever die out, with MMO's and hopefully the support of developers like Valve and Blizzard, purchasing a gaming PC will never be a "waste"

How are you worried about hardware being absolute in 4-5 years when this has pretty much been the norm for just about everything? How many things can you buy that aren't considered absolute 4 years later due to something better being released? This thread is borderline trolling I think.

lul my $350 pc plays bf3 on highest settings at 1680x10whatever.

sabrewolf732 said:

lul my $350 pc plays bf3 on highest settings at 1680x10whatever.

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Um no.

The purpose of this thread wasn't to troll or to insult the community by starting a topic everyone is already familiar with. The purpose was to find out if there were many people like me who tried to get it done on a console but realized the experience was just too unbearable compared to the comparatively amazing experience on the PC.

If you're a FPS fan,there's no beating a PC,the control alone can't be equaled on any console. And you don't need a high end machine to get far superior graphics. You can also extend the life of games with mods and conversions.And you can always upgrade your system down the road,something you can't do with a console.

PC gaming isn't going anywhere. I'm sick of people claiming that PC gaming is dead. It's not mainstream anymore (not sure it ever was, really) and of course it doesn't make as much as console gaming, but by no means is it dead. Look at BF3. Sure it was partly designed for consoles, but the lead platform for much of its development cycle was the PC, and its clear that the PC version is much more polished than the console counterparts. It has its fair share of bugs and hiccups, but I think most people would agree that its a pretty great game, or at least that the PC version is.

Even if the big companies shy away from the PC, there's always going to be "those games" that make going the PC route worthwhile. BF3 was one of them. SWTOR is a big one if you're into MMORPGs, and Diablo 3 is coming out next year. There have been rumors flying around regarding Half Life 3, and the new Command and Conquer: Generals 2 is in the works and is utilizing Frostbite 2, which should be pretty cool. Aside from that, there's also small indie developers who haven't been consumed by sales figures (yet). There's a thread here on [H] about an upcoming PC-exclusive FPS being developed by some indie Polish company called Hard Reset that looks really cool.

If your fear that PC gaming is going to die is the only thing holding you back from building a new PC then you can rest easy. The industry's focus is heavily biased towards consoles now, yes, but that doesn't mean PC gaming is dying. It's like the automotive industry: just because every company is trying to go green doesn't mean there aren't people out there who are still making pure performance-oriented sport cars. It's just a little harder to find.

This whole argument of PCs "dying" has been going on for years now and is quite frankly rubbish, in fact it was only a month ago where people were getting warnings on the forum for starting new threads on this topic, so tread carefully.

PC Sales are better than ever, they're increasing year on year as a trend. what is happening is that PC games are ahead of the curve (as usual) and they're adopting things like Free2Play, Monthly MMO subscriptions, digital distribution and things like that, these are evolutions in the way we play games and in 5 years time they will filter down to the consoles.

It means ignorant people report the sales incorrectly because they just go by what is on the store shelf and what is sold in stores which is grossly mis-representative of PC gaming, loads of PC gamers are now using digital services almost exclusively.

The PC market has literally never been healthier.

FMX said:

Um no.

The purpose of this thread wasn't to troll or to insult the community by starting a topic everyone is already familiar with. The purpose was to find out if there were many people like me who tried to get it done on a console but realized the experience was just too unbearable compared to the comparatively amazing experience on the PC.

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i play it on the 360 because i don't feel like building a new system right now and because my cousin who i play with is from the console generation and can't play FPS's on PC to save his own life. the game plays fine on the 360, if it looks like crap for you then odds are you didn't install the second disc because quite frankly it looks pretty close to the PC version minus the dx11 features. now the ps3 on the other hand the game looks like utter crap. also the controls for BF3(that includes BFBC1 and 2 as well) are the best console controls of any FPS game i've played.. they are by far the most natural feeling controls compared to the COD games where everything feels ass backwards.

FMX said:

As a very cheap person....

....I have been enjoying my Macbook Pro and iMac for a good while now.

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timtheenchantor said:

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lol

Yyyyyyeah, I had my xbox for 3 years, then built my rig in my sig because games like Just Cause 2, Deus Ex HR, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, The Old Republic, and Skyrim.

Now my Xbox serves as my backup DVD player. yeah, you couldn't pay me to play that thing anymore.

I am not a grahics whore, but my thing is that the M/KB is so superior controlwise in FPSs (my drug of choice). I can't stand them on consoles...

Another thing about going to the PC is that a lot of older games are super cheap and they have been modded so they look much better than the originals. Again, date graphics don't bother me too much. I have a lot of fun with some older titles, so consider the backlog.

If you get a decent PC, it should keep you happy for quite some time. Like some OP said, you will use it for more than just games and it is upgradable. A win-win.... go for it!

sirmonkey1985 said:

the game plays fine on the 360, if it looks like crap for you then odds are you didn't install the second disc because quite frankly it looks pretty close to the PC version minus the dx11 features.

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Unless you actually play on anything higher than a 720p display of course.

And even then, is it really rendered natively at 720p or is it upscaled slightly?

EDIT: Apparently not, it's 704p.

Lol, I missed this post.... we said practically the same thing!

michael.pa2 said:

If you're a FPS fan,there's no beating a PC,the control alone can't be equaled on any console. And you don't need a high end machine to get far superior graphics. You can also extend the life of games with mods and conversions.And you can always upgrade your system down the road,something you can't do with a console.

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kilgore777 said:

I am not a grahics whore, but my thing is that the M/KB is so superior controlwise in FPSs (my drug of choice). I can't stand them on consoles...

Another thing about going to the PC is that a lot of older games are super cheap and they have been modded so they look much better than the originals. Again, date graphics don't bother me too much. I have a lot of fun with some older titles, so consider the backlog.

If you get a decent PC, it should keep you happy for quite some time. Like some OP said, you will use it for more than just games and it is upgradable. A win-win.... go for it!

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You are highly misinformed and this entire post contradicts itself. Its like your really a PRO PC guy who's trying to ignite other PRO PC people into joining a PC is better than everything and will never die rally, which it obviously is.

I mean look at some key words from your post; CHEAP, XBOX OUTDATED, FPS, FRAME RATES, ENJOYING IMAC, NEVER CONSIDERED A PC AGAIN.

This whole post is suspect.

FMX said:

Um no.

The purpose of this thread wasn't to troll or to insult the community by starting a topic everyone is already familiar with. The purpose was to find out if there were many people like me who tried to get it done on a console but realized the experience was just too unbearable compared to the comparatively amazing experience on the PC.

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This has been discussed to death and you answered your own question already in this post

I think "forced" and "gaming" just don't belong together. We're talking entertainment here.

michael.pa2 said:

If you're a FPS fan,there's no beating a PC,the control alone can't be equaled on any console. And you don't need a high end machine to get far superior graphics. You can also extend the life of games with mods and conversions.And you can always upgrade your system down the road,something you can't do with a console.

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QFT. Points made here are truth and some of the main reasons to go with PC gaming. It's certainly a worthy investment that will last for the long-term, and...

SLiGuy said:

PC gaming isn't going anywhere. I'm sick of people claiming that PC gaming is dead. It's not mainstream anymore (not sure it ever was, really) and of course it doesn't make as much as console gaming, but by no means is it dead. Look at BF3. Sure it was partly designed for consoles, but the lead platform for much of its development cycle was the PC, and its clear that the PC version is much more polished than the console counterparts. It has its fair share of bugs and hiccups, but I think most people would agree that its a pretty great game, or at least that the PC version is.

Even if the big companies shy away from the PC, there's always going to be "those games" that make going the PC route worthwhile. BF3 was one of them. SWTOR is a big one if you're into MMORPGs, and Diablo 3 is coming out next year. There have been rumors flying around regarding Half Life 3, and the new Command and Conquer: Generals 2 is in the works and is utilizing Frostbite 2, which should be pretty cool. Aside from that, there's also small indie developers who haven't been consumed by sales figures (yet). There's a thread here on [H] about an upcoming PC-exclusive FPS being developed by some indie Polish company called Hard Reset that looks really cool.

If your fear that PC gaming is going to die is the only thing holding you back from building a new PC then you can rest easy. The industry's focus is heavily biased towards consoles now, yes, but that doesn't mean PC gaming is dying. It's like the automotive industry: just because every company is trying to go green doesn't mean there aren't people out there who are still making pure performance-oriented sport cars. It's just a little harder to find.

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...once again, QFT, and I couldn't have said all that any better myself.

PC gaming is superior in every way, and PC gaming isn't going anywhere any time in the foreseeable future.

FYI, Hard Reset was already released for PC a while back. There's a "new version" being released with extra levels and upgraded visuals/engine (what ever that is supposed to mean; game already looks high-end, so not sure what the "upgraded engine/visuals" really means for the "new version"), but only for the UK as of right now, though no one knows why, or if people who already own the game will be able to get the extra content without having to buy the game again. Doesn't make any sense to me.

Anyway, yes... by all accounts, PC gaming is here to stay, superior in every way, and there's no reason to not invest/go in the direction of PC gaming.

That's why I love pc gaming..you can start your own budget and upgrade when needed.

You have to understand, consoles will continue to become more PC like every generation, its been going in that direction since the current gen consoles came out. Console gamers are starting to want the same things we have had for years.