PC Versus Console Gaming: Personal Realization

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crfracer290

Limp Gawd
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Yea I know it has been beat to death but I wanted to post this.

Well I like to play games in my spare time just for fun and to hang with friends.

Recently I built a new gaming computer and planned to sell my Xbox 360 and use my PC for gaming. Well I got the PC up and running and played a little half life and a few other games, but I really did not enjoy them... I thought to myself "Well I have this awesome computer and a nice 22 inch monitor, everyone else would enjoy this set up, but why don't I?"......

First off, I have never and still am not comfortable using a mouse and keyboard in games, regardless of their type. I have a gaming mouse and keyboard (G7 and G15) but they still are not comfortable for me. So I using my Xbox controller as a PC gamepad for my games. So I thought to myself, isn't one of the biggest points of PC gaming is for those that love and are good with the mouse and keyboard, so by me using a Xbox gamepad is defeats that purpose.

Second, I realized that the main game titles I play are also available on a Xbox 360 and some are only for 360. I dont play MMORPG or whatever they are called (games like WoW and such) so that eliminates another good aspect of the PC gaming world.

Third, I realized that I favor sitting farther away and looking a nice big TV to play my games rather than sitting in a chair, elbows on a desk, 3 feet away from a 22 inch screen. It is just much more fun for me to sit back and play a game on my couch that up close on a desk.

Fourth I realized that for me, I am tired of messing with PCs. I am tired of having to find that perfect driver that gets the best performance, I am tired of tweaking windows so that games will run at their best, I am tired of worrying about too low of FPS because of high settings.

Finally I realized that for the price of my computer, I could own all 3 current generation consoles with cash too spare.

So it took me a while to figure out what I wanted, but I have decided I am not a PC gamer and never will be.

So my plan is: Sell of my current PC parts and build a cheap basic computer. Keep my 360, maybe buy a Wii, and buy a decent sized HD TV and stereo system for my room and upcoming apartment (sophmore year=parents make me leave:( .)

...consider this a rant or whatever, but I just felt some reason to post this, i dunno.
 
good riddance, I'm sick of seeing people drop whole posts on how "they are sick of PC gaming". GOOD FOR YOU, no one really cares. All this does is bring f a n b o y s out of the woodwork and create a whole lot of fud for people to disregard or get upset about.
 
Woaaaa. Calm down, I was only stating my personal feelings. I want to like PC gaming, I really do, its just not for me though. I am not saying I am sick of it, I am saying its just not my cup of tea and here is why...I think people can relate. PC gaming is what started it all, but for me a console fits me better and thats what I was trying to explain why because I thought some would relate.
 
It seems that once a week these posts pop up. Honestly, it's cool if you want to play consoles. It's just these posts are abundant and ridiculous and usually create a whole debate on the "topic" all over again.

I'm not antsy about anything, maybe a tad overdramatic! :p
 
Thats kinda why I posted it...Not to say "PC suck, xbox ownz, wawawawawaa". I was just kinda realizing myself what seperates people who like consoles and PC. Honestly, PC gaming has alot more to offer, but its just not for me, I wish it was because I spent 1500+ on a gaming PC (twice :rolleyes: ) but I never played much either time.
 
It seems these days it's quiet easy to be taken away from PC gaming with the plethora of console titles, and how they are being ported over to PC EXTREMELY poorly. Sometimes I wish I was less of a PC addict and could just settle for a nice HDTV and Xbox360 to blaze some GOW on. But, I've been on a PC since I was 5 years old, and it's a hard habit to break. I bet my girlfriend would love it if I was able to break it too.;)
 
It's probably genre-specific. If the type of games you like are on consoles only, or both platforms and you prefer console controls, the choice is simple.

Me? I play naval and flight sims, adventure games, and (truer) RPGs. PCs have solid offerings in these genres, consoles have nothing. So I lean the other way - never owned a console yet. Not to say I WON'T - again, it's genre specific. If the games I like start coming out on consoles, well...

...but, then, (hopefully), that's true of everyone.

So why do we need to keep reading posts about it?
 
crfracer290 said:
I think this topic is very touchy so everyone is immediately going on the defensive when they read it...
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It is touchy, because a lot of us are defensive because computers are our lives. Most of us work with computers and have a general obsession. Plus you figure you everyone here has a PC or else they wouldn't be on [H] posting, right? It's just it feels like A LOT of people are leaving the PC and it makes me sad, knowing that it subjectively is a better platform. Honestly, it brings a tear to my eyes :p. Such a great platform is being overlooked because (not all, and not necessarily you) are lazy and just wanting to be couch potatoes. Y'know watch some 24, jump onto the console and order in take out!
 
I honestly see no purpose to this thread, I'm sorry. You had a personal realization about your preference, I don't quite see why it requires a thread. That's just me, however. I'm quite glad you have found a point where you can really relax and have a great time, that's the whole point of games, no matter what platform they are on.
 
FighterAce124 said:
I honestly see no purpose to this thread, I'm sorry. You had a personal realization about your preference, I don't quite see why it requires a thread. That's just me, however. I'm quite glad you have found a point where you can really relax and have a great time, that's the whole point of games, no matter what platform they are on.
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Lol yea, I am bored, sorry lol.
 
Well crfracer290, let's just cut straight to the point.

"What would you like us to tell you?"

It's not hard to imagine all the possible answers you can get here, because they've all been presented before, and you've indicated that you've seen them as you've addressed them here.

So look inside, and try to find that answer, because until you can say what that is, you're not going to find anything new here in this thread but the rotting remains of a horse that has been beaten until it has blended.

Most likely, it's all been summed up here:
crfracer290 said:
...consider this a rant or whatever, but I just felt some reason to post this, i dunno.
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Pretty much everyone has done this before. It's not unusual to type this stuff out, probably a good way to organize thoughts, and with respect to this, I hope I have clarified exactly what has just transpired here. This is just open musings on a topic you're already familiar with, and now after all arguments have been presented, you now have to make a decision that you don't want to make.

That's where you are right now. The time for presentation of arguments has already passed, making this post just what you've described, a rant. There was no need to submit the post(No big crime there, it's just unnecessary, a lesson that the internet as a whole learns gradually and individually. Something you learn is that there are times when you realize you don't have anything useful to add, and that adding what you know to be useless just pollutes the signal to noise ratio in the ongoing communications of the internet. It's a minor thing, akin to littering)

My recommendation is to take all the options and take a random choice. Draw straws, pull them out of a hat.

When you look at that recommendation. Consider what you're thinking at that point. And if you find that you are not satisfied with the random choice you know that your opinions are not even. If you were truly 50-50 ambivalent to a binary decision, then either decision would satisfy. If your random selection leaves you balking, eliminate that selection and go with whatever remains.
 
Most of us are bored, heh.

That's why I replied, I'm just chillin' drinking some beer and doing some gaming... ON MY PC :p

You know I think FighterAce said it best, find a platform you like and have fun with it, because that's what gaming is about.

But it doesn't warrant a topic!
 
Market research shows that over 70% of gamers play on both Computer and Console.
 
Nice personal realization. Good for you, but the inverse is applicable to me. I have both the PS3 and 360, and to be frank, i've gone back to playing my PC more. I'm playing Half-Life 2 again, for at least the 7th time. I don't think i've played ANY console game that many times. Halo on the xbox was tops, and I think I had 3 playthroughs. To be honest, i'm getting sick and tired about hearing how PC gaming is dying as well.
 
I agree that it probably heavily depends on the types of games you want to play.

Strategy games, for example, are virtually non-existent on consoles, and when they are, using gamepads are very difficult because of their limited number of buttons and the limited speed and accuracy of using a gamepad's joystick over a mouse.

Flight simulators are also very rare on consoles, as are some other games.

But if you're into action games (particularly third person ones), first person shooters, and platformers, consoles tend to do very well, and the controls compliment them.

Personally, I enjoy strategy games, which are plentiful and easy to use on the PC. I also enjoy the ease of aiming and general use of the mouse and keyboard in first person shooters, so I tend to enjoy the Battlefield series as well.

I don't like comparing PC gaming and console gaming though, as a whole. PC gaming is generally more expensive, requires more maintenance (game patches, driver updates, dealing with conflicts, minimum requirements, etc.). While console gaming is cheaper, has far less technical problems (although not always, ask my first generation PS2 and the plethora of problems it has throw at me) and is generally more accessible. It just depends on so much, game preference, budget, technical knowledge, and so on. So, whatever you're comfortable with, really.
 
All controls aside, PC games are about one thing. Modding! Do you know how many thousands of custom maps, models, textures, music, conversions, etc... are available for games like UT, Half-Life, Quake, etc... It is ridiculous. And that's what games are all about. Replay value. Who wants to buy a game that you beat in 8 hours and then have no reason to come back to it but to play the same 5 multiplayer maps over and over again!

With PC games you can easily become a creator yourself and build your own game world to your exact specifications! And if you are so stupid that you cannot figure out something like UnrealEd, then enjoy the thousands of community created maps that are being pumped out on a daily basis pretty much!

You don't get that with consoles... If anything you get an extremely basic level editor with games like Timesplitters which involves fitting pre-made blocks together tetris or lego style. There's only so much variety you can achieve with that! On a rare occasion the developer might release 2 or 3 bonus maps, which most likely you will have to purchase (xbox live), which is the most ridiculous thing I have heard. With PC games like the UT series you get completely free developer created bonus packs which contain A LOT more than 2 maps!

Lastly, if you have to fiddle with a million different driver versions to get your PC running smoothly then it can only mean one thing. You have old, obsolete hardware. With a modern setup, all you have to do is go to nvidia's or ati's website, download the latest driver, and you're set! Upgrading drivers on a daily/weekly basis is only for hardcore tweakers, and more often than not it's a placebo effect when everyone is like "OMG these new drivers offer much better image quality and a 20 fps boost". No. No they don't. Stick with the newest driver set for a couple of months, and don't visit driver forums where most people are subject to the placebo effect.
 
I've decided that I'm not going to eat any more pizza. First of all, I'm into working out and pizza has no good nutriets in it at all - I think I'm going to stick with brown rice and oatmeal for carbs and chicken and fish for protein.

Second, the sodium. Pizza is just loaded with sodium which make me feel bloated.

Third, I feel sick after eating pizza. Its like, I look at the pizza and of course it looks good so I eat it, but then after eating 3,4, or 5 slices of it I can feel it go straight to my stomacha and it just makes me feel bloated and I ask myself, "why the hell did I just eat this pizza for?"

So my plan is to just totally cut pizza out of my diet.

...consider this a rant or whatever, but I just felt some reason to post this, i dunno.

PS. Stay tuned for my next thread where I will be discussing if I should ditch soft two ply toilet paper for something with a little more "roughness" in it for a better cleaning.
 
Hulk said:
I've decided that I'm not going to eat any more pizza. First of all, I'm into working out and pizza has no good nutriets in it at all - I think I'm going to stick with brown rice and oatmeal for carbs and chicken and fish for protein.

Second, the sodium. Pizza is just loaded with sodium which make me feel bloated.

Third, I feel sick after eating pizza. Its like, I look at the pizza and of course it looks good so I eat it, but then after eating 3,4, or 5 slices of it I can feel it go straight to my stomacha and it just makes me feel bloated and I ask myself, "why the hell did I just eat this pizza for?"

So my plan is to just totally cut pizza out of my diet.

...consider this a rant or whatever, but I just felt some reason to post this, i dunno.

PS. Stay tuned for my next thread where I will be discussing if I should ditch soft two ply toilet paper for something with a little more "roughness" in it for a better cleaning.
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Funny, but this forum isn't called General Eating. It may be a bit of a stretch to start a thread over this, but it's definitely on-topic.
 
Hulk said:
I've decided that I'm not going to eat any more pizza. First of all, I'm into working out and pizza has no good nutriets in it at all - I think I'm going to stick with brown rice and oatmeal for carbs and chicken and fish for protein.

Second, the sodium. Pizza is just loaded with sodium which make me feel bloated.

Third, I feel sick after eating pizza. Its like, I look at the pizza and of course it looks good so I eat it, but then after eating 3,4, or 5 slices of it I can feel it go straight to my stomacha and it just makes me feel bloated and I ask myself, "why the hell did I just eat this pizza for?"

So my plan is to just totally cut pizza out of my diet.

...consider this a rant or whatever, but I just felt some reason to post this, i dunno.

PS. Stay tuned for my next thread where I will be discussing if I should ditch soft two ply toilet paper for something with a little more "roughness" in it for a better cleaning.
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Hey if Pizza is your thing, go for it... Anyways back to pc gaming, thier is mods and cons, about both, most people if they don't go for both, pick one over the eather based on certain things.

Pros of PC games...

Better Graphics on Highend machines
Moddable
Variety of Controls (Mouse, Keyboard, Gamepad ect.)
Better online multiplayer games.
Exclusive games
Free Games (America's Army, Dungeon Crawlers, WarRock etc)

Cons of PC games...

More expensive in general.
More Issues
Worse local multiplayer
Crappy console ports

Pros of Console Gaming

Plug and play
Better Local Gaming
Exclusive Games
Better Graphics then average computers.
Cheaper (unless you get all 3 consoles)

Cons

More expensive games
Very limited modablility
Worse Graphics then Highend Computers
Limited controller options (no mouse+keyboard)

And thats really the bottom line, pick whatever flavor you chose, right now I'm a pcwii gamer but I'm debating if I should get a 360 or Ps3 later this year, probably around the time I buy a HDTV, since right now I don't have one, whatever some people don't like gaming on X machine and love gaming on Y machine and love posting about it, but simply since people are different they will have different interest and therefore like different games and systems /end thread
 
Let me just say that I'm all for people finding what suits them best but some of these reasons are a bit silly.

crfracer290 said:
First off, I have never and still am not comfortable using a mouse and keyboard in games, regardless of their type. I have a gaming mouse and keyboard (G7 and G15) but they still are not comfortable for me. So I using my Xbox controller as a PC gamepad for my games. So I thought to myself, isn't one of the biggest points of PC gaming is for those that love and are good with the mouse and keyboard, so by me using a Xbox gamepad is defeats that purpose.
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Control methods and hardware always takes time to get used to, especially if you get a more accurate mouse, or one of a different shape. Getting used to a mouse/keyboard isn't easy and I don't think anyone ever picked up the mouse+keyboard and was awesome with it straight away. Ultimately once you've got used it, it's a superiour gaming tool for the majorety of games.

Second, I realized that the main game titles I play are also available on a Xbox 360 and some are only for 360. I dont play MMORPG or whatever they are called (games like WoW and such) so that eliminates another good aspect of the PC gaming world.
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MMO's are one tiny reason to use a PC, sure games are available cross platform, but I don't see this being a negative for the PC and a positive for the console, if anything PC games are cheaper and so given a choice I'd go with the cheaper variant.

Third, I realized that I favor sitting farther away and looking a nice big TV to play my games rather than sitting in a chair, elbows on a desk, 3 feet away from a 22 inch screen. It is just much more fun for me to sit back and play a game on my couch that up close on a desk.
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Fair enough, that might have a lot to do with comfort, get a nice leather exec chair for your PC and set all the kit up so it's comfy to use and you'll probably enjoy it a lot more.

Fourth I realized that for me, I am tired of messing with PCs. I am tired of having to find that perfect driver that gets the best performance, I am tired of tweaking windows so that games will run at their best, I am tired of worrying about too low of FPS because of high settings.
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Most of the tweaking isn't necessary, get the latest drivers for everything, maybe spend 5-10 mins disabling windows serviecs you dont need, make sure your computer is kept clean of viruses and spyware. This doesn't take very long at all, you can do it all in an afternoon and never have to worry about it again, future driver updates don't take long.

Finally I realized that for the price of my computer, I could own all 3 current generation consoles with cash too spare.
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A argument I see again and again with consoles but people fail to factor in the price of games, console games are significantly more expensive than PC games (at least in the UK) if you take into account all the games you buy in a year, I think you'll find that gap will close a lot, it may even be more expensive on a console. Not to mention the extended gameplay of PC games, online play, mods, free games etc.

I do think consoles have their place, but some of these reasons to switch are a bit weak IMO.
 
how did you not realize you didn't like pc gaming before building an expensive rig with an expensive monitor?

had you never touched a pc before?

:rolleyes:
 
Nate_MachV said:
It is touchy, because a lot of us are defensive because computers are our lives. Most of us work with computers and have a general obsession. Plus you figure you everyone here has a PC or else they wouldn't be on [H] posting, right? It's just it feels like A LOT of people are leaving the PC and it makes me sad, knowing that it subjectively is a better platform. Honestly, it brings a tear to my eyes :p. Such a great platform is being overlooked because (not all, and not necessarily you) are lazy and just wanting to be couch potatoes. Y'know watch some 24, jump onto the console and order in take out!
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You people are more annoying than 100 posts on the same topic could ever be. If you don't like the title, don't post 20 times in the thread, and don't read it. You complain about people whining, and these constant replies of yours are the whiniest shit I've seen on these forums in a long time.
 
I really wanted to play games on my PC, otherwise i wouldnt have spent close to $2000 on it. I tried to play Quake4 MP, but hardly anyone plays. CS wasnt cutting it for me, and Fear was a joke (grenades in MP are gay). I've been unhappy with every RTS that came out after war2 and starcraft. I've also never ever play single player campaign in PC games... ever. I think i look to consoles for variety until that one pc game comes out and pwns its genre... then ill play that =]

my only console complaint is about having the payers console act as a server for the other players in the game. Consoles seem to adopt everyhting the PC can do, yet theres hardly any dedicated servers... thats just wrong =[ I wish they would go the EA route (BF2 PC), and let us buy space on their servers to run our own stuff.
 
thats nice, personally i like tweaking games. and i prefer a mose and keyboard for everythign (except obviously sims and maybe 3rd persons). opinions and preferences are what make us, dont hang onto something you dont like, kudos to you.
 
I hear ya OP....lately I've decide to stop spending obscene amounts of money upgrading my pc every 6 months or so and just keep it reasonably strong with a few yearly updates here and there. Why? Well because I've never been a huge FPS fan and I refuse to play MMORPG's. My main 2 genres are RTS and racing...and as we all know the pc is better suited for RTS's and consoles have the most variety of racing games. I now spend more time with my Xbox 360 but since I have it hooked to my monitor I can easily switch back to pc games without leaving my chair. I'm like you though...the thrill is gone from tweaking minute details and sorting out driver issues. I'll still do it for a "must play" RTS game but the 360 gives me near the same graphics and gameplay with a higher level of fun since I can jump right in without worrying about anything else..
 
PC gaming is a joke now, I have a high end PC with the best gpu out now (EVGA 8800GTX). I have over 20 PC games. And I have a 360.. You know what I noticed?

1. Gears of War and Lost planet look better on my HDTV than any game on my 8800GTX on Max settings.

2. Sports games on the PC look like something off a dreamcast. So the 360 wins in the sports graphics department again.

3. Easier friend management with 360, ability to chat anytime in game while having up to 6 chats open. No need for running backround chatting applications.

Right now its like all my PC games are boring, I have like every PC game out, I pay alot of attention to graphics too. But man, the 360 is where its at right now. Maybe im just starting to find all fps shooters boring after playing so many.
 
PC gaming is at a lull right now so I play on my 360 more often. But when the good titles start hitting the PC again this summer (ET:QW, Crysis, etc) then Ill be back on my PC again. Really I think the 2 compliment each other rather well. I do think however, that I overall I enjoy playing multiplayer on the PC much more than on the 360..
 
RTS and FPS are still king on the pc. As much as I love gears of war, and have played FPS exclusively on my 360 for a long time now, I still don't feel comfortable with it the way you do with mouse and keyboard after 10 minutes. 360 is a fun, easy to deal with system that's great for casual gaming, and I'm glad I bought it, but I plan to buy a new gaming computer in the next few months. too many cool games coming out, and many I've missed out on that I want to play.
 
So you like playing on consoles better. How is this worthy of a thread, or relevant to anyone else on the forum? Seems more like a Gen-May topic than anything else.
 
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JSC450 said:
I really wanted to play games on my PC, otherwise i wouldnt have spent close to $2000 on it. I tried to play Quake4 MP, but hardly anyone plays. CS wasnt cutting it for me, and Fear was a joke (grenades in MP are gay). I've been unhappy with every RTS that came out after war2 and starcraft. I've also never ever play single player campaign in PC games... ever. I think i look to consoles for variety until that one pc game comes out and pwns its genre... then ill play that =
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You never play single player campaign of any PC game, yet you spent 2 grand building a gaming rig? Did I read that correctly? Shit, I too would be jaded as fuck towards PC gaming if I were you too.
 
Im waiting for Crysis and Unreal Tournament, I need a game thatll look good on my 8800GTX. My pc is collecting dust as Im tired of playing all these same games over and over.
 
I have a high end PC, PS3, Xbox 360, a Wii, a DS, and a PSP.

They all kick ass.

End of discussion. :)
 
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