Debunking Popular PC Gaming Myths - Extremetech.com

bs u can pull a console on ur tft any time. but what a waste to get that awesome pc rig on a little 19" tft. Fruuky

lcd monitor's tend to have a better image quality then of most tv's out there, and ironicly you can hook up PC's to almost any tv out there.

ah if it's a 19crt monitor you can go beyond crazy resolutions =p

bs u can pull a console on ur tft any time. but what a waste to get that awesome pc rig on a little 19" tft. Fruuky

Do you put any thought whatsoever in to your posts?

bs u can pull a console on ur tft any time. but what a waste to get that awesome pc rig on a little 19" tft. Fruuky

yeh and there goes the one nice thing about consoles...being able to sit back on a sofa with a controller. :|

That is complete horse manure...I posted this because it needs to be said, period. The PC is always being bashed with myths and downright haters who don't even have a gaming rig to begin with, all the time here at GS and other online sites.mismajor99

Complete horse manure? Are you sure about that? Look at all the responses I have received simply by stating my own perfectly legitimate reasons for not liking PC gaming. And yes, I have a PC that I occasionally play a game on.

PC gets bashed here because it is SW and because hermits bash console gamers also.

I am simply saying that there are many reasons to not like PC gaming that have nothing to do with the myths you link to. And some of the myths listed aren't exactly debunked in the most convincingway.

[QUOTE="Mizarus"]

pc has naval sims, sims, rpgs,mmorpgs,racers,sports(from rugby and golf to soccer and cricket) party games, kids games(really kiddy games) third person shooters, adventure, puzzles(myst&cia), horror, any genre you can think of its also avaliable on the pc, the one and only genre thats week on the pc is the fighter genre.

and you dont need to upgrade very often, if you buy the right parts you will be upgrading for the first time after 4 years, and then if you want to keep up with playng games at max settings you might need a new righ 2-3 years after that.

yeah lets associate pc gamers with people that love star trek that makes SENSE! LOL i hate that show btw.

patching is something that a 4years old can do if you think its too much of a hassle then good luck getting a job

ZIMdoom

Sure it has those games. The question is how many interest ME. This is no different from 360 fanboys listing games to convince PS3 fanboys. Utlimately, people buy what interests them.

Don't upgrade very often? I don't have to upgrade a console at all. And considering, as I already mentioned, there are barely any PC games that really appeal to me (there are a few that pop up from time to time) why would I bother upgrading at all?

I find it extremely ironic that you would insult my intelligence, and say "good luck getting a job" when (a) I have a job, and (b) you clearly failed to udnerstand the very simple analogy I offered. An analogy is something you should have learned about in 10th grade.

lol read what i said, IF YOU WANT TO KEEP UP WITH GRAPHICS, you will need to upgrade if not you dont need to, its the same as when a new console comes out you are not FORCED to buy the next one.

when it comes down to games its all about preference i wont argue that, but thats not the point of this topic is it, i just stated that there are more games on pc

your the one who considers too much of a hassle to patch the a pc, not insulting your intteligence just sayng you are extemly lazy if you think that way. so its you who failed to understand my analogy, since i was implyng something and not stating it as a fact.

PC gets bashed here because it is SW and because hermits bash console gamers also.ZIMdoom

Are we talking about the same System Wars here? Lemmings do the most bashing by FAR. There's only one or two regular hermits I've seen around here who actively bash consoles.

[QUOTE="Lonelynight"]

Well with your mind set, of course we can't change your mind.

ZIMdoom

That is sory of my point. this thread was created as an attempt for Hermits to feel superior over us lowly console gamers. As if debunking these "myths" will suddenly make everybody fall in love with PC gaming again like the did when it was the only viable option.

But people didn't quit PC gaming because they felt games sold better on consoles. And to argue that PC offers more games and a better gaming experience goes against the basic principles of capitalism...that consumers vote with their dollars. Clearly there are tens of millions of people who prefer console gaming, and to argue that not ONE of them has a legitimate reason to back their decision is being not only self-righteous, but extremely obtuse.

I am willing to admit that PC gaming offers some benefits. Yet nobody seems willing to accept (or even address) my most basic point. PC gaming is more hassle and that turns people off.

The point of this thread is to inform PC haters

Another PC gaming is better because console gamers are uneducated and don't realize the glory that is PC gaming. *yawn*TimeToPartyHard

Oh? It seems you have the wrong thread.

[QUOTE="TimeToPartyHard"]Another PC gaming is better because console gamers are uneducated and don't realize the glory that is PC gaming. *yawn*Velocitas8

Oh? It seems you have the wrong thread.

I know this isn't the right place but can you add me to your friend list? :)

[QUOTE="TimeToPartyHard"]Another PC gaming is better because console gamers are uneducated and don't realize the glory that is PC gaming. *yawn*Velocitas8

Oh? It seems you have the wrong thread.

Hardly.The point of the article is to debunk myths most gamers believe because they don't know any better, and each point made is made to show the superiority of PCs over consoles, or at the lowest points, that they are equal. The Hermits on this site are overly paranoid for some reason. It's like you're all on some witch hunt for everyone that doesn't praise the PC as the messiah of gaming.

The PC userbase has always been niche in the States compared to console gaming, you are incorrect to state that "more and more people are moving to console games". That's untrue, especially in Europe and most parts of Asia.

mismajor99

Seems to me that the biggest problem is that PC gamers can't get their own arguements straight. You say the PC userbase is niche. Yet somebodyelse says there is over 200 million PC gamers out there. Thatwould be roughly double the console userbase. On the one hand, PC gamers say that PC gaming is much cheaper, then somebodyelse alwayssays "okay, it costs more but it's worth it". Some say they only upgrade every 10years while another saysthey only upgrade every couple years and it's not thatbig a deal.

Since I stopped PC gaming many years ago (except for the rare title),I really don't feel like I'm at a loss for anything. Missing out on some great games? Well, that's life isn't it. It's pretty naive and arrogant to think that everybody will buy a PC and all consoles andhandhelds ever released because, if they don't, they may miss out onthe one or two great games that appeal to them.But I guess in the world you live in, people NOT being completely ingorant consumers, are lazy for not spending their money on something they aren't that interested in.

You call me lazy and then blindly repeat the talking points from the article without bothering to think whether or not they apply. You want logical thinking? How about this. It's intellectually dishonest to debunk something you call a "myth" (which by definition must be around for a long time) by only referring to the latest gen of consoles. Second, you would say it is unfair to lump consoles together. I think that is perfectly fair since I don't believe I have done that. But what about the PS2 or PS3. Surely, if the arguement in that the PC has a bunch of older cheaper games to play...why can't I lump the PS1, 2 and 3 together since they are all backwards compatible. I think that would be fair and not "stacked" at all.

To say that a PC that needs SOME upgrade over time is fairly compared to only a single console from a single generation is just as stacked as comparing all consoles to the PC.

And like I said many times already. I have a PC that can still play some games. Plus I am a multiconsole owner in most gens. I can say with great confidence that PC gaming has no interest for me and I feel that console gaming offers me more, with less headaches.

As for the nerd comment, I will openly confess my own nerdiness. So don't feel insulted by the "nerd" comment. I simply hold the theory that there is a BIG distinction between "hermits" and console gamers. Mainly, my view is that most console gamers are just gamers, while most "hermits" although they do play games, are more tech-nerds than game nerds. They enjoy the technology and graphics and console-fiddling and that is why they love PC gaming...moreso than simply the games themselves. So I draw a disctinction between tech-nerds and game-nerds.

bs u can pull a console on ur tft any time. but what a waste to get that awesome pc rig on a little 19" tft. Fruuky

Thank god Halo 3 takes advantage of a 5:4 ratio eh.

[QUOTE="ZIMdoom"]PC gets bashed here because it is SW and because hermits bash console gamers also.Velocitas8

Are we talking about the same System Wars here? Lemmings do the most bashing by FAR. There's only one or two regular hermits I've seen around here who actively bash consoles.

Hey! We can agree on something.

Maybe I was being too harsh. But there does seem to be a fair number of threads that have the attitude that PC is superior in all ways all the time. Maybe that doesn't equal bashing, but it still receives the same knee-jerk reaction from console gamers.

[QUOTE="Velocitas8"]

[QUOTE="TimeToPartyHard"]Another PC gaming is better because console gamers are uneducated and don't realize the glory that is PC gaming. *yawn*TimeToPartyHard

Oh? It seems you have the wrong thread.

Hardly.The point of the article is to debunk myths most gamers believe because they don't know any better, and each point made is made to show the superiority of PCs over consoles, or at the lowest points, that they are equal. The Hermits on this site are overly paranoid for some reason. It's like you're all on some witch hunt for everyone that doesn't praise the PC as the messiah of gaming.

No they are only stating facts :P

The point of this thread is to inform PC haters

Lonelynight

While I don't hate the PC, I seem to fall into that category of people you feel need to be informed. Clearly it hasn't worked. I still will take Console gaming over PC gaming easy. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[QUOTE="Velocitas8"]

[QUOTE="TimeToPartyHard"]Another PC gaming is better because console gamers are uneducated and don't realize the glory that is PC gaming. *yawn*Lonelynight

Oh? It seems you have the wrong thread.

I know this isn't the right place but can you add me to your friend list? :)

Sure thing. :) I always forget my profile is set to private.

[QUOTE="Lonelynight"]

The point of this thread is to inform PC haters

ZIMdoom

While I don't hate the PC, I seem to fall into that category of people you feel need to be informed. Clearly it hasn't worked. I still will take Console gaming over PC gaming easy. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Thats personal preference :) I can respect that, and if you look around hermits just mostly bash those who blindly hate PC gaming, like saying PCs coast $5000 or PC have no games, or PC gaming is dying, nobody plays PC games anymore

[QUOTE="Lonelynight"][QUOTE="Velocitas8"]

[QUOTE="TimeToPartyHard"]Another PC gaming is better because console gamers are uneducated and don't realize the glory that is PC gaming. *yawn*Velocitas8

Oh? It seems you have the wrong thread.

I know this isn't the right place but can you add me to your friend list? :)

Sure thing. :) I always forget my profile is set to private.

Thanks :)

[QUOTE="TimeToPartyHard"][QUOTE="Velocitas8"]

[QUOTE="TimeToPartyHard"]Another PC gaming is better because console gamers are uneducated and don't realize the glory that is PC gaming. *yawn*Lonelynight

Oh? It seems you have the wrong thread.

Hardly.The point of the article is to debunk myths most gamers believe because they don't know any better, and each point made is made to show the superiority of PCs over consoles, or at the lowest points, that they are equal. The Hermits on this site are overly paranoid for some reason. It's like you're all on some witch hunt for everyone that doesn't praise the PC as the messiah of gaming.

No they are only stating facts :P

They are facts to some degree. But PC's "facts" are goofy anyway. See ZIMdoom's post. But the use of those facts is questionable. It's an article by another paranoid hermit defending PC when it clearly doesn't need it, which you can see by reading most of this thread. PC has a lot of support, and a lot of critics, as do consoles. If hermits can't learn to deal with being critisized they probably shouldn't be using their PC for forums.

I disagree with this article totally, and im mainly a pc gamer, ill explain my viewpoint.

I personally think the PC gaming market goes through peaks and declines in terms of when is the best time to adopt, let me elaborate, i think its at a decline at the moment because of the recent direct x update its too expensive to get the most out of it, however in 2-3 years when affordable hardware comes out that dwarfs the current gen consoles in power thats the time to own a pc.

I think anybody who says pc gaming is the best experience pound for at the moment in the games industry is wrong, if you offered me $1500 to build a pc or to spend on consoles and games, id spend it on consoles and games right now, why? because i can get a ps3, a 360 and a wii and still have money for good games.

People justify the pc cost by saying well you can do other things you cant do on consoles, like what? I could just put linux on a ps3 and browse the web and download, i could also buy the hd-dvd add on for the 360 to augment the ps3s blu ray playback and i can have just as much multimedia fun, and play the latest games for half the cost of what a pc would be.

Once HD media drives come down in price and you can get a graphics card that outperforms 360/ps3 for half the price it is now, its just not a good time to be a pc gamer, in my opinion..

But what do i know ive only been pc gaming for about 10 years.

Yes pcs are better, the graphics are better, but they are not cheaper at the moment, yes the cost can be justified sometimes.

You know, I'm reading this guy's article and he raises a lot of good points which the console fanboys could really stand to listen to. The thing is, there are console fanboys who would have you believe that PC gaming will cost you more than your new car and is either ridiculously expensive or ridiculously complicated - neither of which is really the case. On the other hand, there are PC fans who look at the difficulties/costs of PC gaming and put it in an overly gentle light - they're optimists to an excessive degree.

To some extent, the guy in this article is like that. My mom could install a graphics card? HA! No. My mom has trouble finding the power switch on a computer (last time I said this, people told me she was stupid - she's involved in local poltics, university educated, well read, could trump most of the people describing her as stupid on an IQ test - just compute illiterate). The unfortunate truth is, there are a lot of people who are like her, who don't know how a file system works.

It's not just older people either. I had always assumed that kids of this generation would be very computer savvy... Well, a lot of them are, but there's a side to that which you don't realize. I was talking to my sister about growing up with computers (she works with computers, and she's pretty damned good with them), and how I'd guess that her kids doing a fair bit on the PC would lead to them having the kind of general computer competency that her and I have. She was telling me that her kids basically couldn't work out of the forrthright Windows framework, and couldn't do squat without a wizard guiding them a long - why? Because they had never had to deal with something like DOS where you needed some idea of what was going on under the hood to get something to work. Windows does most of the stuff for them, and as a result, they've learned nothing but how to click "YES." When I look at the way I work with my PC, I copy files from disks, change drive paths so things won't run without the CD, roll back to older drivers so I can play AvP on my machine (bloody Nvidia is ignoring the problem :pi, I've upgraded pieces of it... But kids like my sisters, who use computers for hours a day? They may be able to find you all of your favorite albums on Limewire in about 10 seconds, but ask them to partition a hard drive? Good luck.

For a lot of people spanning a lot of age-groups, the only really viable option is buying that premium Rig this guy was talking about... Picking up a Dell for $1050 and then installing a new graphics card? There is a *huge* portion of the gamer/would-be-game who are going to look at a suggestion like that and say "Whoa there - I have to spend $1050 and then install some card into its guts just to get it to play games decently? Screw that, I'm buying an XBOX." A lot of these people aren't stupid or even particularly lazy - it's just, to them, a gaming unit is something that's like a VCR. You stick the game in and play it. There are inexpensive alternatives which do this, and you don't have to worry about for years to come after you buy them. The relative hassle of getting one to work over the other is quite a magnitude apart. Having to install virus and spyware software on their gaming machine? Another hassle, another added complexity. When their games start chugging because of all that junk software that ends up running in the background when an inexperienced user spends a few months/years on a machine? They'll have no idea what's going on - all they'll know is that when they start up Half-Life 2, it takes twice as long to load and the game stutters when the action gets intense now.

Projects like that "Get your girlfriend to build a PC?" That's nice, but for a huge portion of the gaming market, that's a lot of time and effort which could be spent elsewhere - not to mention that he marked that project with a $1500 price tag. The $800 budget PC which allows you to crank up the settings on (his words) "not every new game, just most of them"? Two years down the road, a budget PC like that is going to be struggling to play what's new, if it even can, and again the PC gamer will be left with another $800 bill or more stumbling around in the machine's guts to make piecemeal upgrades. For a huge portion of the population, the time, effort, and money of PC gaming just doesn't make sense - spending a few hundred on a console and then forgetting the bloody thing exists for five years does.

I'm a PC gamer. I started being eatern by grues, went on to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I've played and loved Tribes and Mechwarriors and Bioware/Black Isle RPGs, Total Annihilations and Starcrafts, and I will never stop PC gaming... But I started console gaming a while after I started on the PC and frankly, I enjoy it. Now, I travel a lot, and I can't bring a desktop with me - but I can fit a 360 and a panel monitor in a suitcase and bring that and a laptop on the road. Cheap PC gaming is not an option for me, and I'm becoming increasingly aware of the woes of the usual gamer who says "I can't get into PC gaming for this, that, and the other reason."

I usually do nothing but troll in here, but I've made this post in earnest. I love PC gaming, but this is how I see it - PC gaming isn't for everyone. It's not nearly as hard as console fanboys make it out to be, but some PC gamers have become pretty disconnected from the general would-be-gamer audience out there, and fail to realize that all the stuff which is pretty simple for people like me and you is a huge hurdle to overcome. It's not because (I've heard this so many times) the peole who are interested in the gaming are stupid... They probably could learn this stuff, but they really don't care about it - they want their gaming machine to just work, and the hassles associated with PC gaming (particularly PC gaming affordably) just aren't worth the effort when there are viable alternatives.

Meh, that's a lot of writing. I doubt I'll respond to this - I know some guys in this forum will come in and have a field day on a post like this, but, that's the nature of fanboyism.

Good article, atleast most of it anyway. Made quite a few good points

@Aftershater : Pc Gaming is really not that dificult for most pople who are used to PCs, only probelm imo is first getting started and doing the extra stuff initially. after that soon most of it will all seem no effort at all. This is not just what i feel now, but what I realized when I was about 13 years old and first started pc gaming

[QUOTE="Lonelynight"][QUOTE="TimeToPartyHard"][QUOTE="Velocitas8"]

[QUOTE="TimeToPartyHard"]Another PC gaming is better because console gamers are uneducated and don't realize the glory that is PC gaming. *yawn*TimeToPartyHard

Oh? It seems you have the wrong thread.

Hardly.The point of the article is to debunk myths most gamers believe because they don't know any better, and each point made is made to show the superiority of PCs over consoles, or at the lowest points, that they are equal. The Hermits on this site are overly paranoid for some reason. It's like you're all on some witch hunt for everyone that doesn't praise the PC as the messiah of gaming.

No they are only stating facts :P

They are facts to some degree. But PC's "facts" are goofy anyway. See ZIMdoom's post. But the use of those facts is questionable. It's an article by another paranoid hermit defending PC when it clearly doesn't need it, which you can see by reading most of this thread. PC has a lot of support, and a lot of critics, as do consoles. If hermits can't learn to deal with being critisized they probably shouldn't be using their PC for forums.

Actually it kinda does need it, because console fanboys are still woefully ignorant of the truth of PC gaming.

I can not understand this difficulty people are mentioning when it comes to PC gaming. All you have to do is

1) Insert Disk, and install

2) Visit the Game website for the latest patch (or Google it) and download the patch.

3) Run the patch... and you are ready to go.

4) In the minute chance that you experiece a problem, go to the site forum and there will be lots of people willing to help you with your problem.

Now, I am guessing that everyone on this forum, has infact installed a software before, used google to search on the web and generally knows how to surf the web and download stuff. So my question is which of those stages are so difficult to do that people think PC gaming is hard?

As for hardware, I often see people posting here how the PS3 is more powerful than the 360 because of its processor, or how 360 uses its ram differently than the PS3. If console owners can take the time to find out the hardware of the 360 and PS3, how can they say they find it difficult to find out about PC hardware?

PC gaming, as a whole, is a flawed experience.

All the little problems and nuances may not amount to much on their own, but together, they can really bring you to tears. The steep initial cost, hardware redundancy, technical issues, patching, and whatever else, all amount to fustrations and time consumption some people aren't willing to spend. Its all subjective: am I happy fiddling with the graphics options to find what runs smoothly, or would I rather have that sorted out from the get go? Am I happy spending a few days organising and construction a PC or would I rather pick up a console and plugging it in, good to go?

I think PC enthusiasts fail to see the other side of the coin because they fail to notice what PC skeptics do: the little details that eat away at the overall experience. They've dealt with such things for so long its like second nature to them, and they fail to grasp the mindset of a person who prefers "out the disc in and play" gaming.

Apples for some, Oranges for others.

You know, I'm reading this guy's article and he raises a lot of good points which the console fanboys could really stand to listen to. The thing is, there are console fanboys who would have you believe that PC gaming will cost you more than your new car and is either ridiculously expensive or ridiculously complicated - neither of which is really the case. On the other hand, there are PC fans who look at the difficulties/costs of PC gaming and put it in an overly gentle light - they're optimists to an excessive degree.

To some extent, the guy in this article is like that. My mom could install a graphics card? HA! No. My mom has trouble finding the power switch on a computer (last time I said this, people told me she was stupid - she's involved in local poltics, university educated, well read, could trump most of the people describing her as stupid on an IQ test - just compute illiterate). The unfortunate truth is, there are a lot of people who are like her, who don't know how a file system works.

It's not just older people either. I had always assumed that kids of this generation would be very computer savvy... Well, a lot of them are, but there's a side to that which you don't realize. I was talking to my sister about growing up with computers (she works with computers, and she's pretty damned good with them), and how I'd guess that her kids doing a fair bit on the PC would lead to them having the kind of general computer competency that her and I have. She was telling me that her kids basically couldn't work out of the forrthright Windows framework, and couldn't do squat without a wizard guiding them a long - why? Because they had never had to deal with something like DOS where you needed some idea of what was going on under the hood to get something to work. Windows does most of the stuff for them, and as a result, they've learned nothing but how to click "YES." When I look at the way I work with my PC, I copy files from disks, change drive paths so things won't run without the CD, roll back to older drivers so I can play AvP on my machine (bloody Nvidia is ignoring the problem :pi, I've upgraded pieces of it... But kids like my sisters, who use computers for hours a day? They may be able to find you all of your favorite albums on Limewire in about 10 seconds, but ask them to partition a hard drive? Good luck.

For a lot of people spanning a lot of age-groups, the only really viable option is buying that premium Rig this guy was talking about... Picking up a Dell for $1050 and then installing a new graphics card? There is a *huge* portion of the gamer/would-be-game who are going to look at a suggestion like that and say "Whoa there - I have to spend $1050 and then install some card into its guts just to get it to play games decently? Screw that, I'm buying an XBOX." A lot of these people aren't stupid or even particularly lazy - it's just, to them, a gaming unit is something that's like a VCR. You stick the game in and play it. There are inexpensive alternatives which do this, and you don't have to worry about for years to come after you buy them. The relative hassle of getting one to work over the other is quite a magnitude apart. Having to install virus and spyware software on their gaming machine? Another hassle, another added complexity. When their games start chugging because of all that junk software that ends up running in the background when an inexperienced user spends a few months/years on a machine? They'll have no idea what's going on - all they'll know is that when they start up Half-Life 2, it takes twice as long to load and the game stutters when the action gets intense now.

Projects like that "Get your girlfriend to build a PC?" That's nice, but for a huge portion of the gaming market, that's a lot of time and effort which could be spent elsewhere - not to mention that he marked that project with a $1500 price tag. The $800 budget PC which allows you to crank up the settings on (his words) "not every new game, just most of them"? Two years down the road, a budget PC like that is going to be struggling to play what's new, if it even can, and again the PC gamer will be left with another $800 bill or more stumbling around in the machine's guts to make piecemeal upgrades. For a huge portion of the population, the time, effort, and money of PC gaming just doesn't make sense - spending a few hundred on a console and then forgetting the bloody thing exists for five years does.

I'm a PC gamer. I started being eatern by grues, went on to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I've played and loved Tribes and Mechwarriors and Bioware/Black Isle RPGs, Total Annihilations and Starcrafts, and I will never stop PC gaming... But I started console gaming a while after I started on the PC and frankly, I enjoy it. Now, I travel a lot, and I can't bring a desktop with me - but I can fit a 360 and a panel monitor in a suitcase and bring that and a laptop on the road. Cheap PC gaming is not an option for me, and I'm becoming increasingly aware of the woes of the usual gamer who says "I can't get into PC gaming for this, that, and the other reason."

I usually do nothing but troll in here, but I've made this post in earnest. I love PC gaming, but this is how I see it - PC gaming isn't for everyone. It's not nearly as hard as console fanboys make it out to be, but some PC gamers have become pretty disconnected from the general would-be-gamer audience out there, and fail to realize that all the stuff which is pretty simple for people like me and you is a huge hurdle to overcome. It's not because (I've heard this so many times) the peole who are interested in the gaming are stupid... They probably could learn this stuff, but they really don't care about it - they want their gaming machine to just work, and the hassles associated with PC gaming (particularly PC gaming affordably) just aren't worth the effort when there are viable alternatives.

Meh, that's a lot of writing. I doubt I'll respond to this - I know some guys in this forum will come in and have a field day on a post like this, but, that's the nature of fanboyism.

AfterShafter

The article was about myths that the overwhelming majority of console only gamers go on and on and on about. The article is not an anti-console piece, which I can tell gets on some people's nerves that take offense to reading some of the points. The article is also not suggesting that PC Gaming is for everyone, nor has anyone suggested it is. What is true is that anybody can get into it if their heart so desires, and you don't have to be rich or a rocket scientist either. Besides, it's not a black and white issue. A lot of PC Gamers are console gamers too, it's usually the non-pc gaming types that find it necessary to spread fud around about PC gaming.

PC gaming, as a whole, is a flawed experience.

All the little problems and nuances may not amount to much on their own, but together, they can really bring you to tears. The steep initial cost, hardware redundancy, technical issues, patching, and whatever else, all amount to fustrations and time consumption some people aren't willing to spend. Its all subjective: am I happy fiddling with the graphics options to find what runs smoothly, or would I rather have that sorted out from the get go? Am I happy spending a few days organising and construction a PC or would I rather pick up a console and plugging it in, good to go?

I think PC enthusiasts fail to see the other side of the coin because they fail to notice what PC skeptics do: the little details that eat away at the overall experience. They've dealt with such things for so long its like second nature to them, and they fail to grasp the mindset of a person who prefers "out the disc in and play" gaming.

Apples for some, Oranges for others.

KirbyFan10101

Yes, things can go wrong, but most of the time the experience is great, just ask any PC Gamer. It's not a flawed experience, it's a cutom experience that a lot of people prefer. Installing drivers or spending a few extra minutes tweaking the settings of a game is far from bringing about tears, come on. In order to have a different experience in gaming, like the hardware and software modding community, extra steps are needed, that's just the way it is. Far too often people paint an ugly picture with PC gaming, and it's mostly exaggerated.

PC gaming, as a whole, is a flawed experience.

All the little problems and nuances may not amount to much on their own, but together, they can really bring you to tears. The steep initial cost, hardware redundancy, technical issues, patching, and whatever else, all amount to fustrations and time consumption some people aren't willing to spend. Its all subjective: am I happy fiddling with the graphics options to find what runs smoothly, or would I rather have that sorted out from the get go? Am I happy spending a few days organising and construction a PC or would I rather pick up a console and plugging it in, good to go?

I think PC enthusiasts fail to see the other side of the coin because they fail to notice what PC skeptics do: the little details that eat away at the overall experience. They've dealt with such things for so long its like second nature to them, and they fail to grasp the mindset of a person who prefers "out the disc in and play" gaming.

Apples for some, Oranges for others.

KirbyFan10101

do you really thing pc gamers weren't always pc gamers? at some time most of them knew as little as anybody else regarding pc gaming. it's because for most pc gamers its not that much of a deal, when you start pc gaming, although initially it may seem quite intimidating

do you really thing pc gamers weren't always pc gamers? at some time most of them knew as little as anybody else regarding pc gaming. it's because for most pc gamers its not that much of a deal, when you start pc gaming, although initially it may seem quite intimidating

naval

I'm not intimidated by anything PC related. In my prime I was fiddling with my PC's bios to push the most out of my old GeForce 4200, making my own maps and doing all sorts of overinstalls with mods and whatever else. The learning curve for these things is steep, but what always sticks is the time investment.

[QUOTE="naval"]

do you really thing pc gamers weren't always pc gamers? at some time most of them knew as little as anybody else regarding pc gaming. it's because for most pc gamers its not that much of a deal, when you start pc gaming, although initially it may seem quite intimidating

KirbyFan10101

I'm not intimidated by anything PC related. In my prime I was fiddling with my PC's bios to push the most out of my old GeForce 4200, making my own maps and doing all sorts of overinstalls with mods and whatever else. The learning curve for these things is steep, but what always sticks is the time investment.

c'mon its not that steep, if you don't want to mess with stuff like bios. and nowadays you can easily get help fromvarious forums.

You know, I'm reading this guy's article and he raises a lot of good points which the console fanboys could really stand to listen to. The thing is, there are console fanboys who would have you believe that PC gaming will cost you more than your new car and is either ridiculously expensive or ridiculously complicated - neither of which is really the case. On the other hand, there are PC fans who look at the difficulties/costs of PC gaming and put it in an overly gentle light - they're optimists to an excessive degree.

To some extent, the guy in this article is like that. My mom could install a graphics card? HA! No. My mom has trouble finding the power switch on a computer (last time I said this, people told me she was stupid - she's involved in local poltics, university educated, well read, could trump most of the people describing her as stupid on an IQ test - just compute illiterate). The unfortunate truth is, there are a lot of people who are like her, who don't know how a file system works.

It's not just older people either. I had always assumed that kids of this generation would be very computer savvy... Well, a lot of them are, but there's a side to that which you don't realize. I was talking to my sister about growing up with computers (she works with computers, and she's pretty damned good with them), and how I'd guess that her kids doing a fair bit on the PC would lead to them having the kind of general computer competency that her and I have. She was telling me that her kids basically couldn't work out of the forrthright Windows framework, and couldn't do squat without a wizard guiding them a long - why? Because they had never had to deal with something like DOS where you needed some idea of what was going on under the hood to get something to work. Windows does most of the stuff for them, and as a result, they've learned nothing but how to click "YES." When I look at the way I work with my PC, I copy files from disks, change drive paths so things won't run without the CD, roll back to older drivers so I can play AvP on my machine (bloody Nvidia is ignoring the problem :pi, I've upgraded pieces of it... But kids like my sisters, who use computers for hours a day? They may be able to find you all of your favorite albums on Limewire in about 10 seconds, but ask them to partition a hard drive? Good luck.

For a lot of people spanning a lot of age-groups, the only really viable option is buying that premium Rig this guy was talking about... Picking up a Dell for $1050 and then installing a new graphics card? There is a *huge* portion of the gamer/would-be-game who are going to look at a suggestion like that and say "Whoa there - I have to spend $1050 and then install some card into its guts just to get it to play games decently? Screw that, I'm buying an XBOX." A lot of these people aren't stupid or even particularly lazy - it's just, to them, a gaming unit is something that's like a VCR. You stick the game in and play it. There are inexpensive alternatives which do this, and you don't have to worry about for years to come after you buy them. The relative hassle of getting one to work over the other is quite a magnitude apart. Having to install virus and spyware software on their gaming machine? Another hassle, another added complexity. When their games start chugging because of all that junk software that ends up running in the background when an inexperienced user spends a few months/years on a machine? They'll have no idea what's going on - all they'll know is that when they start up Half-Life 2, it takes twice as long to load and the game stutters when the action gets intense now.

Projects like that "Get your girlfriend to build a PC?" That's nice, but for a huge portion of the gaming market, that's a lot of time and effort which could be spent elsewhere - not to mention that he marked that project with a $1500 price tag. The $800 budget PC which allows you to crank up the settings on (his words) "not every new game, just most of them"? Two years down the road, a budget PC like that is going to be struggling to play what's new, if it even can, and again the PC gamer will be left with another $800 bill or more stumbling around in the machine's guts to make piecemeal upgrades. For a huge portion of the population, the time, effort, and money of PC gaming just doesn't make sense - spending a few hundred on a console and then forgetting the bloody thing exists for five years does.

I'm a PC gamer. I started being eatern by grues, went on to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I've played and loved Tribes and Mechwarriors and Bioware/Black Isle RPGs, Total Annihilations and Starcrafts, and I will never stop PC gaming... But I started console gaming a while after I started on the PC and frankly, I enjoy it. Now, I travel a lot, and I can't bring a desktop with me - but I can fit a 360 and a panel monitor in a suitcase and bring that and a laptop on the road. Cheap PC gaming is not an option for me, and I'm becoming increasingly aware of the woes of the usual gamer who says "I can't get into PC gaming for this, that, and the other reason."

I usually do nothing but troll in here, but I've made this post in earnest. I love PC gaming, but this is how I see it - PC gaming isn't for everyone. It's not nearly as hard as console fanboys make it out to be, but some PC gamers have become pretty disconnected from the general would-be-gamer audience out there, and fail to realize that all the stuff which is pretty simple for people like me and you is a huge hurdle to overcome. It's not because (I've heard this so many times) the peole who are interested in the gaming are stupid... They probably could learn this stuff, but they really don't care about it - they want their gaming machine to just work, and the hassles associated with PC gaming (particularly PC gaming affordably) just aren't worth the effort when there are viable alternatives.

Meh, that's a lot of writing. I doubt I'll respond to this - I know some guys in this forum will come in and have a field day on a post like this, but, that's the nature of fanboyism.

AfterShafter

All right a field day!

//My mom could install a graphics card? HA! No. My mom has trouble finding the power switch on a computer (last time I said this, people told me she was stupid - she's involved in local poltics, university educated, well read, could trump most of the people describing her as stupid on an IQ test - just compute illiterate)//

My mom was the same way,she wascompletely scared of the pc, alsoauniversity grad and soon and so on,but after a year or two of hand holding, she has becomemore and more competent,andnow sheis a pc gamer :). Your mom probably could install a graphics card,it's just that you suck at teaching her how to use a computer and she will unfortunately never learn the experience.

//But kids like my sisters, who use computers for hours a day? They may be able to find you all of your favorite albums on Limewire in about 10 seconds, but ask them to partition a hard drive? Good luck.//

Bad example, Windows has a wizard for partitioning as well, not that you'll know, generally you don't have to partition hard drives all that much beyond initial setup.

//For a lot of people spanning a lot of age-groups, the only really viable option is buying that premium Rig this guy was talking about... Picking up a Dell for $1050 and then installing a new graphics card? There is a *huge* portion of the gamer/would-be-game who are going to look at a suggestion like that and say "Whoa there - I have to spend $1050 and then install some card into its guts just to get it to play games decently? Screw that, I'm buying an XBOX." //

The same thing could be said about the next gen consoles, Picking up a X360 for 400 bucks, then buying an HDTV? After all most average joes didn't have an HDTV on hand to hook up their next gen consoles to. The cost of entry in to the next gen for the most part is nearly equal to the cost of entry in PC gaming.

//For a huge portion of the population, the time, effort, and money of PC gaming just doesn't make sense - spending a few hundred on a console and then forgetting the bloody thing exists for five years does.//

You don't get the primary difference between PC gamers and Console gamers, do you? I shall explain it to you. The difference between PC gamers and console gamers are what they are desire, console gamers simply desire to be entertained, while PC gamers desire a hobby. For hobbies, time, effort and money is essentially meaningless for the consumer, and in terms of hobbies PC gaming is actually pretty cheap and productive, look at my dad, he spends as much money as a mid range video card on a small train engine that does little more than go around in circles and he has dozens of em, folks spend boatloads of money on cards, stamps, and coins that do little more than sit in books. What we hermits are trying to do is get folks to get involved in a hobby that console gaming only give a taste of. If you are content with your video games, fine, but don't go around spreading fud about what we do, or we'll be after you.

Yeah every single lemming, cow, and sheep needs to read this. It clearly shows everything that us PC gamers have been saying all along.MadExponent

[QUOTE="Lonelynight"][QUOTE="Fruuky"][QUOTE="Velocitas8"]

[QUOTE="Fruuky"]u pc guys should blame those guy who load the games off bittorent. those r the ones destroying pc gaming...Fruuky

orly? So basically you're saying "I didn't read the article?"

Besides, last I checked console game piracy, more specifically Xbox 360 game piracy, wasn't much better off than PC game piracy. Maybe you should get yourself up-to-date on these issues.

So I'm guessing your also the type of people that you need a $5000 PCs?

I have said this a few times. Its all about taste. Only thing that bothers me about PC gaming is the lack of games in the stores. And the lack of a used games section in gamestop. And I still cant get a DSL connection higher then 512.

But it does not keep me from playing Battlefield 2142.

I have said this a few times. Its all about taste. Only thing that bothers me about PC gaming is the lack of games in the stores. And the lack of a used games section in gamestop. And I still cant get a DSL connection higher then 512.

But it does not keep me from playing Battlefield 2142.

GabeBlack

Of course there is no used pc game section in gamestop. what are you going to do when you come home with that used game of UT2004, install it, and find out that you are unable to play because your cd-key is already used?

[QUOTE="Fruuky"]bs u can pull a console on ur tft any time. but what a waste to get that awesome pc rig on a little 19" tft. Velocitas8

Do you put any thought whatsoever in to your posts?

Another PC gaming is better because console gamers are uneducated and don't realize the glory that is PC gaming. *yawn*TimeToPartyHard

[QUOTE="Lonelynight"]

The point of this thread is to inform PC haters

ZIMdoom

While I don't hate the PC, I seem to fall into that category of people you feel need to be informed. Clearly it hasn't worked. I still will take Console gaming over PC gaming easy. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

It's an article by another paranoid hermit defending PC

TimeToPartyHard