Is the PC really the best gaming system?

[QUOTE="skilfulgary"][QUOTE="agpickle"]

We also play games that don't look too great without a problem too. The Mount and Blade games are quite terrible looking and are quite popular, I'd imagine if a game that looked like that released on consoles there would be a ****storm of complaining.

agpickle

What? That doesn't make any sense.

He's still under the mindset that only people that game on the PC care about visuals.

[QUOTE="jedikevin2"]

[QUOTE="GD1551"]

I suppose so but most PC gamers don't have such powerful rigs.

GD1551

Hmm? Where do you feel that? I cannot confirm or deny but what makes you think that? Remember, its fairly easy to have a rig that out performs a console. Considering those who I see in this forum, I would say most of the Pc gamers who make claims on graphics easily outperform the console hardware base on there sigs.

From the steam hardware survey. 8800GT is the most popular card still no and that's equal to consoles for BF3!

Isn't the 8800GT twice as fast as the PS3's GPU which is around equivalent of a 7900GT? With game optimizationsfor the PS3 and less CPU overhead on consoles than a PC, the PS3 doesn't need as powerful GPU as a PC to perform the same at the same graphics settings?

It seems to me it has recently become popular to think that the PC is far above any other gaming system and that it's only natural that it's the best gaming system.

But is it really? =Depends if can afford the high-end PC specs.

First off, we have look at things from different perspectives.

Sure, the PC has "potentially" the most power and is the most versatile.

After all, it's not only a gaming system (though, that doesn't matter in this particular case).

It also has the biggest game library of any other system, given that you are able to run those games (legally).

Likewise, the graphics are usually the best on the PC and it allows for modding and actual game development.

The openess and upgradability of the platform are certainly advantages (from a certain perspective).

The system also has a lot of it's own or atleast centric games which include entire game genres.

However, there are also certain disadvantages to this platform.

For example there is no standardization of the hardware which means that there will always be a big gap between the lowest-spec PCs and the highest-spec ones. = Its the same in life as we can the gap between poor and rich grows larger.

The average PC is surely not very powerful, altho systems built for gaming specifically tend to have better performance. = i think you're very wrong, in 2011 an mid range or average pc is powerful.

There is also no real standardization on the software (appart from "Games for Windows" label which ensures Windows compatibility), meaning that a lot of PC games get released in incomplete states, are buggy, unstable, ect.

Hardware prices are also pretty high and no matter how you try, the console will still be the cheaper system (appart from game prices). = Not right now.... since all the new i7's GTX 580 are coming to market, you can build an mid range PC that will perform better than console on multiplatform games. i.e Dragon Age: Origins, ME1, ME2, Half-Life 2, Fallout 3, The Elders Scroll IV: Obvilion, Crysis 1. I don't know how much the consoles cost in the U.S or Europe or Asia, but in Australia a PS3 cost $348 (and that's just recent, when it 1st released it cost $995, then couple years went down to $600, $400). With that price (+- $100) you can buy a mid range PC

Intel CORE i3 2120/3.30GHz/3MB CACHE/LGA1155 $143

Asus P8H67-M V3 MB, Socket 1155, Intel H67 Chipset, 4x DDR3 $125

GIGABYTE GV-N550OC-1GI GTX550,1G,DDR5,192BIT,HDMI,DVI,ATX,DX11 $150

There is also a need to frequently upgrade the hardware, unless one does not have high demands.

And finaly there are games (and even game genres) which do not get a PC release or come with delay on the PC (altho the same can be said in the other direction too). = That is very true. These days even once PC exclusive companies are making their games for PS3, Xbox 360. i.e Rage. Which the PC version sucked!

Conclusion: the PC is a very good gaming system with "potentially" best hardware, the biggest game library, the most options and "potentially" best graphics, but may not satisfy everyone's gaming needs or taste. = Nice point :)

Potentially it is. In the end it's the games that count. Consider if almost every game you want to play is on PC, here's some points as to why it's such a good system to play games on:

• Numerous control schemes from joysticks, PS3 pads, Xbox pads, Wiiomotes and the regular M/KB
• Better sound quality. (I use an ASUS Xonar with Sennheiser headphones)
• Moddability (you have access to the file system, so games can be modified)
• More graphical power (games look much much better due to higher rendering resolutions and newer API support
• More processing power (Games load faster, have less stuttering and can have more things happening at once)
• Solid state disc drives (550MB per second read speeds mean games load ultra fast.)
• Support for faster ethernet connections (not positive about this but I believe the consoles won't allow speeds of 100Mbps and the like)
• All on one machine (you have your library of videos, games, music, web browser, email, messengers, skype and more all on the one machine, in the one place. You can just sit down and have everything you need right there and at fast speeds)
• Upgrade and repair (need more power somewhere, just upgrade. Need something fixed? Usually do it yourself. As I type this, my PC is running off of 2 PSUs because my main one is almost dead and I'm waiting on a new one to be delivered. You can also add things like TV cards to your system)

[QUOTE="GD1551"]

[QUOTE="jedikevin2"]

Hmm? Where do you feel that? I cannot confirm or deny but what makes you think that? Remember, its fairly easy to have a rig that out performs a console. Considering those who I see in this forum, I would say most of the Pc gamers who make claims on graphics easily outperform the console hardware base on there sigs.

DJP3000

From the steam hardware survey. 8800GT is the most popular card still no and that's equal to consoles for BF3!

Isn't the 8800GT twice as fast as the PS3's GPU which is around equivalent of a 7900GT? With game optimizationsfor the PS3 and less CPU overhead on consoles than a PC, the PS3 doesn't need as powerful GPU as a PC to perform the same at the same graphics settings?

[QUOTE="04dcarraher"]

[QUOTE="GD1551"]

We all know consoles don't work like that. Consoles don't brute force like PC does.

ianuilliam

[QUOTE="jedikevin2"]

sort of defeats? A bit confused on that one.. Just a FYI.... you can still play things far high in graphical conent, framerate, still be far over console resolution and not playing things so called "MAXXEd out". Don't understand your statement at all. The purpose of a gaming Pc is NOT to play games Maxxed out. Its to be able to play games at a HIgh graphical content. That may or may not depict MAXXED out 32xAA etc graphics.

Infact, I stated this in another thread but this is many reasons people play on PC:

• Multi screen immersion
• Use of a variety of controls on many games (huge variety of racing wheels, flight sticks, controllers from consoles etc)
• Huge backlog of games
• Not held to a console generation standard
• Many games legally 100% free
• Many old games still have nice game communities
• Price of many games release slightly to significantly cheaper on release.
• Do not need to go to my tv and insert any disc to start a game (HDTV connected to PC)
• Sales galore (d2d, steam, green man gaming, etc etc huge preorder sales and coupon codes on New releases, special sales weeks etc)
• Mods, custom maps by communities, special settings etc etc.
• Set game controls to my liking even if the game does not provide everything I want to change.
• More games with dedicated servers.
• Pure simulators in Racing and flying
• Higher Graphical content (AA, Resolution, Depth of field, physics, particle effects, textures)
• Extreme amount of highly rated games
• Every game genre can be found on PC.
• The fusion of multiple genre's inside a game (red orchestra 2, natural selection 2 beta, nuclear dawn RPG fps aspects etc)
• Ability to play multiple games, watch tv, web surf etc all at the same time.
• Overall freedom of a open ended platform.

GD1551

He asked why can't PC play at console settings and there not be a double standard, I was just explaining to him why it I thought it was like that. BTW the red on this is just padding, none of that is really deal breakers, especially the sales thing since you can rent or borrow console games.

Here is the proof!

GD1551

Well I think PC gaming is the way of the future (at least until new consoles arrive). I still play my Xbox 360 and PS3 on occasion but I got tired of the same graphics and slow loading times compared to my PC. I like having the freedom of choice to buy digital copies instead of going to the store and to mod many of those games with additional content that I couldnt get on a console. L4D2 is an excellent example as there are TONS of maps and mods available on PC but console players are stuck with what came on the disc and the updates from Valve. I feel like I get more value out of my games this way. I've got no hate for the consoles but just wish more people would give PC gaming a try, you might like it. :D