Is PC Gaming worth it?

Sandvich

I'm thinking about building a gaming rig as my current laptop struggles with Team Fortress 2(mostly due to optimisation issues on Valve's side, not my computer's specs which are decent).

But is it really worth it?

I'd be using it for playing Valve games, Bioware games, the odd first person shooter like Far Cry 2(which I have lying around)... and that's it. There are a lot of great PC games from a few years ago I missed out on, but since 2008 it's been more or less dead.

There's hardly anything since 2006 that's gotten over 90% on gamerankings... and few of these games interest me. At the same time I enjoy PC gaming and first person shooters(mostly).

With no sign of an Xbox 3 or Playstation 4, PC Gaming seems to be the best way to get a serious step up.

TinCool

No

Antar Bolaeisk

Doesn't cost very much to build a decentish gaming rig so I would say yes (just so long as you don't go for quad 5900s or something equally mad).

Also, any extra money spent over buying a console will be recouped on the Steam Sales!

Agricola

Its a subjective question. It depends on what you want from it. Personally I want the fastest frame rates and best graphics I can get. No console can give me that. I also own alot of FPS's and action RPG's and I just find that their true home is on PC. The control scheme is better and the PC allows for more immersive/complex gameplay, whereas alot of console games are dumbed down to suit hardware and control limitations.

Another reason to go for PC gaming is mods. Fallout 3 is a great example. The modding community have made that game unmissable. There are tonnes of amazing mods. Something you wont get with a console.

Finally, alot of people dislike PC gaming because of the cost of upgrades. But Id rather have the ability to spend some money on my gaming machine in order to get better performance. If I own a PS3, Im stuck with its graphical limitations for maybe a 7 year life cycle. Its up to the game devs to squeeze more and more out of it. But with a PC, if a new tech comes out, you can spend some money on some ram or a new gpu and you have access to games you normally wouldnt have. The control is in your hands.

gizmo

Sandvich wrote: »

But is it really worth it?

**** yes.

Sandvich

Agricola wrote: »

Its a subjective question. It depends on what you want from it. Personally I want the fastest frame rates and best graphics I can get. No console can give me that. I also own alot of FPS's and action RPG's and I just find that their true home is on PC. The control scheme is better and the PC allows for more immersive/complex gameplay, whereas alot of console games are dumbed down to suit hardware and control limitations.

Another reason to go for PC gaming is mods. Fallout 3 is a great example. The modding community have made that game unmissable. There are tonnes of amazing mods. Something you wont get with a console.

Finally, alot of people dislike PC gaming because of the cost of upgrades. But Id rather have the ability to spend some money on my gaming machine in order to get better performance. If I own a PS3, Im stuck with its graphical limitations for maybe a 7 year life cycle. Its up to the game devs to squeeze more and more out of it. But with a PC, if a new tech comes out, you can spend some money on some ram or a new gpu and you have access to games you normally wouldnt have. The control is in your hands.

I hadn't thought about mods. I wouldn't mind playing some Fallout 3 mods. What put me off that was the lack of playing past the end.

AlmightyCushion

Agricola wrote: »

Its a subjective question. It depends on what you want from it. Personally I want the fastest frame rates and best graphics I can get. No console can give me that. I also own alot of FPS's and action RPG's and I just find that their true home is on PC. The control scheme is better and the PC allows for more immersive/complex gameplay, whereas alot of console games are dumbed down to suit hardware and control limitations.

Another reason to go for PC gaming is mods. Fallout 3 is a great example. The modding community have made that game unmissable. There are tonnes of amazing mods. Something you wont get with a console.

Finally, alot of people dislike PC gaming because of the cost of upgrades. But Id rather have the ability to spend some money on my gaming machine in order to get better performance. If I own a PS3, Im stuck with its graphical limitations for maybe a 7 year life cycle. Its up to the game devs to squeeze more and more out of it. But with a PC, if a new tech comes out, you can spend some money on some ram or a new gpu and you have access to games you normally wouldnt have. The control is in your hands.

Upgrades aren't that big a deal any more. A decent dual core with 4GBs ram will probably last a while now. Plus my 4870 which is nearly 2 years old still runs every thing I throw at it @ 1920x1200.

NeoKubrick

Agricola wrote: »

the PC allows for more immersive/complex gameplay, whereas alot of console games are dumbed down to suit hardware and control limitations.

Er, no. That's what PC artfags might believe and cheer, but more fool anyone listening to a crowd who think graphics have a 1:1 relationship to game mechanics.


PC gaming is worth it and one of the main reasons is that the indie scene is great and you won't find that easily on consoles (XNA is a tiny baby step in the right direction).

SeantheMan

I think it is,

Because obviously what it offers is more than just a gaming machine. It's not a 1000 euro Wii..that just plays games.

With a High end PC, obviously you can play any game you wish, and revisit any old games and play them how they were meant to be played.
Obvlivion, Fallout, Bioshock, Far Cry, Crysis, COD all on high spec are magnificent.

Recent games have come out liek Starcraf2, MOH and COD7 are out soon too....L4D2 etc.

Obviously web browsing too....but then there is

Blu Ray players, Media Centre and any kind of additional programmes, video/photo editing , which is made much easier via High end PC

Not to mention emulators, where you can play all your favourite NES/MEGADRIVE/PS1/PS2/N64/GAMECUBE/DREAMCAST games

It is worth it in my opinion

Dcully

here are a lot of great PC games from a few years ago I missed out on, but since 2008 it's been more or less dead.

There's hardly anything since 2006 that's gotten over 90% on gamerankings... and few of these games interest me.

Since when did you take the likes of gamerankings as gospel?
I have far too many great games on pc right now.
On steam alone i have 40 odd,then theres the retail boxed ones,add in the MMO`s and subscription based games,also the countless really good free to play games,then once you consider the never ending world of mods nothing can compare with a pc for gaming.

There are literally millions of mods out there that most never hear of,some crap ofcourse but some excellent.
You will only ever find out oabout these mods when you check out the particular games`community etc.

Forgot to mention how much better games look on pc compared to console.
Yes its worth it.

As for upgrading so often, thats an ancient myth nowadays and something console fanboys throw about the place without knowing wtf they are talking about,its simply not true.
Right now mt gaming pc is close on 3 years old, its a Q6600 quad core,8 gig DDR,Ati 4870 1gig,2X500 Gb samsung spinsoft HD.
The only thing i upgraded in 3 years is the gfx card which i got for 170 euros on overclockers,one upgrade in 3 years and this pc can play any game out there at maximum settings with 60+ fps.

humanji

A console can't alt-tab to porn.

gizmo

NeoKubrick wrote: »

PC gaming is worth it and one of the main reasons is that the indie scene is great and you won't find that easily on consoles (XNA is a tiny baby step in the right direction).

That comment is only relevant in countries like Ireland where we don't have access to the Indie Store yet.

death1234567

Sandvich wrote: »

my current laptop struggles with Team Fortress 2(mostly due to optimisation issues on Valve's side, not my computer's specs which are decent).

Team fortress two is far from a resource hog (its 3 years old), if your laptop cant run it properly I doubt that has anything to do with Valve.

But is it really worth it?

One word, StarCraft 2.

/Close thread.

ShadowHearth

humanji wrote: »

A console can't alt-tab to porn.

+1. Or if you smart like me and have 2xmonitors, you can play games on one and watch porn on ather one! FULL OF WIN!

Now seriuosly. PC GAMING is allways worth it, its just lazy people are afraid of mouse+keyboard.

You can buy a decent gaming rig for really decent money. It went really cheap these days. i bought my gaming rig 2.5 years ago, and i play all games on max settings (allmoust). Now you can buy same spec rig for 500-600eu and it will still play any game out there!

Its worth it, it allways was, just ireland has sooooooooooooooooo many lazy people... they just cant take 3 mins to learn how to install the game...

After you learn how to play FPS with mouse+keyboard, you will newer ever return to crapy controllers.

Agricola

NeoKubrick wrote: »

Er, no. That's what PC artfags might believe and cheer, but more fool anyone listening to a crowd who think graphics have a 1:1 relationship to game mechanics.

Really?

Dragon Age Origins. 360 v PC

Xbox version does'nt have the over head view, full isometric/tactical view where you can pull yourself out of the action and see more of the field.

Xbox version's combat is different. The Xbox can't support as many enemies on screen as the PC version can. Battles can be seen as easier.

Xbox's normal mode does not have friendly fire where the PC version does.

PC version you can multi-select companions and direct them to do the same thing, you can't on the console.

Xbox characters have to be manually driven to certain areas and can't just be ordered there like on the PC.

Im not knocking consoles. I grew up on them. Some of my fondest memories are of console games. But now more than ever, the PC can and regularly does offer a more rewarding experience on a number of different levels, not just for pure graphical grunt.

gizmo

Agricola wrote: »

Really?

Dragon Age Origins. 360 v PC

Xbox version does'nt have the over head view, full isometric/tactical view where you can pull yourself out of the action and see more of the field.

Xbox version's combat is different. The Xbox can't support as many enemies on screen as the PC version can. Battles can be seen as easier.

Xbox's normal mode does not have friendly fire where the PC version does.

PC version you can multi-select companions and direct them to do the same thing, you can't on the console.

Xbox characters have to be manually driven to certain areas and can't just be ordered there like on the PC.

Im not knocking consoles. I grew up on them. Some of my fondest memories are of console games. But now more than ever, the PC can and regularly does offer a more rewarding experience on a number of different levels, not just for pure graphical grunt.

Most of which is now being cut in the PC version of DA2

po0k

OT: yes

It is the 'do anything' platform, always has been.
Consoles are definately the mainstream, but then plebs don't know any better.

wayne040576

Agricola wrote: »

Really?

Dragon Age Origins. 360 v PC

Xbox version does'nt have the over head view, full isometric/tactical view where you can pull yourself out of the action and see more of the field.

Xbox version's combat is different. The Xbox can't support as many enemies on screen as the PC version can. Battles can be seen as easier.

Xbox's normal mode does not have friendly fire where the PC version does.

PC version you can multi-select companions and direct them to do the same thing, you can't on the console.

Xbox characters have to be manually driven to certain areas and can't just be ordered there like on the PC.

You forgot to mention that the pc version suffers from horrible memory leaks meaning the game becomes unplayable after about an hour due to load times and slowdown.

I still haven't been able to play it that much. I installed 1.04 the other day hoping it will solve some of the memory leaks. Haven't tried it yet.

Sandvich

humanji wrote: »

A console can't alt-tab to porn.

Actually, a console can leave your PC free for having it up permanently. No more dicking around with Valve's ****ty alt+tab bugs.

Gummy Panda

wayne040576 wrote: »

You forgot to mention that the pc version suffers from horrible memory leaks meaning the game becomes unplayable after about an hour due to load times and slowdown.

I still haven't been able to play it that much. I installed 1.04 the other day hoping it will solve some of the memory leaks. Haven't tried it yet.

I never suffered that on mine. My copy is steam version

Sandvich

death1234567 wrote: »

Team fortress two is far from a resource hog (its 3 years old), if your laptop cant run it properly I doubt that has anything to do with Valve.

One word, StarCraft 2.

/Close thread.

Sorry, but it is. Team Fortress 2 is well known for it's mysterious optimisation issues. People will better rigs than others run it much worse. It is a problem on Valve's end, they'd just rather chase "cheaters" and add more particle ****e(thus making it worse) than figure out the problem.

I've seen enough threads on this on steampowered to know it's a problem on Valve's end.

Sandvich

Nobody's really given me all that many examples of games I haven't already played yet

Assuring me it's okay without examples is not too reassuring.

wayne040576

Gummy Panda wrote: »

I never suffered that on mine. My copy is steam version

It's a fairly widespread problem with the game.

http://www.google.ie/search?rlz=1C1GGLS_enIE307IE311&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=dragon+age+memory++leaks

Drives me mad every time I try to play. The loading screens can be 2 -3 mins each time.
Framerate drops to unplayable levels as well.

chrabo

YES FOR PC GAMING

leave xbox 360 and playstation for kids.

its easy to make nice set check
komplett.ie
u can do something like i have for 600eu on AMD athlone 2 x4 4gbd ddr2 and radeon 4870 u can play all games on high details easy. OFC 4870 u cant buy now, but 5770 will be ok.

Auvers

PC is for FPS, RPG, RTS and MMO games (World of Tanks is brilliant btw) & mouse keyboard control

Console for Driving/Football games as I cant play FPS games on a console because those awful control pads

Jazzy

gizmo wrote: »

Most of which is now being cut in the PC version of DA2

...................................................................

Cuddlesworth

Sandvich wrote: »

Sorry, but it is. Team Fortress 2 is well known for it's mysterious optimisation issues. People will better rigs than others run it much worse. It is a problem on Valve's end, they'd just rather chase "cheaters" and add more particle ****e(thus making it worse) than figure out the problem.

I've seen enough threads on this on steampowered to know it's a problem on Valve's end.

Never seen or heard of this. Because of the way games interact with machines, outside of basic OS or driver issues any small scale issue would be due to a external factor outside of their control. Valves games have been very orientated towards optimisation on low end systems.

Sandvich

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Never seen or heard of this. Because of the way games interact with machines, outside of basic OS or driver issues any small scale issue would be due to a external factor outside of their control. Valves games have been very orientated towards optimisation on low end systems.

No, they haven't. I don't know where you even get this impression. TF2 isn't optimised for lower spec machines. It works on systems with sub-par GPUs, but the Source engine is CPU bound, not GPU bound. The early versions of TF2 were fairly optimised and could run on most machines. The laptop I had when I first played it was definitely inferior(on paper anyway) to the one i had now, and it ran much better. Now it's a complete mess. It gets slower every update.

I very much doubt it's an external factor outside of their control. Fact is there's not been a single optimisation related update(bar one regarding the netcode, which made no difference to me, it's still ****).

The fact that Left 4 Dead 2 runs slightly better despite the hordes of Zombies shows it obviously is something within their control. Though honestly that could be improved too.

Threads like these are very common:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-966206.html
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-990179.html

Note this quote -

People with rigs that are 3-4 old can sometimes run the game better than unlucky people with top of the line setups. This is valve's version of "optimization" I guess.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1034316



There was a really long thread on steampowered but I can't seem to find it.

Retr0gamer

If you have a laptop that can't run Team Fortress 2 then you need to get one that wasn't bought when dinosars roamed the earth. I've a piece of **** machine that's getting on 6 years old that runs it fine.

Maybe it's just me but TF2 is such a low spec game I can't really see how there's performance issues.

Sandvich

Retr0gamer wrote: »

If you have a laptop that can't run Team Fortress 2 then you need to get one that wasn't bought when dinosars roamed the earth. I've a piece of **** machine that's getting on 6 years old that runs it fine.

Dude, are you paying attention to what I'm saying at all? Read this comment:

People with rigs that are 3-4 old can sometimes run the game better than unlucky people with top of the line setups. This is valve's version of "optimization" I guess.

You've no idea how much comments like the one you just made make me want to punch Gabe's face in. Please don't. I've been through this hundreds of times and the issues are definitely on Valve's side. This is a very common issue, and nobody's solved it.

TF2's particle engine code is partly the culprit. It's horrible bloated. People have turned it off client side and it makes a huge difference. However it counts as a "cheat" to interfere as the particle engine... Valve are douchebags.

Cuddlesworth

Sandvich wrote: »

No, they haven't. I don't know where you even get this impression. TF2 isn't optimised for lower spec machines. It works on systems with sub-par GPUs, but the Source engine is CPU bound, not GPU bound. The early versions of TF2 were fairly optimised and could run on most machines. The laptop I had when I first played it was definitely inferior(on paper anyway) to the one i had now, and it ran much better. Now it's a complete mess. It gets slower every update.

I very much doubt it's an external factor outside of their control. Fact is there's not been a single optimisation related update(bar one regarding the netcode, which made no difference to me, it's still ****).

The fact that Left 4 Dead 2 runs slightly better despite the hordes of Zombies shows it obviously is something within their control. Though honestly that could be improved too.

Threads like these are very common:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-966206.html
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-990179.html

Note this quote -

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1034316



There was a really long thread on steampowered but I can't seem to find it.

I can't see anybody doing any actual troubleshooting, just complaining. Like I said that sort of performance issue would be outside of the Valves control. I would have expected bios upgrades, antivirus removal, OS changes, reinstalls, changes to windows power settings, disabling thermal management/power-saver settings in the bios and driver updates other then the graphics cards. Using a second monitor, checking out resource manager and process explorer while the game is running to check out is there anything happening.

Sandvich

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

I can't see anybody doing any actual troubleshooting, just complaining. Like I said that sort of performance issue would be outside of the Valves control. I would have expected bios upgrades, antivirus removal, OS changes, reinstalls, changes to windows power settings, disabling thermal management/power-saver settings in the bios and driver updates other then the graphics cards. Using a second monitor, checking out resource manager and process explorer while the game is running to check out is there anything happening.

Well, there are lengthy threads that have troubleshooted this and a couple of the people in that thread have said they've tried just about everything.

I don't know why some people have to be so obnoxious as to always presume it's the fault of the person with the issues.

It's bull**** to say that it's outside of Valve's control, when people are clearly able to run much more recent games at good settings without FPS issues. The issue clearly TF2. It's only when a majority of games aren't running correctly that you can blame it on the system configuration, because clearly other devs don't have the same issues Valve do getting their game to work on more systems without random performance issues.

Dcully

wayne040576 wrote: »

You forgot to mention that the pc version suffers from horrible memory leaks meaning the game becomes unplayable after about an hour due to load times and slowdown.

I still haven't been able to play it that much. I installed 1.04 the other day hoping it will solve some of the memory leaks. Haven't tried it yet.

Never had that issue with my version, i have the boxed retail version.

Console for Driving

The pc has a massive driving community, especially the simracing community.

ProjectColossus

On topic: Gaming on PCs is definetly worth it. I spend entirely too much time gaming on my laptop.

My games look great, better than the console equivelant in almost all cases, bearing in mind that I'm on a 16 month old laptop.

Keyboard + mouse works better in any games I care to play, and even then, I can plug in a 360 controller which I did for Dead Space.

I'm currently playing through Fallout 3 again, having gotten the GOTY edition. I have access to plenty of mods, and more importantly for me, the developer console. You don't get that on a PS3 or Xbox as far as I am aware.

Games are usually cheaper. Multiplayer is free. PS3 has that right in fairness. Microsoft can cram it with walnuts though.

Somewhat off topic:
I really really like Valve, they produce fantastic games. I haven't been playing TF2 as much lately and even still I have about 270 hours played. I have no issues what so ever playing TF2, nor did I on my previous machine. But, it has to be said that a lot of people are having issues that are unusual and have so far remained unresolved. People on high end hardware are getting low fps with no explanation, and the particle engine is killing some machines. Sandviches points are valid.

In the cases where old machines are not running the game well (excluding the somewhat rare cases of problems with high end machines), that's par for the course with PC gaming really though. Even then, Valve games tend to run well, for longer.

Sandvich wrote: »

Actually, a console can leave your PC free for having it up permanently. No more dicking around with Valve's ****ty alt+tab bugs.

No longer a problem, current version of Steam has an in-built browser so you don't have to alt+tab out! (Which does usually fark up source games) Yay for porn. Or gamefaqs or whatever.

ShadowHearth

OP was dissapointed that there is no exclusives for pc?

there are loads , specially if you are new to pc gaming you can pick up loads of classics which are just pure awesome!

Trust me, after you played mw2 on xblender, and then sitting down to pc, you will newer come back to xblender version. freedom of control is just amazing.

I grew up on consoles, and it was awesome. I got all consoles and pc. the only game that i recently played on pc was forza 3. and that was 3 months ago...

PC all the way, spcially when prices of powerfull rights dropped so low! It used to be a pain in a hole good 7-10 years ago. when you bought latest machine , and after 1 months theres a twice more powerfull machine for same money...

gizmo

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Trust me, after you played mw2 on xblender, and then sitting down to pc, you will newer come back to xblender version. freedom of control is just amazing.

Is xblender the 360? Personally having played MW2 on the PC I wanted to go back to the 360 because at least there I'm used to P2P gaming. Do not want on the PC though thank you very much IW. People can say what they want about Treyarch but at least they're not up their own arses as much as the IW.

Blowfish

Auvers wrote: »

PC is for FPS, RPG, RTS and MMO games (World of Tanks is brilliant btw) & mouse keyboard control

Console for Driving/Football games as I cant play FPS games on a console because those awful control pads

Or just buy a controller for the PC and play Driving/Football games there too. Works especially well with emulators.

Another one is JoyToKey which maps directly from gamepad to keyboard and is completely customisable, so will work with games which weren't actually designed for a controller and can be used to control things like media players and even navigating around Windows.

ShadowHearth

gizmo wrote: »

Is xblender the 360? Personally having played MW2 on the PC I wanted to go back to the 360 because at least there I'm used to P2P gaming. Do not want on the PC though thank you very much IW. People can say what they want about Treyarch but at least they're not up their own arses as much as the IW.

Iwnet thing did came from consoles. So the only ones that we have to thank for it are consoles... And how can you be sick of iwnet on pc, if you have ALL games based on IWnet on xbox?

They droped the ball with Iwnet, but i did not had much of trouble playing with it. People make more noise about it, then there actuall is...

Only reason why xblender version would be more whanted, is becouse people play on xbox and have all theyr friends on it. I personally have loads of friends on pc, we have our own vent server, so when you turn on pc, you turn on vent and you are socialising with all your friends! so playing on pc with friends is not an issue.

i did bought ps3 version of MW1, after playing it for couple of months i got myself pc version. i newer came back to ps3 after that...

people tend to be afraid of stuff they dont understand. thats why there are so many people against pc gaming. Its supperior in any given way, just people are not arsed to learn it. Its way easyer to buy same game for twice the price and drop it in to xblender, which will do everything for you...

gizmo

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Iwnet thing did came from consoles. So the only ones that we have to thank for it are consoles... And how can you be sick of iwnet on pc, if you have ALL games based on IWnet on xbox?

As I said, I'm used to P2P gaming and the associated side effects on the console so I'm more tolerant towards it. On the PC, however, I have no time for it.

ShadowHearth wrote: »

They droped the ball with Iwnet, but i did not had much of trouble playing with it. People make more noise about it, then there actuall is...

I don't go for the usual fanboy rage associated with it but it was certainly an inferior experience compared to the usual client/server model. I understand why they did it, to an extent anyway, but that doesn't mean I agree with it.

ShadowHearth wrote: »

people tend to be afraid of stuff they dont understand. thats why there are so many people against pc gaming. Its supperior in any given way, just people are not arsed to learn it. Its way easyer to buy same game for twice the price and drop it in to xblender, which will do everything for you...

People are against PC gaming for more reasons than that, reasons which have been brought up several times before on this very forum. At the end of the day, PC Gaming often requires a technical knowledge beyond the level of the average consumer or beyond the level they wish to learn in order to play games. Why would they need to bother if they can just put the game into the console and boom, it works? Personally I'm glad I have the best of both worlds but I do understand where some people are coming from with the console love.

And for the love of god please stop calling it xblender.

Sandvich

I still haven't really gotten a ton of examples of games I can play...

Sitting around I have Mass Effect, Far Cry 2 and Turok I kind of want to try that ran a bit **** on this PC(don't understand why Mass Effect was so bad), and I'm looking forward to turning up the settings on L4D2. Some of the maps can be killer on FPS. I'll probably pick up Starcraft II at some point.

But none of those games really mega impress me.

I miss the days when you got really unique games on PC, and they were fully developed cutting edge product, not just indie games. I'm remembering random old games I used to pick off demo discs, like Banzai Bug, Amok, Scorched Earth, Blood, Duke 3D, Lemmings Paintball, tons more I can't remember. They were all pretty interesting. FPSes had a bit more character to them back then too.

I miss that era of PC gaming. All of those kind of games seem to be only on console now, but now consoles are drying up too for those kind of games.

I really want to get into Indie games now, but it's tough. I tried Dwarf Fortress and couldn't make head nor tail of it. I used to enjoy a couple of years back downloading Multimedia Fusion based games which had been developed to a good level. But I really want to see new technology being involved in this and most Indie games are at best Half Life 2 kind of quality. Which is actually sort of fine - I like that level of graphics and don't think many games "need" better than that. But I like to see things move forward too.

It just depresses me that a lot of the more visually inventive games were done before we actually managed to get a level of graphics where it's not so obviously made out of little triangles. Going back and playing some older games, the lack of overall smoothness and flat/dull nature of a lot of games can ruin what they set out to do. Nowadays, that's not really an issue.

There's so much amazing stuff that could be done with today's tech on a grander scale.

For example, imagine a Oddworld game done with the same level of technical prowess Crysis 2 will have, or a new Earthworm Jim game, or a Giants: Citizen Kabuto sequel.

I really hope American McGee's Alice too doesn't end up in development hell.

BostonB

Sandvich wrote: »

I'm thinking about building a gaming rig as my current laptop struggles with Team Fortress 2(mostly due to optimisation issues on Valve's side, not my computer's specs which are decent).

But is it really worth it?....

What do mean worth it. Fun? Value for money?

By rig do you mean Laptop or desktop?

If the game (or version - mouse/kybd control - high res) you want is only on the PC then thats what you have to get, obviously. (simulations especially). If you want better bang for buck a console makes more sense because the hardware doesn't obsolete as fast. If you have to get a PC then a desktop doesn't obsolete as fast as gaming laptop.

I think its thats simple.

Personally I prefer PC games, simulations and the controls etc. I also don't have room for a big desktop rig. So if it doesn't play on my laptop, I don't play it. There are some exceptions where the game is only on a console.

Jazzy

well if this halo reach game is the current benchmark for consoles then sell your granny to get a gaming pc

ShadowHearth

gizmo wrote: »

As I said, I'm used to P2P gaming and the associated side effects on the console so I'm more tolerant towards it. On the PC, however, I have no time for it.


I don't go for the usual fanboy rage associated with it but it was certainly an inferior experience compared to the usual client/server model. I understand why they did it, to an extent anyway, but that doesn't mean I agree with it.


People are against PC gaming for more reasons than that, reasons which have been brought up several times before on this very forum. At the end of the day, PC Gaming often requires a technical knowledge beyond the level of the average consumer or beyond the level they wish to learn in order to play games. Why would they need to bother if they can just put the game into the console and boom, it works? Personally I'm glad I have the best of both worlds but I do understand where some people are coming from with the console love.

And for the love of god please stop calling it xblender.

well okay, i wount. but everytime i start the damn thing, thats how i whant to call it

Anyway, avarage pc consumer can easily play games, you dont need technical level to insert cd, press install and press next a few times. moust of modern games will set graphic level by your current set up too.

i will say it again, its just laizyness. to make that extra step and actually look in to it. Decent desktop to play games are not crazy money. allmoust any desktop can play games, just make sure it has graphic card.

anyway. consoles are good for avarege joe, but if you have atleast few extra brain cells, which are not smoked are destroyed in pub, then use them to learn that small extra about pc gaming. now i am not refering to you m8, i am talking in general

gizmo

ShadowHearth wrote: »

well okay, i wount. but everytime i start the damn thing, thats how i whant to call it

Anyway, avarage pc consumer can easily play games, you dont need technical level to insert cd, press install and press next a few times. moust of modern games will set graphic level by your current set up too.

i will say it again, its just laizyness. to make that extra step and actually look in to it. Decent desktop to play games are not crazy money. allmoust any desktop can play games, just make sure it has graphic card.

anyway. consoles are good for avarege joe, but if you have atleast few extra brain cells, which are not smoked are destroyed in pub, then use them to learn that small extra about pc gaming. now i am not refering to you m8, i am talking in general

I just don't think people want to have to learn how to do new things to get into gaming. The problem is exacerbated when they can just pick up a console and know they can play every game that comes out in exactly the same way as everyone else. No need for checking specs on the box or wondering will it look as good on their machine, they'll know it'll work and continue to do so until the next console comes out.

ShadowHearth

gizmo wrote: »

I just don't think people want to have to learn how to do new things to get into gaming. The problem is exacerbated when they can just pick up a console and know they can play every game that comes out in exactly the same way as everyone else. No need for checking specs on the box or wondering will it look as good on their machine, they'll know it'll work and continue to do so until the next console comes out.

to be honest, last time i actually checked the game requirments 2.5 years ago... i grabed mafia2 reccently i just bought it, droped it in and playing it on max settings...

in fact, i got a wee bit enraged.... as mafia2 for pc is a clone from consoles...

TetraxShard

I've tried the PC gaming route and it didn't go well for me. It's certainly different, and there's a few gems on there you won't get anywhere else.

Personally, I don't have the interest anymore. I just want to play some games and if that means I'm not teh hardcor3z, so be it. I'm quite content with the way most games look and play on consoles.

cherryghost

I'm a convert from console to PC in the last 3 years. Why?

- When I play an FPS, I want to damn hell turn as fast as I intend to turn. The keyboard and mouse helps me do that easily.

- When I get bored of a game, I just download mods that keeps me playing the game for many more years

- PC games costs between 20-30 euro cheaper brand new. Buy 20 console games, you've spent a budget PC's worth.

- I don't want any mother****ing subscriptions or extra costs to my games. 98% of PC games extra content is free or user made

- I like community. The 360 allows a community sure, but you cant beat regular evenings in the same servers as your friends, and join them seemlinglessly easy.

- I like to explore different genres, and theres a lengty list of popular free games for all types of genres on the PC

- I ****ing hate lag. At least with PC gaming I can pick what server I want, what maps I prefer, and all without moving around like someone attached an elastic band to my back

- A quick alt+tab gets me to my email, my music, my IM, streamed TV, whatever the hell thats possible on a PC. It's great.


EDIT: It's also worth mentioning that anyone who bought a new PC in the last 2-3 years but cant find themselve able to play PC games, chances are you could throw in a 50 euro graphics card inside it and get started


Gaming was born with PC, it sure as hell will die with PC too.

oceanclub

Sandvich wrote: »

I'm thinking about building a gaming rig as my current laptop struggles with Team Fortress 2(mostly due to optimisation issues on Valve's side, not my computer's specs which are decent).

But is it really worth it?

As someone else said, it's a subjective question really. I am what Yahtzee might refer to as a muscular superior PC gamer. Although have a PC (and laptop), XBox 360, Wii, DS (well, the wife's) and an iPhone, I do 95%+ of my gaming on PC. Why?

I like genres of games that are good on PC (first person shooters, RPGs, strategy, puzzle/indie), I much prefer using a mouse to a gamepad, like being able to Alt-Tab in and out of games to check mail, forums, FAQs, etc. I like the fact that you can mod older games (just been replaying Oblivion) or simply see them at their best, and what you spend on hardware (and bear in mind I haven't upgraded in three years) you more than save on the lower cost of games (Steam sales are insane).

I figure that since I'd probably have a desktop _anyway_ for working, as a media server, etc, the extra cost of maintaining it as a gaming PC (ie, updating the graphics card every couple of years) is more than worth it. I don't understand the logic that PC gaming is uber-expensive when people spent the equivalent of the cost of a high-end graphics cards on three high-priced new consoles games.

There's plenty of good games out on PC still - certain Metacritic in their 2009 roundup still has it as number 2:

http://features.metacritic.com/features/2009/the-best-games-of-2009/

P.

Sandvich

I wish there were more games like Elder Scrolls on the PC. Going to check out the Witcher at some point.

cherryghost

Sandvich wrote: »

I wish there were more games like Elder Scrolls on the PC. Going to check out the Witcher at some point.

Mount & Blade

Neverwinter Nights (DEFINITELY CHECK OUT NVN2)

Knights of the Old Republic

Morrowmind


are to name but a few, all follow the same RPG element as ES. There's a huge amount of quality games similar to Elder Scrolls

oceanclub

Sandvich wrote: »

I wish there were more games like Elder Scrolls on the PC. Going to check out the Witcher at some point.

The Witcher is brilliant; the demo put me off, but eventually picked up the game in the Xmas Steam sale for a tenner and loved it. Looking forward to the sequel.

Not even any need for high-powered graphic cards: I'm currently engrossed in this! (bought the beta):

http://www.minecraft.net/

(More at the PC blog Rock Paper Shotgun: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/tag/minecraft/)


P.