PC Gaming versus Console- The Reasons to Switch

[rizon72]

For me, I still enjoy epic war games. Not those FPS war games, but the large, entire war spanning, control land, sea and air epic games. Those never quite jumped from computer to console well. And many times I enjoy playing on my computer while having my TV on.

[TheAngryMudcrab]

Switched to a PC from console about 5 years ago. I’ll never go back. I feel like PC just gives more control over my games. For example, the Skyrim console is invaluable to me in many ways. Not to mention I have a beast of a PC and can usually get Ultra settings on everything I play. With many console games locked at 30 FPS, I see a lot of value in the power of a pc.

 

Now that being said,I play many games sitting on the couch using a steam link and a Xbox one controller. I feel that gives me the best of both worlds.

[JimmyRJump]

Never played on a console in my life and it's unlikely it's going to happen in the near or distant future. Not that I carry a grudge against consoles, it's just that one platform is enough for me. Having a budget that can only be fully appreciated under the powerful lens of a microscope keeps me on PC. It's the only way to keep the peace with my wallet.

 

In the end it's not about on which platform a game is played but about having fun.

[AlarictheVisgoth]

For me, I still enjoy epic war games. Not those FPS war games, but the large, entire war spanning, control land, sea and air epic games. Those never quite jumped from computer to console well. And many times I enjoy playing on my computer while having my TV on.

 

You mean PC franchises the likes of Medieval or Rome : Total War series? Now THOSE were the ultimate sh#ts rage on PC :laugh: :cool:

[AlarictheVisgoth]

Never played on a console in my life and it's unlikely it's going to happen in the near or distant future. Not that I carry a grudge against consoles, it's just that one platform is enough for me. Having a budget that can only be fully appreciated under the powerful lens of a microscope keeps me on PC. It's the only way to keep the peace with my wallet.

 

In the end it's not about on which platform a game is played but about having fun.

 

QFT. The only reason I bothered to buy X360 (at a massive discount because XB1 had been announced & Best Buy was doing clearance sale) was because of specific console only titles.

 

Basically

• RDR - WHY R* WHY? Why didn't you bother as second afterthought to simply release a crappy PC port of this amazing open world saga? :wallbash: #WouldHaveBeenEpic
• Saint's Row I & II - First 2 SR's were EPIC. SRTT was the first flashing red light indicator the franchise had officially departed to the Land of Nod. By SRIV, the franchise transformation into an unrecognizable alien entity was compete. o_O
• Mafia III - because the PC versions of I and 2 have to be the best gangsta/godfather themed RPG I've experienced to date. Forgot I could play the damned thing with PC controller on Steam before pre-ordering it for my upgraded XB1. BIGGEST buyer remorse/franchise disappointment purchase for console to date. Particularly given the inferior game mechanics & dumb AI/game play design to its predecessors across all platforms
• Bully Scholarship ed, - delightful school yard romp is best played on console for ease of controls v. PC. Like GTA SA, the Bully PC port is unfortunately not PC console friendly. :sad:
• Assassin's Creed: I, II, Brotherhood, IV/Black Flag. - Not AC3 & subsequent releases post AC4/Black Flag since they've proved to be glitchy/buggy, superficial rubbish plots, and/or focused on a painful amount of brain numbing grind/leveling game play.

 

Those are my only guilty pleasure confessions for needing to play on console to date. :laugh: Thankfully, I wised up and started using PC controller for console biased titles like GTA V. Can still get away with playing heavily modded versions of older GTA titles to date.

 

On Assassin's Creed: The insane degree of non linearity in the protagonist timeline that the franchise has adopted since AC2. It's understandable that assassins post Enzio shouldn't have to be related to him the way Desmond was. But at least this linearity provided some degree of continuity for the fan base. Now each release just time jumps around in and out of critical time events (like October Revolution in Russia then backwards to 50 BC Ancient Egypt). With 100% disjointment as to how the releases are related in the big picture anymore. AC2 & Brotherhood/Revelations will always be the gen that is superlative for tying up loose ends in a particular era in real life history. Anyhow, UbiSoft appears to be fast heading down the Exceptional A$$hat's (aka EABorg's) road of releasing crappy franchise sequels every year....

Edited December 28, 2017 by AlarictheVisgoth

[Rabiah]

I used to console game many many years ago, I own a PC now and primarily game on that, but I'm considering a Nintendo switch.


PC's are just so versatile, user friendly(typically) and have various combinations for controls, devices, etc etc. For example: My Grandpa and I play "Chess Ultra" on steam from time to time while talking on Skype. My discord friends and I can hop onto something like PUBG 5 seconds later, get frustrated and then move onto something like Duck game with minimal wait times. Not only that, but we all have our preferred input device's, our rigs all vary in price and complexity and it doesn't matter who has the powerhouse PC because we're all having fun.


Consoles are uni-taskers though. Sure they now have music and video streaming capabilities, but most TV's have that too. So whats the point of wasting electricity on the console when the TV does it? The only defense I have for consoles is that its an even platform, in terms of specs, controllers and etc, with minimal exceptions so any competitive game all comes down to skill not quality of the equipment.

IMO The Switch is the only console to have gotten "it" right since the PS2, Xbox, GC. Ever since then it's been a competition of "who has the biggest stick" while the Wii/WiiU did their own things in an attempt to make themselves unique.

[Marrthaldin]

I honestly think this a supremely redundant topic. The difference shouldn't matter. Consoles are consoles, PC's are PC's. Yes, there is a vast difference between the two when it comes to playing games, but honestly, a true gamer wouldn't give a crap about how good a game can look or run. If you're someone who has to have the best graphics and best performance, then seriously, you shouldn't be talking in a discussion like this because you're easily one of the worst types of people who play games.

 

The perfect example I can give is a game everyone will know and most will love. Final Fantasy VII. The original that we all remember had rough graphics, 2D backgrounds, doors that suddenly switch from closed to open when we went through them, the most basic sound effects made from a synthesizer and this spanned over three discs. Now, what do we know about FF7? It's gone down in history as one of the greatest games ever made. Yet, it's got some of the worst graphics and most simple gameplay functions out of Playstation 1 games.

 

Yet, we loved it so much that it went down in gaming history and is still loved and played in insane amounts to this day. And it's even getting a modern re-release on Playstation 4 and other platforms.

 

Why did we love the original so much? Because it was undeniably one of the most incredible gaming stories around. This is why graphics shouldn't matter and neither should performance. What you want to focus on is if a game is enjoyable for YOU. Don't be a sheep and follow the stupid trend of PC vs Console and don't listen to the sad sacks who go "Wahhhhhh, PC's better than console. Wahhhhhh!"

 

So what if PC's let you change the graphic levels to be somewhat better? So what if they go from 30 FPS to 60? So what if they let you customize the settings down to the smallest level of detail?

 

SO. f***ing. WHAT?

 

PC's are just another thing to play games on. Just like the Playstation 4 and XBOX ONE. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying one is better than the other as I have both console and PC. True, my PC is no mad beast of a rig, but it plays the games I want it to play which is all I need.

 

When I was deciding, I looked at what both consoles had to offer me as well as what options were open to me on PC. In the end, I opted to buy a PS4 (my PC came two years later) and the reason why was because I saw the list of upcoming games for the PS4, compared it to what XBOX had in the works and due for release and I just saw that the PS4 was significantly better in all regards. Again, this was more personally to my own tastes as the games coming out were things I was super interested in and did look incredibly good opposed to the meager options that were there for XB1.

 

As someone once pointed out, the XBOX may be the most powerful gaming console ever made, but what have they actually done with that aside from brag about that fact?

 

So, your best bet is to just look at what games you can play on PS4, what ones you can play on XBOX and what you can play on PC. There's a lot of options on PC, yes, but take it from me as someone who has 239 games in his steam library, only a small amount of those games have actually been played.

 

If you want my personal vote, go for the PS4 as it just does have a greater range of games on offer, better games due for the release in terms of exclusives and overall it's just got a great community. I've made dozens of friends I regularly speak to on PS4. PC I play by myself in silence unless that one lone member of my friends who also plays Warframe on PC hops on for the first time in about 3 months. :tongue:

 

But seriously, you pick for yourself. Don't worry about what other people say since you'll just get people going "NAH! XBOX RULES! THE GAYSTATION 4 SUCKS!" "PS4 IS THE BEST! THE GAYBOX ONE IS THE WORST EVER!" and of course you also get the saddest of all, the so called "PC master race" who are like "Just buy a PC, you have amazing graphics and performance. Hurr, hurr, hurr!"

 

And overall, I also understand you like mods and want to enjoy them to the extreme levels that the PC offers, but it's not as cracked up as it looks to be. To be honest, a lot of mods that you'll take an interest in on PC will either be a mess in the files so they will cause some issues or bugs in your game or they'll be abandoned. Sure, there are a lot of other mods out there you will find that will work since they are continually supported, but these are the ones that will likely find themselves on all platforms in time.

 

I hope anything I've said has been helpful in even the smallest of ways.

 

Regards,

 

M :smile:

Edited January 22, 2018 by Marrthaldin

[ModMaster2K]

I got my XBOX One X as I got a 4K TV last year and I wanted to enjoy games on my 55" HDR TV instead of 1440 monitor without HDR.

 

Personally, it is a massive difference in visual quality. I also like playing on my couch instead of sitting on a chair.

 

I still game on my gaming rig for games that require mouse and keyboard or can be heavily modded (Skyrim for example). We'll see how PS5 will look like in terms of 4k 60 fps power. If they can do it then I have to say I won't upgrade my PC at all as PC upgrades are getting more and more expensive.

[iXenite]

We'll see how PS5 will look like in terms of 4k 60 fps power.

 

I can guarentee you that the next generation of consoles will not be playing games at 4K 60fps. They can't even play most of the games they have at native 4K and a locked 30fps. There is currently only one mainstream GPU that can play games at 4K 60fps at Ultra settings and that's the GTX 1080 Ti, which has an MSRP of $699 USD.

 

The reason why PC parts are so expensive right now is because of "miners". This will all come to pass, and everything will be more affordable again. PC gaming has only become cheaper, it's just currently that it has become super expensive again due to inflated prices. But a $499 USD prices console will never beat $1000 USD PC gaming rig, which let's face it, that's the bare minimum that you're paying if you have a GTX 1080 Ti in your system. You're probably closer to $2000 USD if you're using that GPU.

 

A good 4K TV costs over $1000 USD, and then people pair it up with $399 and $499 USD consoles and call themselves "4K gamers". It's a very strange combination of tech - and one that is mostly faked or is at 1440p anyway. If Sony and Microsoft can guarentee that their nxt-gen consoles will be able to play games at high settings at native 1080p and with a smooth 60fps then I'll be impressed. Because currently their mostly medium settings, barely 30fps, and checkerboard 4K is just not cutting it.

 

As for playing games on your couch, all modern AAA games have gamepad support so there really is no need for a console if you have a good PC already, especially one that can already game at 1440p. I like consoles as much as the next person, I have multiple of the, but the direction the marketing teams for these consoles are going is really bugging me. These consoles are massively under powered and this mid-generation upgrade has just been insulting to consumers. This console generation has reminded me why PC gaming is so much better for the well informed consumer.

[ModMaster2K]

 

 

I like consoles as much as the next person, I have multiple of the, but the direction the marketing teams for these consoles are going is really bugging me. These consoles are massively under powered and this mid-generation upgrade has just been insulting to consumers. This console generation has reminded me why PC gaming is so much better for the well informed consumer.

 

 

I completely agree with the console marketing strategy and weak hardware components. To get more profits from these consoles, they don't bring in a new console for years and when they do bring new console, its years behind current hardware.

 

Having fortunate enough to have a good 4K TV, I appreciate how good a game can look and play in 4K HDR. I know that the image will not be full 4K in many games but I am enjoying my games more on console than on my PC.

 

Sure 4K TV is expensive but a good TV lasts for many more years than a console and it's not just for gaming, so its worth its high price.