PC Gaming vs Console - they're both expensive

[Jusey1]

 

PC gamers suffer because the Game Devs have to make their games work on inferior hardware for consoles, so PC gamers end up putting up with mediocre graphics and dumbed down interfaces.

 

Interfaces I can understand. I feel like PC version of games should come out with their own interfaces, if the original doesn't work properly for PC users.

 

However, graphics? I know this is subjective but who cares? Graphics are graphics. Ye'h, it's nice to make sure that games look good but there are more ways than one to make a game look good without needing the best graphics around, and games that focuses mostly on graphics become outdated way too easily honestly. Graphic heavy games tend to eventually look ugly and boring after a while.

 

Which is why I prefer stylized graphics, be it retro, cartoon-like, or whatever. Those kind of visuals can usually look good without needing to be heavy on the machine AND they don't go outdated usually (maybe the lighting and rendering but not the graphics themselves; which means a simple update or two can fix that). It's generally why I enjoy games like Ori and the Blind Forest, TF2, Paladins, and so on. They stand out and look good because of their style, rather than having the prettiest graphics at the time of their release.

[vronykah]

I've always had a PC in my home since I can remember, my dad did some programming in the early 80's (showing my age here). My daughter, after moving out and having her PC become dated, raved about her xbox because it "only" cost $300 and look at all she can play! I have to admit, when she'd come over weekly for our family day, she'd bring the xbox (maybe xbone, no idea - never paid attention), it was easy for her to set up and get gaming while we gamed on laptops. Very different from those bitchin LAN parties we used to do in the late 90's early 2000's.

 

Of course, we bought her a gaming Laptop (still not as good as a desktop, but she needs the flexibility) for xmas, and wouldn't you know - I haven't heard about an xbox since then. Weird. Now we sit all three of us on the couch, two laptops and my PC hooked up to the TV for "family time." I swear we interfaced during dinner! So that's us every week, living the PC life - gaming and chatting about what game we are playing, quest we are on, etc. So....I got off topic. Oh well. Now you know too much about me!

[HadToRegister]

In terms of expenditure - You're more likely to spend more money on the console in the long term because all new games that come out, cost the same ($60)

 

PC is cheaper in that regard due to Steam -- But it's really dependent on who published the title. A high spec. build for a PC can outlast 2 console generations. I say the word "Build" as it implies that you build your own system. None of this retail garbage like AlienWare - which is only famous for it's name and the price is massively over-inflated.

 

Very true, I have 446 games in my Steam Library, 99% of them I bought for ridiculous prices during Summer, Autumn, and X-Mess sales.

I'm talking Games originally $59.99 with separate DLC bought for $15 GOTY editions, or a $20 game marked down to $2.99

 

Of course, at my age it's easy to wait these Game Devs out now, because now when I see a cheap price, I go look at the game and say "That was released 4 YEARS AGO ALREADY?!?!?!?!?"

One of these days "No Man's Sky" will be $4.99, until then, I'll be waiting Mister Murray...

 

I also build my own systems, so I made a wishlist on Newegg, and it came up to $1500.

I waited a year, (Because I forgot about the wishlist), and the total price had dropped to $500, so I went all in.

[DoctorKaizeld]

I have 500 Steam games alone and I haven't spent much over 2000 on all of them (2300 something last I checked) and I built my computer as well for about 1500. Though I saved money from Black Friday sales but 1500 was the amount Part Picker gave me.

[Jannifer]

@qwertyzeldar -- In my little piece of heaven, funerals are generally held three days after death. So in other words, I'll be playing until the day I die. :P

[DoctorKaizeld]

Lol

[metaphorset]

if you can afford one, you can afford both.

 

Making things that should obviously be "both" into either or questions is myopic.

 

1. No.

2. Wait... what?

 

Let's forget about that and stick with the headline.

 

PC:

I buy PCs not only for gaming and there are plenty of us "weird" folks out there. Let's keep it simple and only use the five private activities I spend the most time with when sitting in front of my PC

1. Programming. All kinds of stuff. Lots of it. From simple helper scripts to complex 3D engines.

2. Image processing. Photos, textures, drawings, you name it, I've done it at least once during the last 30+ years.

3. 3D modeling. Blender, to be more specific (also brings a little bit of money, but I do it mostly for fun).

4. Video editing. Not as much as I want to, but it's fun nonetheless.

5. Gaming. Also not as much as I want to, mainly because there aren't many games out there that I really like to play.

 

If I put the same emphasis on all of those activities and throw the costs of the PC in, that I am currently building, I'll pay 160 Euros per activity for the next 3+ years.

After those 3+ years I probably invest into a new GFX card for 300 EUR that lasts another 3+ years, which brings us up to 240 Eur per activity for the next 6+ years.

 

Console (PS4 that is, because why should I buy a console for games that are on PC anyway?):

Around 300 EUR for a mid-generation model, top tier or if I were an early adopter, it would be 500 EUR.

Activities:

1. Gaming.

 

Let's say it'll last 6+ years without breaking, that makes at least 300 EUR per activity for 6 years. + it takes up space.

 

Since I use my PC also for work related stuff (thanks to swappable SSDs that's not even tax problematic), it also earns money and it redeems itself after about 6 months.

Let's say that all the work related stuff is point 6 in the above list, then I am going to pay around 17 EUR for my gaming hardware for the next 6+ years.

 

Isolated case? Well... I know at least three other people who do exactly the same thing.

 

[thephantom24]

I've had consoles. An Atari 2600 and an Intellivision. Both are long past it. But I have had quite a few computers many of which I upgraded when they started to get stale. To get consoles with this flexibility you would need them to be upgradable to reflect changes in technology, able to send and receive email, contact your bank for transactions, make payments through PayPal, etc. Then it would be a computer and there would be no need for consoles.

 

 

The Rabbit

you say that but i can list games right now that are better than the last of us which are availabl for every platform, for example: doom 2016, fallout 4, skyrim, warframe, gta 4, gta 5, payday 2 and portal 2, thean games exclusive to pc you have games like, league of legends, csgo, the list goes on yes consoles have good exclusives but if they where no exclusives wouldnt the game be better as it would be moddable and open to more platforms, exclusives are just a way for companies to make money as it is locked to one platform, you bragging about this just makes you selfish, but i wish some pc exclusives could come to console