Is anyone else becoming less of a PC gamer?

[Rico]

So recently I haven't touched my gaming PC in a while. I got MW2 on Xbox and Assassins creed II and those are pretty much the titles I have been playing.

Now don't get me wrong, I love playing games on my PC. The last game I played on my PC was L4D2, and I haven't touched that in the last month or so.

My PC is becoming a little aged over time, and I keep telling myself that its because I'm waiting for all the new tech to age a little so I don't have to pay inflated prices for my upgrade, but really, I'm not sure that's it.

All my friends play mostly on their Xbox nowadays. We're a group of 24+ year olds so it's not as if we have neverg amed on PC. One of my friend's PCs fried his videocard and he hasn't replaced it in a year... another has really outdated hardware, and the other I have no idea what he's running but it can't be great since he has a 16inch CRT that looks like it came from a DMV computer.

So, we game on Xbox... we game there because we all have one and nobody needs to troubleshoot them (yet). We game on it because you can buy used games for pretty cheap, if you're a bargain hunter. We game on it because the PC section at my local best buy just.... disappeared... over the last two weeks.

More and more I see PC gamers get the raw end of the deal, with inflated hardware prices, poor developer support (with a few exceptions) and most importantly... I'm seeing the amount of PC titles dwindle over time.

What are we getting for games nowadays? Usually multiplatform titles, shoddy ports that play better on consoles. No dedicated servers, Windows Live, we get DRM and get treated like second class customers.

So really, PC gaming is starting to feel like a dying enterprise for me.

Granted, I'll probably stick with it to the end (some games are just not the same unless you have a Mouse and Keyboard) and some exclusives, but are PC's really going to end up being just for MMO's and RTS games? Isometric games like Diablo? Is that all there is?

What do you guys think?

 

[Wizard]

I used to be a hardcore PC elitist until I realized gaming on a console is superior for non-FPS games. But I'll still be playing BC2 on the 360 because I own a cheap laptop.

 

[Barnz]

no you're just getting ghey

 

[Shakermaker]

So because you stopped gaming often on PC the platform is dying. Makes sense.

 

[Quixoticism]

PC gaming is where it's at and will always be for me. First and foremost because console controllers have always felt awkward(for me) and they're never be as precise as a mouse and keyboard.
Secondly most of the really great titles(like ME1/2) come out for PC as well as the consoles and are usually better than them in some way. There are very few exclusives that make me want to get a console.

I pretty much only game on PC right now. I'll sometimes play Wii with my sisters when I have the time but that's limited to Mario and tennis.

If anything consoles will be the death of gaming in general because of the junk they keep pushing out.

 

[pilot7893]

I pretty much only play my 360 whenever I feel like playing Ace Combat 6.
Other than that, I pretty much only play on PC.

 

[Raziaar]

I play my games less, but only because I'm so busy doing other things.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Actually Ive had the opposite thing happen. Being at university with just a laptop, I'm really into PC gaming now, and have sorta stopped paying attention to console games.

 

[Paulaner]

I will always be a PC gamer.

 

[Noodle]

I still love PC gaming the most, but having a lower-range laptop takes a lot of fun out of it. Small screen, can't play much and it still look good...

 

[Paulaner]

I have been, and will always be, a PC gamer.

EDIT: Sorry for the double post.

 

[Letters]

I'm still almost exclusively a PC man. Consoles are for JRPGs and the good stuff Nintendo releases once in a blue moon (these days).

 

[StardogChampion]

So because you stopped gaming often on PC the platform is dying. Makes sense.

Exactly. He should reread his post.

He's the reason PC gaming is dying. I only buy games for the 360 that don't come out for the PC - Forza/FIFA 10 etc.

 

[VirusType2]

After I got Half-Life 2, I decided I'd never own another console.

But, I'm not a rabid consumer. It seems like many console gamers buy a dozen or more games every year. It also seems like the games I want always come to PC. If a game I want doesn't come to the PC, I won't even miss it; I'll just get something different.

I also couldn't do without the PC mods. Console games are just stuck, and I'm sure that's part of the reason console gamers need to constantly buy new games - they get bored. I guess it's gotten better in that regard, because there is DLC... but PC has that too, plus user made mods, and for some games, there are thousands, and they are free.

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

I've never been more of an exclusive PC gamer.

 

[StarBob]

PC Gaming is just fine. It will always be the best way to play FPS and RTS games. Personally I think most RPGs are better on PC as well, at least the recent ones. Basically the only thing consoles excel at is platformers and fighters. Maybe some hack and slash games as well... but in the end I'd rather have a good computer playing games than bother spending cash on a console that only plays games. Steam has also made it much easier (and MUCH cheaper) to acquire games.

 

[Remus]

Here are the reasons why I don't own a console or plan to acquire one:
1) I can count on one hand the console exclusives I would like to play
2) A console is only for gaming whereas I can do anything with my PC
3) Over here prices for console games are almost two times as expensive as a PC title... WTF?

 

[KagePrototype]

Is it really that surprising? Consoles are cheaper, easier to use, don't come with crippling DRM, don't have conflicting drivers or hardware, have games that are far less buggy, have more intuitive and accessible input devices, harder to pirate for...

Nowadays, I'd be surprised if someone were to call themselves an obsessive gamer and they didn't have a console. Whenever I see someone complain that a PC games feels like a rushed console port, all I can think of is "you should have bought it on a console 6 months ago like everyone else, you might have had some fun."

 

[Raziaar]

Consoles may be cheaper, but not when you're somebody who needs to be able to use programs that require a good computer for the software they use. Whether you're creating music, movies, artwork or whatever... you need a computer and the consoles cannot do it.

And when you have a good enough computer to do some of those more intensive things, you can also play games on it.

Makes the PC a more practical purchase for gaming because you also have the freedom to do all those other things.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

I'm still almost exclusively a PC man. Consoles are for JRPGs and the good stuff Nintendo releases once in a blue moon (these days).

This. Super Mario Galaxy was okay, but I just borrowed it from a rabid-nintendo-whore friend.

 

[Bad^Hat]

I play games on whichever platform is the best/most convenient for me at the time. Keyboard/mouse controls more desirable? PC. Don't meet system reqs? Console. That sort of thing.

Up until recently I was bigger on console games, but I've just upgraded my PC's graphics and gone nuts in the Steam holiday sale, so I have a few titles to burn through on here now. :3

 

[dfc05]

I don't own any consoles. My parents would never have bought them for us when we were kids. All we had were an old Atari and Colecovision.

But I don't play PC games nearly as often either, so I guess I'm becoming less of a gamer in general. I still enjoy playing when I have time (not often), but I haven't gotten excited about any new games since Half-Life 2, and there have only been a couple since then that I've really had a lot of fun playing. I also have a few games from Steam sales that I need to play, but I haven't had the time or even much desire to play. I tend to do be more willing to play short indie games that I know won't take 30+ hours to get through. I must be getting old....

 

[Kyorisu]

Is it really that surprising? Consoles are cheaper, easier to use, don't come with crippling DRM, don't have conflicting drivers or hardware, have games that are far less buggy, have more intuitive and accessible input devices, harder to pirate for...

Consoles are cheaper? Not in my country. Dearer console games and the cost of accessories will cost more over the same time period than an equivalent PC. Console games cost more money because generally the console maker is at a loss for every console sold and has to make money somehow. No such problem on the PC.
Easier to use? Well yes and no. I find using console menus to be a pain in the arse for instance. Yes easier to set-up and get going.
Don't come with crippling DRM? No, no and no. Your console is a physical HARDWARE LOCK IN. See the recent Xbox hard drive fiasco.
Games that are far less buggy? Hope you don't own a PS3.
Intuitive? Ha, press X to not die is hardly more intuitive. In a way though yes but at the same time immensely less accurate tools. Most new PC games support controllers though so moot point. I'd hardly be able to Play Guilty Gear without my controller plugged in.
Harder to pirate? Easier. To elaborate I know many dumb arses who can handle console piracy but can't figure out how to copy an exectuable from one directory to one another without getting rooted. Piracy increases attention towards a platform. It's not that consoles are harder to pirate for and thus more people buy consoles but the other way around. Consoles are easier to pirate for and thus people buy them. Anytime someone publishes piracy numbers they are publishing outright lies. No organisation has the ability to trawl through every possible method of acquiring a file.

Nowadays, I'd be surprised if someone were to call themselves an obsessive gamer and they didn't have a console. Whenever I see someone complain that a PC games feels like a rushed console port, all I can think of is "you should have bought it on a console 6 months ago like everyone else, you might have had some fun."

No they'd still be complaining because the problem here is console games are generally less complex than some PC only games and that isn't a good experience for some people. So they complain about the few games that are delay released, does that mean they had no fun at all? I somehow doubt that.

 

[xdrive]

People keep saying PC gaming is dieing, but i don't see how. Playing games on the pc is funner, and has better graphics.

I have an xbox 360 and i rarely play it. I refuse to play inflated prices for games. 100 dollars for one game is bullshit, and then to play online i need to pay more money. Plus multiplayer isn't as good as on pc.

 

[Warped]

I like the best of what a console/PC has to offer. I do buy a lot of bargain games but I do like playing the AAA titles on every system I have. Like lately I've been playing MW2 and ME2 but I just quit WoW which I put a lot of time into. in WoW i'd put 30 days into just one character vs playing 20 different types of games on my 360 and PS3. variety is better than stagnation

 

[Adabiviak]

Not even a little bit for me.

 

[Au-heppa]

I will never ever own a console or play console games. NEVER!

 

[DEATHMASTER]

I'm fine with both, if I got a wireless router on my 360 or a long ethernet, I'd consider playing it even more. It's simpler. Of course I know the advantages of PC gaming which is why it's my gaming platform of choice.

 

[Dynasty]

I find it all quite simple. Consoles are cheap. You buy one, and if all goes well, you never have any problems. Its a one-off purchase, and you never need to upgrade any parts unless you fill up your harddrive or break a controller.

Personally Ive shy'd away from PC gaming for the past 4 years. Why? University. I didnt want to take my gaming desktop PC with me as I didnt want it to get stolen or damaged and I couldnt find a decent place to put it anyway in my Uni room(s).

So I went with my laptop (which was OK for gaming), but had my 360 as well. 360 took over gaming as I wanted the better graphics etc. I hate playing games on low graphics! Then in 3rd year I swapped my 360 and all my games for a PS3.

NOW however, Ive got a job and bought a..Mac. Which I dont actually have in my hands yet. And it's specs, apart from the graphics card, are pretty much better (on paper) than my gaming PC, so I plan on selling that in parts. My Mac, once Windows 7 is installed, will become my gaming and main PC.

So, with that in mind, I will probably switch back to PC gaming. For example, Ive just pre-ordered Bioshock 2 and Mass Effect 2 on PC, instead of PS3. Both for about £25. Which made me laugh at myself. Youre paying £20-or-so more for PS3 games. I found myself thinking what an idiot Ive been with my gaming money recently.

PC will always be the better choice, look at Dragon Age. Laughable on the 360, meant to be played on the PC. RTS games and FPS games will ALWAYS be better on PC. And consoles will hopefully never get gaming mice and keyboards, and the games wont change their controls for keyboard and mice from controllers, because a war will break out over rights etc..I think..or something like that, seeing as consoles are basically PCs with no keyboard and mouse.

So I also partly blame the developers. Stop linking our games to Steam and Windows Live. Yes I understand the benefits of them, the easier distribution of patches etc, but for **ck sake, MAKE SURE IT WORKS FIRST!!! I had so many Windows Live errors with Dawn of War 2 during my time playing, and countless problems with Steam (almost always only with installing games; the physical discs, not off Steam as a download though).

I love having my PS3, the simplicity. Knowing you can throw a game in and it will work with no problems. Want to play online? Pfft, easy.
But I love PC games as well, I prefer the control and flexability.

BUT PC games sometimes infuriate me, simply because of the PCs themselves.

I remember getting Dawn Of War 2 and having the same problem as everyone else; you couldnt install it because of Steam. The Relic forums went crazy with the same complaints, and it took almost a week for Relic to sort it out 'officially', but damn they did a great job on responding to issues, I was seriously impressed; everything from personal emails to asking for copies of files from people's PCs via Rapidshare etc.

Anyway, as long as developers ensure there will be no problems on release day, I'll happily go back to PC gaming.

It just infuriates me when you get some random error during Install or when youre playing, and all you can do is click close or OK, go to the desktop and be non-the-wiser about WHY it happened.

Which is, I think, why consoles are more popular. Theyre cheaper, more reliable, they will work every time...the games are just laughably more expensive in the long run.



[Edit] I remember not being able to install Unreal 3 when it came out. It turned out you had to restart your PC in a certain way to install it, then you could set it back to the way it was afterward and play it.

And then look at Stalker..haha, what a disaster.

 

[B_MAN]

nope
in fact, I feel as though I'm a PC gamer now more than ever

 

[Dinnesch]

After having had a very problematic Xbox 360 which had hardware problems every few weeks, plus the expensive XBL membership I decided to be a PC gamer for the rest of my life.
Now I finally have a kickass gaming PC with a big monitor I really don't want anything else anymore

 

[KagePrototype]

See the recent Xbox hard drive fiasco.

That isn't what I'm talking about; consoles don't have to deal with crippling developer DRM because, like you say, they're closed-off systems - there's nothing left to manage. You certainly don't have to worry about your other games not working because you decided to play Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Games that are far less buggy? Hope you don't own a PS3.

Oh come on, let's not be silly - PC Games are far more prone to bugs and glitches because of the wide spectrum of hardware that developers have to accommodate for. Compare the amount of technical help a PC game gets compared to its console equivalent.

Intuitive? Ha, press X to not die is hardly more intuitive. In a way though yes but at the same time immensely less accurate tools. Most new PC games support controllers though so moot point. I'd hardly be able to Play Guilty Gear without my controller plugged in.

I was talking more about the Wii and the DS, but yes controllers are more intuitive - they fit into people's hands better and they have less buttons to deal with. You might balk at that, but it does make a difference. People who are overwhelmed by keyboards and mice don't find it hard to use a stylus or wii remote.

The reality of it is that consoles are far easier to use and maintain - just put the disc in the drive and play. In most places they're far cheaper and easier to use than an equivalent gaming PC. There's just a lot less to worry about, especially compared to the PC's minimum system requirements, driver updating, managing Windows itself, bugs and glitches because you have the one sound card that no one tested etc.

 

[Dynasty]

I dont enjoy FPS games on a PS3 or 360. It felt a bit more natural on the 360 though for some reason, I think thats down to the controller though; the 360 controller feels more natural in the hand to me, chunkier yes but the buttons and sticks are in better positions.

But anyway, I dont like the lack of pin-point control. Movement pans so much slower, it feels like youre controlling someone rather than being in control if you know what I mean.

Then again, watching some Halo kills just defies human reaction times. A buggie, flying through the air, 2 passengers inside and the guy flicks up and takes both of them out with a double-headshot. Arguably most are flukes, but its still...*grits teeth*...impressive.

 

[Ravioli]

I havent played PC games at all lately but thats because ive played all the games i want to play. But now im ready to get my game on as Mass Effect 2, Bad Company 2, Bioshock 2, Dirt 2 and Assassins Creed 2 are here.


So many sequels

 

[Fishlore]

I'm just much less of a gamer in general. Maybe a few hours a month at this point. It's now to the point where I might buy 2-3 games in a given year and probably don't get halfway through any of them. I was exclusively a PC gamer, then my PC aged and died. Due to most of the PC games being crap ports from consoles, I never felt the need to build a new gaming rig. I have a current gen console that I use when I get the urge, but that urge doesn't happen very often anymore.

 

[Gorgon]

I play my games less, but only because I'm so busy doing other things.

+1 :upstare:

I recall, playing 8-12 hours none stop BF2, CSS, TF2, COD4, ...etc

- Finish Uni
- go home
- play 12 hours

Now:
- Finish work
- go home
- feed the kids, and spend some time with wife, family, and sometimes Gym

Still, I give 1-4 hours to games on the weekends

PC games will never die as long as you got Intel, Nvidia, and ATI are in the game

 

[Gorgon]

2, ops

 

[Rico]

So because you stopped gaming often on PC the platform is dying. Makes sense.

I don't believe I ever made a statement of fact about PC as a platform dying. I posted my opinion as to why *I* think the PC as a game platform is becoming unappealing to *me* and then asked if anyone had similar/different/random experiences.

Perhaps you should have read, oh I don't know, the thread title and the OP?

Exactly. He should reread his post.

He's the reason PC gaming is dying. I only buy games for the 360 that don't come out for the PC - Forza/FIFA 10 etc.

This is rich, I suggest you invest into some good books dealing with reading comprehension. But that may be perhaps a Catch 22 since you may once again, be unable to comprehend what is written in said books due to lack of reading comprehension.

And apparently, I'm the reason PC gaming is dying. It's not the guy who apparently buys crappy sports titles that are mass produced by slave labor over at EA and they sell for 60 bucks a pop for updated rosters, nope, that would be me, the antichrist of PC gaming.

Forget the fact that I'm an avid modder/game developer, I'm a software engineer and I have been building computers/playing with them and using them all my life.

Seriously, would you please read the thread title and OP before replying?

 

[nurizeko]

I left my Xbox 360 and all the games for it + controllers at a friends house, and I never picked it up again. God knows where it is, last heard it red ringed or something, controllers have probably been passed around as need requires and my games are probably spread across the land like sown seeds.

All I have left of it is my 120GB hard drive from it.


Console gaming was nice for a while, I always enjoy Halo games on consoles, Vegas 2 from the Rainbow Six series...GTA 4...it had its charms but at the end of the day I like most here have always preferred the PC. The thinking man's platform.

Even then I haven't gamed much as I used to in my teens. At first it wasn't so much a choice as I felt increasingly put off by mediocre titles, unpleasant treatment by developers and publishers, and this can probably be attributed somewhat to the rise of milking the 'console kiddies' for their easy bucks for relatively little effort compared to the more demanding savvy consumer PC old farts.

Now its just a choice. Usually I can think of better things to do with my time/am busy anyway.

They say one slows down as they get older but at 24 I am finding myself more interested in outdoor pursuits and activities I can undertake myself.

Why play Wii tennis when you can play real tennis, why play a snowboarding game when you can learn snowboarding?

Even paintballing/airsoft provides some alternative to FPS gaming.


Always going to be a PC fanboy, but PC gaming has gotten less welcomnig as it used to be. I've spent so much time in game folders and files with mods and stuff and I get bored of that to a degree but its probably been because PC releases have gotten increasingly more shoddy and not too enjoyable to begin with so they almost always require some third party mod to become enjoyable and I just cant be bothered modding any more when I could as easily go out and meet some friends or something and generally enjoy my time with about half the preparatory effort.

 

[Shakermaker]

I don't believe I ever made a statement of fact about PC as a platform dying. I posted my opinion as to why *I* think the PC as a game platform is becoming unappealing to *me* and then asked if anyone had similar/different/random experiences.

Perhaps you should have read, oh I don't know, the thread title and the OP?

I have.

So really, PC gaming is starting to feel like a dying enterprise for me. |