Why would anyone use a PC for gaming

hellboy99

oceanclub wrote: »

Nope; put mine together 3 years ago, and it wasn't top end then. Runs all the latest games fine.

Same here, got my PC just over 2.5 years ago and it wasn't the highest spec then at the time and is currently runnning Mass Effect 2 on all the highest settings @ 1920 x 1080 .

All I've done to it was upgrade the sound card, didn't need it really but what I got was a bargain that I couldn't miss at a cost of €50.

I have all the current consoles and my PC gets used an awful lot more for gaming.

elekid

neil_hosey wrote:

Console gaming is not for real gamers, its for social gaming with friends.

Dacelonid wrote: »

So in summary, consoles for kids, PC's for grownups

All you need to play pc games is a bit of knowledge, a decent setup and a strong sense of smug superiority

Mark Hamill

neil_hosey wrote: »

lol.. relax there!! just my opinion. Consoles are rubbish, graphics are probably just as good but the gameplay in most types of games (excepting soccer games) is CRAP.

Unless you have years of experience playing both, you cant really comment.

I have years of gaming experience on PCs and consoles and frankly you are talking ****e. Is a keyboard and mouse better for certain games (RTS, FPS) than a control pad? Yes. Are control pads so bad that using them is like playing a broken game? Bull****.
But games like rpgs, action games, racing games tend to play either the same on both console and PC (assuming you are intelligent enough to be able to adapt from keyboard/mouse to control pad or vice-versa) or even better on console (compare using a game pad to using a keyboard and mouse for a racing game).
Overall consoles tend to be simpler to set up-I would let my 8 year old nephew start up a game without me looking over his shoulder making sure he didn't break my xbox360 or ps3, I wouldn't let him touch my laptop-but they lose out on things like mods and tweaks that are more easily available on the pc (I couldn't imagine playing Fallout 3 on a console, missing out on the dozen or so mods I had installed on my pc version).

Hercule

At least our PC's can spell and grammar check

u win this round PC gaming - but you havent seen the last of us console trolls and our malformed arguments

neil_hosey

Mark Hamill wrote: »

I have years of gaming experience on PCs and consoles and frankly you are talking ****e. Is a keyboard and mouse better for certain games (RTS, FPS) than a control pad? Yes. Are control pads so bad that using them is like playing a broken game? Bull****.
But games like rpgs, action games, racing games tend to play either the same on both console and PC (assuming you are intelligent enough to be able to adapt from keyboard/mouse to control pad or vice-versa) or even better on console (compare using a game pad to using a keyboard and mouse for a racing game).
Overall consoles tend to be simpler to set up-I would let my 8 year old nephew start up a game without me looking over his shoulder making sure he didn't break my xbox360 or ps3, I wouldn't let him touch my laptop-but they lose out on things like mods and tweaks that are more easily available on the pc (I couldn't imagine playing Fallout 3 on a console, missing out on the dozen or so mods I had installed on my pc version).

lol.. again calm down.. its only my opinion. No need to get testy.

You said my opinion is bull****, but the only thing you really disagree with me on is this:

" . Are control pads so bad that using them is like playing a broken game? Bull****. "

And my rebuttal is this:

CONTROL PADS DESTROY GAMING!

you have to understand that people have different opinions and preferences to other people.
:P (obligatory condescending comment to nullify your serious attempt at one)

neil_hosey

elekid wrote: »

All you need to play pc games is a bit of knowledge, a decent setup and a strong sense of smug superiority

my smug superiority is a serious attempt to reverse troll the OP and try wind him up :P its had somewhat of an affect in that 2 people have had a nice moan at me already :)


at the end of the day its preference, some like PC gaming and some (kiddies) like consoles.. im kidding :P

Akrasia

neil_hosey wrote: »

lol.. again calm down.. its only my opinion. No need to get testy.

You said my opinion is bull****, but the only thing you really disagree with me on is this:

" . Are control pads so bad that using them is like playing a broken game? Bull****. "

And my rebuttal is this:

CONTROL PADS DESTROY GAMING!

you have to understand that people have different opinions and preferences to other people.
:P (obligatory condescending comment to nullify your serious attempt at one)

You leave my wii alone.

It's never given me a cramp in my left hand from trying to strafe jump crouch and go prone in quick succession using the keyboard.

hooradiation

Judging by this thread, for all their smug "we're so awesome" PC gamers are actually an even bigger bunch of insufferable cunts than the most petulant console fanboy.

Jesus, for all the talk of the industry growing up why are it's most vocal supporters such fucking children?

Answers on a postcard please.

Lu Tze

Akrasia wrote: »

obviously I don't. That's my point, PC games are far too hardware intensive.

I bought a computer nearly 2 years ago, for €300. This year i decided i wanted to use it to play games, as i was sick of my xbox burning rings into my disc (the last game i bought was fable 2, only got 3 hours into it before it had a nicely burned ring in the disc), and fallout 3 was out.

Bought an ATI 4670 grahics card for €60, powered through the motherboard so no worries about having to replace PSU, and i can now play fallout 3 on the 32" telly on highest settings!

Best part was the game on its own was €20 cheaper than console versions, so i made 1/3 my investment back in one go! And i can still use my xbox controller for fifa etc.

Canis Lupus

hooradiation wrote: »

Judging by this thread, for all their smug "we're so awesome" PC gamers are actually an even bigger bunch of insufferable cunts than the most petulant console fanboy.

Jesus, for all the talk of the industry growing up why are it's most vocal supporters such fucking children?

Answers on a postcard please.

You seem to be the one using the most naughty words.

elekid

I wasn't moaning really, just amused by the similar attitude. I can identify with the OPs experience but I know it's more down to my lack of interest in pc specs and hardware than because "all pc gaming is crap by default". I wouldn't say no to a high-spec gaming pc dropping in my lap but I wouldn't be bothered putting one together myself.

It's totally down to opinion and preference anyway, I don't like FPS or RTS games but do like JRPGs and platformers so consoles tend to cater far more to my interests. Describing gaming as "serious, mature and grown-up" just makes it sound boring to me

neil_hosey

elekid wrote: »

I wasn't moaning really, just amused by the similar attitude. I can identify with the OPs experience but I know it's more down to my lack of interest in pc specs and hardware than because "all pc gaming is crap by default". I wouldn't say no to a high-spec gaming pc dropping in my lap but I wouldn't be bothered putting one together myself.

It's totally down to opinion and preference anyway, I don't like FPS or RTS games but do like JRPGs and platformers so consoles tend to cater far more to my interests. Describing gaming as "serious, mature and grown-up" just makes it sound boring to me

Exactly, I dont know why people get worked up about it. Its all preference. This hooridfacation or whatever his name is getting wound up calling me and the other guy a cúnt shows the maturity and the level at which this debate usually degrades to.

Some people like consoles, some like PCs. lol... no need for pathetic slaggings.. get a life.

FPS is my thing. And tbh, even the latest games on controller are shít in my opinion. Once you get used to a keyboard its a different story.

Saying that i like the pick up and play aspect of the wii and PS3/Xbox, but i wouldnt spend hours on it, soccer games get boring, FPS's get frustrating using analog, etc..

Vegeta wrote: »

I built a decent gaming PC in college and absolutely LOVED playing BF2 on it.

It was a lot of hassle and when the gfx card decided to melt I never replaced it and stopped using it for gaming.

I definitely pine for a multi-player FPS as good on a console but I do not miss owning and maintaining the PC.

had a few melted gfx cards myself. USually happened due to overclocking the **** out of it, as i used to buy cheap parts and OC them.

Vegeta

I built a decent gaming PC in college and absolutely LOVED playing BF2 on it.

It was a lot of hassle and when the gfx card decided to melt I never replaced it and stopped using it for gaming.

I definitely pine for a multi-player FPS as good on a console but I do not miss owning and maintaining the PC.

neil_hosey

Akrasia wrote: »

You leave my wii alone.

It's never given me a cramp in my left hand from trying to strafe jump crouch and go prone in quick succession using the keyboard.

i dont get cramps from a keyboard! i love the wii tho.

Cuddlesworth

Lu Tze wrote: »

I bought a computer nearly 2 years ago, for €300. This year i decided i wanted to use it to play games, as i was sick of my xbox burning rings into my disc (the last game i bought was fable 2, only got 3 hours into it before it had a nicely burned ring in the disc), and fallout 3 was out.

Bought an ATI 4670 grahics card for €60, powered through the motherboard so no worries about having to replace PSU, and i can now play fallout 3 on the 32" telly on highest settings!

Best part was the game on its own was €20 cheaper than console versions, so i made 1/3 my investment back in one go! And i can still use my xbox controller for fifa etc.

Can you talk dirty to me some more? Maybe throw in something about megabytes and how big they are?

Akrasia

neil_hosey wrote: »

Exactly, I dont know why people get worked up about it. Its all preference. This hooridfacation or whatever his name is getting wound up calling me and the other guy a cúnt shows the maturity and the level at which this debate usually degrades to.

Some people like consoles, some like PCs. lol... no need for pathetic slaggings.. get a life.

FPS is my thing. And tbh, even the latest games on controller are shít in my opinion. Once you get used to a keyboard its a different story.

Saying that i like the pick up and play aspect of the wii and PS3/Xbox, but i wouldnt spend hours on it, soccer games get boring, FPS's get frustrating using analog, etc..

I actually like PC gaming, but it's always the ones you love who hurt you the most.

My fave game for a long time was Insurgency, a mod for HL2 but I've had my free time drastically cut down in the last year due to a the arrival of a non virtual role playing game (birth of my son) and since then, the only chances I get to play are a few hours here and there every few months, and every time I try and play, i spend most of the time trying to get the games to work, updating software etc

On consoles, I'm hardly a fanboy, only have the old ps2 and a Wii, never pay for any online play, wii is free online. and I've never had to download any updates for any of the games I play

toiletduck

Why would anyone use a PC for gaming

Put simply, it's cheaper (for me). There's no games for xbox/ps3 that I *really* want that aren't available for my pc. Which isn't upgraded in any way, but an Aldi one that is over a year old and wasn't top of the line then. Plays MW2 fine anyways!

Nick_oliveri

And, you can still use the Xbox controller in most newish games at the moment on the pc. Ive had this rig for three years or that, still play games that look better than any **** the PS3 (have one) or xbox could muster, graphically and resolution-y! Playing games in 1080, Mass Effect 2 being the most recent. This rig has stood the test of time and has turned into a great investment.

Prices are set to plummet again soon as the new tech becomes the old and I probably wont bother upgrading my rig. For an investment of €500-600 you would be doing well, likely coming out with great graphics and maybe an I7.

Most desktop PC's of old were equipped with an average graphics card that would do the "average home user". Times have changed and the emphasis has moved on from just getting Office and Internet/Email stuff done. Thats what your average local computer store was selling you for high prices and they are still doing that now. "Thousands of pounds"? You are joking mate, I spent less than 600 on my rig ages ago and it still pwns. Actually its lasted waay longer than I had expected.

So if you were to spend a few bucks on an investment following this forums advice you should get an adapter with the graphics card that can output HD video/games/desktop direct to your current flatscreen TV at full resolution. You wouldn't even need a monitor. Internet/pron/games/video all just a click away.

leninbenjamin

toiletduck wrote: »

Put simply, it's cheaper (for me). There's no games for xbox/ps3 that I *really* want that aren't available for my pc. Which isn't upgraded in any way, but an Aldi one that is over a year old and wasn't top of the line then. Plays MW2 fine anyways!

Indeed, same for me. I needed a new PC for college because me laptop wasn't up to spec for the software I wanted to use. So I added a bit more to my budget and built me a gaming rig. And even though I spent a bit more than I had too, it's actually worked it's way back to me in the form of savings on the games.

enda1

Maybe OP you should have posted in Ranting and Raving, then everyone would have had to agree with you :P

the_syco

Akrasia wrote: »

I have bought games in the past that looked like they should be able to run on the spec pc that I had, took them home and they never worked because my graphics card was not direct x 6.1c compatible due to not supporting some kind of pixel shader or whatever, or there was some issue with my particular graphics card not being compatable with the game.

If someone said "I have a playstation, and recently bought a new playstation game, but it never worked, as my playstation is not a playstation 3"... it'd sound very silly. But so is your point.

Vegeta wrote: »

It was a lot of hassle and when the gfx card decided to melt I never replaced it and stopped using it for gaming.

Yes. A new gfx card that play BF2 will probably cost you €50

L31mr0d

I liken PC gaming to Snowboarding off-piste, sure it's more work, you run the risk of getting stuck somewhere, and having to walk your way out. It would be easier to just take the chairlift and use the moguled main routes... but the freedom wouldn't be there to carve out your own path, and run the risks.

I like PC gaming because it gives me complete freedom, the problems that I encounter because of this freedom are a price that I'm willing to pay.

Lu Tze

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Can you talk dirty to me some more? Maybe throw in something about megabytes and how big they are?

Point taken

Chairman Meow

Akrasia wrote: »

PCs are absolutely useless for games when compared to Consoles. I was trying to play counterstrike last night, hadn't played it in a while so when i booted it up, I had to wait 20 minutes for steam to update, then when I tried to find a server to connect to, I got kicked from about 50% of them before I could even get in, and the rest all had stupid personalised sound effects and ****ty home made maps that took ages to download every time the map changed.

So I got bored with CS, tried to play battlefield 2.
Same again, needed to download a feckin patch which took ages, had to install it and when I finally booted the game up about an hour after I started trying, I remembered why I haven't played it in so long. My computer isn't fast enough to play the game at a reasonable setting level so I kept getting sniped and shot from beyond the grey fog by people who had a huge advantage because they have a better computer than me.

So what's a better computer? I have had 3 new desktop computers in the last 15 years, all of them were mid range when new, all cost more than a thousand pounds/euros and none of them could play any game that had been released that year on the highest detail setting (or even close)
Games that had come out 12 months previous to the manufacture of the new pc had to be played on medium detail for any kind of decent framerate. Games that were still in production? well I'd be lucky if I could play them at all, and if i could, they'd be nowhere near as detailed as the advertised and reviewed product.

PC gamers are expected to constantly upgrade their software to fix bugs that should have been ironed out before the game was released, and constantly update the hardware with new graphics cards that often cost more than the price of a fully loaded PS3 and still don't deliver the performance that you expect and are out of date within 12 months.

It is impossible to be a 'casual gamer' on a PC, you need to be a 'serious gamer', spend all your disposable income on the right equipment and plan your gaming weeks in advance to make sure your game is compatable with the latest version 17.89b that the developer has just brought out to fix the bug introduced by patch v17.88b.
I don't want to be a serious gamer, I have a job, that's serious, gaming is supposed to be fun.

Here's my list why games are sh1t on PCs
1. You have to install them which takes ages
2. You have to re-install them several times because they don't work the first time
3. You need to update the drivers for your mouse because of a 'known issue'
4. You need to buy a new mouse because the driver update that you searched the entire internet for doesn't work
5. When the game finally gets going, it looks and performs crap because your computer isn't good enough
6. You get constantly owned in online games because some rich child has a better computer than you and can see you before you see him
7. When you try to join an online game you have to sift through gazillions of servers with crappy custom maps and custom sound effects that all make you download stuff that takes ages every time the map changes
8. you'll get kicked half the time because you're not in the right 'clan'
9. When you finally get into a game, you'll accidentally press the feckin windows button located beside the ctrl button on the keyboard and your computer will crash
10. you're isolated in the 'computer room' of the house because you have to use a desktop to play games cause all laptops have sh1t graphics cards
11. If you don't play the game for a few weeks, the next time you try and play you'll need to get a new patch then repeat steps 1-through 4, again.
12. You'll lose the box or the piece of paper that has the cd key on it so when your computer inevitably needs to be reformatted, you won't be able to re-install any of your games.

delete system32 folder and reboot. That will solve all patching issues with games.

Retr0gamer

Lads keep the abuse to a minimum please and try not to feed the trolls. Enjoy your 2 week ban hooradiation. Anyone that says console/PC gaming isn't for real gamers or looks down their nose at the other demographic is just ignorant. A real gamer would have a PC and the consoles if they had the money.

As for the OP, if you have a PC that can't play BF2 then it's because your PC is older than Iris Robinsons last fling. A crappy mid range PC will play any of the multiplatform games with much nicer graphics than any of the consoles and it hasn't been easier to set up or build your own PC.

L31mr0d

Retr0gamer wrote: »

As for the OP, if you have a PC that can't play BF2 then it's because your PC is older than Iris Robinsons last fling.

Was just looking at this netbook yesterday (not even a cheaper desktop PC) You can find it priced at around €600.

It plays Crysis, Mass Effect 2, CoD:MW2 etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPrBv9zDK0g

Lu Tze

L31mr0d wrote: »

Was just looking at this netbook yesterday (not even a cheaper desktop PC) You can find it priced at around €600.

The netbook in that link has a 15" screen...

Mr Freeze

Sorry haven't read the whole thread (it was probably mostly abuse and flaming toward the OP anyways). But to say PCs are absolutely useless for gaming is mad.

Even though I have completely turned by back on the PC for gaming after playing on the PC for years and years and moved to the XBOX, the PC is probably the best gaming platform without a doubt. I was seduced (got it as a present) by the handiness of the console, and not worrying about upgrading hardware & a getting new PC to play the latest games with the graphics turned up to the last, I never looked back when I got the console.

L31mr0d

Lu Tze wrote: »

The netbook in that link has a 15" screen...

your point? A 15" screen would be perfect for a bit of Crysis on a plane journey :P The laptop also has a HDMI out so you could hook it up to a Plasma/LCD TV.

My point though was that technology has progressed to the point where even budget mobile hardware is capable of running the best the PC has to offer. There's really no excuse for people to complain about costs when talking about PC gaming.

Lu Tze

L31mr0d wrote: »

your point? A 15" screen would be perfect for a bit of Crysis on a plane journey :P The laptop also has a HDMI out so you could hook it up to a Plasma/LCD TV.

My point though was that technology has progressed to the point where even budget mobile hardware is capable of running the best the PC has to offer. There's really no excuse for people to complain about costs when talking about PC gaming.

I'm not disputing that, but i would only consider it a netbook if it was 11" or smaller - excited at the prospect of something so portable being able to play those games!

I imagined something like this

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/alienware-m11x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn

though without the garish lights etc.