Thinking about getting back into PC gaming. Need Some help...

I cant think of a reason why not to...

this year alone PC games are crawling in rts games, and more often then not an interresting fps or rpg drops on us ^^

Eh, I'm about to get into PC gaming myself (selling my 360, then installing Win7 on my Macbook Pro). The reason I wanted to was to play games like Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike Source, Everquest II, Guild Wars, Supreme Commander 2, and a multitude of others. I would say GO FOR IT! There are still millions and millions of people that game on PCs, it isn't dead or anything, still timeless classics and great games. Go for it. :)

I did the same thing I played on PC for the longest time. bought a **** 360, but it never felt the same so I sold it bought a new PC and IM BACK! but seriously PC gaming is better because better graphics, gameplay (imo), more online, competative online (if you want it), and just a overall better community.

I am in a similar situation of sort. I started of playing consoles, went to pc, and now was trying to get back into consoles...but just cant. PC gaming is best. At least to me. You should definently go with PC gaming.

I own a ps3, xbox 360 (Which of course is dead, ty microsoft) and a wii, along with 2 desktops (1 old i use as a backup) (1 new that runs anything out there) and a laptop thats 4 years old.

Been there, done that. I havent even turned on any of my consoles for like 5 months. Anything thats coming out that i have wanted to play, has come out for the PC. If you want to play skill players, you play on the PC. If you want to play a game however you want, graphics, trainers, and for the most part no DLC you have to pay for, you play on the PC.

If you want to get a new system that will play pretty much anything out there at a good clip for 3 years, ive priced some systems lately at around $2800 without monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers. If you want to upgrade components, there are tons of great buys for a budget as well.

Get back into PC gaming man, now is the time if you arent getting hammered by the recession like most people, you still will have to deal with 12 yr olds though, but not even remotely on a scale you do with a console. Life isnt always perfect, but put a round through their head a few times in game, and it makes dealing with them so much easier :)

PC gaming is still fantastic, definatly get into it if possible (:

most of the people who played on xbox live were 12 year old brats. Aim

best decision you've ever made

The best years IMO for PC gaming were 1997 - 2000 (inclusive), fortunately many of those games still work on todays systems.

There have been a couple great years since, notably 2002 and 2004, but even those years weren't up to the 1997-2000 level IMO.

Unfortunately, in 2001 and thereafter, many developers began focusing on the then new console systems, PS2, Gamecube, and X-Box, before the PC's. Still, consoles don't have the quality RTS, western RPG's, and mouse-and-keyboard FPS games that the PC enjoys. Also, PC modding is a huge bonus. But so many games feel compromised for the consoles now IMO.

Thank God for Valve and Blizzard.

Is PC gaming still worthwhile? I owned an xbox 360 elite for 2 years and liked the system. I didn't like the FPS games on it though. I played Fear, Half Life Orange Box and others and it always felt like something was missing. I missed downloading the mods, the mouse/keyboard controls and most of the people who played on xbox live were 12 year old brats. I had some great online gaming sessions with the xbox 360 so it wasn't all bad. I sold the system with my big screen tv about 2 years ago. Anyway, so now I'm thinking about getting back into PC gaming. I just bought the psp go a few days ago and I really like it. I figure that I could get my console fix on the Psp go and when I wanted to play some rts and fps games I could jump back into the PC side of things. I also really like the ability to download games from steam and gamespy now. opinions? Aim

I say stick with a 360 and PS3, Pc gaming is becoming annoying with DRM, bad ports and dedicated servers slowly becoming a thing of the past. couly

[QUOTE="Aim"]most of the people who played on xbox live were 12 year old brats. xwolfghost

PC games have 1000 times more versatility than console games in things like RTS and RPG, but the FPS are probably equal IMO. Doesn't make the games on console bad games, but just PC with a keyboard and mouse can control way more stuff than a console can.

Is PC gaming still worthwhile? Aim

Did someone say PC gaming?:D

Me. personally, can not enjoy pc gaming without having state of the art equipment. People here say you can get by cheap, but i would not recomment that avenue. If you are building a new pc, go for broke...get the best parts you can get. Dont skimp on the cpu or the graphics card, get the lastest and greatest right from day one. After the cost issue is out of the way, you can enjoy some nice gaming on the pc, knowing full well that the games you are playing are the absoulte best they can be. For me, that is the main reason i play games on the pc. But, keep in mind a vast majority of new games for pc are the same games you would be playing on consoles...i dont think the actual game experience is all that much different.

Is PC gaming still worthwhile?Aim

Not trying to be annoying. But if you ask me, every year it worths less. For example we get games like assasin creed 2 with excessive drm and high price tag. We lose dedicated servers and upcoming games have pretty high requirements (like metro 2033) when there is no apparent reason that they should, since the game looks about the same on the consoles, its not like the game is gonna have far superior graphics than the console version, better? Yes but not that good that it will require so much to play at the same settings as the console version.

As another user has said "game developers are screwing pc too much"

The question is, if you enjoy the control on the pc and wherever you wanna spent alot of cash to play on very high graphics or if you want a cheap rig just to play the games without amazing graphics. Or if you wanna use mods. However i have to admit that modding is not that strong as it used to be in the past. Wherever you use mods or not, clearly depends on wherever the game has modding capabilities and how many modders bother with the game.

In conclusion, if you play console multiplatform games, you might end up having a less bothersome and cheaper experiance on a console, if you have some specific games in mind then yes you should get on the pc. But there is nothing really hapenning right now that screams "get to the pc gaming" What i am trying to say is that pc gaming is not at its best right now. What exactly you have in mind and we will tell you what you will find on pc right now. Pc is not a console, it has various and complicated ways to have fun. ;)

2800$ is not what it costs to build a good computer. Don't listen to that number at all... Of course unless you are using a service like alienware, In todays prices the cost for a decent system (no monitor keyboard etc..) is 800 *I built mine from that budget a full year ago, still maxing games). 1000$ from what I have priced together can also get you a lot and can end up helping in the long run (you can use the extra $$$ to get a bigger cpu, dual pci e 16 2.0 slot Mobo, etc...)IvanElk

I wouldnt recommend alienware to my worst enemy. I spit on that entire company.

But i did say 3 years at a good clip. No upgrades needed. After 3 years, just replace the video card, yer good for another 2-3 easily. Im also a bit more eccentric in my system building as well. I triple the memory, get the top of the line CPU, a mobo that WILL be able to be upgraded in 3 years, which means usually the SOB is like $300 just by itself since its usually one of the newest. I also stick with quality hardware. Corsair mem, asus mobo's. Intel cpu's, XFX video cards, Hitachi HDD's, etc. You also have to consider the size in video games, so you get a large capacity HDD. If yer a gamer you probably like music and movies as well, need lots of space if you get them from the net. Also the case is important, but tailored to each of our styles. I love my COSMOS S case, SOB is $300 still, but for complete ease of use for upgrading anything, even though its heavy as a mofo, its got basically roll bars which make great handles to move it and carry it around. Either way, i was running crysis at 54FPS at max resolution, and max graphics, when the game came out. Reviewers werent running it anything more than 60-65fps back then with better hardware on a 7k machine. Just as an example.

Regardless, for 2800 you wont have to upgrade a damned thing for atleast 3 years, course thats with the warranty. I bought my first system from a vendor 2 years ago, i used AVADIRECT. before then, i built everything since 1992 from buying the components about every 18 months to 2 years. It was costing me a lot more doing that, or upgrading pieces over the same amount of time.

But its a figure to look at regardless.