What are the benefits of PC gaming over console gaming?

I know PC got better res, modifications/ mods support, free online, longevity ( PC dosen't get outdated as consoles by generation ), vast library of games ranging from all genres for everyone, very cheap games ( specially during sales). Its all good.

But i also think PC gaming is very expensive over console gaming hardware wise, PC gaming and updating PC components regularly to keep up with eye candy res is not feasible for everyone (specially for guys from low or average earning families). While PC library is vast but it dosen't got awesome AAA titles which everyone wants to play as console games. PC games mostly includes rpg's, rts, indie, simulations with mix of multiplats.

Again, i may be wrong in my above assumptions or missed vital points.

What are the benefits of PC gaming over console gaming warriors? :)

It makes you feel like a superior human-being which in turn raises you're low self-esteem.

Oh it's this thread again

Here is the gist of it, if you want to build a good PC the up front costs are going to be considerably larger than getting into a console setup. However over the years you will save greatly on game purchases and not having to spend money on Live/PS+ thus negating the cost and in many cases exceeding in savings.

Console is always going to be the more expensive route, just not up front.

Because the purchase of console games sucks when you're Canadian.

With new games costing somewhere between 65 to 70 CAD, you're much better off waiting for a Steam sale.

PC gaming can be cheaper in the long run if you keep buying your games new and including live\PSN+

@nyadc: I dunno about that, gpu's cost more than consoles.

Pc gaming has real life benefit than console gaming

depends on the GPU

Game sales are much more frequent on PC and go on sale for considerably less, the long term cost is less.

How? :)

@lostrib said:

Oh it's this thread again

Just think of the benefits.

@lostrib: Yea... but who buys a last gen gpu when your trying to get 1440 or 4k ? If you build a PC to be barely better than consoles your kinda doing it wrong.

not everyone is trying to get 1440p or 4k

probably most people aren't

@lostrib: If your not trying to go big, I don't see the point in doing it thats just me though. Fair point though.

This kind of argument made sense when last gen began. But this time Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are laughably weak. You can built PC that will blow them away pretty cheaply.

Anyway, most people play on PC for games and controlls. The segment of "everything on max, 60 FPS, 4K" is pretty small. But it's just another strenght of PC - it doesn't require you to be this commited to performance, but it can support your preference if you choose too.

If I was console-only, I'd have to buy a separate non-gaming PC (in addition to a console) if I want to get work done. When I play FSX on the PC, I can customize the weather and cloud conditions. I take real-world weather forecast numerical data or actual upper-air sounding data and add them to the weather customization menu of FSX. What FSX renders is a good visualization of those data. Very fun stuff to me.

Here's an older screenie:

@AdrianWerner: Like I said maybe I get more satisfaction out of the build than just playing the games. So I like trying to just make a monster.

@indzman: Cant do this on consoles.

@iandizion713 said:

@indzman: Cant do this on consoles.

HeHe

Hail to Lord Gaben =P

With the shitfest this console gen has been why would anyone even question this?

A controller-centric environment is the last bastion of console gaming, after that 1st-party marketing is the only advantage the consoles have. Not to say they have any advantage whatsoever, but that's one of it's personal strengths relative to itself. Marketing. I'm on gs and gaf and people will say it's ok, or even better, to pay for online because you get free games. That's the fucking power of marketing. So apply that to anything in the console world aside from Nintendo and you'll see that what's you're being sold. A pile of crap, while the WiiU sells like crap.

"Console gamers" we are talking about here are after the "Xbox Experience", which is a walled-garden PC with heavy multiplat support built around a controller.

Personally I have just as much fun seeing how small, affordable, and functional you can make a PC as trying to make a monster build.

@gamecubepad: That sounds terrible lol. Are you talking raspberry pi small or just as cheap as you can get without starting a fire?

PC got no games as Bloodborne, Final Fantasy XV or Type O HD. It got over the top view Diablo type games as Pillars of Destinity or Divinity Original Sin. While they good for Diablo lovers they not great as Bloodborne or FF XV tho :( Wish those games comes to PC :(

@indzman: just because they have the same viewpoint does not make them diablo type games

Why does it sound terrible, isn't that process Big 3's R&D goes through when deciding on hardware they will choose for their consoles? I find that process, albeit on consumer level, to be very fun. I'm intrigued by compute sticks, as I see them being what everybody thought the smartphone would be, but then realized they need it as a phone. But no, I'm talking finding the best balance between price, performance, and form-factor. I see the consoles as $550-600 with online fees for a gen, so I enjoy challenging that pricepoint with m-itx builds.

I usually buy 2nd hand or inherit hardware from people like you who can't comprehend wanting something better than consoles without breaking the bank, so I don't oppose your mentality. By all means hit me up when you dump your hardware and I'll buy it from you. lol.

pc's are old school as hell remember those old school dungeon battle stations pc gamers used to build pc gamings more casual now and lame im sick of it

@ProtossX: sure you are, we totally believe you

Actiually both Bloodborne and FFXV are much closer to Diablo than Pillars or Divinity are.

How?

I'd only get into PC if you really want to get competitive with games like Counter Strike, Dota/LoL and Battlefield. Another reason is because of the pretty graphics, flexibility, and all the shit you listed above.

I've saved a lot more money switching over PC and the games I buy a year has increased because of sales. My friends have all switched to PC for the most part so going back to consoles is pointless for me.

Bloodborne and FFXV are action-RPGs. Just like Diablo. Both games are mostly about killing things and in both it;s done in a way that relies heavily on user's own reflex and dexterity. They both bassicaly have combat systems inspired by action games. Plus you directly control just one character. Diablo is the same. The mechanics of combat are different, but they're still reflex based and action-heavy.

Pillars and Divinity are different. They're classic cRPGs, so the focus is much less on combat. They push roleplaying more. They also have combat systems that are completely strategic, where gamer's own reflex is completely meaningless. Not to mention that in both you get full control over party.

Diablo shares camera perspective with Pillars and Divinity, but it's gameplay is much much closer to Bloodborne and FFXV

@gamecubepad: Its not that I can't comprehend it, its just not my thing. The process they go through is much more scientific than what you are doing there is actual engineering involved. Your just trying to match they parts together and not only that you can't have custom chips, nor do you have actual input on the design. So no its not even close to being the same but I won't knock you all that matters is you enjoy what you do. It will be a while, I'm trying to finish a 2x r9 with ddr4 build. Meanwhile Ill play games on my xbox.

literally everything

As much as I love my PS4.

The answer is games. Don't listen to the GFX is the better/bestest/ultra awesome on PC. PS4 looks just fine.

It's the games. You can't get Civ 5, SHOGUN2, The Stanley Parable, STALKER, Grey Goo, Starcraft, WOW....and then theres games like Skyrim and GTA that have so many mods that it makes it a whole different game.

Good points :)

Why Pillars of Destiny or Divinity Original Sin are boring camera/combat wise whereas Bloodborne or FF XV are a blast to play or for everyone to get into/enjoy them more? :)

AAA games will still cost $60 majority of the time which is a rip off since there should be no reason for a digital copy of a game being charged for full price (PSN and XBL are guilty of this too), so saying PC gaming is cheap in the long run is full of bullshit unless the only time you buy games is during summer/winter sales

The best thing about PC gaming is not the overprice higher fps/res, it's the amazing backwards compatibility it has (and mod support)

So what about all the streamers playing destiny / bloodborne / halo 5 and stuff ur pc cant play?

i see tons of twitch pc gamers with ps4/xb1 and stuff ur a friggin liar gaming planet ur not on the same planet as pc gamers

WE OWN all the system a true pc gamers owns everything an buys the console for exclusive ur a fake GAMER A FAKE GAMER!

everyone knows pc owns everything they dont wait an they dont not play every game out

PC changed nothing console still has stuff u cant play anywhere else

gaming planet more like meh planet

I've been armchair quarterbacking for pretty long, give me some credit. :P To be fair you'd have to be a chimpanzee to come up with the price/performance/form-factor ratio MS and Nintendo did with the XO and WiiU.

I have a 7870 myst oc I bought from a friend. It performs as good as I could expect for $100. Someday I'll probably pair it up with a cheap 7950 as the 7870 le is harder to find, but I'm fine for now. I would love to play Sunset Overdrive and the Forza games on XO, but I'm married with 3 kids and I have to find time to catch up on about 100 games on PC before I start dropping cash on a console that has online fees.

Because they appeal to people who don't find their type of combat boring, which is strategy and cRPG fans. And most of those people find Pillars and Divinity to be much more of a blast to play. Precisely because they want good RPG gameplay from their games. Which is something you can't really find in Bloodborne or FFXV

About upgrading.

The simple rule is, you cut corners with hardware, you have to keep updating. If you get a good motherboard which is kinda future proofed (£100 - £120ish), a good CPU to a quality i5 level (£120 - £150ish) and a good amount of quality RAM (DDR3 is cheap, DDR4 is not), those things, you'll never have to update until you're ready to change you're motherboard which could be 4 to 6 years.

Then there's the graphics card, if you get a £100 - £120 card like the GTX 750Ti, this could last you one, to one and half years before you feel like upgrading. A GTX 960 which costs £150 - £200 I think, could last you two to three years probably. The GTX 970 seems to be £250 plus, but if you get that or the AMD equivalent, it's unlikely you'll need to change your card for many many years.

Remember, on a single monitor, it really doesn't take a lot to get to high plus settings in games. The GTX 750Ti can play games at high and beyond, imagine what the GTX 960 could do and it doesn't cost vastly more.

It's a myth you need to keep updating or you need expensive multi card set ups, especially on a single monitor. Don't cut corners in the first place and you'll be surprised at how long components last.

@ProtossX said:

@Gaming-Planet said:

I'd only get into PC if you really want to get competitive with games like Counter Strike, Dota/LoL and Battlefield. Another reason is because of the pretty graphics, flexibility, and all the shit you listed above.

I've saved a lot more money switching over PC and the games I buy a year has increased because of sales. My friends have all switched to PC for the most part so going back to consoles is pointless for me.

So what about all the streamers playing destiny / bloodborne / halo 5 and stuff ur pc cant play?

i see tons of twitch pc gamers with ps4/xb1 and stuff ur a friggin liar gaming planet ur not on the same planet as pc gamers

WE OWN all the system a true pc gamers owns everything an buys the console for exclusive ur a fake GAMER A FAKE GAMER!

everyone knows pc owns everything they dont wait an they dont not play every game out

PC changed nothing console still has stuff u cant play anywhere else

gaming planet more like meh planet

Destiny doesn't interest me, I stopped playing Halo after 3, and Bloondborne is a must wait(lol greatness awaits, and waits).

I stopped playing on consoles a few years ago, the subscription fees and the lack of good digital deals convinced me to switch to PC. This is the weakest I've seen in a console generation and I have a feeling consoles are in for a rude awakening.

PC gaming also allows better UI flexibility: fullscreen, windowed and have it happen on one monitor or multimonitor. I've seen my kid juggling her time between console, laptop, and cellphone. I can try the same. But, I can at least have it all on one screen.

He said competitive games

Settle down, fake boy

The hardware can be relatively expensive, but it depends on what you buy. I just put my new one together, and it cost me around $1700. That'll last me a couple of years before I need a new GPU. I don't have too many games to bench my 970 at the moment, but I can play The Witcher 2 maxed (no ubersampling) at 1080p with 60fps.

I also got The Witcher 3 free with my new GPU.

1. Better framerate, better resolution.

2. Ability to adjust graphic sliders to make the game work smoothly on your own specific hardware configuration.

3. NO STUPID XBL/PS+ internet tollbooth to deal with.

For starters.

The main benefit I believe for PC over Console is that you have the power to make decisions for yourself. You do not need to obey and comply with companies decisions.

Because we have this guy. A god among men.

I've built a PC which is far more powerful than a console but I'm not trying for 4k.