Do you prefer PC gaming or console?

[Zamorph]

Do you prefer PC gaming or console? Why?  
Was thinking of buying a nice gaming laptop but it would cost me like 1600.   Its way cheaper just to stick to my xbox .  Shrug

[aynjell]

A bit of both, actually.

I'll always be a PC snob, because when it comes to competitive gaming, console just doesn't live up. But I'll still have room in the house for my xbox for co-op gaming with friends/family.

Just because I play starcraft 4-5 hours a day doesn't mean I won't fire up halo on xbox to play through the campaign with a friend.

[Malphas]

Surely if you're a member of a keyboard enthusiast forum you must own a desktop PC?  Which is the best way to play, in my opinion, unless you want splitscreen multiplayer obviously.  It's not very expensive to keep your PC kitted out with a midrange graphics card.

[Zamorph]

Ofc I do, but I was looking for a mobile gaming platform  problem is do I wanna drop 1500 on a laptop.  Ill probably stick to xbox.  btw i hate moving my tower as yall could of guessed.

[Lanx]

i was an exclusive pc snob, but once i played bioshock 2 on the xbox and the rumble let me know when a big daddy was coming and added another element, well console gaming got the upper hand, plus i could play on my projector as well, i used to be more critical of fps and mouse/keyboard superiority, but ever since i get sick from fps for longer than 30minutes playing on whatever console/pc i'm not picky anymore and find the console just easier. Of course it's all different, pc rules for pc type games like strategy/diablo/starcraft type games, then there's the console only exclusives, what are you gonna do really, you just gotta have em all lol (except the wii, that thing has an inch of dust)

[Malphas]

I don't really see how an Xbox connected to a television is more portable than a desktop.

[Zamorph]

Sorry, what I ment by that is it is way cheaper.  Desktops are not all that portable anyway.  You see all those cables?

Anyone know where to find nice laptops for a good price?

[hcry4]

How about this slate/tablet PC? Don't really need a laptop keyboard anyway.
If you really want a laptop, wait until next year for Ivy Bridge. Then you have a choice of a cheaper Sandy Bridge laptop or getting a new Ivy Bridge one.

[Zamorph]

Thats a good point.  Thanks.  I will probably just wait, but if anyone was looking for a good gaming laptop at a good price---http://www.amazon.com/G74SX-XA1-Republic-Gamers-17-3-Inch-Gaming/dp/B00592CFFM/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1319683899&sr=8-9

[Ekaros]

PC only true gaming platform.

[Bry]

PC, because all I play is SC2

[Captain Hat]

There is literally nothing that a console is capable of doing that you cannot, with some work, duplicate or surpass on a PC.

The reverse is not true.

Split screen gaming is easier to set up on consoles, though, and they are considerably cheaper than high-end PCs (probably because the manufacturers sell them at a loss and they were never particularly high-spec by PC standards anyway) so they do still have a niche.

[Bilbin]

PC Gaming... I can't stand people that think they're superior since they play console MW2 and go on and on about how good they are and how good their console is even though the skill cap for that game is horrendous. The disgusting analog sticks, an awesome concept I've seen is a trackball aim for Xbox. Auto aim?!?

Singleplayer campaigns with friends and family are completely different, I remember back in the fat Xbox controllor days where my friend and I spent countless days collecting every shield/medal for Halo: Combat Evolved on every level.

Game pads can be better than kb/mouse for some things, like racing games.

[Lanx]

i don't play racing games, haven't played them since like the 8 player arcade nascar in the mid 90s but if you're really gonna play racing games wouldn't you get a racing wheel? heck then get the whole shifter and pedals? just don't get anything mad catz lol.

[Bilbin]

I meant vs keyboard, I seriously cannot believe how horrible it is to play Shift 2 with the keyboard. Playing it on a friend's Xbox has such a 'normal' feeling.

They should implement mouse steering for every racing game on PC, Live For Speed's mouse steering is very nice.

A lot of people play the mid 90s old school racing games at the arcade I sometimes go by, I'm more into Battle Gear

[cbf123]

You need the right equipment for each game type.  Keyboard and mouse for shooters and realtime strategy, throttle/stick/rudder for flight sims, force-feedback wheel and pedals for racing.

Console is cheap and uses less electricity, and sometimes the games are easier to get into.

[slueth]

PC ftw except for those ****ty console ports then consoles are the way to go.  Also for fighting games I do that on console, pc fighting games is just too awkward to do, two people sharing a keyboard is ridiculous.

[Lethal Squirrel]

PC. Except for console exclusives.

[jwaz]

I remember playing the remake of the original MGS and having my mind blown. 4 was pretty fun as well.

I mainly use PC for SC2 and steam stuff but PS2, SNES and N64 will always have a place.

[flyball]

PS2, SNES and N64 will always have a place.

on the pc

[Lethal Squirrel]

^ nice

[RickyJ]

Before I built a new PC and bought a bunch of games on a Steam sale, I played exclusively on my 360.  Then I tossed a second GTX285 into my PC and cranked the eye candy to max.  I haven't booted up my 360 in months, though it still sits beside my PC with its dedicated 22" 1080p LCD.  If an exclusive game comes out I'll play it on the 360, otherwise I'm happily glued to my PC again.

[Malphas]

They still making games for the PC?

Increasingly so; the "PC gaming is dead" thing is very 2000's.  The PC game market is enjoying a kind of renaissance at the moment, driven by digital download services, indie developers, and the current generation of consoles' hardware becoming rather dated possibly.

[Lanx]

aren't both consoles (i don't count nintendo as a console really) gonna last with a lifespan until 2014 or more? the recent games for me was finalfantasy xiii (i finally found an import version for japanese voices) and playing GOW3 at a friends house and they both look great. While they both have dated hardware, i think devs are still able to push em to have magicsauce come out.

[Ekaros]

Yeah, but their limited memory is bad for desing maps and such. I hate loading, and they even can't pre load next zones even if I do have 8GB of memory...

[Lanx]

you can install the game to hd from the xbox dash and load it up that way (no idea on the ps3 if they have this option) sucks you still need the game disk in tray, and i can actually still hear it spin up even if i install to hd...

[Malphas]

aren't both consoles (i don't count nintendo as a console really) gonna last with a lifespan until 2014 or more? the recent games for me was finalfantasy xiii (i finally found an import version for japanese voices) and playing GOW3 at a friends house and they both look great. While they both have dated hardware, i think devs are still able to push em to have magicsauce come out.

Personally I think console games look rubbish when compared to PC versions these days, but graphics aren't the be-all and end-all.  It just might be a contributing factor to why PC games are making a comeback.  PC games are still limited by the fact most games and game engines are cross platform, so are held back by the fact they have to run on consoles anyway.  It's more obvious when you compare to a PC exclusive like Hard Reset (which looks far better, but is basically a mundane Painkiller clone unfortunately).

[Trueepower]

I think that platform gaming will always be cool to a certain point (if you are into playing 2 player games such as Maddens, or some other competitive gaming), but PC gaming with MMO's, and games like Diablo 3 are always going to be the best games overall. They have made games internet based on the consoles, and its just not the same. Also, splitting your time using your PC monitor, and TV monitor is good. You have your comfortable little set-up with your PC, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a huge area. Where as the TV is always going to be a separate entertainment area for others to sit around and watch.

Even though some of the high end gaming cards are ridiculous prices, you really don't have to go high-high end to get great performance. You can go much cheaper with your PC. Upgrade as your favorite games come out, or buy/build a new PC based on the fact that it's just time to start over (which is inevitable as technology is greater every year).

PC's really are a personal type of gaming center, and they can have a long life span if you build them right. While platforms are limited, and are just better in certain multi-player situations.

[Ekaros]

Carmack is an ******* and an idiot. What I undestood they run on their own drivers, not tested on something standard and available to most users...

[Ekaros]

Some people think God is an ******* and an idiot too.

Graphics isn't everything folks.  Although I will say it's hard to play Farmville on a console. Market is too small.

I do, alteast if you refer the judeo-christian god, not that most others have done much better. Still Carmack is much past date when he did something real, not that he wasn't good at coding engines...

[Ekaros]

Well, let's see - any interesting PC titles coming up???

Nope.

Just reruns.

I agree, whole gaming market it just reruns nowdays. So the point?

[Malphas]

John Carmack doesn't make games anymore though, he makes game engines and tech demos like Rage.

[Malphas]

But that'll also be released on PC (with improved graphics and user created mods), plus chances are it won't be that great anyway, just like the previous one.  Are you feeling OK, ripster?

[Malphas]

Isn't "console port" more disparaging towards consoles than PCs?  It's implying console games are inferior to PC exclusives and thus why a port is a bad thing.  The other implication is that the porting process introduces bugs and other problems, which was true in 2003, whist today they're cross-platform from the get go these days and play exactly the same on PC only with improved graphics and faster framerate.  In fairness, console ports generally are inferior to PC exclusives, but the PC "port" is almost always the best version.

[Malphas]

It played fine on my machine, it was a mediocre game in general though.  And I dunno, almost all of them really, too many to list specifics.  Off the top of my head Portal 2, Mass Effect 2, the CoDs, Deus Ex 3, the Assassin's Creed series all looked and played better on my PC than on my friend's 360.

You could also do this with the PC version of GTA 4 if you could be arsed.

[video=youtube;2_zilaBzixA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_zilaBzixA[/video]

PC Gamers like to spend thousands just to admire better anti-aliasing and more pixels.

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Superclocked-Mini-HDMI-Graphics-01G-P3-1563-KR/dp/B004L02TPY

http://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-3-160GB-System/dp/B003VUO6H4

[flyball]

Isn't "console port" more disparaging towards consoles than PCs?  It's implying console games are inferior to PC exclusives and thus why a port is a bad thing.  The other implication is that the porting process introduces bugs and other problems, which was true in 2003, whist today they're cross-platform from the get go these days and play exactly the same on PC only with improved graphics and faster framerate.  In fairness, console ports generally are inferior to PC exclusives, but the PC "port" is almost always the best version.

no, it means that the developers didnt pay any attention to the differences between platforms and made a game for the pc that would be better played with a controller, with graphics that belong on the console. sure it's obvious that a console has less power than a new pc, but thanks to the developers you are stuck with the console version.

[Malphas]

no, it means that the developers didnt pay any attention to the differences between platforms and made a game for the pc that would be better played with a controller, with graphics that belong on the console. sure it's obvious that a console has less power than a new pc, but thanks to the developers you are stuck with the console version.

"graphics that belong on the console" = implies consoles have worse graphics than a PC = more disparaging towards consoles than PCs, which was my point.

And the whole "console port" thing has been dead for like half a decade at least in that respect, since nearly all games are cross-platform from the beginning, with perfectly adequate controls on all platforms.

[BiNiaRiS]

"graphics that belong on the console" = implies consoles have worse graphics than a PC = more disparaging towards consoles than PCs, which was my point.

And the whole "console port" thing has been dead for like half a decade at least in that respect, since nearly all games are cross-platform from the beginning, with perfectly adequate controls on all platforms.

Wrong. The majority of games now are ported to the PC which is pretty easy more or less but there is no thought whatsoever into anything else but getting it working. PC games are buggy and half finished sometimes and their UIs are usually identical to consoles which does not translate at all. There are very few companies that actually think about PCs when they are developing. I can really only think of 2...Bioware and Blizzard.

A good example of when this switch happened was The Elder Scrolls. Morrowind was developed solely for the PC and it showed. It ran well and the UI was small and awesome...when you are sitting 2 feet from your screen. Jump forward to Oblivion and the entire UI was no different from the console...it was large and cumbersome and was not designed with a mouse in mind at all.

And then there's the issue of FOV for first person games. It seems like most FPS games that are ported to the PC keep the original FOV that was on the console that is all fine and dandy when you are sitting 10 feet from your screen. I shouldn't have to go edit some .cfg file to get the game to look like it SHOULD out of the box. Even id software's new game Rage is kinda ****ty on the PC. Lots of issues and the FOV makes me queezy.

Battlefield 3 is a perfect example of how developers don't give a **** about PCs anymore. It's buggy and terrible right now. It went through an alpha and a beta and they seem to have done nothing but add a black soldier and change some small stuff. I guess it was too hard to get the game play down right. Instead we are left with Bad Company 3. If anyone was thinking about buying I would steer clear of it.

[Lanx]

isn't dev cycle like this?
make game on native xbox360 code
port to ps3
port to pc
in order of importance.

[flyball]

isn't dev cycle like this?
make game on native xbox360 code
port to ps3
port to pc
in order of importance.

i imagine porting from the 360 to pc is a matter of using whatever tools ms provides and using different compiler settings (xna games are literally just a different menu option in vs2010). for sony it might be harder but sony provides their own engine so it's only a matter of converting assets, ect.

[NamelessPFG]

[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ] 30609[/ATTACH]

I think the image speaks for itself as to my preferred gaming platform. I just happen to favor the flexibility of PC gaming. Mods, control options, the tradeoff between graphics fidelity and framerate as your system allows (ideally, games would run maxed-out at a constant 120 FPS or more), and so forth.

That said, I still do have a sizeable collection of old consoles. NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, Saturn, PS1, Xbox, Wii. In the end, I'm in it for the games, and if a console has enough exclusives, I'll pick it up. (And before you bring up emulation, while it's nice and convenient and all, it's just not quite like playing on the real thing.)

[Zamorph]

Wrong. The majority of games now are ported to the PC which is pretty easy more or less but there is no thought whatsoever into anything else but getting it working. PC games are buggy and half finished sometimes and their UIs are usually identical to consoles which does not translate at all. There are very few companies that actually think about PCs when they are developing. I can really only think of 2...Bioware and Blizzard.

A good example of when this switch happened was The Elder Scrolls. Morrowind was developed solely for the PC and it showed. It ran well and the UI was small and awesome...when you are sitting 2 feet from your screen. Jump forward to Oblivion and the entire UI was no different from the console...it was large and cumbersome and was not designed with a mouse in mind at all.

And then there's the issue of FOV for first person games. It seems like most FPS games that are ported to the PC keep the original FOV that was on the console that is all fine and dandy when you are sitting 10 feet from your screen. I shouldn't have to go edit some .cfg file to get the game to look like it SHOULD out of the box. Even id software's new game Rage is kinda ****ty on the PC. Lots of issues and the FOV makes me queezy.

Battlefield 3 is a perfect example of how developers don't give a **** about PCs anymore. It's buggy and terrible right now. It went through an alpha and a beta and they seem to have done nothing but add a black soldier and change some small stuff. I guess it was too hard to get the game play down right. Instead we are left with Bad Company 3. If anyone was thinking about buying I would steer clear of it.

Is the new oblivion going to be tailored a bit for pc? I was thinking of getting it for pc bc of mods...

[wmtx]

Funny thing, my wife and I mostly play PS3 although it was a present and we likely wouldn't have bought it by ourselves. Still, it's our preferred system for local multiplayer games. We also use the Wii daily to play Animal Crossing. :-P

[Feferi]

Is the new oblivion going to be tailored a bit for pc? I was thinking of getting it for pc bc of mods...

I believe they said they designed it with cross-platform in mind. I've seen some gameplay. I'm pretty sold on it.