PC Gaming, I must bid thee fairwell!

[Jupiter_x]

I have been PC gaming for over 5 years now. I have enjoyed many titles over the years that you could not play on consoles. Games in general were always sharper on PCs, and keyboard/mouse FPS games were unbelievable! Great experience overall! The AMD 3000+ I have is fully loaded and works great but I have decided this is my last "gaming" PC and probably the last PC I will buy for a long time!

The problem I am finding these days with PCs and PC gaming is simple.... aggravation.

I just don't have the time or patience anymore to spend half the afternoon tweaking my vidcard, looking for drivers, updating the actual game with 5 to 10 patches and mods because it is buggy, or crashing or the sound is flaky! Installing these games is such a pain in the ass...and they are like 4 cds now, oh man! Then when you are installing and uninstalling you gotta defrag the freakin' "C" drive! Sheesh!
Then there is the problem I've even been having problems with corrupted save files in games. I would get really far in a game and then for some unknown reason the game would not load those saves properly, instead it would load me into a black screen with nothing to do or not even load at all!
Morrowind would crash all the time, or would be really laggy at times!

These days if you want those killer visuals on your PC you have to dish out $300, $400 and even $500 on vidcards alone?!?! Have you seen the price of the Geforce 6850? ...749.99 (Canadian) WTF?
Then there are the online problems and troubles with all the spyware, viruses and other malware crap online, I am having to download and install 15 different protection programs.... c’mon man, I just want to play some games for crying out loud!
I have had enough, I am sick of this crap! I spend more time F-ing around with my PC then I do actually playing it!

Well, with the next gen consoles on the rise delivering high def visuals, even out powering PCs now, seeing most games on PCs getting released on consoles anyway or even coming out on consoles first, I figure I will just save myself time, money and aggravation and stick to console gaming!

PS3? I embrace you!

[E.T.]

You make many valid points Jupiter_X, though for me the past five or six years of PC gaming has required little more than updating video drivers & keeping anti-malware current.
In fact, I seldom upgrade games w/patches & still find my sp experience with most PC games enjoyable. Maybe Im just lucky, but the overwhelming PC games Ive purchased have been "plug 'n play" if you will....with the exception to my frustrated experience with Steam's control over HL2 & its paranoid 5 CD offering of game.

Cant argue your point of system cost. Consoles are a good gaming deal @ aprox $200 to $300 a pop & last for 3-4 years w/o needing upgrade. I think the line between PC & consoles are blurring considering the HD cababilities, more powerful GPU of consoles etc.

I have multiple platforms [GC, 'Box, PC's] in home & for now prefer PC gaming due mostly to available content [strategy]. Also, the visual comparison of like game [i.e. BattleFront, Halo1], PC is better looking by far...but thats another can of worms, lol.

We'll have to wait & see what the future holds for gaming. Though the "impending death" of PC gaming has been argued before I think consoles are advancing to the point of concern.
We'll see....

[Suicides-by-Steve]

Come the release of the PS3, you'll be quickly eating those words, I'm sure, when you see what will be offered for the PC then... Renz... hit him with your best media propaganda! LOL ;)

As for your other complaints... You don't really have an arguement IMO. Defragging can be scheduled, I never had to "tweak" a video card in my life, and my soundcard is 100% plug and play. PS3 in CND when it hits the shelves? I bet around $750 for sure...

You don't need the latest GPU to play any games released today... not by a long shot. Those prices and hardware are put in place by the OEM to drive up total computer packages and only a moron would buy a card for those prices...

Wait a year, and buy the same card for 200 bucks and it'll still last for the next 4 years, solid. The money you'll save in games pays itself off in spades. Consoles are for kids, people on the go, and those not intelligent to plug-in a computer... And I hate how the software never drops in price... total BS.

[Jupiter_x]

Come the release of the PS3, you'll be quickly eating those words, I'm sure, when you see what will be offered for the PC then... Renz... hit him with your best media propaganda! LOL ;)

As for your other complaints... You don't really have an arguement IMO. Defragging can be scheduled, I never had to "tweak" a video card in my life, and my soundcard is 100% plug and play. PS3 in CND when it hits the shelves? I bet around $750 for sure...

You don't need the latest GPU to play any games released today... not by a long shot. Those prices and hardware are put in place by the OEM to drive up total computer packages and only a moron would buy a card for those prices...

Wait a year, and buy the same card for 200 bucks and it'll still last for the next 4 years, solid. The money you'll save in games pays itself off in spades. Consoles are for kids, people on the go, and those not intelligent to plug-in a computer... And I hate how the software never drops in price... total BS.


Don't worry, I know how plug in a computer...it is keeping windoze from crashing or keeping it stable that can be tricky!
I am not even saying that I don't know how to do these things...I have fixed more PCs than I care to admit. I am just getting to the point where I am sick and tired of doing it! It's simple, on my days off, I want to unwind and get lost in a good adventure game or fight through an alien horde....whatever!! Instead I get to go online and try to find a new patch and figure out why my "mouse look" is lagging so much while playing Morrowind, or why Riddick keeps crashing even with the latest patch installed or why Thief DS has texture and lighting problems, which can only be addressed by installing earlier versions of "DNA ATI" drivers when the latest and legit drivers won't even work properly, good grief....I just haven't the time or interest anylonger.
Don't get me wrong, not all of my PC games give me a problem, but there were some that were so bad that I had to take them back and get the console versions instead.

As far as that Steam/Halflife 2 mess is concerned,The first couple of days was a nightmare, I could not enable offline playability....I did not have internet at the time soI had to go to a friends house and get the latest download to activate it, which took forever. But my first night with HL2, I could not play it at all. However, I have not had any trouble with HL2, aside from a few stutters here and there as well as long load times.

My opinion of PC gaming? Yes it looks fabulous, yes the games are original, but unless you like to spend time installing, tweeking and patching, it is just a down right pain in the ass.
There is nothing like popping a brand new game in your machine and playing it right away!

[Mochan]

PC gaming is definitely an acquired taste, and one that requires a lot of experience. I don't have any problems computer gaming, except for the price of the hardware! But then, I've been PC gaming for about twenty years, I started out in DOS now *that* was 100x harder to configure right than any Windows game, so setting things up on Windows is just like breathing for me.

If a console would provide me with mouse control for FPS, then I just might turn my back on PC gaming, but somehow I doubt it'll happen, the Play Statoim has been trying to introduce the mouse since the PS1 and it still hasn't caught on. Like I said in another thread, if a console can offer everything my PC does, I'd turn my back on PC gaming.

[DBS]

I understand your statement but I have not had the frustration you have had. I seldom have to do anything other than update my computer and virus scanner. I run Win xp home sp1 and update my video drivers once in a while. I have a 2 year old computer now with a ATI 9800 pro card. It still serves me just fine and I find no reason to upgrade. THe only investment I have made in this pc is adding ram.



I own a GC and know new consoles are coming but for the most part for the deeper games I have a pc. It is all about what trips your trigger and consoles games for the most part are not my cut of tea no matter how pretty they become.

[Renzatic Gear]

My opinion of PC gaming? Yes it looks fabulous, yes the games are original, but unless you like to spend time installing, tweeking and patching, it is just a down right pain in the ass.
There is nothing like popping a brand new game in your machine and playing it right away!
I must be the only person in the world that rarely ever has problems getting games to run. Other than HL2 and the Steam BS, all I usually ever do is just install a game and spend about 2-3 minutes configuring my graphics and controller options. It's never been much of a pain in the ass for me.

[Jupiter_x]

PC gaming is definitely an acquired taste, and one that requires a lot of experience. I don't have any problems computer gaming, except for the price of the hardware! But then, I've been PC gaming for about twenty years, I started out in DOS now *that* was 100x harder to configure right than any Windows game, so setting things up on Windows is just like breathing for me.

If a console would provide me with mouse control for FPS, then I just might turn my back on PC gaming, but somehow I doubt it'll happen, the Play Statoim has been trying to introduce the mouse since the PS1 and it still hasn't caught on. Like I said in another thread, if a console can offer everything my PC does, I'd turn my back on PC gaming.


My experience in PCs and troubleshooting is decent. I don't have all the answers....(hmmmm, Remember the mysterious PC and office problem, Mochan? :p )
My taste in PC gaming really has not changed all that much, Windows gaming is indeed very easy to work around, but I just find it so time consuming, I guess too that I like to update when I can, and I am picky when it comes to gaming on PCs. I like to utilize most features if I can. But I guess lately, I keep asking myself is it even worth it anymore...really!
One day I could change my mind but for now I this Computer is my last "PC-Gaming Rig"!

[Jupiter_x]

I understand your statement but I have not had the frustration you have had. I seldom have to do anything other than update my computer and virus scanner. I run Win xp home sp1 and update my video drivers once in a while. I have a 2 year old computer now with a ATI 9800 pro card. It still serves me just fine and I find no reason to upgrade. THe only investment I have made in this pc is adding ram.



I own a GC and know new consoles are coming but for the most part for the deeper games I have a pc. It is all about what trips your trigger and consoles games for the most part are not my cut of tea no matter how pretty they become.

My frustration seems to have started with Windows XP. I don't really know why! I assume it is because there are alot more features in XP, the newer games are very graphic intensive. There are so many features for motherboards and Vid cards, drivers and programs: 8x AGP, AGP apperture settings, Fastwrite, AA, Trueform, etc. More features means more problems!

You know I really don't remember having these problems with my Windows 98, Geforce 2 card and Pentium 3 system. Ahhh the good 'ol days!

[Mochan]

You'll probably change your mind in like 4 years or so when the next gen consoles begin to show their age, I dunno. There were times I turned my back on PC gaming, too but I always came back sooner or later. I mean, I really pretty much abandoned PC gaming in the mid-90s because almost all the games coming out were crap. Ultima had sold out to become a platformer, we had uber crap like Phantasmagoria and 7th Guest becoming the "best" games of the day, and even my favorites like Wing Commander just weren't cutting it anymore. I still somehow managed to finished WC3 but I gave up on WC4.

This was also a painful time of transition for PC games as Win95 was spreading its evil grip on the gaming world. It wasn't until much later after the platform matured that things started looking up again.

I didn't get into Diablo for like a year after it came out and I don't really remember too many other good games on the PC at the time. Good thing the PS1 was there to pick up the steam. I came back a little later on in the late 90s after like a 2 or 3 year hiatus and was glad I did.

Your gaming PC will still have 1 or 2 years left in its lifespan, I would suggest subsisting on that for a while while watching how the console scene develops in the next 2 years. You'll then see whether next gen is all it's cracked up to be, and dependig on how good it is you may end up forgetting about the PC altogether and never look back. But if it's not as good as some System Wars posts may be suggesting, you may find yourself going back to the PC sooner than expected.

[Jupiter_x]

You'll probably change your mind in like 4 years or so when the next gen consoles begin to show their age, I dunno.
You may find yourself going back to the PC sooner than expected.


I will not deny that I might turn around and once again become a PC gamer. Plus I still have my current PC...and still plan to game on it for many years to come. I just don't feel any reason to go out in the next couple of years to upgrade or purchase a new system for $1500/$2500. Yeah sure I could buy one for $500, but is that what I want for gaming?...no!

You said in an earlier post that if Consoles had keyboards and mice you might turn your back on PC gaming. Well, one big way to win me back to PC gaming to have games that don't need to be installed or need so many updates! Just pop the game into your PC and Bam....there it is!

[Mochan]

Yeah, that's what the PC really needs.... finished products! Although a lot of games I play I don't need to update or anything, this is a genuine concern and needing patches is just such a stupid thing.

The inclusion of a Harddisk on the XBox is viewed as an innovation but it also leads to the danger of the XBox going astray and going the PC Route of needing patches and updates to function properly. Given the increasing complexity of games and everyone's feared ballooning of costs, and taking into account deadlines, it's not far-fetched to think that XBox games -- which primarily have Western developers by the way, and it is these same Western Devs that got the patch thing blown out of proportion -- might soon go "the dark side" and go into patch hell. And the XBox already has XBox Live.... the requirements for Patch Hell are certainly there already.

What led to patch hell was Harddisk + Internet + increasingly complex games + underbudgeted + strapped for time by publishers

Let's hope we don't get a repeat on the 360.

[BaneNWN]

IMO there are console games that comeout that could use patches to.I never had your problems you dont need 600 dollar graph cards.I paid 249 for mine and i bet ill get 3-4 years out of it before ill have to actually upgrade.I also have windows XP SP 2 and i can say without a doubt its the most stable windows operating system ive had and i have had all of them at one time or another.

Another thing and im not sure this is true but it sounds like the next generations console game prices will run between 60-80$ a pop sorry but ill stick with my pc.I can honestly say other then overclocking my pc i spend 99.99% of the time playing games.Patches and updates take up a miniscule amount of my time.I never heard of anyone having problems as much as you have.

To be honest also the only game that would not work on my pc period was Giant Citizen Kabuto but i download a 2 mb patch and worked fine other then that i never really needed a patch for any game they were all very runnable.

[Mochan]

My time on the PC is like:

40% playing games
25% wasting time on message boards ;)
-- about 20% of the time spent wasted on message boards and surfing is also spent listening to Mp3s.
28% watching anime
5% finding stuff to pirate and download, and staring the process
2% updating and patching

And about 80% of the time the PC is on, it's downloading some junk I set up in that 5% timeslot. :)

[Aku]

We'll have to wait & see what the future holds for gaming. Though the "impending death" of PC gaming has been argued before I think consoles are advancing to the point of concern.
We'll see....

No cause for concern. From what we've seen and heard, the next gen consoles are going to be delivering primarily the same tired old gameplay with shinier graphics. The unique advantages of PC games will still be there. Not to knock the consoles too badly however, as I may be buying one of those next gen machines.

[E.T.]

...... Not to knock the consoles too badly however, as I may be buying one of those next gen machines.

Ok, spill the beans: which one?

This one has my curiosity:
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzY4

[Mochan]

PC gaming will still kick the butt of consoles when it comes to strategy games and in simulations. The problem with the next gen consoles is that they have far too little RAM. The kind of world-building that will push gaming to the next level, where a real-world simulation is created rife with complex people and situations, will be out of the console's reach with their limited memory, I would say. These are the kind of games which will need a lot of system memory but the next gen consoles look like they're cutting it too close with just 512MB between the GPU and CPU.

This is especially a shame because the Cell looks like it can handle far more than just simple FPS and fighters/racers/RPGs that console games will probably be aplenty with.

[Suicides-by-Steve]

Ok, spill the beans: which one?



PS3 for me... this time around.

[DrunkenThumbmaster]

I talk up the Xbox a lot in the System wars forum but ever since I upgraded for HL2 (first time since the Geforce 3 came out) I have been playing a lot on the PC. HL2 almost made me turn my back on PC gaming for good. But then I played Far cry which ran like a console game for me. Vampire the Masqerade needed a patch but DOOM 3 (I love it) ran perfectly and I can't wait for Battlefield 2. Back to my point lately it seems like a lot of the headaches are gone. Now only if every major game would offer a DVD version I'll be straight. I'll always be primarily a console gamer but the PC to me anyway seems to have gotten a lot better recently.

Can't wait for Dungeion Seige.


P.S. does anyone know if WWII online is still going and any opinions on it if it is.

[E.T.]

By Drunken Thumbmaster: "HL2 almost made me turn my back on PC gaming for good".

How so? Was it the Steam activation process or something about the game itself??

[DrunkenThumbmaster]

By Drunken Thumbmaster: "HL2 almost made me turn my back on PC gaming for good".

How so? Was it the Steam activation process or something about the game itself??



oops! I didn't realize I typed that. Yeah it was the steam activation for the game. I loved the game hated the platforming parts though. The install was a pain though.

[DBS]

-I will go on the record as saying to date I have not found a console game with enough meat on its bones to pull myself away from the pc. I have no trouble or grip if they started making deeper console games but I am not much of a twitch gamer. Have to see what comes down the pike.