Interfaces in AAA games released on console often change on the fly too. I was having issues with a cable while playing Apex Legends awhile back and it would keep flipping onscreen prompts between keyboard/mouse and the ABXY buttons, etc.
It’s 2020! We’re way past Gravis Joysticks!
Sorry, I had to. Just look at this beautifully tragic thing. It’s glorious.
I play 99% of my games with Xbone controller and on TV from a sofa.
Those games also happen to be PC games. Because:
PS4 Pro (and future PS5) are nice, but only for exclusives, and obviously I would prefer if consoles didn’t have any exclusives since I would not have to waste money on otherwise redundant x86 box that does the same thing as my PC just slower and more locked down. I am super glad at least MS decided to drop the console exclusivity nonsense and embraced Windows as their gaming platform alongside Xbox; I am now subscribed to Gamepass Ultimate until 2022 and that is awesome. Of course they still have to drop the stupid locked down encryption nonsense on their games, but at least I do not have to buy their useless boxes.
Btw I wrote this post from a sofa on my TV with this best ever piece of peripheral:
Serious must have for any couch gamer. Made all the Big Picture modes obsolete, I just use Windows.
Pretty much this.
I like this about controllers too. Often PC will use shift key to slow down to a walk. I remember one of the early Splinter Cell games used the mouse wheel to control your movement speed!
People have said it, but my #1 reason has always been that I liked the idea of upgrading the PC a piece at a time. I’ve never had loads of expendable income to spend on gaming, so having a machine that lasts a long time and just tossing more RAM and a new ($200ish, usually) video car in over the years has always been a selling point to sticking with PC for me.
Did get an Xbox One for the daughter, but it lives in her room most of the time and I rarely touch it.
When I game, it’s generally on PC, for many of the reasons mentioned here.
You know that’s the whole idea of a console. You have minimal expendable income so you buy a cheap machine that doesn’t need to be upgraded or replaced for five years at a time and just play lots of games when you can afford them. Your method is actually more expensive overall.
Except the games are so expansive on Console. It takes forever to put together a decent library.
PC, the games are so much cheaper and you have so much more choice.
And of course backward compatibility.
I disagree. Console sales are just as good these days and often better. Control’s best price over the holidays would’ve been $25 for me on console and I never bit. I ended up having to pay $32 on PC. Indie games are sold for the same prices on consoles as PCs and again, often cheaper. The only place you’re paying more anymore is keeping up a subscription for online play, which I can understand some consternation with but it’s $40 so often for PS4 that you can pretty much guarantee yourself paying that yearly.
As for backward compatibility, it really depends what you’re playing. If you mean having GoG at your fingertips, well, you don’t actually need to ever upgrade your PC for that. You could be rocking something from 2005 (or older) and still be enjoying their catalog while buying one console from each generation.
The real reason to be a PC gamer is because you want to play the exclusives, same as consoles. If you love League, DOTA 2, CS:GO, World of Warcraft, etc. OK. You should have a decent PC, but again, you probably don’t need to upgrade either.
A PS4 is by far the cheaper option even if you purchased at launch. Heck, especially if you purchased at launch. You could even spend all your time playing PS Plus games and you’ll only spend $40 a year and have 24+ games to play, with many AAA titles among them.
Eh, I built my computer for about $600 in the Xbox 360 era and it’s still chugging along with minimal upgrades. I’m not playing RDR2 on it or anything, but it’s running Outer Worlds.
It’s traditionally been easier for me to come up with $80 for RAM or $200 for a video card than $500 all at once.
You’re just rationalizing, dude. It’s costing you more. It’s ok to admit it.
If you bought a PS4 at launch, you’d be playing all the new AAA games anytime you like or could afford them and they’d probably look quite a bit better and/or run better than they do on your current rig. Next gen consoles are going to cut you off, too. Raytracing and SSDs will be a standard feature as of Novemberish 2020.
This is one of many real reasons.
Staying thoughtful and measured, what other reasons are there in 2020? I’m genuinely curious?
Please keep in mind I was a PC gaming freelance writer, same as Tom but less prolific. It was my bread and butter for a long time as a second job. I have no bones to pick with PCs. I have four capable ones in my house for gaming of various ages and form factors.
Performance is the big one of course, which is very costly atm, but beyond that?
I doubt this is universally true. Games are unequivocally less costly on PC (between Steam sales, Humble, and Epic you know this is true). But also it is very possible to have built a machine 10+ years ago that still performs well enough today. I know, that’s what I did. All I’ve had to do was upgrade my graphics card once since 2008.
Now, yes, could I run RDR2 at max settings? No. Do I care? Also no. If you are not a AAA gamer demanding the best graphics, then the PC is far lower cost of ownership.
Also I can’t play my preferred games on console anyhow, and controllers would be a nightmare for them even if I could. EU IV on an Xbox controller? Shoot me now.
The only reason for consoles, for me, is specific games and experiences. Specifically Nintendo ones. Local multiplayer on consoles generally is best, like in Smash. And as my kids get older (oldest approaching 6) this will be the reason I get another console for the first time since the original Wii.
It’s so strange to see console players try to sideline PC for decades and keep going year after year. It’s like every time this conversation comes up we have to start all over again like mods, or the fact you can play, online, games that the consoles yanked when they killed their servers years ago, or the rich strategy games that require complex interfaces and menus, or the fact the PC gamers can still smack the hell out of console players when they FPS together, or the rich wealth of indie titles you can get from all over the world without begging to be on someone’s walled garden store, or how the textures of a game that many are playing right now, this very moment, is so out of this world better from what the consoles offers, or… or… or…
The AAA strat games are now on Console such as Planetall and Civ VI, and with the RAM improvements in Next-Gen I expect more to follow.
PC and console have been merging hard. A lot of fighting game players this gen have moved to PC due to the big 2 fighting games this gen being better on PC (SF5 and Tekken) as well as the best hidden gem (Soul Calibur), to the point it’s surpassed XB1 as the 2nd platform.
There’s advantages and disadvtanges to each. THe big reason I stick to PC is a combination of performance and portability since I can bring my laptop anywhere.
Whose control schemes on PC are still superior.
That’s cute. I mean… yeah top strategy there. When someone thinks deep and complex strategy game I know Civ VI is the first thing that comes to my mind…
Fair point. I suspect Civ VI was dumbed down to fit on console anyways.
People are changing the discussion. I was specifically commenting on money spent. It is cheaper to buy a console, even at launch, and play that until the next console arrives. This is simply the truth. Your game sales argument does not hold up anymore. Consoles get similar sales now across the board. You may not be aware of that because you are a PC gamer, but it’s just the truth.
Yes, there are still reasons to own a PC, but it will cost you more. The hardware is fucking expensive by comparison for similar performance, and when next gen hits and you want to run raytraced games, you’re going to be laying out at least $400 or more on a video card. This is also baldfaced fact. Look at the prices.