Oh look, yet another "PC Master Race" article, that got some traction with ReviewTechUSA.
Hey there everyone, Happy Gamer here, and I make it no secret that I'm not a fan of PC gaming. I don't care about all the "benefits," and I'd rather just play my PS4, XBOX ONE, and everything before it. When ReviewTechUSA did a video on this article talking about the benefits, I decided to counter them.
1. "You can play games with better graphics than console - if you have a powerful gaming PC." I don't have a powerful PC, and my PC that costs more than my consoles doesn't provide better graphics than my console. I have to turn down the graphics to below 720 to get a smooth frame rate.
2. "The Steam Game Platform." Steam sucks. It never wants to load on my PC. I also avoid digital as much as I can (even on consoles), because I like physical. I'm a collector, and a digital library will never be a "collection." You say sales "steam sales," I have "store clearance" and "used games." And as a physical gamer, I never have to worry about "this game is off the marketplace, you can never play it now."
3. "You don't have to pay to play multiplayer games on PC, and you save money in the long run." I don't play online games. I play games to avoid people, not interact with the lowest of the low. I actually quite dislike how EVERYTHING has online components now adays.
4. "There are more games for PC than there are for game consoles." Quantity does not equal quality. How many 3rd party exclusive games were there for the Wii? Hundreds probably. How many of them were good? Maybe 10. Most of the good games get console releases, and many exclusives like MMOs and RTSs just aren't my thing. If there's an exclusive like trade winds, I'll get it, but that's not enough to convince me to drop a grand on a PC.
5. "You can download 'mods' for games, which can add fun new content or better graphics." Mods don't interest me. I get the appeal, but I don't care. Next.
6. "You have the freedom to choose how you play on PC." I prefer gamepads, that's all. I don't care if it's a NES, SNES, PlayStation, XBOX ONE, Gamecube, or even the OG XBOX Duke controller. I like gamepads, and I've been using different ones for so many years they all feel natural to me. There are some games that are better with mouse and keyboard, such as roller coaster tycoon or sim city, but otherwise, I'll use my XBOX ONE controller; just like on my console.
7. "You have the choice to play games on feature-packed monitors or your TV." Good for you, but I'm good with my 4:3 CRT or 16:9 LCD. Most games I play have the action that's right in front of you. I don't need this ultra wide field of view.
8. "You're not hogging the TV if you live with someone else." I'm the only one that uses this TV, my parents have their own TVs. This doesn't matter to me. Next.
9. "Building your own PC is fun and satisfying." I don't care how many times you tell me "it's fun," I HAVE ABSOLETELY NO DESIRE TO BUILD A PC! I REALLY hate this argument. You may think it's fun, but I don't. If anything, this is an argument against PC gaming. I hate troubleshooting simple problems that result from expertly built electronics. I REALLY don't want to troubleshoot problems a novice like me created.
10. "And you can decorate it to make it truly yours." Again, not my thing. However, if it is your thing, you can also do that with consoles. I've seen equally cool custom console skins and lights.
11. "And you can go all-out with custom water cooling, too." Even you admit water cooling is tedious. I admit it's a cool novelty, but I prefer to keep my electronic components far away from liquids.
12. "You can upgrade your PC parts to keep up with new games, while console parts become "obsolete" very quickly." And the double edge sword that stings harder than "console obsoleteness" is that you have to worry about your cutting edge capabilities. If I buy a game for my PS4, I know it's going to work on my PS4, plain and simple. I don't have to worry about compatibility and specifications. If the game disk say "xbox one," it's going to work on my xbox one.
At least you didn't bring up the tired "well I can use my PC for all sorts of other things" argument, one I hate just about as much as the "building a PC is fun" argument, but just because it's a straw man in most cases. Yes, your $1500 gaming PC is very capable, and can do lots of things a console can't. But here's the real question, what are you using your PC for? Unless you're doing some serious media rendering or simulation programs, you have ABSOLUTELY NO need for a $1500 PC outside of cutting edge gaming. My dad recently started using a $200 chrome book for all his web browsing and light word processing through google docs. He says "I have no need for a windows based PC, all I need is internet." The only reason I bought a PC instead of a chrome book is because I wanted to do video editing and light gaming. "My PC can stream video," so can my consoles. "My PC can play music, DVDs, and Blu-Rays," so can my console. "My PC can do video chat," so can my console. "My PC can computer can program mods." Are you programing mods? "No, but it can simulate a complex manufacturing environment in 1 hour." Are you doing those simulations? "No, but it can surf the web." So can my console. "Well, my PC can do my taxes." You got me there, but my $300 tower from 8 years ago can do that too.
Look, if you like PC gaming, good for you. It's your opinion. I'm not going to try to convince you to give up your preferred platform. But it's just that, an opinion. It's not "fact" like many try to claim. This has been Happy Gamer, signing off, and console peasant for life. Bye.
Showing posts with label console. Show all posts
Showing posts with label console. Show all posts
Friday, August 4, 2017
Friday, February 13, 2015
The PC is Old News and PC Gamers Need to get with the Times
(Disclaimer, I love retro games and collecting for older consoles. This is not from a consumer/collector stand-point, this is from a marketing and resource allocation standpoint).
We should be focusing on current gen, not last gen.
Hey everyone, happy gamer here and today I had an epiphany. First I noticed that of the 3 main console manufacturers, Nintendo is the most current and with it and Sony and Microsoft are living in the past. Here's why; 2 months after the release of the Wii U, Nintendo stopped making games for the Wii and focused all their attention on the Wii U. Sony and Microsoft on the other hand, are still making games for the PS3/XBOX360 over a year after the release of the PS4/XBOX ONE. Sony and Microsoft are lagging behind Nintendo. They'll never be able to remain competitive if they focus so much effort on last gen consoles. But then I realized, they aren't the worst offenders. The worst offender is the game console known as the PC.
Here's a little background. Videogame consoles come out in generations; pong consoles were the first generation, Atari2600 was the second generation, NES was 3rd generation, so on and so forth. Well, the PC came out around the 2nd generation. It was a good console for the time. Well, when everyone else realized how technology was changing, they released brand new consoles to keep ahead of the competition, the PC made add-ons. Yeah, they took the same old PC and made an "upgrade" accessory. It gave you better gameplay, and they eventually came per-installed, but at the end of the day, it was still just a PC. Just like the 32X and SegaCD.
Now one would think that PC would eventually learn it's lesson and release the PC2 right? I mean Sega eventually wised up and stopped supporting the genesis and it's add-ons in favor of the Saturn. Wrong. Instead of releasing a PC2, PC just kept making add-ons to replace the old ones. And you know what, THEY'VE BEEN DOING IT FOR 30 YEARS!!! GAMING ON THE PC IS STUCK IN THE 1980's BECAUSE THE PC MAKERS THINK THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH RELEASING ADD-ONS INSTEAD OF JUST RELEASING A SECOND CONSOLE! Really, with all the effort you put into making add-ons, just release the PC2 already.
But you know what, I don't really blame the makers of the PC. They said "hey, instead of making an entirely new console, lets make an add-on to extend the life of our current console." It could extend the life long enough while they work on the next PC console. It was just supposed to be a band-aid. However, unlike the Sega gamers and the Genesis add-ons, PC gamers ate it up. They said "hey this is pretty awesome. If I install this on my PC I can keep it for 3 more years, and then I can just put the next add-on on? Most definitely." It's not the PC executives, it's the PC fans. They settle for mediocrity. They will accept the add-on bandage instead of the next-generation release medical treatment. Sure, they can get a PC with all the current add-ons, but they're just going to have to be replaced in a few years.
But here's the truly sad thing, they are stuck in an abusive relationship with the add-ons and their gaming habits. Since new add-ons are constantly coming out, there's no guarantee that a game will work properly with your set of add-ons. Unlike every other console where a game is developed to work specifically with that console, PC games are developed with the intent of working with a certain set of add-ons. PC gamers aren't guaranteed to get the best possible gaming experience out of their PC unless they have specific add-ons. So many games say "for PC," but then there's a list of the type of add-ons that are required. It's very confusing. When you buy a Wii U game, you know it will work on your Wii U. When you buy a PS4 game you know it will work on your PS4. When you buy an XBOX ONE game, you know it will work on your XBOX ONE. When you buy a PC game, you better make sure that you have the proper set of add-ons otherwise it's not going to work.
There's even more to it than just games working with the add-ons, there's also add-ons working with the add-ons. When a PC gamer gets a new add-on, he has to jump through all sorts of hoops to "install" the add-on. He has to make sure that the drivers for the add-on works with the drivers for all the other add-ons. While you can buy a PC with all the current add-ons, soon there will be a new add-on on the market, and you either have to figure out how to make the new add-on work with the old ones, or get an entirely new PC. With every other console, they just release a new console. Plug it in, connect it to the TV, and it's ready to go. No drivers, no compatibility, just simple plug and play.
Now if you're in the gaming world, you've probably heard people say "PC master race." I feel sorry for them. They have fallen into Stockholm Syndrome with the abusive PC console. PC showers them with cheap games and "options," but it's just a sad attempt to milk every last drop out of the 30 year old PC before releasing the PC2. PC gamers, you don't have to stand for this. Leave the 2nd generation and join us in the 8th generation.
Well, this has been Happy Gamer, signing off, and I hope you enjoyed my satire.
We should be focusing on current gen, not last gen.
Hey everyone, happy gamer here and today I had an epiphany. First I noticed that of the 3 main console manufacturers, Nintendo is the most current and with it and Sony and Microsoft are living in the past. Here's why; 2 months after the release of the Wii U, Nintendo stopped making games for the Wii and focused all their attention on the Wii U. Sony and Microsoft on the other hand, are still making games for the PS3/XBOX360 over a year after the release of the PS4/XBOX ONE. Sony and Microsoft are lagging behind Nintendo. They'll never be able to remain competitive if they focus so much effort on last gen consoles. But then I realized, they aren't the worst offenders. The worst offender is the game console known as the PC.
Here's a little background. Videogame consoles come out in generations; pong consoles were the first generation, Atari2600 was the second generation, NES was 3rd generation, so on and so forth. Well, the PC came out around the 2nd generation. It was a good console for the time. Well, when everyone else realized how technology was changing, they released brand new consoles to keep ahead of the competition, the PC made add-ons. Yeah, they took the same old PC and made an "upgrade" accessory. It gave you better gameplay, and they eventually came per-installed, but at the end of the day, it was still just a PC. Just like the 32X and SegaCD.
Now one would think that PC would eventually learn it's lesson and release the PC2 right? I mean Sega eventually wised up and stopped supporting the genesis and it's add-ons in favor of the Saturn. Wrong. Instead of releasing a PC2, PC just kept making add-ons to replace the old ones. And you know what, THEY'VE BEEN DOING IT FOR 30 YEARS!!! GAMING ON THE PC IS STUCK IN THE 1980's BECAUSE THE PC MAKERS THINK THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH RELEASING ADD-ONS INSTEAD OF JUST RELEASING A SECOND CONSOLE! Really, with all the effort you put into making add-ons, just release the PC2 already.
But you know what, I don't really blame the makers of the PC. They said "hey, instead of making an entirely new console, lets make an add-on to extend the life of our current console." It could extend the life long enough while they work on the next PC console. It was just supposed to be a band-aid. However, unlike the Sega gamers and the Genesis add-ons, PC gamers ate it up. They said "hey this is pretty awesome. If I install this on my PC I can keep it for 3 more years, and then I can just put the next add-on on? Most definitely." It's not the PC executives, it's the PC fans. They settle for mediocrity. They will accept the add-on bandage instead of the next-generation release medical treatment. Sure, they can get a PC with all the current add-ons, but they're just going to have to be replaced in a few years.
But here's the truly sad thing, they are stuck in an abusive relationship with the add-ons and their gaming habits. Since new add-ons are constantly coming out, there's no guarantee that a game will work properly with your set of add-ons. Unlike every other console where a game is developed to work specifically with that console, PC games are developed with the intent of working with a certain set of add-ons. PC gamers aren't guaranteed to get the best possible gaming experience out of their PC unless they have specific add-ons. So many games say "for PC," but then there's a list of the type of add-ons that are required. It's very confusing. When you buy a Wii U game, you know it will work on your Wii U. When you buy a PS4 game you know it will work on your PS4. When you buy an XBOX ONE game, you know it will work on your XBOX ONE. When you buy a PC game, you better make sure that you have the proper set of add-ons otherwise it's not going to work.
There's even more to it than just games working with the add-ons, there's also add-ons working with the add-ons. When a PC gamer gets a new add-on, he has to jump through all sorts of hoops to "install" the add-on. He has to make sure that the drivers for the add-on works with the drivers for all the other add-ons. While you can buy a PC with all the current add-ons, soon there will be a new add-on on the market, and you either have to figure out how to make the new add-on work with the old ones, or get an entirely new PC. With every other console, they just release a new console. Plug it in, connect it to the TV, and it's ready to go. No drivers, no compatibility, just simple plug and play.
Now if you're in the gaming world, you've probably heard people say "PC master race." I feel sorry for them. They have fallen into Stockholm Syndrome with the abusive PC console. PC showers them with cheap games and "options," but it's just a sad attempt to milk every last drop out of the 30 year old PC before releasing the PC2. PC gamers, you don't have to stand for this. Leave the 2nd generation and join us in the 8th generation.
Well, this has been Happy Gamer, signing off, and I hope you enjoyed my satire.
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