Topic: The Witcher 3 or Xenoblade Chronicles X?

Both.

Bro, you deserve a medal haha!

Also, a PS4 priced PC WILL NOT run PS4 visuals. Unless you meant PS4 priced CUSTOM PC, then probably, but you would really need to know what you're doing when picking the parts. I just find all those thinking and worrying too tiresome. I've worried enough in life and I'm not bringing gaming problems into my life. So for me, it's Wii U+PS4+ MSI GS60, good life eh?

If you walk into Best Buy and get a PC off the shelf, you're going to be paying at least double what that PC is actually worth. Retail markup for individual components is even more silly.

Consider that the PS4 was being sold at profit day one. Part of the reason for that is that they're mass produced and components are cheaper in bulk, but still, it's not an expensive PC. And if CDPR can get Witcher 3 to run on a PS4, you obviously do not need their "minimum" specs to run it on your PC, unless you have a ton of resource-hogging bloatware on your PC (which you probably do if you bought it at Best Buy).

I swear I'm not trying to be a snooty "PC Master Race" guy here. I love Sony and I've bought every console and handheld they've ever put out. Except the PS4, because so far they haven't convinced me that it isn't just the PC I already have in a smaller box.

You don't need to do that thinking. There are plenty of guides out there telling you what you need to do buy to get a PS4 quality PC for a PS4 price.

@CaviarMeths Technically though, I think it was profitable with a Plus subscription or game bought with it. Still, if you the consider the store's cut, it probably cost less than $400 to make. (People forget way too much about store's cut when talking about this stuff.)

It's odd doing just one of those things. Playing GTA with a Nintendo controller, a PS2 era game at 1080p or even just playing a game remotely like that. Combine those things and it's almost comical. But it actually works and it's surprisingly good.

Well, it does depend. It depends on how good the PC port is, how currency has shifted and all sorts of things. However when the PS4 launched its launch games were about on-par with a similarly priced PC. Since then the price of the PS4 hasn't dropped but there have been improvements in graphics card value for money. So I reckon you could still do it.

In the long run though if it's about the "lowest cost" option, console will win out in the end. Because with PC components there's a point where as you get lower and lower spec they stop charging you less and eventually discontinue the part. PCs live in that "a bit more than a new console at launch" space for the whole console cycle but every year the specs improve. Neither is worse, they're just different models.

A CONSOLE DOESN'T HAVE EXCLUSIVES BEFORE THEY'RE RELEASED!?!? No wai...

No really, where are you shopping? I priced out the parts on NewEgg and Amazon, and lowest I could go for those alone was about $500 not counting tax and shipping. And I mean just the parts they listed - building a PC from scratch could cost an extra Hundred dollars or more, even if you go for the cheapest stuff available.

Well yeah, the PS4 is $550AU here and without the OS the cheapest "gaming machine" I can work out is around $530AU. A machine with enough power to run Assassin's Creed 4 at 1080p/30fps. Very much in the ballpark even with the huge jump in component prices here because of the change in the exchange rate (which BTW didn't hit console prices). Add the OS ($120AU) and you're out of the range but for the PS4 you have a subscription so I'd call it even on that count.

But I do agree with much of the sentiment, such a machine is pretty horrendously bad value, I don't think I'd spend much less than $750AU without the OS and I reckon the best value is at around $900AU. For $750AU you get an SSD, a nicer case and PSU, 8GB RAM instead of 4GB and a GPU that'll be closer to 60fps than 30fps. For $900AU you get all that plus a CPU that's good for things other than games. So yes, you can build a PC at PS4 specs for PS4 level prices especially if you have some spare components.... but unless you're on a really tight budget you shouldn't be skimping that much. At that end of the market consoles are the better option for gaming if you have no need for a PC.

I guess I worded my first post poorly, but I wasn't trying to say you could match a PS4 dollar for dollar when building your own PC, just that retail markup is ridiculous and PC gaming isn't anywhere near as expensive as people make it out to be. Sony manufacturers PS4s by the millions, so of course there's a big discount on bulk components in that quantity.

You can build a decent PC from scratch for $600-700 though. If you already have a computer, even better, you could probably upgrade it to modern standards for half that. Less than the price of a new console.

And NewEgg is where I shopped for my last two PCs.

Steam's hardware survey makes this pretty damn clear. Looking at the numbers the "average" PC gamer's machine has 4GB RAM, a sub 3Ghz dual core CPU, a 1080p display and a mid-range GPU from a couple of years ago. The way the trend is going in a year or so the "average" will probably be 8GB RAM with a quad core CPU with a newer mid-range GPU. People for some reason think of PC gamers as having the newest machines with high end specs. But thinking that is what's actually happening is as wrong as thinking that everyone who drives has a sports car......

You gotta remember that the people who talk about this stuff online are enthusiasts and the news is only interested in the best of the bunch. It's the same with console gaming. If you only talked to Nintendo enthusiasts you'd make the assumption that people who play Nintendo games get all of the systems on day 1 and buy games every month. If you read the news you'd assume that nobody plays the previous generation platform the day the new thing comes out. In reality though the "average" Nintendo gamer probably just has a 3DS that they got well into it's lifecycle and only three or four games.

@Skywake, but when we talk about getting into PC gaming on here, we generally aren't just talking about playing Civilizations. We're talking about something comparable to a PS4. What you're talking about is getting a PS3 Vs. a PC. Plus the average PC gamer won't build his own rig, so you have to factor that into the cost.

@Jaz007
All I'm saying is that it's not as expensive as people seem to think it is and that for the price of the PS4 you can get something that is comparable to the PS4. Most PC gamers are not playing games on machines that are much more powerful or expensive than the PS4. And that despite that I do agree that if you are wanting to buy a "gaming box" in that price bracket then the PS4 is a decent and arguably better option. Each to their own.

Also the "average PC gamer doesn't build their own rig" thing doesn't really factor into it. The margins on a pre-built system aren't big at all. Unless you're buying from a retailer who is screwing you over you're not going to be paying much more than someone who builds it from scratch themselves. Pre-built systems, particularly ones from specialists, are simply a way to expand the market for their product. That product being the components, a thing that has a margin.