Topic: Why not just do PC Gaming?

PC gaming really is as complicated as you make it, but I do like that right now I can play a game on my Series X and know I am not taking such ginormous performance hit over if I just played it on PC.

I mainly got a gaming laptop because I need something to play somewhat more demanding 3rd party games on & due to my schedule I don't have too much time for systems tethered to TV.

Due to the screen size I'm fine with 1080p, so if I can at least run modern next gen titles at a solid 30 fps at that resolution, I'll be happy for the next few years.

The Series X only has full backwards compatibility with the One. Before that, it's only selected games. It's a pretty good selection that'll cover a lot of the most popular titles, and far better than what the PS5 offers, but you can't just chuck any OG Xbox or 360 game in and expect it to work. Also, many games that could work are prevented from doing so because they were made under a license that's now expired, so you'll need the older hardware to run them.

PC backwards compatibility is a similarly mixed bag but covers a much greater time period. There are forty year old games that'll run just fine, but ten year old ones that won't. Almost anything can be made to work with the help of modding and emulation; the question you've got to ask is whether it's worth the effort and for most people, I suspect that it won't.

why is this even a question?
PC will always be the absolute best in terms of backwards compatibility. and its not like you can only play pc games on it. you can emulate everything but the last 2-3 console generations.

consoles are closed systems. if the architecture is too different from the previous gen(s), then its just way too much work for the console manufacturer to care about backwards compatibility.
microsoft's good work in the last few years is an exception, because of their overall position on the market.

never have never will care about pc gaming.

I mean, PC has basically made PS and Xbox irrelevant for me. Xbox for sure. But more and more, PlayStation also now that they're putting their games on PC.

And with SteamDeck making all those games hybrid too? Sometimes I wonder why I even bought a PS5.

That said, the key reason for me is 1 Gyro Aiming, as I can't stand using the archaic, 30 year old control schemes Xbox and PS currently use, and 2 hybrid play, which also isn't available on Xbox or PS.

For others though, maybe they don't mind the archaic control scheme. Maybe they've learned to live with it and just let auto aim do the heavy lifting for them. And maybe they don't care about portable play, either. In which case, consoles are a cheaper, more user friendly option.

So while I personally have reached that point, finally, where my eyes have been opened to realize I just don't want to go back to the restrictions of PS/Xbox gaming, I also understand everyone is different and some haven't yet become enlightened to the fact far superior control schemes exist that don't require you to give up the comfort and ergonomics of the controller. Can't miss what you don't know about.

And consoles are cheaper. For some of us, buying a $2-4k rig isn't a big deal. After all, it'll last many years and we can afford it. So why settle for less. But for others, that's a massive expense. Something they'd have to save up for... maybe even for years. Whereas a $300-500 console is fairly attainable for the masses.

So ya. I agree PC is where it's at, and it does, for the most part, make console gaming irrelevant (barring Switch which has exclusives that don't typically come to PC like PS/Xbox do and which is pocketable- something even Steamdeck can't offer).

But the more people get turned on to Gyro aiming, and the more people get turned on to the freedom of hybrid TV + handheld gaming, and the more ppl get turned on to digital, the more ppl will migrate to PC.

I mean PC gaming is such a broad thing. You can enter it at a fairly low price and you don't really need to know much about PCs to jump in. Since this thread was created a decade ago the spec required for most titles has gone a fair way down the chain. You can get away with a fairly basic machine especially if you're ok with 1080p/60 and it can be in a form that's paletable for dropping underneath your TV.

The ease of use part of the equation has also improved a lot over the last decade. I mean there are more stores than there used to be which isn't great but a decade ago the DRM on newer titles wasn't in a great space. We also didn't have Steam in-home streaming in 2012 and Linux compatibility of games was basically non-existant. Success for the Steam-Deck IMO won't be about unit sales, success will be geting developers to take PC gaming more seriously. The sudden desire to make Anti-Cheat linux compatible is already a huge success, more will follow including better controller compatibility, better remote-play and so on

With that said, I have to acknowledge I'm well outside the normal range of abilities in this space. Dealing with software compatibility and sometimes putting square pegs into round holes is litterally part of my job description. So when I look at PC gaming and think it's easy? I'm probably glossing over a LOT of assumed knowledge

It has improved though and I think it's only going to continue to get better. The only issue currently is the rapid rise of GPU prices over the last year. At this stage the new consoles are more appealing if only for that reason, if you can buy them which you probably can't. Hopefully that's only a temporary thing though

Ugh, I was hoping that the GPU price wars had died down a bit but it still looks pretty ugly. I tend to time my upgrades with Elder Scrolls releases since I tend to kill GPUs with mods, but I am no longer looking forward to it. I refuse to pay over MSRP so I better hope the year the new Elder Scrolls game comes out, I will be ready.

I am actually going the opposite direction. I played most of my live on PC almost exclusively (my first console since the mega drive was a Switch...) And I bought a new rig in 2020 just before the pandemic. However I have now bought a series X and it is there that I play the most. The main reason is that as I am getting older is not confortable for me to play at the desk and close to the monitor (I prefer to play on the controller lay down on the couch). Also I use my PC tower for work so I really need it at the office room and the connection to the TV in a living Room is a pain I could not solve in a proper manner.

I am primarily a console gamer, and tend to buy there first, but certain genres (RTS, isometric dungeon crawlers, the sims) thrive on the PC so I play them there. My PC is usually hooked up to my TV so no issues with couch play for me, but when I upgrade my PC I will likely just build a new one and downgrade my current one to an RTS machine and hook it to a monitor so I can see it better. I guess the big issue will be seeing if Thermaltake still makes my PC case.

@Ryu_Niiyama If times were normal, I'd have a new GPU in anticipation of Starfield (Skyrim and Fallout 4 motivated my previous GPU upgrades), but... uh... I'm guessing I'll just be sticking with my current rig for now and play that whenever the chip supply recovers. Like you, I refuse to pay over MSRP, and I actually also refuse to haunt websites in the hope of a supply drop happening. Console and GPU makers are supposed to be enticing me, the consumer, to part with my money through promotions and sales, but thanks to the pandemic and chip shortage, that dynamic has flipped completely. Some part of my ends up completely offended when people talk about how lucky they were to be "chosen" by Sony for the "privilege" of owning a PS5, for example, when they get one via Sony's own in-house system for PS5 distribution.

It's fine. I have a million games to play as is, and the Switch doesn't seem to be running out of steam any time soon.

@Ralizah I looked into this some more. I didn’t realize people had to camp out at Best Buy hoping to get a card. That’s nuts. I don’t expect TES until at least 2024, but this shortage has been years in the making (and since there is no legal or social consequences to scalping it’s only gonna get worse) so I really don’t want to know how long it will take before things get better. It’s starting to feel like Fallout (the prices I mean) out there.

I’m in no rush, but it’s just disconcerting. I’m imagining being a kid and how many holidays and birthdays are being torpedoed because people can bot shop. At least when I was a little girl you had to get into fistfights over product. The whole situation is making me understand why the minimalist movement is a thing. People want your kidneys for stuff. Ah well I can just dive back into Skyrim.

Lol, Elder Scrolls VI is a few years away, I reckon.... Maybe 2 if we're lucky but probably 3 or 4

Because I don't have the money to spend on a good gaming PC nor do I have the time or knowledge to upgrade parts every few months.

Consoles are just way easier for me to have as a dedicated gaming system.

@Slowdive, I just want to say it's good to have you back (if you're the same Slowdive).

It was kinda crummy how you were driven away by a few users a few months ago.

You do realise PC offers much wider ranges of options for budgets? It isn’t just one fixed price like a console.

And you don’t need to upgrade your parts every few months? My mate is still using a rig built around a 1080 ti. That card is coming up to five years old. He has only recently had to really dial back his settings to get his games to run reasonably. That is usually longer than the mid gen refresh of a console (usually around 3 to 4 years). In all likelihood, games will always be best optimised for the midrange as those will be the largest audience. The top end, cutting edge, is surely nice to have but not necessary in the slightest.

@Pizzamorg I don't want to worry oh this this game going to run on my PC, is this graphics card work with this motherboard. Oh let me adjust this setting for this game and that setting for that game. Just to much work for something that I want to just sit down and do after a day of work. With a console I just put the game in and go and don't have to mess around with anything.

They aren’t really concerns to have though. It is rare you are going to run into a game that can’t run on your PC, unless you are either trying to play a very old game or are trying to play a brand new game on very old hardware.

Same with PC parts, if you use a PC builder (not the same as a prebuilt from a major company which should be avoided at all costs), they will help you spec a PC to your budget and will give you options for parts that will all work together.

It is true that you may need to tweak in game settings in a PC game and I guess we’ll agree to disagree on this part. As I personally love all the extra control PC gaming gives me over my games, I don’t like that a console game will lock you into one way with no choice. We are starting to see performance modes and quality modes added into console games, to give you a bit more control, but it is rare and still limited.

Cost and ease of use. I've toyed with the idea of getting a gaming PC in the past but its just not cost effective for the most part compared to consoles and I have enough annoying issues with PC's/Windows just doing for the most part simple work related tasks, def. don't want to have to troubleshoot when gaming. It's great for people that are into it but the perceived benefits don't justify the means for me personally.

@Pizzamorg I tried to.get into PC gaming years ago and ran into those problems. I got a PC from Dell and tried to buy the latest games at the time which Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Hellgate London neither would work and the computer was only 4 months old at the time. I just ended up exchanging CoD 4 for the Xbox 360 version but, I had to eat the $50 I spent on Hellgate London. So again I don't want to have to worry about is this game going to work with my PC every time I want to buy a new game.

As for building a PC I don't have the time for it either.

While I can understand why you prefer PC it's just something that doesn't fit into my time budget nor do I want to worry if X game is going to work on my PC. With consoles I don't have to worry about that.