Why are people reluctant about PC gaming?

To those of us here who who game exclusively on consoles.

Why do you do so? Not asking this out of like some sort of smug "ew you play on consoles" but as just a curious question as to why you don't feel the desire for a gaming PC?

Costs? Perceived difficulties of using one? Couch gaming? Just curious.

I give my PC the most love but I also realize that console gaming has its niche, but I also think that going exclusive for one or the other is foolish.

Because its less burden on my PC when I have a console dedicated to games. Also the snobbyness I often encounter from the PC 'master race' quite often on the internet doesn't really help matters (that's not to say there aren't Xbox or Nintendo or Sony fanboys that don't annoy me, but they tend to turn up less for some reason).

Plus its comfy lying in bed while throwing swords at people :3

edited 23rd Jul '13 3:20:08 AM by absolclaw

Holy Grail, huh? Cool story, bro.

Laptops are cheap. Top of the line P Cs are expensive.

Not everyone understands your newfangled tech sorcery.

edited 23rd Jul '13 3:21:42 AM by unnoun

Well, even then, there's incremental guides, such as this site. If you do happen to consider PC gaming and want to build your own, stuff like this is a good starting point.

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

It's less a case of being reluctant, I love it, when it works. Saints Row The Third stopped working, Dead Island doesn't really work even though it should, older games don't work and I just get sick and tired of half what I paid for no longer running every time I upgrade. Give me something I know will work.

Currently reading up My Rule Fu Is Stronger than Yours

For me, it's mostly the amount of hassle that PC gaming can involve. Sure, videogaming on a computer doesn't necessarily have to be difficult, but consoles in general are much much easier to use.

Plus, there's tons of franchises that I like that can only be found on consoles.

edited 23rd Jul '13 3:50:35 AM by BaleFire

Dreamkeepers Prelude, check it out!

Well, I play some on PC, but I'm mainly a console-gamer, so I'll post.

It's mostly costs and maintenance. It's very simple to just pop a game in my PS 3 and voila, it works without any kind of tinkering with settings or upgrading drivers. With the PC, I feel like I constantly have to upgrade either processors, motherboard or graphics card to be able to play [the newest game] on anything else than Very Low/low-res (and sometimes not even then).

Also, the upgrading process in itself scares me. I'm very worried about screwing things up when I open the cabinet to poke around inside.

Another thing that relates to this is the stability. PC games are in my experience much more susceptible to game-crashing bugs or similar, because of the "freedom" they usually implement. Meanwhile, I've never had a console game crash on me.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and most of my favourite genres and games are on consoles and not on PCs.

edited 23rd Jul '13 4:03:11 AM by Lemurian

Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!

A console is easier to handle, generally. To play a game on the PC, I need to jump through a few hoops that mostly annoy me. PC controls are also atrocious, given I've been used to controllers and most importantly, analog sticks. And the genre I'm most invested in (JRPGs), is 99% confined to consoles.

Of course, now that I've tried playing a few games on the PC, I've come to like the versatility of it. And modding. Lots of modding. The PC versions are cheaper too, over here at least (30-40€ vs 60€ for new games). I think that I'll be sticking to PC for games that seem to have been made with that in mind, mostly, like Bioware and Bethesda's stuff, but play the rest of my games on consoles.

edited 23rd Jul '13 4:03:11 AM by lu127

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

I game exclusively on a relatively high end laptop (well, high end two years ago that is) and I have to ask if you scratch built your machine. Despite the ardent claims of so many 'Master Race' people that scratch building is child's play nowadays I still find the process an intimidating prospect.

More importantly, how easy is it to find a maintenance company willing to fix up a scratch built PC? Such services may be common in the US but in my part of the world such a machine would have to be repaired in one's own room or garage because repair shops tend to familiarize themselves with configs from large distributors.

I believe the Starcraft games can be rigged to support a controller. Give that a whirl and see if you still find PC controls atrocious .

And finally, I seriously doubt that people are 'reluctant' to game on a PC. I'd wager there's far more gaming - serious gaming - done on P Cs today then on consoles, but the numbers are split between a much larger number of less advertised games, such as Paradox's entire roster.

edited 23rd Jul '13 4:41:53 AM by Recon5

I can't afford at all to get the kind of computer necessary for PC gaming. I don't particularly mind the installation process—no worse than so many console games that force you to download updates for 20 minutes before you're actually allowed to play them—but the cost of the equipment necessary coupled with the following...

...are pretty much the only reasons I don't PC game. Hell, I even got myself a USB controller in order to play games on my laptop, but I discovered that even if I turn all the quality settings as far down as possible, games on this PC laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag. So much. I shouldn't have to struggle to play Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams, a simple platformer.

I do play games on emulators on my PC, though.

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

Hassle. Money. Lack of experience in the whole field. The attitudes of the people that I've met.

Mostly hassle. Even with Steam, games tend to be hit or miss as to whether or not they'll work properly or I'll spend an hour or two with a friend trying to figure out what I need to do to fix it.

There's also the appeal of being able to just sit and relax on your couch instead of hunching over a keyboard and mouse with your face right up on the screen.

1. Because I don't trust my computer to run games like Bioshock Infinite over 15 FPS.
2. I don't like keyboard controls, nor do I like taking my 360 controller out of my 360 and putting it into my CPU whenever I wanna play a game on it.

Basically I don't do because of costs. I don't have the moneys to constantly upgrade my computer. And by computer I mean my relatively scrappy laptop that will take whatever chance to lag or freeze. If I had the money for something like a fully loaded Alienware, where I wouldn't have to worry about the game crashing when I try to walk two feet then I would give it a go.

In the meantime I'm content with my consoles which are cheaper and built specifically to run games.

PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850

Aside from the numerous other reasons mentioned, there's just something about playing on a good old fashioned television that enhances the whole experience (surround sound optional). I know you can probably rig a PC to play on your TV or that you can get PC games to look better than console games, but that's also extra hassle in addition to what you're already doing to get the game to run and it might not even be all that worth it in either case. Besides, it's not like I'm gonna use my TV for anything else otherwise, television being what it is nowadays.

On the other hand, I'm totally cool with using my PC for emulation since older games are gonna look like crap on newer TVs anyway, and I can use save states and have convenient access to guides, two things I need a lot more when playing older games as compared to newer ones.

edited 23rd Jul '13 6:09:45 AM by DeviousRecital

Running a cord from your PC/Laptop to a TV is a hassle now?

I really think a lot of these reasons, while valid and I understand them, stem from outdated notions.

P Cs can use controllers, and they can be played on a TV with pretty much zero hassle now (Just HDMI to HDMI like a PS 3)

You are aware Alienware exists just to fleece uninformed people of money right? One can easily build their own PC (Or even get the parts and have someone build it for them) for MUCH LESS what an alienware costs.

Also building a top end computer for oh....600 bucks will not only last you this generation but easily surpass it as well, like mine.

edited 23rd Jul '13 6:14:23 AM by Thorn14

I have a list for why I prefer consoles.

• Overall costs.
• Most games I play are on consoles.
• I like being able to use my laptop when I'm playing video games.
• It's easier and takes way less time, as I don't need to install it and jump through as many hoops to use it.

That said, I do have Fallout: New Vegas and the Sims 2 on PC. I have Fallout: New Vegas for modding purposes and because I don't have it on the 360. If I could afford a better laptop for when I want to play video games on a PC, I would have one. Plus it'd be overall faster, which would be fantastic.

edited 23rd Jul '13 6:14:27 AM by DamascaRamza

A good gaming computer that can handle pretty much everything of the day and some years into the future costs about one thousand dollars. A console is cheaper.

To people saying costs.

How much do you think it costs exactly to have a PC game machine? Because I can assure you, the days of 4 digit P Cs needed to play new games are long gone.

I built mine for 700 dollars and it already runs circles around the next gen.

edited 23rd Jul '13 6:16:35 AM by Thorn14

No, the price is still about 1000$. Less if you have a monitor already.

And this is if you pay for the parts to make the computer, which is much cheaper than buying a pre-built computer.

You don't want to buy a computer that can just handle today's games. It needs to handle tomorrow's games too.

I cobbled together my current computer for about 800$, but I already had a chassis and monitor. Plays next game games at max settings no trouble.

edited 23rd Jul '13 6:20:10 AM by StephanReiken

Well, I bought a pretty good computer (3.2 ghz, 8 GB RAM, 600 W power, 1 TB hard drive) piece by piece for about 8000 NOK, but the graphics card turned out to be crap, so I have to upgrade for 800 NOK...

...so about 1500 USD, with Norwegian prices.

edited 23rd Jul '13 6:22:12 AM by Lemurian

Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!

700 bucks is in no way cheap. I'd be lucky to get that much in a year's time. And it still gives me no way to play my favourite console games.

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

Most gaming P Cs or laptops still cost over $2000 here in Australia. That's just on average though, there are occasionally cheaper ones on sale, but not very often.

edited 23rd Jul '13 6:21:27 AM by DamascaRamza

News to me, I built mine at 700 bucks sans monitor.

I could have lowered the price by 200 and get an above average computer that can run next gen games.

Prebuilt gaming P Cs are a scam.

edited 23rd Jul '13 6:22:14 AM by Thorn14

You are already referring to prebuilt stuff.

You can cut prebuilt machine prices in half and that is what it will probably cost you to build it yourself.

If a computer isn't aimed to handle next generation games you'll need to replace it in a year or two.

edited 23rd Jul '13 6:23:04 AM by StephanReiken