Tell GR: Why Does The PC Suck/Awesome?

Really, it's only two things. The stupidly good deals you can get from direct download services, and the ability to use game mods. The trade off is that a decent gaming rig costs easily twice what a console would, and if you don't have a top of the line machine (at the low end, can easily, and usually will be more), you have to worry about minimum specs for newer/higher end games. Personally, I own a pretty decent PC that can run any current gen game without issue, but I also own a PS3 and a 360, and they both see their share of use. I think it's pretty stupid to ***** an moan about any particular platform. Game on whatever machine you feel comfortable with. There are bonuses and drawbacks to all of them.

Bah, moved a chunk of text into the wrong spot. You guys really need to add a edit feature to the comments section. This is how it should read:

Really, it's only two things. The stupidly good deals you can get from direct download services, and the ability to use game mods. The trade off is that a decent gaming rig costs easily twice what a console would (at the low end, can easily, and usually will be more), and if you don't have a top of the line machine, you have to worry about minimum specs for newer/higher end games. Personally, I own a pretty decent PC that can run any current gen game without issue, but I also own a PS3 and a 360, and they both see their share of use. I think it's pretty stupid to ***** an moan about any particular platform. Game on whatever machine you feel comfortable with. There are bonuses and drawbacks to all of them.

Agree with Turin. But another point to consider is the mouse and keyboard. Maybe it's just because I was raised on it, but it's seemed to be a much more elegent, adaptable and efficient input setup than a console controller. Having said that, for certain genres I do use an XBOX controller.

I think also, the pc format it appeals to a certain type of person. I don't like the fact that I can't really "get under the hood" on an xbox and have it completely my way, and I actually relish the time spent installing games, figuring out why they won't start etc. Other people, my flatmate included, just want to plug in and play with minimal effort and fuss

Yeah pc gaming has come a long way from the days of having to install different drivers and still having a game crash. even windows based pcs have become alot easier for "the average joe" to setup. Can anyone remember how much of a nightmare Windows ME was for drivers x-x

I love pc gaming. In Bf3 I much prefer the mouse and keyboard but I also have a windows xbox 360 controller that works natively with 95% of games. The Rumble even works!

PCs are also vastly more powerful then current consoles. They can push full 1080p and pcs have dx11 now. which gives tesselation, better lighting, and efficient handling of hardware resources making games run smoother. Powerful PCs also have the pleasure of being able to crank up forms of anti aliasing to get rid of jaggies making the image look a lot better, specially during movement. Im also a owner of a 120hz monitor and if your pc is powerfull enough to push a game at 120fps you can definitly see the difference. The fluidity of movement ads to a sense of realism and really helps in multiplayer games like BF3 where a half second can make the difference.

I don't have a multi display setup but pcs can also run super widescreen resolution giving you periphiral vision adding to some peoples immersion.

Theres also being able to mod games and even to load higher res texture packs in order to make the game look better, Skyrim looks amazing with mods. The witcher 2 had a ubersample mod which made a considerable difference in image quality but can only really be run by sli users.

But mostly I just cant stand consoles that play games at under 32 fps. The jerkiness is just to jarring when your used to fluid motion.

Nvidia also has Physx which has shown alot of promise in games that have utilized it. Batman Arkham City was one. I know Borderlands 2 is going to support physx in there liquid systems, there cloth systems,

Nvidia has even showed a tech demo of real time destruction of a item down to as many time as you want to break it apart. its broken apart and rendered in real time. I dream of the day when battlefield gives of full real time dynamic destructibility.

One thing I love about PC gaming is that the games seem to last sooo much longer. I don't know if they are higher quality or what but the only games I can say I have played somewhat regularly for the past 10 years have been on PC (CS, WC3, DOTA, WoW, D2, etc.). Maybe the multiplayer is just set up better? I really don't know why but even the best of the classic nintendo games are only a every once in a while, and some of those pc games I played a ton through their lifespan.

Also the mods are great. This adds the the longevity of some games. When you get bored with the real game just add the nude mod and now you have a whole new game!

And as turin said above the deals. Oh god the deals are amazing.... Almost makes the price of a good gaming PC seem ok if you buy enough games at greatly discounted prices. Almost

PC gaming sucks because it is so goddamn expensive. I'm in the process of building a new gaming rig right now and the video card alone is setting me back at least $400.

PC gaming is awesome because you do get the best graphics & performance and there's a lot of great games that never show up on consoles. Oh, and porn.

Why in the heck are you spending that much on a GPU? Just get a Nvidia 560ti or Radeon 6950 for $220 at Microcenter or Newegg which will max out pretty much every game available right now, and that isn't likely to change as console development has bottlenecked graphical improvement. When you do need more GPU horsepower, you can buy a second one and run SLI/Crossfire as long as your motherboard supports it and you'll be good for a long, long time.

I'm going for max settings, max frame rates! Plus the lower-end cards you mentioned cause microstuttering in a 2-way sli or crossfire, but the high-end cards that I'm looking at won't if I decide to go that direction in a few years.

The 560ti is not, in any possible way, a low-end card. It's probably the very best card you can buy for the money, and it will play almost every game on max settings even before being overclocked.

And as for your microstuttering issue, it's not something I've experienced in the past before upgrading to the 560ti, and not something I've experienced since. I honestly believe you're going overkill with almost no tangible gain for your investment, but it is your money. I just hope you're not getting an i7-2700k+ too.

No, I'll be sticking with the latest i5. If you go to a bench site and plug in the 560ti against games like Battlefield 3 on Ultra settings you get around 35 fps, which is just past the 30 fps that is acceptable for smooth gameplay, so you're going to be taking down those Ultra settings on many games coming out within the next year. The card I'm getting, the GTX 670, gets around 63 fps in the same scenario which is just above the 60 fps target for prime gameplay. Even in a 2-way SLI, the 560ti only gets about 56 fps at best and would cost more combined than the 670 alone, not to mention microstuttering and other issues on a 2-way sli. And that is the cruel mistress that is PC gaming.

PC Gaming is the best because of the POWER!!!! Plus it is a computer and lets you do everything that you need computers to do. Surf the web, check email, jam music, socialize, etc..... I understand consoles allow you to do this but come on, who really does that. Mouse/Keyboard setup is great for many game times besides fighters and sports.

PC's are bad because expensive, viruses, and lack of plug and play.

Also I read LanGnome's - Porn is correct.

In even shorter terms.

Consoles are really only for gaming, though I'll give it Netflix as a solid booster.

PC's allow so much more functions for your life.

The limits of PC isendless,Consoles aren't.

The only thing I can really say having owned all the consoles but never a very powerful pc is that I find myself still playing games like diablo 3 that I get a trash framerate on even though I could play a console game that never has tearing or any other problem associated with playing a game with a rig under the required specs. place punctuation as required...im a drooling troll anyways.

When I first got into gaming as a child, I started out on city builders, then moved on to RTS, and eventually began playing FPS. Clearly, keyboard and mouse are the preferred options for strategy games and shooters, and so PC gaming is rather dear to me. I also like keeping up with consumer electronic technology, and assembling (I prefer not to use the term 'build') a computer can be great fun.
Additionally, using any number of types of controllers with a PC is possible, so while a racing or flying game more suited to a console controller can easily be ported to a PC, it would generally be rather insane for console games to be designed where the preferred input method was anything but a console controller.

So lengthy comments mine is going to look like ****, but here it goes:

It rocks because of scalability, mouse and keyboard and multiplayer with lots of people.

Free (better) multiplayer.
Up front costs are higher, but it lasts longer (I built my PC in 09 and play stuff like Metro 2033 at 1920x1080 with no prob). The "Next Gen" screenshots I've seen as of late have been piss poor compared to what even my 3 year old pc can accomplish.
Use your normal TV just like you would a console.
Mouse & Keyboard.
MODS!!!!
It does much more than a console ever could.
Steam sales.

Basically everything everyone else said, but seconded.

PC gaming is quite easy for modding games or having controls the way you want them to be. Of course, the trade off is you need to make sure your machine can be above the minimum requirements to run a smooth game and if you don't understand computers well, good luck listening to every computer geek out there telling what you need to buy or how you suck for having a Nvidia card.


Also, PC games having the random glitches or crashes, followed by the patches and those having its own problems. Console games aren't immune to this either, but they don't seem to be common there.

Forgot about modding, I've made quite a few Age of Empire 2 and Neverwinter Nights mods. Mod tools are very fun.

The PC awesomes because of Blizzard games, and the fact that the current gen of consoles is old as ****.

Two things that I haven't seen listed so far are free games and RTSes both of which are something you really only get on pc. By free games I don;t mean pirated I mean things like free MMOs, games like World of Tanks, like Knytt stories, like battle of wesnoth, the list goes on and on. And as a gamer that likes RTSes you really cant play them on anything except for PC with a good old mouse and keyboard, the same should go for FPSes but for some reason a lot of people seem not to mind it so much.

PC gaming is awesome because Eyefinity resolutions..... 6036x1200 FTW!

dam... That's a very wide but not very tall resolution

I've always needed a sweet rig for school. Simulations, programs, e-mail professors about grade corrections with no response... so as a poor college student I picked my battle.

Either because of this, or in support, I also prefer the games PC works best on. RTS, Turn-based Strategy, and online shooters (Quake Arena, UT2000, before PSN and Live).

the PC sucks because of the pain of upgrading and trying to change hardware. I cant tell you how many times Ive bought the wrong RAM or card. It's way better now, but stuff is still vague and not easily clear to those that are new to it. The attention to detail is too much, and most people are turned off by that. The awesome is how the PC is literally your gateway to a very broad stretch of entertainment. Figuring in all of the things you can use a PC for, you're spending less since you aren't separating your hobbies. As far as games go, you can do so so so much more with a Mouse and Keyboard than a controller, so your games tend to be more complex. Arma for example with its delightful Day Z mod...

PC sucks, because I don't have a PC
PC's great, because you have a better chance of modding games. You also have hot keys which enables you to be quicker for some things. Also, using a mouse is much more accurate than an analog stick. I don't have much more to support the reasons why I like and don't like a PC, because i don't have a good gaming one. Oh, there you go, PC sucks, because it cost more money to get good quality gaming PC.