Is it just me, or are the advantages of PC gaming diminishing?

[Dog of Bork]

You said

I don't want a 360 fast blink on the last of us because this will destroy the game.

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in response to one part of his comment. That's fine. You then continued to equate M+KB with "fast" gameplay, which is absolutely nonsense.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Yep. And setting aside the virtues of a mouse vs a stick for aiming, I've grown to hate the keyboard for movement+actions in modern shooters. I could get over WASD vs left-stick as basically a wash, but the hand contortions required for all other actions (run, crouch, reload, use, grenade, map, jump, weapon swap, etc) just vastly more comfortable on a gamepad imo. Since I have no aspiration to be an e-sports star, I prefer the comfort of a gamepad even if I lose a degree of aim accuracy.

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Hand contortions required??? This shows that you have no idea how to play on keyboard. Have a "good comfort" with dual claw grip on controller and clicking L3/R3 with the stick fully pushed.

 

[BrutalInsane]

The other advantages that PC will always have over console is the fact that you can always download more RAM and add RGB lighting to increase FPS in all your games.

Sony and MS really screwed up by not touting RGB customization on their next console.

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LOL I have the same exact setup, minus the case.

In any case, if you have an awesome PC, why waste money on an inferior system.

 

[Deleted member 34788]

I'm still in love with it due to how good things are.

Yet, the win10 bullshit updates that had me troubleshooting a few select issues for hours a fair few times in the past year has soured me a little.Gonna be honest, as soon as a shit issue like that popped up, I just fucked off troubleshooting there and then and chilled on my PS4 or iPad instead.

I still have a win10 log on issue with one of my spare drives in my pc, it's been that way for months. I shouldn't have to disable updates for my os fora whole year just to avoid shitty issues.

Edit: pc is the only way to get 60 on a majority of titles too, until that changes I'm not packing in my pc at all.

 

[HamSandwich]

I fell off the PC gaming wagon earlier this year but sim racing games have rejuvenated my love for it. Its basically all I play now since I'm tired of FPS games.

 

[Mexen]

The other advantages that PC will always have over console is the fact that you can always download more RAM and add RGB lighting to increase FPS in all your games.

Sony and MS really screwed up by not touting RGB customization on their next console.

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Sweet setup

 

[Deleted member 2840]

NMS was the real Best Ongoing Game though. The best MP game is kinda lame without any of the big F2P games from PC (or heck, MMOs), so I can understand Fortnite winning it with the competition it had (CoD was a worse Fortnite, Sea of Thieves was not that good at launch, Destiny 2 Forsaken wasnt as good, and MHW is a different kind of MP experience).

Overwatch winning the eSports one really killed me though, but I guess it becoming franchise popular despite having a lame metagame in a year where both Dota and LoL were amazing was enough.

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Reminder that SOMEHOW Overwatch won "esports of the year" for the last THREE YEARS IN A ROW.
3
Years.
There's such a weird disconnect between the gaming media that it's kinda insane.

 

[eonden]

Reminder that SOMEHOW Overwatch won "esports of the year" for the last THREE YEARS IN A ROW.
3
Years.
There's such a weird disconnect between the gaming media that it's kinda insane.

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It did? That makes it even worse lol. All 3 other big e-sports (CS:GO, Dota, LoL) had amazing runs last year, with some of the best tournaments ever for each of them. R6:Siege was also quite good.
Only Overwatch saving grace was that their league didnt crash and burn like Fortnite esports. But it was a very weak year for Overwatch and the meta was... yikes.

 

[MrBob]

Yep. And setting aside the virtues of a mouse vs a stick for aiming, I've grown to hate the keyboard for movement+actions in modern shooters. I could get over WASD vs left-stick as basically a wash, but the hand contortions required for all other actions (run, crouch, reload, use, grenade, map, jump, weapon swap, etc) just vastly more comfortable on a gamepad imo. Since I have no aspiration to be an e-sports star, I prefer the comfort of a gamepad even if I lose a degree of aim accuracy.

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You can prefer controllers, that's fine. But there are no hand contortions for fps on PC.

Run = LShift
Crouch = C or Lctrl
Use = E
Grenade = F or Q
Map = Tab
Jump = Spacebar
Reload = R
Weapon Swap = Mouse Wheel or just hit 1-5 keyboard keys

It's really not that difficult. It's just a different way than you are used too.

Do developers sometimes offer awful defaults? Yes this happens once in awhile but most games let you change the layout to what you want to use.

 

[Deleted member 25117]

Opposite for me. I don't see any point in buying a non-Nintendo console anymore. I can get almost everything on PC for cheaper and without subscriptions. I doubt I'll buy a next gen console.

 

[OldBenKenobi]

I've been reading your posts. Even replied to one. None of it makes sense to me :)

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Yah dude I stopped replying to his nonsense afew pages back. When he told me production value or whatever is the future over 144hz At 1440p and g sync and Ray Tracing wasn't a game changed in Metro I realized I wasn't gonna get into it.

The reply about last of us and RDR2 being being ruined with kB+M killed me though.

 

[hikarutilmitt]

I think it's just you OP, outside of hardware price I don't see any cons.

And you forgot the biggest PC advantage (imo): infinite BC.

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Technically this isn't true without using emulators and the like. At some point you have to move to a newer OS to play newer games and the jump in architecture can come with drawbacks (good luck running any 16-bit games native on a 64-bit OS). Granted, setting up these additional layers on a PC is totally a thing compared to a console, but it's still not "just" BC as-is.

 

[ClarkusDarkus]

I game on PC on my OLED and from my experience HDR gaming is no different than consoles, though I've only played 5 games in HDR (RE7, Sekiro, RE2, FarCry 5, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider). I boot the game, the TV switches to HDR, I play the game. RE7, RE2, and Sekiro I played at 4k60. FC5 and SotTR I lowered to 1800p60). I hope I'm wrong but I really doubt that many next gen console games will be pushing 4k60 outside of the obvious ones (fighting games, racing games, games with simple graphics, etc). HDR does not take extra GPU power by the way.

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Thankyou for the feedback and response, Since you're also an OLED owner it helps my decision. If it's a case of boot game, Switches to HDR mode then that's all i need to hear as that's what i'm used too. I assume you played all those games at the highest settings? Since you dropped the resolution to maintain that 60. Yeah if the next consoles hit 4K/60 maybe they'll stick to low-medium-high mixture of settings since devs squeeze more juice out of the hardware. I'm just looking for 4K60/HDR at highest possible settings.

Others seem to be noting that HDR is working fine for them on PC now. I haven't checked back in with it recently, so I'll take their words on it. But yes, I play SDR which has always been very responsive for everything I play.

I usually boot up my computer with a mouse (Steam controller) just because I have my games in a number of different launchers, and I do like playing some games that require a mouse (I use a steam controller for those because I like sitting on the couch and don't want to use a keyboard to play anything if I can help it).

That said, once I start most games, it's all controller from there. You wouldn't know you weren't playing on an Xbox or PS4 unless you went into the settings and saw how many other options you could play with. And if I was so inclined, I could check the box to start Steam in big picture mode, which puts you directly into the launcher from turning on your computer with controller support as the default. I think big picture mode is just OK, so I prefer to use a mouse for that little bit of selecting the game. I have a pro and an X sitting in the same entertainment center; I just prefer the PC.

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Yeah seems it's like it is on console then, Basically switches to HDR mode itself when recognises it. I don't mind SDR but my LGC8 game mode in SDR gets washed out, It's fine in HDR game mode. Just SDR game mode gets washed out and has to be played in PC mode for the low latency and much better TV options.

I think the sound of booting into big picture mode would suit me perfectly.

Do any of you stream? Like i assume streaming/gaming from the PC and running 4K/60 would totally smoke the PC. OLED's are just damn beautiful TV's so seems perfect to match it with something that would make it shine.

 

[Thera]

I love PC gaming more than ever.

Cutting edge graphics and games you just don't get on console.

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And consoles have games you just don't get on PC.

 

[Thera]

I still think PC have a big advantage with alpha access and modding.
And of course, some games are better to play with mouse and keyboard.

Free online is still a major advantage on the money part.

 

[z1ggy]

And consoles have games you just don't get on PC.

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And theres games on PC you dont get on consoles.

 

[Croash]

To me, the biggest deal last gen that made PC gaming so wonderful was image quality.

I built my pc in late 2012 with a 670 GTX.

What this meant to me back then was jumping from PlayStation 3's often seen 720p with unstable 30fps and weird anti aliasing solutions (i.e. The Last of Us which came out a few months after that and still is my favorite game of all time) to downsampled 1440p, 60fps and at least FXAA.

What a huge jump. It was hard to go back.

Now I get to go through DMC 5 at 4K 60fps on my Xbox One X.

It was always about image quality, textures, good AA solutions, stable frame rates.

I don't really need 144hz or modding or whatever else PC can offer (all of which is fucking awesome, of course). And I do lament Bloodborne being stuck at 1080 30fps, but that was 2015.

In 2019 I'm not as excited to spend more than 1k € to enjoy 4K gaming for a while until my rig's obsolete like my 670.

I had to move on from 720p in 2012 but I'm fully satisfied with 4K, even checkerboard, and console VR in 2019.

For consoles, everything improved so much during this generation when it comes to Anisotropic Filtering, Ambient Occlusion, Anti Aliasing, tesselation, shadows, particles, etc. that were previously effects I'd only properly enjoy on a good pc in 2012.

But now even if there's always an EXTREME option for high end gaming rigs, at least console games don't have nothing or badly implemented solutions. The newest engines really are amazing at what they do and I hope ray tracing won't take too many years to be mainstream.

 

[Thera]

And theres games on PC you dont get on consoles.

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Low effort bait

 

[PKrockin]

I was just thinking about how if Demon's Souls had released on PC as well, nobody would have to clamor for the chance to pay $50 to play it on modern hardware, it would be $15 on this current Steam sale.

 

[YukiroCTX]

There's still advantages, going digitally, PC is still much cheaper as there's barely any discounts at launch for consoles . Emulation is great to use, I don't really see much difference in the cheats/trainer scene for SP games. You don't need to pay online. PC is certainly getting more fractured because of Epic but Microsoft now offering their games and gamepass brings variety to the system and enjoy using both controller and mouse and keyboard at anytime.

The thing that's certainly making it harder for me is the hardware cost.

 

[Serpens007]

You can prefer controllers, that's fine. But there are no hand contortions for fps on PC.

Run = LShift
Crouch = C or Lctrl
Use = E
Grenade = F or Q
Map = Tab
Jump = Spacebar
Reload = R
Weapon Swap = Mouse Wheel or just hit 1-5 keyboard keys

It's really not that difficult. It's just a different way than you are used too.

Do developers sometimes offer awful defaults? Yes this happens once in awhile but most games let you change the layout to what you want to use.

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Add to this a mouse that has buttons. Even less hand contortion

 

[KillLaCam]

Naw not at all

 

[JahIthBer]

I was just thinking about how if Demon's Souls had released on PC as well, nobody would have to clamor for the chance to pay $50 to play it on modern hardware, it would be $15 on this current Steam sale.

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BC is PC's best advantage, i can still load up Diablo from 1996 just fine, Xbox's BC is good too, but i wish MS added more HD resolutions to the list, 480p isn't so nice.

 

[krg]

PC will always be ahead of consoles in terms of graphics and options. While Last of us 2 will be a great looking game, will it offer 144hz, rtx, be able to play on ultra wide monitor at over 100 FPS? Nope. And not even the ps5 can achieve that. Ps5 will have RTX tech, better cpu and improved ssd but as with every console cycle, once those systems are out, they will still be behind PC in terms of hardware. PC will always have advantage in that.

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yeah, no dog...I mean I love PC gaming but at what cost would you achieve that? certainly not at $499.

 

[Deleted member 18400]

Everything about PC is getting better except initial cost and setup.

Gaming PC's are expensive as fuck, you can claim otherwise but they are....they can literally cost thousands of dollars. Especially if you want a really nice gaming screen which can cost more than most standard 4K tvs haha.

Don't even get me started on Windows 10, or what old games you might not be able to boot up anymore etc...

 

[Governergrimm]

I feel like they are converging enough that all it's really doing is entrenching people into their already preferred platform.

 

[thebishop]

Hand contortions required??? This shows that you have no idea how to play on keyboard. Have a "good comfort" with dual claw grip on controller and clicking L3/R3 with the stick fully pushed.

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Oh gee maybe you're right. Can you please link me to some kind of reading material so I can learn how to properly use a keyboard? Maybe a YouTube video? I have my fingers on the 2, 4, 6, and 8, and the UI says press "e" to climb the ladder. I can't reach that without taking my hand off of the mouse. It's starting to affect my KDR.

 

[thebishop]

You can prefer controllers, that's fine. But there are no hand contortions for fps on PC.

Run = LShift
Crouch = C or Lctrl
Use = E
Grenade = F or Q
Map = Tab
Jump = Spacebar
Reload = R
Weapon Swap = Mouse Wheel or just hit 1-5 keyboard keys

It's really not that difficult. It's just a different way than you are used too.

Do developers sometimes offer awful defaults? Yes this happens once in awhile but most games let you change the layout to what you want to use.

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I've been gaming on PC since 1990 but thanks for the condescension.

 

[SlickVic]

I feel price is still a big factor for me. I still routinely see coupons for 20-25% off new releases from GMG. On the console side, I used to pick up games with the 20% off from GCU (and occasionally the 20% off from Prime) but these programs are gone. GMG of course doesn't stock every new PC game, and to be fair, price drops and sales do routinely happen for new releases on the console side as well. I just feel for a brand new release, I'm more likely to find at least a 20% off deal from a place like GMG than I am on the console side now that my GCU has expired.

 

[AimLow]

I had this very thought recently when I saw the (proposed) specs of the new consoles, but I'd have to see real world frame rates to really make a final call. Beyond that though, as many others have already said, free online and the sheer amount of inexpensive software (+ non-gaming utility) still puts PC on top for me.

 

[Anno]

Gaming PC's are expensive as fuck, you can claim otherwise but they are....they can literally cost thousands of dollars. Especially if you want a really nice gaming screen which can cost more than most standard 4K tvs haha.

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To be fair, this is basically the Pro (maybe Pro+) option for PCs marketed for a specific auidience. The majority of PC gaming is still done on games with very modest requirements.

 

[rodrigolfp]

yeah, no dog...I mean I love PC gaming but at what cost would you achieve that? certainly not at $499.

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Why such more capable machine should cost only $499?

 

[elzeus]

Yep, I got a new gaming PC and have only used it twice. I was thinking of putting it up for sale, is the For Sale thread on Era for useful for hardware too or just games?

 

[JahIthBer]

Everything about PC is getting better except initial cost and setup.

Gaming PC's are expensive as fuck, you can claim otherwise but they are....they can literally cost thousands of dollars. Especially if you want a really nice gaming screen which can cost more than most standard 4K tvs haha.

Don't even get me started on Windows 10, or what old games you might not be able to boot up anymore etc...

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Windows 10 doesn't break much compatibility & if it does, there is ways to fix it like dgvoodoo. Besides, not like you can boot up MGS4 on PS4 or anything, so i don't get why people nitpicking about BC on PC is a fair complaint.

 

[m29a]

I would say some of the advantages have diminished a little bit, but it won't affect me that much. The cheaper games are still mostly there (I think subscriptions are a good option, allows you to sub for a month to play a new title, then unsub afterwards). I never cared about modding as much as other people do so I can't comment on that. And while I have enjoyed using cheat engine in single player games in the past, I'm okay with not being able to do it anymore as long as the games I play continue to offer an easy difficulty option.

As for the inconvenience, the launchers haven't been a big deal to me, it just takes a couple extra clicks/seconds to launch my games. Windows 10 updates have always been smooth for me, I honestly can't recall a time where I've had any issues from them. It just works like I expect it to.

Agree on hardware prices, that is definitely unfortunate and not ideal.

All in all, even if some of the things did genuinely impact me more, I'd still stick with PC gaming because of the ability to tweak graphics settings and get higher frame rates.

 

[Deleted member 30124]

30fps shooters with dual sticks (RDR2) will never be masterpieces in a world with 240+Hz screens and mouse+kb gunplay.

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I'll never understand this argument. Game mechanics and game design stand on their own merits and have no association with higher frame rate and choice of input device. A game with poorly conceived gameplay would be the same regardless of whether you play it at 60+fps with a mouse/kb. It'll certainly feel more responsive at higher frame rates, but it won't suddenly become a masterpiece as a result.

 

[rodrigolfp]

I'll never understand this argument. Game mechanics and game design stand on their own merits and have no association with higher frame rate and choice of input device. A game with poorly conceived gameplay would be the same regardless of whether you play it at 60+fps with a mouse/kb. It'll certainly feel more responsive at higher frame rates, but it won't suddenly become a masterpiece as a result.

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Tell that to all GTA games on PC. Much superior games than on consoles, especially the 'PS2' GTAs. They did not even have free aiming there. LOL

 

[Pargon]

Everything about PC is getting better except initial cost and setup.
Gaming PC's are expensive as fuck, you can claim otherwise but they are....they can literally cost thousands of dollars.

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They literally don't though.
Here's a build that will play anything for <$750 which I put together in a few minutes on PC Part Picker: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/v9TdsZ (that's not a recommendation, just a quick example)
You don't have to spend nearly that much either. There are several components there which could be swapped out for cheaper alternatives.

Don't even get me started on Windows 10, or what old games you might not be able to boot up anymore etc...

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The list of games that don't work on Windows 10 is very, very small.
Compatibility is arguably higher than Windows 7 or 8 - though there are still some older games which may require patching or other workarounds. Details can usually be found on the PC Gaming Wiki.

I'll never understand this argument. Game mechanics and game design stand on their own merits and have no association with higher frame rate and choice of input device. A game with poorly conceived gameplay would be the same regardless of whether you play it at 60+fps with a mouse/kb. It'll certainly feel more responsive at higher frame rates, but it won't suddenly become a masterpiece as a result.

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Many games are significantly improved by the lower latency and better control methods offered on PC.
For example: they had to patch Prey (2017) to slow down the enemies, change their behaviors, and make them easier to stun, because players using controllers were having a difficult time with it.
I played through the game on PC prior to that patch and it never even occurred to me that such a thing would be necessary. I was having fun fighting against enemies that didn't just stand in place when trying to attack you.
There are many other games which are available on console, but really play significantly better on PC because you have access to a mouse.

 

[krg]

Why such more capable machine should cost only $499?

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because he is comparing PC gaming with a PS5. You can't achieve what he mentioned with a $499 machine.

 

[rodrigolfp]

because he is comparing PC gaming with a PS5. You can't achieve what he mentioned with a $499 machine.

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And a PS5 can do everything a PC can?

 

[Deleted member 18400]

To be fair, this is basically the Pro (maybe Pro+) option for PCs marketed for a specific auidience. The majority of PC gaming is still done on games with very modest requirements.

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I understand that, but people always bring up "Games can look way better on PC!" as an argument.

Which is true, but not for 500 dollars they sure the fuck can't.

 

[OmniStrife]

I have a PS4 "pro" and I love the Sony exclusives but playing PC games (even older ones) on my Ultrawide GSync makes it feel like a limping half-blind mule that needs to be taken out of its misery.
Sony exclusives are like a well done prime Wagyu steak smothered in ketchup... So much lost potential due to platform limitations.

 

[Deleted member 43084]

Ori and the blind forest, Killer Instinct 3, and numerous other Gamepass / Windows-Xbox games? Isn't there like a decent number of RTS/Strategy games that don't run on Mac still (well decent compared to the relatively small number of titles in the genre I guess)?

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I'm not interested in those games, and I have enough of a backlog of PS4/Switch games to justify adding to it!

Also, you say "as a developer I'm tied to the Mac ecosystem..." does that mean all developers are tied to it? Not sure how A leads in to B... there's still plenty of developers who develop for stuff not in the Mac ecosystem right?

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In my case, it would mean buying a Windows gaming PC just for gaming as opposed to a gaming PC + day-to-day computer, which at current prices is a very bad personal investment. Nor do I really have the space in my place for a full-on rig.

Mostly I try to keep things minimal.

 

[Mass Effect]

The other advantages that PC will always have over console is the fact that you can always download more RAM and add RGB lighting to increase FPS in all your games.

Sony and MS really screwed up by not touting RGB customization on their next console.

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Admittedly, I'm not much of a fan for the RGB aesthetic, but you've pulled it off really well here. Everything is perfectly coordinated with consistent coloring to boot.

I really like it.

 

[Deleted member 18400]

They literally don't though.
Here's a build that will play anything for <$750 which I put together in a few minutes on PC Part Picker: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/v9TdsZ (that's not a recommendation, just a quick example)
You don't have to spend nearly that much either. There are several components there which could be swapped out for cheaper alternatives.

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I'm sure it will run anything, but not at high settings that "blow away" consoles. Also, I notice no monitor is included. So unless you plan on outputting to your TV (Which I admit you could do if you wanted to) you are going to have to drop a couple hundred on a decent monitor to take advantage of those PC graphics.

And I know you are going to argue that a PS or Xbox requires a TV to work, and yes I know this. The catch is here basically everyone already owns a TV for other reasons, it's usually not something you need to purchase with your console unless you are very young and just starting out int he real world.

 

[Necromorph]

The other advantages that PC will always have over console is the fact that you can always download more RAM and add RGB lighting to increase FPS in all your games.

Sony and MS really screwed up by not touting RGB customization on their next console.

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That monitor with the mini soundbar looks rad, can you tellme the models?

 

[driftshake]

Three letters. FPS. Whenever I come across something capped at 30 fps it feels broken. If 60 fps doesn't become the standard for console, I'm just going to ignore the exclusives and pretend they don't exist. It is literally not playable in my opinion.

 

[rodrigolfp]

I understand that, but people always bring up "Games can look way better on PC!" as an argument.

Which is true, but not for 500 dollars they sure the fuck can't.

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What console can do everything a PC can for 500 dollars? I really want one.

 

[Qassim]

I understand that, but people always bring up "Games can look way better on PC!" as an argument.

Which is true, but not for 500 dollars they sure the fuck can't.

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because he is comparing PC gaming with a PS5. You can't achieve what he mentioned with a $499 machine.

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The point is with a console, you typically only have one, maybe two options (e.g. PS4 Pro & Xbox One X). I can't spend $1500 on a super mega console, I'm stuck with whatever they decide to put out.

That's the advantage of a PC, I can choose to spend more to get a better experience.

 

[Anno]

I understand that, but people always bring up "Games can look way better on PC!" as an argument.

Which is true, but not for 500 dollars they sure the fuck can't.

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Sure. The argument for that should be that you have the option more than that they just innately are. Also I think there's a reasonable argument for running old/low-spec games either at really high frame rates or resolution even with a modest PC, which is an advantage built into the platform over consoles.