Platform circle pc->consoles->pc?

[Largo]

So a few years back i picked up an xbox, my pc at the time was woeful and id practically been ignoring that platform for years.
Anyway a big driving force for me buying an xbox was to play on live with my group of friends, which we did for a long time and it was great fun.

Anyhow eventually we stopped getting the same games, some people didnt have the time anymore and some even got married and moved to usa, heavy.

After i finished my studies i needed to pick up a good home PC for well, working at home, so now i have a pretty decent machine and of course you always get tempted to try out some acclaimed pc games, crysis and the like.

So now im sat here thinking "oooh maybe i should upgrade this and that, oh thats a fair bit of cash ill need to justify it. hmm ok lets see whats being released on pc in the near future, oh modern warfare 2, Operation Flashpoint 2, hmm well i was just going to get that on xbox to play with the chaps but hmm maybe it'll be easier and more fun to play online on PC."

So you can see where im up to. I guess i made this thread to see if anyone else has gone thro this hodge podge platform juggle and what came of it? I know this forum is pretty much console dedicated tho, but we have a PC section so i figured what the hell.

[mekanor]

I kind of did the same. I only played pc games for a long time but switched to consoles in the later years of the cube and until now the wii. The wii is still probably my main console but I recently bought a new computer and its great to get back into it. So many quality games + nearly everything id be interested in on the 360/ps3 is also on the pc at half the price and with better visuals (mass effect excluded).

mind you I'm not a fan of online gaming really so that wasnt an issue for me.

[teddymeow]

Nah, just buy everything day one to male sure you don't have to worry about stuff like that.

Plays merry hell with the bank balance though!!

[Darwock]

Funnily enough I grew up exclusively playing games on a computer. Apart from vague memories of my dad getting a loan of an Atari console for a while when I was super young it was ZX Spectrum and then Atari ST for me, never had any Sega/Nintendo consoles.

'Funnily enough' because once I left school and started spending my own money I never ever touched PC gaming. Closest I got was running FFXI on my laptop, but that was only for convenience sake when I couldn't play the PS2 version cos the telly was otherwise engaged.

It's hard to explain but PC games to me feel kind of 'thin', like they could crash at any moment. Probably because in my experience, they do.

[Largo]

Aye i like mekanors thinking.
I still have my ps3 of course for console games and japan imports, but hmm seriously thinking of taking multiplayering back to PC, however expensive that might be hehe. although as a 3d animator in training any upgrades generally help out the ol' modelling and rendering times

[Stormtec]

I tend to juggle between the two. I still game on my PC every so often, and I've recently bought a PS3. I plan to get Modern Warfare 2 on the PC as well (system specs willing). I normally try to do a big upgrade on my PC every year or two or so.

[Digfox]

Apart from a nine month period a few years ago, I've generally had a gaming grade PC since 1996 (P166,P2-450 etc to C2D now). There's so much a PC can do; gaming wise.

A few years ago I badly wanted to move over to a MAC as my computer, but I've realised with games like WoW, Guild Wars, Diablo 2, Valve Games, Steam there's just too much on there etc, to give it up just yet.

I think if I had less time for games, then moving just to consoles would be something I could do. But it's nice having the freedom to choose any platform. Most of my games are console purchases currently.

[Matt]

Aye i like mekanors thinking.
I still have my ps3 of course for console games and japan imports, but hmm seriously thinking of taking multiplayering back to PC, however expensive that might be hehe. although as a 3d animator in training any upgrades generally help out the ol' modelling and rendering times

Don't believe the "PCs are expensive!" nonsense. Someone on this very forum has just spent £320 and walked away with a full PC, minus a screen - Intel Pentium Dual Core E5300 2.66GHz @ 3.00GHz, Corsair CX 400W ATX Power Supply, 4gb RAM, 500mb HDD, and a GeForce GTS 250 1024mb.

Pretty amazing what you can get for your money these days

Besides, as I pointed out in another PC thread a while back, you'll actually save money on a PC as retail price is usually £10 to £20 less than the console equivalent. So you get much better framerate and enhanced graphics for less money Oh, and usually free DLC

Personally, I flick between console and PC gaming. Right now, I spend a bit of time on 360 as it's "Easier" - but I'll always maintain PC gaming is Better, genre dependent. Only genre I prefer consoles are driving actually.

I simply roll between platforms depending on what I'm currently playing - most recently, Shadow Complex and Rock Band, hence the 360 attention

[Largo]

tis true there is a good lot of ace hardware that can be had now for a good price.

The saving money from games tho im not entirely sure how it works out, since you cant really re-trade in PC games, what with all this online activation stuff, seems to pretty much lock you out of ever re-selling them??? Not 100% sure tho of course.

However i am a whore and am tempted to pick up a gtx 295, what with running a 24" monitor i figured id need some super powerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rr, also to reiterate i am a whore

[Malc]

I've have seen many people selling used copies of games like Medieval Total War 2 on Amazon, despite the fact the game's activation code has already been activated on Steam and the new owner won't be able to play it. Ignorant people buy them as well.

I need me a PC for £320 with those specs Chain, I take it the guy didn't walk into PC world for a computer that good for that price.

[Matt]

Unlikely - maybe he'll jump in here to tell us all how he did it

I'm guessing Scan or Dabs, someplace like that. I was quite surprised at the spec for the money, but I don't check too often as Upgrades are too tempting. My little C2D with 8800GTS is still going surprisingly strong though, must be pushing 3 years now I suppose as well.

Largo, most PC games don't have resale value - but they're cheaper in the first place so it balances out if you're into trading them on afterwards. Anyway, you're best installing Steam and letting that handle all the titles for you. Check out some of the weekend deals Steam has, you can get remarkable value

[averybluemonkey]

With the deals you can get these days many console titles are sub £20 before they even get released. Plus consoles have a decent second hand market unlike PC titles where many games only a year old can be had for a few quid so the price difference in the games is a bit of a mute point.

I was a die hard PC gamer for years but personally I'll never go back. I like being able to sit on the sofa in front of a huge HDTV display and just relax. Sure I could hook a PC up to the TV but there's no way I'm sticking a PC in my living room, kind of kill the atmosphere. And after years of online gaming on the PC, XBox Live was just so refreshing and easy. Now that I've invested so much time into my gamerscore there's also little reason to go back. In general I want to keep my PC lean and unloaded for development duties and consoles allow that. Too many titles back in the day killed the performance of my main box.

[sj33]

I started on the Master System and a Japanese imported MegaDrive, so I'm pretty much a console gamer through and through. However, I have been moving towards the PC recently.

We first got a game-capable PC in the household about 10 years ago and I got into Unreal Tournament, and I went for a few years playing on the PC (with Dreamcast on the side). However, my taste in games largely coincides with what is available on consoles, so I eventually shifted back to the consoles once the PS2 was cheap enough.

More recently, I've been shifting back towards the PC again, mostly on a laptop. I'm a very big fan of gaming on a laptop, I can take my laptop anywhere (mine being 13"), I don't feel tied to the spot, and it's easy to take across the country to university. I've still been playing mainly console ports though, and Capcom have been stars with their support for the PC, and there's even some other gems such as SquareEnix releasing The Last Remnant, and Konami releasing Metal Gear Solid: Rising. I can hook my laptop up to my HDTV and surround sound system when I'm at home. However, if portability wasn't such a big deal for me, I'd be sticking with the consoles just because it's simpler, the main advantage for me is the fact that I can take my laptop anywhere - I've always said I'd love a laptop-style console.

That said, the idea that PC gaming involves constantly upgrading components isn't really true. They key is to not fall into the trap of feeling like you have to have the latest and greatest. A high-end ~2005 GeForce 7 will play all of today's games at good framerates, for example. You can get away with a refresh every 4 or 5 years as long as you aren't looking to play everything on max graphics and insane framerates. However, the open-ended nature of the platform means that the ability to easily upgrade always exists, and that can be difficult to resist for some.

[NemesiS]

I started gaming with the old ZX-80/81 and then the Speccy 48k before moving on to the legendary CBM64. I also had the Master System, NES, Atari 2600, Videopac!!!! and a Vectrex (loved this) over years during this time.

I had the Megadrive and SNES before my first PC, which i bought purely on the strength of playing a Doom demo at my ex's student digs in Leeds years ago.

I had a DX-50 (was faster than the DX2-66), with 16MB of ram and a 250MB HDD and it flew...lol, at the time and i have stayed a PC gamer ever since.

I have still had all the consoles as well along the way as you just can't beat console gaming sometimes and console games now almost rival their PC counterparts. But if i was pushed to make a choice of console or PC, i would plump for my PC all day long.

FPS, RPG, Online MMORGS (which are generally PC exclusive anyway) for me are just a million times better on the PC. Also the Mouse and KB is still one of the best control mechanisms ever devised, especially in FPS games where speed/accurracy is key.
My mate happened to be playing PS3 COD WaW on my plasma and I had it running on my PC next to it and the graphical difference is just staggering. I never noticed before then just how inferior the console version was sat side by side next to the PC version.

Also agree with the poster above that PC gaming isn't as expensive as people make out. Yes its infinitely more expensive than buying a console but you are getting more for your buck at the end of the day.

[Matt]

Yep. No need to upgrade all the time. The Arms Race has slowed down as devs target the consoles and there's not a lot really pushing the PC at the moment - so you get the same titles as the console but with much better graphics. It's difficult for Console players to fully appreciate the graphical gulf, seeing titles side by side is a bit of an opener. No matter how great CoD6 is, you know on an average to high spec PC, you'll get at least the same 60 frame rate, two to three times the screen resolution, more particles and other effects, and a heap of AA.

Putting a PC in a lounge is no issue. Mine has been say under my TV for years, next to the 360 and PS3. A very tidy case, less height than the vertical 360, and less width than the Denon amp. Not intrusive in the slightest, and you get the best home media capabilities

With the deals you can get these days many console titles are sub £20 before they even get released.

You're going to have to let us lot know where you buy from!!