Yes, yes, I admit it. I have...CORRECTION...had a problem. For no explicable reason, I enjoyed the bottomless well of PC gaming and the associated hardware, so much so that I was doing full system upgrades every 4-6 months, just to eek out a few extra frames per second.
At least, I tell myself, this was back in the day; when PC games were GAMES! When console fanboys would admit that, yes, PC gaming was at the top of the gaming food chain (well, maybe I just made that part up). When playing a game on a console was for little boys and playing with WASD was for men. Those were days, idyllic and everlasting.
Until Crysis, for me at least.
That was the first game that showed me the folly of my ways. I wanted so badly to play Crysis maxed out, DX10 ablazin', volumetric clouds and particle physics out the ass, but suddenly, I didn't care anymore. I realized for the first time in a long time that games such as Crysis had become extremely boring, and that chasing specs was a waste of time (and money).
I was having a...crysis...of faith.
So I went to Samsclub and bought a 42'' TV and a Wii as a gift to myself for having this deep and profound revelation. Gaming was about to be fun and simple, no way around it. I bought SSBB and a used copy of Zelda: Twilight Princess. By time E3 '08 rolled around, I had had my Wii for about 4 months. I had about 10 hours put into Zelda. The day after Nintendo's press conference, I sold my Wii and bought an Xbox 360. If there was one thing being a PC gamer had taught me, it was that the focused companies come out of the heap with the spoils. Nintendo was not that company, and their library of shovelware proved it.
So here I am...a lifelong PC gamer, ending his first month with a current-gen console. I have to say, it's been pretty good overall. Of course I'm behind; I'm that guy, bugging my friends to play Halo 3 a year after they beat it. But I'm trying to stay on top of trends here...I have GTA4, although it tends to bore me to tears. It's been interesting transition to say the least.
I would be lying if I said I don't still jump on Steam when I get the withdrawal chills, though. *Say goodbye to your kneecaps, chucklehead! BONK*
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As a fellow spec chaser, I must chastise you. Come back to the light!
As for consoles, I've got a 360, but I tend to find myself playing through something once on that and then going back to my PC until I feel like buying another console game to play. After wanting a 360 for quite a while I find I don't have that much interest in the thing now. Score 1 for the marketing machine.
Upgrading a PC to get more performance is the nerd equivalent hotrodding a car. That's part of the fun. Don't blame the platform for your desire for more power... it's in your blood. What you've done is gone from putting money into your V8 to achieve gut wrenching torque and blistering 0 to 60mph times to buying a minivan and saying "It's fun to drive, it gets me to the store, saves on gas, and all my friends can ride with me".
Don't worry, those of us in the PC Gamer Syndicate will be waiting here with open arms when you come back to the fold. As for PC's not being the top of the food chain... just because there are less releases and a smaller community doesn't mean it still isn't. Mass market appeal will never replace superior controls and graphics. Gameplay isn't a factor since most titles end up on every platform anyway. There are less lions than gazelles, but when they hear the roar they still know who's king.
After playing Doom3 for the first time a couple of days ago I want to upgrade upgrade upgrade.I finally have a decent laptop to run games from 4 years ago and I have to tell you I was blown away at the graphics and ultra high settings. To this day it has better graphics than most console games that come out.
If I had the money I would fully invest in a badass PC so I could run badass games and also be able to run my animation/engineering software better. I give it a year before I buy a badass motherfucker.
The only real reasons to get the console were Super Mario Galaxy and Mario Kart Wii (Fantastic game. Best in the series). Even then Galaxy was worse than Sunshine and Mario 64 (Though still enjoyable). Yeah I said it. The levels were too linear. It lacked exploration like 64 and sunshine had. I guess Samba De Amigo is coming at the very least.
I didn't however turn to the 360 dark side. Having family members on their 5th console stopped me from going down that road. Not to mention live fees, inferior versions, DLC costs, etc.
You can get by on a PC with a $125 card every 2-3 years (8800 GT is $125 right now). A new rig every 5 years or so and even than that's only like 600-1000 depending on what you want to spend. Yeah it's a bit expensive to some people but games like TF2 however make being a PC gamer 100% worth it. Games made properly for the PC are usually 50x better than the console versions.
Consoles are fine for an everyday experience but they're just inferior to PCs for multiplayer (Where I spend a large amount of my gaming time).
Every 4-6 months? Trying to get the best FPS? Also if you really were you'd know that you can get everything crysis dx10 without actually using dx10 :| Maybe it's best you leave.
Someone's an elitist.
Also, I <3 consoles.
The end.
"I'm bored with generic FPS I think I'll go out and on the spur of the moment lay down a couple grand on a new tv and console just to see how it is on the other side"
Every self respecting real PC gamer should KNOW, without a shadow of doubt that going PC only is NOT the way to go. There's things PC just can't do. Fighters, shmups, and beatemups for instance. They suck on PCs.... On the other hand there's tons of shit that consoles can't do that PC do. I.E. RTS, FPS, and MMOs, don't go spouting that halo bullshit at me or any other of those pos crap fps that have been retarded down and gone the "realistic" approach with the only 2 weapons, rebounding health meters, single or double plane enemy locations, and slowed down speed shit like Halo and the rest that came because of it.
*sigh* sorry got really sidetracked :P
Right: As a long time (long as I've been playing games) I've preferred PC games, but I own, play, and enjoy console games just as easily. As should anyone that's not a fanboy.
What's so bad about PC for Shmups or fighting games? Neither are genres that absolutely require the usage of analog sticks (hardcore fighting game players still say to use the d-pad over the sticks), and there are tons and tons of Japanese PC Shmups. You could have a better argument for Platformers, though Psychonauts controlled and played fine on PC.
so you served an important role in the PC ecosystem. now it's out of balance!
Also, as PCs move to ray-tracing YOU WILL COME BACK. It's just that the disparity in titles that's confusing you atm.
I've been PC gaming longer than console. But I love console gaming too. They're 2 different animals imo. Console is for kicking back & relaxing. PC is for mixing it up w/ all facilities & acuity on turbo.