Beauty is only skin deep, and a pretty face can only go so far. Fortunately, I am both beautiful and wise, so I'm basically the perfect lifeform. In a way, I consider myself to be very much like PC gaming -- visually stunning on the surface, but with a depth that only a blessed few are smart enough to appreciate.
This week's Jimquisition is about beauty, and how it relates to the world of computer games. Or rather, how it doesn't. Oh, how ironic. Or something.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
Likes
PS2, iPod Touch, Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid, Dynasty Warriors 3
Meet the rest of the team
| BBcode help |
| [b]Bold text[/b] |
Bold text |
| [i]Italic text[/i] |
Italic text |
| [url]http://www.dtoid.com/[/url] |
http://www.dtoid.com |
| [url=http://www.dtoid.com/]Web link[/url] |
Web link |
|
| [img]http://www.example.com/robot.jpg[/img] |
 |
Post a comment! You can also post a photo below:
Comment with Facebook
Click connect and comment instantly!
|
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds
|
118 comments | showing # 1 to 50
|
Comment with Facebook
Click connect and comment instantly!
|
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds
|
Comments policy
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
Contest:
3:00 PM on 09.05.2011 | 
GLORIOUS PC MASTER GAMING RACE
On topic: Those worried about getting into PC gaming, for the price of two 360's you can build a pc rig that will last twice as long, just sayin.
It's too expensive to tote around everywhere, yet still too wimpy to pump out dem graphix.
But it's good enough for TF2, L4D, and Fallout. And of course the Amnesias and whatnot. And Bastion controls way better on PC. So yeah, PC is awesome.
Awesome-sauce.
I like to think of PC gaming as the better medium , well
1)Customization of my game (mods)
2)Ability to upgrade hardware when I feel like it
3)PC can be used much like you use your console (HDMI to TV flip resolution to 720P in my TV's case, xbox 360 controller in hand ... no 23" monitor vs my 70" plasma arguement)
4)Superior MP, everything from larger servers, no xbox live moderator/report system (do not need, can ban idiots yourself)
5)Ability to upgrade/downgrade software as I see fit, for the most part (steam can make this tricky, but still possible )
6) Graphics , sure
As you can see at least in my little list , these are the reasons why I prefer playing a game on the PC VS same game on the console. In the end we are all gamers who love our hobby. And this is coming from the guy who has PC master race as his avatar, oh now that's irony : )
Id support this claim.
This is why I hate pc MP games. bitchy admins or bitchy bk randoms who know the admin ruin the game. And votekick. Doing really good? kick. Not doing the best? kick. Different end of a political spectrum? kick.
You know what I've been playing since I upgraded? Same ish I was playing before.
What about the customization you get from not being on a locked platform like the Playstation and Xbox?
You touch on that with EyE but there are plenty more... Off of the top of my head, Conterstrike, Team Fortress, Red Orchestra, Garry's Mod, Killing Floor etc (both Unreal and Half-Life based mods respectively)
Then there's the likes of Minecraft and even customization for your favourite games, if you've a capable PC then buying Skyrim on a console is a folly, as far as I'm concerned. Morrowind and Oblivion were truly MAGNIFICENT after a few months of a rabid community tinkering with just about everything.
+1
PC MASTER RACE.
I just got into PC gaming myself (with an on-clearance tower from Best Buy and a $170 graphics card--can't be too careful, with Skyrim coming out and all). After being a console whore for most of my life, it's not something I regret.
I'll still get a Wii U when that comes out, so I can have the best gaming has to offer with Nintendo's first-party releases and a computer to play the rest of whatever appeals to me.
Gamers... true, to the core gamers... should in my opinion embrace every possible platform. I'm not saying we have to OWN every possible platform as our budgets may not allow that, but we should respect what they're doing and what they're contributing to our passion. It's the True Neutral alignment of the gaming community, and I am proudly a Gamer Druid.
I think just about everybody has a shitty PC that can run the games you talked about, but there's no reason to upgrade from my console to go to PC gaming for slight graphical enhancments.
That's not to say that those games are horrible, there's just no reason to buy a superpowered uranium PC to get slightly better graphics.
this is coming from someone in a fairly well-off middle class family. i can't even run the original Half Life without it seizing up and refusing to play. I tried GTA3 and had to scale down the graphics to textureless blobs. Seriously, unless you have a 1000 dollar gaming rig, you're going to have great difficulty getting anything past Starcraft 1 to run at optimum graphics at all from what I've seen and experienced. and even 1000 dollar computers that my family has bought still can't handle anything more than lowest-graphics one-on-one unit fights in Warcraft 3. It IS an expensive and more complicated choice in gaming. And what with massive amounts of DRM and the inability for couch co-op, I think I like my "pop in and play" console better. if that makes me a "kiddie" then so be it. at least i don't have to deal with always-on DRM that'll lock me out of single-player if my internet connection so much as stutters.
Seriously, EYE is fucking awesome. So is Minecraft, League of Legends, Terreria, Team Fortress 2, and a seemingly infinite list of other games that can be run on damn near anything. I fully support the fact that you don't need a top o' the line machine to enjoy the best PC gaming has to offer. I know, because my rig is as modest as can be and I play it all.
Also, don't forget about mods, customizable control and display options, and the best backwards compatibility gaming has ever seen. There's also emulators if you don't mind getting a little sketchy.
We are PC. Assimilate or perish.
Unlike everyone else who feels the need to point out the not-so-obvious, you feel the need to point out the blatantly obvious, and that's what makes this show so funny.
And that sword at the end...me jealous. Me very very jealous.
Son, you're so far off it's retarded. I built my rig for $600 three years ago and can play Cryis and Witcher 2 at moderate levels without a hitch. Today, someone could build my same rig for half the price, easy. Maybe even less. Tell your middle class daddy to unass a few bucks and let you get a computer built this decade.
There are definitely pros and cons of both. With console gaming you know the experience is going to be standard across everyone on the console. Also, like you said, local multiplayer and splitscreen are a blast. Consoles are the cheaper, easier solution, and support local multiplayer more readily.
However a decent PC can open gaming doorways, just take a look at any list of free online games, and you'll see everything from WoW, CoD clones, TF2, to just about something for every genre out there. Add to that the fact that fun little time wasters are easy to find online... And we haven't gotten to games you purchase yet.
Mentions of penises: 0
NEW RECORD! I actually enjoyed that, and I am normally a frothing mad critic of you( and your penis jokes,) Jim. keep up the good work!
Dee Are Ehm.
This conversation is over.
I have a 400 dollar labtop(non gaming labtop at that) that I use for school, while it can't run some of the later titles, it can run stuff like Half life 2 - episode 2, and borderlands, so no, your just wrong.
To be fair, where Jeffrey Warf sounds like he's coming from is someone who isn't familiar with building a PC himself.
And again, that can almost be listed as a "price of admission" for PC gaming, that you know how to build, or at least shop around for deals to build one/have one made cheap.
The average middle class family doesn't do that.
Console games last as long as you own a functional console the game was made for. Excluding emulation which really just runs on pirated or hacked versions of the game, that's the only way you're ever going to enjoy the game you bought.
PC gaming is not about buying a PC like how console gaming is about buying the console. It's all about buying a game on the format. You can play it on virtually all computers that pass the minimum requirement.
plus, because the games are all being sold digitally, the prices could never change for years, especially since there's no used game sales to compete with.
+1 for Jim
PC gaming really is the best kind of option for diversity. While there certainly is a lot of different options on consoles, most of the outlandish and batshit insane games remain on PC due to a service like Steam that allows cheap prices and wide access. I love it, either way.
This just proved that you are a very ignorant man. Steam + summer and winter = grabbing AAA games for 5 dollars.
I actually find that argument flawed. With digital distribution, the second the service goes down, you no longer own any of those games. Look at Steam's user agreement.
Where as with a console, relying on people's "it broke, time to throw it away" mentality means you can build up enough spare parts to rebuild a working console (and the actual rebuild process) is a lot easier than you think. It's how I got my NES, two Saturns, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, three Playstations, N64, and two Dreamcasts.
If something like Steam goes down, and I loose access to all those games, there's no way I can take another Steam and patch them together to get my games back. Physical PC games, however, you're spot on about.
Number Ono: Gaming is at the mercy of console gaming, period the reasons games have slowed down in the curb of evolution is the lowest common denominator. It's the same way our laws and everything else works these days you have to dumb everything down. The engine talked about in the JIMQUISITION was half-life 2. Which is a double conundrum it suffers from the draw back of being made to work on consoles (primarily), and being a product of Steam. Everyone knows what steam is meaning Valve can put out pretty much anything and have a great advertisement location and distribution, ie Portal 2. They don't have to upgrade their graphics because they are not in direct competition with anyone, they themselves can put out anything and who do they have to pay to publish it? Themselves. Then there's the rise of the DLC where paying for smaller games and independent companies able to give birth to low budget software.
Also as proven on Dtoid in a differnt article a competent computer really only costs around $500, and the games are $10 cheaper. If you are into buying games and not renting you eventually save more owning a PC than a console in the long run.