Current Events > There are people here who say "PC gaming is too expensive."

(+) Yeah! (+)

My standard reply is if you're going to buy a LOT of games, you'll save money in the long run with PC gaming because you can find games for dirt cheap and you don't have to re-buy them whenever the next console comes out.

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PC gamers are turbo nerds, straight up.

You wanna dry up a girls vagina? Tell her youre a PC gamer.

Spend $2500 on computer parts
Won't spend $30 on a new game

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Here's my ultimate, "pinky is a reasonable guy and has both consoles and a gaming PC" perspective that nobody asked for:

PC:
+ undeniably better performance ceiling
+ can be tinkered with , good if you like that
+ more flexiblity/customisation
+ strictly speaking and on a technical level, it's cheaper
+ More games choices
+controller support is not a problem anymore in like 99% of cases
+if you want to be a PC guy, then you're buying a PC and a gaming console in one
+MODS
-incredibly bulky. Not everyone these days is fine with ahving a giant electric somewhat noisy box in their living room. People buy macbook airs for a reason
-has to be tinkered with, bad if you're not interested in tech
-certainly less robust than a dedicated system
-for that reason, ports tend to be kind of shitty a lot of the time. Doesn't matter if you have all the hardware in the world if the game hasn't been well optimised for your system because the devs didn't have the time to allow for every possible combination of hardware
-almost certainly will not be cheaper in reality, because you're gonna always be thining about that new upgrade
-lets be honest, more than half the fun is the tinkering. Like the guy in my tech department who built a $2500 "rig" so that he could play rocket league. You guys are like homebrewers who constantly tell everyone it's cheaper per bottle of beer, even though you're never done buying some new enthusiast equipment. And that's ok. It's fine to enjoy making things.

Games consoles:
+ plug and play
+ more robust
+ more compact
+more social as a whole? PC gamers will argue this one to the teeth, but I've personally not experienced the fun
+probably going to be cheaper in reality
+More legacy fun? People still want to whip out the atari, the SNES, the N64, the PS2, for whatever reason. Nobody wants to whip out their dad's old Texas Instruments laptop from the 90s.
house party scenario where someone whips out the gaming PC for some couch co op
-less performance
-technically more expensive as a whole, certainly more expensive games
-less control over features, performance, mods

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Damn I wish consoles were still plug and play

Pythagorass posted...

Damn I wish consoles were still plug and play

Switch is. Fastest console I've ever played from pressing the power button to being in the game

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Oh yeah switch uses cartridges doesn't it

Nintendo is stupid for not re-releasing paper mario on there cuz I'd go buy a switch right now if they did

PC gaming IS expensive though. I have a full time job but i didnt exactly want to drop 2500 on a PC.

Sure its gonna outlast probably the next two consoles but it wasnt exactly cheap.

With consoles yeah its not as impressive performance wise but the community is usually bigger and its a lot easier and cheaper to get in to.

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Pythagorass posted...

Oh yeah switch uses cartridges doesn't it

Nintendo is stupid for not re-releasing paper mario on there cuz I'd go buy a switch right now if they did

It has cartridges and digital.

New paper mario game comes out on switch in july!

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Why are PC gamers so insecure? I mean seriously, if you love your PC so much then go fucking play it. I see them here so often trying to "convert" everyone to be a PC gamer that they spend more time whining about consoles then actually playing video games.

The best graphics, resolution, and sound mean jack shit if you never actually play the fucking thing.

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pinky0926 posted...

It has cartridges and digital.

New paper mario game comes out on switch in july!

I meant a good one it's not just the brand that I like

Gamerguymass posted...

Why are PC gamers so insecure? I mean seriously, if you love your PC so much then go fucking play it. I see them here so often trying to "convert" everyone to be a PC gamer that they spend more time whining about consoles then actually playing video games.

Confirmation bias, way more console guys making these kinds of threads

Pythagorass posted...

Confirmation bias, way more console guys making these kinds of threads

Lol

Confirmation bias swings both ways here but Gamerguymass is absolutely correct in saying PC gamers are extremely insecure.

Console gamers start arguments amongst themselves.

PC people start these arguments all the fuckin time and cop such an attitude that they come across like children.

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Pythagorass posted...

I meant a good one it's not just the brand that I like

Confirmation bias, way more console guys making these kinds of threads

I have seen literally dozens of threads on various message boards over the years of PC gamers trying to convert console gamers.

I think I have seen like one from console gamers trying to convert PC gamers. Ever.

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Maybe in like 2011

Some times they act like the only reason to buy a console is if it uses hardware that wont hit the PC market for 3 years, being sold for $300 and have the developers push the limit at launch.

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Gamerguymass posted...

I think I have seen like one from console gamers trying to convert PC gamers. Ever.

the equivalent of asking car owners to start taking public transport.

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Gamerguymass posted...

Why are PC gamers so insecure? I mean seriously, if you love your PC so much then go fucking play it. I see them here so often trying to "convert" everyone to be a PC gamer that they spend more time whining about consoles then actually playing video games.

The best graphics, resolution, and sound mean jack shit if you never actually play the fucking thing.

You worded your post as if there's a person called "PC gamers." Otherwise I don't understand if you're trying to purposely ignore the fact that it's just the vocal minority of gamers that are actively shitting on everybody else's gaming choices.

Or maybe you do genuinely think that the number of PC gamers in GameFAQs is somehow even remotely close to the whole population in the world that play video games on PC.

I think I have seen like one from console gamers trying to convert PC gamers. Ever.

Eh, maybe not. But you surely have seen them wasting their time fighting against other console gamers just because they prefer a different console, you'd just have to take a peek at the PS4 or Xbox One boards. I'd say they're equivalent.

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An_Actual_Chad posted...

My standard reply is if you're going to buy a LOT of games, you'll save money in the long run with PC gaming because you can find games for dirt cheap and you don't have to re-buy them whenever the next console comes out.

I never understood this argument. I can still buy games cheaply on console and still be able to sale them to recoup some cash.

Take FF7R, bought it, beat it, sold it for $40. So basically a got to play and enjoy FF7R new for only 25 dollars after taxes.

Also those crazy steam sales, usually those same games are almost always equally priced when Sony or Microsoft have store sales.

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pinky0926 posted...

incredibly bulky. Not everyone these days is fine with ahving a giant electric somewhat noisy box in their living room. People buy macbook airs for a reason

There are mini PC's and laptops. The thing about PC is you can tailor it to what you want it to be. Which is a benefit of being an open platform. If you want to be a tinkerer who plays Rocket League you can. If you want your PC to be a retro system you can. If you want it to be a glorified console you can. If you want it to be a work computer that's plays the odd game you can.

pinky0926 posted...

for that reason, ports tend to be kind of shitty a lot of the time. Doesn't matter if you have all the hardware in the world if the game hasn't been well optimised for your system because the devs didn't have the time to allow for every possible combination of hardware

Eh not really the case anymore.

pinky0926 posted...

More legacy fun? People still want to whip out the atari, the SNES, the N64, the PS2, for whatever reason. Nobody wants to whip out their dad's old Texas Instruments laptop from the 90s.
house party scenario where someone whips out the gaming PC for some couch co op

Emulators make that easier on PC ironically enough.

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hyperpowder posted...

I can still buy games cheaply on console and still be able to sale them to recoup some cash.

PC gamers don't have to sell their games to save money tho.

hyperpowder posted...

Also those crazy steam sales, usually those same games are almost always equally priced when Sony or Microsoft have store sales.

fun fact: steam isn't even the best place to buy games anymore for the most part.

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/bandai-namco-4
you'll never find as good a deal as this on console that isn't a local garage/fire sale.. at best you'll get like $5-10 offer for one great game or if humble feels generous enough to make a bundle offer for console.

on top of that there's the free online play.

also, epic has been bribing PC gamers with free games for a while now so there's that(on top of the other various free games from EA/uplay/steam etc.):
https://www.pcgamer.com/epic-games-store-free-games-list/

hell, if you don't wanna support the devs that much(which is the same with selling/buying used games) you can always go grey market and pay even less than the official prices.

it doesn't take many leaps to calculate just how many games you'll get per $ spent on PC if you can just get over that first hurdle of a large investment into the initial computer which isn't even that high to begin with unless you want pure luxury performance.

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Darmik posted...

There are mini PC's and laptops. The thing about PC is you can tailor it to what you want it to be. Which is a benefit of being an open platform. If you want to be a tinkerer who plays Rocket League you can. If you want your PC to be a retro system you can. If you want it to be a glorified console you can. If you want it to be a work computer that's plays the odd game you can.

Right but when people argue the case that when you buy/build a gaming PC you're also getting a fully functioning desktop for work/entertainment, that doesn't apply anymore. You're gonna have no less than a Microatx case which is comically huge compared to (for example) a macbook air which is honestly all a lot of people want a computer to be.

So macbook air user has a choice. Either buy/build a gaming rig and stick it somewhere near thr TV...or just get a games console.

For those people, a games console is a much tidier option.

I know there are options, but as soon as you start going down the road of wanting better performance as is possible with PCs, you also start going down the road of larger and noisier hardware.

Eh not really the case anymore.

News to me. I have a number of fairly recent PC games I cant optimise well and others which have a straight up terrible port.

Emulators make that easier on PC ironically enough.

Largely unstable and have performance and controller mapping issues - and its plain leas fun - although they are definitely more convenient

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These are some ancient arguments pinky

Pythagorass posted...

These are some ancient arguments pinky

How? I dont see anything on the homebuilding market that is all at once an easier, cheaper, tidier solution to gaming than just getting a Nintendo switch. All the things you would have to do to get a rig that size/cost make it fairly redundant, and it would still be fussier.

We arent talking about me and you here. We are talking about people like my girlfriend, who wants to play vidya games occasionally but hates clutter and who's brain switches off 15 seconds into a conversation about hardware specs

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pinky0926 posted...

We arent talking about me and you here. We are talking about people like my girlfriend, who wants to play vidya games occasionally but hates clutter and who's brain switches off 15 seconds into a conversation about hardware specs

Oh, I missed where it changed from your pros and cons list to a "this is what casual lite gamers want" my b

Pythagorass posted...

Oh, I missed where it changed from your pros and cons list to a "this is what casual lite gamers want" my b

That was always a fundamental part of my argument, tbh

I think diehard PC enthusiasts sometimes forget or dont realise just how far away their level of interest is compared to most people. Even comments often made like "it only takes like a day to build a PC" strike me as pretty tone deaf.

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Nah

K

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Maybe tone deaf, but it seems weird to spend time researching parts for your build and not watch a video or two about pc assembly and being able to do it within 2-3 hours, unless you use The Verge as reference.

Maybe it works the first time maybe not, but assembly itself is not a day long monumental task unless you're going into it blind for some reason

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MacadamianNut3 posted...

Maybe tone deaf, but it seems weird to spend time researching parts for your build and not watch a video or two about pc assembly and being able to do it within 2-3 hours, unless you use The Verge as reference.

Maybe it works the first time maybe not, but assembly itself is not a day long monumental task unless you're going into it blind for some reason

If you know what you're doing, and you have all the gear, and nothing goes wrong, then sure - you could probably whip through a build in an hour or two. But we're talking about the people who hypothetically should be making the switch from console gaming to PC gaming for that added benefit, and so we should assume they've never done it before.

I'm making the point that it's not immediately accessible, is all. You need to do a baseline level of research and learn a lot before you can start.

Take pretty much any other "it's cheaper if you do it yourself" hobby. Brewing beer, as an example. If you knew how to brew beer and you had all the gear and ingredients you could pull together a batch in an hour or two. But since I'm assuming you don't, you'd need to research what to do, what equipment to buy, what ingredients to buy, how to use any of it, what steps are required and what are optional and what things you absolutely must never do, and so on. Then you'd inevitably make a bunch of mistakes and probably fuck it up anyway and have to do everything over. And even once everything goes well you're going to have to figure out where to store all this kit now.

There's a reason why not every guy who likes beer has forsaken liquor shops and just does it all at home, and it's not because people don't realise it's cheaper.

I don't think you could expect a novice with only the barest understanding of computer parts to successfully do a build so easily, first time without issue or complicatrion.

It takes a level of enthusiasm to get there that most people aren't going to really feel invested in.

So that's the caveat really. "PC gaming is cheaper and better". More like, "PC gaming is cheaper and better, provided you are prepared to invest time in learning about how to do it and the patience to not expect an out-the-box product. Also you're gonna have a big fucking box in your living room now, just so you know."

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Yeah I still feel like these are gross exaggerations just for the sake of arguing that building a PC isn't easy peasy

I'm not saying it's easy. I'm saying that spending a portion of the time that you spend looking up parts you want (which itself can also reduced by just logging onto any site including this one where people talk about building PCs and asking "I want to play games like [insert game here] at high settings, recommend a build with a budget of [insert amount here]") and watching a video like this where every single thing is discussed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhX0fOUYd8Q

is not some monumental task comparable to brewing beer. It's a computer, everyone has seen one in their life. Not everyone has seen the beer brewing process in action. You should know where you're going to put a computer before you buy one. You'll probably fuck up your very first attempt at building it by forgetting to plug something in, okay that maybe adds a few hours since there's only a few ways to plug and screw things in. It's obvious that the parts come in boxes and case take up space. It's not a dissertation.

And as far as enthusiasm, I don't really care about the building process other than seeing all of the components together at the end of buying everything. I figure the enthusiasm should be directed more towards "I just dumped a thousand dollars into this thing, I should spend time looking into this and not half ass it" unless you're super comfortable with your money situation.

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MacadamianNut3 posted...

Yeah I still feel like these are gross exaggerations just for the sake of arguing that building a PC isn't easy peasy

I'm not saying it's easy. I'm saying that spending a portion of the time that you spend looking up parts you want (which itself can also reduced by just logging onto any site including this one where people talk about building PCs and asking "I want to play games like [insert game here] at high settings, recommend a build with a budget of [insert amount here]") and watching a video like this where every single thing is discussed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhX0fOUYd8Q

is not some monumental task comparable to brewing beer. It's a computer, everyone has seen one in their life. Not everyone has seen the beer brewing process in action. You should know where you're going to put a computer before you buy one. You'll probably fuck up your very first attempt at building it by forgetting to plug something in, okay that maybe adds a few hours since there's only a few ways to plug and screw things in. It's obvious that the parts come in boxes and case take up space. It's not a dissertation.

And as far as enthusiasm, I don't really care about the building process other than seeing all of the components together at the end of buying everything. I figure the enthusiasm should be directed more towards "I just dumped a thousand dollars into this thing, I should spend time looking into this and not half ass it" unless you're super comfortable with your money situation.

You just highlighted to me how different perspectives and knowledge makes the difference. I brew beer often and think it's much easier than building a PC.

My mother can brew beer and wine and whatever else without thinking about it. To this day she doesn't know how to operate a USB stick. I think assuming one is easy and the other is not is taking a lot for granted, and assumes the person even knows where to start.

I do believe anyone can do it, incidentally. I just think you cant overlook the requirement to learn how it works as part of the pros/cons.

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???

The point was that if you care enough to build a PC or brew beer or join the Amish who cares, then obviously you have to spend some time getting up to speed to learn how to do it. And if you don't care to do that especially with the assload of resources online that you can easily find, then clearly it should not be an option for you and saying that it's hard because you personally choose to be lazy isn't reflective of the actual task

pinky0926 posted...

To this day she doesn't know how to operate a USB stick.

These ridiculous anecdotes don't really help your point and I'm not sure if this has turned into trolling. I'm gonna assume a person who gives an iota of a crap about PC gaming would at least have some evidence of computer literacy

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MacadamianNut3 posted...

???

The point was that if you care enough to build a PC or brew beer or join the Amish who cares, then obviously you have to spend some time getting up to speed to learn how to do it. And if you don't care to do that especially with the assload of resources online that you can easily find, then clearly it should not be an option for you and saying that it's hard because you personally choose to be lazy isn't reflective of the actual task

So if you choose to not brew your own beer then I can call you a lazy ass?

Or maybe you just...dont care that much about it and it's fine for you to buy whatever you like at the shop .

All I'm saying is having to learn how PC hardware works and how to build a PC is an obvious part of the things you should weigh up when making the decision. I dont think people are being foolish or lazy if they decide that they dont want to.

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pinky0926 posted...

So if you choose to not brew your own beer then I can call you a lazy ass?

Yeah you can call me a lazy ass if I got all whiny and complained about how hard it is to do while also not taking the effort to learn how to do it at all

Probably should re-read the part of my post you just quoted

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MacadamianNut3 posted...

Yeah you can call me a lazy ass if I got all whiny and complained about how hard it is to do while also not taking the effort to learn how to do it at all

No one is whining. I'm just saying you cant say it's not something to think about.

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pinky0926 posted...

I'm just saying you cant say it's not something to think about.

Literally did not say this a single time in this exchange so what are you even talking about

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MacadamianNut3 posted...

Literally did not say this a single time in this exchange so what are you even talking about

If the only point you were making is that a skilled and knowledgeable person can build a PC in an hour or two with ease, theres nothing to argue about. My point from the beginning (in general, in response to this topic) was that much of the benefits of PC gaming people bring up requires an investment in learning that most people wont be interested to do.

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pinky0926 posted...

If the only point you were making is that a skilled and knowledgeable person can build a PC in an hour or two with ease, theres nothing to argue about.

No my plain English point is that a newbie can learn how to build a PC in a few hours (not a full day) from watching a video or two that exhaustively shows every step for how to do it, and watching a youtube video or asking people online for suggested parts along with a budget doesn't require a Computer Engineering degree

Or you do what you've always done when using any other computer and just buy a prebuilt. Super hard.

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Pinky coming in with the true facts. I love PC gaming. I don't care about min/max. I never mess with my graphics settings. For me I paid 1k for my pre-built and it's fine by me. I can play mostly everything at a decent FPS. I've never had issues getting things to run. But, to each his own. I LOOOOOVE game mods and that's a huge reason why I love PC gaming.
Derwood posted...

I don't like using a mouse and keyboard

I want a one-time cost for my gaming machine with no need for upgrades

I want to be assured that every game I buy for said gaming machine will work exactly as it is designed to with no need for upgrades

I have no need for 60fps or 4k/8k resolution

I like playing games on my large TV, not on a (comparatively) smaller monitor

You don't need to upgrade. I haven't updated my PC in 6-7 years now. I can run most everything fine still.

And often times they don't work for consoles either. I've never run into any sort of issue gaming on PC. The only games that sometimes are hard to run are games from 90s. Modern PC gaming is obscenely accessible now.

...then you don't need an upgrade. You have a choice with PC gaming. With consoles it is what is.

You can do that just as easy.

I mean the cost of entry is higher sure but, PC gaming is accessible and affordable now. 10 years ago PC gaming was not as easy to get into.

MacadamianNut3 posted...

No my plain English point is that a newbie can learn how to build a PC in a few hours (not a full day) from watching a video or two that exhaustively shows every step for how to do it, and watching a youtube video or asking people online for suggested parts along with a budget doesn't require a Computer Engineering degree

Or you do what you've always done when using any other computer and just buy a prebuilt. Super hard.

I disagree to be honest. I dont think a newbie could figure it out that quickly. At least, not from 0 to full comprehension.

Like, explain "newbie". Are we talking about someone who understands computers well but just hasn't built one? Or are we talking about...most people?

Would they know how to troubleshoot things that tend to go wrong in a build, like a bios load order problems or an incompatibility issue?

Call me cynical, but years of working in tech support has taught me that a lot of people can spend their entire lives not understanding the difference between restarting their machine and just turning off the monitor.

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pinky0926 posted...

Call me cynical, but years of working in tech support has taught me that a lot of people can spend their entire lives not understanding the difference between restarting their machine and just turning off the monitor.

And those people probably wouldn't be interested at all in PC gaming, or probably even gaming in general

I really, really don't get why your goto examples are people who either have never touched a computer, have slushed Biden brains, or only use computers because they are forced to at work. These weird extreme cases have zero relevance to this topic

pinky0926 posted...

Like, explain "newbie". Are we talking about someone who understands computers well but just hasn't built one? Or are we talking about...most people?

Would they know how to troubleshoot things that tend to go wrong in a build, like a bios load order problems or an incompatibility issue?

Someone who at leasts knows that a computer has a processor, needs something that does graphics processing (which explains why any cable from anything, PC or console or even a DVD player that plugs into a TV, does what it does), requires power to work, needs storage space, and who can pull up Google when they have a problem would be the bare minimum for what I consider a newbie. I'm clearly not talking about some random 70 year old who thinks technology is the devil

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To even run 8k ultra-ultra PC game settings you'd need a graphics card that costs nearly $3000 and a monitor that goes for the same or more. So alone that's over 6 thousand dollars for 2 pieces of the PC lol.

Anyways ps5 will be $400 and its graphics will be good enough for me for 10 years to come

MacadamianNut3 posted...

And those people probably wouldn't be interested at all in PC gaming, or probably even gaming in general

I really, really don't get why your goto examples are people who either have never touched a computer, have slushed Biden brains, or only use computers because they are forced to at work. These weird extreme cases have zero relevance to this topic

Ok. I dont think my girlfriend - who is intelligent and likes games but isn't what you might call a "gamer" - could confidently learn and build a pc in a couple of hours without making a mistake.

Like I don't think theres any force on earth that could make her part with a thousand dollars on individual components if she was presented with so many different options but didnt understand the impact of those decisions. And if she made a common error she would not know how to troubleshoot it without taking the time to understand.

For instance, have you ever found a build guide where people didnt devolve into arguments about what would be a better substitution? Every damn build guide.

If we want to go to extremes, you could make the argument that all someone would have to do is follow a very popular build guide that has complete documentation and tutorial. Just don't deviate at all or stop to understand what is happening, so it's just like Lego.

But man I could find you the exact same thing for brewing beer too. You could brew up a batch in 2 hours assuming you had the gear and nothing went wrong.

So in a nutshell, I think theres a barrier to entry. She could do it, but she probably wouldn't want to.

I dont think it's an irrelevant or extreme example. For the above reasons, my girlfriend will probably never build or buy a gaming PC, even though she likes games.

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I have a wife, a kid, and a mortgage, so my hobby has to take a backseat. I'm perfectly happy on my basic-ass Xbox One base model and I spend less than $100 a year buying games

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pinky0926 posted...

Ok. I dont think my girlfriend - who is intelligent and likes games but isn't what you might call a "gamer" - could confidently learn and build a pc in a couple of hours without making a mistake.

Like I don't think theres any force on earth that could make her part with a thousand dollars on individual components if she was presented with so many different options but didnt understand the impact of those decisions. And if she made a common error she would not know how to troubleshoot it without taking the time to understand.

Ok building is not for her. She can either choose a prebuilt or just not PC game at all if she cares. None of this argues against what I've said in this topic. I, in the most literal sense, could not give less of a shit what anybody who I don't know plays games on. The only way I would care at all is if it included friends so I know if I can or can't play games with them. All of this about PC building requiring not monumental effort to learn how to do is directed for people who care to build their own PCs. None of this is a persuasive argument with me telling someone they should build a PC, because once again no1curr. All of this is about the task itself.

pinky0926 posted...

But man I could find you the exact same thing for brewing beer too. You could brew up a batch in 2 hours assuming you had the gear and nothing went wrong.

Yeah I know, because I spent 5 seconds typing "brewing beer" into Google too after an earlier post and clicked the first link

https://www.northernbrewer.com/blogs/new-to-brewing-start-here/how-to-brew-beer-homebrewing-101

I'm assuming it can get a lot more complicated, and if I cared to brew beer I would look more into it. But I'm not because I don't care. I'm also not going to claim that brewing beer is hard after ending it right there

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PC Building aint' that easy. Ya gotta do research and tbh it's not that easy. I buy mine pre-built. I pick the parts and have someone build it and ship.

I eventually grew up and became a PC gamer. I own a PS4 Pro and Switch for the handful of decent exclusives they have.
However, since getting my gaming PC, my Pro has become a glorified Netflix streamer and my Switch is in its case probably with a totally dead battery by now.

4K/60fps at ultra graphics settings is absolutely unbeatable.

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