I had friends who 10 years ago swore to me that PC Gaming was the future because it was dynamic and that they would eventually overtake consoles. Here we are 10 years later, and PC gaming is an extreme niche dominated only by specific genres that only the nerdiest of nerds care about.

A 16 page slideshow? Fark that.

spman: Here we are 10 years later, and PC gaming is an extreme niche dominated only by specific genres that only the nerdiest of nerds care about.

Wat? There are very few games that are out there on consoles that are not out on PCs. PCs definitely dominate indie gaming, and with services like Steam, GOG, et al helping to promote and distribute for them, indie developers are really coming into their own. But most of the biggest titles have both console and PC releases these days.

There is one really good thing that the rise of consoles has done for PC gaming, IMHO. Because consoles are feature locked, and developers have to make their games looks as good as they can on such hardware, the need to upgrade to the latest and greatest graphics cards and such on the PC side has been reduced. Sure, you can definitely get benefits by upgrading all the time. But, you can still play a lot of the latest games (granted at reduced resolution or graphics quality) on rather modest hardware.

Hell, I game on my MacBook Pro with a 512MB GeForce 9600M, which by most accounts is a pretty crappy card. Yet I've managed to comfortably play even very recent games, such as Saints Row the Third, Batman: Arkham City, etc. very comfortably and with them looking nice enough. Granted they'd look better on better hardware, but they are good enough.

So, thanks to consoles, PC gamers don't have to feel the pressure to upgrade their hardware just so they can run the latest game at even the lowest frame-rates. That's nice. :)

This article basically assumes the being gamer means having the most expensive of everything, a lot which most gamers either don't have or probably wouldn't want.

ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha: This article basically assumes the being gamer means having the most expensive of everything, a lot which most gamers either don't have or probably wouldn't want.

Also what gamer outside of the sim crowd uses a joystick? and a wireless mouse?

spman: I had friends who 10 years ago swore to me that PC Gaming was the future because it was dynamic and that they would eventually overtake consoles. Here we are 10 years later, and PC gaming is an extreme niche dominated only by specific genres that only the nerdiest of nerds care about.

What? I don't understand any of this. I play a lot of games and my laptop (with HDMI cable for the big TV, 2 years old) still plays most games just fine. But who cares anyway about having a new system? Unless you never had a job for the past 20 years, why worry about new games? I buy PS2 games off eBay for .99 cents and I probably will die before I work through all the great ones.

I'm playing FFVII on my old Dell PC from 2003 and it's an amazing game; I never played it until now.

What is the thrill of buying a new game and having the newest graphics card, exactly? What do you get out of that? Does it make you excited to be the first kid on the block? Why do you need all this? Are you finished with all the excellent games made up until 2012? Really?

zedster: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha: This article basically assumes the being gamer means having the most expensive of everything, a lot which most gamers either don't have or probably wouldn't want.

Also what gamer outside of the sim crowd uses a joystick? and a wireless mouse?

And what does this mean? Huh?

Iczer: "Adding motherboards"? I really hope they mean something more akin to switching out a slow/low-end board with a better one because I don't really recall any gaming computers running off more than one mobo...

Also, seriously? $600 for 30 games on Steam? I really hope they're running that information off of new games that were just released and were also 'purchased' for the 360/PS3 numbers as well, because I know for a big ass farking fact that you can get 30 games for well under $100 on Steam if you know what you're doing.

Lastly, a freaking premade computer to put in the tally? Ugh, well, if you want to waste money I guess...

/note, I'm not saying some premade systems aren't good, just normally you can buy the components for a lot cheaper

I don't know anybody that's willing to shell out mondo bucks for a high-end gaming computer. Most gamers I know build their own and save about 75% in costs.

I just dropped 600 bucks on motherboard, RAM, CPU and video card for gaming.

Also, because my motherboard developed capacitor failure and stopped working.

So I get a kick.

Oh, yes, obligatory.

DanZero: [img.photobucket.com image 600x433]

cartoon shows hardcore gamers using console controllers, cartoon is irrelevant.

Lando Lincoln: Iczer: "Adding motherboards"? I really hope they mean something more akin to switching out a slow/low-end board with a better one because I don't really recall any gaming computers running off more than one mobo...

Also, seriously? $600 for 30 games on Steam? I really hope they're running that information off of new games that were just released and were also 'purchased' for the 360/PS3 numbers as well, because I know for a big ass farking fact that you can get 30 games for well under $100 on Steam if you know what you're doing.

Lastly, a freaking premade computer to put in the tally? Ugh, well, if you want to waste money I guess...

/note, I'm not saying some premade systems aren't good, just normally you can buy the components for a lot cheaper

I don't know anybody that's willing to shell out mondo bucks for a high-end gaming computer. Most gamers I know build their own and save about 75% in costs.

yeah, half of the fun is spec'ing out the parts, putting it together and having it be different.

buying a pre-fab gaming computer is like paying someone else to level up a character in a game.

dimoko: Lando Lincoln: Iczer: "Adding motherboards"? I really hope they mean something more akin to switching out a slow/low-end board with a better one because I don't really recall any gaming computers running off more than one mobo...

Also, seriously? $600 for 30 games on Steam? I really hope they're running that information off of new games that were just released and were also 'purchased' for the 360/PS3 numbers as well, because I know for a big ass farking fact that you can get 30 games for well under $100 on Steam if you know what you're doing.

Lastly, a freaking premade computer to put in the tally? Ugh, well, if you want to waste money I guess...

/note, I'm not saying some premade systems aren't good, just normally you can buy the components for a lot cheaper

I don't know anybody that's willing to shell out mondo bucks for a high-end gaming computer. Most gamers I know build their own and save about 75% in costs.

yeah, half of the fun is spec'ing out the parts, putting it together and having it be different.

buying a pre-fab gaming computer is like paying someone else to level up a character in a game.

My boss put it to me this way - building a computer from parts will take me at least 3 hours to put together. That's three hours of billable time that I lost, so altogether, the computer is costing at least a 90Lando Lincoln: I don't know anybody that's willing to shell out mondo bucks for a high-end gaming computer. Most gamers I know build their own and save about 75% in costs.

I just upgraded my computer with identical specs to a computer a friend who is less tech-proficient was buying. I spent 600 dollars in identical parts. The friend spends about 850 dollars for the prebuilt system. Of course, if I factor in the case, hard drives and optical drives, which I already had, I would've spent just as much as he did, if not more.

The difference is that the prefab machines are relatively cheaper because the makers have bulk discounts and I don't. However, I see the machine as a labor of love, so I don't mind so much.

Antimatter: Pc gaming is expensive, but not as expensive as that article makes it out to be. Depending on what parts you need, it's quite easy to blow over a grand on a decent rig.

Still, unless yo plan on playing a ton of pc games, it's cheaper all around to just buy a console and play that way.

The great thing about the PC is that, because it's a multipurpose tool, you'd be well justified to blow 600 or 700 bucks on a computer because it's so necessary for everything else you do. The extra 200 or 300 on top is merely a premium for gaming, and, in that respect, the cost is no greater than a console.