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SvennoJ on 27 July 2014
| Scoobes said: I might have agreed with the points raised by the article a couple of gens ago, but not any more. Firstly, consoles have become far more complex whilst PC has become far simpler. The PS4 and X1 are now at a point where the patches, updates, DLC, apps and multimedia features are as complex as they are on the PC. On the flip side, PC has been simplifying in terms of ease of setup (patching is just as easy and automatic as it is on consoles with programs like Steam) and interface. Consoles still work by putting in a disc and play after 40 seconds, at least on WiiU and ps4 (don't have XB1). Steam makes things easier, not everything is on Steam though. A lot of people can't or don't want to download 40GB games and you still run into compatibility and launch issues, see Watch dogs for example. On the price issue, they're actually a lot closer than you might think. The initial cost of a PC is higher than a console, but a PC is also a far more capable machine in terms of productivity and alternative functions which has to be taken into account. If you're buying a PC for work anyway, it's only an extra $250 to upgrade the graphics card and you're ready for "next gen" gaming. If you then look long-term, you make some pretty significant savings; new games are $10-20 cheaper than their console counterparts; massive sales (Steam sales) and discounts occur far more frequently; and you don't have to pay for online play. If you buy a PC for productivity / work it's usually not in the living room where you want to play games. I have to carry the pc over every time I want to play a game in comfort. You have steam sales, but you can't sell or trade in games to finance the next game. Plus most people buy laptops nowadays for productivity, not well suited to newer AAA games, not upgradeable. As for stability, if you pay for a decent gaming PC now, it'll last until the end of the gen. The PS4 and X1 are effectively weak PCs, so a half-decent PC will last until the end of a gen. You may not be able to play everything on the highest graphics settings, but neither will the consoles. For instance, I built my upper-mid range PC in 2011, before the start of the gen yet it's still playing all games on the highest graphics settings, either matching or beating the console graphics in equivalent games. PC games are far less optimized, no guarantee that you will get the same performance throughout the console gen. You need to manually adjust graphics settings and might still get considerable slowdown in places. All that balancing work has been done for you on console. And controls? Most games come with controller support so that should be a moot point at this stage. Most, not all. A lot still require keyboard and mouse for some functions. Not convenient on a couch. The main problem with PC now is one of perception. In the last 10 years, PC has become cheaper, easier and more user friendly than ever before, yet people still see it as the complex mess because it still presents you with multiple options in virtually everything (graphics settings, hotkeys, game platform etc.). This freedom to choose everything makes it appear more complex than it actually has to be. See The paradox of choice. Console is ease of mind. Plug it in, no more decisions to be made, just play the game. No fiddling with control options, graphics options, should I upgrade the GPU, am I more competitive with higher res or higher fps. Bottom line: If you want to play games on PC, it can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. Bottom line: If you just want to play games, console will make it easy for you. |
PC games really need demos much more than console games. Simply to see if you can run it comfortably and the control scheme is to your liking. I know they have recommended specs, but I have no clue how my GPU compares with hundreds of GPUs out there.
