Do you prefer consoles or computers?

[Dustmop]

While it is true that certain games that originally exclusive to the Xbox systems do get ported to PC, it is also true that not all of them do. Take the Saints Row series of games for example, the only way to play from Saints Row to Saints Row IV is by playing on Xbox 360. This is because it was not until Saints Row 2 that the series was no longer exclusive to Xbox 360.

I didn't say all of them, but you did bring another good example. :)

I know the Gears of War series is still Xbox exclusive (save for the first, which was a monumental disaster), as well as most of the Halo series and at least one of the Fable games (not counting their spin-offs, though I suppose Fable Legends is canon)
The first Fable (The Lost Chapters is the updated port of the original on Steam) and the recent Anniversary remake are available on PC, as well as Fable 3, but Fable 2 never saw a PC release. Never understood why they skipped 2 and ported 3... Not that it really matters since Fable 3 was a victim of GFWL shutting down, you can't even buy it anymore unless you find some over-priced DRM-free copy in some dark corner of the internet.. or a garage sale, lol.
Or Saints Row, as you mentioned, which is quite the opposite. The first never made it, but everything else has been steadily ported since.

But my point was that it's far more likely for an Xbox exclusive to see a PC port than a Sony or Nintendo exclusive. :3

Although even those are starting to branch out. Final Fantasy, for example. 3, 4, 7, 8, 13, and 13-2 are on Steam now, with most of 13-2's DLC lined up for a Steam release as well as a promise of Lightning Returns eventually porting over, too, to wrap up the trilogy.
7 and 8 were already on PC, and 3 and 4 were released on the DS (and I think mobile? I think 4 was a mobile port, which is silly) before porting to Steam, but 13 and 13-2 were Sony exclusive, iirc.
There's talk of the Remastered version of X/X-2 seeing a PC release in the future, too, and with the PS4 running a custom Linux it's certainly not impossible, but I dunno who actually holds the rights to that and if they'd care to reach out to another demographic, even if it wouldn't cost them too much to code it for a PC release.. then again, they thought FF13 would never happen on PC for a very similar reason. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[GreenFlame]

As the /r/pcmasterrace wiki says:
"-PC has more exclusives
-PC has more highly-rated exclusives"

...And:
"These days, games aren't exclusive simply because that's the only system that can handle it; games are exclusives because Microsoft and Sony use their ill-earned profits to influence starving developers. Especially Microsoft. Look at that, PS4 owner. Microsoft loves you so much that they had to pay the studio money just so they wouldn't release their existing game on your platform."

 

[Dustmop]

"These days, games aren't exclusive simply because that's the only system that can handle it; games are exclusives because Microsoft and Sony use their ill-earned profits to influence starving developers."

This is unfortunately all too true, too.

But it's also the only way that consoles would still see huge numbers in sales. If not for the established IPs exclusive to specific consoles, there would be no reason not to spend an extra $200 on a PC instead of a console (roughly the cost of 3 console games) to move to a platform where you could buy new releases at an immediate, hefty discount.

Controller support, mod support, unofficial patches to add in important things like local co-op support to a game that didn't originally have it, a $5 HDMI cable hooks it up to your TV, the games are always on sale somewhere (did I mention buying 2 copies of Shadow of Mordor GOTY for less than $40 earlier today? I got Alien: Isolation for $12 a few months ago, too). Minimal "techie" knowledge of computers required.

Console exclusives are practically the only things that sell consoles.
It's the only reason I bought a Wii U and a 3DS. And truth be told, it's taken some grey-market trading on another site to build up my libraries for both of those because they're just... too expensive for me to go out of my way. I've been trading spare PC games for new console games. That's what the spreadsheet in my sig was originally made for, lol.

 

[GreenFlame]

This is unfortunately all too true, too.

But it's also the only way that consoles would still see huge numbers in sales. If not for the established IPs exclusive to specific consoles, there would be no reason not to spend an extra $200 on a PC instead of a console (roughly the cost of 3 console games) to move to a platform where you could buy new releases at an immediate, hefty discount.

Nintendo aside, I don't find exclusives a justifiable reason to purchase a console. Not only are they few in number, but they are also generally nothing special, and they only exist out of corporate greed. Console games are also a rip-off - this unfortuantely includes Nintendo as well.

But unfortunately Microsoft and Sony are still making huge profits off of their machines from people who are either misinformed, ignorant, really want to play an exclusive, or live in a country where a PC is not an option for them. Consoles are just watered-down, over-priced, restricted PCs. They have exclusives thanks to the greedy corporations behind them. Console exclusives are exclusive because Microsoft and Sony dislike you if you don't want to buy their console and feed them money.

 

[Dustmop]

Nintendo aside, I don't find exclusives a justifiable reason to purchase a console. Not only are they few in number, but they are also generally nothing special, and they only exist out of corporate greed. Console games are also a rip-off - this unfortuantely includes Nintendo as well.

But unfortunately Microsoft and Sony are still making huge profits off of their machines from people who are either misinformed, ignorant, really want to play an exclusive, or live in a country where a PC is not an option for them. Consoles are just watered-down, over-priced, restricted PCs. They have exclusives thanks to the greedy corporations behind them. Console exclusives are exclusive because Microsoft and Sony dislike you if you don't want to buy their console and feed them money.

While I do agree with the earlier point -- that most exclusive titles aren't anything special. Save for Nintendo's, they're usually pretty generic. And agreeing on the point about consoles being watered down, over-priced PCs. Though any pre-built PC is watered-down and over-priced. :P

But I believe we'll have to agree to disagree on the part I bolded. c:

I don't fault, nor dislike, Sony and Microsoft for making the decision to keep certain titles exclusive to them. Not anymore than I dislike Nintendo for, essentially, monopolizing on my childhood. They're a business, and businesses seek to grow and turn a large profit. It's not greedy of them to expect a large income to pay for a large company where a shit load of people are employed. Which means they need those exclusives to keep selling their products. And apparently they needed to add on things like a subscription-based service to use their servers and play anything online, because they obviously can't afford to just host things like that for free. I mean, they're not Nintendo or PC games, how can you expect your multiplayer experiences to be free? ;)

Sure, I'd like to see the complete Fable series and several more Final Fantasy titles on Steam. As a consumer, yeah, it sucks not having everything available to one platform. But from a business standpoint, I understand why those games aren't available to me.

 

[GreenFlame]

While I do agree with the earlier point -- that most exclusive titles aren't anything special. Save for Nintendo's, they're usually pretty generic. And agreeing on the point about consoles being watered down, over-priced PCs. Though any pre-built PC is watered-down and over-priced. :P

But I believe we'll have to agree to disagree on the part I bolded. c:

I don't fault, nor dislike, Sony and Microsoft for making the decision to keep certain titles exclusive to them. Not anymore than I dislike Nintendo for, essentially, monopolizing on my childhood. They're a business, and businesses seek to grow and turn a large profit. It's not greedy of them to expect a large income to pay for a large company where a shit load of people are employed. Which means they need those exclusives to keep selling their products. And apparently they needed to add on things like a subscription-based service to use their servers and play anything online, because they obviously can't afford to just host things like that for free. I mean, they're not Nintendo or PC games, how can you expect your multiplayer experiences to be free? ;)

Sure, I'd like to see the complete Fable series and several more Final Fantasy titles on Steam. As a consumer, yeah, it sucks not having everything available to one platform. But from a business standpoint, I understand why those games aren't available to me.

I suppose so. But I still belive consoles are a scam, with the whole point about how they're watered-down PCs, and the exclusives are part of the whole scam.

Well actually, I can't technically call it a "scam", because they haven't stopped anyone from knowing the superiority of PCs. But Microsoft and Sony are deceitful and greedy companies, who do not care about the consumer. They (well, Microsoft, at the very least) have even lied about the capabilities of consoles before (see here on the /r/pcmasterrace wiki).

I still dislike Microsoft and Sony and their consoles just the same. They are greedy, they are deceitful, and they see their consumers as money, in my opinion.

 

[King S]

A new graphics card for each game? Who said that? That is definitely not true.

And you can use controllers on PC anyway.

I overexaggerate on purpose. I meant that you have to buy new graphic cards from time to time. A controller is nice, but it is not at the level of a PS4 controller. Atleast I never saw one.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Unfortunately. :c
I tried to ask a friend from Czech Republic to break it down for me, and this is what I got:

3:05 PM - Pandelion: xbox without kinect costs ~9 potato coins. PS4 is about the same. For that price you can get a PC/notebook for "work" i.e. Office, browsing internet etc.
For ~20 potatoes you can get one to play Witcher 3 on high I would say.
3:06 PM - Pandelion: from 30 potatoes up it's somewhat a beast machine already
3:07 PM - Pandelion: (25 potatoes = 1000 bucks)

Although by his standards, he's still talking about $300~ per console and $600~ for a decent gaming rig? I dunno, I get lost when he starts talking about potatoes. Maybe you can explain that better.

I obviously can only guess but if I approximate values from his posts, I presume potato refers to 1000 Czech Crowns which is (very) roughly... (and depending on ratio which changes pretty often due to our banks)
40.75$
36.5€
26 pounds
So you can use something these approximate values =D
He's right.
We get PS4 and XBone for 9-11 potatoes depending on seller and if it's bundle or not.
For the same price, you can get at best low-medium quality notebook.
Since we're on notebooks, gaming ones are >35 potatoes.
Gaming PCs are >20 potatoes.

Games are between 1 and 1.2 potatoes for Vita and above 1.5 potatoes for PS4/XBone.

Hopefully I shed some light on it for you =D

3:23 PM - Pandelion: and btw... I can get The Witcher 3 from an official retailer for as low as 37 bucks retail on PC, 59 bucks for new consoles.

It's not only Witcher. Usually every new multiplatform release on PC is for ~80% of console versions.
But that is for AAA titles I avoid so... nothing for me xD

 

[GreenFlame]

I overexaggerate on purpose. I meant that you have to buy new graphic cards from time to time. A controller is nice, but it is not at the level of a PS4 controller. Atleast I never saw one.

If you buy a decent graphics card, it's likely you won't have to buy another one for at least five years. And I'm like 90% sure you can use a PS4 controller on PC, as many controllers have some way to use them on PC fairly easily.

 

[Aeroblast]

I prefer to play games on consoles because i just like the gaming environment it provides. sure, i can bring my pc over next to my television every time i play games to make it feel like i'm playing on a console but 1. it's a hassle, and 2. it just doesn't feel the same.

plus i like collecting trophies. i know there are steam achievements as well but that doesn't really feel the same, either.

there are lots of sound arguments for choosing pc as the main gaming outlet but this is just a personal preference.

oh, and the last of us (if we're talking ps4). of course exclusives aren't the be-all and end-all in the console debate, but it's good enough to at least be mentioned in the console argument imo. i also play jrpg's from time to time so ps4 is the console of my choice.

 

[Morgnarok]

If you buy a decent graphics card, it's likely you won't have to buy another one for at least five years. And I'm like 90% sure you can use a PS4 controller on PC, as many controllers have some way to use them on PC fairly easily.

You are correct on both points. I have two titans in my system. You can see my computer specs below while they are 1,500 dollars a piece I will be able to play mostly any game that comes out in the next 5 years, maybe even more before I would be forced to buy new graphic cards to keep playing on max graphical settings but as the point I could keep playing on my specs longer than 5 years just not on fully decked out top of the line highest graphics.

As also said yes you can play with both a Xbox One and PS4 controller on PC. I in fact use a PS4 controller for 90% of my gaming on my PC.

 

[GreenFlame]

You are correct on both points. I have two titans in my system. You can see my computer specs below while they are 1,500 dollars a piece I will be able to play mostly any game that comes out in the next 5 years, maybe even more before I would be forced to buy new graphic cards to keep playing on max graphical settings but as the point I could keep playing on my specs longer than 5 years just not on fully decked out top of the line highest graphics.

As also said yes you can play with both a Xbox One and PS4 controller on PC. I in fact use a PS4 controller for 90% of my gaming on my PC.

Haha SLI is awesome :D I'm jealous because I haven't been able to build a PC yet.

The pro-console point I see a lot is that you have to buy a graphics card every year or something for PC gaming. It is certainly not true. The graphics card is better than that of a console to begin with, so you will be able to play games at at least above-console levels, for probably longer than a console would be part of the current-gen.

Upgrading PC components is an option, not a necessity. You are only required to upgrade when your hardware can no longer run games at acceptable levels, and if you deem console-levels as "acceptable", then a graphics card that performs better than a console will not need to be upgraded until the current-gen consoles end. And then you only have to spend perhaps...$200-$300 on a new graphics card, which is not only cheaper than buying a whole new console, but is also in addition with the money you've saved from PC gaming over console gaming.

Console hardware does not get a hardware upgrade until the next generation. It will not perform any better from release day to the seven or so years that the generation lasts. PC gaming is flexible, cheaper, and better in every way.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

If you buy a decent graphics card, it's likely you won't have to buy another one for at least five years. And I'm like 90% sure you can use a PS4 controller on PC, as many controllers have some way to use them on PC fairly easily.

I read you need some special utility that doesn't work well or something...
But maybe it's better now since Noblebeastx says he uses it.

plus i like collecting trophies. i also play jrpg's from time to time so ps4 is the console of my choice.

You are my man! =D

 

[Morgnarok]

I read you need some special utility that doesn't work well or something...
But maybe it's better now since Noblebeastx says he uses it.

Xbox One Controllers you can automatically plug in and play based off of my knowledge and experience as long as You are running a realitively newer system /windows such as Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1. On a Windows 8.1 I can plug in a Xbox One Controller and it will automatically recognize it and work as long as it's a real Xbox One controller and made by microsoft and not a off brand one. As far as PS4 controllers goes yes you will need a program to some what emulate/map the keys for a pc such as https://ds4windows.com/ but even at that it's easy to setup and run. It takes a minimum knowledge about pc's to use and takes only a few minutes to set up. You can even have the touch pad on the PS4 controller work as a mouse on your windows.

 

[Dustmop]

On a Windows 8.1 I can plug in a Xbox One Controller and it will automatically recognize it and work as long as it's a real Xbox One controller and made by microsoft and not a off brand one.

Slightly off topic, but are Xbone and 360 controllers different in that sense?

None of the three 360 controllers we use for our PCs are from Microsoft. My primary is a Mad Catz, I have a pink Rock Candy one I got for my friend to use, and Boyfriend uses a blue Afterglow. They were all plug-n-play, never had to fiddle with drivers.

 

[ソラ]

Consoles. PCs isnt my thing.

 

[Sir Codin]

PCs.

I do play on consoles, but really, consoles are just PCs without all the PC.

 

[Coffee]

Pc Master Race

 

[Morgnarok]

Slightly off topic, but are Xbone and 360 controllers different in that sense?

None of the three 360 controllers we use for our PCs are from Microsoft. My primary is a Mad Catz, I have a pink Rock Candy one I got for my friend to use, and Boyfriend uses a blue Afterglow. They were all plug-n-play, never had to fiddle with drivers.

Yes, Xbox 360 controllers almost any brand can be used. I still have a Xbox 360 controller made by gamestop That I used to use back in the day with my PC.

 

[twocows]

PC gaming is more convenient (one device, takes up less space), cheaper ($500 including monitor for the original system and about $200 for upgrades over roughly the life of a console generation; games cost anywhere from 20% to 100% less), and has more of the kinds of games I want to play (strategy, MMO, VNs). It is also by far the best platform for emulation. Plus, I have two possible control schemes (KB+M or controller) instead of just one (controller; there are KB+M peripherals for some consoles but they really only work for a couple of games). And, as an added bonus, I get a better and more capable device for everything else I might want to normally do on a computer.

It's really a no-brainer for me. The few console exclusives that look interesting don't justify the cost and inconvenience and many of them end up being ported to PC eventually, anyway.