I've been gaming on the PC since Windows 95. The complexity of current PC gaming is laughable compared to the work needed to get DOS and early Windows games to work correctly back in the day. PC gaming has become increasingly foolproof and approachable. Even the old games that were a struggle back in the day are made effortless thanks to things like DOSBox.

Any time I want a console experience--whether due to poor mouse and keyboard controls or just wanting to sit back and relax while playing--I simply plug in my 360 controller. With the push of a Start button I get all the convenience of a console without the higher cost and significant sacrifices.

Oh, God no.For 11 years I had only consoles for my gaming and despite them being excellent, having my first laptop at 17 was a revelation. A machine that could not only play games at higher resolution, higher FPS and have a silky smooth input system, but also be a window to the world? I was awed at what a simple, low end laptop could do in 2008. I modded, I researched, I tested, gaming became a system for me, rather then just a passtime. I enjoyed every single minute of it sine I grew smarter as a result and now reap the benefits. The games? Oh the games, half life 2 I still play to this day, R:TW is the reason I'm passionate about history, Portal 2 made me love puzzle games despite me never understanding them or ignorant of them. Just last year I had immense enjoyment out of Saints row 3, and Uncharted 3.


Yeah, this is where consoles come in. Consoles have games that Pc's never get, and vice versa. I always made the conscientiousness decision to split my gaming over 2 platforms, and whatever games I could not get on pc, I got on console, in my case PS3. Boy, did it pay off. The PS2 era had many high class RPG'S, racing games, platformers and action games. Likewise for PS3, my collection features it's exclusives and nothing else. THIS negates the whole low res, low texture, low FPS drag consoles incur, since they are designed with the strengths of the console in mind and what they can be capable of. Current platform exclusives can and do look great. God of war 3 is a technical tour de force even now.

My advice is get a console, and stick to the console exclusives. They usually have the best package available in all departments and you'll get games you never experienced before. Helps keep gaming fresh.


My second point is this, treat gaming as a hobby and not as a lifestyle. I gamed a LOT in my life, and not too long ago I got so sick and tired of gaming that I wanted to quit. I was eating a cake that would never stop, that would never run out and most importantly, will always be there. Playing the games you are passionate about then trying to play every single one out there has been the best decision I made in regards to gaming. I enjoy the games much more, play less sure but the games stick around longer. My backlog has gone and now I have much more time playing the indies that will shape the future of the industry.

Finally, play a variety of games, don't write off games because they are outside your comfort zone. Paying a few bucks for a game that might very well re-ignite the love for gaming is a wise investment. It happened to me last year with portal 2. Never liked that sort of type of game before, ever. The PC has spades of unique games, and I love the platform because of it.

I do not see the hassle - However I do have in the house 1 PSONE, 1 N64, 1 Gamecube, 2 PS2, 2 GBC, 2 3DS, 2 DS, 2 PSP, 2 XBOX 360, 1 PS3, 3 Laptops, 1 Tablet, 3 Desktops - So I can be easily distracted - But I consider myself a PC Gamer.

@thread title: Nope.

It's always been worth the occasional bit of effort needed.

I pretty much gave up on PC gaming a few years ago and stuck mostly to consoles.

But when my 360 kept breaking, there was nothing I could do about it, and I got tired of Microsoft's Live pricing structure I started looking into PC gaming again.

Since I got this PC a little over a year and a half ago, I've only been PC gaming. I'm pretty happy with it.

PC gaming isn't worth the hassle most of the time for me. If you don't mod there's barely a reason to play on PC (unless you're going to play a RTS). I hook shit up, it just works. Daughter's console just works (yeah, supporting your kid's gaming PC is real fun...).

Anyway, I won't belabor it as you and I have tread this ground before. I'll let others have their say. This indie bundles will run on any craptastic machine you have lying around and so will 95% of GOG games.

I never go to a shop to buy console games, they come right to my door. I also have a pile of Live Arcade games and XBox Live Indie games to tool through (since you said you liked indie games).

Yeah, I have a gaming PC, a high end one at that. PC gaming is a horrid bitch, it hasn't changed. I honestly can't believe people maintain it's "no big deal", go look at the RAGE thread with all the ini tweaks and shit. Seriously, shit isn't worth it most of the time.
No, that's just the Wii, not consoles, trust me, no one I know plays their Wii. Ask a 100 people and they haven't pulled it out in the last year for anything besides Skyward Sword.
Lmao, I dare all anyone with your hardass "casual console gamer" talk to throw down with a bunch of rabid Halo fanboys. Seriously, go watch some videos for Halo Fest. These guys are as hard core as they get, about one, single game. I don't get why excluding yourself from around half the best games ever published would make one more hardcore and not less...

This, all my buddies have a console. Everyone's computer is in some random state of fucked-upped-ness at any given time. Mobo friend, installing Win 7, upgrading whatever, can't play that game, who the hell knows anymore? For all the complaining people do, XBox Live works pretty damned well and is easy.
Play Darksiders, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom, New Vegas, etc. They all control fine. Half the time it's more pleasant to pick up your gamepad on the PC than play with mouse/keyboard.
It's the carrot approach, if you want all the online goodies (achievements, friends lists, etc.) then you don't crack your machine. Console piracy isn't as rare as people would make it out to be.

K, off my high horse now, bed time.

Fair point, but if he put his statement to a more console-centric forum like GameSpot, IGN or Raptr, he'd probably have a lot of people wholeheartedly agreeing with him. I know plenty of console-only gamers, and the main reasons named as to why they refuse to game on PC are technical problems, comparative cost of hardware and DRM.

Hell no. I inherited a xbox console, which my friends like to play with occasionally when they come over, but their attention span is equivilant to a small dried biscuit so they find it easier to play a console ("It's like a dvd player right, you just push it in and it goes") but i will always prefer a PC

It is harder to find an untouched / original 360 here than a modified one.

Haven't played those, but have played PoP, AC, RE4 and some other games with similar controls, and they were comfortable for me.

I can play damn near any genre with a mouse, but only if the mouse control is well implemented. Most of the time now-a-days it is not.

Getting up to put a disc into a disc drive is the biggest hassle for me.

Actually, I always thought console gaming wasn't worth the hassle. I mean, you need a separate processor/graphic card holder (also known as a"console"), a TV and a spare room. No, sharing with my family is not worth the hassle, weren't you paying attention?

Also, the consoles don't know some of the genres I feel best at playing.