PC gaming is a hassle and don't know how people prefer it.

[Leynos]

I get PC's are more powerful and all. That's nice but they are a bitch when it comes to getting games to run without problems. Yesterday I spent hours trying to get a bunch of games working for various reasons. Gears of War 4 is buggy on PC that for many won't get past the splash screen. I never did get it to work. Binary Domain control support is fucked so you have to edit its files directly and even that only stays temp. I can't turn off rumble either which for whatever reason forces the aiming to drift when it rumbles. Then I had Binary Domain tell me I had an invalid GPU. Well to fix that I have to manually select my GPU in the configure mode. Same issue with Gun Metal. Asphalt 9 would not get past the splash screen at one point. So I had to reset the app and even then despite calibrating the XBO pad it had major drift and in Killer Instinct the Dpad was going nuts. Gears so-called "fix" wanted me to edit shit in the registry. Like I said I eventually gave up trying to get Gears to work. I got Binary Domain to work until I closed the game and restarted and realized I have to go into the files and reset the controls every time I want to play it. Everything else I got working again. I have never been a serious PC gamer but have been playing on them since about 2004 and on Steam since 2008. Always had issues with PC game. In fact, not just me watching Nathan Barnatt on a steam one night trying to get Genesis roms to work with his capture devices was more entertaining than the games. He never did get it working and chat had a million suggestions.

How do people put up with PC gaming so much? Master Pain in the ass, not Master Race. When it works I like it but that's the problem. It rarely works as it should. That's a big factor that prevented me from being more into it. I will never forget my troubles getting PSO2 to work and now with a new PC, I just accepted I lost my PSO2 account as I do not want to set that all up again. I will remain console first because when I put my game in, it typically works as intended without the hassle. Lastly with the exception of a first-person game. I just find a controller as a better input device.

[CrossBow]

You act like this is new with PC gaming?! LOL it has always been this way. I can remember the fun we all had with Falcon 3.0 was released and required you to have over 600k of actual main memory available for use in order for it to run. We had to setup special boot floppies with special config.sys and autoexec.bat files to get that game to run. And this was in the early 90s on MsDOS?!

Then all the fun with IRQ conflicts and such when you had various PC boards installed, or when you had to install sound cards in specific PCI slots because of shared resources with the AGP slot right next to it. Ah..fun times...

This is one of the reasons why my gaming PCs have typically been middle of the road on the hardware side. Because most games are designed around the current middle tier hardware at the time the game was developed. Then again, aside from Fallout 4 and a few other games of about that same time era of release, I pretty much play older PC games and such through DOSBox mostly LOL!

[Qjimbo]

My gaming PC has "mainstream" components and I haven't had any issues so far. Intel CPU, Asus Motherboard, NVidia graphics card. But yes all the different driver/hardware configs have always been a blessing and a curse when it comes to PC gaming.

[Blades]

I started with PC gaming in the Voodoo era and went to consoles and haven't looked back. PCs are no fun. I like the social aspect and 'cinema' experience with a TV/console.

[Gryson]

I get PC's are more powerful and all. That's nice but they are a bitch when it comes to getting games to run without problems. Yesterday I spent hours trying to get a bunch of games working for various reasons. Gears of War 4 is buggy on PC that for many won't get past the splash screen. I never did get it to work. Binary Domain control support is fucked so you have to edit its files directly and even that only stays temp. I can't turn off rumble either which for whatever reason forces the aiming to drift when it rumbles. Then I had Binary Domain tell me I had an invalid GPU. Well to fix that I have to manually select my GPU in the configure mode. Same issue with Gun Metal. Asphalt 9 would not get past the splash screen at one point. So I had to reset the app and even then despite calibrating the XBO pad it had major drift and in Killer Instinct the Dpad was going nuts. Gears so-called "fix" wanted me to edit shit in the registry. Like I said I eventually gave up trying to get Gears to work. I got Binary Domain to work until I closed the game and restarted and realized I have to go into the files and reset the controls every time I want to play it. Everything else I got working again. I have never been a serious PC gamer but have been playing on them since about 2004 and on Steam since 2008. Always had issues with PC game. In fact, not just me watching Nathan Barnatt on a steam one night trying to get Genesis roms to work with his capture devices was more entertaining than the games. He never did get it working and chat had a million suggestions.

How do people put up with PC gaming so much? Master Pain in the ass, not Master Race. When it works I like it but that's the problem. It rarely works as it should. That's a big factor that prevented me from being more into it. I will never forget my troubles getting PSO2 to work and now with a new PC, I just accepted I lost my PSO2 account as I do not want to set that all up again. I will remain console first because when I put my game in, it typically works as intended without the hassle. Lastly with the exception of a first-person game. I just find a controller as a better input device.

The problem is that you're playing console ports on the PC. That never goes well.

[Leynos]

I have played PC only games as well and many times the same thing.

[MrMatthews]

I’d be more inclined to partake in PC gaming if it were as comfortable as playing video games from my couch, and if my monitor were as big as my TV

[Leynos]

^ Steam link. Often goes on sale for $5.

[ITViking]

I can't appreciate the OP's perspective. Working in IT I often use this loose analogy.... some tech is built to be easy to use, game consoles, Apple products, etc. Like giving someone one easy to use tool that requires little explanation. Say a hammer. But you can only do so much with that hammer. A PC is more like a tool box full of tools that require some training or experience to really use to their full potential. You can do a lot with a PC, but it requires patience and skill.

I think most PC gamers are people who feel more comfortable with PCs in general. For instance, I work as a technician supporting 1500 PCs at a college. So for me to use a PC to game on is no big deal. It's easy compared to some of the other stuff I do with PCs. Plus PC offer more flexibility and resources for games that can take advantage of it. For instance, applying game mods.

[The Jackal]

I’d be more inclined to partake in PC gaming if it were as comfortable as playing video games from my couch, and if my monitor were as big as my TV

You can hook up your PC to your TV. It's what I do. If you have a recent-ish laptop/pc, it should have HDMI output. Or just get a VGA to HDMI upscaler.

Ok, my pros and cons for PC gaming:

+ Mods. These range from silly stuff, to new levels, characters, and features, to even restoring removed elements or fixing the game. Games like Skyrim/Fallout NV have limitless replayabilty.
+ Biggest library of games, ranging from the late 80s to the modern era.
+ Cheapest platform to buy newer games for (most of the time).
+ Use practically any controller you want, provided you can hook it up and can find the drivers.
- Games are usually sloppy ported or lazily put together.
- Steam has no quality control - tons of shit games on their store
- Games break the older they get and need fixes to be applied to get working. Some don't even get that.
- Optimization is a rarity.
- DRM sucks on PC games; disc checks are one thing, as is "always online".

As a console gamer who only recently (like last five years-ish) made the jump to PC gaming, I can understand why many would not like it. It takes time, and effort to get a game working, but I like tinkering with stuff, so I'm okay with that. The payoffs are worth it for me, but it's not for everyone I guess.

[Benjamin]

- Expensive to setup

I was aiming to be done with consoles this generation, but with PC parts still being rather expensive thanks to cryptominers and getting tired of waiting for them to come down, I broke down an got an Xbox One X earlier this year. Considering the console can be had for less ($360-400 with eBay deals) than the equivalent or better GPU alone made it a no brainer. I'd definitely agree the PC games are cheaper most of the time, but I'm finding that to be less of a PC advantage this generation.

[The Jackal]

- Expensive to setup

I was aiming to be done with consoles this generation, but with PC parts still being rather expensive thanks to cryptominers and getting tired of waiting for them to come down, I broke down an got an Xbox One X earlier this year. Considering the console can be had for less ($360-400 with eBay deals) than the equivalent or better GPU alone made it a no brainer. I'd definitely agree the PC games are cheaper most of the time, but I'm finding that to be less of a PC advantage this generation.

Yeah, costs to build one is a major downside. You're better off going for a gaming laptop at this time in space if you want to get into PC gaming, not like that's cheap, but it's a little more affordable.

[MrMatthews]

You can hook up your PC to your TV. It's what I do. If you have a recent-ish laptop/pc, it should have HDMI output.

Funny you mention that. Just this morning, due in part to this thread, I was looking st the HDMI ports on my PC & laptop and wondering what they were for.

[The Jackal]

Funny you mention that. Just this morning, due in part to this thread, I was looking st the HDMI ports on my PC & laptop and wondering what they were for.

You can also set up Steam to use Big Picture mode - which allows you to browse it's menus' with a controller. Have that running at startup + use a wireless keyboard and mouse, and you can comfortably game from your couch. Basically the most console-like experience you can get on a PC.

[gamevet]

You can also set up Steam to use Big Picture mode - which allows you to browse it's menus' with a controller. Have that running at startup + use a wireless keyboard and mouse, and you can comfortably game from your couch. Basically the most console-like experience you can get on a PC.

I have a pretty stout PC in my game room/office. I've used Steam to stream game play to the less powerful PC I have in the living room. I've never had to use the mouse and keyboard to play games in my living room from the couch with a PC.