Is it still worth building a PC for gaming?

[BunFagFreddie]

If you get a really good graphics card etc. Tablets aren't really set up for it, and it's good to have a massive hard drive for games. However, is it still worth building one.

PedroPonyLikesCrisps

Sounds like someone hasn't actually seen the range of console games available.

I think the word to describe the 'range' of console games is 'meagre'.

Wow! You've got some beef here clearly! Firstly, not everyone plays strategy games.

Well, you can't on a console, can you? But you can on a PC, which was my point - it's a whole market which console companies don't write for.

Secondly, I'd like to see you playing SSX, FIFA or Assassin's Creed with a mouse, that would be effing hilarious!

Are you serious? Assassin's creed is a FPS. Every FPS worth its salt is better on a mouse and keyboard.

Complete rubbish. The same games are roughly the same price across platforms.

Funny, I just found Assassin's Creed 3 on Amazon for £39.99 for the consoles and £24.99 for the PC. And Fifa 13 is £5 less on PC on Amazon too.

It's like you're just making stuff up to defend your beloved consoles.

Sure you can buy cheap PC games, but they're not going to be quite the same as the high end big releases are they.

Bless.

^So you've missed the point. I have a PC for doing PC things, I just wouldn't dream of playing proper games on it. Just as I wouldn't want to run my expenses through on my Playstation.

No, I haven't. You've just told me you have a console - and a PC. So you need a home computer to be able to do the stuff your console doesn't do. Let's add the cost of that home computer - about £400 for a reasonable one, every 5 years - to the cost of your console.

And look! You're poorer than someone who bought a £1,000 PC which does everything.

The console is designed for gaming, the PC just doesn't cut it for me. Not since the days of the Amiga have desktop machines been worth it for games.

Oh, I see. You're trolling. I was prepared to engage with someone who had even the vaguest notion of PC gaming, but that isn't you.

You can get lots of mods for the Xbox, but that involves doing naughty things that I do not endorse.

Can't play Assassin's Creed with a mouse and keyboard???
Must tell DP that he's been playing it wrong for the last 3 games!

Well, you can't on a console, can you? But you can on a PC, which was my point - it's a whole market which console companies don't write for.

I don't play strategy games so why would this matter to me?

Are you serious? Assassin's creed is a FPS. Every FPS worth its salt is better on a mouse and keyboard.

Assassin's Creed is a third person game, either you haven't played it or you just don't know what FPS means. My comment still stands for the other two in any case and for a whole host of other great games for which a mouse is not a good control method. I'm aware that you can buy controllers for PCs my point was that the mouse is hardly more versatile.

Funny, I just found Assassin's Creed 3 on Amazon for £39.99 for the consoles and £24.99 for the PC. And Fifa 13 is £5 less on PC on Amazon too.

Wow, you looked at a whole one shop. Well done you.

No, I haven't. You've just told me you have a console - and a PC. So you need a home computer to be able to do the stuff your console doesn't do. Let's add the cost of that home computer - about £400 for a reasonable one, every 5 years - to the cost of your console.

Ummm, no, I paid £200 for my PC six years ago and don't intend to replace it any time soon. So you did indeed miss the point and made some unreasonable assumptions too.

And look! You're poorer than someone who bought a £1,000 PC which does everything.

Wrong again, see above and you clearly forgot that you'll have to buy a new graphics card every couple of years as well!

I'm quite happy to know that any game I buy for a console will definitely work with my hardware. I don't buy hundreds of games and those I do buy are worth every penny. My hardware is significantly cheaper, I never have to upgrade it to keep up and the games I play work as well or better than they would on a PC.

"Wrong again, see above and you clearly forgot that you'll have to buy a new graphics card every couple of years as well! "

Actually, thinking about it, if you've spent £1000 on a PC then the graphics card you've bought (unless you've bought stupidly expensive and unneccessary case accessories) will most likely outlive the consoles.

"games I play work as well or better than they would on a PC"

So you compare them do you? Read articles comparing the bugs? Curious as to which games you've been playing...

"my point was that the mouse is hardly more versatile"

Except it is. Saying that you personally don't like playing games like AC with a mouse doesn't mean it is the lesser alternative. Plenty of people prefer it with a mouse. In that case it isn't better/worse it is just different.

On the other hand, playing a strategy/MMORPG/puzzle game is often better with a keyboard/mouse than a controller. The controller being designed specifically to play certain types of games. Whereas the keyboard, even if not designed for the games is often customisable to fit with any type of game.

And anyway, in your OP on the topic of controllers, you said, "I'd like to see you playing SSX, FIFA or Assassin's Creed with a mouse, that would be effing hilarious!"
Do you often find it hilarious when people use methods that work just as well? It's a funny thing to find hilarity in..

these people seem to have well priced high powered desktops, they have very good feedback. Have bookmarked them as we would like to buy a decent desktop at some point.

Dd loves minecraft and to run that smoothly with all the bells and whistles seems to be bizarrely expensive in laptops. My elderly lappy only has 1 gb of ram and faints at even the thought of minecraft .

The desktop we bought in 2003 would still be more high powered than the laptops we have atm. I'm actually suprised that there hasn't been a downward movement in price for gaming laptops.

Even desktops with decent graphics cards are still expensive, boo hiss.

Alright, stop talking about AC until you learn what FPS actually stands for and explain how you'd play SSX with a mouse.

£1000 PC is not going to come with a graphics card that outlasts a console. Console life is around 8-9 years. Your card in a PC that price might push 3 years but you won't be playing bleeding edge games at full res on it by then.

Most console games are designed to be played with a console controller. PC games are a random mix of stuff that works and stuff that doesn't. I used to think mouse and keyboard was the best FPS control back in the Half Life days, but having played games like Timesplitters and Halo on consoles, I now think that having to have a flat surface and a desk to play on is quite restricting and makes multiplayer (the kind with real friends in your house) pretty impossible.

Oh and yeah, it would be very, very funny to watch someone attempting to play a snowboarding or driving game with a mouse whilst trying to convince me that it was a decent, versatile control method.

"Alright, stop talking about AC until you learn what FPS actually stands for and explain how you'd play SSX with a mouse."

Here's the thing, it wasn't me who described AC as a FPS. Just asked DH who got given AC for Xmas whether AC is impossible to play with a mouse, he said nope, he's been playing it quite happily. He says it's easier with a controller, but then he just plugs the PS3 controller into the PC.

Haven't played SSX as it doesn't appeal, but I remember playing skateboarding etc games on the PC way back, and it's easy enough. Driving games are also easy enough.

"makes multiplayer (the kind with real friends in your house) pretty impossible"

Damn, I'll have to tell DH and friends that we imagined playing multiplayer games in our living room.

Is Left 4 Dead 2 FPS? I manage that fine on a PC

PS just how many co-op games are there on the PS3? Because we could barely find any, hence why we stuck to the PC (on that note, seriously underrated but excellent recommendation = Payday: The Heist, and less underrated = Magicka)

"Most console games are designed to be played with a console controller."

Be a bit bloody daft to design for a console without a console controller really wouldn't it?

You do know they usually design and test most games on a PC right?

How is Left 4 Dead 2? Considering it in the future so I can co-op with DH. Been playing Killing Floor which is fantastic.

"Your card in a PC that price might push 3 years but you won't be playing bleeding edge games at full res on it by then. "

Maybe not super high res, but then, neither will you be on a console.

I love it but I wouldn't call myself an intense gamer, I pretty much just run away from the zombies or shoot wildly but the graphics are good and on steam you can play with three others. I just wish they'd create more maps, because I'm confused on how to add fan-made maps, it was far easier in L4D 1

"Haha, the Sims has ridiculous requirements! I know I waited to upgrade my PC until Sims 3 came out, because I figured that if I could get Sims 3 to play I could get anything to play!"

Same here ... but then when I finally did install it I didn't like it so went back to S2

But, the Sims is a good example of the difference between PC and console games. The PC version has better graphics, far more depth, and the player has far more control over the game environment. The console versions are fun, but they're more the sort of thing you dip into for a hour.

S3 had some good features, though I didn't like the fact that after spending a fortune on S2 expansion packs I then had to start all over again with S3. I'm sure S4 is probably due soon?

I found the console version of the Sims almost unplayable!

Well, of course some games will be more suited to certain control types. How we ended up in this heated debate I'm not quite sure, but I think the point I was trying to get across in the first place was that £1000 is a hell of a lot of money to pay for a machine to play games on. Especially when it seems that the majority of that cost is spent towards getting a few more pixels and a higher frame rate. Surely the strategy games and puzzlers which work so well on the PC don't need all that power.

And in terms of the PS3, I'm pretty happy with 1080p resolutions on my 1080p TV. It was cutting edge when it was released and still looks great now. Might not be quite up to the latest available tech, but it's not like it's unplayable or even ugly. And I know that as long as a game is made for PS3 it will run great on my PS3 which is more than can be said for stuff on the PC.

Anyway, it's been nice doing battle with you. I'm off for a gaming session now (after DS's bath!)

"Well, of course some games will be more suited to certain control types. How we ended up in this heated debate I'm not quite sure, but I think the point I was trying to get across in the first place was that £1000 is a hell of a lot of money to pay for a machine to play games on. "

Except most people aren't spending anywhere near £1000, and even if they were they'd be getting a hell of a lot for their money. My PC is worth every penny, whereas the consoles don't really get played enough to be worth their cost

You've obviously never played a good strategy game! Christ those things eat into your ram!

What are you playing? I'm hoping DS falls asleep soon so I can dive into my second playthrough of Dragon Age 2, or maybe The Journey Down.. hmm.. decisions.

Bit of F1 tonight! I play less since DS came along, used to get hours and hours of use out of my consoles. I get the feeling I may be late to the next generation party though.

I could sink hours into gaming, less so now. I'm just looking forward to when DS is old enough to play games with! Suspect it'll be a fair while until I end up with any next gen consoles either. It'll probably be a fair while until I end up with a new graphics card either! Dragon Age 3 better be playable or I'll go to EA and cry at them.

Forgot to say F1 looks damn good, DH even bought a steering wheel for it. Unfortunately we just don't have the time/space to play it, so it just sits in the cupboard.

MurderOfGoths The main thing that put me off S4 was the sims themselves - they look really creepy with their strange, lumpen faces uncannyvalley

Hopefully, when S4 appears EA will have reverted to more cartoony characters.

PedroPony I agree! £1000 is a lot for a machine to play games on ... but you really don't need to spend anywhere near that much. I'd guess that the big name computer retailers may charge those kind of prices, but there are plenty of other smaller retailers who are far more reasonable. Or you could go to a computer fair or assemble a machine yourself.

My pc cost about the same as a PS3, but it does more than just play games. I use it for work too and run powerful graphics, design and word processing packages. I couldn't do that on a console. Saying that, I'm genuinely not knocking consoles, I really enjoy using mine, it's just a very different gaming experience.

Hope you both enjoyed your gaming! With the hideous weather we have at the moment that sounds like a great way to spend the evening :)

I quite like the uncanny valley faces Do you know what I wish? I wish they would sort out the time, the Sims should not take an hour to go to the toilet!! And if they do then surely there should also be a Sims doctor?

The thing with sims is they just rehash the expansion packs for example, the next one due out is University... which I loved in S2 but am loathe to continue spending £20 a pop on expansion packs and yes I believe S4 has been announced for 2014

To be honest, it'll have to be amazing and be able to run without using up a 1gb of RAM in order for me to buy it, I'm sick of paying out for a game that is slowly cooking my PC to death.