Next generation consoles. What is your "strategy"?

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I used to be into consoles myself, but recent years have changed this. The blasted things have gotten less and less interesting, while still remaining expensive.

And the variety is horrible! There is none! It's all FPS, cutscene-heavy RPGs, FPS, GoW clones, FPS, and FPS!

I still have a PS3, but it's used so rarely that I dont actually know where the blasted thing went, and havent cared enough to look for it yet.... it's in my room SOMEWHERE but....ehhhh. Dont care enough. I have a 360.... but it's a Japanese unit, used for import shmups and pinball. I used to have an American unit, but.... the thing got used even less than the PS3! It basically ended up being this utterly pointless brick that was a waste of space, so I ended up giving the horrid thing away. Havent missed it for a second. And as for Nintendo.... I've had a strong hatred for Nintendo since the Gamecube era, and the Wii was sort of the final straw. No more Nintendo devices for me.


Instead, I've switched over completely to PC gaming. And not just "retail" PC games.... oh, I'll play some of the larger ones, like the recent Xcom, or Civ 5..... but alot of what I play is indie games. I get the variety and depth and challenge with those that I simply do not find on the consoles anymore. there's no end to the amazing stuff on PC (in EVERY genre), and interesting releases show up very frequently. I also play MMOs as well, though NOT WoW. Currently my main MMO is Rift.

If you know where to look.... and I do.... there's so much good stuff out there for PC, and more coming all the time.

I also do iOS gaming, and no, I dont mean just "casual" games like Angry Birds. Things like bullet-hell shmups and roguelikes are more along the lines of what I like, and I've alot of both on there.

As for the new consoles? Zero interest. I have yet to see or hear of even a single game that makes me want one, and the "feature" list on the things sounds absolutely horrible.

I'm sorry, I have to ask, but where in the world did you get that idea? *Every* genre.... and I really do mean ALL of them.... are well represented on PC. I wouldnt bother with it otherwise, because I have a low attention span and like to switch from one game to the next... and from one genre to the next.... rapidly and at random. MMOs, turn-based strategy games, shmups, roguelikes, RPGs, simulation, arcade, retro, action, adventure, platforming, puzzle, RTS, beat-em-up, tower defense.... You name it, and I probably have at least 10 of it on this machine alone (except sports and FPS games, the only 2 genres I dont like). The trick is to know where to look; PC gaming is NOT like console gaming; if all you do is watch for the "big-name" games and follow only the major gaming sites, you're going to miss out on 99.99% of what is available for it. Console gaming requires very little research, as alot of it is done by large companies with big marketing, who'll do damn near anything to shove it in your face as much as possible. Wheras alot of PC games are done by people who simply want to make a good game, and dont focus so much on advertising or any of that (if they do it at all!).

For whatever reason, alot of people (almost always console gamers) seem to have this idea that the PC is all FPS, RTS and MMOs... which I can say is wrong (I dont have any FPS games, and while I like MMOs I only have a few on here, and I dont do RTS very often).

Whut? I don't know any good exclusive JRPG on PC. Not one good exclusive platformer. Not one good exclusive racer. Not one good exclusive beat-em-up. Not one game in the likes of Journey, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus. Not one good party game like Guitar Hero.

The vast majority of indie games that are actually worth your money, are also available on PSN/XBL. Consoles provide 90% of the games you can find on PC... And a ton of games PC doesn't have.

I was about to respond to that myselft. There is a set of games only designed for being played with keyboard and mouse and stable internet connection - that is, exclusive for PC. Then there a few console flagcarriers such as Gran Turismo, that make the PC crowd miss out. But Guitar Heroes aside, I stand by the notion that PC has more games!

I got burned by buying the original Xbox and the 360 (neither had many games I truly liked) so I'll be sticking with Sony this gen, unless Nintendo finally gets their heads out of their aft ends and stop relying on gimmicks.

I bought an Xbox360 and kept it offline. Looks like they closed that little loophole...

Well see, you never said they had to be exclusive. I'm sure there's plenty of good JRPGs on the PC (especially if you count emulation, which for the sake of argument, I will not).



One of the few racing games I actually like is exclusive to the PC: Carmageddon (the console versions were actually heavily censored, watered-down ports of the sequel). I also used to like Test Drive III a lot, though it hasn't aged very well.



I guess that is true...

...if you don't count the Guitar Hero games that are for PC...... You can even use your console controllers to play them with. I think only 3, 4, and Aerosmith were ported to the PC, though.

It's not as much fun to have all your friends huddled around your computer monitor, though.



Maybe that's true if you pretend that there was no such thing as a PC game or a videogame console before the year 2009. There are tons and tons of PC games that are either unavailable on consoles, or the console ports are either really bad, or just not as good, or only released in certain territories (for example, a lot of RPG ports to consoles were only released in Japan). Even today, most cross-platform games (take anything by Valve software, for instance) have much better graphics and higher framerates on the PC, can be purchased at much cheaper prices, and obviously have much larger customization/modding opportunities (and you don't have to subscribe to Live to play them online).

I normally buy a new PC around every 5 years. I normally wait until a new generation of systems, so that I can upgrade the PC very long and dont get to hear after one year: "Sorry, but you cant upgrade your graphic device, because the slots dont match anymore."

Additional I have a console for easy gaming, but I never was one of the "I need to have it on release day." but normally I buy them about a year after they have been released. The first consoles released often have some issues that the engineers only know, with long time experiences of gamers. (As example the first X-Box series had ventilation problems and due to it problems with heat. The series afterwards had that problem already solved.) Also the price for the console is a year afterward around 30% less, specially when you wait for christmas bundles, that normally offer you a second controller or other devices, 2-3 games and so on...

Another advantage of waiting a year is, that you dont have to relie on comparing technical datas to choose the system you want, but can relie on gamers experiences.

"Never pay on release day!" ^^

Japan players are much into consoles and less into PCs so you hardly will find JRPG designed for the PC. For easy party gaming I have the console, its simply more userfriendly for party guests who are not much into gaming, and are not used to keyboards and mouse. PC may have no exclusive games, but simply can offer you any game much better, because of being able to have much much more power then a console that exists with the same technical data for about 10 years. And I dont specially talk about graphics.

As example RPGs that are not simply console copies, offer you much better handling, better menu structures, much-much-much better graphics. Also gametechnic can be much better, because of the more power or the PCs. Most shooters for console have very limited numbers of players, so as example Battlefield only offers you 12 vs. 12 players map. (= 3 vs. 3 squads) At some of the great maps its hardly possible to play tactical, simply because you dont have a chance to overview and control a map with only 3 squads. When you play on the PC its 32 vs. 32 players. So you cant simply try runnng around without brain and hope that you find the unguarded area on accident, but you are forced to gather intel, make up plans due to your intel and to overcome the other side by tactic and plans instead of simply hoping, that you find the unguarded spot. ^^ I like it that way much more. Also on helicopter or airplane maps the console really sucks, because if one squad is in the helicopter, the ground troops are reduced by 1/3, so you often simply cant use the aircraft as you could, because your remaining ground troops would be weakened to much and loose ground. While on the 32 vs. 32 games one squad that plays effectively with a helicopter gives the remaining 28 gamers a good advantage.

So I do play Battlefield also on the console, because some friends of us only have a console and for party guests that play other shooters on console its very easy to get into the game, but the 12 vs 12 games simply cant compare themselve with the 32 vs 32 games. The first is a rumble and the second is a "Battlefield" as it should be. ^^

There are also no real MMORPGs for console (so Diablo, Sacred and co is an action grinder for me, but cant be compared to a real Multiplayer RPG, Final Fantasy tried it but that japanese grind MMORPGs never really made it around europe, simply to boring, specially when you are used to having a good interface and menu devices instead of primitive gamecontroller menus. I simply dont get it, why the consoles dont match up with mouse and keyboards interface. -.-) But that topic may also be simply due to different likings. So many may cry out because of me saying that there are rarely good RPGs on the console, because of Final Fantasy, but Final Fantasy simply is no RPG for me. I have no possibilities for character design, I have no possibilites for character desicions during the story (Maybe it got better, but the last Final Fantasy parts, the story was always offered by videos you only could watch, without the possibility to do something meanwhile. O_o If I want that, I watch a film and dont play a game. And the rest is simply stupid grinding. O_o)

Independent designers normally also offer for the PC, because they dont need to have contracts with Microsoft or sony first to offer their games there. As example Portal was one of that games, that got so successful, that the designers could afterwards offer it on consoles. So that indiegames you speak off, wouldnt have been available on console, if they hadnt had the chance to be successful on the PC before. A RPG is for me something that lets me experience the story and my character, not watch it. -.-

For local producers its also easier to produce for the PC. As example the witcher series only could be produced for the console, because of the first witcher part, produced by a local polish company, based on a phantasy books that are hardly known outside the eastern-europe area, was sold so well upon their fanbase in that area. Its the same with minecraft. Also started with a PC fanbase, and because of it being so popular it also was developed for console. And for your exclusive games: Many of the small sequels that were as exampled offered for games like Fallout 3, Skyrim, ... are only a small part of what was offered for the PC by gamers themselves. So the PC gives gamers the option to take a game and do their own stories with the game mechanics and share them freely on each other. What you receive at the end for the console are only the most popular parts of it, but there are much, much more existing.

Maybe Battlefield 3 is not released exclusively for the PC, but Battlefield 3 for console (which I also play) simply is only a light or testversion. If you want to play the game, as it really was designed (and I dont mean graphics, but the graphic is also much better XD) you need the PC version. (Specially the aiming is sh***y. With a mouse I simply can point where I want with the speed that I want. If I want to shoot really, really fast in the corner of the right upper end of the screen I do so as fast as I want to. At the console you always have to mess around with the sensibility: Give it to much sensibility and you can aim fast, but also can easily overaim, give it to less sensibility and you can see your goddamn cursor move around the screen and until you reach the point you are already three times dead. At the PC I simply can be "as sensible" as I want, and if I want to move my cursor slower or faster I can change in every moment, simply by moving the mouse slower and faster. And how dumb is it to release a game, where you can fly airplanes, but not adapt it to joysticks on the console? O_o)

So I like the console for easygoing playing, so you dont have to mess around with getting your game started in the quality you want, but PC will always be my nomber 1 console, simply because it may have the same game titles, but in a much better game quality, better game graphic and with more player freedom. (When it comes to playing and when it comes to develop gadges on your own. So it gives you more possibilities to design the game as you personally want to play it. Its a silly example but: Try getting the nude-woman enhancement for Witcher on the console. ^^

I'm sorry, but besides multiplayer titles such as Battlefield, I don't know know a single PC version of a game where the gameplay is better on PC due to the difference in performance power. And I don't consider the prettier graphics on PC to be worth the much higher price that PC gaming demands...
What they do offer however is mods, that I can get behind.

"because they dont need to have contracts with Microsoft or sony first to offer their games there." MIcrosoft is the only one demanding indie developers to have a contract with them. Sony does not.
PC still provides a better selection of indie games sure, but that bigger selection is becoming smaller and smaller by the minute. Especially since we're on the advent of the next generation. Indie developers have been praising Sony for the ease they have providing PlayStation with their games. And since PS4 uses already existing, be it modded, PC hardware, porting those games to PlayStation is only getting easier
PC is going to lose that advantage soon.

"There are also no real MMORPGs for console"
Yet. FFXIV : A Realm Reborn is coming up and it looks like it's going to be a success.

And there's something a lot of PC gamers forget to take into consideration.
PC performance power doubles every 2 year. Every new game is finetuned to the latest technology. On top of that there are tons of different processors, types of RAM, types of graphic cards, etc. PC games have to take all of those into consideration.
The performance behind a console is constant thing. This means that developers, a few years after the launch, are able to make more efficient use of console hardware than PC hardware.
I mean, try building a PC with the same specs as a PS3 and try running any game on it that looks as good as say, the Last of Us. It's impossible with any game, even at minimum settings.
So whereas PC games might (this is just a purely speculative number, I have no idea how much it really is) use 50-60% of the total performance the system provides, eventually developers learn to use over 90% of the performance power a console provides.
Which means that consoles can provide the same games with exactly the same graphic output, using less powerful technology.

You can buy a gaming rig that lasts as long as a console generation, but you'll spend at least twice the money on hardware alone.


So all in all where PC's provide the best online multiplayer experience and have tons of mods for their games, a console is still better for hardcore single player games than PC.

I also play lots of single player games, and I prefer them on the PC.

At normal RPGs like Risen, Skyrim, Mass Effect, .... the interface and menus simply suck because of the gamepad controlling I personally hate. (A part I will never understand: X-Box even has a fitting keyboard, there are simply no games working with it. Its not only about gaming, but to be able to communicate with others, without hearing them singing, sobbing, shouting, yelling or whatever... O_o )

"Classic" story RPGs with P&P background technics, that were not and are not released for consoles, so as example the Wizardry series, the D&D games like Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter Nights..., Might and Magic Series, the actual Drakensang and DSA series (not the Online action game) and comparable...

Many adventures I love, comparable to "The whispered world", "Satinavs Chains", Sam and Max, Simon the Sorcerer, The Vieh Chronicles, ... Very few of them were and are released on consoles, but Point and Click adventures loose some of their spirits, when you cant point and click. ^^

Strategy or economic games like the warcraft, starcraft, command and conquer series (I think they even tried with warcraft or command and conquer on the console, but it completely flopped.), because you simply need all that keyboard shortkeys and a precise mouse to be able to play it effectively. I dont have time, to watch the map scrolling. ^^ Heroes of Might and Magic, Age of Empires, Anno-Series, Civilisation and lots of Trade or Midievil Simulations I dont know if they were released on english, but that are very popular in german and european area as Die Hanse (the Hanse?), die Siedler (settlers?), der Patrizier (the royal? ^^), die Gilde (the guild? ^^), ...

Lots of shooters like doom, crysis...

I think its simply our different game favorites, that let us favor console and PC differently. So you said you favor J-RPGs, Beat em Ups and Racing Games. And I fully accept without any arguing with you, that if you like those, you will have more fun with a console, simply because many of them are not released on a PC, while Sony and Nintendo as asian producers have plenty of them. (While as far as I now, you can emulate and crack even PS3 and X-Box games on the PC with the right gear.) While I dont play any of those (except Mortal Combat on the S-NES XD), and instead would miss specially my P&P based Single RPGs, my Point and Click Adventures, and my economic and roundstrategic games that are sadly often not offered on consoles.

I can't afford to even MAKE a good computer, much ratherless buy one. The systems Ive got are usually less than $300, then again I use a-lot of discounts.

Won't upgrade for at least 12 months after both PS4 and One are out, once the price has come down and the inevitable early model build issues have been sorted out, particularly so long as Xbox Live is still active for the 360 - we use ours as much for stuff like Lovefilm and TV apps as for gaming so at that point we'd have to upgrade. Since 360 games won't be compatible with X1 I have no particular reason to stick with Xbox this time around so I'll see which format works out better value probably when the time comes.

1) Sigh... Way to overstate things.
2) And where did I imply that? When I said earlier, speculatively, "eventually developers learn to use 90% of the console's power (I don't think anyone will ever be able to tap into the device 100%), that's what they're at now. If you compare the graphics of the first PS3 games with those of some of the latest, you can see a strong evolution. An evolution on purely constant hardware. While that evolution in PC is mainly due to the evolution of the of the hardware itself.
At the end of a console's cycle the disparity between it and a gaming rig is huge. But for the first few years, it's not nearly as big.

By the time you notice such a huge difference, the console's successor is there. And for again less money than a new gaming rid. And lasts longer.*
3) I should have said most consumer friendly. Best is indeed matter of taste.
4) The menus in Skyrim worked perfectly on PS. The only drawback was scrolling through items instead of being able to click. But the shortcuts were fast enough to do blindly.
5) Get used to a controller and play Heavy Rain. It's not point and click because it's a controller, but it's kind of an evolution of the genre.
6) This has a lot to do with experience. I've always been a console gamer, was only into PC gaming a few years when I had a top of the line laptop for that time.
I do fully agree with you that mouse is better for aiming. It would be stupid for me to deny this.
However, I've been using dualshock since for 14. I've played adventure, shooters, rpg's, ... There were already FPS games on the first PlayStation using the dual stick scheme. This has caused me to actually play FPS better on console than on PC. PC gamers say "Can you line up a headshot instantly?" Actually, I can. I moved my aim at the same time as my character was moving his eye to the scope, on a running character a few meters ahead of me and lower than me in a 45° angle, one shot, one kill. It's not that much harder really.

You basically named all the genres that are more playable with a PC. However, the vast majority of genres works better with a controller. So yes your preferences are more to the genres that play well on PC, but for most people I think it's safe to assume they will prefer a controller.
Now of course I know you can buy good controllers for PC, but as far as my experience goes, it really isn't the same thing as a version of the game that was specifically designed for a controller.

7) You are absolutely right to say that a lot of this has to do with our differences in taste. I do however find it safe to assume, that consoles have a much bigger appeal for the average gamer than PC.

You still seem to be implying that PC games did not exist before the XBox 360

Yes I was solely talking about this generation.

I agree with you, sixstring. There's not much I can play on PC that isn't already on console.

And there's plenty of stuff on console that I can't play on PC, not even through emulation. Games like Yakuza, Blue Dragon, Cross Edge, any of the Dynasty Warriors games, Sengoku Basara, Ratchet and Clank, etc. All PC has that I really care to play are older games like Doom, Fallout 1 and 2, and Diablo. Indie games are for the most part, really pretentious and just as boring as some of the bigger offerings, so they make no difference to me either.

There's also the fact that companies get more bang for their buck out of consoles. You only have to upgrade a console once every 7-10 years. With a PC, you have to upgrade every half a year just to play that newest game. To me, it's not worth it.

Seem like the PS4 and Xbox One CPU is not very good. http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/ps4-and-xbox-one-s-amd-jaguar-cpu-examined/0116297

If I had money I would like to buy a powerful computer for this generation, as it allow more freedom. Something with a good GPU and a CPU having lot of power by core. (The last one for being able to play on any emulator.)

Edit: And buy a 3DS too. Propably there for the most interesting exclusives.