Not really good ones like we used to have.
All the really good ideas are now marketed towards consoles because publishers think that's where the money is. They're not wrong, but only because most people are to dumb or lazy to build and maintain a gaming PC. Let alone understand why it's better.
Most people don't have the money to drop on a high end gaming PC. You could argue that PC gaming is cheaper in the long run, but the up front cost is too much for most. Plus PCs have a lot of problems consoles don't typically have. It's almost always too much to ask for a PC game to just work without any hassle.Originally Posted by Cortexian
It's less costly up-front, too.
Instead of spending money on both a PC to go onto the interwebs/do office work with AND a console AND its affiliated hardware and subscriptions, just buy a better PC to do it all.
"But I prefer teh controll0rz and teh big TV."
Good news, they both work with the PC.
"But installations and updates!"
No worse than consoles these days, and at least you don't have ads on your desktop.
This is CE3, it will probably scale down to mid-range hardware pretty well, and a high-end system can be built for around $600-$700. This game will be releasing right when new consoles should be appearing. Assuming it's good, that puts this game in a position to leverage itself against people contemplating buying a new console...buy a new console or buy a PC to play Star Citizen?
That all said, this game is really niche. It's the type of game that *I* am a fan of. Stylized bullshit cartoons with simple and endearing mechanics can go to fucking hell, because I want my serious, in-depth, and detailed games with the most gorgeous realistic aesthetics you can get. I've been seriously deprived of my gaming joy, and I don't want this one to slip away.
The initial cost is higher by about $300 if you want a decent starting system instead of the cheapest you could possibly go. But the experience is definitely worth that extra $300.
Edit:
Console setup:
250GB Xbox 360 - $300
Extra Controller - $60
40" Samsung LED/LCD TV - $550
Total: $910
This is far from ideal as well, it's not a complete home theater. You can't watch blu-ray movies on it, and your speakers are just TV speakers. If you add a blu-ray player, A/V amplifier, and speakers you're looking at around $2,000. The extra controller is fairly common as well, I don't know ANYONE with only one console controller. You always need an extra for friends and stuff.
PC Setup:
Bitfenix Prodigy Mini iTX Case w/ USB 3.0, Midnight Black - $79.99
Intel Core™ i5-3450 Processor, 3.10GHz w/ 6MB Cache - $179.99
Corsair Hydro H60 High Performance CPU Cooler - $74.99
Asus P8H61-I w/ DDR3 1333, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, PCI-E x16 - $74.99
Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600MHz CL9 Dual Channel Kit (2 x 4GB) - $49.99
WD 500GB Caviar Black 7200rpm SATA III 32MB Cache Hard Drive - $89.99
LG CH12 Super Multi Blue 12x Internal SATA Blu-ray Disc Reader / Combo Drive, Black w/ Lightscribe - $69.99
eVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort - $299.99
Silverstone Strider Essential 700W Power Supply - $79.99
Sub-Total: $1,000
This is a system I recently built for a friend. It's awesome, and has way more muscle than a console. It's also a Mini-ITX case and it's extremely portable, much like a console. He wanted it that way so he and I could attend LAN parties and stuff together, or even just bring it over here easily if we wanted to play some games together for a day or a weekend.
Add some peripherals:
LG E2442TC-BN 23.6in Widescreen LED LCD, Black - $189.99
Logitech H360 USB Headset, Black - $49.99
Sub-Total: $240
Total: $1,240
I left out speakers and a keyboard and mouse because if you can't find some basic ones for cheap or free from a friend, then you need friends that hoard more things. You can probably find someone to assemble this little guy for you for free as well. I know that working with a Mini-ITX system is something a lot of system builders rarely get to do and would probably jump at the opportunity.
Price difference: $330
What do you get for that $330? A blu-ray player, a much higher power GPU and water cooled CPU, quality components that won't overheat or RROD/fail, etc... You get more because you pay for more. You add in a Blu-ray player ($70) so you can at least do most of the stuff you can on the PC and now you're up to $980 and the price difference is down to $260. You could probably cheapen the PC system a bit with a less powerful PSU and GPU and bring them within spitting distance of each other. The PC would still be the better bet.
As Warsaw said, the mid-range hardware will likely run he stuff in CE3 just fine as well. You don't need a super-high performance gaming system unless you're doing super-high performance things. Things like resolutions higher than 1080p for whatever reason (multi-monitors, larger res monitors), or just wanting to max out all the game settings (which there's usually no need to do).
Last edited by Cortexian; October 11th, 2012 at 02:17 AM.
If you can scrounge up some parts from old PCs (if you don't have any, take a visit to a landfill some time, they actually can have some useful shit), you can lower the cost considerably.
Heaven forbid American fat-asses have to put some thought into their lives to get the most of them.
Most people already have a TV. And yes, getting a console home and set up requires a lot less thought put into it. This is an entertainment product we're talking about here, that sort of thing makes a difference. I know one guy who plays Xbox 360 on a TV with a painfully noticeable ~100ms lag and he doeesn't even care. That should tell you the kind of audience consoles are targeting.
e: and about building a PC, yeah that's not going to happen. 99% of people I've talked to don't know what a PCI-Express slot is.
double e: a lot of it probably has to do with marketing too. Cause if there are ~$500 pre-built gaming PCs floating around out there, I've sure never heard of them. Whereas I see Xbox 360 ads all the damn time.
Last edited by Pooky; October 11th, 2012 at 06:34 AM.
You could make quick a few savings with this build. Ditch the H60 as there's no need for it unless you're going for an unlocked CPU for overclocking, get cheaper RAM that won't be wasted on that motherboard and go for a ~500w PSU instead.
Last edited by Btcc22; October 11th, 2012 at 07:52 AM.
Yeah I already mentioned that you could save money a few ways in the build. This build is actually based on an unlocked build that I made for a friend, that's why the H60 is in there. You're absolutely right though, you could take it out for this processor. The RAM I selected is already pretty cheap by my standards, I wouldn't go slower than CL9/1600MHz for ANY build. I also already mentioned a less powerful PSU.
@Pooky, most people I know also already own a monitor for a PC. Feel free to aid my side and just cut the new monitor cost out of the PC price as well. Most people also have earbuds or something for an iPod, go ahead and cut the headphones out as well!
I'm assuming you're getting into gaming properly and just just putting a mismatched system together or adding a game console to a tube TV.
This entire page should be deleted.
Yeah, probably. The funny part is, PC has always been my primary gaming platform. Certain people just get really mad when I suggest that it might not be absolutely perfect.
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