Resignation or Revelation?
Van Hemlock | Friday, October 16, 2009 at 3:21PM So with the most recent show, my shameful secret has been revealed, and I am now a Console Gamer, proud owner of an Xbox 360 of my very own. I’ve not played an awful lot of titles on it yet; Burnout Paradise and Just Cause mostly, with a dip into Assassin’s Creed. Hell, there’s a natty ID card on the side bar, which can probably tell you what I’ve played more accurately than I can! Don’t believe it about the Hasbro Family Game Night thing though; I have never played that, and if I did, it was rubbish!
I’m trying not to race through the Achievement driven frenzy of it all too early, and want to make the most of the titles I’m borrowing from Jon, which significantly, seem to all be games of the Sandbox Open World type. But yes, enjoying the thing immensely so far, and only partly on the quality of the above titles themselves. A lot of it is wider than that, and I am constantly drawn to comparisons with my now sheepish looking so-called ‘gaming’ PC.
PC Gaming is a cultural thing for me; it was always gaming for ‘grown ups’, and some minor justification, however flimsy, that although I was essentially playing the same kinds of things as my console owning friends, I was doing so on a machine that could, in theory at least, run Spreadsheets or CAD Software, or a Development Suite. That I never personally used those things is neither here nor there! I’ve owned several PCs over the years, and in an organic kind of way, through DIY hardware upgrading, I’ve only owned the one PC, in spirit anyway. I built my early gaming PC myself, and felt proud, despite it basically being like a Lego set, only with an anti-static wrist-strap needed during construction, and my current PC was a Dell Special, the only hands-on work needed has been a succession of graphics cards over the last few years. In short, I’ve put a lot of work into my PC in one form or another.
Which is why I’m particularly dismayed to get the 360 out of it’s box, plug cable A into the mains and B into the TV and suddenly, instantly, and with no fuss, no expensive extras, no driver compatibility issues, no arseing about with Advanced Graphics Settings, no hunting the outer reaches of the internet for patches and updates, find myself playing a DirectX 9c/10 era PC title, only with all the bells and whistles, at more than 8fps, and on a comfier seat to boot! My PC is a few years old, granted, but cost about four times an Xbox360, and is probably around the same age, thinking about it.
It starts off as disbelief; how on earth can a game that detailed move that fast? Then chagrin; how dare a console be better than MY PC! Then ultimately embarrassment; why have I put up with PC gaming for so long?
I realise that I’m tired; tired of the constant benchmark chasing, tired of the game of Buckaroo that every PC game ‘Advanced Graphics Settings’ screen becomes, tired of the patching, tired of the bloated operating systems full of stuff I never use or need, tired of the ‘all PC owners are pirates’ attitudes and the distressing understanding that actually, a significant number of them are, and worse. Tired of phishing, viuses, tojans, and tired of the flimsy creaking universally uncomfortable office chairs and desks, of gaming in ‘The Study’.
I strongly suspect I have bought my last PC single-player game. When you add to that the constant bitching form The Industry we hear about DRM and Piracy, the sheer uphill bloody-minded struggle PC game development, publishing and retail seem to be becoming these days, its small wonder that the PC shelf space in Game is shrinking by the month. My respect for PC game developers increases in inverse proportion to my decreasing respect for the platform as a serious gaming venue, and at the end of the day, it makes sense. The Xbox360, and PS3 and Wii for that matter, are machines specifically and precisely designed for playing games on, while the PC…well, I doubt it was ‘designed’, as such, for any specific task really. It just sort of …happened; a jack of all trades and master of none.
So here I stand, at the end of an era, on the threshold of something else, with only MMOs holding the door to the past open. I’ve been banging on about wanting to see a true cross-platform MMO on current gen consoles for ages on the show, despite at the time, not having a console. I wonder how much of that was subconscious? This all could just be honeymoon stuff, but at present, I feel that if LotRO, GW, CoX and DDOU were available on the Xbox360, I’d probably only ever use my PC for surfing the web and word processing, perhaps the tasks for which it is best suited?
Tim 
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Reader Comments (18)
DAMNIT TIM! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO SUPPORT CONSOLES! You have offended me and all true multi-functional platform users. I demand an apology or I shall be forced to harass you a second time!
Hey VH.
You make a very good point. Like yourself, I'm a long-time PC gamer, and have never owned a console, so I guess I've always just accepted that searching for drivers, and tweaking the graphics settings, were how things were supposed to be. Anything less just isn't hardcore enough!
But then again...sometimes having an easy life is preferable.
I've never been tempted to buy consoles in the past because few non-MMO games are able to hold my attention (Burnout Paradise being a recent exception). However, if there were a wholesale move to consoles in the future, I could certainly be tempted.
But until then, I will remain a PC gamer, playing on the same PC I've owned since 1999 (except for all the bits I've changes since then...)
FotL
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RIP PC Gaming, 1981 - 2009.
If I could put an Xbox 360 (or PS3) under my desk, hook up a keyboard, mouse, my monitor and play WoW, EVE, LOTRO, or whatever MMO I happen to like, I would. The idea of standardized hardware for gaming is very appealing, red ring of death aside.
But during my various passes through console land I have found that I will not sit on the couch and play platform jumpers, driving games, or even LEGO based romps through my favorite action movies.
The problems with consoles, for me, isn't the hardware, which I covet for its standardization, but the games available, which just aren't my thing.
I felt a similar honeymoon period with my last two consoles, a Sega Genesis and a Wii, but I've always gone back to the PC.
So you're saying PC gaming is dead?
Sorry, it had to be said :P
I don't own any modern consoles, but that's mostly because the types of games I play (Strategy and simulations, mostly, and of course MMOs) aren't commonly available on consoles. I can certainly understand the appeal of a cheaper and (mostly) trouble free console over a computer, though.
Now that consoles are offering web browsing and a market place for indie games, I may have to re-evaluate my PC-only position.
I'm not suprised by your reaction as a new XBox360 owner. There is a reason people put up with the three red rings and even buy several of them to continue gaming while one machine is sent off for repairs. Gaming on this generation of consoles is extremely satisfying. Graphics, online integration, plug-and-play, etc., it's all top notch.
After a while though I suspect you will start to notice that there are a few cracks in that armor too. First, obviously as I already mentioned consoles break down. Losing an entire month a game time because of poor engineering is immensely frustrating. And if your unit or problem happens not to be covered by the warranty it can get costly too.
Next, at this point in the life cycle of the current gen consoles, multiplatform games are generally better on the PC, even a current 500$ PC. Just buy and plug in an Xbox360 controller for Windows as I think it's called and you can play the same games usually at higher resolutions, with better graphics, better physics, etc. And usually a few months after the console crowds, I'll allow you that.
Then there are user mods which are simply not available on consoles, DLC which is quite often still free on the PC and patches which are more readily available (I don't think Team Fortress 2 on consoles has yet to received any of the class updates for instance).
Finally Microsoft insists on not letting people play on their consoles with a keyboard and a mouse, so depending on the genre of games you enjoy playing (RTS) or your own dexterity level with a controller (FPS) some games will still be more enjoyable on the PC.
So in the end I expect you'll probably end up like me and play games on both consoles and PC. Deciding on a game by game basis which version you think you'll enjoy most.
To sum up, PC is dead. No wait, long live the PC. And the cycle continues.
An article on the new site - YAAAAAAAAAY!
Wait, I'm being abandoned to a silicone-enhanced floozy - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
She'll never love you like the PC will, Tim.
Congrats on the new site! Very bloo ...
I fall into another small, perhaps vanishingly tiny segment of gamers for whom consoles are not an option or of interest: namely those without a television. For me, my PC, as outmoded as it is, is my complete home entertainment centre.
Yes, it can get annoying watching DVDs on a 17" monitor (I think most PC owners have larger ones nowadays, so there's another anachronism for you), but still, I can't bring myself to lay out on a TV that, aside from the initial cost, would also require me to invest in a DVD player and at least a basic package from my local provider. And for what? 95% of the programmes on are of no interest to me, and the rest I can download or buy if I am willing to be patient.
And aside from the entertainment aspect, I do actually use some of the more advanced capabilities of my PC for work as well!
@misterchoo I don't watch DVDs on my PC, but I actually think my 360 looks better when I'm using the VGA cable to play games on a monitor, which I do when I want to watch TV while I play. I don't know if it's because the screen is smaller so you see the pixels less or my TV is rubbish.
I can understand that, Misterchoo. I have a TV almost entirely for visitor's benefit rather than my own and probably watch more iPlayer than actual TV.
In general, I think the real testing point for me will come when a proper so-called AAA MMO arrives for the 360, as despite all the above gushing, I still am very much in love with MMOs, which seem doggedly reluctant to cross the platform divide so far.
PC Gaming is dead!
Is it lunchtime already?
I recently got an 360 too.Jon actually helped me out a lot. Praise the Jon!
I'm also very impressed with how it works and the ease that which I can go from entering the room to gaming.
I would never give up my PC gaming though. There are several reasons for that. First I still think the PC is a better gaming machine, both graphically and sound wise. I realize that has everything to do with how much money, time and know-how, not to mention effort, I spend on it to be in shape. But still.
Secondly there are so many games that not available on the 360. And frankly the pricing on the 360 sucks (at least where I live) with 360 games usually just under double the PC price for the same title.
So I find myself adopting the stance I mostly do: WHY CHOSE? I can have both. I can play the games I prefer on the 360 on that system. If I want to be able to play 1st person shooters I also chose the PC, mostly. I suck at using the thumbpad in FPS games. I'm slowly getting better, but I suspect that I'll always be inept at it.
Yeah I agree with the thumbpad for shooters. Even in something like Halo you cannot be as precise as on a PC using a mouse. I preordered the PC version of Warfare for that reason.
But other action games, I'll get the xbox version. Probably after a few months once the price has come down ;).
Misterchoo you're not alone!
I got rid of my bulky old TV a year ago and my PC is now the only source of entertainment in my apartment (apart from singing in the shower).
When I don't play MMOs I play Fallout 3, and I couldn't imagine doing that still if it wasn't for the player made mods, which you can not get on a console.
So yay PC and boo everything else!
As a recent xbox convert too I wholeheartedly agree with everything youve said Tim. I suspect I'll always have the PC for EVE and strategy games but the 360 is fantastic for just switching it on and having a quick blast without worrying about drivers or whatever.
Another thing I find refreshing is the pre-owned market, bored with a game? just nip down Game and trade it in, or pickup another title cheap.
Your little spy tag over there says you played A Kingdom For Keflings. As one of the artists who worked on that lovely little game, I must express my thanks. (Of course, if you hated the game, well... that's unfortunate.)
Enjoying Kingdom For Keiflings far too much. Being of the comprehsive RTS Turtle type I've often been annoyed immensley when a wave of Evil Zerglings comes steamrollering in while I'm in the middle of trying to create a masterpiece of base contsruction, so it's refreshing to fiind one where that sort of thing just doesn't happen at all!
Good work on the artwork; the art direction works extremely well, and a genius move to use the 360 Avatar as the player character. Please could you find the person who did the music and give him/her a hard kick from me, ta. I'll be humming that thing for days!
I've actually never met our musician. He's an independent contractor. Maybe that's for his own safety, eh? :)
We've recently put out a title update for AKFK, by the way. It's in preparation for some upcoming DLC, and it makes Kefling transporters three times stronger, and much more useful.
The avatar was a stroke of luck in some ways. We were finishing up the game, and the Microsoft guys announced the avatars. It seemed to be a perfect fit, so we scrambled to get them in the game. We love how it turned out, and it's good to hear that others like it, too. :)
We definitely like the laid back vibe the game has; it's indeed perfect for turtlers. (Myself included.) There's just something so satisfying about building rather than destroying sometimes.