Is PC the best modern platform?

[seether]

Infinite backwards compatibility
Free online play
Deals constantly
Modding options
Different controller/keyboard mouse options
Key binding
Ability to be used for things other than gaming
Easy to listen to music/podcasts/youtube and other multi-task type things
Usable through multiple console generations
Super convenient to text type in game chat out
Entire game library carrying over to new console generations whenever they happen
Customisable - can upgrade graphics card to much better than console offerings if desired, can have higher graphic settings or lower graphic settings to improve appearance or FPS performance depending on preference etc.

Honestly, I may not even bother with a new xbox or playstation.

[jce3000gt]

I suppose if you either; do not have money to buy consoles and a PC OR prefer digital only PC may be for you. 

Personally I have lots of disposable income so I have a built PC and all consoles.  It’s a way i can have the most access to all games as possible.   

[oldgamerz]

Infinite backwards compatibility
Free online play
Deals constantly
Modding options
Different controller/keyboard mouse options
Key binding
Ability to be used for things other than gaming
Easy to listen to music/podcasts/youtube and other multi-task type things
Usable through multiple console generations
Super convenient to text type in game chat out
Entire game library carrying over to new console generations whenever they happen
Customisable - can upgrade graphics card to much better than console offerings if desired, can have higher graphic settings or lower graphic settings to improve appearance or FPS performance depending on preference etc.

Honestly, I may not even bother with a new xbox or playstation.

PC is ok, you can use almost any USB controller, but it does not have Infinite backwards compatibility even if you go digital games only, bottom line is, almost no Physical retro games will work properly on Windows 10 or 7 or 8 or Vista. A lot of video games you need to research on.

and People have bought games on Steam too, and they didn't work without crashing games like Roller Coaster Tycoon 1 and 2 won't work without a beta program called OpenRCT2, in which is a free downloadable program that is constantly being updated.

in my opinion, a modern windows 10 PC is only good for modern video games, retro is hit and miss. (edit)but Steam is ok for most games though come to think of it, I just do not recommend steam because it makes my PC run 3 times slower at boot-up

Ups:
1:Great for ripping and listening to a music collection.
2:Great for watching Movie if you have a disc drive or internet connection
3:Great for browsing the internet and blog sites like this one
4:Great for artwork, video editing, making videos, doing work (etc)
5:Great for illegal activity such as downloading ROM and pirated free games, if you feel like doing that. I would not recommend that.

Bad
1: for gaming in my own opinion because a lot of PC games don't work on a modern PC even a few games off steam.
2: It's more expensive for a modern gaming experience then consoles
3: requires a lot of attention, then most other gaming devices, you need to keep it updated.

[sworddude]

If where talking anything non nintendo related a heavy yes.

Almost all sony and xbox games have pc ports, wich are usually superior in grapics plus better online aside from having a more easier time for mods.


That being said though playing a big screen and couch co op gameplay is still a nice advantage for consoles though no questions asked for that reason alone people rather play on a console than on pc

@seether

Free online play is not the case though.

your paying for those monthly internet fees wich are far more than sony and microsofts online services for 1 year.  also speaking of subscriptions on pc you have mmorp's in wich you pay monthly subscriptions to keep servers up. That's for a single game wich is again way pricier than even microsoft or sony online,

also pretty much all advantages are just coming from that a pc costs allot more money and they are bigger, they don't need to optimize space like game consoles

So pricier plus not needing to be space efficient wich always influences proces power in a bad way. I better hope pc is better than a console in the end since money limiations don't apply plus being big not being an issue in that consumer base. consoles need to look nice in the living room after all.


@oldgamerz

there is always a way to make a ton of games work on pc

It cannot be denied that pc overall is great with compatability of even really old games. on a console you dont even have those options. you'd be hard pressed to find an old pc game to not work at all. it will work wether new ports come available or if your using the correct software. there is hardly any pc game out there wich does not work at all on a modern gaming pc.

[tripredacus]

Infinite backwards compatibility
Entire game library carrying over to new console generations whenever they happen

These are incorrect. PC is not as obvious as to what a generation is. There are roadblocks in processors, sound/video cards, OS versions and architecture types. The plus side is that you have an opportunity to work around the issue, which is something you can't really do on a console.

True hardware and software backwards compatibility isn't infinite. Most people are using VMs to run things that won't work on their current OS. I do not consider a VM as having anything to do with the compatibility of a game to a computer. A VM is no different than using an emulator. You don't consider a Wii to be backwards compatible to NES because you can run roms on an emulator? Why would computers be any different?

The one thing that PC has that consoles doesn't, is gatekeeping. This is when developers actively block certain things. For example, when Steam forced an update that blocked use of Steam on XP. It wasn't a situation of them releasing an update that didn't work on XP, but an update that prevented the software from working on XP. This happened without warning and made it so existing users couldn't access their games anymore.

[oldgamerz]

@oldgamerz

there is always a way to make a ton of games work on pc

It cannot be denied that pc overall is great with compatability of even really old games. on a console you dont even have those options. you'd be hard pressed to find an old pc game to not work at all. it will work wether new ports come available or if your using the correct software. there is hardly any pc game out there wich does not work at all on a modern gaming pc.

I know their are stable engines for Duke Nukem 3D and Doom, but for some reason, they need to be accepted through the firewall, I don't like having holes in my firewall.

Another example of  PC game compatibility issues is

The Sims 2 Double Deluxe will install on Windows 10. But the original 4 disc release of The Sims 2 base game. I heard will not install. Not sure if their is a way around that, other then the buy the Double Deluxe edition and abandon the original release of the base game.

EA no longer sells or gives away The Sims 2, I heard the only alternative to having this game on your PC is to pirate

[toodlebug500]

I think it depends if you want to sit and play games at a desk... I work at a desk all day so I like to take a break from it when I want to play games, I prefer a sofa, console and controller.

[oldgamerz]

Now their is a way through tweaking the file options (one example is) like setting compatibility options. up for an earlier windows operating system, sometimes it works, some times it don't.

Roller Coaster Tycoon 2: Triple Thrill Pack installs on Windows 10 from the disc or from Steam fine, and tweaking the compatibility option works. Until you play it again sometime. Then you get an error message and the game will not even boot up again (like a ticking time bomb) until you go and download OpenRCT2, and use that engine instead.

(edit) Running a game as Administrator works most times also

I think it depends if you want to sit and play games at a desk... I work at a desk all day so I like to take a break from it when I want to play games, I prefer a sofa, console and controller.

agreed and welcome to the forum @toodlebug500

[sworddude]

Infinite backwards compatibility
Entire game library carrying over to new console generations whenever they happen

These are incorrect. PC is not as obvious as to what a generation is. There are roadblocks in processors, sound/video cards, OS versions and architecture types. The plus side is that you have an opportunity to work around the issue, which is something you can't really do on a console.

don't disagree with that, that's correct

However original physcial games compatibility is far larger though if where talking era's You can play most physical  disc based games on windows 10. windows 1995 era games in 2020. That's some pretty nice backwards compatibility. no emulator needed probably even some earlier games just one easy example.

Yes for floppy disc games most people will use an emulator but you could use an original pc game of 1995 on windows 10 but If I'm looking at ps4 I cannot play original ps1 or ps2 games or ps3 games. everything is an emulator for all those games atm.

and in the past backwards compatibility was just limited to 1 to in some rare occasions 2 console generations wich pc surpassed by allot.   wii only had cube. I think ps3 was the only console to have backwards compatibility with 2 console generations. and gba if you count gameboy color and classic as seperate gens wich I do not.

And again if where talking emulation, pc obviously has the big advantage here since you have more to work with. so it outclasses consoles by allot. with emulation everything is preserved on pc while a console always has limitations. let alone being able to play said games in multiplayer online wich you could never do on a console. Mario party etc with friends online even super mario party can't do that. Pc allows you to even play n64 mario party titles with friends who aren't even next to you. or smash bros melee  wich didnt have online to begin with. and pc allows to use a controller of choice, so you can use OG controllers on pc with the correct adapters.

if where talking current and last gen games running on pc. The PC actually added the details back in wich are left out in console releases for games as xenoblade X on wii u and far more. details wich the console was not powerfull enough to also use and where left out on the Og releases.

[tripredacus]

Depending on which Windows 10, if you are using 64-bit Windows 10, you can't run any 16-bit games. And a lot of 32-bit games had 16-bit installers. If those installers weren't Wise, InstallShield or some other "open" format, you can't even install them. Sometimes a 32-bit game would have a 16-bit resource that couldn't be used.

I also forgot about display limitation, beyond color mode. One example being that you can't play NHL 08 on a 16:9 monitor without modding the game. Other issues such as Heroes of Might and Magic won't work on XP unless you build a custom AppCompat database. Diablo doesn't work on XP either.

Sims 2 using original discs cannot be used without using a crack because the Sims 2 Launcher doesn't work. It doesn't work because it required to visit a website that Maxis had taken down some years ago. Can't launch the game without the launcher and the launcher crashes because the website doesn't exist.

Then again, these are all "old" issues that may have been fixed with modding in recent years. I haven't checked. Modding is probably the biggest plus on the PC side, although modern consoles are just low-end PCs that are also possible to mod. You are just limited by the interface and the fact that the demographics on console vs PC are different. PC users are more likely to know how to change things inside their system while console people are not. It is typically the cross-over people who end up making mods or hacks for consoles, not the other way around.

[sworddude]

Then again, these are all "old" issues that may have been fixed with modding in recent years. I haven't checked. Modding is probably the biggest plus on the PC side, although modern consoles are just low-end PCs that are also possible to mod. You are just limited by the interface and the fact that the demographics on console vs PC are different. PC users are more likely to know how to change things inside their system while console people are not. It is typically the cross-over people who end up making mods or hacks for consoles, not the other way around.

Exactly, and low end has a ton of limitations.

Any medium to high tier pc has a ton more options that you just cannot achieve on a console.

it doesnt matter how much skill one has, a console is limited by being low end it will always have less options than a pc no matter what you do.

But again it's only logical since mid to high tier pc's cost way more and obviously do not have to be small to look nice in a living room. Things being more compact might force less efficient hardware. to come out. Phones of 1000$ + are for example almost 3 times more expensive yet suck big time compared to a low end pc of just 300 -  500$ range and obviously even consoles as the switch that beat it. if consoles could be as big as they wanted to be and wouldn't care about design they would be way more powerfull at it's current price point.

[telekill]

I'm not a fan of PC gaming. I'm not a fan of their top most genres with RTS, FPS and MMOs.

I also don't really like the userbase much. People today are so full of themselves that's it's pretty disgusting. It goes across all platforms of course, but PC considering themselves the "Master Race", is pretty ugly. Also, I don't really want to play with people throwing on cheats as fast as they can type. It ruins the game for everyone else, which I suppose is the point.

Then on top of that, I don't like the digital only space. I'll be buying physical games for as long as they're offered.

It's only until this 4th tier of disappointment that the cost of having to upgrade the system more regularly than the console generations to be at the top tier of power.

[Cartagia]

PC is unquestionably the best - provided that you have the money, time, and skill to set it up properly.

[oldgamerz]

The ability to download mods for games is great, I've used a lot of mods for Duke Nukem 3D and Doom, most of them  offer completely new levels to play, new guns, new enemies, and the choice of mods for those games alone are endless, mods are mostly free to download too. there are thousands of free mods for both those 2 games, and most are fan made.

the highlight of PC if you know what your doing is excellent, but today I prefer consoles because I never had a console growing up for the most part.

If you can get your game to work on a PC, yea, it's fun