PC games online

[Apocalypse]

If you have a high end Pc and don't mind paying to upgrade every 6 months or so then nothing can touch a Pc.

Some games will always work better on a console in terms of controls as they are uniform (mostly sports, action or platform titles), where as they can sometimes be a bit awkward on Pc unless you have a controller that suits the game well. I used to have 4 just to play various games comfortably but they have improved a bit since then.

Some multi platform titles seem lazily done on Pc too, Transformers for example (i know it's a bad game on all platforms) seems to need a higher spec Pc than it really should. I guess that is countered by the cheaper price though.

FPS, RTS, simulation and mmorpg can't be beat on Pc however.

I like mmorps on Pc but i wouldn't play one that needed me to pay a monthly subscription because if you don't play for a while it's wasted money. I play Guild Wars as you just buy the game then play for free.

Upgrading gives bragging rights. You can still enjoy PC gaming without spending a fortune. Ofcourse, it will be higher in cost compared to any console, but thats only because the PC offers much more then any console could. But you still don't NEED a high-end gaming machine to enjoy most PC games.

As for the controls, I don't completely agree. The few times I need a controller, I can always just plug up my usb Nyko Air Flo ex controller and it's done.

As far as FPS.....nothing has beaten the versatility a PC can offer for controls. The precision offered by using a mouse is easily better then any controller. All of my halo-crazed friends think their hardcore because they spend hours playing on their 360, but when I challenge them on my PC, their wasted away. No competition. Even when they use a USB controller, the precision I have with a mouse is still more then they can handle.

PC's are just a completely different beast all on their own. It's just ridiculous trying to compare them to consoles. But for online gaming.....I still think they offer the best experience.

 

[strommsarnac]

Wow people. I've been a PC gamer since the start.

You DON'T need to upgrade your PC every 6 months or even every two years to play PC games!!! Geesh.

Any $500 PC/Monitor (bring RAM to a total of at least 1GB) with XP will run %90 of the games on the market. No it won't run Crysis on even medium settings, but come on, Crysis brings Triple-8800GTX systems to a crawl.

I can say for a fact (as I have old PC's my family still uses) that even an old P3-1Ghz system can play most FPS, RTS, RPG games without any problem. You just won't be able to crank the settings way up or the resolution.

Just for comparisons. I have an old Socket 423 P4 running at 1.4ghz with 512MB RAM, GeForce 5200 and XP. It runs ALL HL.../CS games, Unreal (UT->2004), Diablo 1/2, FarCry, BF1942 and 2 (not 2142 well), Sacred, Dungeon Siege 1/2, Dungeon Lords, Quake 1-3, and I don't know how many others. No it won't run UT3 BF2142, Crysis or CoD4 but come on, those even exceed the specs of ALL current consoles (PS3 included).

Here's the thing with PC gaming. The games aren't crippled the way they are for consoles. With the exception of MMO's and games requiring internet authentication (ALL Steam games now) you will get years and years of replay. As you upgrade your system, you'll get better graphics and sounds. For the most part, multiplay doesn't require a revolving fee.

The best thing is that there are usually TONS of add-ons for FREE. I have over 3GB of Unreal Tournament maps (%95 of them GREAT maps). I have more CS maps and almost as many HL1 maps. I'm close to 2GB of UT2004 maps. It's just amazing how much PC games are allowed to do with their games versus console gamers.

That all said, if you have $600 to spend, what should you do? Tough choice. If you don't mind spending $60us on games that'll only give you 10-20 hours of single play and online play fades away in 6 months, then go buy a 360 or PS3.

If you'd rather have years of replay, buy an inexpensive PC and upgrade it as you get money. Just released games only run about $50 and can usually be found for lots less. Games more than 6 months old can usually be found for less than $40. I just bought BF2142 for $19 new. I bought BF2 a few weeks ago for $9.

 

[Apocalypse]

Wow people. I've been a PC gamer since the start.

You DON'T need to upgrade your PC every 6 months or even every two years to play PC games!!! Geesh.

Any $500 PC/Monitor (bring RAM to a total of at least 1GB) with XP will run %90 of the games on the market. No it won't run Crysis on even medium settings, but come on, Crysis brings Triple-8800GTX systems to a crawl.

I can say for a fact (as I have old PC's my family still uses) that even an old P3-1Ghz system can play most FPS, RTS, RPG games without any problem. You just won't be able to crank the settings way up or the resolution.

Just for comparisons. I have an old Socket 423 P4 running at 1.4ghz with 512MB RAM, GeForce 5200 and XP. It runs ALL HL.../CS games, Unreal (UT->2004), Diablo 1/2, FarCry, BF1942 and 2 (not 2142 well), Sacred, Dungeon Siege 1/2, Dungeon Lords, Quake 1-3, and I don't know how many others. No it won't run UT3 BF2142, Crysis or CoD4 but come on, those even exceed the specs of ALL current consoles (PS3 included).

Here's the thing with PC gaming. The games aren't crippled the way they are for consoles. With the exception of MMO's and games requiring internet authentication (ALL Steam games now) you will get years and years of replay. As you upgrade your system, you'll get better graphics and sounds. For the most part, multiplay doesn't require a revolving fee.

The best thing is that there are usually TONS of add-ons for FREE. I have over 3GB of Unreal Tournament maps (%95 of them GREAT maps). I have more CS maps and almost as many HL1 maps. I'm close to 2GB of UT2004 maps. It's just amazing how much PC games are allowed to do with their games versus console gamers.

That all said, if you have $600 to spend, what should you do? Tough choice. If you don't mind spending $60us on games that'll only give you 10-20 hours of single play and online play fades away in 6 months, then go buy a 360 or PS3.

If you'd rather have years of replay, buy an inexpensive PC and upgrade it as you get money. Just released games only run about $50 and can usually be found for lots less. Games more than 6 months old can usually be found for less than $40. I just bought BF2142 for $19 new. I bought BF2 a few weeks ago for $9.

All the more why I prefer PC over any console.

 

[Budo]

They're all pretty much free, except for the MMO's as mentioned. And even then, it's actually very cheap compared to what I've been spending on Wii games.

If you build a PC yourself, and spend about $1200-1500, you'll be fine for about 2 years with new games on high settings. After that, the new games coming out will require you to use medium settings or something similarly named. You really only need to upgrade your computer every 4-5 years or so. If you want bragging rights, then yea, upgrade every 8-month graphic cycle.

 

[Atomheart]

pc has THE best fps and rts titles.

big downside is that you have to upgrade your hardware constantly to support new games...pc may have great games and great graphics, but it's hella costly.

If you want to stay on the cutting edge of hardware and games. The good thing about PC games and their online modes is that you can essentially play the games forever (unlike most console games). People still seriously play Starcraft and that game is like 10 years old. People still play the same old Counterstrike mod for Half-Life, and the system requirements for that game haven't changed much in the 8 or so years it's been out.

 

[BigBarruda]

Online PC Gaming is by far the best gaming experience you can have...

However, that experience will be tainted if the installers for WoW, and CSS touch your machine... For they are the devil and must be cast into the pits of Hades for all eternity...

The Mighty T and Bill Shatner may make WoW look tempting, but just don't do it (ya crazy fooo)....

 

[WiiWouldLike2Play]

All the more why I prefer PC over any console.

Yeah, PC for the win.

 

[heymoe99]

they've been dumbing down games for consoles for years, how's the "Live Anywhere" going to work?
pc graphics are better than console
and almost all games that are released on pc and console, the console version is way shorter.. is the pc versions going to be restricted now?

it might be worth the $50/mo to destroy some1 on a console with my pc

 

[strommsarnac]

they've been dumbing down games for consoles for years, how's the "Live Anywhere" going to work?
pc graphics are better than console
and almost all games that are released on pc and console, the console version is way shorter.. is the pc versions going to be restricted now?

it might be worth the $50/mo to destroy some1 on a console with my pc

$50/month??? Live is live whether it's on the PC or 360. It's 13 months for $50. That's a lot easier to swallow than $15/mth for WoW, $10/mth for HellGate, $15/mth for Tabula Rasa, etc, etc. I wish these people would standardize on a "online" service so there's only one fee. I might actually buy those games if I didn't have to spend $40/mth for the three of them.

Console games were "dumbed down" to start with Now with all the game dev's being "grown up console kiddies", PC games are ending up like console games. Heck, the latest batch even have the same menu's and "feel" of a console game even though you can use a mouse/keyboard.

I would have bought Hellgate, but I can't set mouse1 to forward and mouse2 to backward. Yea, that's old-school FPS mouse controls, but so am I. It's just another example how detached from the players dev's are getting. They can't look past their own way of doing things.

 

[Samus101]

Online PC Gaming is by far the best gaming experience you can have...

The Mighty T and Bill Shatner may make WoW look tempting, but just don't do it (ya crazy fooo)....

Agreed. :yesnod:

 

[heymoe99]

my bad.. i must have been half asleep when i typed it lol. yeah, $50/yr..