Console only gamers: what, if anything, do you think you are missing out on?

[StarPhlox]

I have never really given PC gaming a fair shot.

Grew up on consoles from a very early age and so for me there's an ineffable compartmentalization between what I look to my computer to do (literally everything but serious games) and what I look for my consoles to do (basically just games, some video streaming). There are probably a few good reasons for this (typical PC genres like RTS and CRPGs are unfamiliar/intimidating and therefore unappealing, I like the plug-and-play simplicity that consoles offer, price of setting up a great PC seems steep), but it's not anything totally insurmountable.

Although I recognize the myriad benefits of PC gaming (highly customizable, no real "generations", extremely advanced tech, the list goes on), I don't feel as though I am personally missing out on anything major by--at least this gen--only having a Switch/PS4 combo for my gaming hobby. Granted, there is the whole conundrum of "not knowing what you don't know", but I'm curious whether, in spite of all that PC gaming ostensibly offers, if console only gamers think they are missing out by not having a high-end gaming rig or if by and large you are good with dedicated gaming consoles.

So then console only gamers, do you think you are missing out?

Sometimes I do....

 

[theme park joe]

Basically big sim games like Planet Coaster and such.

 

[JusDoIt]

The first couple years of every indie game's life.

 

[trikster40]

Nothing at all. I did PC gaming hardcore during the PS1, PS2, and early PS3 days.

I quit when I got tired of the hardware requirements, the expensive upgrades, the crashes, and all of the other things that I just don't have to deal with (well, most of the time).

The majority of the time, if a game is worth playing, it's either on console or coming to it. There are so many quality games that I just don't feel the need to ever PC game again. I've got a backlog that I'll never get through anyway.

 

[stumblebee]

I own a very capable PC but do about 95% of my gaming on console. I miss keyboard/mouse controls on FPS and a smoother gameplay experience.

 

[Shahed]

I'm honestly not sure. I'm not 100% Console and I do have a Steam Account, but I only really play Age of Empires on PC. I typically play RPG's/Japanese games soI don't particularly feel like I'm missing out on much. But then I guess you'd have to play the games and enjoy them to realise you're missing out

 

[Kill3r7]

Better performance, kb+m, cheaper games and free online play.

 

[Cess007]

Getting some indies early
Mod support in all games

And honestly not much more.

 

[Fritz]

The massive variety and availability of titles.

But then I find hardly enough time as it is, a gaming pc would probably put me under constant lingering pressure

 

[Thatguy]

When I was console only I thought nothing. Now that I'm PC too in finding tons to love about PC. The 4x genre us amazing. Indies are more abundant. Deals are better. The hardware and graphics are better. There are some special projects like Star Citizen that are PC only too. The downside is price of entry plus game configuration time. Consoles are still cheaper and always just work.

 

[Darth Smurf X]

Starcraft and The Old Republic. That's it.

 

[Rodjer]

I used to be console only until 2013, with the next gen consoles i skipped Xbox One and PS4 day one and went full PC, for 2 years i played a fuckton of new and old games on PC and it was a blast.
Nowadays i play on all platform, but mostly on PC, GabeN is watching me.

 

[DMVfan123]

Nothing really, all of the PC-exclusives I want eventually make it to console
Other than that, no interest in PC gaming. I have a mid-range gaming PC, but it's for my brother
Cool with sticking with the Playstation/Nintendo combo, but I'll also cop the Xbox streaming box whenever that comes out to experience any of the MS exclusives I'm curious about

 

[Neptonic]

The real answer for all of you console players should be infinite backwards compatibility

 

[IronicSonic]

Nothing.

PC seems a convoluted ecosystem for me. I'm aware of its pros tho. Just it's not for me

 

[famikon]

just old games like HoMMIII, Jagged Alliance 2 and SS2. Don't care about modern PC games at all.

 

[Rodjer]

The real answer for all of you console players should be infinite backwards compatibility

Click to shrink...

Agree.

 

[Ehoavash]

Full room VR :(

Tried HTC Vive few years ago and it blew my mind. PsVR doesn't even compare to it.

But shits so expensive to get

 

[SoundCheck]

Sim games, my favorite game genre by far in my teenage years.

 

[Angst]

Honestly absolutely nothing. I would like to get better hardware, but not at the expense of losing my rights to physical games.

 

[fluffydelusions]

I've been a playing pc games since the 90s but have been without a pc for some months. I mostly miss playing mobas and stuff like cs:go that isn't on console. Other than that PS4 and switch has enough to keep me occupied especially with smash coming next week.

 

[lord_of_flood]

Probably just improved performance and visual fidelity on multi-plats (which I don't even play very many of). I'm not that big into most of the PC exclusives, and the ones I do want usually end up making it over to consoles anyway, so I don't really feel like I'm missing anything there.

 

[Deleted member 47843]

I own a very capable PC but do about 95% of my gaming on console.

Click to shrink...

Same--though not as capable now (970, but still fine since I'm in 1080p).

I was console only up until I got this PC in 2016. I expected to shift more to PC gaming, but it hasn't really clicked with me.

All the PC exclusive games (a few indies aside) have just not clicked with me. I'm just not a fan of most PC exclusive games/genres like Sims, RTS, Moba, online shooters, 4X games, CRPGs and so on.

Keyboard and mouse controls just don't work for me outside of point and click games. Just too old and impatient to learn, the keyboard part is just super non-intuitive to me. So I just end up gaming on TV with an Xbox controller and using it like a console anyway.

The graphics/60FPS are nice, but I've never been to fussed about that.

The main benefit would be more access to free/"free" games through things like Twitch Prime (have prime for the shipping), Humble Bundle/GoG/Uplay giveaways etc.

I can't see myself shelling out to upgrade it. I mostly play Sony and Nintendo first party games and western AAA stuff like Read Dead, Tomb Raider etc. I also like buying physically and selling off when I'm done since I don't collect/replay. Consoles are thus just a better fit for me.

 

[Deleted member 30544]

Not really, i don't know if not playing WOW or LOL counts as "missing out" but i have a pretty addictive nature so i'm thankful to not being entangled in those LMAO. Right now im pretty hooked in Zombie Tsunami in mobiles and jeesh i'm a machine in watching videos for free diamonds LOL.

I'm curious in seeing some games with max seetings , 60 frames and all that, but i will survive.

 

[VX1]

My gaming journey was Amiga 500/1200 -> PS1/2/3/4.
I have my work laptop for p&c adventures that i love,i don't care about anything else on PC.

 

[Arapho]

I used to be a hardcore PC gamer but I settled down with my girlfriend so I slowly started to play more and more console games and now I only like to play on console.

The only things that I miss are Keyboard and mouse FPS games + a lot of my gaming friends are still playing PC only so I don't play multiplayer anymore.

 

[Deleted member 35653]

You posted it. Also Strategy and Grand Strategy games.

 

[Jiraiya]

Probably vr with a top of the line pc.

 

[dancingphlower]

I feel like I'm missing out on good game deals.

 

[Izanagi89]

Mods

 

[Deleted member 38397]

I have a very nice PC which is only six months old. I intend on going back to consoles at the start of the next gen. The only things I'll really miss is if they don't have an SSD built in and maybe the many options whereby you can get cheap games.

I can probably put up with 30fps again and I hate keyboard and mouse controls as I keep pressing the wrong keys, so that doesn't bother me.

 

[Son of Sparda]

Mods.

 

[Vaser]

I don't think I'm missing anything by not playing on PC, because everything that's popular on PC is the exact opposite of what I like.

 

[Taker34]

Some of the best modern game concepts I'd say. On PC it's really easy to come up with a new genre/style of game through modding. Like I played the DayZ mod when it was relatively fresh and fell in love with the survival + pvp concept. Years before the survival craze actually spawned AAA games like this. Same with battle royal. Now these sort of games are on console but I already played them for hundreds of hours before "it was cool" and such a thing is only possible on PC.
Some games like Star Citizen obviously which will need more capable consoles, ArmA Life RPG mods, Garry's Mod, many MMOs, MOBAs, RTS games will not be experienced by console players for different reasons.

I eventually stopped playing PC games because I spent more time tweaking performance, trying to make some older games run (can't play GTA IV until this day) and modding my games, than actually playing them. Not having to worry about those things on console is very liberating.

 

[Possum]

I used to be a bit jealous of the graphics & frame-rates on PC. Since I got an XB1X, I'm not jealous of graphics, but still slightly jealous of PC frames. However, I'm totally happy with 60fps and there are quite a few titles for console that hit that number. If Xbox Scarlett & PS5 can hit 60fps consistently across all the games, I'll be content to stay with console.

The only other thing that bothers me is aiming. I wish I could have that mouse accuracy on console, without actually cheating and using a mouse. As I've gotten older, my aiming seems to be getting worse. I'm hoping the next generation Elite controller has adjustable tension thumbsticks, I think that would help me a lot.

 

[ty_hot]

Strategy games and Football Manager obviously

 

[Wolfgunblood]

All of those fan projects like the Street Fighter Mega Man game. But I barely have time for the console games I like anyways.

 

[RedSwirl]

The problem is most of the best PC exclusives don't get a lot of advertising, even the ones that would be appealing to console-only users..

 

[lapsu]

CS GO is pretty much the only game I wish I could play. Looks like a ton of fun.

 

[SageShinigami]

A Switch lol. Anything I want on PC inevitably comes to PS4. Backwards compat isn't a strong concern for me.

 

[Anthony Hopkins]

Driver issues
Bugs and crashes
Customisable settings
Upgradable hardware.
Big bulky hardware
Noisy hardware.

 

[ClarkusDarkus]

Mods and better VR.

 

[Bjones]

I've been moving the opposite way since my gaming needs have changed but I do see a lot of statements that need asterisks.

- better performance. * if you put enough money into a pc to override a lot of poorly optimized major titles.


- infinite backwards compatibility. * with some work put into supporting the os the game runs on for the os you are using first . Games will be compatible much longer than games have historically been on consoles except for the newer bc initiative on Xbox one. But the point is... no older games aren't automatically bc for every new windows version.

 

[Inuhanyou]

nothing. that's why i have never been interested in PC gaming.

*EDIT*

well i guess i should amend that. i do get pretty impressed at the amount of mod work that goes on on PC, and there's so much red tape on console that that is not really all that possible. But hey, gamesharks were once a thing, so i cant say i dont really understand what its like to have that kind of control.

The real answer for all of you console players should be infinite backwards compatibility

Click to shrink...

correct me if im wrong, but can you play most PC titles from the 90s? i'd figure that compatibility issues would eventually crop up, especially those disc based games and games that dont run on newer OS

 

[Kolx]

I play mainly on PC, but when I used to play on consoles I missed RTS and mods the most.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

1. The first release of major new indie games.
2. Better performance and the opportunity to improve performance over time.
3. Some games feel better to play closer to the screen, like strategy games, card games, or games with lots of text. If there is no handheld release for these games, I think they're best played on PC.

Those are the big three for me. I haven't had a computer suitable for gaming since 2012, but these are the things I am most envious of.

 

[Mcjmetroid]

The real answer for all of you console players should be infinite backwards compatibility

Click to shrink...

This.

I'm not a PC gamer but I'm jealous of this :(

Need a better pc

 

[Dan Thunder]

As a purely console gamer I think, rightly or wrongly, that the PC as a format has a wider variety of games than consoles. It'd also be good to see games running in their best possible light rather than the compromises that you get with a lot of console games. Also the cheaper games would be nice too!

Overall though I'm perfectly happy with my purchases. Regardless of what machine you have both PCs and consoles have their pluses and their drawbacks.

 

[Prophane33]

As someone who usually balances has mostly balanced PC and Console gaming; however, my pretty outdated PC finally died about a year ago, so I'm stuck with a potato laptop with an older 4-5 years old i7 and crappy intel integrated graphics. The thing I miss the most is the variety of strategy games. I will be buying Stellaris on PS4 though (and praying that its a halfway decent port); I also miss playing Battlefield on PC (though after BF1, which I also had to play on console, I've kind of adjusted).

Otherwise, 98% of the big games and most popular indie titles make their way to either switch or PS4, so I'm not missing out; however, there will continue to be those experiences that either are VERY PC-centric, really shine best on PC, or really only come out on PC that I'll have to miss out on for maybe another year or so.

 

[Taker34]

If Xbox Scarlett & PS5 can hit 60fps consistently across all the games, I'll be content to stay with console.

Click to shrink...

That'll never happen though. Framerate is a design choice, not really influenced by hardware. You can play 60 fps PS2, PS3 games but naturally many devs aim for graphics over framerate. The hardware is fixed on consoles so unlike on PC you can't upgrade to make a demanding game better.