Is it just me, or are the advantages of PC gaming diminishing?

[EarthPainting]

For me the biggest advantage PC games have over console games, is being able to tweak my experience to enforce stability. I'm prone to headaches, and PC usually gives me a wealth of options to minimise frame drops, let me change FoVs, turn off effects that I can't cope with, etc. If it's not in the convenient menus, there's often console command, ini or mods for it. If all else fails, I can still always brute force performance-related issues. If frames are dropping or the pacing is wonky on consoles, which are shockingly common, I'm typically out of luck in the home console space.

Controller options help too though.

 

[Speevy]

Another thing that consoles are now worse for is upgrading.

If you wait for the final PS5 to get announced, you can invest in a PC accordingly. Then you're done. You can have an equivalent or better PC, if you don't already.

Sony will probably offer their own PS5 version 2 at some point, making you double your investment if you want the best experience. It used to be that everyone experienced a console game pretty much the same way.

 

[Deleted member 10629]

Definitely its just you.

 

[deadman322]

Spoiler

Speculative Bullshit: When will we start seeing online multiplayer being locked behind paywalls on certain launchers?

Click to shrink...

kinda wanta this to happen again, just to see people try and explain how it's a good thing cause consoles do it.

 

[maneauleau]

You can do so much more on a PC : emulators, music, work, etc. Even kids these days prefer PC to consoles when you let them experience it. At least this has been my experience with my 11 year's old. And PC games are much cheaper. The only thing that consoles have are the exclusive games but aside from Nintendo and a few games from Sony this is getting less and less true.

 

[Chivalry]

I feel like pc gaming is just gaining advantages by the minute.

 

[Dest]

It's just you.

 

[T002 Tyrant]

Console gaming advantages this generation apart for the Switch which had portability on its side.

I'd say I'm intrigued by the "custom" SSD's in consoles because that will help bring some kind of point in owning a console over PC regards home play. Because consoles had that plug and play advantage which has been lost over the past two generations (apart from Nintendo Wii U, they lost that on Switch unfortunately to some extent).

 

[Braaier]

I disagree strongly OP.

Sales are still much better on PC
Mods are significantly better on PC. You mention mods for "compatible games." How many compatible games are there for PS4/Xbox? Less than a dozen? LOL. And even those games that support mods, you're not getting a very very small fraction of the modes available on the PC version.

You also mention consoles having access to resolution and performance options. True, but the options are extremely limited. It's typically either performance mode or resolution mode. That's it. On PC you have a slew of options you can change to get the best performance/graphics you're looking for.

Sorry, OP. You're way off. If you want a simple experience then yeah consoles may be the answer for you. But even there, PCs have caught up to consoles on that front. So I guess exclusives?

 

[elyetis]

I'm still pissed that battlefield became so modding unfriendly given how successful the licence was on that aspect and some of the developer actually coming from that background.
Or that final fantasy 15 won't get it's promised modding tool.

That being said I think modding did improve, at least in the indie scene, most likely in part thanks to the steam workshop ( which badly need to be improved upon ) but also places like the nexus.

 

[Deleted member 1656]

It depends on your tastes. It's the opposite for me, though I am a little worried about future costs. I should be fine enough for at least a couple more years should something not combust, which I'm sometimes irrationally afraid of.

 

[Papercuts]

I think it looks more appealing than ever as the consoles just become more like pc hardware. The midgen refresh is basically getting rid of one of the main advantages consoles had—not worrying about the specs, or having to upgrade. Now the base consoles struggle with a lot of the newer releases.

That on top of the customization that won't ever be matched. Even on the 1X there are games that drop frames, or don't take advantage of the hardware at all (CTR BARELY getting a res boost), whereas on PC you can always crank a framerate or drop what you need to prioritize what you want in general.

 

[Maximo]

More like the advantages of console gaming are diminishing, becoming more like PCs without the benefits of actual owning a PC.

 

[Malovis]

Yeah, some things have gotten worse or at least in a direction that i don't find appealing. GPU prices are out of control in particular. HDR still being shit on PC is also a major annoyance, especially if you play on PC for the best possible eyecandie/experience.

 

[Dinjoralo]

PC gaming still has that raw flexibility, in hardware, game prices, setting, and so on. Let me know when being able to sacrifice specific graphical elements for performance becomes the norm on console.

This seems to have declined. Maybe it's wrong by the numbers and just a perception issue but feels like not as many games support modding.

Click to shrink...

I feel this way as well. We are far from the glory days of big-name PC releases coming out with their development kits in the box.

 

[Dan8589]

I don't know OP, I have an xbox one and a PC with Ryzen 5/1050ti. Not high end or anything but when I play on it it looks and feels alot better than the console. I feel like I may just stick to PC if the next xbox is a very high price and upgrade it. The only negative for me is the controls, I can't be bothered with kb/m and would want to play online with a pad.

 

[Ocean]

I think the biggest appeal is still there: on PC you can bypass the industry's obsession with 30fps slideshows for the sake of eye candy.

When I think about some of my favorite games this gen, like God of War or Breath of the Wild, I'm super bummed that they're stuck on crappy netbook hardware and there's no way I can improve performance on them.

Then there's the fact that you have more control over your experience. FoV sliders, Ultra-wide resolution support etc.

I don't own a gaming PC, but I certainly wish I did - the appeal is definitely there.

 

[MrChillaxx]

144fps, Gsync, mods, cheats, exclusive genres, prices, no scam online fees. Yeah still miles ahead. If anything consoles used to have plenty of exclusives, these days... not so much. Flexibility is also unmatchable, i can play stuff on my 144hz monitor or my 4K OLED, HDR on Windows still needs ironing out but the fact that it's possible to reap the benefits of both displays just makes anything consoles CURRENTLY do (yeah yeah we know the next consoles will descend from the heavens and do unimaginable things) reductive as hell in comparison.

Nintendo stuff + the maybe 5 must haves on PS (not saying there are only 5 good exclusives on playstations, just you don't need to play ALL of them immediately) and a PC and you have it all.

 

[Techno]

Free online

Click to shrink...

Boom. Never going back to consoles because of this.

 

[MrBob]

If anything PC has gotten stronger for me now that Ms has decided to put all their games on PC. Only reason I need a console now is for Sony and Nintendo games.

Disagree about pricing. Still get deals from green man gaming all the time. Heck Bloodstained is currently 30 dollars there I believe, 25 percent off MSRP. You can still pre order plenty of games at discount too. With both best buy and Amazon discounts disappearing console games are the ones that look like they got more expensive. Especially since digital games rarely get a pre order discount.

PC hardware prices always fluctuate. GPU prices suck now, but ram and ssd prices sucked a year ago and now are much more efficiently priced. Some things get more expensive, some things cheaper and this seems to balance out over time.

Not to mention there are plenty of PC specific titles you cant even buy on console. Strategy games for one. Consoles only have a fraction of these games available.

Regarding performance, consoles are better than before but still far behind. Consoles are offering 1080p 60 fps resolution scale on some games. PC gamers are starting to move to native 1440p 144 hz gaming. You can modify resolution in PC gaming too for more performance. Not that hard to do. In fact most modern AAA games offer a resolution scale in game.

The only thing that looks worse to me is the need for more launchers, that part does suck. But I'll deal with that for the host of other benefits on PC.

 

[Monster Zero]

Playing open world games at 60fps and raytracing at 60fps keep it appealing. Consoles want features raytracing and 4K but if its at the cost of 60fps then I don't want it. On PC I get everything I want with my own choice on what to compromise.

 

[Paertan]

I feel the opposite. The advantages of console gaming is the simplicity. Which I feel the PC is getting better and better at. Installing games, maintaining with updates, using correct settings etc. All that have become so much easier. Controller support is great nowday.

 

[Dylan]

Advances in gaming laptops have caused me to not even consider buying a console anymore.

 

[AmFreak]

Feel the complete opposite.
If you pulled out a list of console advantages from the PS2 gen 90% of them are gone.
Consoles have transformed to artificially closed low-end gaming PC's.
Everything (not from Nintendo or Sony) and a lot more comes out on PC now.

 

[Puru]

I feel it's console that are losing their appeal when they are ultimately getting closer to a PC but without any real advantage outside of not having to build it up, which is really easy to begin with. And the best part is that your library will follow you around even if you change your PC down the line.

 

[Deleted member 10726]

I've been PC gaming since the 90s and I think it's in a really good position now, thanks to japanese multiplats which would have been exclusive to consoles in the previous gens almost certainly getting a PC version as well. Previously it used to be the exception to the rule for us to get a PC port, now it's the exception to the rule if we don't.

Game prices have not changed for me, free online is fantastic, controller support improved massively this gen, PC ports are generally pretty solid... Honestly I called it in a really good position when I started writing this post, but I might even go as far as saying it's never been in a better place than it is now. (Outside of the launcher warz, though since everything wounds up eventually hitting Steam I am not really too concerned about them)

 

[Deleted member 82]

Nah, more like traditional consoles (i.e. not the Switch) are struggling to keep their advantages over the PC, most notably game excludivities. And the less graphics-savvy among us might even argue that consoles are starting to lose their edge over handhelds thanks to advances in mobile tech.

We've seen this story time and time again:
Consoles caught up to arcades.
Laptops caught up to desktop PCs.
And eventually, though we're not there yet, handhelds will catch up to consoles.

 

[Orzix]

It's just you , it still have lot of advantage. I always owned both console and PC and i can't see the day when i stop using more my PC than my console and with a 1440P 144hz gaming monitor it so much better

 

[khamakazee]

Free online
Most games still capped at 30fps on consoles and likely will continue that trend next gen
Modding still not very well supported
Things like crossplay and console exclusives often still get PC support because Sony see them as less competition
Software prices still seem cheapr on PC
PC's can aso do much more than just gaming
Controller support is much better
New generations come out with game console where you need to upgrade, PC's can upgrade when you feel is the right time
Larger library and backwards compatable


What else am I missing?

What game consoles provide are of course exclsuives and mass marketing which you pay for. It also offers affordable entry. Other than that there isn't much else consoles provide that are better other than a unified standard so you dont get multiple storefronts but again you pay extra for thet.

 

[F4raday]

IMHO the only thing going for consoles is their easy setup, gaming comfort, cheaper hardware and some few exclusives they still have. That's still a lot, otherwise consoles would be dead by now, but apart from that, PC gaming is superior in every way.

Mind you, there are a lot of games i'd rather play on consoles, so the setup/comfort thing is actually a big deal, but other than that, PC gaming is safe.

 

[Sedated]

The only thing keeping me on pc is free online and some games that are not on consoles. I play very few games as it is. As long as my needs are met im happy. Not happy with windows 10.

 

[jett]

As long as console developers continue to target 30fps, the answer is FUCK NO.

 

[pswii60]

The advantages of PC gaming are better than ever, hence I jumped back in after a 20 year absence just two months ago.

I can already play everything at 4k 60fps, ultra settings, some games even at 120hz (resulting in zero motion blur on an OLED), with lightning fast NVMe load times. I don't need to wait until the end of next year. And revisiting classics like Sonic Generations, Mirrors Edge, Mass Effect 2, Alien Isolation, Dear Space 2 at 4k 60fps is nothing short of incredible too, never mind playing the latest and greatest like Sekiro like this.

And more games come to PC than ever before - you can play Katana Zero, Gris, Nioh, Detroit, Dragon Quest XI, Cuphead, Gears, Forza, Halo etc.. all on the same platform. Then there's games like Amid Evil and Ion Maiden which simply come to PC first. Multiple launchers isn't an issue given how easy it is to add non-Steam games to Steam BPM (and with tools like UWPHook/OriginLauncher/etc) not to mention Playnite and Launchbox. And this slight inconvenience is massively outweighed by the massive library of games the platform as a result.

And then there's the wealth of subscription services like Xbox Game Pass, Origin Premier, UPlay+, Humble Monthly, etc.

I honestly don't know why I stayed away from PC gaming for so long. I'm still keeping my PS4 and Switch for first party, but 95% of my game time now is easily my PC with 2080 Ti which gives my OLED a jaw dropping workout every evening.

 

[Bede-x]

It's not just you OP, but it probably depends on what attracted you to PC gaming in the first place. For me it was 60fps, price of games, backwards compatibility and an interface that close enough to what's offered on a console.

Steam gives me the interface, allowing me to control things with a joypad through big picture mode, but many games I'd like to play come to Epic Store now, a client with no joypad support and also one, with so little key selling competition that prices are usually higher than what I pay for physical console games. Combine that with Game Pass that I'm now subscribed to until far into 2021, due to the fantastic value of recent deals and PC isn't quite as attractive as before. I do use Game Pass through PC also though and was very happy to learn, that calling up the game bar in the Xbox App, you could still control it with a controller, even if the interface wasn't laid out for it. And backwards compatibility and 60fps is still nice, but Microsoft has at least given it a little competition through their now finished BC program.

PC gaming is still good for a comfy couch gamer like me, but the Epic store is taking its toll and Game Pass can be very competetive price wise in some ways, making PC gaming through the Xbox ecosystem more attractive in some cases.

 

[SteveWinwood]

it's just you

PC is as far ahead in advantages as ever

don't worry though epic is trying to eliminate them one by one so maybe we'll get there soon

 

[Doskoi Panda]

PC is still far ahead of any other gaming platform in terms of features, functionality, and game pricing. Yeah, it's just you, OP.

 

[kc44135]

I don't think a lot of this is really true, and I'm on the outside looking in as a Console gamer. If I didn't have to spend like $1000+ to get into PC gaming, I'd probably do it.

 

[OrdinaryPrime]

OP you should also mention game preservation, something PC gaming excels at compared to many console generations.

 

[Spaltazar]

modding on consoles doesn't even touch the freaking surface compared to what you can do on PC lmao. also the biggest advantage for pc will always be that you can do everything else with it too :P as i work on my pc it fullfills both entertainment and workstation purposes

 

[Mullet2000]

I feel like the advantages are just as good as they were five years ago. However I do feel like the pricing on actual PC hardware is getting more and more expensive, and I do agree with OP that the overall prices on cdkey sites feels a bit higher than it use to be.

The non-price realted advantages are as good as ever in my eyes though.

 

[DontHateTheBacon]

Outside of the up front cost and missing Nintendo/Sony games... it's still much better than console gaming.

 

[shadowhaxor]

Before I rant, I don't want you to think I'm being an ass or anything. Sometimes I come off that way, but that's not my goal. Merely to inform and to convey my opinions, nothing more.

1. Cheaper games are still a thing. However, if you only rely on Steam or storefronts, you're basically doing nothing. Yes, some companies are locking down their games and negating those discounts. However, there are still a number of games to be had for a fraction of the costs. Even still, I'd take a $10 discount on a new game via Greenmangaming or elsewhere, compared to full price. Excepting to get games for dirt cheap isn't realistic IMHO.

2. Modding is still very much a thing. Just take a look over at Nexusmods. As long as a game's exe or api calls are a thing, there will be no way to stop modding.

3. Cheats and PC gaming go hand in hand. There are always new trainers being released for games and constantly updated. Just like I mentioned for modding, cheating follows this as well. For every company that advertises their cheats, there are 100 more who do it and stay under the radar.

4. Inconvenience... stop. This is complete nonsense. Yes, there are tons of launchers but there have been solutions/workarounds for this for quite some time. Playnite, Launchbox, GOG Galaxy 2.0 (beta) for example. I agree it stinks, but there's nothing we can do about it. The most we can do is adapt and learn to live with this mess. I doubt we've seen the last of this.

5. Hardware prices? Really? Paying $500 for an Xbox One X or $400 or a PS4 Pro isn't a big deal? Not to mention a 4K TV, controllers, etc? PC gaming isn't about being pricey. Yes, it does it expensive but only if you make it that way. You can spend $600 for a fairly decent 1080p machine or thousands of dollars to have that 4K devouring beast. It's about what you want and how you want it. Yes, the market dictates this, but PC gamers are used to this mess. Ram and GPU prices haven't been kind to us over the past 2 years. However, those already invested know the game and usually sell off parts to buy new parts. While others just wait until they see a deal.

6. We will NEVER see multiplayer locked behind a paywall on PC. The moment someone does that, that isn't an MMO, that game is dead. Hell, some MMO's that did this ended up going F2P. Microsoft tried it and it failed. Since then, no one has tried it because it simply won't fly on the PC platform.

As a gaming platform, the PC does have some cons, but I feel the pros outweigh them. Upgrades, being able to bypass 30FPS on most games, even if it's not officially supported. Widescreen gaming, cheats, free games, indie games, modding, emulation and the list goes on. Hell, I love that we can even play other console games on the PC thanks to emulation.... with better framerates and AA as well.

I'm sorry you feel this way, OP. But of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and thoughts.

 

[curlycare]

As long as console developers continue to target 30fps, the answer is FUCK NO.

Click to shrink...

This right here, I hate playing @30fps.

 

[Marble]

I love PC gaming more than ever.

Cutting edge graphics and games you just don't get on console.

Click to shrink...

And I play on console because of the games you don't get on PC. So yeah.

 

[plow]

Couldn't care less about (Hardcore) PC gaming.

I'm playing some games on my laptop ( eg. Skyrim and some RTS) but for sure i'm not going to spend 800 bucks on a machine just to get some better graphics and more FPS.

Though i don't think anything changed in the last years.

 

[Doskoi Panda]

And I play on console because of the games you don't get on PC. So yeah.

Click to shrink...

And I play on PC in part for the games you don't get on console. That's how it goes.

 

[chrominance]

Seems weird to say that the inconvenience issues are better than they've ever been before, and yet still list that under "growing flaws." By your own admission PC is more convenient than it's ever been. Worrying less about driver incompatibility or installation locations or whatever is a genuine gain, and people who may have been turned off my PC gaming before will find it more inviting now, full stop.

I think there's a bunch of other plusses the OP doesn't mention, but other people in this thread have those bases covered. It's also worth noting that in a lot of ways, PC is the home for console games after the hardware has disappeared from the market. I can play PS2, PSP and Wii games on my PC these days, and while it's not perfect, it's a lot more support than I'm likely to see officially from Sony or Nintendo, especially now that the Vita and Wii U are dead.

 

[Thrill_house]

Its just you. Better visuals, tailored made experience/settings, mods, games that come with you no matter what hardware you have. PC still head and shoulders above console.

 

[Marble]

And I play on PC in part for the games you don't get on console. That's how it goes.

Click to shrink...

I know, that's why it's a silly argument. It's just as much an advantage of PC gaming as it is of console gaming. Both have games not available on the other. That's my point.

 

[raketenrolf]

Time to upgrade on PC is weird right now especially if you still play at 1080p with a GTX970 (like me).

Upgrades for 1080p don't seem to be worth it right now and the PS5/Scarlet are releasing soon. Then probably comes the time to upgrade.

Problem is, if I want to have a 4k/60 set, I would basically have to build a new PC (new motherboard and ram if I want a new CPU + new monitor). I don't play my PC games on a TV. Curious to see if the PS5 can achieve 4k60 at 400/500€.