Monday, December 19, 2016
Thursday, December 1, 2016
The Death of PC Gaming (and video gaming in general)
That's it, I've had it, never again. I'm done with PC gaming and almost gaming in general. So if your on the fence about pc gaming let me show you why you will want to stay with a console. And keep in mind, if pc gaming was so great there wouldn't be home consoles.
My background is: started gaming on the Atari 2600 home console (and on small handhelds like the old football, before the Atari). I've owned almost every console aver made. Its easier to list the ones I've not owned than the other way around.
So what triggered this rage? Well let me paint a picture.....
Last Christmas I was able to borrow enough to get a great gaming rig that I would start to download Steam games on. It was to be my 'Steam Machine'. The logitech f710 controller is THE first to have rubber on the handles! After all these years someone was willing to address my sweaty hands. So I bought the Logitech f710 controller and plugged it in.
For that first year I had been LOVING my new Windows 8.1 gaming pc. Reluctantly, I purchased a Logitech f710 controller because I've had problems with controllers in the past with other gaming pcs. But to my surprise, the controller makes it like gaming on a console, plug the controller in, open up game, controls just work. All is awesome for a year. Last month, around the beginning of November I go to play AC3 and the right stick (camera) is now in the triggers. The A button was functioning on the X button. Attack was the start button. The control scheme was completely broken. The only thing that ever changed on that dedicated Windows 8.1 gaming pc was the Windows updates. No other games added and no other hardware introduced. I freak out and check other games. Bf4, Saints Row 4 and AC3 all suffer from the same problem. Virtually all my games (and from different manufactures) now suffer this condition. So begrudgingly, I start to contact Logitech and MS. Logitech didn't want to acknowledge the problem and wrote me off, eventually ignoring my emails. MS wont listen unless you buy a support contract. I should have to pay for support of something they broke? If I didn't break it I cant fix it MS. This is your responsibility. So because of the ingenious moves of these 2 companies, I'm leaving gaming. I also wont be buying games or consoles for my kids. This from a gamer that's been buying games and consoles since the Atari 2600. I've owned virtually every system ever made and have bought thousands of games. I chose XBOX over Playstation from the first xbox and have owned all the xboxes, even after my first one caught fire, and the 360 gave me the RROD. I've been so loyal, and this is how I'm treated? I was going to get my kids into gaming but now I will not. Maybe Ill consider Playstation again instead of Xbone. If MS or Logitech remove this post, don't worry Ill have this info on every site i can find, and you'll know they removed it from their sites. Way to go guys!
So your gaming experience wont change much with a console. But, MS has made people worried they will implement DRM and always online requirements, no playing of used games etc. like they did with the XBone. So because of these worries I went the way of the PC. Screwed either way. The only thing you'll miss out on now with a console is less graphic ability and less processing power than a pc. But someday you may come to play your pc game and the game now crashes, wont play, has bugs, or has broken controls. And all these problems after you forked out double the price of a console to play games. Don't get stuck in this fly trap, pc gaming is horrible.
MicroSoft many years ago started a campaign called "games for Windows ". These pc games promised controller support, high def visuals, surround sound and everything you find on a console game now-a-days. This campaign never took off and MS made maybe 3 or 4 'games for windows'. The whole thing faded away. So now pc games wont always support; high def visuals, controller support or surround sound even though a pc that will play pc games is expensive no matter how you slice it. Buy the way, good luck hooking up digital surround sound to a gaming pc and getting surround sound. Doesn't happen. PC games play analog sound instead of digital. Virtually all home theaters are for digital sound.
And when your peripherals don't work on your pc, they will blame each other (Microsoft and the peripheral mfg. and the game makers) and not even listen to your problem. This wont happen with a console. I thought stupidly that by 2016 they would have worked out the kinks in pc gaming, but its still the same old busted piece of crap its always been, and that makes me feel that it will always will be just that. Way to lose out on a ton of my money idiots! PC master race is a joke about idiots with too much money.
You always also hear how you can always upgrade your pc as a benefit of pc gaming. Hey, just pop in a new video card and you can now game the next generations visuals for the next 10 years!! Ya thats what I thought too until i found out that:
a new video card usually needs more power. You current motherboard prob wont work with a new power supply (it will burn up the board!). So to accommodate a new graphics card usually is a complete rebuild of the pc, making it the same price (or cheaper) to just get a new pc than to upgrade. And check this out. Eventually Microsoft drops support for your os. SO imagine you just upgraded your old game rig with hot new hardware just to find that MS had dropped support of your os. Now we are talking about buying a new version of windows that may or may not work with your new hardware! So, its just not as easy as they make it seem to upgrade an old game rig. This is another pit fall I'm helping you to avoid.
So, I may go back to playing on the Playstation after this fiasco if I game at all. But, Microsoft and Logitech have chased me away from PC gaming forever and possibly console gaming too. If you have to game, look at Playstation. All PStations have always had better visuals and still give everything you would expect on a game console. PC and xbox, not so much.
Hell the reason I went to Microsoft in the first place was this situation:
I bought a PS3 and Socom Seals. I LOVED Socom on the PS2 so I was like o hell ya! Got it home. Spent the hour or so to set it all up, PlayStation accounts and all, just to find out that this Socom was online only. Worried, I go online into the only server I can find. There, a few people attacked me from all the hiding spots they knew of, then berated me about what a crappy player i was and then just left. It all took about 5 minutes for me to discover that the game I bought the PStation for was a $60 waste of money. I returned the Playstation the next day, but because I opened the software I had to eat the $60 for Socom. That's why I went to MS gaming.
So gaming is chasing away people that give it a lot of money for nothing. Gaming isn't necessary, and some of us put all the money we have into it just to be given the experiences I've outlined for you here. So I hope this post saves you the time and money I've had to waste with gaming.
UPDATE: It gets even worse with PC games. I played Battlefield 4 a lot the last few weeks (with a Steam Controller). It reminded me of the Battlefield 2 days when you can unload a full clip (assault gun or shotgun ) in someones back and they turn around and one shot kill you with a handgun. Then there are the times I'm one shot killed from across the map with a handgun or shotgun. I Googled for BF4 cheating, guess what I found: websites selling monthly subscriptions for cheats for the game! Thats right, for only $20 / month you too can log into BF4 and headshot the whole enemy team at once if you prefer. You can press one button on the keyboard and instantly kill every enemy on the map. Turn on aimbot and when you aim at people, it auto shoots them in the head. So if the crap even plays, which BF4 (and many other pc games ) did not play upon launch, you will have the game hacked to death eventually. When I just spawn for 20 minutes strait, I don't want to play anymore. This and more can be yours all so that you can enjoy slightly better graphics than the console version. Uh, no thanks.
And I've heard from family that has the new Xbone, that to play games you must install them for hours. Gone are the days of simplicity when you just inserted the game and played immediately. And the kicker; you still have to have the damn disk in the tray to play after installing! WTF?! At least on the crappy pc I install and can play from the hard drive without a disk. Not only does this make you tech support again instead of being a gamer but then you have to spend lots of money on big hard drives just to be able to play many games at once. If all you can buy is a small hard drive console then you are stuck finishing a game so you can delete it and install another. That limits how many games Ill buy at once. Force me to finish a game before I can start another and Ill buy fewer of them.
Also im so tired of the mouse/kb vs. controller argument that Im going to squash it once and for all, forever. The first point is a skilled player will beat you with any input device. The other point is, if these websites are thriving that sell cheat codes, why would people use them? They are ultra precise with a kb/mouse right? Then dont use cheats and headshot every person you see instantly. Crappy cheaters need codes to compete even with gaming mouse and keyboard.
My background is: started gaming on the Atari 2600 home console (and on small handhelds like the old football, before the Atari). I've owned almost every console aver made. Its easier to list the ones I've not owned than the other way around.
So what triggered this rage? Well let me paint a picture.....
Last Christmas I was able to borrow enough to get a great gaming rig that I would start to download Steam games on. It was to be my 'Steam Machine'. The logitech f710 controller is THE first to have rubber on the handles! After all these years someone was willing to address my sweaty hands. So I bought the Logitech f710 controller and plugged it in.
For that first year I had been LOVING my new Windows 8.1 gaming pc. Reluctantly, I purchased a Logitech f710 controller because I've had problems with controllers in the past with other gaming pcs. But to my surprise, the controller makes it like gaming on a console, plug the controller in, open up game, controls just work. All is awesome for a year. Last month, around the beginning of November I go to play AC3 and the right stick (camera) is now in the triggers. The A button was functioning on the X button. Attack was the start button. The control scheme was completely broken. The only thing that ever changed on that dedicated Windows 8.1 gaming pc was the Windows updates. No other games added and no other hardware introduced. I freak out and check other games. Bf4, Saints Row 4 and AC3 all suffer from the same problem. Virtually all my games (and from different manufactures) now suffer this condition. So begrudgingly, I start to contact Logitech and MS. Logitech didn't want to acknowledge the problem and wrote me off, eventually ignoring my emails. MS wont listen unless you buy a support contract. I should have to pay for support of something they broke? If I didn't break it I cant fix it MS. This is your responsibility. So because of the ingenious moves of these 2 companies, I'm leaving gaming. I also wont be buying games or consoles for my kids. This from a gamer that's been buying games and consoles since the Atari 2600. I've owned virtually every system ever made and have bought thousands of games. I chose XBOX over Playstation from the first xbox and have owned all the xboxes, even after my first one caught fire, and the 360 gave me the RROD. I've been so loyal, and this is how I'm treated? I was going to get my kids into gaming but now I will not. Maybe Ill consider Playstation again instead of Xbone. If MS or Logitech remove this post, don't worry Ill have this info on every site i can find, and you'll know they removed it from their sites. Way to go guys!
So your gaming experience wont change much with a console. But, MS has made people worried they will implement DRM and always online requirements, no playing of used games etc. like they did with the XBone. So because of these worries I went the way of the PC. Screwed either way. The only thing you'll miss out on now with a console is less graphic ability and less processing power than a pc. But someday you may come to play your pc game and the game now crashes, wont play, has bugs, or has broken controls. And all these problems after you forked out double the price of a console to play games. Don't get stuck in this fly trap, pc gaming is horrible.
MicroSoft many years ago started a campaign called "games for Windows ". These pc games promised controller support, high def visuals, surround sound and everything you find on a console game now-a-days. This campaign never took off and MS made maybe 3 or 4 'games for windows'. The whole thing faded away. So now pc games wont always support; high def visuals, controller support or surround sound even though a pc that will play pc games is expensive no matter how you slice it. Buy the way, good luck hooking up digital surround sound to a gaming pc and getting surround sound. Doesn't happen. PC games play analog sound instead of digital. Virtually all home theaters are for digital sound.
And when your peripherals don't work on your pc, they will blame each other (Microsoft and the peripheral mfg. and the game makers) and not even listen to your problem. This wont happen with a console. I thought stupidly that by 2016 they would have worked out the kinks in pc gaming, but its still the same old busted piece of crap its always been, and that makes me feel that it will always will be just that. Way to lose out on a ton of my money idiots! PC master race is a joke about idiots with too much money.
You always also hear how you can always upgrade your pc as a benefit of pc gaming. Hey, just pop in a new video card and you can now game the next generations visuals for the next 10 years!! Ya thats what I thought too until i found out that:
a new video card usually needs more power. You current motherboard prob wont work with a new power supply (it will burn up the board!). So to accommodate a new graphics card usually is a complete rebuild of the pc, making it the same price (or cheaper) to just get a new pc than to upgrade. And check this out. Eventually Microsoft drops support for your os. SO imagine you just upgraded your old game rig with hot new hardware just to find that MS had dropped support of your os. Now we are talking about buying a new version of windows that may or may not work with your new hardware! So, its just not as easy as they make it seem to upgrade an old game rig. This is another pit fall I'm helping you to avoid.
So, I may go back to playing on the Playstation after this fiasco if I game at all. But, Microsoft and Logitech have chased me away from PC gaming forever and possibly console gaming too. If you have to game, look at Playstation. All PStations have always had better visuals and still give everything you would expect on a game console. PC and xbox, not so much.
Hell the reason I went to Microsoft in the first place was this situation:
I bought a PS3 and Socom Seals. I LOVED Socom on the PS2 so I was like o hell ya! Got it home. Spent the hour or so to set it all up, PlayStation accounts and all, just to find out that this Socom was online only. Worried, I go online into the only server I can find. There, a few people attacked me from all the hiding spots they knew of, then berated me about what a crappy player i was and then just left. It all took about 5 minutes for me to discover that the game I bought the PStation for was a $60 waste of money. I returned the Playstation the next day, but because I opened the software I had to eat the $60 for Socom. That's why I went to MS gaming.
So gaming is chasing away people that give it a lot of money for nothing. Gaming isn't necessary, and some of us put all the money we have into it just to be given the experiences I've outlined for you here. So I hope this post saves you the time and money I've had to waste with gaming.
UPDATE: It gets even worse with PC games. I played Battlefield 4 a lot the last few weeks (with a Steam Controller). It reminded me of the Battlefield 2 days when you can unload a full clip (assault gun or shotgun ) in someones back and they turn around and one shot kill you with a handgun. Then there are the times I'm one shot killed from across the map with a handgun or shotgun. I Googled for BF4 cheating, guess what I found: websites selling monthly subscriptions for cheats for the game! Thats right, for only $20 / month you too can log into BF4 and headshot the whole enemy team at once if you prefer. You can press one button on the keyboard and instantly kill every enemy on the map. Turn on aimbot and when you aim at people, it auto shoots them in the head. So if the crap even plays, which BF4 (and many other pc games ) did not play upon launch, you will have the game hacked to death eventually. When I just spawn for 20 minutes strait, I don't want to play anymore. This and more can be yours all so that you can enjoy slightly better graphics than the console version. Uh, no thanks.
And I've heard from family that has the new Xbone, that to play games you must install them for hours. Gone are the days of simplicity when you just inserted the game and played immediately. And the kicker; you still have to have the damn disk in the tray to play after installing! WTF?! At least on the crappy pc I install and can play from the hard drive without a disk. Not only does this make you tech support again instead of being a gamer but then you have to spend lots of money on big hard drives just to be able to play many games at once. If all you can buy is a small hard drive console then you are stuck finishing a game so you can delete it and install another. That limits how many games Ill buy at once. Force me to finish a game before I can start another and Ill buy fewer of them.
Also im so tired of the mouse/kb vs. controller argument that Im going to squash it once and for all, forever. The first point is a skilled player will beat you with any input device. The other point is, if these websites are thriving that sell cheat codes, why would people use them? They are ultra precise with a kb/mouse right? Then dont use cheats and headshot every person you see instantly. Crappy cheaters need codes to compete even with gaming mouse and keyboard.
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