What are actual pitfalls or disadvantages to PC gaming?

[Ghostsquidy]

I need to do a persuasive presentation in school and the topic I chose was why PC gaming was better then consoles. But I need a counter argument to show my research. Then I can also show the faults of PC gaming and give as much info as I can, thus persuading the audience by making a suggestion as opposed to a rule.

 

TLDR: what are actual problems and pitfalls to PC gaming. For a presentation

[ProjectBox153]

I'm not a gamer, but here is what I think. Hardware can be a problem. Sure, the games are more open to different hardware, but that introduces challenges and complications. With consoles the hardware is standardized. 

[Herman Mcpootis]

a gaming pc can be more expensive than consoles, especially now with the ram and gpu shortages and when windows has to be factored in. 

[Princess Luna]

Price, maintenance and price.

[NinJake]

The never ending search for higher frames, resolution and better graphics. All this equals a huge $$$ sink.

[Zando_]

1. Overspending on either overpriced stuff or more performance than you need.

2. You can get so caught up worrying about performance you forget to just play the game and enjoy it.

3. Sometimes you have to troubleshoot stuff, and lots of the time it's a pain

4. First time building can be difficult if you don't ask for advice, lots of people get terrible deals the first time. 

5. It can often be a lot more expensive 

 

and etc. 

[tarfeef101]

2 minutes ago, Ghostsquidy said:

I need to do a persuasive presentation in school and the topic I chose was why PC gaming was better then consoles. But I need a counter argument to show my research. Then I can also show the faults of PC gaming and give as much info as I can, thus persuading the audience by making a suggestion as opposed to a rule.

 

TLDR: what are actual problems and pitfalls to PC gaming. For a presentation

Price (price to get ready to play 1 game is higher for similar performance, get over it everyone. A good keyboard/mouse, full system, and OS is more expensive than a ps4/xbox one), work/assembly required, crappy PC ports of console games, consoles have many AAA exclusives while PC exclusives are usually indie games (some view this as a good or bad thing)...

[Zando_]

Just now, NinJake said:

The never ending search for higher frames, resolution and better graphics. All this equals a huge $$$ sink.

Truth. If you can escape the attractive grasp of the glorious PCMR, your wallet may survive intact. But if you can't...

[Psittac]

The cost is much higher

Building or buying a PC is more complicated

Using a PC is more complicated

Consoles have exclusive titles

Troubleshooting is more difficult

Maintaining an OS is more complicated

Consoles have games optimized for them

[Ghostsquidy]

Just now, herman mcpootis said:

a gaming pc can be more expensive than consoles, especially now with the ram and gpu shortages and when windows has to be factored in. 

Very true. I can barely assemble a gaming PC on pcpartpicker at 500$ CAD. Let alone 350 with RAM and GPU prices

[Herman Mcpootis]

1 minute ago, Ghostsquidy said:

Very true. I can barely assemble a gaming PC on pcpartpicker at 500$ CAD. Let alone 350 with RAM and GPU prices

if your pc is custom built by yourself then you'd also have to troubleshoot it on your own, while with consoles you can probably just send it for an RMA and be done with it.

[Yoola]

>IT CAN BE more expensive, if you're going for higher end tier. Yet it can be cheaper aswell, also gives you more than just playing games. Endless options.

>It's not just plug & play most of the time, but it's not rocket science either, quick google search can usually solve 99% of any doubts/questions

>Things like now, where market for some components just goes wild (RAM, GPUs)

>PC building is easy, but not for everyone. That's why there are prebuilts for people who just don't want to worry about

>It can require a lot of knowledge to build a PC that makes sense and that's balanced

>It turns into addiction at one point and it's hard to cure urge for better, faster...

>Some games/software might just be very optimized for one set of hardware, while being complete garbage on other, consoles have that advantage of optimization and you know if you and your buddy buy PS4 you'll be playing at same quality

 

[whoisit1118]

I guess rampant cheating might be a pitfall, for ex: PUBG.

[Ghostsquidy]

Is there anything that I could explain to people who don't have much knowledge in computers? A lot of these issues are mainly depending on the person, like upgrading just for the sake of upgrading. I need things that most people have as issues.

[partymarty]

I dislike 2 things often about PC gaming...

1- Cheaters/Hackers

2- Bad pc ports, there are so many games build for consoles which play really clunky on the PC

[jnkokseby]

2 minutes ago, Ghostsquidy said:

Is there anything that I could explain to people who don't have much knowledge in computers? A lot of these issues are mainly depending on the person, like upgrading just for the sake of upgrading. I need things that most people have as issues.

You are more prone to malware, I'm sure everybody here have tried getting a malware of some sort. Many mainstream customers (people who don't know a lot about hardware and software) have malware without even noticing it. I'm sure you guys have tried cleaning a PC after it has been exposed to virus or malware, (nearly) impossible to clean 100%.

[Revamp]

Besides the typical mentioned reasons like more expensive and building etc etc, the biggest factor I find is servers.

If comparing PC to console gaming directly using the same game, you can still use a controller on PC (like I do). However you are now playing on PC servers where everyone uses M/KB. It took me a long while to start getting a decent rate of top 3 players in COD:WW2. HOWEVER since I do only use a controller, when I play on friend's Xbox's I dominate LOL.

[AngryBeaver]

The pitfalls of PC gaming in my opinion are as follows.

 

• Higher Price of entry most specifically the GPU
• More hardware combinations can lead to conflicts in games. (console has fixed hardware) Also means games are more optimized on consoles.
• PC has more cheaters/hackers.. due to the way the platform works compared to a console.
• In most cases it is less portable than a console (more of a hassle to take with you) This can be mostly remedied by lan party builds though.
• Lastly I would say you need to keep up on your maintenance to make sure the pc stays healthy. Dusting it out, defrag, virus scans, windows updates, etc. Consoles do all this for you.

 

The list looks worse than it is though. There are lows of benefits to PC gaming that offset the negatives, but normally price is the biggest factor for people when it comes to pc gaming vs console. You can get an Xbox one X for around 500, yet a good graphics card for pc gaming can set you back more than the whole console. Then again you can upgrade a pc, but not the console. Those upgrades are generally just a GPU and then maybe a cpu after 6+ years, but you do get more life out of most of your hardware and it still being relevant compared to a console.

[userzero]

If you're gonna talk FPS shooters, I've always raved that keyboard & mouse is 100 times better than a controller. You move the mouse precisely and as fast as you want/can/skill level and click. 

 

With a controller you push a stick, wait, and hope for the best.

[Starelementpoke]

The time it takes when you first start.

[MikeSK]

Console are standard until they change.  You are locked in to their ecosystem.  You may have to purchase two or more competing consoles to play all your favorite titles.

PCs extra flexibility, complexity and utilitarianism has an initial higher setup cost.  Currently, you can use some of the hardware to pay for it's self.  The knowledge and skills learned from setting and maintaining your system can be used to support current and future endeavors. 
 

[Mira Yurizaki]

If we're talking about PC gaming in general:

• Depending on how old the consoles are, you usually cannot do better in terms of price/performance for new builds.
• PC UIs really don't lend themselves to a sit-down-on-a-couch experience. Sure there's Steam Big Screen, but anything outside of that isn't exactly comfortable or convenient.
• Any customization you do on the OS or with add-on software is yet another variable (or dozen) you add to potential problems if the game has an issue.
• AAA publishers who want their games on PCs and consoles tend to outsource the PC port to another developer. This can be hit or miss. While this may be a source of an apparent increasing in errors on the PC port, that could simply be attributed to the fact that there's a lot more configurations to test and run that they cannot simply do.
• AAA publishers also tend to use DRM, which hasn't really had a good track record on what it can do to your PC
• Troubleshooting and fixing issues can be a headache.

[linustouchtips]

5 hours ago, Zando Bob said:

1. Overspending on either overpriced stuff or more performance than you need.

2. You can get so caught up worrying about performance you forget to just play the game and enjoy it.

3. Sometimes you have to troubleshoot stuff, and lots of the time it's a pain

4. First time building can be difficult if you don't ask for advice, lots of people get terrible deals the first time. 

5. It can often be a lot more expensive 

 

and etc. 

Can't agree more with that 4th point.

[SageOfSpice]

-It requires research in order to select an adequate computer

-It requires a fair knowledge of the operating system in order to troubleshoot issues

-It requires selling your soul to Microsoft to use their damned parasitic OS

-It restricts access to all platform exclusives

-It requires more maintenance

-It usually requires more space

-It uses more power

-The use of such an extensive platform exposes you to online security risks

-Should a component defect, you need to be able to diagnose what the problem is in order to send the part in for warranty

-All your online friends will judge you based on your computer specs

[asus killer]

i don't think cost is an issue. The actual PC is more expensive, but you do not have to pay online and you can buy a PC and use it for literally anything else.

The major disadvantage i see is troubleshooting, it can be a pain in the behind, especially when you just want to sit and play and there is some stupid issue either software or hardware. Even some stupid windows update can go wrong and create issues.