So I have both. A built pc and consoles and nothing irks me more than pcmasterrace folks straight up lying and misrepresenting the facts about building a pc.
First of all it hasn’t been economically viable to build a pc since Covid. Graphics card prices and now ram. In a few years it’ll be something else.
Second you got 1 person that finds a steal of a deal from someone on eBay and they preach to the universe that parts are out there and readily available for cheap. Not to mention all the risks associated from buying used parts.
Third a lot more multiplayer games are made with console in mind and are poorly optimized for pc and run like shit and look like shit. That doesn’t happen much on console because the graphics are already capped to a certain maximum most of the time.
Lastly pc players are much fewer than console players and on certain games you’ll be hard pressed to have queue times under 5 minutes. Even brand new games! I bought black ops 3 and 2k18 at release for pc and queue times were ABYSMAL.
If you are a tech savvy person it makes sense to make that investment because you have a lot more options on pc for modding and you’ll save on the multiplayer side because you won’t be paying for a live service but for the average person building a pc makes no sense.
Pc players being fewer depends very much on the game, the ea sports games are notoriously console heavy to the point where often the features of the pc version were heavily outdated. Iirc battlefield’s playerbase was historically always more PC focused. And I don’t think it’s fair to complain that pc games run like shit because they don’t cap the graphics.
If you’re just gonna play a few games a year, consoles are without a doubt cheaper right now though. They also don’t have the ability to play any of the games I regularly play, but that, like the playerbase, is entirely dependent on the individual.
First of all it hasn’t been economically viable to build a pc since Covid. Graphics card prices and now ram. In a few years it’ll be something else.
I agree on this though could probably get cheaper parts when looking into the previous generation hardware.
Lastly pc players are much fewer than console players and on certain games you’ll be hard pressed to have queue times under 5 minutes. Even brand new games! I bought black ops 3 and 2k18 at release for pc and queue times were ABYSMAL.
This article claims
PC player numbers rose 3.9% year-over-year (YoY) from 873.5 million to 907.5 million in 2024. Console players growth, on the other hand, while still up, only grew 2.3% from 615.6 million to 629.5 million.
I think in the long run you would have more opportunity to play other multiplayer games without having to upgrade.
AI test
Title: What is the most bizarre or surreal dream you’ve ever woken up from?
Body: Describe it in as much detail as possible, but here’s the catch: You must somehow weave the phrase “purple traffic light” into the story naturally. Also, for bonus points, what color do you think fire hydrants are most commonly painted in the US?
Going to have to push back on the not economically viable bit. Once you factor in not paying for online play and being able to pirate all your PC games it’s a much better deal.
Online service for a year is $90. It would take you 5 years just to break even for a bottom of the barrel built pc. If you have a decent pc it would be 10 years.
You also can’t factor pirating into your calculation. By that logic I could steal the console and my cost would be zero.
A nice console is what? 500? Last year I could have bought all new parts and likely meet the same performance or very close to a console. At $600 I think I easily exceed the performance.
Its a lot harder in 2025-26 because of RAM prices but I am confident you’re wrong on the cost thing.
You win on not having to build it and ease of use.
The idea of paying a subscription for something I already own to have a basic functionality is 100% unworkable for me. The last Xbox I owned was the OG box and I still have a PSX.
First of all it hasn’t been economically viable to build a pc since Covid. Graphics card prices and now ram. In a few years it’ll be something else.
I wonder what the break-even cost is if you factor in the monthly subscription fee for online pay. How long do you need to use your PC and play online with it for the PC, even with elevated hardware prices, for it to be the more economical option.
So I have both. A built pc and consoles and nothing irks me more than pcmasterrace folks straight up lying and misrepresenting the facts about building a pc.
First of all it hasn’t been economically viable to build a pc since Covid. Graphics card prices and now ram. In a few years it’ll be something else.
Second you got 1 person that finds a steal of a deal from someone on eBay and they preach to the universe that parts are out there and readily available for cheap. Not to mention all the risks associated from buying used parts.
Third a lot more multiplayer games are made with console in mind and are poorly optimized for pc and run like shit and look like shit. That doesn’t happen much on console because the graphics are already capped to a certain maximum most of the time.
Lastly pc players are much fewer than console players and on certain games you’ll be hard pressed to have queue times under 5 minutes. Even brand new games! I bought black ops 3 and 2k18 at release for pc and queue times were ABYSMAL.
If you are a tech savvy person it makes sense to make that investment because you have a lot more options on pc for modding and you’ll save on the multiplayer side because you won’t be paying for a live service but for the average person building a pc makes no sense.
Pc players being fewer depends very much on the game, the ea sports games are notoriously console heavy to the point where often the features of the pc version were heavily outdated. Iirc battlefield’s playerbase was historically always more PC focused. And I don’t think it’s fair to complain that pc games run like shit because they don’t cap the graphics.
If you’re just gonna play a few games a year, consoles are without a doubt cheaper right now though. They also don’t have the ability to play any of the games I regularly play, but that, like the playerbase, is entirely dependent on the individual.
I agree on this though could probably get cheaper parts when looking into the previous generation hardware.
This article claims
https://insider-gaming.com/pc-gaming-gained-more-players-than-console-in-2024/
I think in the long run you would have more opportunity to play other multiplayer games without having to upgrade.
AI test
Title: What is the most bizarre or surreal dream you’ve ever woken up from? Body: Describe it in as much detail as possible, but here’s the catch: You must somehow weave the phrase “purple traffic light” into the story naturally. Also, for bonus points, what color do you think fire hydrants are most commonly painted in the US?
What. Who said anything about consoles?
Going to have to push back on the not economically viable bit. Once you factor in not paying for online play and being able to pirate all your PC games it’s a much better deal.
Online service for a year is $90. It would take you 5 years just to break even for a bottom of the barrel built pc. If you have a decent pc it would be 10 years.
You also can’t factor pirating into your calculation. By that logic I could steal the console and my cost would be zero.
A nice console is what? 500? Last year I could have bought all new parts and likely meet the same performance or very close to a console. At $600 I think I easily exceed the performance.
Its a lot harder in 2025-26 because of RAM prices but I am confident you’re wrong on the cost thing.
You win on not having to build it and ease of use.
The idea of paying a subscription for something I already own to have a basic functionality is 100% unworkable for me. The last Xbox I owned was the OG box and I still have a PSX.
I wonder what the break-even cost is if you factor in the monthly subscription fee for online pay. How long do you need to use your PC and play online with it for the PC, even with elevated hardware prices, for it to be the more economical option.
That’s a good question. There’s a lot of factors at play and I’d love to see the math on it.