I'm still rocking a $90 Phenom X4 and a shitty AMD 5770 GPU. I'm currently running Bioshock Infinite maxed and can even push Crysis 3 and BF4 near max settings. So my PC has survived an entire generation and is easily handling the current next gen stuff. I'm sure by mid-next gen I'll buy a new graphics card, but you don't need the best of the best to have an enjoyable time gaming on your PC.

Oh, and I only payed $7.99 for Bioshock Infinite. The savings on games alone is phenomenal.

You definitely save a lot in games. The fact that it is open platform and that you have access multiple storefronts definitely makes for a more competitive, and fair, market when talking PC.
The buy-in for PC is obviously where people struggle, at least if you are aiming for a high-spec machine.
The cost does justify itself over time though. There is a lot of added cost when it comes to consoles and, again, you do spend a lot more on games.

How budget PC gaming works.(at least for me)

1) Buy/build a cheap PC with a strong CPU, and whatever you need to get games running on it. You can now play any game at some level or another.
2) Save up money over time, while still playing all the games you wanted to play.
3) Upgrade PC using the money you saved on games, or just money you saved in general.

I dont know about you guys, but PC gaming isnt all about TEH POWAH, TEH SAVINGS, TEH FREE ONLINE. A big part of it is Building YOUR PC, the way you want it, Setting it up to be yours, optimizing it, pushing it to the limits, and when it breaks, bring it back to life. Its like a hobby, Like building a car from scrap, you could go buy a prebuilt car from a dealership, OR you could make YOUR car.

Absolutely. Also PS Plus gives you more free games and I'm not talking about free to play. You guys can correct me on that last statement if I'm wrong, just don't be childish about it.

8 years ago I would have said yes but not anymore. Now we have to pay to play online, PC games drop in price much faster and you never lose BC with your old games no matter the upgrade.

Not to mention that you can build a similar priced PC with twice the power of a console... And how to forget the fact that you can make your old games look much better without being milked by a company selling you the same game twice in some sort of HD collection and stuff. Now the problem would be the exclusives like Uncharted and so.

I am mainly a PC gamer but I also own all consoles (minus the PS4/X1). My PS3 that I bought back in 2007 is still kicking but I am on my 2nd X360. You will never hear me use the reasoning of "consoles breaking" to justify PC being a cheaper gaming platform. With that said, if you know where and when to buy games for the PC (i.e. Steam sales, greenmangaming, gamersgate, cdkey websites, steamtrades, ebay, humble bumdles, etc), you "could" make up the costs that consoles generate over the years of their lifetime. I like to buy near top tier video cards so my gaming will be more expensive than the average console gamer, I admit. But ALSO way more expensive than the average PC gamer. You DO NOT NEED a $2000 PC to play games for a year (as some may think). There are quality builds around $1000 that will last you for a few+ years. Back in the 2000s, yes, technology was moving so fast that you needed to upgrade to stay relevant. That is not the issue anymore. Video cards/CPUs last a long time. Heck, my i7-920 from 2009 is still in my machine doing just fine. Same case and mobo, too. I upgraded my HDD to an SSD and my RAM from 6gb to 12gb. Besides that and my obsession for fast GPUs, that's it since 2009. I'm rambling...

Price of games: My Steam account has over 475 games. Only a few that I purchases full price. Most have been from crazy sales, bundles, and or trading Team Fortess 2 keys (international currency) for games. No pirating because good luck pirating games attached to Steam. Believe it or not but my 475 games have cost me somewhere between $1000-1500. Sound like a lot? Consider that in the 8 years of the past generation, if you bought 20 games at $60 you would of spent $1200.

http://steamcommunity.com/i...

You may talk about computer parts (i.e. CPU, Mobo, GPU, Memory, Case, Mouse, Keyboard, Monitor, etc.) needing upgraded/fixed. But don't forget that most console owners do need to purchase, possibly replace, controllers, rechargeable batteries (360), etc. They aren't cheap.

I bet most console owners ALSO own a PC/MAC for work/leisure. How much did that cost? Considering that you don't need another computer if you game on a PC, you must figure in those costs also.

Lastly, PC gamers play an unbelievable amount of F2P games. PC gamers also do not require a monthly bill (minus your internet bill) to game online (Live/PS+).

I love all forms of gaming but a lot of gamers do not take into consideration all the factors when they add their costs to gaming. I'm sure I left out something from both sides but what I said is pretty factual. In the end, PC gamers usually have to front load their purchase but console gamers get nickel and dimed over years. This can average out the gaming price depending on your way of gaming.

I'd say their about even

It's pretty simple if you do the math..

ps4 is 400$ it cost around 400$ just to play online and games are 70$ a pop + the price of games drop way slower then on pc.

with 750$ you get a better gaming pc then the ps4, you get cheaper games and more flexibility. PC gaming is cheaper, I'Ve probably saved over 2 grand in the past 5 year alone then if I would bought all these games on consoles. Anyone saying otherwise is just plain wrong.

Spend $400 dollars building a gaming PC from scratch Windows, keyboard/mouse and all. Then spend $400 on a PS4.

Buy BF4, see which one looks and runs better.

Spend $600 dollars building a gaming PC from scratch. The spend $400 on PS4. See which one runs games better in 4 years.

There's your answer. Console gaming is popular for a reason.

Titan graphics card = $1000.00.
A complete console = up to $500.00.
Do the math.

It's pretty simple. If all you do is rent games than Console gaming comes out to be cheaper, but if you buy your games over time console gaming gets alot more expansive than Pc gaming.

5 year old Gaming rig that cost around 500 pounds blazes trough modern pc games....i think he bought those parts from sale or from a friend since my pc cost a 100-200 more (saved money by getting AMD) and i dont have the power for recommended requirements and its only 2 years old. BF4 runs medium/high at pretty steady 60 frames, with that price 5 years ago i think that hes running bf4 now with 30fps low settings...not blazing trough. Not even a average pc gamer wants to run his games low 30fps.

Also ive had to replace one GPU (HD 6850 to GTX 560 Ti) and power, those cost around 200 pounds at the time. Then theres other problems like in Ubisoft games which MP's are totally broken, also latest Batman origins mp doesnt work half of the time and the load times are pain. You may have to open some ports on consoles to make the mp work better but on some pc titles its a must to even make then work like in Splinter cell conviction (ofc not all has to do this). The worst thing ive had tough is the Nvidia drivers that made my computers freeze when using GTX560 and yesterday after HALF YEAR they made a driver to fix it, now i dont have to use over half year drives to play my games and now BF4 doesnt shutdown half of the time saying "update your drivers you dum dum". Pc gaming aint always like dancing in the rose bush.

I wish I could say Pc gaming has been cheaper for myself. But that's far from the case. I've spent ££££ on my rig. Simply because I couldn't live with not having the best.

Pc gaming in my opinion is still only for the select few who strive for the best. It's fair enough building a "cheap" rig but for the true enthusiast that's not good enough.

Console gaming (for what it offers) will always be cheaper. No matter how you spin it.

No, PC gaming is cheaper in the long run. I get far more bang for my buck with a gaming PC than a single console.

When people say console gaming is cheaper all they look at is the initial price, and fail to account for subscription fee to play online, the, on average, higher price of games, the probability that you will upgrade your console at least once to a higher memory/slimmer model or repair it at least once, and after you consider all those costs console gaming equalizes with PC gaming expenses, but does far, far less per dollar

Not to mention all the other PC stuff you would need that he missed out. Like a cabinet/table for the PC, PC chair, antivirus software, an OS. Then you need a headset too if you really care about online and maybe a controller.
Whereas a console you just plug straight in and leave it in/on your tv cabinet.
Then theres the hassle of updating the tens of drivers on the PC to keep it working properly with games. Long ass install times and more frequent crashing/freezing.
Yea its not so simple as the article makes it sound.

Not in the long run. Only takes about 2 years for PC to catch console in price. Over the generation you could buy a PC just from the extra cost of games on console. The games, DLC, subscription fees, and microtransactions all cost more on console.

It depends on what you play and buy. If you are single and play one or two games a year (COD and Madden for example), console all the way. But if you are going to buy a good sum of games, PC is the only way to go.

For a family and each member has their own console or PC, PC is WAY cheaper. Group game rates, plus hardware is cheaper! (some stores sell cheaper parts if you buy X)

I applaud and envy PC owners who enjoy PC gaming as a hobby, tinkering and upgrading their systems, changing all the settings to games, optimizing, downloading MODs, using cool peripherals.

Personally I don't really have the time/desire to bother with all that, also I have no room in my apt to even put a desktop computer in the first place. I play some games on my gaming laptop, even though I could play games like Crysis on it (not at max settings mind you) generally I only play indie games that aren't available for my PS3.

In the end I like many others enjoy the convenience and ease of consoles as well as console exclusive games that interest me like Heavy Rain and The Last of Us, Xenoblade Chronicles and Super Mario Galaxy.

Tell me again how the multiplatform strategy was supposed to fix everything. Look at your results and compare them to Nintendo, which keeps thriving with exclusives. Your loyal fans are gone. And let’s not forget the pile of IPs you purchased only to let them rot.

The worst thing is this is down from last years numbers/expectations which was down from the previous years numbers/expectations. You think about how long “down” has been a consistent part of the communication and you realize those subscriptions are what’s holding that boat together. The price cut of gamespass is still a price raise in a string of price raises. They are trying to use players to offset the missing revenue. Now call of duty is out of gamespass, which is literally WHY they bought the company. To draw people to the subscription. They realized they missed a boatload of money and that wasn’t sustainable. Now you pay for it like you would have if they never bought the company… so why buy the company? Mind you those billions still need to be paid back. Yeah it gives you a chance to say we make the biggest FPS… but the internal conversations must be brutal at high level on topics that really matter. Like revenue. Profitability. And ROI for the shopping spree.

Is this like the 10th quarter in a row they're down 33% on hardware how is that even mathematically possible. You would think their mediocrity would Plateau