4 ms·

I'd prefer to take the term back than to give it up, personally. Gaming culture used to be better than this, and if we can kick the fratcore back to the fringes

I'd prefer to take the term back than to give it up, personally. Gaming culture used to be better than this, and if we can kick the fratcore back to the fringes whence they came, it can be better again.

aaronem 13y ago
Consoles aren't going anywhere, though, and their low barrier to entry means they're going to have a larger share than PC gaming for as long as they're around.
- lucian1900 13y ago
  Also, they're pretty nice. PC gaming does have disadvantages.
  - aaronem 13y ago
    I haven't had a console since the original Playstation, so I don't know the answer to this question: How so? Is it just the low barrier to entry, or is there something about the actual experience of playing a console game which outdoes anything a PC can accomplish? (I really tend to doubt it's the latter, given the much greater flexibility of the PC as a platform -- I can use an Xbox 360 or PS3 controller to play a game on my computer, but as far as I know, I can't use a keyboard and mouse to play a game on either of those consoles.)
    - lucian1900 13y ago
      I find the lower friction quite valuable: - I don't need to care much about updates, not at all about driver issues. There are only two DRM mechanism in use (disc and digital) and their behaviour is well defined. (I'd rather have none, but that is only an option for very few games sadly). - I can pick up my controller, sit on the couch, press a button and the console turns itself on in a few seconds. Then, using just the controller, I can use all of its functions. - I quite like split-screen multiplayer and PC games almost never provide it. It would require 2 PCs for most games and would be impractical on a couch. - The console was also much cheaper than a gaming PC and used games + PSN sales end up at similar cost to Steam games + Steam sales. I've played with a Steambox and it comes close, but without being able to play all PC games in history, much of its appeal is gone.
- Millennium 13y ago
  I'm not so sure consoles are the problem. XBox Live gets a lot of heat, and deserves it, but most of the fratcore's market strongholds don't have their roots in consoles. FPS, MMO, and sandboxes all have famous PC roots, while technical fighters got their start in the arcades. Madden is really the only one the consoles can claim, and then only arguably: the first Madden wasn't released on consoles, but the consoles were where it really took off. That's why I'm reluctant to point the finger at consoles. The problematic franchises and strongholds have their roots elsewhere, and continue to start in these places, only coming to consoles later. If anything, consoles' low barrier to entry makes them more a part of the solution, not the problem: simply put, we need new blood, and lots of it.
  - aaronem 13y ago
    How does the fact, that console gamers on average consistently behave much worse in the manner under discussion than PC gamers do, implicate the origins of various franchises as the problem, and consoles as the solution?
    - thesnider 13y ago
      counter-example: EVE Online.

aaronem 13y ago

Consoles aren't going anywhere, though, and their low barrier to entry means they're going to have a larger share than PC gaming for as long as they're around.

lucian1900 13y ago
Also, they're pretty nice. PC gaming does have disadvantages.
- aaronem 13y ago
  I haven't had a console since the original Playstation, so I don't know the answer to this question: How so? Is it just the low barrier to entry, or is there something about the actual experience of playing a console game which outdoes anything a PC can accomplish? (I really tend to doubt it's the latter, given the much greater flexibility of the PC as a platform -- I can use an Xbox 360 or PS3 controller to play a game on my computer, but as far as I know, I can't use a keyboard and mouse to play a game on either of those consoles.)
  - lucian1900 13y ago
    I find the lower friction quite valuable: - I don't need to care much about updates, not at all about driver issues. There are only two DRM mechanism in use (disc and digital) and their behaviour is well defined. (I'd rather have none, but that is only an option for very few games sadly). - I can pick up my controller, sit on the couch, press a button and the console turns itself on in a few seconds. Then, using just the controller, I can use all of its functions. - I quite like split-screen multiplayer and PC games almost never provide it. It would require 2 PCs for most games and would be impractical on a couch. - The console was also much cheaper than a gaming PC and used games + PSN sales end up at similar cost to Steam games + Steam sales. I've played with a Steambox and it comes close, but without being able to play all PC games in history, much of its appeal is gone.
Millennium 13y ago
I'm not so sure consoles are the problem. XBox Live gets a lot of heat, and deserves it, but most of the fratcore's market strongholds don't have their roots in consoles. FPS, MMO, and sandboxes all have famous PC roots, while technical fighters got their start in the arcades. Madden is really the only one the consoles can claim, and then only arguably: the first Madden wasn't released on consoles, but the consoles were where it really took off. That's why I'm reluctant to point the finger at consoles. The problematic franchises and strongholds have their roots elsewhere, and continue to start in these places, only coming to consoles later. If anything, consoles' low barrier to entry makes them more a part of the solution, not the problem: simply put, we need new blood, and lots of it.
- aaronem 13y ago
  How does the fact, that console gamers on average consistently behave much worse in the manner under discussion than PC gamers do, implicate the origins of various franchises as the problem, and consoles as the solution?
  - thesnider 13y ago
    counter-example: EVE Online.