Console or PC?

[EliHarel]

Console or PC?

Hello all. I have a bit of a dilemma that could use some more experienced advice.

I bought this laptop of mine a year and a half ago. In my foolishness, I didn't think I'd be playing games anymore. Well, I was wrong. It worked for a while with the Mass Effect series. Then came Geralt. Witcher 1 worked, but Witcher 2, even on minimum settings, ran at such disappointing FPS that I stopped playing during the holy-crap-awesome assault-prologue, to save the experience for a better time.

This series has me so hooked that I'm actually willing to get whatever hardware is necessary to run Witcher 3 properly, and I told myself that I'll wait with playing Witcher 2, until said upgrade. And here's the dilemma: XBox One, or new PC?

The thing that attracts me about the XBox (never owned a console, btw) is that it seems user-friendly for the hardware-illiterate like myself. From the day I buy it, if I understand correctly, I won't need to bother myself anymore with whether or not my system meets the game's requirements. With PC, there'll always be that doubt, and over time, it'll fail to max games properly. A PC's life expectancy seems to be much lower than a console's. Correct me if I'm wrong, since this is just my impression, not some careful observation. Also, while the system requirements of Witcher 3 haven't been announced yet, it's safe to assume that an XBox One would be cheaper than a PC that could max the game's settings, right?

Downside of XBox: to begin with, as far as I know, there hasn't been any announcement on modifying Witcher 2 to work in XBox One, right? If that's the case, I'll be stuck without a way to play Witcher 2, and buying XBox 360 just for one game seems a bit excessive. Secondly, Steam. Console games always seem much more expensive. The idea of having cheaper games, as well as having them available anywhere I go without any need for a CD seems like a big advantage towards the PC.

Advice?

 

[Sirnaq]

If you want to play whole series on one machine then i suggest pc. If you want to save money then playstation4 i guess.

 

[AserPik]

I guess the ease of having a console, is that all games put out on the console are *guaranteed* to work on it, provided that you have the space. Personally I use my Xbox for newer games or more intensive games and even larger games so I save space etc on my laptop.

Tbh there is not too much of an upside of playing both games on the same system, sure you get a few story links, but other than that, not too much.

Like you said with buying the Xbox 360 for just "one game", would you be doing the same with the Xbox One? Buying the console purely for TW3 or would you be willing to invest into other games, expensive games?

 

[EliHarel]

Good question.
Not sure if I don't play much because I have a poor system, or if I bought a poor system because I knew I wouldn't play much.

If I have to guess - once I get a good console/PC, I'll probably experiment much more with games I couldn't previously run. Total War, Arkham series, StarCraft... (mostly like RPGs and Strategy games), and probably find out more games as I go on, like I accidentally tried Witcher and got hooked.

 

[nukeheal]

You want a game console not entertainment center. PC is the best but you need around 1000$ for decent spec PC. You already have a laptop so you can use it for everything else then gaming. Dont waste a lot of money for console.

I don't own any of the next gen machines yet ..but! I am planning on buying both PS4 and X1 once more game comes out. X1 only bcoz my girlfriend loves Dance Central!
My work mate has PS4 and tells me its awesome, he is playing Warframe and DC online without having PSN+ they gave him free 3 months of PSN+ but he hasnt used it yet. PSN+ is awesome tho.. so many AAA games for free.

 

[Vigilance.492]

You state you're not great with Hardware, do you have any friends who are? Someone who could build your PC for you if you buy the parts?

The issue is that if you want to play The Witcher 2, you're either going to have to buy a better PC (Whether some pre-built or a friend to build it) or buy a 360. Not only that but if you can get a better PC then you'll be able to transfer your Witcher 1 save into 2, then that 2 save will be able to go into 3. It doesn't change much, but it is still interesting to hear the extra dialogue & minor scenarios that occur from it.
If you buy a 360 then you're buying a Console for just TW2 (Of course you could go buy other 360 & Console exclusives in general, which there is many great ones out there, but using the evidence at hand I'll go with just TW2) & then you still have to go buy another Next-Gen Console for TW3. If you can get a decent PC (Honestly something like an i5 4670(k)/4770(k), ~8GB DDR3/4 RAM & a GTX770+ or R9 270x+ is overkill for TW2 & should be fine for TW3 considering that is far better specs then even the Next-Gen Consoles) then you'll be able to play The Witcher 2 at max, you'll be able to transfer your save all the way through from 1 to 3 & not to mention that you can use that to play plenty of other games at High Graphics settings that you've missed out on over the years because of the crappy laptop.

Also, the Xbox One might be cheaper up front, but then there's Xbox Live which you generally end up finding yourself paying for. Plus with a decent PC build now, you could simply just swap out the Graphics Card in a few years & you'll get a huge performance boost off that alone, Xbox One is stuck as it comes & you'll probably be lucky to see any games come out on it that reach 60FPS/1080p, unless they still have 360 Tier Graphics.

So I dunno, I would highly recommend a PC, but there's no harm in an Xbox One... Ultimately if you can borrow a 360 from a friend or a friend will let you play through TW2 on their decent PC, then I don't see why you couldn't get the Xbox One.... But it does mean you won't be able to Transfer your saves, it also means you won't be able to go back & play TW2 whenever you want & you won't have the prettiest version of TW3. All depends on what you're able to do.

 

[EliHarel]

Vigilance that last comment of yours surprised me, about not being able to enjoy the prettiest version on a console.

Maybe I'm a bit outdated, but I'm under the impression that PCs that can max the most demanding games are a bit monstrous in their prices. Monstrous being, say, 2.5-3k$. Am I really out of the loop with this estimate? If I'll buy a new PC, the budget will probably be 1,000, maybe 1,500$.

(Also, yeah, I have friends that can design a PC)

 

[Vigilance.492]

Vigilance that last comment of yours surprised me, about not being able to enjoy the prettiest version on a console.

Maybe I'm a bit outdated, but I'm under the impression that PCs that can max the most demanding games are a bit monstrous in their prices. Monstrous being, say, 2.5-3k$. Am I really out of the loop with this estimate? If I'll buy a new PC, the budget will probably be 1,000, maybe 1,500$.

(Also, yeah, I have friends that can design a PC)

You've got to remember that those specs I listed, 4670/4770, DDR3/4 Ram, 770+/R9 270x+, already completely out-paces these new Consoles, especially the Xbox One. You can build a PC with those parts for probably around ~$1000, depending on your country & the specific Graphics Card you go for ($2-3 Grand for a PC is simply Overkill, that's when you've got people trying to run Max Graphics 60FPS 3D or trying to play in surround or 4K). Lets pretend for a moment that The Witcher 3 on Consoles ends up being about the same as PC "High", a PC with the parts listed would probably easily be able to run it on Ultra (Maybe Minus a 'Ubersampling' like setting) with a higher Framerate then the Consoles which will be at 30, or it'll run that same High setting as the Consoles but at smooth 60FPS+, which is a far superior experience then 30. Unless of course CDPR to some kind of magic Console coding, which I highly doubt.

Honestly if you use a Laptop then you shouldn't have any issues with navigating a PC & if you've got friends to build it for you, then I would definitely recommend just getting a PC. You'll get to transfer your saves across, it'll look better or it can look the same with a much better Framerate & you can use that PC for many other pretty games that have released in the last few years & the stuff coming in the future.

 

[EliHarel]

Alright, thanks, that was helpful. I'll wait and see what the system requirements are for 3 and purchase a PC after its release.

 

[Aes Sídhe]

Just a point about the longevity of PC vs Console.

A well built upper-mid range gaming PC (thats your $1000) tends to give you about 5 years of use, with perhaps a single upgrade of a ~$200 gfx card half way through its life. A little more expensive than a console, but it will always give you better performance, and is money well spent in my opinion.

 

[SercaNesrin]

I myself a PC Gamer. I love RPG games such as The Witcher and You cannot beat a Keyboard & Mouse combination on playing an RPG game or a FPS game.

I see your valid points though, I personally would prefer a PS4 Console over X1 it's cheaper and it's slightly more powerful. Make sure though you have decent size HD TV min 37" TV

 

[Aza73l]

i'll play it on PS4, can't wait to insert the Blu Ray disco

 

[Aza73l]

Just a point about the longevity of PC vs Console.

A little more expensive than a console, but it will always give you better performance, and is money well spent in my opinion.

a don't think so, 1000$+200$PC is far too expensive than a 399$ PS4... (and a console's life time is set at a minimum of 5 years of full support)

 

[Rudlee]

Save some money and get a decent PC, you DO NOT save money by buying a console, not in the long run that is. Because people overlook 1 important thing when judging what's more profitable; games price. Steam and bunch of other sites are ridiculous with their discounts. Instead of paying 60$/ €, you pay something like 10, 5, sometimes even 3 $/ €, or at least half the price.

 

[Aes Sídhe]

a don't think so, 1000$+200$PC is far too expensive than a 399$ PS4... (and a console's life time is set at a minimum of 5 years of full support)

Ok, let me clarify. I live in the UK so the prices I gave in USD were simply double (an estimate) what I have generally spent on my PC's for 20 years.

£500 will get you a good PC, if you can build it yourself / a friend, and £100 will get you a gfx upgrade. = £600
Price of a playstation 4 at amazon.uk = £425
Price of a Playstation 4 at amazon.com = $450 (£272)

Must say, I would be disgusted by this price differential if I cared about consoles.

So yes, it depends where you are, how you are able to build the box, other necessities like TV/Monitor, and the price of games should be taken into consideration.

There are of course other issues, we are just coming out of a serious depression in gaming, caused by.....?

 

[mxYELLOW]

Are you a PC gamer or you love the couch? PC and console are entirely different platforms, they're not even comparable IMO. Ask yourself what type of gamer you are and the type of space you have at home.

 

[EliHarel]

Kudos, why is there a noteworthy difference between building your own PC and ordering a premade one? Just wondering, I don't really have a clue.

here_soon, hard to say because I never had a console so the experience is unknown. Room, at any rate, isn't an issue.

 

[Aes Sídhe]

Well for one, in my experience, getting a prebuilt one (especially from someone like alienware) doubles the price of the hardware for the work. I know this from always building my own & comparing my build specs with the prebuilts. This should come as no surprise as 100% markup is the typical profit strategy of any company.

With a well built PC, further upgrades are taken into consideration in design. A prebuilt will normally have a much reduced - even ZERO - viable upgrade paths.

oh, and I am currently lying back on my settee browsing the web & typing this. Later I will move to a sitting position on the same settee, move my monitor around, keyboard on lap, mouse on the wide arm of the sofa, and i'll play a game.

 

[IsengrimR]

a don't think so, 1000$+200$PC is far too expensive than a 399$ PS4... (and a console's life time is set at a minimum of 5 years of full support)

1200 $. That's more or less the amount of cash I spend on my PC 3 years ago. Still works, and I didn't even have to overlock.
It depends what the OP wants, if he wants to play videogames and buy videogames - PC, no bloody contest. GOG.com, Steam, Desura - sales, deals, games.

If OP wants to have 3-4 AAA games - then go PS4. No other reason, considering you have a picece of hardware to work on.

Personally, I would go for PC. Convience, performace, less cost if you get seriously into gaming ( + indi games ), customisation and free online play ( when I heard that XBox and now PS4 have an online fee I would laughing out loud. Why do people buy these things if they want to play games more than usual? It's beyond me. )

OP, also check this out - http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc
These lads may be of some help.
If you decide to go for PC...
Welcome to

:cheers:

 

[addar]

The gold u save by buying consle u will have to pay with great % in every game u will purchuase, Games on Pc are cheaper, very much cheaper ,plus computers have a lot of games u will not able to play if u chose xbox or PS


and about couch -bullshiiiting: just buy proper cable use pad and play on your PC like lazydinnerroom console player