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[Durante]

Better graphics are great, and so are generally cheaper games.

However, my favourite things by far about PC gaming are control and choice.
- I have control over the effect/detail/IQ/FPS tradeoff,
- I have a huge variety of choices for input devices, output devices and distribution platforms, and
- I have full control over the platform I run my games on, both in terms of software and hardware.
This concept of control and choices can be extended even further with mods, and can never be matched by a closed platform.

 

[angular graphics]

Easy; Backwards compatibility.

I wouldn't be nearly as excited about buying games as I am now if I knew 5-10 years down the line I would no longer be able to play them.

 

[andregnreis]

The prices.

Yeah prices are awesome and even better to people outside the US

 

[Deputy Dangle]

The options and deals are amazing.

 

[RibbedHero]

Also forgot about FOV. I can't stand a low FOV. My old flatmate in uni used to get sick playing anything lower than 90 FOV.

 

[Glass Rebel]

Variety and choice for almost every single aspect of my gaming experience, be it software, hardware, community aspects or price.

 

[scitek]

The Sonic Unleashed mod is the perfect example of mine. Also, nearly infinite backward compatibilty.

 

[alexandros]

My favorite thing is choice. I love the fact that I can fully control my gaming experience without being shackled to pointless hardware or software limitations.

 

[GrizzNKev]

The concept of an easily accessible library without any physical media.

No, GRAFIX

 

[dark_prinny]

That I loathe it so much, that makes me love my consoles even more.

 

[bedlamite]

Sales sales sales!

 

[inky]

- Prices
- Customization/Mods
- Graphics and Performance
- Convenient access to my library
- Lack of "generation" restrictions (in most cases)
- Different controller options

 

[R1CHO]

Choice.

 

[Felix Lighter]

It's better than your standard backward compatibility. You don't only get to play your old games but often you get to play them in a much better state, utilizing the extra hardware horsepower of a new machine.

 

[Mr_eX]

Games are cheaper, look/run better and you get more options for controls(you can use mouse and keyboard or a controller with most games) compared to consoles. Then there's also stuff like mumble that allows superior voice chat. I know the 360 has party chat but voice chat on live sounds terrible.

Oh yeah, and the ability to capture screenshots/video/live stream

 

[SneakyStephan]

-mouse aim
-open platform (because of all that this entails including everything listed below)
-game prices, if you pay over 30 euros for a game on pc you are doing it wrong.
-mods
-dedicated servers and server browsers
-I can turn off stupid shit like bloom and blur and dof, I can play at a decent framerate and I can play at a decent resolution.


edit: also game variety, there's no such thing as natural selection, planetside, world of tanks, vindictus, tribes, civ , dawn of war, stalker, company of heroes etc.
None of the genres these games occupy are represented on consoles at all.

That I loathe it so much, that makes me love my consoles even more.

I'll let it slide this once because you are a disgaea fan.

 

[Coen]

I like being able to upgrade when I see fit instead of the market forcing me to. I like replacing and adding parts over time.

 

[Corky]

Moddability, I know this is a 'cheap' answer and people just use the term in a throw away manner but when things click, communities assemble and some great mods are birthed that leads to amazing things.

Scalability of games and hardware, there really isn't any limit to what you can do with pc gaming given you have the money for it. You can go from tiny formfactor emulation rigs to delving into crazy multi monitor simulation setups. Playing old games using modern hardware, AA, mods, fixes etc is amazing in and of itself. I recently played online co-op Quake 1 with a friend, when I first played quake 1 almost 18 years ago internet was but a magical fairy tale. You have an extremely wide range of games utilizing all kinds of hardware. Running games at whatever framerate and image quality you want ( within the limitations of your rigs ofc ) is great.

Cheap games, don't even know what to say here, living in a country where the msrp of a new console game is roughly $100, being able to buy more games than I know what do to with with that hypothetical hundred dollar bill is mind blowing. DD services like steam, gmg and gog are pretty darn good.

'Infinite' backwards compatibility, on steam/gog you can buy games that are almost 30 years old.

Emulation I've only recently, the past year or two, started dabbling in it but playing some of my wii and old gamecube games on dolphin has been such a great experience. The mere thought of one day having dedicated emulation rigs for each of nintendo's past consoles is orgasmic.

Freedom, sounds cheesy but you have so much freedom on the pcplatform compared to other platforms that that alone can be enough for me to skip a certain platform if they have too heavy focus on anti-consumer bs.


I'm sure there's a lot , a loooot more that I enjoy but those are the ones that stick out to me.

 

[anddo0]

1- Price: games are dirt cheap. I got Tomb Raider for $24, after using credit and a nice discount.

2- Acceptability/Options: Games boot super fast. I can bypass all those annoying logos. I can tweak my games until I'm satisfied.

3- 1080p/60fps: A sight to behold.. Jumping between PC and PS3 can be jarring.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Everything.

Eternal backwards compatibility.
The biggest library of any system ever.
Glorious image quality.
Mods, oh god... The mods.
Any control option I like.
Cheap games.

And of course having a gaming system I can use for a bunch of other things like XBMC. I do love PC gaming.

 

[subversus]

cheap games
tons of them
unlimited backward compatibility

 

[Stallion Free]

Literally everything. It is the perfect platform for me and no other platform will come close. I even love the things that most people consider flaws. I was raised on PC and started builds fairly young so it's in my blood.

 

[joesiv]

For me it's drooling over specs of new hardware. Dreaming of buttery smooth framerates, and hoping it'll give me some type of advantage over my friends in multiplayer.

This is usually dashed by the reality that the new GPU/CPU still couldn't handle the games maxed' out with maxed IQ.

Then this is dashed even more when 2 years down the road the PC has depreciated to next to nill...

lol...

But honestly, I haven't "invested" in PC gaming since back when the radeon 9700 hit the market, with a Dual Athlon MP setup. But I still love drooling over the specs of new hardware.

 

[Mupod]

120fps and no (less?) jaggies.

Also it just feels good to build a PC yourself and see how far you can push your system.

 

[tjohn86]

Backwards compatibility is awesome... and the graphics boost.

 

[Derrick01]

- Cheap prices. Buying most new releases for $30 is amazing, plus I can take an even bigger cut away with money I made from selling TF2 items. Can't do that on consoles.

- Diversity. I can jump from Bioshock to Crusader Kings 2 to Deus Ex to Xcom (both the new and original version) to Minecraft/Terraria to Planetside 2...you get the picture.

- Being able to run everything at 60fps and 1080p.

- Steam. I love how many features they're adding that are pretty forward thinking and stuff you can't get on consoles. Like the market, inventory and workshop.

 

[ghst]

it's personal.

 

[sykoex]

Being able to customize a game to my liking with mods and configs is one really cool thing. Also the gigantic back catalog of old school stuff to play on sites like GOG.

 

[RibbedHero]

Freedom

As far as I'm concerned the PC is the equivalent of a free market capitalist system, while consoles follow a system of socialism.

Spoiler

Only slightly joking.

 

[Bisnic]

Performance, customization, mods, keyboard, mouse. I dont see myself playing any games that has shooting with a controller either.

 

[joeblow]

What is your favourite thing about PC gaming?

My top 5:

1. Streets of Rage Remake

2. Mouse control aiming in FPS games

3. Steam prices. I can live off of my backlog alone, getting good titles mostly when they go on super sale.

4. Mods, mods, mods. They made Kingdoms of Amalur one of my favorite games this gen by drastically upping the difficulty, pulling back the FoV camera, and greatly enhancing the already beautiful graphics.

5. The ability to tweak settings until I hit a solid 60fps.

 

[Finaika]

Wow.

 

[GoofsterStud]

Indie Games followed by MMOs.

 

[Pikawil]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUo1PgKksgw

 

[Violater]

The sales and ability to use my controller for most games.

 

[batman2million]

What i love is that you can choose to invest in it how ever you want. Instead of buying a console for $300 up front. I can spend on upgraded RAM this month, SSD the month after, etc.

Personally, it's easier on the wallet and despite the extremes some people go to (someone here bought 2 titans), you can make due simply with a mid-range rig and still get better performance then consoles.

And if you're willing to invest, you can easily upgrade you PC to perform better.

It does take a bit of knowledge but with the internet and the awesome community, it's not that difficult.

 

[Durante]

As far as I'm concerned the PC is the equivalent of a free market capitalist system, while consoles follow a system of socialism.

I see it as almost entirely the opposite. Consoles are like the worst examples of what laissez-faire capitalism leads to while PC is a wonderful implementation of anarcho-syndicalist communism

 

[Dennis]

GRAPHICS











also mods 'cause they fix the dumbing down

 

[flyinpiranha]

Sale prices on games. If Steam didn't offer the price cuts it does, I wouldn't bother building a gaming PC.

 

[Zeliard]

The choice and the relative freedom.

 

[plagiarize]

It makes my kit sing.

I've been playing Tomb Raider in 7.1 surround sound, in stereoscopic 3D, with much prettier graphical detail and better IQ than the console versions.

That's what I love about PCs.

 

[The Broken Ska Record]

Personally, I find the better framerates and the sales have made me jump into PC gaming a lot more. Especially as of late. I can easily jump into any game on Steam, but playing on a console is a hassle. For some reason.

 

[RibbedHero]

I see it as almost entirely the opposite. Consoles are like the worst examples of what laissez-faire capitalism leads to while PC is a wonderful implementation of anarcho-syndicalist communism

The way I see it is that on consoles once you buy in everyone gets the same experience, they all have access to the same things. On PC if you work hard you can buy the top of the range stuff, while those who earn less have to buy the mid to low end. People can be left behind in the PC system while in the socialist system everyone is taken care of equally. It's free market capitalism at its finest

 

[Haunted]

The flexibility.

 

[SneakyStephan]

GRAPHICS






also mods 'cause they fix the dumbing down

Where did the k4 in your name go, this bothers me.

The way I see it is that on consoles once you buy in everyone gets the same experience, they all have access to the same things. On PC if you work hard you can buy the top of the range stuff, while those who earn less have to buy the mid to low end. People can be left behind in the PC system while in the socialist system everyone is taken care of equally. It's free market capitalism at its finest

American I take it? Limited understanding of the world and propaganda based education with warped view of socialism.

 

[Corky]

Where did the k4 in your name go, this bothers me.

He downgraded to 2k and would rather not be labeled with that moniker, out of shame of course.

 

[zephervack]

Been playing tons of games in triple screen, its freaking amazing, currently playing Mass Effect 3 and its super immersive.

And please dont complain about the bezels if you have never tried a setup like this before, it really isnt bad at all.

Just finished Far Cry 3, Dark Souls (Thanks Durante) in triple screen and now playing Mass Effect 3.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Where did the k4 in your name go, this bothers me.

He got a better dealer: http://m.urbandictionary.com/#define?term=K4

 

[iNvid02]

ALL OF IT

 

[Dennis]

Where did the k4 in your name go, this bothers me.

People read it as 4k when in fact it was K4.

And I just couldn't deal with having my name attached to 4k, its all about the 8k resolutions now.