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Windows Vista for Games? No Thanks, I have an Xbox 360!
This week Windows Vista was released to the general public but it means all but Jack and Squat to me for two big reasons. Now that I am rocking the Mac OSX again I don't want to go back to windows for my main home personal computer and I love video game console gaming so damn much that the idea of buying a PC for gaming seems just plain loopy. I have owned two PCs and have actually paid for the operating systems Windows ME, Windows 2000 and Windows XP and I have been so disappointed with the experience I plan on sticking with game consoles for the foreseeable future.
The reasons I will never buy a PC for gaming again are :
Viruses - There are just to many damn Windows viruses and they seem to be getting worse.
Crashing - My PS2, Xbox 360 and Wii have given me no problems. I think my Xbox 360 crashed once playing Saints Row but it was just one time.
Patches - You got to download them all. It is almost like a game itself.
Spyware - Just when you though viruses were bad enough.
No actual guarantee for games to work. - I can stick a game in my Wii or Xbox 360 and be 100% certain that it is going to work in seconds. No matter what there is nothing guaranteed on a PC that you can bank on.
Lame Backwards Compatibility - Want to play a game from 1995 on a modern PC. Good freaking luck.
Hardware Costs - Not only are there more powerful video cards every month but the cost of a decent PC for gaming make the PS3 look cheap. They starts at a thousand bucks and go until you start to bleed.
Incompatibility - I loved it when a game would want to install custom drivers and it would screw up other games and crap gigs of stuff all over my hard drive. Fun!
Xbox Live - It is soo good to have a unified closed circuit online gaming experience. Sure it is a walled garden but it is awesome.
Cheaters - Nothing like a bunch of kiddies with all sorts of aimbots to ruin online play
Lying Minimum Hardware Requirements - Sure this game will run on your laptops integrated graphics. at 320x240 at 5fps
Still using mouse and keyboard for just about everything - The Mouse + Keyboard combo was cutting edge interface technology back in 1985
No wireless controllers with no feedback and no standard controllers
Stagnation of the same damn kinds of games - I heard that first person shooter No. 1287 was way better than First Person Shooter No. 1286!
No Zelda, Mario, Sonic, or just about any Japanese game developers.
PCs are bogged down with complexity and it forces you away from the actual task of enjoying playing a game. Sure a PC is a fine information appliance but I honestly think they suck at gaming. Since playing Xbox 360 on a HDTV I don't feel like I am missing out from great game graphics or an in depth fun interactive experience. The irony of having a Microsoft video game console turn be off from gaming on a Microsoft operating system is not lost on me. I know that there are PC gamers that consider this blasphemy but I started playing games on video game consoles back in the Atari 2600 and Colecovision era and I would never consider passing it up for games on PCs ever again.
Update: It looks like Windows Vista does not handle Windows XP era games very well.
Jake at January 30, 2007 
Rants
Comments
MS Vista supports Xbox 360 wireless controller..
Posted by: daveynin at January 30, 2007 12:49 PM
I couldn't agree with you more on all points. I am kind of curious to try out the wireless 360 controller on a PC, though. It might be nice for emulation purposes (and possibly for some of the Live Anywhere games).
I just hope Live Anywhere is more bite than bark. The thought of spreading Xbox Live to include PC users could be wonderful, but it could also prove very painful and even "anti-community" in the end. I guess only time will tell...
Posted by: Jeff at January 30, 2007 1:13 PM
Yeah I know there are gamepads for PCs but you are not going to find support for them in every game with rumble and it is not going to be “plug and play” On my Xbox 360 I can turn it on (from the controller) and a few seconds later I am playing the game. I can then swap it out and stick in a new game and the same damn pad works without me having to configure it.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at January 30, 2007 1:28 PM
Lame Backwards Compatibility - Want to play a game from 1995 on a modern PC. Good freaking luck.
have you tried dosbox? i just found out about it last year and have been playing games from as far back as 1984 (castle adventure! yeah!).
i will still be getting a new pc soon, and one of the reasons is that i want to play games on it. there are just some games that i really like playing that the console just doesn't pull off as well (certain strategy games come immediately to mind). plus, with dosbox, i can go back and enjoy monkey island or wolfenstein 3d and bathe in nostalgia. but that doesn't mean i don't love my ps2 or ds (and yet to be named next-gen console).
Posted by: andy at January 30, 2007 11:54 PM
Sorry Jake, I love the website and almost everything I read here. But, as a fan of competitive multiplayer games I must say you are way off with your bash on the mouse and keyboard. There is simply no better way to control a FPS than that, none (and I've tried them all, trust me). I will still host a Street Fighter tourney at my house sometimes just for fun, but where do you think most of the people who played the "2D fighters" of the 90's went? Yep, quake. Suddenly, you not only had to be the best player in your town or neighborhood, but in your state (at a massive lan party) in your country, or even the world online. Driving games I understand are also improving on the console but for the longest time the only way to get competitive network based multiplayer was on the PC with driving games. And let us not forget the value of emulation. FPS, driving games (not as much anymore) and emulation were/are the biggest draws to me personally for computer gaming. To totally discount the PC as a gaming platform as you have in this article does yourself and everyone who reads it a disservice (but I do understand and see many of your more valid points).
P.S. Loved the Gamecube games for wii article!
Posted by: maglito at January 31, 2007 7:46 PM
Its totally irrelevant to judge PC gaming from a console viewpoint. Compatibility, controllers etc, have always been a problem with every kind of home computer - remember how long it took to load a C64 game off a cassette, and the number of times the loading failed ?
The real question is: why does the PC still the platform of choice for a gaming crowd IF things stand as Jake says ? Because so many things are possible on the PC that are simply impossible on a console, and most of those things have to do with the open nature of developing software on a PC.
Where are the mods ? Where are the small independent publishers ? Where are little coffee break games or emulators for obscure 1980's home systems ? On the PC.
The proprietary domains of the different consoles will never provide the kind of freedom for creativity that the PC provides. That is not to say that the PC gaming domain is not without its problems. I am just surprised that Jake, who I've thought as a 'B-movie luvin kinda guy' would overlook such an obvious positive side to PC gaming.
Posted by: jonathan at February 5, 2007 2:07 AM
It is apples and oranges compared to dedicated gaming consoles. I respect PC gaming and the openness and flexibility of the format about it but it is just not for me right now. The openness of the PCs as a gaming platform is both its biggest strength and source of some of its problems.
Posted by: Jake of 8bitjoystick.com at February 5, 2007 10:10 AM
