All these Steam deals

Shalafi

Shalafi

Fully [H]
Joined
Nov 6, 2009
Messages
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Is making me consider the question. Why even bother owning a console? Sure some console games may be exclusive to this or that system, but in general, would you really miss the game you're missing out on given the massive library the PC has?

All these deals on Steam, Impulse and D2D beg further the question, why buy a console and buy games at $60 a pop when you can buy games cheaper on the PC not only when they are new at release, but also later if you decide not to day 1 the game when any of these online retailers has a sale going?

Almost all the popular games can be had at sale prices, and not only that, Steam regularly has sales and so do the other retailers. You can only play so many games at once, and some games are not worth $50-$60 at first, but are purchaseable at lower price points. Plus some of these deals are a bunch of games bundled into one pack!!

Makes me wonder why I even bought my PS3 and Wii, I never play either but I have a bunch of games for both that I never play.

Only reason I'm keeping my PS3 is for Final Fantasy 13.


There's nothing wrong with owning a console, it's just that having all these deals available is making me question why I bothered to purchase these consoles in the first place, since it's harder to find these kind of killer deals unless you really look around, for consoles that is.

Yes some games will be cheap, but that's either because the game bombed or it's been out for a long time.

What do you guys think?
 
TBH, these steam deals are freakin' awesome.

I don't care if a console has the game, if its on the PC and is cheaper (as long as the port is good) I'll shell out the cash for the PC version just for the better visuals. I love all these cheap deals in computer gaming.

It really is nice being a PC gamer!

I'm on the same boat as you, but only for the Wii. I own all three consoles, but the Wii has been collecting dust after about a month of its release when I bought it. The system just isn't as fun as the PS3/360, but I guess the Wii really is just a party system in the first place. The Wii.. I only ever play it when I have people over, the games are fun only when there are people to play with.

I love my PS3, and I only buy the console exclusives to play on, that and fighting games :p.

These steam deals really make me love being a pc gamer though. So many deals and games.. so little time!
 
refraxion said:
TBH, these steam deals are freakin' awesome.

I don't care if a console has the game, if its on the PC and is cheaper (as long as the port is good) I'll shell out the cash for the PC version just for the better visuals. I love all these cheap deals in computer gaming.

It really is nice being a PC gamer!

I'm on the same boat as you, but only for the Wii. I own all three consoles, but the Wii has been collecting dust after about a month of its release when I bought it. The system just isn't as fun as the PS3/360, but I guess the Wii really is just a party system in the first place. The Wii.. I only ever play it when I have people over, the games are fun only when there are people to play with.

I love my PS3, and I only buy the console exclusives to play on, that and fighting games :p.

These steam deals really make me love being a pc gamer though. So many deals and games.. so little time!
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I think it is good to be a gamer right now period. So many games came out last few months and so many sales on them too. I also can't wait for next year, thats when the PS3 games really start kicking FF13, GOW3 enough said.
 
Yeah, the PS3 this year had an amazing run. All those exclusives that came out were pretty awesome (though I had a huge gripe with Killzone 2 when it first came out, GG was dumb enough to make those shoddy controls and pass it off as "weighty and realistic" until they patched in real working controls AFAIK). I sold the game before they implemented them though.
 
I have a PC and 360, and I used to game exclusively on PC until I started playing the guitar/rock band type games. Then as more people I knew were on XBL, I got some games like GTA IV on Xbox instead of PC for that reason; now, though, with some exceptions (L4D2), I'm finding myself drawn back to PC.

There's a ton of games on these Steam deals I've played demos of or wanted to play for ages, or like with Batman, are new but are a great price right now - they are getting a bunch of my money the next week or so. Don't think there's a bit XBL Machinarium community :p
 
I have a PS3 for PS3 exclusives. I don't buy console games, though. I rent them with Gamefly.

I can rent 2 months worth of games for the price of one new title if I were to buy it.
 
I think this type of thread is posted too often. You can buy console games used, or on sale to save money. Depending on what console floats your boat, your spending $200-350 Vs a PC which will cost atleast double for a lower end system or over a grand for a nice system. Just own them all and don't worry about silly arguments like these.
 
who said it was an argument?

yes you can build a PC and whatnot, but a PC serves more than just the purpose of playing games . . . . .
 
i own a 360 and pc. pc gets all my game time. 360 I use for movie rentals, especially now they have enabled netflix and xbox's own movies to be streamed in HD.
 
I work at home, sitting in front of my PC for 8 hours a day. I >LOVE< PC gaming, and I have lots of games backlogged atm. But the PS3 my wife got me for xmas is getting alot of playtime. It's just nice to be out of my office and in the living room for a while.
 
I own both a PC and a 360. The 360 is for Halo3, Guitar Hero / Rockband, and various other console exclusives (mainly JRPG's like FF13). That said, the vast majority of my time is spent on my PC. Plunking down $60 for a console game is always a well thought out process. Plunking down $5.00-$10.00 on these Steam deals is almost impulsive for me... I feel bad.
 
Intel_Hydralisk said:
I own both a PC and a 360. The 360 is for Halo3, Guitar Hero / Rockband, and various other console exclusives (mainly JRPG's like FF13). That said, the vast majority of my time is spent on my PC. Plunking down $60 for a console game is always a well thought out process. Plunking down $5.00-$10.00 on these Steam deals is almost impulsive for me... I feel bad.
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Lol, exactly how I feel. Console games generally make me think long and hard to justify the purchase at 60-70 CAD. But these Steam deals are just so amazing..
 
I grew up playing console and PC games side-by-side. Got my first PC when I was like 8 (had DOS on it) and I was always able to divide my time well between them. Until this generation that is. I've owned all three consoles at least once over the course of the generation and I'll play them and a bunch of their games for about a month and thats it. InFamous was the last console game I ever bought. I beat it once and sold the PS3 and all of my console titles. I used to have big collection of PS1 RPGs, PS2 RPGs, and a couple SNES ones. Its all gone now. I didn't have room for them and I started expanding my PC game backlog. I had originally intended this generation to be the end of my console days, but I didn't expect that to happen until the end of it. I can't find any viable reasons to buy any more consoles now days either. There are some games that I'd like to play, but I know I'd only buy the console, play the games for a short time, an get rid of the thing again. Its not worth it.
 
lathode said:
I think this type of thread is posted too often. You can buy console games used, or on sale to save money. Depending on what console floats your boat, your spending $200-350 Vs a PC which will cost atleast double for a lower end system or over a grand for a nice system. Just own them all and don't worry about silly arguments like these.
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Ah, no, fail. Your comment is posted all too often. You're neglecting the base pc which EVERYONE has, and which can be upgraded easily. For LESS than a console. Not to mention the upkeep on a console is far higher, i.e. $50 controllers and $100 tiny hard drives, $60 games, the list goes on.

In conclusion: fail.
 
Yeah, I've been wondering that too. Take for example my sister's $300 desktop, I'm giving her a $50 video card... total $350

An xbox 360 elite is $300, typically its games are $10 more each, making it more expensive you plan on buying more than 5 games, not to mention it can't do the other things that my sister's desktop can do

There are three reasons why I'd buy a console: 1. if I don't want to deal with keeping up with driver updates 2. I'm interested in console exclusive, or games that work better on consoles(guitar hero, halo 3/osd/reach/etc, gears of war 2, etc) 3. I'm interested in split screen gaming .

Since none of those 3 apply to me, I don't plan on buying a console any time soon.
 
Some great deals, I picked up Mirrors Edge for a few quid, most of the rest of the deals are not appealing to me because I already own at least several games in the pack and primarily buy the packs only for a few games anyway.

But yeah some epic deals.
 
Soggy_Popcorn said:
Ah, no, fail. Your comment is posted all too often. You're neglecting the base pc which EVERYONE has, and which can be upgraded easily. For LESS than a console. Not to mention the upkeep on a console is far higher, i.e. $50 controllers and $100 tiny hard drives, $60 games, the list goes on.

In conclusion: fail.
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That's a valid point. Most people see consoles as $300 buys, but in reality it'll cost you much more once you buy peripherals (I've bought controllers, chargers, etc.) the cost goes up significantly. The games also cost more. You can't really compare used to new, especially the way gamestop's used games are - crapshoots. I've gotten partially functioning games, non functioning games, and perfectly functioning games before.
 
Fail said:
Is making me consider the question. Why even bother owning a console? Sure some console games may be exclusive to this or that system, but in general, would you really miss the game you're missing out on given the massive library the PC has?
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Yep, people love their exclusives. Why do people keep buying crappy mass-market music when there's a ton of FREE indie music out there? Because they don't want that other music, they know what they want, and what they want is the music that marketing has made known to them. And they just happen to come with a price tag that they're willing to pay.

People are willing to go to great lengths to acquire something they want.
 
Soggy_Popcorn said:
Ah, no, fail. Your comment is posted all too often. You're neglecting the base pc which EVERYONE has, and which can be upgraded easily. For LESS than a console. Not to mention the upkeep on a console is far higher, i.e. $50 controllers and $100 tiny hard drives, $60 games, the list goes on.

In conclusion: fail.
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I took that into consideration. How many of those base systems have decent enough CPU's or power supplies to run a decent video card? $100-$150 for a low-mid range card, $250-350 for high-midrange card. There's the price of a console right there. Plus upgrading the PSU to handle a decent card, and cost of having someone install it unless they know someone to do it. Then dealing with patches and knowing how to optimize a games settings to your PC. PC gaming in simply too complex or expensive for a lot of people. Console gaming is cheaper, it's as simple as that. Also PS3 HD = laptop HD, cheap. Although my 40 gig is plenty big enough for me. Wii= no HD, and the 360 HD is plenty big for most people as well.

In conclusion: fail.
 
the problem is that [H] ppl are mostly into hardware. consoles does not make money but the accessories and games that goes for it makes tons.

pc ppl want best hardware while console gamers just want something to play the game :)
 
lathode said:
I took that into consideration. How many of those base systems have decent enough CPU's or power supplies to run a decent video card? $100-$150 for a low-mid range card, $250-350 for high-midrange card. There's the price of a console right there. Plus upgrading the PSU to handle a decent card, and cost of having someone install it unless they know someone to do it. Then dealing with patches and knowing how to optimize a games settings to your PC. PC gaming in simply too complex or expensive for a lot of people. Console gaming is cheaper, it's as simple as that. Also PS3 HD = laptop HD, cheap. Although my 40 gig is plenty big enough for me. Wii= no HD, and the 360 HD is plenty big for most people as well.

In conclusion: fail.
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consoles are more convenient but they sure arent cheaper if you buy a lot of games. I have bought plenty of games for 10-20 bucks that would have been 50-60 bucks for console versions. just buying 15 pc games on sale a year can easily save 500 bucks over console games so really a $300 console can easily become an $800 console in just ONE year. an xbox360 with a hd is $300 and you can easily exceed a consoles performance with a pc for only 100 bucks more while also getting all the benefits of a pc. yes you can buy a $350 pc and stick a $50 4670 in there and have an equal or better than console experience.

the only reason people get higher end video cards is because they use resolutions that consoles can only dream of pushing. if someones is using a a low res like 1440x900 or 1280x720 then even that $50 4670 will get the job done and deliver better performance than a console.

console gaming is all about convenience and thats one place where a pc will never touch it. really for a true gaming enthusiast having a good pc and all the consoles is the best way to go if you have the money.
 
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I agree with what you're saying, consoles are for convenience, while PC is for people more interested in a better gaming experience.

You're also right

Console games rarely go down in price rapidly after launch unless they stink or some store just wants to move their excess inventory or is doing a storewide special.

Meanwhile, PC games can be found half off less than 3 months after launch!! Sometimes at lower price points. Not only that, with all the deals from these online retailers, it's harder and harder to justify buying a console if you know how to install AND properly configure your hardware and software for gaming.

With knowledge, comes bliss.
 
For awhile now you could build a computer that is competent with todays PC games for a good price. A simple tri-core like the Phenom II 720, 4GB ram, GTX260 or HD4850.

It's rare steam goes balls to the walls with the deals like they have had the last few days. With that said, PC games are some of the cheapest you can usually pick up. Not just digital distribution either. If you frequent amazon, go_gamer, ebay, bargain bins at gamestop most games are super cheap used and occasionally new.

For consoles, I find the sweet spot to own them is just as the new generation is coming in. So PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox games and hardware are going for cheap. I now own 80 plus PS2 games mostly used, I see almost 75% there library can be had from 50 cents to 10 bucks per title. I love you guys that buy new though and trade your games in at a loss so I can pick them up super cheap. keep it up fella's! I'll do the same with the Wii and PS3 because patience is virtue. :)
 
So ... about the steam sales .... As long as you put a daily special in your cart, at the steam store, even if the sale has ended you can still get the item for the daily sale price.
 
Draax said:
So ... about the steam sales .... As long as you put a daily special in your cart, at the steam store, even if the sale has ended you can still get the item for the daily sale price.
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They seem to be keeping the previous day's deals active for a little while even after the new ones are up.
 
Fail said:
Is making me consider the question. Why even bother owning a console? Sure some console games may be exclusive to this or that system, but in general, would you really miss the game you're missing out on given the massive library the PC has?

All these deals on Steam, Impulse and D2D beg further the question, why buy a console and buy games at $60 a pop when you can buy games cheaper on the PC not only when they are new at release, but also later if you decide not to day 1 the game when any of these online retailers has a sale going?

Almost all the popular games can be had at sale prices, and not only that, Steam regularly has sales and so do the other retailers. You can only play so many games at once, and some games are not worth $50-$60 at first, but are purchaseable at lower price points. Plus some of these deals are a bunch of games bundled into one pack!!

Makes me wonder why I even bought my PS3 and Wii, I never play either but I have a bunch of games for both that I never play.

Only reason I'm keeping my PS3 is for Final Fantasy 13.


There's nothing wrong with owning a console, it's just that having all these deals available is making me question why I bothered to purchase these consoles in the first place, since it's harder to find these kind of killer deals unless you really look around, for consoles that is.

Yes some games will be cheap, but that's either because the game bombed or it's been out for a long time.

What do you guys think?
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The prices on most console games drop very very quickly. If you are willing to wait 6-12 months then you can easily find good games that were once $60 for $20. The obvious exceptions are Nintendo games and mega-blockbusters like Modern Warfare, but it isn't like amazing deals are only found on the PC.

Either way, I think its a great time to be a gamer, period. I own more AAA games than I have time to complete on my PC, my 360, and my PS3. Its insane, best time in gaming ever. Even if you're a curmudgeon that thinks the best times were behind us you can still find most classic games on Steam, XBLA, PSN, or Wii Virtual Console.

Hell, Lucasarts just needs to get Tie Fighter, Day Of The Tentacle, Sam & Max, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango on Steam, and everything is pretty much complete. :)
 
I love pc gaming for these reasons, Fun, Mouse & Keyboard, Way better graphics and Price. PC games are so cheap its crazy. The reason i dont own a Console is because I DO NOT and mean DO NOT believe a game is worth 65 bucks.
 
4LC4PON3 said:
I love pc gaming for these reasons, Fun, Mouse & Keyboard, Way better graphics and Price. PC games are so cheap its crazy. The reason i dont own a Console is because I DO NOT and mean DO NOT believe a game is worth 65 bucks.
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I like a controller for many games like Assassins Creed, Ghostbusters, Batman and even Resident Evil 5. games like Unreal Tournament 3 are damn near impossible for me to play with a controller though.

it is pretty cool playing some games on the tv instead of being hunched over the desk fumbling with the keyboard though. really I probably would make the switch to consoles if the games were cheaper. man I really want to play Uncharted 1 and 2.
 
I bought Torchlight for $5

Dunno if I'll even play it, I loved Diablo 2 though.
 
It is definitely a great time to be a gamer. Of course most AAA titles get released in the 4th quarter so it really hits the wallet hard. I have been spending way more time on my pc these days than any of my consoles.
 
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