What is your gaming platform of choice and why.

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This was like a few months ago when I looked again (I've looked before then and found cheaper solutions to older games, but not newer ones). Emulating ps2 and gamecube aren't necessarily as intensive as modern games, the only reason emulation takes up so much memory is because of the fact that the program has to act like the corresponding system, accounting for different video parameters as well as processing power, and in doing that it runs off of the software itself (emulator), which runs off of computer memory instead of hardware. This makes them widely viable on most computers. With modern games, the game runs on the system itself, so certain hardware is necessary to run them, there's no program to make it compatible with your hardware, so you have to worry about graphics processors/video card compatibility, as well as any number of other things. How much you spend in upgrading a cpu that you already have, depends on precisely what the specific game requires, as well as what the cpu already has. Buying a new gaming computer costs in excess of $2,000 for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the kind of tech that has been put into it. When looking at separate parts to possibly build one, I found that each part that I would need (once again, game specific) was going to cost anywhere from $60-$200 depending on quality and type. With my income, it would take me a year to get the parts necessary to build one properly (or to have one built), by that point it'd be outdated already (as all new tech is)
Only spending $500 to build a machine was actually pretty lucky for you, and really cheap.

It is true that native PC games can be more GPU intensive, but emulation is much more CPU intensive, simply because instead of executing straight native code, your computer basically has to translate a whole pile of instructions from one CPU architecture to another, all while keeping things going at a decent speed, keeping the timings in check, and of course handling the emulation of all the other devices in a console, including the GPU, the SPU, and whatever other devices a console may have. For this reason, it can easily take a top of the line modern system to run certain games that were demanding on their original consoles, yet have awful graphics by modern standards. I'm not implying that my desktop is one of those top of the line units though; in fact, on the contrary I've had many issues running PS2 games on it, but I've also ran a few PS2 games that ran full speed with graphics just like the real system.

Also, if you're having trouble running Minecraft on a $2000 computer, there is something seriously wrong. I once loaded it up on a 7 year old computer I found at a recycling depot, and after doing some overclocking and throwing in a $30 GPU I got off eBay, I managed to get it running pretty smoothly. Not at the highest settings, mind you, but certainly better than minimum settings. Without the GPU I threw in, it could just run the minimum settings at a playable speed, especially after OCing it. I will also add that this machine wasn't capable of doing Dreamcast emulation at full speed even after throwing in the GPU due to its CPU, so there's certainly no way it would handle PS2 or Gamecube emulation.

If thats all a 2k computer could handle than there is a huge problem, you should build your own computer try looking at youtube channels like tek syndicate for help.

Wait, so he actually paid 2k for a prebuilt gaming machine? That's a ripoff! Unless you need a laptop, you should NEVER shell out for a prebuilt gaming computer. Prebuilt gaming PCs are usually just the same as other OEM boxes, but with slightly better GPUs and a massive price tag slapped on.

why is pc listed 3 times....when consoles today and even in the past are basic pcs...is gaming on different OS really that different?

you could list 90's OS as well...but that maybe is under retro as well...

and why is "retro" listed and not individual consoles? I guess the list would be too long...but above to one could have shortened it a bit....

my preference is late 80's early 90's sega...

It's because consoles nowadays still have some exclusive titles, as rare as those are becoming.

but not many exclusives from OS to OS....least not that I can think of...

I will bet because the new generation is 64 bit eventually it will be bootlegged/emulated onto the PC....hopefully anyways....

the thing that consoles have over computers is simplicity....and as the consoles transform in these later years they become more and more like normal pc's.....the PS4 was built in such a way that it would be easy to modify/change the hard drive....

The PS4 and the XBone are both x86-based like most PCs, and they do share a lot in common, but they are still fairly different in a number of ways. Same with the original Xbox; even though much of its hardware was similar to PCs at the time, there were enough differences in the hardware architecture that it was a distinct platform, and that one couldn't simply run Xbox games on a PC. I mean, it's been attempted, and there has been a small degree of success using a wrapper program for Turok Evolution, but the differences are significant enough that actual emulation of some of the hardware components is required to really get anywhere, especially for things like sound and graphical shaders.

We would probably have a semi-decent Xbox emulator by now like we do for the PS2 and the Gamecube, if it weren't for the fact that much of the console's hardware was custom-made by Nvidia, and as such is protected by all sorts of NDAs since they may or may not have used much of the same technology in their later chipsets and GPUs.

No, never paid for it, too expensive. As I said the prebuilt systems aren't worth the effort because of what they generally lack. Pricing is fairly irrelevant, if they don't have all of the necessary hardware to play a specific game, it's a waste of time to buy it. Either way, you could potentially spend up to or more than $1,000 to get the hardware to build it yourself, most people these days (especially where I'm from) don't have that kind of money.

LOL THIS!! !! Same here man.


Anyways, PC for me since it's always available to me, and also I love computers...I can rip any game from a console disc onto a PC and have SO many options, help's right on the internet, lol... i like screwing around with PC's hardware, though I don't have the money for new parts.

I have only ever had consoles through gifts, because I'm broke as f**k.

I like handhelds when I'm on the move though, doesn't matter if you can play Patapon in 4K with 128x 1000 fps on your GtX780 core i7 64GB RAM...if you can't unplug it lol

The only people who build $1000 gaming rigs are those who want to run their games on ultra-high across multiple monitors. Most people, myself included go with cheaper parts that can deliver a reasonable experience, without being too over-the-top. It doesn't take much for a PC to match a gaming console, as most console games actually run at abnormally low resolutions just to maintain framerate. Not to mention, a PC is a better investment, since instead of just being able to consume content (like on a console), you're also given freedom to create it. This may not sound like a big thing, but when you consider the modding communities many PC games have, and all of the cool stuff they do, it's huge. Not to mention, while your typical Call of Halofield game may become forgotton about after a year or two on the consoles, on the PC side of things, people actually remain dedicated to the games they play and build communities around them.

Consoles are great for a few things, namely local multiplayer, ease of use, and exclusive titles. For people who willing to dedicate themselves though, PC gaming has many great rewards.

Oh, and sorry if I've kind of gone all fanboy. It just kind of irks me when I see people talking about how "expensive" PC gaming is. It can be, but it doesn't have to be, and for myself, it's actually quite a bit cheaper than console gaming.

You in no way need to build a $1000 gaming pc just this year i built a $750 pc that could run crysis on highest at 40fps stable 1440p, and that was with australias inflated hardware prices.

This. Cant stand cutscenes myself. If I wanted to watch a movie, I'd.... er..... well I wouldnt, because I hate movies. Which I guess is why I dont want games to try to be like them.

If I'm playing a game, I want to actually play the damn game, not WATCH the blasted thing. I dont generally experience the issue much though; chances are, if it has cutscenes, I never bought/downloaded it to begin with.





Typically, this isnt actually an issue on more expensive machines. Like..... ever. Minecraft is a TERRIBLE example of it.... as much as I love the game, it's notorious for being ridiculously, astonishingly, absurdly inefficient. Even on the most powerful PCs out there, the game still chokes on it's own existence and has issues. The *only* way, and I really do mean "only", to stop these issues is to use the mod called Optifine, which removes all of those problems all at once and allows the game to really shine on powerful PCs. There's literally no other solution. Mojang is good at game design, but they're unfathomably terrible at programming. Always have been, probably always will be.

But yeah, generally with pricier, more powerful gaming PCs, this issue never exists for most games. I run *alot* of games on mine, games of all levels of technical complexity in terms of graphics, and it doesnt matter what the game is, or what it's requirements are: I immediately crank all of the settings to max, no matter what they are, and it *will* run perfectly with no slowdown, unless the game itself has glitches within it or is just badly optimized like Minecraft (this is very rare). Really, Minecraft is the only game I have.... out of hundreds.... that has these problems.

Also.... whoever told you that $2000 is the cheapest gaming computer is either lying, or stupid. Or they just havent actually seen many gaming PCs. And chances are, they got ripped off big-time and probably didnt do any real research before buying. The cheapest decent gaming PC can be gotten for around $600 or so. On such a machine, you very definitely wont be running things at or near max settings, but you'll at least be able to RUN them, and have decently smooth gameplay for many games. My own ultra-powerful PC cost me about $1700, and it's about as high-end as these get.






Yeah, pretty much. In my case I just tend to have enough cash that the price doesnt really matter, so I just went with the craziest thing I could get. I dont have multiple monitors, because that always seemed kinda dumb to me. There's 2 oversized screens on my desk (or what passes for a desk anyway, it's more like an industrial table thing), but one of them is a TV that I mostly use for ancient consoles or occaisionally the 360 if I feel like playing one of my imports.


Agreed with what you said here though. PC gaming is indeed rewarding, and offers so many advantages over console gaming that it's just silly. What always gets me though is that console gamers NEVER KNOW THIS. I've seen so many that have this idea that there "isnt anything good on PCs, it's all RTS games like Starcraft and MMOs and that's it". Which is baffling to me. It's kinda like those that think that things like iOS devices (or Android) have nothing but casual games, which is.... very far from the truth. I wouldnt own one, or have a stupid number of games for it, if this was the case, considering the types of games I'm into. Super-difficult/super-complicated things like roguelikes or danmaku shmups, things like that, are what I have on there. I've got only about 8 games (out of probably 100 at this point) that are casual titles like Angry Birds.

I've forgotten what else I was going to say.

Nobody told me any price, I looked it up myself for price comparison earlier this year. The general price was at/around $2,000. Not saying that's the cheapest, but that's mostly what I found at the time.

I have to wonder what sites you were looking at then.... 2000 for a gaming rig is kind of a ripoff. Or it's one of those derpy situations where cost is added purely for the brand name, which is a nasty marketing scheme that alot of these companies use. Alienware being by far the worst offender. Price increases on computer parts or entire machines are easy to get away with, since many simply dont know what they're actually worth.

What were you looking at? macs. unless the computer had a titan in it then something is wrong.