Your Gaming Environment?
I have a favorite song that I love to put on when I need a bit of an energy boost. Recently, though, I put it on and got no real charge out of it. The difference was that I’d switched to headphones, and this particular song couldn’t come through intact without its chest-shaking bass. I switched back to my stereo, and the problem was solved.
I frequently neglect my listening environment, but I’ve thought for quite some time that I also neglect my console gaming environment. I have a comfortable PC setup that makes it easy for me to sit down and fire up a gaming any time, day or night. On the other hand, console gaming frequently presents me with small barriers, from a poor audio setup, to issues with input-switching. They’re all barriers that can be fairly easily overcome, thought not generally late at night when I’m looking to do some gaming.
It’s clear to me that my setup affects both my choice of games, as well as my experience playing those games. A bigger TV and better audio situation have improved my appreciation of Bioshock, for example. I’m sure there’s a huge range of influences, though: time played per session; light in the room; environmental distractions. Ironically, the PC wins most of the factors I’ve been able to identify, in my particular setup. (It loses in the area of updating my video drivers, installing add-ons, purchasing antivirus software, and entering 17 registration codes from the back of my manual.) For most people, I’d guess the reverse is true: they’re more comfortable gaming on a console.
How do you like your gaming setup? Does it tend to favor console vs. PC? Does it push you towards immersive experiences, or do they leave you cold?
March 13th, 2008 at 12:47 am
How appropriate that you post this right when Penny Arcade found this news story: http://tinyurl.com/2rnwle
and put up this comic: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/03/12
(which I’m sure anyone reading this blog has already read. twice.)
March 13th, 2008 at 2:03 am
As for environment…
For a loooooong time my gaming was dominated by WoW (and prior, mostly CoH), and that meant my consoles sat largely neglected. My PC is old and tired at this point, so building a new one will be high on the list the next time there is a must play game on the computer (I am fortunate that Portal was completely playable, with just a few rough spots for my frame rate). I will say there are several keys to my PC environment setup, the primary one being that I now have dual screens on my primary pc and 2 more monitors (primarily for looking up reference material, although often I would watch a movie while grinding or doing my money making thing). My biggest complaint is that my KVM switch (which I only use for K and M) has some sort of glitch where it can send a signal right after doing a switch - in WoW, this would cause my character to auto-run (I eventually switched the key binding, and felt foolish for not doing that earlier). So, I have a big desk, no lighting plan and a reasonable office chair.
Nearly all my gaming has been on the console for the past 6 months, with the exception of Portal and messing around with demos and some older RTS games (WarCraft III, Dawn of War). I currently have 5 consoles hooked up to my TV - the PS2, XBox 360 and XBox are on a component video switch, while the Wii and GameCube are directly connected on other inputs. I run the audio for all the consoles directly into the TV, but I have an output channel on the TV which I run into my sound system. My current living room is… not well shaped for surround sound, so I rarely turn the surround on unless I expect a lot from the current soundtrack. Here’s my quirk - some combination of my completionism and having to get up to manually change disks and (on most systems) hit the reset button - I leave a game in it’s console until I’m done with it. If I get stuck, or bored, or just want something new - I turn on one of the other consoles. Yes, this means that KOTOR sat in my xbox for nearly 2 years in between me winning it as a light side consular and then as a dark (darkdarkdark) side lightsaber-wielding maniac. I could post the backlog of games I built up while feeding the MMO addiction, but let’s just say it will keep me busy for quite some time.
Why so much console, and little PC? Well… my backlog is 95% on the consoles right now. In the end, I think my desire for completion is more of a factor than environment. I would not rate either of my setups that highly right now - but they are certainly adequate. But I know when I get home tonight, I’m going to hit at least the next 3 bosses in my Hard playthrough of Shadow of the Colossus, and re-do my time trial clears that I accidentally saved over because I’m an idiot. After that, I have “the 2nd case to occupy me in the 2nd Phoenix Wright game. (Yes, I am embarrassingly far behind - didn’t I cover that already?)
March 13th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
My console environment has sort of fallen apart — my 360 died, my Wii’s controllers somehow got screwed up, and I don’t have a PS3. So all that’s left is a PS2. And there’s not a whole lot of new material for that system these days. So the TV is pretty much just for TV and DVDs these days.
My PC, on the other hand, is so essential for things other than gaming that it can’t afford any downtime. For that reason, it manages to be a more consistently available gaming platform.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:16 am
“re-do my time trial clears that I accidentally saved over because I’m an idiot.”
Sometimes, I think we play games for very different reasons.
That’s funny, though. Your play style may be more environment-tolerant than mine.
“my 360 died”
RROD? Did you manage/bother to go through with the return process?
It’s a bit funny that nowadays I see more people using PCs and dealing with all that comes with that, and more people having trouble with their consoles. Maybe that’s what people mean by convergence…. (OTOH, I did just get through cleaning a good dozen trojans/spywares off a friend’s PC. Oops.)
March 20th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
“RROD? Did you manage/bother to go through with the return process?”
Yeah, RROD. The problem is that when I called, they told me that my 360 is registered to someone else, so I’m kind of screwed. Peck’s been bugging me to call the BBB.
March 21st, 2008 at 9:00 pm
“Sometimes, I think we play games for very different reasons.
That’s funny, though. Your play style may be more environment-tolerant than mine.”
I think that I probably start playing a game for more common reasons - gameplay, story, art style, novelty, *ahem* fun /cough - or with Nintendo, nostalgia. It’s my exit criteria that are… askew.
But yes, my environment tolerance is probably fairly high. Someday I’ll live somewhere where I can set things up the way I want, at which point I might become more picky about my setup.