Dark Souls Reignites the PC vs. Console Debate

Written by: Daniel Webb - "“Dark Souls” is a game synonymous with cruel difficulty and relentless death resulting in many broken controllers, yet the game’s rich lore and beautifully wicked world has earned a league of die-hard fans. The critically acclaimed game was released on consoles in the third quarter of 2011 with the PC version, “Dark Souls: Prepare to Die,” released in August of 2012."

[FriedGoat]

It doesn't really though does it?

[GraveLord]

Silly argument.
PC is a PC.
A console is a console.

Both are able to play games, but consoles are more convenient and easier to use on the big screen. All the big games are made on console then ported to PC.....if they even make it to PC. Piracy is a huge problem.

[Treian]

PC are just as easy to use on the TV. Hook up an HDMI cord and a controller. Piracy is a huge problem on every platform, really. If you can get something free, why not? Some games are ported, but not all. "All" would be all games in existence.

[Lord_Sloth]

Except that Piracy's easier on the PC by a longshot. You have to have somebody physically mod your 360. Don't have to have much of anything done to your PC. Download the game and find a crack.

It is easy to hook up a PC to your television set, but most people cannot use their Keyboard and Mouse based on the average distance between a TV and Couch.

Blue Tooth? Not everybody has it. Controller? Typically corded.

[fossilfern]

People seem to forget how easy it is to pirate for 360 also, this is not just exclusive to PC. Piracy on consoles has been going for a long time.

[d3nworth1]

Actually its easier to pirate for PC than 360 and with little consequence. To pirate for 360 requires modding your console and can result in you getting banned or potentially damage the console. PC its just download use a keygen or crack file and bam you're good to go. Plus a torrent site reported the most pirated games which were all PC game with over 3 million downloads each while the highest wii game was just over 1 million downloads. The 360 didnt reach 1 million downloads and the ps3 was too low to count.

http://torrentfreak.com/top...

[ShaunCameron]

If pirating for the XBox 360 was so easy, how come

<Piracy on consoles has been going for a long time.>

But not at anywhere near the same frequency as piracy on PC's because PC piracy is less riskier.

[fossilfern]

@Above

Im not saying pirating on 360 is easier than PC but its not very hard to do, and yes pirating has been on consoles for a long time. Look at the Dreamcast, Saturn, PS1 etc. I knew a few people who had modded PS1s back in the day and all their games were pirated.

[Xof]

You are correct. It is a very silly argument.

Most of the things fanboys bicker over are.

Enjoy your torrent of disagrees.

[Somebody]

As much as I don't want to admit this...my brother bought an X Box 360. His main reason was that he can't afford a decent PC and the console is much more convenient to carry around. Which is kind of strange to say when he's carrying a big CD holder bag full of his 360 games around weekends. He has to pop in the DVDs in and out in order to play any game. There's a hard disk but we all know console gamers hate doing stuff that remind them of the hassles of PCs (e.g installing games into HDDs is a PC problem so why do it for your consoles, right?)

On the other hand I have a gaming laptop that I carry around to work (I stay there for the weekdays and return to town for weekends. Yes, lugging a heavier desktop around had grown tiring and dangerous so I opted for a laptop). A lot of my games present in my desktop are also installed in the laptop and I don't have to carry a CD bag for them. Steam, Origin, GFWL, GoG, Gamersgate...digital downloads and clients remove the need for DVDs.

Games on my desktop and laptop are all legit games that I actually paid for. Thanks to the consistent online sales, the numbers of games bought increased exponentially in the last 6 months after I finally got a credit card, used paypal and ditched retail purchases. For example, Halloween night I bought 6 games for $30 including Condemned: Criminal Origin, a game that I have missed out and searched for finally found its way to Steam. You don't see that kind of deal with boxed retails on shelves (in my place anyway).

The games on my brother's "super convenient" X box 360? All pirated. Sorry to burst your bubble.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

Who gives a crap?

I just started getting into PC gaming and it is brilliant. I wouldn't say it is significantly better or worse than gaming on a console.

BUT! When it comes to Dark Souls a controller is without a doubt the best way to experience the game. I just can't see a keyboard and mouse being viable. Sure people will do just fine with Keyboard and Mouse, but a controller is the way forward.

The best part is both versions of the game CAN be played with a controller. It is just essentially the same experience on both platforms.

This is NOT the game to spark a PC vs Console debate. The benefits for each sides are so small it doesn't matter.

[Khronikos]

I love my PS3 but with mods this game is 10x better on PC and there is literally no doubt. You can live in ignorance but those of us with both cannot do that. 1080p 60fps and better DOF, AA, etc. if you can run it plus all the little mods that make things like textures on plants, arrows, lava, etc. better not to mention custom HUD with transparency and all that jazz. IT IS NOT even close to the same experience and I have the game on both.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

Well, like I said there are positives and negatives on both sides. Sure you have your high end visuals (after messing around with mods and such) and that is brilliant. I plan on getting the PC version for the same reason. However your 10X better claim is still subjective. On my ps3 I will not run into hackers yet I have seen many of them on the PC. Just like visuals is important to you, this issue is important to others.

I'm happy with Dark Souls technical performance on my PS3 to the point where I would rather run in to less cheaters online and deal with the lesser graphics than hop online and get invaded by hackers.

[FATAL1TY]

Online & control

CONSOLES > pc

[Psychotica]

Not true at all..

[Treian]

PC'a have online and control. Next time you want to insult PC gaming, make your comment more detailed.

[Bob Dole]

PC Dark Souls > Console Dark Souls

Bob Dole's reasoning behind this; mods. A mod was released for this game a mere 30 minutes after it launched enabling the game to be played at 1080p resolution. With a controller and a HDMI cable hooked into a tv the gameplay is exactly the same. There is also a 60fps mod someone made but it only works in offline mode but it looks oh so gorgeous.

[Khronikos]

It works in online mode as well. And yes it is gorgeous beyond belief. Especially with the flora and fauna overhaul and a couple other mods.

[Bob Dole]

Really? Last I heard it only worked in offline mode. Do you have a link to these mods you speak of I would thoroughly enjoy them!

edit: looked at the comment below, so stoked to see dark souls nexus!!!! :DDDD

[ninjahunter]

Is that what it takes now? The worst port in the better half of a year to get the whole argument going again?
Ile sound the alarm!
"Hey everybody! console gaming is comparable or maby even better than terrible console ports!"

I rest my case, now let us return to bashing journalists and bitching about corruption like we have been for the past several months.

[Khronikos]

Take a look at these awesome mods and this is just a game that is not even open to modding. Skyrim has over 20k mods lol. Dark Souls, I am sorry to say this as I am a PS3 fanboy as well as PC, is ten times better on PC and there is no doubt. I use custom PS3 icons and a PS3 pad. Console gamers live in a world of ignorance and that is about that. They are happy with whatever they get even though they know deep inside games like Skyrim and Fallout and tons of other ones look like absolute **** on 7 year old hardware.

http://darksouls.nexusmods....

You simply cannot even compare these two games. One runs at native 1080p the other one runs at 640p or thereabouts. One runs at about 25fps with tons of drops the other one can run at a full 60 is you have the hardware. Add in better AA for everything and better DOF and ambient occlusion if you can afford it and the games are not even close. Transparent HUD's for the win lol.

There is even a mod that slightly redoes the cranial heads on all the people to make them look less zombie like. It is things like that which add up to an incomparable experience.

[Plagasx]

With mods, the clear winner is PC. Dark Souls is actually beautiful on PC.

[sdplisken]

ps3 wins it has demon's souls & dark souls

[Hicken]

Mods... I guess it hasn't dawned on PC gamers that the best part of their preferred form of gaming is that the community is able- and often NEEDED- to fix the screwups left by the developers. When you have other gamers spending their time getting rid of Skyrim's glitches or improving GTA's graphics, OF COURSE the experience can be better("can" because it's dependent upon you having access to those mods).

Generally speaking(with exceptions, because there are ALWAYS exceptions), the better out of the box experience is on consoles. But from a standpoint of longevity- or perhaps "freshness" is a better term- PC is the way to go.

Although consoles are sadly heading that way as well, DRM is something that puts PC gaming behind console games.

Well, if I keep going, it may sound like I'm making a case against PC gaming, which I'm not intending to do.