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Another pretty big advantage of a console platform which isn't jailbroken (yet?) is far less cheating. Sure, you still got all your in-game exploits (some games don't have many, other games are riddled with game-breaking exploits), but you have to invest in a hardware cheat to get an aimbot or whatever on a console (one might argue that, depending on the game, you already get an aimbot out of the box anyway). Cheating in online PC games has become such a large problem that I'm wondering how much more the market will take.

Honestly, I've always considered this to be the one really strong argument in favor of locked-down hardware.

It's something I struggle with a bit, because locked-down hardware is evil in every other respect. But it's clearly advantageous for online gaming.

Many moons ago I quit gaming on PC and sold my gaming rig, and went back to consoles.

I remember the day. I was playing Battlefield 3 I believe. I kept getting sniped across the map with headshots. Went to search and typed in 'BF3 cheats' and the very first hit was a youtube video with a working aimbot link in the description.

That being said, every time my PS4 would update and the only patch notes were 'security updates', the only thing that actually changed were their ads on the home screen.

Then they began removing functionality.

Then the weekly OS updates, with notes never saying more than 'security'

Nowhere to go that hasn't been shit upon by either the player base, or the evil manufacturers.

I used to love online gaming, have made some lifelong friends from it. But I'm over it and these days I look for single pmayer games with enough content to be worth the purchase without ebdless DLC.

Not just cheating, but it prevents players from having an advantage from having a better/more expensive setup - I personally love having standardized hardware in competitive online gaming.

There is still the difference between having a gamepad or keyboard connected.

Looks like what you're describing is at least partially implemented in Steam Big Picture mode.

> Big Picture is a mode of Steam designed for use with your TV and game controller, so you can enjoy your Steam games from the comfort of your couch. With the press of a button, Steam displays a full-screen user interface which has been completely redesigned for readability and interaction on TV. It can also be used on your usual computer display.

It wont solve the hardware/ram/compatibility problems, but in my experience there are not many of those on the latest Ubuntu. If it works, it works well, and if it doesn't it doesn't at all. And mostly it does.

Yup, you can also set up Steam to launch Big Picture mode at Windows boot, if you wanted to use the computer exclusively for gaming, and in addition, it's currently the best way to use a game controller on Windows, since when running in Big Picture it takes over all game controllers with its own input wrapper, which makes nearly any game controller work in a unified way with completely configurable controls. This is quite a big problem on Windows where a lot of controllers won't work without fiddly and often suspicious 3rd party driver packages and programs.

Additionally, Big Picture mode lets you remap controller buttons to basically anything you like (other buttons, keyboard keys, entire sequences of actions, mode shifting, overlay menus, different actions depending on if you press/double press/hold, etc). And, you can browse controller configurations that other people have made, too. Often there are lots of solutions for games that don't officially support controllers, and even in those that do, often there are improved mappings with added features like gyro aiming, or using a combination of gamepad and mouse input (all on the controller of course) to improve in game aiming.

Surely you still have to enter your Windows password with a keyboard?

Big Picture includes an on-screen keyboard overlay that you can toggle with a shortcut (by default it's the controller "home" button and "select", iirc).

The first time you try to unlock the PC this way, Steam will prompt for elevated permissions to be able to do so.

You can of course also set up the user to be automatically logged in.

In my experience it's best to have Steam launch via the Task Scheduler with elevated permissions so that you can approve UAC requests, etc.

However, yes it's worth having a keyboard connected (even if it's just one of those tiny wireless touchpad+keyboard combos) in case things go wrong.

Microsoft used to sell a keyboard attachment that would go on the bottom of an xbox controller. I dunno why they stopped selling them, they work great for things like this.

If this really mattered, you could use a Logitech Brio to sign you in with Windows Hello

It’s a gaming PC, why do you use a password? Is someone going to break into your house and steal your PC on to be thwarted by your password?

I've encountered some games where the default controller was downright broken and horrible.

I'd expect the game developer to provide an good default controller layout of the box, as that's what I'd expect from a console game.

There's also the [Steam Link app][1], if you have an Android TV.

[1]: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.valvesoftw...

You just need to install the app on your Android TV/TV box, and if you've got a fast intranet connection, you can stream Steam games from your desktop/laptop PC via your Android TV (it also works on Android tablets/phones, but you'd probably need a high-end WiFi router).

The input latency might hurt for action games, especially since TVs tend to have pretty bad latency already compared to computer monitors. And, loads of Android TVs aren't very powerful; I've seen quite a few struggle with even the Netflix app, so I doubt streaming 4K 60FPS games with low latency will work well.

> with all the mental overhead that comes with PC gaming

On a modern system you buy in the next electronic store that is ready to use the mental load is the same as using any Sony OS.

The advantage I see in consoles is that they are more multiplayer friendly. It is mostly more comfortable to share a large couch, but PC maintenance is as easy as it is on console. You cannot play instantly. I use a console 3 times a month when friends come around to play. I often have to wait for a fairly long update of OS and games. Can happen on PC too, but with modern boot times, there really isn't much difference anymore aside from input/output.

> On a modern system you buy in the next electronic store that is ready to use the mental load is the same as using any Sony OS.

It's really really not. Ever had the scenario where anticheat for a game has failed to install because of a pending windows update?

> I use a console 3 times a month when friends come around to play. I often have to wait for a fairly long update of OS and games.

Both xbox and playstation have supported background updates for the last couple of years, both for the OS and for games.

Between background updates and instant resumes this just isn't true. Unless you're saying I can press a power button on the PC and I'm instantly exactly where I left off on the last game I played?

This is one of the best selling points to me.

Most console games are designed to be played like this. I can just leave the game and come back tomorrow.

For PC games I have to open it, make sure it's saved, close it. And so on.

Sitting in the couch and being in the game in 15 secs Max is amazing

I'm pretty sure you can tell steam to boot at startup and boot in bigpicture mode. That works for couch gaming. As for graphic settings is as easy as "do not di anything" (stuff is autoconfigured nowdays), or "set it to ultra then lower by one until it stops being bad for you", in case your pc is outdated.

With a console you don't have that option, you would need to buy a new one, so that's not comparable.

For some value of “works”. Mostly theoretical. Been there, done that for a few years, bought PS4 out of sheer frustration.

It’s a death by thousand cuts: problems in some games, occasional popups from whatever that can’t be dismissed without a mouse, Windows updates etc. had to have a keyboard and mouse nearby. Every time I started the machine after not playing for a few days, I ended up dealing with such things for the 30 minutes I had for gaming…

Can you use a keyboard and a mouse with a console yet?

Yes, not every game will let you use one without an adapter to mimic being a controller but some do. For example Fortnite on Switch will let you use a mouse and keyboard.

There are several games that support keyboard and mouse on Xbox

Here's the most complete list I found while researching the subject a few months ago:

https://xboxkbm.herokuapp.com/

For text entry, sure. For all games, not really - some game manufacturers would like competition to stay 'fair' and stick to controllers.

Sony's exclusive games are the best IMO. You can't play those on PC (unless they do a PC-port many years later).

You can actually, with Playstation Now or whatever Sony's streaming service is called.

That service does not get said exclusives until many years later, if ever.

And I usually want to play them on the release date!