Hacker News Reader

Comment by wolvoleo | Hacker News Reader

What's the difference? I always play on pc with my Xbox controller and it's the same as on a console.

I could imagine PC gamers are less interested in online and the whole shark card thing though. IMO that's really damaged the GTA experience.

View on HN

I think the difference is phycological. I am way more relaxed infront of a TV. It is like a different mood.

Ah but you can do that too with moonlight :)

Though I rarely game on the TV, for me it's uncomfortable.

You can also connect a general purpose computer to that TV?

Didn’t Valve spend a lot of time and money to get the Steam Machine to turn on by using the controller? They had to do some magic with HDMI CEC.

Was that the important psychological factor the person mentioned?

Can’t think of anything else that would make connecting a console to a TV vs connecting a PC different

Gladly you don't need to make anything else up, you can just refer to the experience of the person at the beginning of this conversation

Hmm ... yeah I guess I would feel the same with an always hooked up PC connected to the TV with some sort of nice splash screen.

I was too fixated on a classical gaming PC with mouse and keyboard.

Unlike consoles, general purpose computers are designed to be operated with a keyboard and mouse, not a controller. Yes, you can use steam in big picture mode, but you still have to launch it.

I did that for a long time. It works, but it's very difficult to match the ease of using a console:

- Steam's Big Picture mode works, but there are lots of sharp edges (launcher support being the biggest).

- PC versions of games frequently have no way to switch to a couch-friendly UI (loading menus designed for PCs)

- The power management and hardware setup is not at all streamlined

- Controller management can be painful

- Streaming apps mostly need to work in a browser, which won't have controller support.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com