PC

Eric Rogers October 13, 2015

Platform Guide – Which Platform to Buy

I have gone over the major gaming platforms over the last several weeks. This included the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and PC.

If you are looking to buy a console for your gamer this holiday season, your next question is, which one do you get? The answer to that question is going to depend on your gamer. However, here are some questions you can ask to get closer to an answer.

Is there a particular console he wants? This could make your life easier. You do not want to get him a PlayStation 4 if all he has been asking for this year is an Xbox One.
What console do her friends have? She is going to want to play with her friends if you allow her to play online. She cannot do that if she has a different console. If all her friends have a PS4, get her a PS4.
Are there any platform exclusives he is interested in? The Halo franchise is a big one. The new one, Halo 5, comes out later this month (October 27th). If he wants to play it, you will have to get him an Xbox One. If, however, he loves Super Mario Brothers, the Wii U is what you need.
How old is she? If your gamer is younger, you will want a Wii U. The games are much easier to get into, appeal to the younger demographic with their more colorful look, and do not have the more mature content you see in games on other platforms.

(Just to be clear, I am not saying the Wii U is a kids console and only good for younger gamers. While the games are easy to get into, they are hard to master. My 4 year-old can play New Super Mario Brothers U but even I, a 37 year old gamer with years of experience, have a hard time completing it.)
What is your budget? This question will only effect whether you have to get a Wii U instead of the other options. The Wii U is currently running $50 cheaper than the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. That $50, however, is the price of a game so the Wii U might be the way to go to be able to get a little more for your gamer.

These questions should help you narrow down your choice of console. If, however, you are still unsure, I am willing to help you out individually. Just sign-up for my email list and reply to the email you receive. I will help you get the perfect gift for your gamer the best I can.

Eric Rogers October 6, 2015

Platform Guide – PC

This post is part of my Video Game Platform series.

The next video game platform I am going to cover is the PC. Here is the basic information on it:

Platform � PC
Platform Holder � None
Price � Varies
Major Platform Exclusives � World of Warcraft, League of Legends, DOTA 2, StarCraft 2, Kerbal Space Program, Unreal Tournament
Online Subscription � None

Now let�s dig into these a bit.

PC Hardware

The hardware of the PC differs significantly from the other consoles I have covered to this point. With those (the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U), buying the hardware is fairly straight forward. There is a little variation in the hardware and price, such as getting an Xbox One with or without the Kinect. However, you do not have to worry about your Xbox One being able to run Halo 5. Every Xbox One has the same guts so there is no worry about it running games designed for it.

The PC, however, is different beast.

If you have ever shopped for a computer, you will have a little bit of an idea of what I mean. Go into any electronics store and you will see rows of PCs, all with different specs and prices. They will probably range from a few hundred dollars up to $1,500 or so.

The price range for a decent gaming PC is huge. PC Gamer had an article earlier this year where they put together a budget gaming PC for $661. They also have a machine they call the Large Pixel Collider, which would run you over $10,000 to replicate.

So how do you decide what to buy? That is a great question. Unfortunately, it is also too big a question for this post. I am working on something I plan to release sometime next year to help answer this.

For now, if you have specific questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me individually. The best way to do that is to sign up for my email list and then reply to the message you receive.

The Platform Holder – None

Another major difference between the PC and other platforms is the PC has no platform holder. There is no company that controls the hardware or sets the rules for what games can be released on it.

There are advantages and disadvantages to this. The main disadvantage is there is no company out there championing the platform. This is really apparent at trade shows like E3 where Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have keynotes but the PC does not. Recently the site PC Gamer has been working to change this but they have a ways to go before they really compete.

One major advantage the PC has is its openness. Developers have a lot more freedom in what they build and how they distribute it. Also, with the free resources out there, it is extremely easy to get into video game development on the PC. This openness has lead to the rise of indie games over the last several years.

While the PC does not have one company to rule them all, there are several large companies that are extremely important to PC gaming. Here are a few, although this list is far from exhaustive.

Valve – Valve is probably the closest thing the PC has to a platform holder. They are the creators of several big games (Half-Life, Portal, Counter Strike, and DOTA 2 among others) but more importantly they are creators of Steam, the largest store for PC games. They are known for the ridiculous sales they do throughout the year.
CD Projekt Red – CD Projekt Red is the company behind the Witcher series of games. More importantly for this post, however, is their project GOG. GOG is a site they created to compete with Steam. Originally it only sold old games (GOG stood for Good Old Games). However, they have expanded to include new games as well. They differentiate themselves by selling games DRM-free.
Blizzard – Blizzard is the company behind World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm. A mod to their game Warcraft 3 called Defense of the Ancients led to the rise of the biggest e-sports genre out there right now, MOBAs.
Riot Games – Riot is the company behind League of Legends, one of the biggest e-sports games out there.

Platform Exclusives

PC exclusives are a bit different than exclusives on the other consoles. There are the normal exclusives in the big genres like the first-person shooter Unreal Tournament or the role-playing game Pillars of Eternity.

Where the PC really shines is in its exclusive genres. There are whole genres of video games that are pretty much exclusive to PCs. This is because the PC uses the keyboard and mouse as its control, which opens up the things it can do.

Here is a list of some genres you will find either exclusively or mostly on PC.

Strategy games – This includes real-time strategy games like StarCraft 2, 4X strategy games like Galactic Civilizations 3, city builders like City Skylines, and turn-based strategy games like Civilization 5.
MOBAs – This genre has become one of the big e-sports genre. The games include League of Legends, DOTA 2, and Heroes of the Storm.
MMOs – This genre has moved to the consoles some with Destiny and The Elder Scrolls Online. For the most part, however, games like World of Warcraft and Lords of the Rings Online are exclusive to PC.

Parental Controls

One other disadvantage of not having a platform holder on PC is there are no centralized parental controls. Some companies have good controls, like Blizzard, but for the most part you are going to have to pay closer attention to what your gamer is doing on the PC.

Eric Rogers August 11, 2015

Introduction to My Gaming Platforms Guides

One of my goals as I am ramping up my posting schedule is to have all the information you need about the different gaming platforms out there, especially in the run up to Christmas. This post breaks down how these guides will look.

Before I do that, however, I want to make sure we are on the same page with the words I am using. When I use the term �gaming platform�, I mean the hardware. Here are the hardware platforms I will be covering:

Xbox One
PlayStation 4
Wii U
PC
3DS
iOS
Android

For each platform, I will break down this information:

The platform holder – This is the main company in charge of the platform (i.e. Microsoft for the Xbox One and Sony for the PlayStation 4). They manufacture and distribute the hardware. They also set the rules for the platform, such as what games can be released on it, how patches and extra content are released, and what tests a game must pass to be released. Every platform listed above has a platform holder except for the PC. I will talk about what that means for the PC when I get to it.
Cost – How much does it cost to get everything you would need for your gamer to play games on the given platform? This will include more than just the cost of the console. It will also include the cost of games, any accessories you might need, and any subscription you need for your gamer to play online.
Platform Exclusives – Each platform has “platform exclusives”. These are games that can only be played on the given platform. For example, Halo 5 will only available on the Xbox One and Super Mario 3D World is only on the Wii U. If your gamer is interested in one of these games, you will need to get the correct platform.
Online Play – Each platform takes a different approach to online play. I will cover this with each platform so you know what to expect.
Online Store – Each platform also has its own online store. I will go over what is in it and how to set limits on it, if you can.
Parental Controls – In these posts, I will be including brief information about the parental controls on each platform. I will be creating videos in the future that go over this is much greater detail.

So this is what is coming over the next few weeks. There are a couple ways you can keep abreast of when I release these guides.

First, you can bookmark this page. I will be updating it with links to each guide as it goes up.

Second, you can signup for my email newsletter. I will be sending out an update every Friday with all the posts I have released that week, including these guides. Plus, signing up will get you a copy of my e-book Connecting With Your Teenager Through Video Games.