Is Origin that bad? Will this game really require that? Really? What's a good game to play with him, her or them? How can I make my own Steambox? These kinds of questions relating to PC gaming are what Tech Times is hoping to answer we kick off a new weekly Q & A advice series for those enthused about the wonderful world of interactive media.
Here's insight this week on a reader's inquiry regarding video gameplay frames per second (fps) and why it may be different on a console compared to a PC:
Why does 30 fps seem fine on a console (or a video) but on my PC it's almost unplayable?
"If I watch a video of gameplay and it's 30 fps or if I play a Videogame on a console at 30fps for the the most part it's fine and doesn't bother me. But if I play a game on my PC and it's at 30fps it feels unplayable for me? Is it all in my head? Anyone else feel this way?"
While some games struggle to reach 30 fps and hold it -- we see you Dead Rising -- console games often lock onto the cinematic standard with frames to spare. Netflix has chosen to deliver its media to the web at 30 fps because it says it feels that rate offers a "cinematic experience," but the standard on PC is much higher and we're sure Jamix99 knows that.
Though running a game on PC at 60 fps is noticeable smoother than the 30 fps console standard, fluctuations in frame rate can deteriorate rate the experience. Streaking down the highway in a game rendered at 60 fps and then experiencing a 25 to 50 percent drop in frames while leaning into a turn will disrupt the experience, though it's still still very much playable.
If the PC game is running at 30 fps, there's a chance it could drop into that unplayable zone of the mid twenties and under.
Console games target one or two sets of hardware specifications, which helps the them hover around a solid 30 fps. PC games, on the other hand, are built to scale from the low end "I'll upgrade soon" setups to the high end "nature now needs antialiasing" rigs. The 30 fps is the comfortable mark, but differences in PCs often leads to games played around that mark drifting further south to the fringes of slide show territory.
