It's the backbone of the video game industry. Consoles come and consoles go, but the personal computer has always been there, and maybe, always will be. So let's talk about it, eh?
From upgrades to digital delivery, today we're going to be asking you all about the PC. And not the dusty old Dell you use at work for spreadsheets and solitaire, the sweet gaming rig you have at home you use for Team Fortress 2 and internet porn.
I feel like I'm repeating myself here, but just to be clear, these polls aren't for our advertising team, nor are they being pushed forward by publishers or marketing departments. They're for a report next week on the state of Kotaku's readership, and as such, are for SCIENCE.
Now, before we begin, let me get this clear: please only answer if you own a gaming PC. If we get people without a PC clicking "no" on every response, it'll screw up the results.
PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ ALL INTRODUCTIONS AND POLL QUESTIONS BEFORE ANSWERING.
How Often Do You Upgrade Your Gaming PC?
So, how often do you make upgrades to your PC? It doesn't matter how minor or MAJOR the upgrade, if you added something new or replaced something old, it counts.
Do You Buy Games Digitally?
Boxes are for suckers. The future is digital downloads. We don't mean ordering boxed copies online, we mean buying digital copies of games that you download. So, do you buy them? And if so, how often?
Where Do You Buy Your Digital Games From?
Since so many of you buy digital games, and the stores themselves never give out sales information, let's do the next best thing and see which digital shopfronts you lot frequent. This question allows for multiple answers, so if you use all of them, knock yourself out.
Do You Play MMOs?
Massively multiplayer online games. World of Warcraft, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Everquest, you get the idea. Subscriptions, millions of hours spent playing, countless relationships destroyed. So, do you play them?
If A Game Is Released On Both Console And PC, Which Do You Normally Buy It On?
Plenty of games these days come out on both console and PC. Which raises the question: which do you normally buy it on? We realise sometimes there are pressing issues, like multiplayer or DRM that may influence your decision, so we've left the answers vague enough so you can generalise.
Can You Run Crysis On Max Settings?
This is probably the easiest way to determine the "strength" of your gaming PCs without having to get into a pissing match over specs. Can you run Crysis on full, max settings (either DirectX version), at a playable framerate? Please be honest; we can't see who's voting, so there's no need to fib.
Do You Also Own Any Other Consoles Or Handhelds?
We're curious, are you a PC gamer and a PC gamer only? Or do you own another console or handheld? Answer yes if you've got anything in the house you still play games on, whether it be a PS1 or PS3, N64 or Wii.
Who Do You Love More, Blizzard Or Valve?
While other developers like id, Crytek and Relic do a good job of catering to the PC market, two studios stand like giants above the rest when it comes to PC gaming: Blizzard, developers of Starcraft, Diablo and Warcraft, and Valve, developers of Half-Life, Team Fortress and Left 4 Dead. The question is simple: who do you love more? Hard question, I know, but it's meant to be hard.