I was reading a thread on another website where the OP was asking about PC vs Console for gaming. This old argument has been beaten around the bush a lot but as I found myself answering the question, I realized I was coming out pretty strong in-favor of Console gaming over PC gaming. There will always be a special place in my heart for PC gaming. That's what makes me a PC enthusiast! It genuinely interests me. But upon looking at the facts, it seems harder and harder to justify PC gaming lately. The conclusions I came to were this: Console gaming is cheaper than PC gaming. Lots of console fanboys always claim a "gaming" PC costs X thousand dollars to make. Well we know that's not true. However, they have a point. A decent nvidia graphics card right now goes for as much as an entire Xbox 360 or more. In terms of general use, a PC has vast amounts of value over a console, but in pure gaming, the console has more value. My modest PC, not including the monitor, could have bought me a PS3 and an Xbox360. Consoles have a much longer life-cycle than PC hardware. Typically consoles last between 5-7 years before being replaced by a newer and improved version. Over this time, the games really push the limits of the hardware. PC gaming hardware evolves at a much faster rate and PC games tend to take advantage of the latest and greatest. it's not unusual to find yourself with an outdated graphics card struggling to play the latest game on "medium" 18 months after purchasing it brand new for several hundred dollars. After 5-7 years...forget about it. Anyone try playing Crysis on an nvidia 5200 FX lately? Of course if you look at PC hardware 5 years after the PS2 came out it's obvious that it's vastly superior, but you know what, God of War II was still a pretty awesome game and it looked damn good, too. Console gaming has most of the major franchises in gaming. Mario, Metroid, GTA, Halo, Gears, God of War, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, etc all found on the Console. These games tend to come out first on the console only to be given questionable or incredibly late PC ports (if ever). On the other hand, the BIG PC franchises like Doom, Half-Life, Portal, Command and Conquer and the like are all getting console releases alongside their PC counterparts (also of questionably quality but it's getting better, whereas it seems PC ports are getting worse). Console gaming offers stability and very little fuss. You take the thing out of the box, plug it in, and it (is supposed) to work right off the bat. Now, ignoring the 360's massive hardware flop, looking back at consoles in the past and current consoles like Wii, DS, PSP, PS3 and the newer model 360s, you can be assured that any game you buy is gonna work. You're not gonna have hardware conflicts, OS conflicts, or conflicts with drivers. You don't have to worry about background applications fussing with your games either. Piracy is slowly eroding away the PC current and past PC gaming market and forcing it to evolve towards being a digital service like Steam. I'm a big fan of Steam and would like more publishers to put their games on Steam. All this turmoil right now though is causing a lot of problems, one of which being publishers forcing strict DRM procedures that hurt the paying customers more than the pirates. I'm not an anti-DRM zealot like a lot of people out there, but the whole process is quite annoying. I'll still give the edge in online gaming to PCs for now. But Consoles are catching up. Xbox Live is a great service that shows a lot of potential for how well online gaming on a console can be handled. I still prefer the customization of PC online gaming, though. However, many developers seem to be slacking off when it comes to PC/Console games. Take for example Call of Duty 4. Clearly designed with PSN and 360 in mind. The PC version had a shoddy lobby, no online profiles, and no way to get decent match making. It didn't have a decent auto team balance, either. Online PC gaming still wins in my book due to the ability to run mods and get tons of user-generated content easily. Consoles have also managed to turn into contained home entertainment boxes, too. On PS3 I can gather up the crew and watch Blu-Rays, play music, look at pictures and all that jazz. On Xbox I can stream Netflix straight to my living room. PS3 can browse the net too, from my couch! The PC can do all of these things, and arguably, better. However, the consoles provide this functionality in a way everyone can enjoy. When was the last time you had your family gather 'round the PC screen to watch a movie? Plus, that couch is a lot more inviting than that PC chair. Home entertainment PCs can do all this, but they aren't targeted for gamers and often lack the punch to play the latest games decently. Speaking of which gaming from the couch or your bed is pretty sweet, too. You can do it on a PC but wielding a KB and Mouse from bed is a tough chore. With the latest consoles supporting HDTV resolutions, the fidelity gap has been closed somewhat, as well. I'm not gonna sit here and contest that PC graphics technology isn't far superior...it is. However, the current consoles are capable of some pretty amazing graphics all processed in full HD quality. This has been a tipping point that PC has enjoyed for a very long time. As a PC gamer I laughed off the "NEW" "HD" "Experience" as I had been gaming on >HD resolutions for years. Consoles now, though, have that functionality as well. Handheld gaming is pretty much in a different realm altogether, but that's yet another experience PC gaming can't provide. Though I admit this isn't exactly a fair comparison. I've decided I won't be upgrading my PC for gaming anymore. Economically and logically PC gaming just isn't worth the money it costs. Console gaming has greater value, better selection, a higher percentage of AAA games, great online potential, all of the multimedia functionality I would ever use, behemoth franchises, more stability and greater reliability. So what about you? Do you choose to continue gaming on a PC or have you turned to the dark side? What advantages can you point out for PC gaming to convince people to stick with it? Or am I just full of hot air?
IMO, if you love games it doesn’t matter what you play them on. I have an NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii, PS 1, PS 2, PS 3, Sega Saturn, Xbox, and Xbox 360..... Hell I still have a working Atari 2600 and Commodore 64. My main gaming PC (e8400/ HD4850...) will get another HD4850 soon for some CF goodness. I understand everyone can not afford to have it all, for them a console is the best choice. PC gaming is expensive. For me game mods and the ability to create is what makes PC gaming stand out. And don’t forget LAN parties, they are an experience every gamer should try.
I went off PC gaming a while ago, lack of ease to get into games, different availability of hardware to everyone made games less stable and less even against groups of people. Console gaming is now quick easy and fun.
I find that the open nature of the PC platform reduces the time spent playing games. After buying a new graphics I spend ages benchmarking with FRAPS and drawing my own conclusions as to whether 8xAA or 16xAA is going to work best. This process will be repeated for however many games are installed at the time. With the 360 which I have had since April, I've never done as much concentrated gaming, and have moved away from the PC as my first choice for games.
For me, I like the use of my mouse and keyboard because of the ease of use and control. If they made a console that came with a keyboard and mouse i'd probably eat it right up. Most of the games that I play are rpg, rts, and fps. I definitely prefer mouse for all of them. There definitely are games that u need a controller for but you can get controllers for computers. It's mostly about the control I have over my games when it's on a PC like mods, screen captures, and console commands. There's just certain things that I don't think a console can do.. yet.
Read some of my earlier posts and I am sure I'll say PC gaming is king. But after spending £1500 on a computer, then after a year it's now broken and not even worth £500 it really did put me off PC gaming, another thing is that I haven't been that impressed with games lately on the PC and PC gaming is starting to be boring, not to mention that you're basically sitting by myself in your room playing. Would rather be downstairs, with the family or a few mates on a PS3 playing games together and having a few bevvies. It's a lot more fun, a lot cheaper also. If you have one dedicated game yiou play on the PC then it's a little different, I played Enemy Territory for 4 or so years and that was my game, so nothing could beat it, but now I've stopped playing it so PC gaming is a little meh, even though I do have fun.
Some months ago I went so far as to flog my main PC almost on impulse and buy a shiny new lappy, PS3 and a NAS with the funds, and had some left over too. I thought I would miss it, and I kind of do occasionally, but then I realise the huge sum of cash I've saved not having to upgrade since then. big TV vs monitor big speakers vs headphones comfy sofa vs desk crashes/bugs/anti piracy malarky/tweaking settings vs not I don't even miss the mouse any more
Its a personal choice, for me my love of the hardware carries me through. Also i love online fps and trying to play with a pad makes me spazz out and recoil from the screen in horror. console games are more expensive and for me its just not satisfying owning 5 year old hardware to play your games, for me the 360 is starting to look seriously outdated (wheres the AA?!) and everyone knows its probably the least reliable bit of consumer electronics out there. I suppose the truth is that consoles have caught up with the pc in recent years, but pc gaming still has plenty of value. If I'm in a minority by being a pc gamer then good - I'm special, and if truth be told I quite like that fact. I'm on a game design course at uni at the moment and I'm the only pc gamer on it, that gives me an enormous sense of well being as I can be incredibly pompous about consoles all day long. Also console owners who haven't played on a pc in a few years tend to get a bit dismissive; "ah well the days of the pc are over now really". Then I bring them back to mine and show them a coupla games - most of the time they realise their mistake. A friend of mine was playing DMC4 on his xbox, I showed him the pc version and his jaw dropped. PC gaming is more effort - if you're prepared to put in that effort the rewards are there.
I agree with your entire post. I've bought more games for my Wii this year than I have for my PC, but the PC is still my main gaming platform. My PC is right next to my HDTV anyways, so it's easy to chill in front of either.
i have a great big soft office chair and a massive glass desk, somehow i never miss the sofa :edit: AND..... when i play online games on my pc I am generally playing against adults, or at least the more mature end of the gamer spectrum. Therefore i dont have to put up with pre-pubescent americans screaming down my ear every 5 minutes, team work based games are generally played with a bit more teamwork and less run n gun and people are generally a bit more respectful towards each other (i say generally not always)
I think my PS3 is superb, does pretty much everything the PC can do as you can run a proper OS on it and it does games and media really well. I came to much the same conclusions as others in this thread and tried to sell my PC but much of its hardware was considered old hat and no one wanted it for reasonable money, I could sell my 2 yr old PS3 for more than I can my couple of grand PC 2 years on Decided to keep the PC and turn it into a console pretty much hooked into my HDTV, one thing I am thankful for games for windows is that 360 Joypad control in games is considered and setup correctly, this way my PC should last a long time, being able to run all games at 1080p for now but due to the nature of gaming in the living room, I will be able to drop down to 720p with AA when games become taxing and notice very little impact due to my distance from screen. Best of both worlds for me, I get a lot of the 360 exclusives on PC where they are often better along with being able to play all the PC stuff too (with some fudging of controls to adapt non GfW games to 360 pad) PC now feels like a 360 on steriods especially as I use the 360 pad and I get the console gaming fix on PS3 where its non cross platform stuff tend to be significantly different to whats on PC/360. Only sticking point for me is this setup doesn't allow for G25 usage or fit well with RTS but for those odd times I can for the most part use my laptop.
I personally prefer PC, because PC games have better graphics than console games. If someone doesn't agree with me, it's just my opinion.
Defo. PC gaming is bespoke gaming, console is off the rack. I’ve an old PC and for a while I obsessed over the new components, decided on a new build, posted on these forums for advice, priced everything up. Its an exciting thing to do. But the multitude of component combinations, the potential price and the nagging thought of tedious soft/hardware tweaking just to play a game eventual put me off. As mentioned, if you’re willing to put the effort in you can reap the rewards of PC gaming. Which I now see as still superior graphics, better customisation/mods and a better control input (kb + mouse, which in turn leads to better/varied interfaces). But I’m more than happy with my off the rack PS3 (which I have upgraded – new HDD and PlayTV if that counts??) which I brought instead of upgrading. Games/Music/Photos/Videos/internet that languished on the PC in my dinky office (or my iPod) now can be played/streamed/wifi’d to the living room for all and sundry. I know it doesn’t take a console to do this but for Joe Bloggs (and BigD!) its just simpler to do so. And as the current gen of console mature the hardware will be pushed to its limits and by the end of this gen and defo in the next I think Console will be king.
You should care less about what you think people think about you, so what if they don't agree, they are probably morons anyway I've built real budget PCs, they cost all in what a PS3 costs so I prefer my PC, that said there is no boxing games on the PC? SO the PS3 is handy for that
this! IMHO it all depends on what sort of game you are into. for FPS and RTS, you really cannot ditch the PC, while racing and third person action (driving parts of GTA4) really belongs to the console. sure console gaming has that much plus, it's a little cheaper, it's got more AAA titles, and it's less troublesome. but as yourself, will Portal give you the same experience on an xbox360? will you be able to play Sins of Solar Empire with a controller? personally, im a FPS/RTS fan, so no console can pull me away, due the the sole factor of bloody awful joysticks. DO try to play Resistance on PS3 before ditching the keyboard/mouse. although these are valid points, and it seems they are all favour the consoles, but: do more with monitors speakers also work on PCs all you need is a comfy chair, and think of the space requirements crashes=bad port, bugs=also on consoles, anti-piracy=download cracks and be disk-free, tweaking=personal preference. if you are single, who lives in a studio, then it's perfectly fine to get 50inch TV with a comfy sofa, and 7.1 audio setup. but if you are a humble university student who moves house every year, then a PC with a comfy chair vs a console with same monitor and same chair, a PC will be much better choice. in fact, my housemate have a PS3 and yet he hasn't touched it in the past 6 month, only lend me the controller to play Little Big Planet on my friend's PS3. why? because it's not comfy to play PS3, it's got same sound setup, it's got same monitor and it's visuals sucks. even though he spent £40 on the PS3 GTA4, he only completed it once, yet when GTA4 released on PC, he had played through on PC twice, simply because it offers much better and richer experience on the PC.
I think the days when console owners could say they dont have to put up with bugs and patches are long gone. Look at Far Cry 2, exactly the same widescreen issues (and bioshock for that matter). Games are patched on your ps3 or xbox just like they are on the pc, you have hardware issues to contend with more and more since the consoles have got more advanced.
I recently put together a PC earlier this year for gaming but have since started regretting it. Don't get me wrong, I love gaming on my PC, but knowing that this time next year, my video card will be dated, and most of the games releasing at that point will not be optimized for it puts me off like It did the last time I pulled out of PC gaming. Like Neo said, the idea of having to eventually plop down the cash for a new video card that costs the same as a new console (Some cards cost even more than the launch PS3! haha) just doesn't sit well with me. I understand PC's will always have the upper end of the spectrum in terms of graphics, but really, is it worth the money considering all the required hardware it takes to achieve it? I can easily play a game on my PS3 or Xbox 360 and know that for the most part (barring some PS3 games) It has been heavily optimized for the hardware, it will run and look as good as the hardware allows, and in time even better when developers learn tricks to improving visuals beyond the hardware. With the inclusion of HDTV's it's hard to justify the cost of a new PC + Decent Monitor when I can get a console and a much larger HDTV for less. I still go with PC gaming hands down for online. I love Xbox Live, but I love Steam even more. I hate not being able to choose my own server sometimes and some games perfectly show why PC gaming is better in this aspect. Try playing a custom map on Team Fortress 2 for Xbox 360, better yet, try finding more than a handful playing online for the Xbox 360 version. Now check steam, and look at the riduclous list of private and public servers floating around, all of which can be had FOR FREE. I don't have to pay to access custom maps, I don't have to pay to be able to pick and choose where I want to play, and it's been that way since the beginning. Paying for Xbox Live's lacking features in a game like Team Fortress 2 feels wrong no matter how you justify it and that steers part of my gaming towards the PC. Also Keyboard and Mouse support is another good reason.
I think you're being a little unrealistic about graphics requirements tbh. You dont need a card that costs £400 to have a gaming experience that is far above what the consoles can deliver at the moment. Hell you can beat a 360 with a £100 card.
This. I was originally a console gamer, our family didn't get a PC until 98, at which time I did a bit of both until games turned fully 3D and it couldn't handle it. Then eventually I got a new PC so I went back to a bit of both again. Now however there's only a handful of games I will play on my PC. Strategy games I will only play on a PC and that's about it, mostly I've just been playing classics I've missed and playing the smaller name titles such as GalCiv II and Sins. Generally I'll buy something on my 360 if I can (and it's not a strategy). 1) It's easier, I've had a lot of trouble lately with games having problems with my graphics card 2) All my friends own them, if I bought L4D on the PC, I wouldn't be able to play with them I think you're the one being a little unrealistic now.
