Alright, you got me convinced...

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Do you even mod games man? Mods are more than half the fun!

This is the one thing that would switch me from console to PC. These mods--I wish to try them.

There are a lot of mod sites, a google/yahoo search should do the trick, for example: "Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion mods" or "San Andreas mods" - like the Multiplayer mod...man, that is just awesome.

Also, Oblivion has mods to where you can ride a sheep, or a clanfear as a mount, I mean seriously, that is just ****ing amazing!

-and shoddy ports like RE4 usually have "unnoficial patches" and things like that, so don't worry, you can use a mouse with RE4. (I still can't believe RE4 didn't have mouse support, I mean, come on!)

Also, what is great about mods is if there is something you don't like about a game, there is most likely something to fix/change that, like giving guns flashlights in Doom 3, or laser pointers (for the "no-hud" players.)

 

[aussiesniper]

Consoles last much longer than PC's given their price. An Xbox360 is only like $300 whereas a PC is around $2000-3000 (if you want one that can play Pirates of the Caribbean Online and Halo). The Xbox360 is going to last for another 2 years easily, whereas a PC will only last for another 6 months before you have to upgrade something in it. Consoles last longer without upgrading them and there's more games available. Even indie games are finding their way into the console market by way of Xbox Live Arcade and PS3 Store. It's much easier to get a console than to get a PC and constantly upgrade it. The only reason I would get a really nice PC is to play Crysis, but the CryEngine 2 is being adapted for consoles. Soon, the CryEngine 2 will be on the 360 and PS3 and Crysis will be ported to consoles.

what kind of computer could cost $2000? my current machine cost me $900 and will beat the living crap out of an xbox's hardware. not to mention that the two games you listed (PoC online and halo) are not exactly the most populated games, nor do they have high system requirements. my rig can play CoD4 on all high settings with a constant ~50 FPS. if that is not good enough value for $900, what is?

The people who have said "I have to upgrade my PC every 6 months" are either using the extreme budget-side equipment, or they are just plain extravagant in their PC spending budget. the $200 8800GT will last you 3 years easily, RAM is so cheap that you could upgrade that every fortnight, and an E6750 or E8400 will last you around another 2.5 years. To anyone who says that consoles are better than PCs because they are cheaper, congratulations! you can read price tags! however, has anyone given thought to the longevity of the consoles? a PC can be upgraded - a console has fixed hardware. when a console breaks, you buy an entire new $600 machine. when a PC breaks, you find out what broke/overheated and replace it. unless you are extremely rich and bought an 8800 ultra or 8800 GTX, no single component in your PC should be more than $300 ($375 at most).

when you buy a PC there is a good deal of choice; you can get a budget rig ($500-$700) and expect it to last another year and a half, or you could buy a mid-budget rig ($800-$1200) and have it last you another 3-4 years, or you could overspend and get a high-budget gamer's rig (custom built at $1500-$2200). honestly, not that many PCs on earth will cost the average consumer $3000, unless it's one of the alienware PCs, which basically fit into their own category.

unfortunately, there is one part of the pro-console argument that is harder to refute: more games and more developer attention. while the PC is ahead n MMOs, FPSs and RPGs, the console market is attracting more music and simplistic shooting games (simplistic shooting games being FPSs and third-person shooters with less plot/gameplay elements than usual).

[/PC elitism]

 

[CyberAkuma]

@ reason #1:
True, the blockbusters are mostly console games. But I guess that mostly depends on what genres you like.
For RPGs, there's nothing even remotely comparable to The Witcher out on consoles besides Mass Effect, for example. And Mass Effect will be released on the PC soon. For RTSs you're simply out of luck on consoles, except for the upcoming voice-controlled RTS thingie for one of the consoles. FPSs seem to split the world regarding whether console controller or keyboard/mouse is better. I opt for keyboard/mouse, since I can aim much better with the mouse and I always found the console controller unfit to be used in an FPS. Resistance still plays good, though, and I'm sure there are other FPSs on consoles that play good. I just prefer mouse aiming over analog stick aiming, simple.
On the other hand, consoles have genres that simply are better on them or don't make an appearance on the PC at all for whatever reason: Beat'em ups, most 3rd person action games like Prince of Persia, God of War and the likes, music games...

@ reason #2:
I somewhat agree about the console ports often being crap, although I think there is a chance you're mis-interpreting a crappy overall game for a crappy PC port. Assassin's Creed made the transition pretty well overall, but the game isn't great because it's repetitive as hell. That's the same or even worse on the consoles, though, due to less variations in the research missions available. Stranglehold simply is a crappy game, PC or not. Halo 1 was a really bad port, performance-wise, but the game itself was the same as on the console, and it wasn't that brilliant. Gears of War actually plays pretty good on the PC imo, has additional content as well as higher resolution textures and so on...

Also: You make it sound like you have to either play PC games or console games. You can do both, you know? I do. If you're worried about your console breaking down: Simply don't get a 360. Be one of the sensible guys that refuses to pay 300$ for a piece of hardware with a failure rate that's somewhere between unacceptable 10% and totally ridiculous 30%. Sure, MS may replace your console without giving you too much trouble, but buying that console in the first place simply tells MS that it's A-okay to release a console that's flawed by design and "fix" it by not giving their customers trouble if it finally breaks down.

@ reason #3:
My rig is about one and a half years old and it runs every game out there on its highest settings (except for Crysis, which I have to play on "high" only) without problems. Sure, I bought top-of-the-line hardware back then and payed around 1000? for that thing, but it still manages to keep up and will do at least until the end of 2008. Sorry, but if you buy a GPU a year and a half after its release, don't expect it to be the high-end model for another year, that's simply unrealistic. But it will still hold its ground for quite some time.
So, overall, if you're a bit tech-savvy a homegrown PC can be good value and last quite a while. Also, the additional expense of a gaming-capable PC over the PC you're going to have anyway is about as much as a console costs

 

[PhoenixFlame]

I stay away from the ports unless I haven't or can't play the game. If it was good back on the console for me to get it, then I wouldn't want to get a PC port for it just to play it.

I still do both, but it really burns me about having to upgrade just to play games, and I am wary of games that do that. I'm not going to spend a ton of cash just so I can actually play a game without it being a slideshow. And I'm someone with a decent mid-to-high PC, not cutting edge, but certainly above average.

That being said I've become selective about what I buy and what I buy it for. FPSs are awkward for me to play on console. Action games, though, play great. RPGs work fine for PC, but your choices are limited as far as group games with friends without having to deal with the wonderful world of the Internet.

I don't think you have to give up PC gaming. I think that you just need to be selective about what you play, and only upgrade for the games that are worth it, not the ones that are popular or cool to play.

 

[Credge]

Despite having played games for the majority of my life (some 18 years now?) both on PC and console, I still can't get used to clunky console controls. FPS games are simply terrible on consoles and, especially lately, have all become incredibly dumbed down snooze fests that play themselves. Yeah, I've got to point my gun in the general direction of the bad guy... but I don't have to actually do much more than that as 99% of console FPS have auto-lock features akin to what Serious Sam had.

The hell? You are aware that games exist outside the FPS genre, right? Using only games the OP mentioned, we've got:
GTA4 - Playing this on a PC works good.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - This'll probably work fine on the mouse and keyboard, but who gives a fuck about that when it's coming out on the wii?
Fable 2 - I have no idea how they're going have this play, on any format, so I'll leave this out.
Ninja Gaiden II - No. Oh, god no. Not on your life.
Devil May Cry 4 - Again, I fail to see how the mouse and keyboard setup could lend itself well to games like this.
Resident Evil 5 - It's a shooter, yet... The control system is the reason why the GC version of RE4 is more exciting than the Wii version.

And then the entire concept of racing games which is a laughable mess on the PC without a wheel peripheral. Sure, the mouse and keyboard is better for shooters. But they're not the only games.

RTS, FPS, MMO's all play infinitely better on the PC. RPG's, depending on the combat, can be better or worse on a PC. The only games that play better on a console on every level are fighting, platformers, and some racers. Yeah, some. You still need a wheel for the majority of them.

Oddly, these are the kinds of games that populate PC games. Hell, even the more unique games play better on a PC. Any gesture based game (Black and White as an example) will be that much easier to play than on a console UNLESS it's a Wii.

In reality, the only console a PC gamer needs is a Wii as the PS3 and 360 gaming library consists of watered down versions of FPS that we've been playing for years before hand... just in a different setting and with different characters.

If you REALLY want a console that isn't the Wii, I can't say that either the 360 or PS3 are a good choice. The only thing they have going for them are a very small hand full of unique titles... like Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

And Guitar Hero plays fine on the PC as long as you're not playing it. Get Frets on Fire, buy a peripheral and play one of the nearly infinite songs that are available for it. And, if you're feeling cheeky, simply make your own track for the game.

It's funny, though. A lot of the games you've listed will play perfectly fine with a mouse and keyboard. Ninja Gaiden 2? No problem at all, not even in the slightest. DMC is another one that would be incredibly easy to play with a mouse and keyboard. 101 keys on a keyboard don't lie, neither does the superiority of mouse control.

This is, of course, disregarding the fact that there are a plethora of gaming pads available for PC gamers. Hell, we can use any console control we want including the wiimote.

PC gaming has equal to superior control on all games. Have a game that is gesture based? We can easily get the wiimote to act like a mouse for us, or, reverse engineer it so it detects our fingers instead. I've got a glove that I use to play AOE3 with when I'm feeling swishy.

You know, things like this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vp1_pZ-AteA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0awjPUkBXOU

Yeah, stuff like that isn't really anything you can do with a console. Maybe so with the Wii once they get an RTS or two on it. Maybe.

 

[Break]

RTS, FPS, MMO's all play infinitely better on the PC. RPG's, depending on the combat, can be better or worse on a PC. The only games that play better on a console on every level are fighting, platformers, and some racers. Yeah, some. You still need a wheel for the majority of them.

You could play something like DMC with a mouse and keyboard, but I fail to see, however you set up your 101 keys, how it could work nearly as well as twin analogue sticks and some triggers. Maybe I'm just not thinking in the right way. Would you mind explaining to me why it would be preferable to play it with the mouse and keyboard? Especially in something like Ninja Gaiden, where being able to roll in 360 degrees is really quite useful.

For the rest of it, mind if I replace the first usage of "PC" in my post with "mouse and keyboard"? It was a mistake. Once that's done, you're there's not a whole lot you're disagreeing with. The guy was dismissing every possible use of the gamepad as inferior to the mouse and keyboard, simply because of the obvious inferiority in the FPS genre. I took issue with that. You elaborate. Everybody's happy. PC gaming is better than console gaming, but honestly, it's easier to just buy a 360.

In any case, that finger tracking thing is pretty impressive. The practical applications for that kind of thing are mind-boggling.

 

[Bodb]

There are lots of big games for PC, they're just from different genres then those you mentioned. Crysis, Sins Of A Solar Empire, and so on. Also, a lot of good games have been ported to consoles. Like Deus Ex, for instance. And what's wrong with the wealth of share and freeware? There are some real gems floating around the internet, like Battle For Wesnoth or Nethack, and if you're willing to shell out the cash, there are a hell of a lot more wonderful games. Being a mac person, my PC game library is rather limited, but I make do. As well as being less accessible, you need a cutting-edge computer to keep up with stuff, which people aren't willing to spend the money on, so much more focus is on consoles. I may be making points for both sides, but all I'm saying is that console and PC gaming are totally different experiences, and different people enjoy one more than the other. I prefer to linger between the two depending on my preferred genre at the time, but right now I'm going with the more accessible consoles.

What I'm trying to say that consoles are fun, but are more casual commitments towards gaming, and PCs are tools as well as gaming systems, and require much more time and money to productively keep up with the latest big hit. Sorry for the wall of text, but it's worth reading.

 

[ImperialPyromancer]

Wii and PC are the way to go (admittedly a personal preference, me prefering RTS, FPS and RPGs on PC - strictly no driving or fighting games and Wii - bloody good fun, generally unique games and Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga, admittedly not unsing the Wiimote to it's fullest potential but damn good fun!