Consoles vs. PC's

[Kikosemmek]

I had thought about this for a while but the idea to make a post about it just came to me. If you do not wish to read the overture to my question, skip to the last line.

I don't own a game console, and I haven't since my SNES during childhood- not even a Gameboy. Ever since I discovered that my oldest computer, which ran on Windows 3.1 and had around 16mb of RAM, could play video games, I was hooked, and became what I later learned is called a gamer.

Well, I still play video games, quite avidly, I might say, and it never really occurred to me to get my hands on a gaming console. I tried to rationalize my lack of enthusiasm. This is what I came up with:

If I had the money, I'd rather upgrade my computer.

My favourite video game genre is RTS, and I cannot imagine playing those games with a controller. Hell, for that matter, FPS's, either. I tried many times my luck at Halo 3 or CoD 4 at friends' and I really, _really_ didn't enjoy myself. I prefer a mouse and keyboard setup, I suppose.

I'm also a bit of a software geek who loves to try and run everything on GNU/Linux (and I keep an XP dual-boot in case a game I really like just refuses to work). When I consider buying new electronics, it's either computer accessories or computer parts. I'd much rather spend my money on a new PC than buy a console, what with their obsolescence after a next generation of machines is spawned and their inflexible functions. I do everything on my PC. I keep a library of music and movies; I play video games; I do coursework and program; I surf the internet; I record and edit music and videos.

You can't do all that with a console. To be honest, all the temptation that seems to work on my friends to buy a new console doesn't even register with me. I never wanted a console and I don't think I ever will, as long as computers are so damn useful.

That's not to say I never had fun playing on anything other than a PC. I loved Rock Band when a friend brought his 'instruments' to a party. I enjoyed Warioware: Smooth Moves whenever a Wii was present at a gathering, and I'm looking forward to playing Brawl almost as though I had a Wii. In the end, though, these are not good enough reasons for me to purchase a gaming console.

So, I decided to ask you all what your opinions on the matter are. If you're like me, what are your reasons for sticking with computers? If you own a console and love it, what does your console mean to you? Why wouldn't you trade it away for a computer?

What do you think consoles have over PC's?

 

[REDPill357]

Consoles require less patience to run than a PC.

Other than that, I can't think of anything.

 

[ChrisP.Lettuce]

The only difference I can see is that consoles are just plug and play.

PC's are made to be an information hub for everything you do +gaming.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

Thing is, with consoles, you don't have to constantly tweak them, and when the time comes to upgrade, it is generally a lot cheaper than a PC. Also, while buying games for a console, you can usually rest assured that the game will work, without having to worry about system requirements.

 

[Bling Cat]

i suppose for me its just that i started playing on consoles. im used to the setup, i cant imagine playing fps on a computer, im just so used to a controller. on the other hand i do own a pc, and i play most of my slow paced games like rts on them. i suppose it really comes down to preference. im not 'into' technology, i prefer to just plug something in and not worry about anything, rather than having lots of fancy peices of equipment. my most high tech piece of hardware is a hd-tv for my 360, and thats only because my old tv was about a centimetre wide...

 

[strife_caecus]

It depends really. I use PCs for first-person shooters, RTS (Real Time Strategy), perhaps some ol' skoo' console emulation and maybe the occasional Java/ActiveX puzzle game. However, I'll play consoles for other genres: Side-scrolling platformer, third-person perspective adventure/action/RPG, fighting games and more. I'll admit, I haven't owned a console since the N64 and Game Boy Advance, but that's because I play on my other friends' consoles. Plus, being a lousy adult with work and college makes (extended) gaming much harder. When I picked up the Wiimote and nunchuck and started playing Super Mario Galaxy in a GameStop, I was having fun...but had to sadly put down the controllers since I had other errands to run.

In short, I'm a PC guy, but consoles still have appeal to me.

 

[kuddles]

I own a 360, DS, PS2 and a Wii. I still spend about 70-80% of my gaming time on the PC though. I just grew up with it. There's a lot that factor into it why that is. For starters, I just can't get into playing a game on a television on the couch, I would rather be in my comfy leather chair with a monitor completely immersing my peripheral vision into the game. I like playing with mods and a wider amount of custom content. I like a lot of niche genres like traditional adventures, CRPG's, strategy titles, etc. that either aren't available on the consoles or have an underwhelming presence while for the most part sports games and GTA-style titles just don't appeal to me. Then there's the fact that I don't watch enough television or movies to justify a huge HDTV and surround sound, whereas my hobbies and career justify a higher computer expense. Finally, I can't get used to a controller for FPS games no matter what. When I play a shooter on a console that I can't play on PC, like The Darkness, I have to settle for the easy setting because I just suck. I couldn't imaging playing a game like World in Conflict on a console either.

That said, I fully understand why people prefer consoles. Of course there are genres like platformers or racing games that have a better presence on consoles, and maybe you don't like PC genres. Then there is the additional costs and the issues present in PC gaming. While sometimes exaggerated online, there is no doubt that there are fewer technical hurdles. You don't have to fiddle with graphical settings or have some weird issue with drivers or certain hardware configurations or whatnot. And I can see why some people would rather play games in their living room with a controller instead of at a computer desk with a mouse, although as I said not for me.

Every two years or so when I do a major upgrade I wonder if maybe I should just spend the money on console stuff instead, but I always find myself finding more I'm anticipating on the PC than in anything else. However, I do see myself playing console games more in the future. While the PC will probably still triumph in certain types of games like strategy titles and niche genres and indie stuff, I think it's clear that the AAA PC-exclusive is starting to no longer be viable for most companies, and when we do get the big budget games it's clear the PC is the secondary platform, plus there are a lot of games that aren't coming to the PC at all that look interesting, like Crackdown, Dead Rising, Uncharted, Resistance 2, etc. The PC seems to be going more and more into more casual titles or MMOs or other things I'm not as interested in.

 

[Knight Templar]

a console is a gameing PC. no need to upload a whole load of data, you get ......actaly i cant think of many thing hat are better, less room for controles, less power and less memory. but i dont care about that. to me a PC is for RTS and overhead RPG's in a BG style. i will always love console more than PC mabey its the hand held controlers the flexablity for where it goes.i move my 360 betwene the big TV and the small one, but i dont think my PC would be as moveable. and i know you can get things to make a PC with controlers and simler ablitys but then your just making a conloes arnt you? mabey a more powerful console but then youve just made the 8th gen of gameing consoles if wiki is to be belived(thanks for that yartzee i've turned it into a saying)

P.S. what is a game pad? its somthing for PC but what is it? can you give me a link so i can see one i cant find it in google images thaks to a image lock my mum put on there.it was my dad dont look at me like that..er i mean my post.

 

[slyder35]

Biggest Pro for Consoles : Game Rentals, Easy to Use, Cheaper H/W
Biggest Pro for PC : Customisable H/W and S/W, Moddable Games, Cheaper Games

Biggest Con for Consoles : If any part of it breaks the whole thing is useless, games are a ripoff to purchase
Biggest Con for PC : Costly hardware, drivers - especially Vista drivers

 

[ReepNeep]

What consoles have on PCs primarily is 'Ease of use'. They're for the public at large that just wants to play video games. The PC Gamers sees the platform as a source of entertainment in and of itself. PC gaming is basically for nerds only, in that you have to LIKE messing with machines and figuring out how they work. The tweaking, driver updating, troubleshooting, and .ini editing that console gamers see as a deal-breaking chore is something that pc gamers enjoy.

The point brought up earlier about system requirements is valid as well, but a console game with framerate issues, slowdown and long load times will ALWAYS have them. As a PC gets upgraded, such things will disappear.

Consoles also happen to be a lot cheaper.

 

[Anniko]

What consoles have on PCs primarily is 'Ease of use'. They're for the public at large that just wants to play video games. The PC Gamers sees the platform as a source of entertainment in and of itself. PC gaming is basically for nerds only, in that you have to LIKE messing with machines and figuring out how they work. The tweaking, driver updating, troubleshooting, and .ini editing that console gamers see as a deal-breaking chore is something that pc gamers enjoy.

The point brought up earlier about system requirements is valid as well, but a console game with framerate issues, slowdown and long load times will ALWAYS have them. As a PC gets upgraded, such things will disappear.

Consoles also happen to be a lot cheaper.

Also we get to water cool our PCs. Who doesnt like running water near expensive electrical equipment?

 

[Kohlrabi]

I don't think you can really compare cost of hardware of a PC to a console. With a console you can ONLY play games, or watch a movie nowadays, or maybe surf the web a bit (I don't know). This costs you about 200-500 Euro here. If you buy a PC which can handle the same games at the same quality settings you'd have to pay much more, well above thre to four times the console price. But with that you get a device which allows you to surf the web, play games, write letters, do calculations, compose music, write code, ...

My point is that a console is merely a toy (not pejorative), while a PC is a universal tool AND a toy. So I think a PC is actually much cheaper in relation to possible applications if you don't use it to only play games.

 

[Viper753]

I don't think you can really compare cost of hardware of a PC to a console. With a console you can ONLY play games, or watch a movie nowadays, or maybe surf the web a bit (I don't know). This costs you about 200-500 Euro here. If you buy a PC which can handle the same games at the same quality settings you'd have to pay much more, well above thre to four times the console price. But with that you get a device which allows you to surf the web, play games, write letters, do calculations, compose music, write code, ...

My point is that a console is merely a toy (not pejorative), while a PC is a universal tool AND a toy. So I think a PC is actually much cheaper in relation to possible applications if you don't use it to only play games.

I think you (and everyone else) have pretty much hit the nail on the head. If you like tweaking hardware though, you needn't spend more than $800 or so on a PC (monitor not withstanding) to get the same level of graphics that you would out of the current generation of consoles.

 

[Kikosemmek]

I read all the replies so far and it seems to be winding down to price.

I'll say this: If $600 is a PS3, I can take that money and upgrade my computer, which is 3 years old with 512 RAM and a 256MB Radeon, to something with 2 gigs of RAM and a 512MB nVidia. These two upgrades will pretty much allow me to run any game (excl. Crysis, but from what I've seen I shouldn't be concerned, because it doesn't appeal to me all that much. Any game that cannot run on most commercial top computers will not appeal to me all that much) I want. The processor is 1.2Ghz, which is good enough.

What I will lack that a PS3 has is Blu-Ray support, but I'm not hung-up on that.

 

[Naybo]

Hello ^-^

 

[Esure]

This reminds me of my choice of whether to buy Bioshock for the PC or 360, I had the demo on PC and if I had a fair choice would choose it for the PC, but my PC just couldn't hack good frame rates for it. This I find is becoming more common as time goes on, I bought it for the 360 and it ran perfectly. No hardware upgrades, no patches, just poped in the CD and it started playing.

 

[xMacx]

I read all the replies so far and it seems to be winding down to price.

About half of the comments are also focused around ease of use/plug and play capabilities. After logging countless hours PC gaming, I've reached a point in life where between jobs, S/O, etc., reduce actual gaming time to a minimum. Consoles allow me to quickly plug in and play regardless, rather than rationing out time to tweak settings just to play. This is especially important for me when we're talking about multiplayer - I don't want to have to D/L patches, maps, etc., just to jump into a multiplayer game for a half hour. Most of the time I have to play would be spent troubleshooting or waiting for content to download. Booooo.

 

[[HD]Rob Inglis]

I like Computers for gaming. Usually better online, never costs extra besides base internet, and game mods. Money is a factor, though I would buy a console for certain exclusive games.

 

[defcon 1]

It really depends on your budget and how well you want your games to preform. I have an Athlon64 3800+ with a gig of DDR 400 RAM and a GeForce 6600 card which made my games look like ass, but in my mind, fun enough to tolerate. I bought an 8800 GTS off my friend (discount) and now every game I own runs well at maximum settings. I'm sure not too long down the road, games will temps you with graphics that require quad-core, DDR2, and 8 series and above card.

If you want RTS games, you want PC. I to love RTS and can't imagine playing it on a console. Each console (including the PC) has 'exclusive' games, or games that will only word for that console. Some games will work on different platforms better (Assassins Creed for PS3, Oblivion for PC). It all depends on what you like, and again, RTS = PC. I also love PC games because you can play around with them, say the Source engine for example.

I only have one 7th gen console (Wii) because I'd rather upgrade hardware not only for games, but other work I do. Linux has mostly free software that don't require god's PC so you could get old hardware and spare the money for a console. The controller is hard to get use to. In time it'll feel very natural.

 

[REDPill357]

Thing is, with consoles, you don't have to constantly tweak them, and when the time comes to upgrade, it is generally a lot cheaper than a PC. Also, while buying games for a console, you can usually rest assured that the game will work, without having to worry about system requirements.

My latest "upgrade" cost about $350.

That was a new processor, graphics card, motherboard, and RAM. Everything but the hard drive.