Poll: PC vs Console reasons

[Gecko clown]

If I'm honest, the reason I didn't use a PC for a LONG while for gaming was mainly because how much of a pain it is to get one working. And then once you've faffed around for a while and you finally get your hardware working you have to go through installation. AND THEN, even after spending ages installing your brand new game there's no guarantee its going to work as soon as you put the disk in, or even if it'll work at all. The two big reasons that you should go PC over console is the fact that its much easier to play with your friends and also the GIGANTIC indie platform and cheap, but great games, that you can get from platforms like Steam.

 

[Kathinka]

I think ever since services such as Steam took to the mainstream, PC Gaming is hands down the best option.

With PCs you can surpass the hardware of a console system, you can enhance a game's personal value to you by modding it to your liking, and you can control virtually any game more effectively using the mouse + keyboard combo.

Now it used to be a valid argument against PCs that for most people, consoles gave them much better bang for their buck. After all, a console would cost maybe 300 while a good gaming PC would be around 800. The thing is, this used to be based upon the fact that console games and PC games were the same price, this isn't a fact anymore.

The prices you can get a game for on your PC is now drastically lower than the price you would pay for with a console, especially if you're buying games on special sale. Unless you're a very occasional gamer, within the lifespan of your PC you are likely going to even out the total average cost per game between PC and console when accounting for the rig cost.

I bought my current PC a few months ago and in that time the amount of money I've saved buying games I actually wanted is already above 100 dollars.

also, nowadays you can easily put a pc together for the price of the console that is many a times more powerfull. so that more power for the buck argument is out of the window too.

hell, building a pc NOW that surpasses the known specs of the xbox720 that comes out in late 2013 is only between 3- and 400 bucks. and by when that thing comes out it will be even cheaper of course.

 

[natster43]

I don't think so. Then again I sit on a couch when I play games on my computer (it is a laptop.)

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

But lord if the PC gaming community does anything to make most people feel like PC gamers.

That's just holdover from when the vocal sections of the emu scene made efforts to distance themselves from general PC gaming in the mid 90s.

 

[Matt King]

i have a fantastic reason for playing on consoles instead of pc i am fairly poor, (as in there is no way i could put a couple of hundreds of pound towards something without saving up for a year oh so) (16 btw) and i won an xbox 360 in an arcade so that is why i play xbox

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Why bother with splitscreen when everything is on-line anyway? The only reason people use splitscreen was because internet access wasn't universal. However, 20 years later, internet is widely used.

No. Just no. Online is NOT a replacement for splitscreen. Can you really say that playing aginst some faceless guy who may or may not even be on a mic is equal to playing against someone sitting next to you? Not all gamers are antisocial enough to not have any friends they can bear to be in the same room as.

Or you know play with friends who you know online instead of having to move stuff between houses all of the time. Just putting it out there.

You do...know what splitscreen is, don't you?

No. No I don't think that I have ever experience this thing called split screen. I just decided to come on to a forum and bash it for no reason other than to troll people and look like an idiot. It isn't like if you don't have the right aspect ratio the screen is fucked up due to split and trying to find working controllers and batteries and then only having a limited amount of people to play aren't problems with it. Not to mention people being dicks and screen looking. Yes split screen really was the epitome of multiplayer gaming.

I never siad splitscreen is a replacement for online. And how much stuff do you need to move between houses? A controoler, that's about all. My brother and I play games together a lot, though we xan't with most because it doesn't offer splitscreen, meaning we'd have to fork over more money just to play together.

And I never online was a total replacement I gave an alternate scenario to your bleak, dystopian future. That is all well and good for people who live close to each other and for people with sibling who wish to play games and no it should not be fully removed. So yes, obviously a controller is too much for people.

 

[Wintermoot]

you know you can get wireless controllers for the PC you know that right? it,s a silly reason IMHO.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

You do...know what splitscreen is, don't you?

No. No I don't think that I have ever experience this thing called split screen. I just decided to come on to a forum and bash it for no reason other than to troll people and look like an idiot. It isn't like if you don't have the right aspect ratio the screen is fucked up due to split and trying to find working controllers and batteries and then only having a limited amount of people to play aren't problems with it. Not to mention people being dicks and screen looking. Yes split screen really was the epitome of multiplayer gaming.

My point is you don't have to move anything around except maybe a controller.

 

[loc978]

The real reason for this one is convenience. You can get a PC working on a TV with a gamepad, if you know what you're doing. The console comes pre-packaged to work like that, the PC requires setup and a little bit of knowhow to work at all (same for a standard keyboard/mouse/monitor/desk setup as the TV/gamepad thing, though).
That's the thing about PC gaming... it's rarely easy or convenient, it just gives you far more options. This coming from a guy who has been building gaming PCs since the early 90s. I tend to prefer options over ease or convenience, but I'm weird, and I often wear

Spoiler: this shirt

Huh. How very appropriate. My 4000th post was in one of these threads. I think I'll be beating the corpse of this horse until there's no such thing as "a console" or "a PC".

 

[jezcentral]

If that is what matters to you, of course it's a good reason. Choosing your game platform is your own personal decision, and therefore subjective.

One of the many reasons I got a PC is that I wouldn't be hogging the main TV, which meant I could play more. I had many other reasons, some important, some not so much.

Choose, buy, enjoy.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

You do...know what splitscreen is, don't you?

No. No I don't think that I have ever experience this thing called split screen. I just decided to come on to a forum and bash it for no reason other than to troll people and look like an idiot. It isn't like if you don't have the right aspect ratio the screen is fucked up due to split and trying to find working controllers and batteries and then only having a limited amount of people to play aren't problems with it. Not to mention people being dicks and screen looking. Yes split screen really was the epitome of multiplayer gaming.

My point is you don't have to move anything around except maybe a controller.

No your point was I was an idiot.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

I'm sorry what? I don't understand this thread...

Both my PC and my console are hooked up to my TV, have controller ports and are within distance of my bed/seats.

What am I being asked here exactly?

 

[Buizel91]

I. Hate. These. Threads! -.-

Seriously does it really matter who uses what? At the end of the day, at least 95% of us on the escapist play games, if someone prefers a system to another, good for them. The community should not be divided by the PC and Console gamers.

I think quite a few people here need to grow up. Some people need to face it that not everyone can build there own PC no matter how easy it is, some people just don't like mucking about inside a computer tower to upgrade it, and prefer just to use what they bought. And some other people need to stop fuelling the fire and going against other peoples opinions. if someone prefers steam, good for them, no one should tell them otherwise.

PC gaming has it's pro's and cons.

Console gaming has it pro's and cons.

Anyone who says anything different is an idiot.

 

[ph0b0s123]

The PC game pad has also been a very poor experience in general. I seldom have a PC game where the game pad will immediately function half as well as a console controller without calibrations or troubleshooting. Perhaps it's because my PC gamepad was old or not the 'right' one at the time.

Well my 360 controller works exactly the same way on the 360 as it does on my PC, no difference in experience at all. You do have to make sure you don't buy a rubbish controller. But if you want a console experience, why would you not use one from a console?

I would say that yes a preferring a controller and couch is a perfectly valid reason. Sure you can use a controller with PC games but very few actually have native support. When using third party programs to do it they are never anywhere are smooth as on a console. Hell even the few that I have tried that had native support didnt run as well.

Well that's odd as I have hardly ever found a game that did not have native support for my 360 controller. The only major title not to have this recently was ME3 for PC which was bad by bioware. You want to back up your supposition that native support is rare, because the facts I think are otherwise.

 

[Xifel]

Never understood that "PC or Console". I have a PC connected to my TV, I also have 3 consoles connected to it to. The PC is also connected to a normal screen which I can work at. I have an Xbox-controller to my PC, so for me the lines is pretty blurred between the PC and consoles...

 

[vxicepickxv]

Why bother with splitscreen when everything is on-line anyway? The only reason people use splitscreen was because internet access wasn't universal. However, 20 years later, internet is widely used.

No. Just no. Online is NOT a replacement for splitscreen. Can you really say that playing aginst some faceless guy who may or may not even be on a mic is equal to playing against someone sitting next to you? Not all gamers are antisocial enough to not have any friends they can bear to be in the same room as.

it has nothing to do with being anti social - I just like all 1080 pixels to be MINE!

1080p doesn't stand for 1080 pixels. The P stands for progressive scan.


As for the original topic, why not both? I can hook my PC or console up to the main TV set to do whatever I feel like. Hulu, netflix, escapist HD videos, and gaming.

I can hook controllers up to the PC, or the PS3, and do pretty much whatever. They both have good uses, so, why even ask this question?