So what is the advantage of a console?

[Kopikatsu]

The biggest advantage is the fact that if the game is on the system, there will likely never be a hardware issue with playing it. Like...it took a TON of work on my part to get Skyrim to run on the PC. I'm talking days of messing with files, hardware, whathaveyou. But for the PS3, I just popped the disk in and it was good to go. I even went without any horrible bugs in the PS3 version, but the intro sequence on the PC was horribly effed up to the point where I had to use roughly sixteen console commands just to get to the point where I get to control the character for the first time.

 

[Vigormortis]

Honestly? Um...at this point...not much?

The hardware is antiquated, the exclusives are dwindling fast, the online features are becoming bloated and intrusive, and the functionality is often hindered by the additives.

There were plenty of advantages to consoles years ago, even at the start of the current generation. Now-a-days, though, those "advantages" are few and far between.

We have motion controls! Yeah, how can you beat that?! [small]nope[/small]

I also heard it's physically impossible to sit back and relax on a sofa whilst gaming on a PC.

I keep hearing this argument, and it has never made sense to me.

I do this all the time. I game on my PC with a keyboard/mouse, with a range of controllers, and even with a joystick. I can easily sit back comfortably on my sofa and game all I want.

Another thing that never makes sense is the "no split-screen on PC" thing.

Utter bullshit. Just the other day I was playing Left 4 Dead, split-screen, with a friend on my big flat-screen TV.

 

[Vault101]

less faffing around....but even then thease days.....

I mean Ive been playing the metroid GBA games through emulation on my TV with my laptop...thats how awsome PC's are

 

[Mikejames]

I'm sure it's great with the right hardware, system setup, and owner competent enough to upgrade it, but sadly I've had some pretty rough luck (and user error) looking into PC gaming.

 

[peruvianskys]

How did that argument lose ground? Plugging my console into my TV with a controller is a lot easier than doing that with my PC. Also you never have to worry about compatibility issues, you put a game in and it works. I use both and I prefer my console since I don't have to spend hours fiddling with it to get it to work.

The problem I have with the argument is that I can't really differentiate it from the argument that a bicycle is better than a Corvette because it's easier to pick up and ride.

Let me set it up this way: If someone came up with a machine that never crashed, never had hardware compatibility options, and never needed updating, but still did the exact same thing as a PC, then I would call it more convenient than current PCs. But if you made a "PC" that had no modding support or changeable hardware, then it wouldn't be "easier to use" in any real sense; instead, it would just be lacking features. If consoles could offer what the PC does but do it in an easier or more reliable way, then it would be a point on their side. But just taking out something and saying, "See, now it's more accessible!" strikes me as the worst kind of positive spin on a blatant negative.

What I'm arguing is that a console is not really "more convenient" because a comparison of convenience requires even a basic equivalence. Saying that a lighter is more convenient than a nuclear power plant might be technically true, but it's meaningless in a discussion of their merits as power producers because they don't perform the same function. So if you want to argue that the console is an inferior toy version of a PC, then that's fine. But if you want to argue that they're in any way equal in merit, then you can't pass off a result of their inequality as a point on your side.

Does that make sense? It's a hard idea for me to accurately express because I'm exhausted right now.

 

[DoPo]

snip

Ask online what parts to get and state a budget.

When it arrives follow the extremely simple instructions that come with the motherboard.

Boom, you are now part of the "master race".

fyi It's not "part #32115". Nearly every cable and slot is easy to identify and aren't hard to use.

Yeah, it's quite hard to go wrong when plugging stuff in, since you can't phu=ysically plug them in the wrong place. Well, most of them, at least, but that's why everything is also colour coded. Unless, you know, you feel lazy enough to make sure you know what cable you are holding by following it to both ends. Ah, most slots also have a sign describing what goes in.

We actually learned about the different parts of a computer last year in my IT class (CPU's, motherboards, RAM etc.). But we never learned how to put it all together. I'm guessing it's like lego?

See above. It's slightly more complex than LEGO. Well, probably depending on what LEGO set you have, I guess, but yeah.

We have motion controls! Yeah, how can you beat that?! [small]nope[/small]

Nuh-huh, we have them before you. It's called a mouse, sheesh.

I also heard it's physically impossible to sit back and relax on a sofa whilst gaming on a PC.

Actually funny, since I'm doing this right now. Well, I'm not really gaming but I was up until 20 minutes ago. I'm still on the sofa, though.

So, yeah, I'll now sit on my sofa and go download those patches and setting fixes so I can play this one game I want. And hope it wouldn't crash. And then find some fixes for the sound or another issue. I expect to have roughly 2:1 ratio between making it work and actually playing it. But I'll do it from the sofa, and that makes me superior!

[small]Still no Journey, though [/small]

 

[Tazzy da Devil]

Well, one reason I'll choose console over PC if a game comes out on both, is I'm running out of space on my PC, and since I'm a programmer and have a lot of programs stored on my computer for work, it's kind of a problem. I'll have to get a bigger hard drive eventually, but I don't want to do that until I absolutely have to. Also, installation times suck.

 

[TehCookie]

How did that argument lose ground? Plugging my console into my TV with a controller is a lot easier than doing that with my PC. Also you never have to worry about compatibility issues, you put a game in and it works. I use both and I prefer my console since I don't have to spend hours fiddling with it to get it to work.

The problem I have with the argument is that I can't really differentiate it from the argument that a bicycle is better than a Corvette because it's easier to pick up and ride.

Let me set it up this way: If someone came up with a machine that never crashed, never had hardware compatibility options, and never needed updating, but still did the exact same thing as a PC, then I would call it more convenient than current PCs. But if you made a "PC" that had no modding support or changeable hardware, then it wouldn't be "easier to use" in any real sense; instead, it would just be lacking features. If consoles could offer what the PC does but do it in an easier or more reliable way, then it would be a point on their side. But just taking out something and saying, "See, now it's more accessible!" strikes me as the worst kind of positive spin on a blatant negative.

What I'm arguing is that a console is not really "more convenient" because a comparison of convenience requires even a basic equivalence. Saying that a lighter is more convenient than a nuclear power plant might be technically true, but it's meaningless in a discussion of their merits as power producers because they don't perform the same function. So if you want to argue that the console is an inferior toy version of a PC, then that's fine. But if you want to argue that they're in any way equal in merit, then you can't pass off a result of their inequality as a point on your side.

Does that make sense? It's a hard idea for me to accurately express because I'm exhausted right now.

I'm not talking about the other functions, I'm talking about the same function. Playing games. It's like saying the PS3 is better than the 360 because it has bluray, that's nice and all but we're talking about gaming not media centers. That may just be me since I want a cheap console to play games that I know will work, I don't care about the extra features.

Though I disagree that lacking features is a negative. Is an automatic car worse than a manual? If you like cars and want that control over it you may say yes, but for the people who don't care about cars and just want a quick easy way from point A to point B will probably like the automatic.

 

[Mirroga]

Since I'm the type of console gamer that plays single-player games in their consoles and without online support or even log-in, I say the best advantage is there's no lag or slowdowns that are sometimes present in PC processors.

 

[smearyllama]

You can plug it into a TV, pop a disc (or cartridge, cassette, possum skull, etc.) in, and play.
No having to be connected to servers, no having to wait for patches to download for hours, no having to deal with compatibility issues (unless you're trying to ram a SNES cart into a PS3), and you can just play.
Also, consoles are cheaper and require less work to maintain than a PC. A gaming rig needs upgrading every couple years with at least one or two new parts, and you've got to deal with all the issues of a PC as well as a console.
Sometimes, a consoles is just easier.

 

[emeraldrafael]

convenience is probably the biggest and you dont have too much on one machine. I rather like my gaming machine to be separate from my computer since I use a laptop as a home pc.

However for me the biggest advantage of getting my PS3 was it was a blu-ray playera nd where I lived it was the cheapest option, and it also just happpened to play videogames. And for most games you dont have to worry about if youre going to lose connection, which, eve though in the US internet connection is getting better if you can afford it, there is the question of if you can afford it, and how good it actually is past that.

 

[Misterian]

Consoles can allow to play a game without have to worry about if you have the right video cards or processors or any other required parts that may require you to carefully shop around for said parts or spend enough cash on a new PC to grow a few acres of farmland with (I don't know if its a good way to put it, but I think you get my point).

You just put the game in and start playing, what a novelty!

 

[BytByte]

Well my Wii weighs less than my laptop, so if you like picking things up, consoles are the way to go!

 

[Reaper195]

Technicality-wise, there is next to no advantage over PC the console has.
<< (Best wording ever)

But to me, I'd rather spend about six hundred dollars on a console and not have to spend any more money on it until another one comes out, and also lowers in price by a fair bit. Whereas my flatmate, who is a mad PC gamer (But isn't a cock about it) has spent nearly five grand on PC graphic cards, RAM, cases, mice, keybpoards, monitors, etc, since the 360 was released (Granted, that's not that much since the 360 came out in 2005, but still...five grand is a fair bit of money).

But the only real advantages I see that consoles have is being able to put in a game and play it. Me and my flatmate got Mass Effect 3 at the same time. We put the discs in at the same time. Ten minutes later, he was listening to loud music on his head phones since he was still installing the game, and I was playing it. Three hours later, I was still playing it, and he was raging incredibly hard over Origin being a celestial wanker and constantly crashing. He hadn't even been able to start the game up. Not to mention that while PC games look better on better PC's, if you don't have a decent PC, you spend a while mucking around with the graphical settings (Assuming the game let's you do so) and sometimes, it looks worse than it does on console.

But in the end, generally, the major differences are usually aesthetics. And I've said this many times over on the Escapist. Say all you want shiny and realistic looking graphics, GTA San Andreas is still much more fun than Crysis 2.

 

[TrevHead]

Less things can go wrong, but when they do you can't fix them

Less cheaters and haxors, both ingame and in online leaderboards. Many (good) arcade games on consoles have more systems in play to ensure legit leaderboard scores, replays of top scorers is a good example.

For some games like shmups especially bullet hells, having standardised hardware is very important for competative players, these games have intended slowdown programmed into the game which can change from one PC to the next. Some shmup players just don't play PC shmups because of it.

For example with Jametown alot of ppl put superplays of Jamestown on YT, only the were running at 2/3rds the normal speed due to fraps, all those fraps players scores will be on the leaderboard.

I think its a similar thing for tournament fighter players.

 

[Savo]

Console games don't suffer technical issues nearly as often. PC games, especially older ones, can be rife with problems depending on the game. Many times there are workarounds you can find for these issues, but it takes time and energy I really don't want to spend. I want to play my game, not troubleshoot it.

To illustrate my point using my own experiences, here's a short list of my problems with PC games I've had lately:
-Alpha Protocol is buggy as hell and requires a little tinkering to reach a reasonably playable state.
-F.E.A.R Extraction Point has a strange issue that plunges the frame rate every 10-15 minutes.
-Force Unleashed goes into a ridiculous slow-mo frame rate drop almost every time I do something like swing my saber.
-Something deleted all my saves belonging to EA published games such as Dragon Age or Dead Space (I genuinely have no idea what in the hell would cause this).
-Call of Cthulhu displays raindrops as a triangular object. I didn't play much of it, there is a small possibility this is some kind of twisted design choice.

Here's a list of my problems with console games I've had lately:
-Catherine locked up on me once.

I like playing PC games and am willing to put up with this horseshit in exchange for exclusives, graphics, and Steam, but damn it gets annoying.