Why buy consoles?

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DTWolfwood

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consistency is my only reason for getting a console. Also its pretty hassle free. Plug and play. No driver updated for the most part, no anti-virus needed, or spyware protection etc. O its Cheap and serves as a dvd/bd player without having to install some kind of dvd/bd software.


I can't use a pad to save my life. I just can't imagine how anyone can shoot using a stick. my favorite genre is RTS which to date is still exclusively a PC genre.
 

enriquetnt

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Mar 20, 2010
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Consoles are cheaper, easier and dumber

PCs, are expensive, cumbersome, harder to use, but more intelligent and "usefull"

and they ARE more expensive, until someone can built a PC for under 300 dollars that offer graphics on par whit the likes of Uncharted 2 or Gears of War 2 you wont convince me otherwise, i believe somewhere someone built a computer whit a bit over 700 dollars that could run Crysis on console level graphics, well whit 700 dollars you could buy ALL 3 CURRENT GEN CONSOLES.

and a mediocre trained monkey CAN NOT change a GPU, most normal people wont even dare to open the cover in theyr PCs especcially now that people practically run theyr entire lifes from them.

I have all consoles and a powerfull PC (at least last year it was top of the line) i play all the exclusives across all the platforms and have a blast, but to the absolutely true every year there are less and less games i play on PC (last year i only played Starcraft 2, ONE game)
 

Sabiancym

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Feature wise, is there anything a console can do that a PC cannot? I can not think of a single thing.
 

shroomie

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It can be cheaper than shelling out for a high specced PC that can run a game well, dont have to worry about specs, they last until and beyond in some cases the next generation comes out, controllers are easier to use than a billion different keyboard functions, easier social aspect for the most part (I accept MMOS will always work better on computers). Computers used to be better because console gaming was fairly new, however progress has been made very quickly for consoles whilst PCs arent stagnating, but they are slowing compared to consoles in terms of games.
 

Shirokurou

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I bought a PS2 back in the day for the exclusives, mainly JRPGs cause I was into that.

So reason to buy - different game libraries.
 

Silas13013

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Paragon Fury said:
Silas13013 said:
Paragon Fury said:
Sabiancym said:
Paragon Fury said:
1: Consoles have the superior games: Basically all major AAA titles are designed for consoles now, and some don't even go to the PC at all. snip
1: I'm using one right now. Its three years old. And yes, I know what indie games are; I also know the Escapist has a penchant for using "creative" and "original" as synonyms for "shit" and "pretentious".

2: I've done all of those things? Let see what $50 can get you for a GPU, huh? A quick trip to NEWEGG reveals for the price range of $25-$50 a nice grouping of 512MB etc. (thought the occasional 1GB card is there) Geforce 210s that are all inferior even to my laptop's 3 year old Geforce 8600M.

Try again?

3: Precision or pressure sensitive movement. Flight. Vehicle driving. All things the keyboard is inferior in comparison to the gamepad.

4: Dedicated servers for games like Battlefield, CoD and Crysis are certainly not free, by any measure.

5: How many people do you think would want to plop down $1000+ for gaming laptop or PC when the PS3 cost at its worst $700 and still runs games at very good level, and was a very good Blu-ray player to boot?

6: I've done that several times before. Sure, there are few mod/user content gems out there but they don't counteract the massive pile of suck that is the rest of user content.
1. I don't use the escapist to base my opinions on a game so I'm not sure what relivance that statement has here.

2. You're doing it wrong. You can get a nice selection of dx11 and other cards for under $50.

3. This is an opinion? I can't stand controllers, that's the main reason I stopped playing my PS3, the controller doesn't feel right in my hands. So I use a keyboard and mouse.

4. Do you mean developer official servers or your own?

5. I missunderstood what you were saying. Yes laptops are expencive.

6. Glad we are in agreement here.
 

Rayansaki

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May 5, 2009
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Another big reason I didn't see anyone mention are genres that neglect the PC. If you want to play a fighter, a driving game, or in a more extreme case, a Hack&Slash action game, you have very limited releases on the PC.

H&S is my favorite genre, and the only good game to be released on PC in the last few years was DMC4. And it was a straight port and very unplayable without a gamepad. Games like God of War, DMC and Bayonetta are a big part of what made me become mostly a console gamer. I still game on my PC, but generally only 1 or 2 different games per year max.
 

Sabiancym

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enriquetnt said:
Consoles are cheaper, easier and dumber

PCs, are expensive, cumbersome, harder to use, but more intelligent and "usefull"

and they ARE more expensive, until someone can built a PC for under 300 dollars that offer graphics on par whit the likes of Uncharted 2 or Gears of War 2 you wont convince me otherwise, i believe somewhere someone built a computer whit a bit over 700 dollars that could run Crysis on console level graphics, well whit 700 dollars you could buy ALL 3 CURRENT GEN CONSOLES.

and a mediocre trained monkey CAN NOT change a GPU, most normal people wont even dare to open the cover in theyr PCs especcially now that people practically run theyr entire lifes from them.

I have all consoles and a powerfull PC (at least last year it was top of the line) i play all the exclusives across all the platforms and have a blast, but to the absolutely true every year there are less and less games i play on PC (last year i only played Starcraft 2, ONE game)
8800GT on Ebay - $60 http://cgi.ebay.com/EVGA-NVIDIA-GeForce-8800-GT-GDDR3-/320679416962?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item4aa9fb9482#ht_500wt_922
E6750 on Ebay - $70 http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-CORE-2-DUO-E6750-2-66GHz-4M-1333-SLA9V-/230570254882?pt=CPUs&hash=item35af0ee222#ht_1234wt_905
MSI G41M on Newegg $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130305
GSkill Rijaw 4GB RAM on newegg $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277
LOGISYS 550W PSU on Newegg $25 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817170028
LITE-ON Black 18 DVD Drive $17 on Newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106274
Microsoft Keyboard and Mouse on newegg $30 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.623199

Total $302, and it would run those games at the same level of the Xbox or PS3. Especially if you overclock slightly, which is free.

And that's in 5 minutes. If you spent time hunting, you could find much better hardware at a really good price.
 

beema

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Aug 19, 2009
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So far all of the responses seem to boil down to: laziness or cheapness

I find gaming on my PC to be MUCH cheaper than with consoles though

I also hate controllers

The only thing I can see consoles have going for them is that developers and publishers are starting to treat PC users like dirt

That said, with consoles they are able to exert more control over the end user and take away more and more of what you can do, so they are kind of treating console users like dirt too in the end.

btw, for the people who are super lazy and technically inept, you can always just buy an iMac, dualboot Windows on it, and have a perfectly fine PC for gaming. They actually have pretty good hardware in them now (and you can always pay more if you want a better one) and the only wire you have to plug in is the power cable (hopefully you know how to do that). Oh, and their displays look about 3 billion times better than most TVs.
 

-Samurai-

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Sabiancym said:
Feature wise, is there anything a console can do that a PC cannot? I can not think of a single thing.
Motion controls, if you're in to that sort of thing. Some of it is actually fun.
 

Okysho

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Sep 12, 2010
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Sabiancym said:
Paragon Fury said:
1: Consoles have the superior games: Basically all major AAA titles are designed for consoles now, and some don't even go to the PC at all. While the PC does still get quite a few good exclusive AAA games, consoles get the lion's share, making investing in them a better value oriented approach.

2: PC performance superiority over consoles is waning. Unless you really shell out for parts, most gaming PCs do not have significant graphics/performance advantage over current consoles, and they certainly won't over the next gen of consoles.

3: The controller is an infinitely better control setup for gaming over the mouse and keyboard, with the exception of RTS, MMO and certain select games. While the mouse still controls better for precise aiming, the joystick serves that purpose just fine and has the advantage of being infinitely better for movement controls than the keyboard.

4: The more you plan to play multiplayer, the more appealing the consoles become. PCs basically have ZERO in-house playability, and only increase and spread costs of PC gaming to multiple people, while with 1 console 4 people can play multiplayer together; it only takes 4 consoles for 16 to play together. With few exceptions, the console community also tends to stick a bit more with games too; its easier to find matches for console games for longer than it is on PC, unless you REALLY, REALLY like playing a particular way.

5: Portability. Consoles are easy to transport, work basically anywhere there is a TV and power, and don't take up as much room. Good gaming PCs are often HUGE, and often way A FUCKING TON, in addition to having multiple parts that must be transported.

6: Player-generated content is one of the few advantages PCs really have, and its not even that great an advantage. Because when you think about it honestly, 97% of all user content is shit or smut, 2% is decent and only really 1% is truly good worth saying "Yeah, this was worth it".

7: What sounds more appealing, in all seriousness?

Pay $300-$500 for a system that is guaranteed to play any game that comes out for it for the next 5 years, is easily portable, has an extremely simple set-up and plays games at very good level of performance, OR pay anywhere from $1000 to $2500 for a system that may only be relevant for 3 years before needing new parts to play the latest games, isn't portable or sharable, can have an extremely complicated set-up, but can play games at a higher level of performance.
1: MMOs are pretty much PC exclusive, RTS games, and most console games come out on PC. Making your argument completely false. Not to mention the amount of free indie games out there for PC.

2: Not true at all. If I dropped my graphics settings down to DX9 and at the same level that consoles run, I'd get 100+ more FPS than consoles. Guaranteed. You aren't even close to being knowledgeable about this.

3: I use a controller with my PC all the time. Xbox or PS3, you can use them both. Another useless point.

4: PCs have way more dedicated gaming servers. That's a win right there. Plus you can have multiple people playing one game on a PC if you have multiple monitors.

5: Gaming laptops are more powerful than current gen consoles, and more portable. Plus you can build a decent desktop in a relatively small case.

6: You're a console gamer. You don't have a clue about user created content. I can think of 50 great mods in Oblivion alone.


7: Seriously, what sounds better now?
Consoles:

They still get more exclusives than PCs.

I've been gaming with a 2005 HP BEAST and it can barely run Saints row 2 on low graphics. YOU ship out $300 for my upgrades.

Third Person... anything never translates well to PC (I know I play saints row 2 on a PC, that doesn't make it a good third person shooter, I'm just cheap)

Many people don't care about mods (Anyone remember that school shooting mod still?)

PC gamers tend to be elitists and unpleasant people, met far too many I'd rather trap them in a room.

Consoles are more fun.

Remember that? FUN? no? guess not.

I'm even willing to admit that cursor aiming is better than bloody stick aiming for shooters (not that I play that many shooters) but the Wii has fixed that for me, so why bother?
 

LuckyClover95

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Gaming computers are very very expensive - and my PS3 Slim was around £250, not £300, and that was in a deal with multiple games and stuff coming with it.
I like the controls, I like the exclusives.
And the generations are easier with consoles, computers can be outdated easier as games develop.
 

Sabiancym

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Aug 12, 2010
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Okysho said:
Sabiancym said:
Paragon Fury said:
1: Consoles have the superior games: Basically all major AAA titles are designed for consoles now, and some don't even go to the PC at all. While the PC does still get quite a few good exclusive AAA games, consoles get the lion's share, making investing in them a better value oriented approach.

2: PC performance superiority over consoles is waning. Unless you really shell out for parts, most gaming PCs do not have significant graphics/performance advantage over current consoles, and they certainly won't over the next gen of consoles.

3: The controller is an infinitely better control setup for gaming over the mouse and keyboard, with the exception of RTS, MMO and certain select games. While the mouse still controls better for precise aiming, the joystick serves that purpose just fine and has the advantage of being infinitely better for movement controls than the keyboard.

4: The more you plan to play multiplayer, the more appealing the consoles become. PCs basically have ZERO in-house playability, and only increase and spread costs of PC gaming to multiple people, while with 1 console 4 people can play multiplayer together; it only takes 4 consoles for 16 to play together. With few exceptions, the console community also tends to stick a bit more with games too; its easier to find matches for console games for longer than it is on PC, unless you REALLY, REALLY like playing a particular way.

5: Portability. Consoles are easy to transport, work basically anywhere there is a TV and power, and don't take up as much room. Good gaming PCs are often HUGE, and often way A FUCKING TON, in addition to having multiple parts that must be transported.

6: Player-generated content is one of the few advantages PCs really have, and its not even that great an advantage. Because when you think about it honestly, 97% of all user content is shit or smut, 2% is decent and only really 1% is truly good worth saying "Yeah, this was worth it".

7: What sounds more appealing, in all seriousness?

Pay $300-$500 for a system that is guaranteed to play any game that comes out for it for the next 5 years, is easily portable, has an extremely simple set-up and plays games at very good level of performance, OR pay anywhere from $1000 to $2500 for a system that may only be relevant for 3 years before needing new parts to play the latest games, isn't portable or sharable, can have an extremely complicated set-up, but can play games at a higher level of performance.
1: MMOs are pretty much PC exclusive, RTS games, and most console games come out on PC. Making your argument completely false. Not to mention the amount of free indie games out there for PC.

2: Not true at all. If I dropped my graphics settings down to DX9 and at the same level that consoles run, I'd get 100+ more FPS than consoles. Guaranteed. You aren't even close to being knowledgeable about this.

3: I use a controller with my PC all the time. Xbox or PS3, you can use them both. Another useless point.

4: PCs have way more dedicated gaming servers. That's a win right there. Plus you can have multiple people playing one game on a PC if you have multiple monitors.

5: Gaming laptops are more powerful than current gen consoles, and more portable. Plus you can build a decent desktop in a relatively small case.

6: You're a console gamer. You don't have a clue about user created content. I can think of 50 great mods in Oblivion alone.


7: Seriously, what sounds better now?
Consoles:

They still get more exclusives than PCs.

I've been gaming with a 2005 HP BEAST and it can barely run Saints row 2 on low graphics. YOU ship out $300 for my upgrades.

Third Person... anything never translates well to PC (I know I play saints row 2 on a PC, that doesn't make it a good third person shooter, I'm just cheap)

Many people don't care about mods (Anyone remember that school shooting mod still?)

PC gamers tend to be elitists and unpleasant people, met far too many I'd rather trap them in a room.

Consoles are more fun.

Remember that? FUN? no? guess not.

I'm even willing to admit that cursor aiming is better than bloody stick aiming for shooters (not that I play that many shooters) but the Wii has fixed that for me, so why bother?
Consoles do not get more exclusives than PCs, that's just flat out wrong. PCs have 20x the amount of games consoles do.

You bought an HP...it's like buying a bootleg xbox and then blaming microsoft. Plus $300 for an upgrade is the same cost as an xbox. You could have bought the upgrades and had a better gaming experience.

All mmos are third person. GTA, torchlight, etc. They translate exactly the same as they do on console. I don't know why you say they don't.

Many people do care about mods. Just because you don't doesn't mean not very many people do. Also the fact that you named the school shooting mod kinda shows you only read articles about PC gaming instead of actually doing it.

And if you can't play games on your 2005 hp I have hard time believing you've spent enough time gaming to get a grasp on the pc gamer attitude. I've never heard of someone who was in an mmo guild who said that PC gamers were elitist. The only people who say that are console gamers who can't think of a better way to defend their system.
 

Sabiancym

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-Samurai- said:
Sabiancym said:
Feature wise, is there anything a console can do that a PC cannot? I can not think of a single thing.
Motion controls, if you're in to that sort of thing. Some of it is actually fun.
Kinect and Wii remotes work with PCs. Plus there are other third party devices that do motion control that are only on PCs. Like flight simulator head trackers.
 

teebeeohh

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sry but i don't get the controller argument. for most games you can just use i controller if you like and the kicker is that you can usually even customize the buttons if case the designers had a severe case of brain hemorrhage when they decided on what to put on which button.
also are you so terribly busy you can't take 60 seconds to look over the controls on a pc game? they are almost always the same WASD for moving E,F,Q,SPACE for using/sprinting jumping punching, 1-0 for weapons/inventory.

and unless graphics are super important to you you can just buy a top of the line PC(which is not as expansive as you might think) every 5 years and will be fine.
 

KingofallCosmos

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I just hate pc is all.

Also, I like consoles.

Edit: gotta add something though. If you ask me why I buy a console it's because I want to play games. You say it's not an elitist question, but it is, since you seem to think everyone has a pc. From your view it would be a question, for console owners you're just acting an pc elitist.
 

Omega Pirate

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The main reason for me being a Console gamer is the convenience. I don't have to worry about drivers/graphic cards/RAM/etc. I enjoy actually playing my games, instead of spending inordinate amounts of time tinkering with my computer.

I also like using a controller and the console exclusives are another factor. Now I do play an occasional computer game, but owning a Mac has limited my choices. But that is a matter for another thread.
 

PettingZOOPONY

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Sabiancym said:
-Samurai- said:
Sabiancym said:
Feature wise, is there anything a console can do that a PC cannot? I can not think of a single thing.
Motion controls, if you're in to that sort of thing. Some of it is actually fun.
Kinect and Wii remotes work with PCs. Plus there are other third party devices that do motion control that are only on PCs. Like flight simulator head trackers.
These to
http://www.ocztechnology.com/nia-game-controller.html