Why PC gamers should love (or at least not hate) consoles

[Giantpanda602]

The other day, I was debating PC vs. consoles with my friend. Being the neutral bastard that I am, I agreed that PC games were generally of better quality than their console counterpart. Still, I had to defend the consoles. I've been a console gamer my entire life (besides WoW for around 4 years). Looking back, I see a pattern in consoles that should make PC gamers happy. Its mainly this, consoles are becoming PC's. Slowly, we are seeing the push for more features on the consoles that only the PC previously had. If, all of a sudden, consoles stopped being made, then you would see a huge drop in the amount of gamers around the world. As consoles get more and more amazing tech, more people learn how to deal with everything the PC has to offer while it still is in a controlled setting.

Basically, the consoles are evolving into PC's. I predict that after the next console cycle, which will might end around 2018, everybody who can afford a good PC will have one. Everybody will know how to use it to its full potential, everybody will be happy.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

I'm primarily a console gamer but I can still see why PC gamers have this elitism, to adjust to a controller and a closed environment, console games normally have a bunch of features ripped out, and since there is so much money in them this means that PC games fall in danger of taking a backseat during development.

However, good developers are better than this.

Also there is no way that everyone will ever be happy.

 

[Leole]

I love PC games, and they are usually better. Usually.

Then again, there are games that were made for a console, just for the sake of the gamepad.

I couldn't imagine playing GOW3 or Infamous on the PC (No particular reason why I mentioned 2 PS3 exclusives, I just happen to like them very much)

Consoles are becoming PCs with a weird OS and strict hardware range. It's only a matter of time until they (PCs and Consoles) merge into the ultimate Gaming Console.

 

[Vault101]

I dont hate consoles, and I recognise thats where things are at..all I can hope for is a PC release

I have thourght of getting a console..but Im not sure its worth it right now...especially since I dont have as much time for gaming and too many games to play

 

[Inkidu]

We must interbreed them!

The ease and idiot-proofing of consoles, the power and performance of a PC. All plugged into a controller with rumble!

Though if I had to give the edge to one, I'd give it to consoles. Keyboards and mice are lame when rumble gets into it. Who would have ever thought that rumble would be such a hit?

 

[devotedsniper]

I was a console gamer till i turned 17 (now 20) and while the ps1, n64, ps2, xbox and xbox 360 gave me alot of great fun, i now actually hate the 360 and ps3, i go to play games that are on all platforms and find them absolutly terrible in more ways than one, my first pet hate is that performance tends to suffer from console ports (e.g. Saints Row 2, great game but when it came to running on my at the time high spec machine it was terrible when it came to driving, and they never patched it even though they knew about the problem), and my second pet hate is making the game cater for a wider audience, while catering for a wide audience is fine (come on they gotta make cash somehow) it usually results in poorer gameplay for those more experienced in gaming really.

In all honesty if developers were to cater abit more to the pc when it came to games which release on all platforms then there would be less of an issue but untill that day ports will always have performance issues on computers (not saying all ports are bad but some are terrible, mainly when the developers hire a third party company to do the port, *looks over at Saints Row 2 again*), they should all (dare i say it) use the pc version of fable 3 as an example of a good port, which works well and flawlessly on pc (on mine at least), it might not be the best game but it certainly is the best pc port i've come across, the only issue with this example is it took them so long to release so they'd have to be released at the same time but otherwise they should take that game as an example.

 

[Jazoni89]

I'm mainly a console gamer, because I grew up with them (the only PC games i ever played when i was younger was age of empires 2, and worms world party, with a little Dawn of war when I was a teen).

However i do like the odd PC game now and again, for example, I'm playing through vampire the masquerade bloodlines at the moment (brilliant game).

 

[New Troll]

I am a gamer. Why would I ever wish to limit my source of entertainment? Give me a cellphone with BreakOut on it and I will play the heck out of it. What do I game on more? Depends largely on my mood and my company, but probably PC.

 

[BreakfastMan]

I never understood the extreme PC fan-boy mentality of "ALL CONSOLES SUCK AND ARE RUINING GAMING FOREVER!!1!". It honestly makes no sense. Of course, I never understand extreme fan-boy mentality in general either, so what the hey... Why you would limit yourself to only one brand/type of game player beyond the obvious financial benefits and then proceed to hate on those who made a different choice than you, I will never know.

 

[Erana]

We must interbreed them!

So, put a Windows OS on a supercomputing system powered by PS3s?
I'll have to make it half hackintosh, too.

(Oh GOD, as soon as I posted this, there was an add for "MacKeeper" software at the top of the page. Ad agencies are such creepers)

 

[Geno DCLXVI]

Basically, the consoles are evolving into PC's. I predict that after the next console cycle, which will might end around 2018, everybody who can afford a good PC will have one. Everybody will know how to use it to its full potential, everybody will be happy.

I always thought that PCs evolved into consoles by the time people figured out how to plug a controller into a PC.

I was more of a console gamer early in my life, I had a Famicom and a Mega Drive (NES and Genesis to you Americans) and I spent many fun hours of my youth playing them. I also played a lot of DOS games on an old PC, the original Doom and Prince of Persia and many more. But it was StarCraft that clinched the PC's hold on me. But, I digress.

Nowadays I personally don't like consoles because of the necessity of a TV to play them on, which is why I game on my laptop and PSP. Plus, Microsoft and Sony apparently feel that the Philippines isn't important enough to have access to PSN and Xbox Live.

So it's still PC for me, but consoles would be a good side dish if proper support was given to them where I'm from.

 

[Jodah]

So you are saying we should love consoles because they are supposedly bringing the slovenly masses up to the level of the PC Gaming Master Race? Please, such a concept is idiotic at best, and frankly I find it offensive. Now get down on all fours and kiss the feet of your betters.




Okay, now that the joke is out of the way and I probably enraged a few people that have zero sense of humor, my true post:

I don't hate consoles, hell my PS3 is only behind my PC in amount of use because of RTS games. I hate games that get neutered because a controller cannot handle the complexities of certain things. Lets be honest here, a keyboard + mouse allows for a lot more freedom than a controller. There simply are not enough buttons on a controller to do everything.

 

[shrekfan246]

I think all of the systems have their own unique offerings, and I don't see why we, as humans, need to feel superior to people simply because they didn't spend a small fortune on a PC with the latest Intel i7 processor and two nVidia Geforce cards. Sure, the PC is the powerhouse on the market. Sure, consoles have simpler controls. But I think it should all be about preference. I really don't understand how The Witcher 2 being released for the Xbox 360 AFTER it has already been released for the PC will suddenly cause the quality of the PC version to plummet.

I think "Why (platform A) should love (platform B)" works both ways though. After all, I think some genres just work better depending on the platform. As an example:

I have a friend who will not touch FPS' on his PS3, and he probably would have never even heard of Portal and Portal 2 were it not for me telling him to get them on his PC, and he loves them. He got 'into' PC gaming because of me mostly, he's always been a Sony fanboy (Owning the first generation Playstation, the PS1, first generation PS2, PSP, and PS3), but just because he's started looking at games for his computer doesn't mean he's instantly going to shun his console. He simply feels that controls in a FPS are much more responsive and easier to use with a keyboard and mouse.
To be fair, Portal isn't exactly a typical FPS and he still really doesn't want to look at games like CoD or Half-Life 2, but the example should still stand.

 

[Easton Dark]

Keyboards and mice are lame when rumble gets into it. Who would have ever thought that rumble would be such a hit?

Rumble's a hit?

Must have missed the memo.

 

[Vonnis]

I don't hate consoles, I hate the developers that do a piss poor job of porting the games to pc. I do think consoles are largely responsible for removing every trace of testicle from the FPS genre though.

 

[Waaghpowa]

If consoles are going to be more like pc's then why bother. Just buy a pc.

This is partly the reason why I think modern consoles are getting silly. Supposedly the next generation will have Keyboard/mouse support. Basically consoles are going to become game devoted Mac's with less versatility. By that I mean that they'll be heavily restricted and streamlined. Consoles will be around for a while for a few reasons: market towards the computer illiterate, the lazy, the non gamer or for the sake of convenience and simplicity.

Please note: In no way am I attempting to insult console gamers.