PC vs Console: An equal view

Ever since the Internet (and possibly before) graced the Earth, there has always been a large, opinionated and often heated debate over what is better. PC or consoles.

Now, as a youth, I was heavily invested into games consoles, such as the Nintendo 64 and the PS2. I then found my feet with PC gaming, but it was nothing serious. Usually consisting of large stints on strategy games. However, after getting rid of my Xbox 360 around 2 years ago, I made a foray into PC gaming. This was largely an experiment

[Incipio]

Honestly, there's a certain magical feeling that is missing from modern console gaming.

With the growth of the industry and giant publishers ruling our gaming world, it seems that in most places you look, the soul of our beloved hobby has matured but in a sort of unsettling way.

There was something fundamentally different and more wondrous about playing some super smash bros back on N64, or Kirby on my grey gameboy fat. It was more fulfilling.

Part of me wonders, though, if it's just because I've aged considerably or if it really is something fundamentally changed in the industry.

Can't quite put my finger on it, although I do know I feel different. That's about all I know for sure.

As far as PC gaming goes...it kinda feels the same to me. There's bigger players and better game distribution and better operating systems/hardware, but the spirit of PC gaming feels the same to me.

Ultimately, over time, I've stuck with and always returned to PC gaming.

[QuodEratDemonstrandm]

At first, when the company's founded, the founder has a vision and a passion for the product the company produces.
Then the founder retires (or dies) and the company is taken over by green eyed monsters. It's not about the vision anymore, it's about the money.
Kotick didn't build Activision with his own two hands. And look at what's happened to MS after Gates left, or WalMart after Sam Walton died.

Addendum: Nothing personal against Activision, they have put out some good games, just citing an example.

[h311rais3r]

Pc games have more advantages than consoles because they are open source (modding, higher resolution, higher framerate, faster loading, cheaper games, major discounts, far more exclusives, etc) but consoles are easier.

[darkride66]

And their fair share of disadvantages as well. All PC's aren't created equal. What runs fine on one setup may not work that way on another. Saying all PC games look better than console games simply isn't true. It depends on your PC In fact, all the things you mentioned with the exception of pricing depends on the PC you've managed to buy or put together.

Then there's the upkeep. I spend two days last week diagnosing a hardware problem that ended up being a driver problem that ended up ultimately in the need for a full reformat and reinstall. And over the years I've had dozens of problems with my PC from videocards frying to bad ram, bad drives, dead power supply - you name it. Not to mention all the setup and driver juggling that's usually required. At one point I remember needed a specific program that would manage driver portfolios because the lastest video drivers wouldn't work for one game because something or other wasn't supported so I had to swap the drivers every single time I wanted to play.

If you have the time to put into building and maintaining a PC rig, more power to you. I'm lucky these days if I have half and hour to an hour to play at one sitting. I'll be damned if I'm spending any of that gaming time fiddling with settings so my game runs smoothly or fighting with some other PC problem. And that's not even getting into the costs involved. PC gaming just isn't for everyone.

[SCARE-KRO]

This is exactly why I got out of PC gaming. I started my life as a PC gamer - Commodore 64, then onto the Amiga 500, followed by PC but then slowly got sucked into console gaming with the PS1, PS2 and finally at the present moment, dropped PC gaming altogether and I do all of my gaming on the PS3 (with the occasional nostalgic PC gaming.)

I am looking at buying a new PC (one I have currently is about 8 years old) and getting back into some PC gaming - but I really can't see myself shifting back completely to PC. Don't get me wrong - I love PC's but I just prefer the ease of consoles and the social aspect of them (playing with mates on the couch).

[Persistantthug]

In my opinion, the games are better on consoles.....
I prefer the AAA budget games, and those AAA budget exclusives are better than the ones on the PC. And actually, there aren't really that many AAA budget exclusives on the PC.

That's just my own personal feeling.

[starchild]

Well the vast majority of big budget games are multiplats--from Max Payne 3 to Assassin's Creed 3--and those games are superior on the PC in quantifiable ways.

Exclusives are now almost completely relegated to 1st party games from the platform holders, and are relatively few and far between.

Sure, I'm looking forward to The Last of Us for my PS3 and Halo 4 for my 360, but generally speaking most of the games I am excited about are going to be showing up on the PC.

[taquito]

thats like dodge viper vs shopping cart

[BaconBits]

I have switched to pc gaming for such games as BF3 but I am sure I will return to consoles when the next gen comes out. I still play BF3 with a controller for movement and mouse for aiming and now I find it hard to go back to just controller. The cost of PC gaming hardware is just too much since I spent $1400 on a mid/high end rig which is really too much compared to consoles but the allure of the higher rez and larger servers was just too much of a temptation.

[rulakir]

PC's may have better frame rate, resolution, mods(I can care less about mods), but consoles undeniably have the better games and I like playing using a controller over a mouse and keyboard.

[LAWSON72]

Most PC games support a controller

[Incipio]

*Plays Fifa 12 on my PC with Xbox 360 controller*

Oh, and:
Dirt 2
Dirt 3
Batman Arkham City
Red Faction
Super Meat Boy
Many, many others...

-------------------
Console exclusives are nice, but there's too few to justify only owning consoles. Definitely need a gaming rig to have the better experience when it comes to multiplats. Plus, it's not nearly as expensive as many would like to claim.

[Wintersun616]

I pretty much grew up with Playstation and love a lot of their exclusive franchises. I can't just go PC gaming only because I want to keep enjoying those PS exclusives. I know that PC gaming is superior in a lot of ways but most of the time I prefer a console.

[BitbyDeath]

Consoles are better because they are more popular (for gaming) which is why they receive more dev attention. (Real devs not Zynga and other small quickbuck companies)

It's a vicious circle, you want a large variety of AAA games you gotta go to consoles.

[sriki007]

you can always hook up a gamepad to your pc instead of bitching..

[DestinyHeroDoomlord]

Consoles and pc's are going nowhere slowly.

[AnimeAvenger]

People shouldn't be so quick to say consoles are superior to PC''s unless you have actually game'd on both for a considerable amount of time.

My friends who game on consoles decided not to switch to PC gaming because of the following reasons:
1. They hate the idea of playing games with a mouse and keyboard. This is a common misconception as PC supports gamepads.

2. They don't want to go through the trouble of making a good pc to run a majority of the games or spend a lot of money on a premade PC. And without the worry of upgrading the pc and all that stuff. Buying a console without the worry to upgrade and overall just simpler than a PC.

[glennco]

yes PC supports gamepads but you don't want to compete against mouse and keyboard with a gamepad. gamepad vs. gamepad OR m+k vs m+k. they don't mix well.. this is why i have a problem with k+m adapters for console, it just ruins everything

i like my couch. gamepads are better than k+m if you like to lay back on the couch and perfectly fine if you are competing against other gamepad players

we are lucky to have this many options