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Console Pros:
It's portable. Yes, laptops exist but they typically suck for gaming and the ones that don't are heavy, require you to sit next to a power outlet like a console does, and the price/performance ratio there is way out of whack. If you can afford that stuff, great. Many don't. Moving desktops around sucks even with smaller MiniATX cases. People that come to your house often don't need to bring their consoles at all. They just bring a controller or use your extra controller and boom, you can all play. You go to a party where people are gaming. Chances are the gaming device if there is any, is a console, not an entire row of PCs.
Less hassle. Buy a console, open box, plug it in, it now works. Games will always run on the console relatively well with relatively smooth framerates.
No need to even think about system requirements or troubleshoot any sort of error PCs might possibly have or run into. (Note: With the new consoles becoming more like PCs, with install times and OS glitches, this might not hold true forever.)
If a console fails, you can just send it to the manufacturer and not have to think about it.
You don't need to know how to get a cheap, strong performing PC. Because if you randomly buy one from Alienware, you just got ripped off. But this point isn't legitimate because you can shop around or ask a friend.
If you're a racing game junkie, console controller seems more intuitive than arrow keys. (Can you use a mouse? I dunno.) If you want the best experience on PC you need to buy a special accessory for that or use a controller. Although it could be argued that the ultimate racing experience is on PC if you are willing to pay for all the racing specific hardware. Sure, you can hook up a controller to a PC but you need to have the controller else you are paying more for a game. What casual race-game player wants to buy a controller for a game? The hardcore people already have their entire rig tricked out for racing. The normal people are left buying a controller. All of my friends have a PC for gaming but they don't own a console, so they have no controller to use.
Some people grew up gaming on a console, looking at a TV sitting on a couch, leaning back. It's cumbersome to do that with a PC hooked up to a TV.
Some people genuinely don't care or can hardly see a graphical difference between a maxed out PC and a console. To me it's ridiculous but it's their eyes and their life. If they don't like it, that's a pro for consoles. These type of bonuses for console, general convenience and less thinking required, is great for a casual gamer. What type of casual gamer wants to research computer parts?
Console multiplayer games tend to have less hackers.
With PCs the extra choice given becomes a psychological burden. Do I upgrade or not? I want to know! Was my purchase a mistake? Should I have waited? All the choices leave us unsatisfied with our purchase because we feel that we didn't make the best possible decision. While it sounds like a funny, dodgy argument, I've seen this kind of problem crop up in many aspects of life. The irony is, having more choice was supposed to make us all leave with what we want, but a lot of the times it leaves us less satisfied with our choice.
Some PC games are badly ported console games. When was the last time you heard of a 'bad pc port' on a console?
PC Gaming Pros:
The mouse is a superior interface for FPS games if you are accustomed to it.
You can hook up a controller to the PC if you want.
If you're into streaming and all that, a PC is best.
The keyboard allows for more macros.
Steam sales are often very cheap. Origin had their Humble Bundle sale which sold like 12 games for $8 including Battlefield 3. Of course, the sale is so cheap partially because the game is old now. But that option is there if you want it. It's also a good way to check out games you otherwise wouldn't try at full price and discover new genres you end up enjoying. Let's be honest: In general, PC games are either same price to the console counterpart or cheaper. PC games on Steam often do not require tax. Unless you live in some other country. Hell, many games nowadays on PC are FREE TO PLAY. At any given time there are very cheap games on sale on Steam and in my mind the value of all these combined outweighs the benefits of being able to sell a used game.
Steam is making installing and updating a game easier than ever before.
You have the option to buy a game or OS (ARRR! Matey be getting booteh!)
PC lan parties do not require people to share a splitscreen. That seriously blows.
PCs are unique to the builder if you build PCs. That's not a big point, just getting it out there. You can make it look cool, make it your own, make it badass.
If you are interested in building PCs or computers in the first place, this is right up your alley. You could learn new things if you are new. If you primarily use consoles and your computer blows up on the midnight where you have to turn in an assignment, you're screwed. However, if you're not interested in building a PC, Cyberpower has you covered (provided you live in USA). Their PCs are just about as cheap as if you built it. Granted you get less options but a person that didn't care to build the PC themself in the first place probably won't care if they don't have their favorite CPU heatsink installed, they just want things to work.
A robust PC is good for tasks that are not gaming related. (For me this is HUGE although I know for many people it's not as important.)
You get the option to upgrade if you so choose. Just because new PC parts come out yearly doesn't mean you are obligated to buy it.
You get the option to spend more than a console's worth in pricing on your PC or the same. If you spend the same, you can build a PC with the same playability/graphics setting if not better. Most likely better. If you spend more, you get quality that smacks consoles across the face. BF4 is 720p on Xbox One. That's embarrassing. Same thing for the actual display device; personally I much prefer a 1440p IPS panel to a large TV. The color quality is much better. Or, you can use the TV if you're that TV inclined. Of course that means the PC must be in the vicinity of the TV. It's not PC's fault you have an itch to turn all graphical settings to ultra because the option exists. If a PC can match a console's graphical fidelity and framrate given the same price, it's a tie with an advantage to PCs for even having the options to change graphical settings.
Building on top of the last point, not all people care about each individual graphical setting. If you decide you don't care about AA you can turn that off and take the frame rate increase for free or use it towards some other setting. Tinkers and tweakers love this.
If your PC is not from the Ice Age, let's face it: Loading times in games for consoles SUCK. Going to a new room has been reported to take 30-60 seconds on Skyrim. That would drive me insane. On an old mechanical hard drive that's 15-20 seconds at most. Yet you have the option to go for SSD and take that loading time down to 0-8 seconds.
Some games have a large modding community only available on PCs. Skyrim is a perfect example. With graphical mods, gameplay mods, new free content made by players, you can never finish all the mods, it's just a fact. Even in non-mod-oriented games, there are player-made fixes to game issues and trainers to allow for cheats that otherwise cannot be used in a game.
If a part fails on a PC, you can simply replace the part if you have the computer chops to diagnose issues. If not, get a friend who knows computers. You HAVE friends, right?
You don't have to pay extra for playing online games as long as you already had an internet connection. Since a large majority of gamers here have internet connections, you don't have to pay extra to game like Xbox Live.
Both ways of gaming has exclusive titles. For example, PC Gaming has Counterstrike. Xbox One will have Halo 5 billion. But only PCs have Indie Games. Indie games are games made by small developers and are numerous and often have very novel gameplay. MMORPGS are often primarily PC based or PC exclusive. WoW, Mabinogi, and extremely popular games like LoL are PC only. With the MMORPG and Indie scene you can easily say there are more PC exclusives than anything else. But on top of that you can emulate old games from NES and the likes. On top of that, MMORPGs offer much longer game life.
Buying a game is typically an easier process, as all you have to do is download and get access automatically. You also have options away from Steam and look for DRM-free solutions. Because going to a video game store physically is so 2001.
I get it. Not everybody likes PC hardware, some people actually just want to play their goddamned games for once. But at the same time, for a lot of people, the computer hobby started from the wish to get a better gaming experience. We started picking out parts as a means to an end and then eventually realized we like the journey too.
Parts of it also depends on what your friends use. If all your friends play online on Xbox Live, being the one guy on PC is lonely.
Parts of it also depends on what you currently have. If all your games are already on consoles, for example, and you are happy with it, it's a big hassle to switch platforms. What are you going to do with your console if you start using PC? Sell it?
You might be able to lend your friend a game for console but you can now do that on Steam.
PC gaming typically is best with a monitor, and if you have a laptop and no desktop it's possible you actually don't own a monitor.
It's portable. Yes, laptops exist but they typically suck for gaming and the ones that don't are heavy, require you to sit next to a power outlet like a console does, and the price/performance ratio there is way out of whack. If you can afford that stuff, great. Many don't. Moving desktops around sucks even with smaller MiniATX cases. People that come to your house often don't need to bring their consoles at all. They just bring a controller or use your extra controller and boom, you can all play. You go to a party where people are gaming. Chances are the gaming device if there is any, is a console, not an entire row of PCs.
Less hassle. Buy a console, open box, plug it in, it now works. Games will always run on the console relatively well with relatively smooth framerates.
No need to even think about system requirements or troubleshoot any sort of error PCs might possibly have or run into. (Note: With the new consoles becoming more like PCs, with install times and OS glitches, this might not hold true forever.)
If a console fails, you can just send it to the manufacturer and not have to think about it.
You don't need to know how to get a cheap, strong performing PC. Because if you randomly buy one from Alienware, you just got ripped off. But this point isn't legitimate because you can shop around or ask a friend.
If you're a racing game junkie, console controller seems more intuitive than arrow keys. (Can you use a mouse? I dunno.) If you want the best experience on PC you need to buy a special accessory for that or use a controller. Although it could be argued that the ultimate racing experience is on PC if you are willing to pay for all the racing specific hardware. Sure, you can hook up a controller to a PC but you need to have the controller else you are paying more for a game. What casual race-game player wants to buy a controller for a game? The hardcore people already have their entire rig tricked out for racing. The normal people are left buying a controller. All of my friends have a PC for gaming but they don't own a console, so they have no controller to use.
Some people grew up gaming on a console, looking at a TV sitting on a couch, leaning back. It's cumbersome to do that with a PC hooked up to a TV.
Some people genuinely don't care or can hardly see a graphical difference between a maxed out PC and a console. To me it's ridiculous but it's their eyes and their life. If they don't like it, that's a pro for consoles. These type of bonuses for console, general convenience and less thinking required, is great for a casual gamer. What type of casual gamer wants to research computer parts?
Console multiplayer games tend to have less hackers.
With PCs the extra choice given becomes a psychological burden. Do I upgrade or not? I want to know! Was my purchase a mistake? Should I have waited? All the choices leave us unsatisfied with our purchase because we feel that we didn't make the best possible decision. While it sounds like a funny, dodgy argument, I've seen this kind of problem crop up in many aspects of life. The irony is, having more choice was supposed to make us all leave with what we want, but a lot of the times it leaves us less satisfied with our choice.
Some PC games are badly ported console games. When was the last time you heard of a 'bad pc port' on a console?
PC Gaming Pros:
The mouse is a superior interface for FPS games if you are accustomed to it.
You can hook up a controller to the PC if you want.
If you're into streaming and all that, a PC is best.
The keyboard allows for more macros.
Steam sales are often very cheap. Origin had their Humble Bundle sale which sold like 12 games for $8 including Battlefield 3. Of course, the sale is so cheap partially because the game is old now. But that option is there if you want it. It's also a good way to check out games you otherwise wouldn't try at full price and discover new genres you end up enjoying. Let's be honest: In general, PC games are either same price to the console counterpart or cheaper. PC games on Steam often do not require tax. Unless you live in some other country. Hell, many games nowadays on PC are FREE TO PLAY. At any given time there are very cheap games on sale on Steam and in my mind the value of all these combined outweighs the benefits of being able to sell a used game.
Steam is making installing and updating a game easier than ever before.
You have the option to buy a game or OS (ARRR! Matey be getting booteh!)
PC lan parties do not require people to share a splitscreen. That seriously blows.
PCs are unique to the builder if you build PCs. That's not a big point, just getting it out there. You can make it look cool, make it your own, make it badass.
If you are interested in building PCs or computers in the first place, this is right up your alley. You could learn new things if you are new. If you primarily use consoles and your computer blows up on the midnight where you have to turn in an assignment, you're screwed. However, if you're not interested in building a PC, Cyberpower has you covered (provided you live in USA). Their PCs are just about as cheap as if you built it. Granted you get less options but a person that didn't care to build the PC themself in the first place probably won't care if they don't have their favorite CPU heatsink installed, they just want things to work.
A robust PC is good for tasks that are not gaming related. (For me this is HUGE although I know for many people it's not as important.)
You get the option to upgrade if you so choose. Just because new PC parts come out yearly doesn't mean you are obligated to buy it.
You get the option to spend more than a console's worth in pricing on your PC or the same. If you spend the same, you can build a PC with the same playability/graphics setting if not better. Most likely better. If you spend more, you get quality that smacks consoles across the face. BF4 is 720p on Xbox One. That's embarrassing. Same thing for the actual display device; personally I much prefer a 1440p IPS panel to a large TV. The color quality is much better. Or, you can use the TV if you're that TV inclined. Of course that means the PC must be in the vicinity of the TV. It's not PC's fault you have an itch to turn all graphical settings to ultra because the option exists. If a PC can match a console's graphical fidelity and framrate given the same price, it's a tie with an advantage to PCs for even having the options to change graphical settings.
Building on top of the last point, not all people care about each individual graphical setting. If you decide you don't care about AA you can turn that off and take the frame rate increase for free or use it towards some other setting. Tinkers and tweakers love this.
If your PC is not from the Ice Age, let's face it: Loading times in games for consoles SUCK. Going to a new room has been reported to take 30-60 seconds on Skyrim. That would drive me insane. On an old mechanical hard drive that's 15-20 seconds at most. Yet you have the option to go for SSD and take that loading time down to 0-8 seconds.
Some games have a large modding community only available on PCs. Skyrim is a perfect example. With graphical mods, gameplay mods, new free content made by players, you can never finish all the mods, it's just a fact. Even in non-mod-oriented games, there are player-made fixes to game issues and trainers to allow for cheats that otherwise cannot be used in a game.
If a part fails on a PC, you can simply replace the part if you have the computer chops to diagnose issues. If not, get a friend who knows computers. You HAVE friends, right?
You don't have to pay extra for playing online games as long as you already had an internet connection. Since a large majority of gamers here have internet connections, you don't have to pay extra to game like Xbox Live.
Both ways of gaming has exclusive titles. For example, PC Gaming has Counterstrike. Xbox One will have Halo 5 billion. But only PCs have Indie Games. Indie games are games made by small developers and are numerous and often have very novel gameplay. MMORPGS are often primarily PC based or PC exclusive. WoW, Mabinogi, and extremely popular games like LoL are PC only. With the MMORPG and Indie scene you can easily say there are more PC exclusives than anything else. But on top of that you can emulate old games from NES and the likes. On top of that, MMORPGs offer much longer game life.
Buying a game is typically an easier process, as all you have to do is download and get access automatically. You also have options away from Steam and look for DRM-free solutions. Because going to a video game store physically is so 2001.
I get it. Not everybody likes PC hardware, some people actually just want to play their goddamned games for once. But at the same time, for a lot of people, the computer hobby started from the wish to get a better gaming experience. We started picking out parts as a means to an end and then eventually realized we like the journey too.
Parts of it also depends on what your friends use. If all your friends play online on Xbox Live, being the one guy on PC is lonely.
Parts of it also depends on what you currently have. If all your games are already on consoles, for example, and you are happy with it, it's a big hassle to switch platforms. What are you going to do with your console if you start using PC? Sell it?
You might be able to lend your friend a game for console but you can now do that on Steam.
PC gaming typically is best with a monitor, and if you have a laptop and no desktop it's possible you actually don't own a monitor.
Last edited by Dark_wizzie on Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:57 am; edited 7 times in total
