Gaming Platform of Choice - Console

An anonymous reader writes "Sick of PC snobs bragging about their "superior" gaming rigs? This opinion piece (a rebuttal lobbed at a previous article taking the opposite stance) presents the other side of the eternal debate over gaming preference — consoles vs. PCs. Get 10 good reasons why consoles are a better way to game with your hard-earned dollars. "

Comments

Meat and Potatoes

[Anonymous Coward]

Here are 10 reasons why console gaming rules the school.

1. It's cheaper. Don't let a PC gamer delude you into thinking that console gaming is more expensive--it's just not true. Console manufacturers take a loss on every machine sold and make up the difference in software sales. When you buy a console, you're getting the machine for cheaper than it costs them to make it. Not so with a gaming PC. You're paying a premium. Sure, some console games might retail for $10 higher than the PC equivalent, but budget-minded shoppers need only wait for a markdown to score some sweet deals.

2. Every game is guaranteed to work. Ever try to convince that pimply-faced teenager at the game store that your computer won't run that hot new game you bought yesterday? He doesn't care. "Read the friggin' box," is what he'll say. "No returns on opened PC games." This won't happen in the console realm. If you own "system X" every game made for it will perform the same way. Guaranteed.

3. You needn't tweak, optimize, or otherwise fiddle with a console game to make it look good. Don't believe the screenshots on the back of a PC game box. Unless your machine resembles the WOPR from War Games, you probably don't have enough juice to run it with all the settings turned up to 11. On a console game, you might have the option to adjust brightness or resolution (Xbox 360) but otherwise you get exactly what was advertised.

4. Lots of console exclusives to choose from. Pick your poison. Whether you're hot for Mario, Kratos, or Ryu Hayabusa, you'll find their newest releases on consoles. Sure, the PC has some exclusive titles, but sooner or later they'll find their way onto your living room television since that's where the money is at.

5. Xbox Live. Aside from Battlefield 2, I can't think of any online game that's currently better on PC (get to work, DICE). Yes, many PC games let you play online multiplayer for free, but the experience is varied (and in some cases, atrocious). With a standardized online service like Xbox Live, all of your online bouts have a unified matchmaking system, friends list features, voice over IP chat, and more, and it all works regardless of what game you're playing. Hell, you could be watching a movie and your pal playing a game and you can send game and chat invites. When's the last time a PC game let you do that?

6. Backwards compatibility. When I upgraded from Windows 98 SE to WinXP, I lost the ability to play some of my favorite classic games. Sure, there are workarounds for some of them, but others I can only play on my pre-Y2K rig. Sony's handled backwards compatibility quite well with their consoles, even making it hard for the competition to match. And you don't have to futz with configuration files to get them to work.

7. Virus, adware, and spyware free. No porn, no viruses. 'Nuff said.

8. Games look better in high-def...from the couch. Yes, yes. We all know your $400 video card can output higher resolution than my equally expensive console. But PC gaming is uncomfortable and hardly a social experience (with people in the same room). If you sit at a desk all day in front of a computer, why on earth would you try to relax at home in front of one? What better way to unwind with the boys than to kick back on the sofa with a few cold ones, controllers in hand? I can think of none other (that don't involve dollar bills and copious amounts of regret).

9. Controllers are more comfortable than gaming with a keyboard and mouse. Why is it that every PC game developer insists on assigning every damn key a different job? If they didn't pack in a map to which button does what, you'd never remember all the control options. Yes, keyboard and mouse are great for first person shooters and real time strategy games, but that doesn't make it any more comfortable. Hand me a wireless controller and give my carpal tunnel a rest, would ya?

10. Controller innovation. Leave it to a company like Nintendo to shake up th

Re:Meat and Potatoes

[twistedsymphony]

I'd have to disagree. When the 360 came out IGN did a poll asking if people thought the PC or 360 version of games looked better (using what was currently a bleeding edge PC), in most cases the PC version was voted as having somewhat better graphics but COD2 was one that was considered to be clearly better looking on the console. (I'd link the article but it's difficult to find now that it's months old).

Keyboard and Mouse isn't necessarily better, you can make the argument that the mouse is more accurate but are you sure you don't prefer that method simply because that's the control mechanism you learned how to play FPSs with? Personally I'll take a gamepad over a keyboard and mouse any day of the week, it's just more comfortable for me and feels more natural to me, I currently use a console like controller for all of my PC gaming because it's my preferred input device.

As for online matches "online system is everything I would ever need on the PC" is hardly an argument for why PC gaming might be BETTER. The two are fairly equivalent feature wise but I feel I find more quality matches on Xbox Live... at very least it's easier to find people of similar skill and easier to maintain that in-game relationship for future matches and games. Things like that are what make Xbox Live more then just playing games online... it's a community, much like you'll find in an MMO, but it spans across every game you play online using that console.

You're making arguments as if you don't own an Xbox 360 yourself, if you don't own one then IMO you aren't entirely qualified to make such arguments. It'd be like saying running is more enjoyable then swimming, but you've only ever read about and watched other people swim as opposed to spending some time and learning how to do it yourself before making such a claim.

Re:Meat and Potatoes

[ResidntGeek]

It's too bad the apes never evolved more intelligence, so they'd know that they have opposable thumbs too. If they had, they'd realize our intelligence is our advantage.

Terrible Arguments

[b00tleg]

I think console's offer more variety of types of games, but the reasons he listed were aweful. Backwards Compatibility is only half done on 360 and wii. Cheap! PS3 is $600, you can buy a gaming dell computer for $700. The original Xbox has only been out for 3-4 years I believe, you are still paying an extra $400 - $500 for a new console as you would a new video card. The PC is also an operating system, I'm not going to go into what a computer can do after all this is slashdot, you get your money's worth right there.

This was more of a push to get xbox live and a 360, ps3 is too expensive, the wii is interesting but until it is out I am holding my judgement, and xbox live gives you demos, well so does the internet!

I think there are a lot more developers for consoles which give you more games and more variety, but the writer wanted to make a top ten list when only 3 or 4 were valid.

Re:blah blah blah

[foniksonik]

Personally I find defecation debates over defitition debates. Not only are they not dry while still being productive... when they are carried out by monkeys in an enclosed space, they can be downright hilarious!

Re:Got tired of games crashing my computer

[plague3106]

Honestly, I don't know anyone that's had problems playing games. I haven't had a game that wouldn't 'just work' on a PC either.

Re:Got tired of games crashing my computer

[Dahamma]

I just got tired of games crashing my computer. Or segfaulting in the middle of the action.

I'd say lately I have played about 60/40% PC/console games - in fact, I can't remember the last crash on a PC game (maybe Oblivion a couple months ago?) while PGR3 on the 360 has crashed on me a few times, and NHL 2K6 was a TOTAL disaster (maybe I'll try to get about $3 for it used once EA NHL 07 comes out tomorrow...)

I'd insert the obligatory joke about the 360 just being a Windows box anyway, blah, blah, so what's the difference, but it's really not... in fact, when both games crashed I was able to get back to the Dashboard, which I was somewhat impressed with for a console. I think it was more a matter of rushing some of the 360 titles out on the developers' parts than any fault of the console HW or OS. Which IMO has been one of the main differences between PC and console stability in the past - more thorough QA process. I think the other - predictable hardware - is going to be more of a problem in the future as developers port to every console they can find, spreading the testing a bit too thin...

Re:Got tired of games crashing my computer

[hattig]

The 9700 is only 4 years old, and can't handle any modern game at decent resolutions. It can do Doom III at 640x480, if that's what you want from your PC gaming experience. Three and a half years ago I bought a 9500 (not cheap at the time either), and slowly stopped playing PC games as they got jerkier and jerkier.

However you can upgrade to around 4x the power for under $100 now. The problem is that will require a new everything, because of the damned switch from AGP to PCIe. Oh, you can get modern cards in AGP format, at a 50% premium. Argh. And you have to be sure that you don't want to upgrade your PC in the near future, which is always at the back of any geeks mind. I know that a better graphics card + more memory would keep me sorted for a couple more years, but I want that dual-core beast!

Strategy games, with their reams of text and stats, are good on high definition displays - PC monitors for the majority of us. They're probably more playable on consoles now, if you've got a HDTV, but that's a big if.

FPSs could suddenly be better on the Wii, because of the controller. However ignoring that, a mouse and keyboard are much better than a standard console controller unless you are very good with your fingers. In which case I ask why you're playing console games and aren't out there pleasuring some nubile young pretty thing?

Some of his points are good - I don't want to sit down and deal with a PC in the evening if I just want to play a game. I will get a guaranteed quality of game with the console, given a sensible choice in game.

Me? I'm too stingy to buy the latest games, I'll quite happily wait for the price to drop. That also means my PC hardware requirements are a year out of date when it comes to PC games (currently playing Chronicles of Riddick, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 and Vampire Masquerade, with Quake 4 SE in the post) which saves me more money. Exceptions: Guitar Hero, GTA:SA and GT4, on the PS2 - all games with a long life and ongoing appeal.

PCs are cheaper

[foreverdisillusioned]

I don't know why this myth is still alive. Yeah, it was true back in the day--very, VERY true when you compared a $100 Nintendo with a $2000+ lower end PC--but the price of consoles keep rising while the price of a PC has been in a freefall for years now.

Do the math. If you save the chassis/ps, monitor, hard drive (really, a 5 year old 60-80 giger is just fine for gaming--any more is necessarly only for media collection) and peripherals from your current box and pick up a good mobo+proc deal on Outpost.com or Newegg.com along with some value ram, you can easily have a modern machine for under $200, even under $150. (If you're skiddish about DIY boxes, you can troll a site like Fatwallet.com and within a month I'll guarantee you'll see a very respectable box for under $300 shipped--probably a Dell or eMachines--but for the moment let's assume you're not technophobic.)

So how much was the 360 again... with a hard drive? Oh look, that leaves you with $200 for a shiny new graphics card, which is good enough to easily play games for many years to come. No, in 3 or 4 years' time you probably won't be able to set the resolution and antialiasing features to the max without some slowdown, but you'll still kick the crap out of console graphics, if indeed graphics is your sole reason for PC gaming--me, I'm more inclined to buy a $100 graphics card. (I'm a PC gamer not for the graphics, but because the games I like--RTSes/TBSes, FPSes, non-Final Fantasy style RPGs--have very crappy/nonexistent console equivalents. Morrowind for the PC is a completely different game from Morrowind for the Xbox, and Halo isn't even remotely close to HL2 or Battlefield 1942/Vietnam/2. And yes, there was HL2 for the Xbox, but it was an utter joke.)

And hell, most of the time you won't even have to spend the $200 to upgrade your mobo/proc/ram. Mine are 3 year old and still more than enough for today's games. Moore's Law might not be dead (depends on whom you ask), but the need for exponentially faster CPUs for gaming certainly is. I wouldn't be too shocked if a mid-range system of today can run games in 2012 so long as you've got a couple gigs of ram and a video card that's only 1-2 years old.

So yeah, console gamers you keep telling yourselves that your $400 Xbox 360 and the extra $10/month you spend for the privlege of playing it over the internet (I didn't even take this into account--this is an additional $120 a year, thus rendering any price quibbing moot. An additional $500-$600 spent between console generations means a PC will *always* be cheaper.\) saves you sooooo much money. Just pardon us if us stereotypical, elitist PC gamers laugh our asses off at you and your crazy delusions.

Now, for the caveats: I'm willing to grant the Wii an exception to all this because 1) It's going to be cheap. 2) Online play will be free. 3) The Gamecube had tons of wonderful games that simply have no PC equivalent (Mario Party, Smash Bros. Melee, platformers, etc.) and I expect the same will be true of the Wii. I'm also willing to grant an exception for the techno-phobic who absolutely do not want to open their box even to swap out a graphics card--for these people, it'll always be cheaper to buy a new console. But I do NOT think this is an acceptable excuse here, amongst my fellow geeks. If you prefer platformers and party games and FF-style RPGs and thus you prefer consoles then say so, but enough with the "OMG PCS ARE SO EXPENSIVE!!!11" bullshit. It's not true, and it hasn't been true for years now.

Re:Console Gaming *IS* Cheaper

[Magius_AR]

A modern, well-equipped gaming PC will run you at the moment probably close to $1,000. A modern console will average you about $500 with extra controllers and addon-bits (I'm averaging from the Wii to the PS3).

You claim to be a PC gamer and think $1000 is the starting point for a machine that plays games?

Full systems decked out with Core 2 Duos are selling at Dell right now for just over $500 that will play every game on the market right now at graphical settings that STILL beat consoles, AND they do a hell of alot more than play games.
On the flipside, consoles (which used to be in the sub-$200 category), are quickly approaching the $500++ range for just the BASE SYSTEM (see PS3). Then you need to buy extra controllers and all that other rubbish which is ridiculously overpriced (~$30 per controller?!?).

Consoles USED to be the cheaper option. Those days are long past.

If people put more money into their comp than I've already stated, it's because they want fancier graphics...ala F.E.A.R @ 1600 x 1200 w/ all graphicals goodies turned on. That stuff requires top dollar parts. To simply run the game at a respectable resolution (say 800 x 600) with medium to high graphical settings, comparable to what you might get from a console, does _not_ require such an investment.