Xbox One is the best console if you don't care about exclusive new games - The Verge

[The_Liquid_Laser]

Conina said:

The_Liquid_Laser said:

To me, the only reason I play PC games is because of exclusives.  If a game is available on PC or a console I have, then I will choose the console every time.  Although PC does basically have infinite backwards compatibility (especially with sites like gog.com), so that means PC does have a huge amount of exclusives.  Still the advantages of consoles are pretty significant, since most people choose to play on consoles over PC.

Are you sure? There are over 200 million active Steam accounts (SteamSpy's last ewstimate was 290 million) with a total playtime of 1.5 million years.

Don't believe the Steam hype.  Right now I am looking at SteamSpy and it says total active users is 4.9m.  That is quite a bit different from 290m.  I'm sure the latter statistic is somehow accurate but it is also very misleading.  And of course 1.5 million years total playtime is basically a meaningless statistic.  Over how many years?  How does that compare to PS4 total playtime?  They can't be compared.  It sounds nice, but it's useless.

Xen said:

The_Liquid_Laser said:

My first two are valid points, also.  They may not be things that you personally care about, but they are valid.  Just like, the point you make is valid even though I personally don't care about performance issues like 20FPS or "old" graphics.  Importance is in the eye of the beholder.  I realize performance and graphics are really important to people, but they just aren't important to me.

To me, the only reason I play PC games is because of exclusives.  If a game is available on PC or a console I have, then I will choose the console every time.  Although PC does basically have infinite backwards compatibility (especially with sites like gog.com), so that means PC does have a huge amount of exclusives.  Still the advantages of consoles are pretty significant, since most people choose to play on consoles over PC.

I dodged the first two points because of - yeah, vastly cheaper PC games... and Steam makes things pretty damn convenient - though, I admit, one will run into bugs on occasion.

We are on levels that are too different, though. A 20fps slog will remain a near-unplayable game unless re-released on a next-gen system - on PC it will perform it its best and will have the mods to make it even better - just look at what the Crusader Kings II community has done with the game.

Price - Looking at hardware only, consoles are definitely cheaper.  Once you start looking at software prices, then it comes down to a lot of different factors.  I mean on release day for a AAA game PC and console are the same price.  After that PC games have discounts and bundles, while consoles have used games.  It may depend on how good the used game market is in your area and of course also how many games you buy and if you like bundles. 

Convenience is kind of a "catch all" category for all of the things consoles do better.  Because a PC can technically do everything a console can, but the console is just more convenient.  For example, play with a good controller instead of keyboard and mouse?  PC can do it.  Console is more convenient.  Avoid annoying patches and updates?  Well both have them but consoles have less.  And Steam?  I don't use it because I find the default settings to be annoying and intrusive.  I am sure I could change the settings, but it's not convenient.  Everything about the PC is inconvenient.  It always has been, and Steam is even worse than when PC games were sold retail.

I mean the PC actually does have it's own advantages: Raw hardware power, customization, mods, a huge game library that (theoretically) lasts forever.  But, convenience is not something PC has over consoles and it never will.