Dude...you used a Dell.

There's your problem.

I'm a PC gamer, and I tell NOBODY, NOBODY to buy a Dell.

I stopped reading your post after this:

46″ 1080P LCD TV, full home-theater setup, an Xbox 360, 6 years of Xbox Live, four controllers, and the two included games costs less than a good (but not amazing) gaming PC on a relatively paltry 22″ display.

That is the biggest load of BS I've ever heard of. My gaming PC that is pretty good (not amazing, it plays TF2 on max settings at 35-50 fps) cost me $670...that's $500 for the PC and $170 for a 22" display.

And I don't spend $250 a year on upgrades...I could get by with about $100 a year I think, if that.

And yes, PC games are NEVER more than $50 unless they're collector's editions or something weird.  

So...I spend less than $2500 for sure, on that 6 game number anyway...I'm not sure how many games I actually buy.

I think you need to do some real research and use Newegg prices, not Dell.  Dell is crap.

Am I the only one that spent over $2000 on their rig? >_>

In May, 2006, I built myself this:

(parts from Newegg)

Asus A8N SLi Premium mobo
Athlon X2 4200+
2gb OCZ pc3200 RAM
BFG GeForce 7900GTX 512mb
Soundblaster X-Fi Platinum
320gb SATA 2.0 WD HDD
600watt PSU
Thermaltake Tsunami Dream case

Though I guess it cost a little under 2k not including wi-fi, speakers, and monitor. And two months after I built the thing, i realized how stupid I was not waiting for Core Duo and getting a mobo that supported DDR2. It would been a much faster comp (aside from the GPU) and the CPU/RAM would've been upgradeable far into the future.

But yeah, as a Supreme Commander fan (major resource hog), who owns a ps3, Wii, and needs to upgrade his CPU (and by extension, motherboard and RAM) sometime soon to finally get a stable framerate for 3v3s on maps larger than 20km, I can safely say that PC gaming costs more than console gaming. However, if I just wanted to play the usual boring FPS, then they are roughly the same.

Btw, I can't wait to see how crappy the X360 port of SupCom is with only 512mb of ram.

There is no doubt you can spend more on a PC than a console but to get the same performance of an console you do not need to spend $2000 on a pc.

Like Ben wrote : Dude .. you got a Dell?!?

Paul Ellis the writer didn't go into this with an open mind at all. Either that or he knows too little about PC gaming/purchases to write such an article.

Another point in PC's favour, PC games generally cost a lot less, at least they do here. Most console games (Wii, PS3, 360) cost between 500-600NOK here, perhaps even more in some stores. The price of PC games (could even be the same title released on multiplat) cost 400 NOK and less.
A good example is NFS ProStreet, it cost 550 in most retail stores (even the PS2 version) on consoles, and 350 for PC.
Just saying, it might not be the case globally for all I know.
And many a time here, you can pick up fairly new or retro PC games in bargain bins for 29 NOK or so, which is far below any offers/deals I've yet to see on any console.

That's one of the tricks known for consoles. Sell hardware cheap yet make it up on the software. That is one of the ways to make consoles appear a lot cheaper than PC.

why does this stupid discussion even exist?
cost is rarely the issue when some one chooses between console and pc gaming
telling a pc gamer console gaming costs less and regardless of if it is true or not your not going to change their mind
telling a console gamer it is more expensive than pc gaming won't change their mind either
there's more to it than cost,
input method, distance from the viewing device, types of games, time for setup, and dedication
seriously this debate is just stupid it doesn't need to exist

using my CURRENT agp gaming box setup(3 years old), i am in the process of rebuilding said computer which will play EVERYTHING on the market today.

Total Cost....365 dollars- which will last me at least another 3 years


365 for mobo cpu ram and video card

250 in upgrades a Year? what is he HIGH? i've not spent that much in .....2 years for BOTH my computers.....

a smart person upgrades only when NEEDED

Oh yeah, well MY PC only cost $100 because I stole parts from CompUSA and borrowed my brother's motherboard and you X360fags are dumb because you're playing games with inferior grafix and look at all the AAAAAA PC exclusives coming out this year theres like a bajillion!!!!1111

but I still can't run crysis :(

I have bought 4 consoles in my life and haven't spent $3000

If you use the current exhange rates of £ = about $2 then I think I have spent around $2000-2500, that's on all my consoles/perephrials and games.

however in truth I shouldn't use the blanket exchange rate because it only applies to the Wii, so I have likely spent less than $2000.

--- I am not considering the cost of a TV though, mainly because I use a portable one in my room that I didn't buy but also because I would have had a TV even if I didn't have a console.