A lot of it has to do with what you're used to as well. I can't imagine building a map in cities in motion on a console, mouse placement seems essential. However I played Minecraft on consoles first and can't get used to kb+m control scheme on pc. It's easier to build stuff on console for me. However when trying to play Tropico on ps4 it felt like playing with heavy gloves on after playing it for so long on PC.

For fps mouse aiming feels like freedom from clunky turning, yet analog movement does as well compared to kb movement. You probably can have the best of both worlds on PC, yet I gladly give up some rotation control to sit in a comfy recliner without restrictions on how to hold my hand.

In the end comfort, convenience and less distractions won out for me to choose console as my primary source of entertainement. Plus my tastes changed and I grew out of rts and management sims. Everytime I sit behind my laptop I end up here or browse for other video game related info, check email, do my banking, shop online, etc instead of playing something from my Steam library. On console only Netflix vies for my attention.

I don't wanna waste too much time on deconstructing this so I'll just point out one thing.

3 of those 90+ exclsuives on PC have less than 10 reviews each. If the people who get paid for playing these games can't be bothered then why do you think anyone else should play them?

If money was no issue I'd be a primary PC gamer, playing console for exclusives. As it is now I couldn't play majority of games I want on PC if I wanted them to run and look as good as console version.

This list is broken as fuck - exclusive Overwatch listed 3 times, Witcher 3 Blood and Wine same story etc.

Also, i did a research on these PC excs and I find them rather meh. Sausage roll ( PC exclusive ) ? Sure, maybe its good and funny game, but its not the same league like Sony/MS aaa games are.

When i was younger, I primarily owned consoles since NES days due to lower price of hardware, co-op/multi-player with friends in the same room, exclusives.

1) Lower price of hardware is irrelevant now. I need a PC for work/productivity/continuing education, which means might as well pay a little more for a gaming laptop or if you built a desktop, it's cheap to get a 1080p graphics card upgrade. $200 RX 480 gets you better than PS4 Pro's iQ/performance, $350 GTX1070 get some you 1440p. 

The huge discounts of PC games on Steam, GOG, GreenManGaming, CD Keys, Origin, UPlay and various humble bundles ensure that the savings on software easily offset the cost of a more expensive CPU/GPU like the 6700K and GTX1070. Due to cryptocurrency mining on the PC, I haven't paid for a graphics card since 2009. Every graphics card I've owned since HD4890 to R9 295X2 and GTX1070 SLI has been completely financed with Bitcoin, Euthereum and ZEC. Next year I will get a free GTX1080Ti or Vega 10 cross-fire after reselling my existing cards and selling virtual currency.

CPUs such as 6700K/6800K now last 5+ years without needing to upgrade. $60 a year x 5 years PSN or XB Live = I buy a new $300 CPU again from money I didn't waste on online on consoles. Hard drives, power supply, case, BluRay drive can all be reused. Good power supplies from EVGA, Corsair or SeaSonic have 10-year warranties.

The PC hardware itself opens a new world of possibilities. With the PC, I can use Xbox 360 or DS4 controller or K&M. I can game at 1080p or 3440x1440 or 4K or use a 4K HDTV with HDR if I wanted to. A lot of console defenders here talk about Bloodborne but won't discuss how the game stutters and drops to 20-25 fps. Soon we will get 240Hz 1080p, 200Hz 1440p, 120Hz 4K PC monitors.

2) Co-op and same room multi-player on modern consoles is more or less dead. Compared to the glorious days of NES, SNES/Genesis, N64/PS1, GameCube and PS2/XB1, Xbox 360, the nearly complete shift to online gaming has managed to destroy the LAN aspect of gaming with 3-4 friends multi-player. This unique console multi-player experience has been largely replaced by playing online with friends. It's just not the same.

3) Exclusives. Wii U exclusives were too few. XB1 exclusives are a complete joke since Forza Horizon 3, Gears of War Ultimate, Gears of War 4, Quantum Break and more to come are all better on the PC - better graphics, more control options, better frame rates. Except for 4K BluRay and sports games, XBox eco-system offers nothing for PC gamers.

That brings us to PS4 and the Switch. 99.99% of all cross-platform games are better on the PC. 3 years after PS4 came out, I got the Slim U4 bundle for almost 1/2 price of the OG PS4 and it's now possible to pick up LOUS, Bloodborne, Killzone Shadow Fall, Uncharted 4 The Collection, Ratchet & Clank, God of War III remastered, Until Dawn, Infamous Second Son for $10-20. That's an extremely small list of worthwhile games on a ~ $200 console after 3 years on the market. If I paid $400 for launch PS4 and $50-60 for these games at launch, I would feel like it's a big waste of money. 3 years is almost the entire life-cycle of the Genesis and N64. PS4 exclusives are taking forever to come out.

Personally, I think console gamers will only realize how much less consoles have to offer if they were given a library of 500 Steam games and a PC with 6700K, GTX1070 and a 144Hz 1440p GSync monitor. It is very easy to accumulate that from 2005 when the 360 launched. If you have that, besides sports games, and PS4 exclusives (right now it's not that many titles), the PS4/XB1 is one of the LEAST impressive console generations up to this point. In fact, God of War III, Uncharted the collection and LOUS aren't even PS4 exclusives.

Overall, the consoles are losing their unique appeal to PCs. PC gaming is becoming more versatile, cheaper, and the PC gaming library is growing because the games are backwards compatible for 3 decades at least. There are already more gamers on Steam than the install base of PS4+XB1+Wii U combined. Over the next 10 years, PC gaming will grow MUCH faster than console gaming. Sooner or later the 18-25 year olds on here will get good jobs and have $ for a 6-8 core i7/Ryzen and a $500 graphics card. I used to be a pretty serious console gamer only but once I got a nice PC, I now only use consoles for exclusives and sports games.

The #1 reason most people on here don't have a high-end gaming PC is money. It has little to do with PC exclusives or K&M excuses. The choice of owning a console and not a console + a PC is 99% because most of you are probably too young to easily afford both. Once you can easily afford both, it makes absolutely no sense to not own both consoles and PCs to enjoy the benefits of each eco-system.

Surely this'll get locked in a few pages.

Reaction threads should be funny.

Gee. Don't shoot the messenger. The OP is simply stating whats in the article. Let's blame Meta instead. With that said I think there is a few interesting things here. At least to me, and I may be wrong, it seems that:

• AAAs keep going down in both, quantity and scores. (The scores can and should be questioned)
• Indies are rising. (The scores can and should be questioned).
• Consoles are obviously hitting a bump in quality (subjective). Probably because they are transitioning into new or semi-new hardware.
• PC is still by far the platform with the most to offer. Most advantages and probably most disadvantages too.

1. Yes, most of the time. But sadly not when it comes to this year on consoles.

2. Xbox is needed to keep the PlayStation in check until Nintendo stops fooling around.

3. Are you sure you don't want to change the word "real" for "dedicated"?

So which is it, seems you're saying console gaming is more expensive, yet people don't want to go into PC gaming cause they can't afford it?

The primary reasons most people here game on consoles is exclusives, playing with friends and convenience.
I can easily afford both yet I'm satisfied with my 2 year old laptop and do most of my gaming on console. Time is worth more to me than money. A curated selection of games, less settings, fewer updates, less configurating, less maintanance, less distractions, all means more time to actually play. I just spend over CAD 1500 on psvr + ps4 pro + 20 games. Still cheaper than OR + building a capable gaming PC and a lot less hassle, thus more time spend on playing games.

When I was younger I primarily played on PC. PS2 and GC started winning me over, 360 and PS3 pushed me over the halfway point. I stopped maintaining my desktop after 2009 and switched to using laptops instead. At first my laptop still ran stuff better than ps3 and 360, yet since the ps4 I'm 90% playing on consoles. My PC gaming is now down to Elite Dangerous and a few indies. When you have kids, you don't have time anymore for mods, mmo's or playing civ until 7am. But I must say, playing Everquest and WoW with 2 PCs, together with my wife, was the best gaming experience ever.

You shouldn't make the assumption that I only own a single platform.
If I can afford a high-end, water cooled PC, you can bet your ass I can afford to buy a console or three.

Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre is on PC thanks to emulation.
Valkyria, X-Com, Disagaea is on PC.

Civilization 2 on PS1 is nothing like the PC version.

Just like how Civilization: Revolution on the Xbox 360 is nothing like the PC version.
Let's compare them?

Let's start with the PS1 Version:


And now the PC version:
Civilization 2 (The counterpart to the PS1 version):

***************
Massive difference in how the games are presented, which also translates to big differences in gameplay.
The PS1 just cannot hold a candle to the PC version.

And now the Xbox 360 version:



And Civilization 4 released the same year as the 360 version:



And just for kicks. Here is Civilization 5 in all it's Eyefinity glory.

Can't disagree with you there. WarCraft has had the writing on the wall for years now.
But there are still over 10+ million subscribers.

Sadly. Consoles will never get the StarWars MMO made by Bioware which was one of the most expensive games ever developed.

Hell no it ain't.

Your fingers lack the fine tuned pixel-precision of a mouse pointer. Fingers are fat. - Touch Screens also have zero tactile feedback, thus typing/general input will always be inferior to the keyboard.

"Greatest Games" is all opinion of course. Every platform has a selection of games that rate extremely highly. The PC is no exception.
The PC has some of the best games of all time ever released as per reviewed scores and consistently appearing in top 100 lists.