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Reasonable said:
let me explain - as a current PC player who also has PSP, DS, Wii, PS2 & PS3...

consoles are easy to use/setup - they're relaxing in that you sit in a nice big comy couch in front of a big TV, and the PS3/360 in particular have opened up online/collaboration in the living room. They're also cheaper to buy.

But PCs are technicaly better in just about every way apart from the above:

Input - a PC can support gamepad, joysticks, K&M, steering wheel, etc. - i.e. not only can it match a console but for FPS it can exceed it. Once you get the hang of it a K&M is demonstrably more accurate than even the best player on gamepad (there's a reason FPS on console has 'aim assist' and not on PC. Oh and of course everything a Wii does with motion sensing a PC could only more accurately as well.

Graphics - despite the strides of 360/PS3 a decent PC is always ahead, and a great PC is miles ahead. Hook a gaming PC up to a big HD TV and PS3/360 games suddenly look like okay Wii games

Flexibility - again, everything 360/PS3 do around media a PC can do better, and with better support for all formats. It can also burn DVDs, etc. if you want plus stream content.

Storage space - now PS3 isn't too bad here with its open standard for HDD drives, but still, if you want a lot of media stored, and HD media at that, the PC is still way ahead here too. The drives are also faster for better loading times.

Processing power - again, depends on specs, but a PC can relatively easily provide more processing power than a console for all those complex physics, etc. that the PS3/360 have failed do deliver (just look at how COD4 has neutered physics to run on consoles).

Online/Community - Live is great, PSN is good getting better, LBP is going to be amazing, etc. But all of that is actually trailing PC capabilities in that regard. Heck I was playing 4 player coop twenty years ago on PCs!

Reliability - you know I can't be bothered searching (but I'd bet PCs are generally more reliable than consoles). I've never had one fail on me anyway while I've had consoles fail, etc.

Factually, a PC can do everything better than a console that a console can do - no exceptions technically when it comes to games, controllers, etc. But a PC has three main drawbacks which is why people prefer consoles (and people like me are increasingly switching to consoles):

1) due to design/habit most people don't stick a large gaming PC under their TV and don't seem to consider this a viable option

2) PCs are seen as expensive and do still cost more (although not as much as you might think if you build your own)

3) PCs are associated with working/home office, etc.

4) PCs are technically daunting vs take it out box, plug it into TV, switch on and off you go

My thoughts as they say.



I completly agree 100% on everything you said. I myself grew up gaming heavily on PC's (Apple IIC WinterGames, Broaderband's Karatika... BurgerTime, Qbasic's Nibbles/King Kong, Quorke, D&D, etc)

But I'll be honest, although accuracy/gaming is a lot better on the PC... I still prefer console gaming... for the simple fact that its conveniant. Its hard to find a PC Gamer, most of the ones I know are big time nerds and its just akward... but console gaming? all sorts of people game on consoles, even ones that aren't really gamers :D

 



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157%?!?!?
seriously i stopped reading this guy after he said he needed to upgrade every 3 seconds. Which is obviously true even though i built my pc 1 year and half ago and it can play crysis so....



this topic is soooooo old, but still fun to discuss, I guess

for most of my earlier life, I was on the side of PC games, mainly because the game list is just longer in general than any one console game, and the variation of control you have with a keyboard + mouse is much greater than what you can achieve with a handheld controller.  also, some great games for PC just cannot be played on console nearly as effectively (e.g. RTS games)

on the other hand, there are some games that are just not the same on the PC than if you played on console, like old platformers such as the Super Mario games.  generally, console games have a more "comfort" feel to them, cuz there are times I'd rather sit down on a couch and play some xbox live rather than go to my PC and sit at an uncomfortable desk (I need to upgrade my setup)

so generally, I consider PC to be the overall superior gaming platform for a multitude of reasons.

1. You can pretty much do a whole lot more with it than console (game selection, control functions, mods)

2. Graphics are potentially better (plus, you can adjust resolutions more freely)

3. More flexibility with hard drive space

4. You're not limited to factory specs, you can always upgrade your computer

5. There is almost never an issue of backwards compatibility



Same. Mods are easier to make for PC games so that has it's appeal to me since I like messing around with games (playing them, as I can't make a mod worth crap). It's easier to connect online with PCs as well. The Keyboard/mouse combo certainly helps for some genres like FPS and RTS, but Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter would be tough to enjoy. And yes you can play console games with emulators, but they just don't give you the experience of playing it the way it was originally made. I'd rather play Mario Kart 64 on my TV than using Project64 to emulate it.



The sad fact is that piracy is killing PC gaming. But theres no friggin way a shooter plays better on consoles. The low response time between spotting an enemy and having him in your cross-hair adds greatly to the intensity of the shooter
If anyone has any doubt, try imagining playing Counter-strike against an above average player using controllers.



"The accumulated filth of all their sex and murders will foam up about their waist and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"...

 ....and I'll look down and whisper  "no."  

                                                                   - Rorschach

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HappySqurriel said:
Words Of Wisdom said:

No, they really wouldn't be that similar.  Until I can mod Twilight Princess to play as Rocky the Squirrel trying to rescue Bullwinkle, they won't be similar at all.

 

I don't understand what you're trying to say ...

The way that a lot of PC gamers look at the HD consoles is very similar to how a lot of HD console gamers look at the Wii. Even in the context of creating levels and modding games, for the longest time a PC gamer has had the ability to take their favourite games and create brand-new gameplay modes through scripting and think that it is quaint that someone can import a model into the HD consoles to get their favourite character in game; at the same time a HD console owner will look at the level editor in a game like Boom Blox as being quaint because you're stuck with the content that EA decided to ship the game with.

That's a much better comparison than your first one as far as limited content goes.

I'd like your post more if you discarded the widesweeping generalizations though.  I'd think you could make your points equally well without trying to pass your opinions of what "a lot of PC gamers" are like off as fact.



I love the mouse, hate the keyboard. Actually scrap that... I FUCKING hate the keyboard for shooters. So for me the Xbox 360 controller is a nice balance between my hate for the keyboard and how I love the mouse for aiming. Rumble just tips things over the edge in favour of the Xbox 360 controller.

I have a media PC, which I can play games on but instead I choose to play them on the Xbox 360/PS3. Its specs are pretty decent Amd X2 5000+ 2gb ram, 8800gt etc but its just easier on the Xbox 360 for some reason, I think I just don't want to go through the motions of patches, compatibility issues, crashes, and having to use the mouse then the Xbox 360 controller.



Tease.

squilliam unfortunately the mouse rules so much that the keyboard is necessary.



I'd have to say that I favor my PC to any one console but it's hardly fair to compare the PC to the entire console market.



Eh bouzane it's more than fair, and the pc more than dominates the console world.