So what would you guys say are the advantages and disadvantages of gaming PCs and consoles? Consoles Pros -Inexpensive hardware -Easy to set up and use -Standard hardware gives consumers peace of mind that they'll be set for a generation, and makes them easy for developers to program -Easier to use from a couch, which many find more comfortable -Usually double as a media center; the PS3 for instance is one of the best networked Blu-Ray players on the market Cons -Inferior graphics, ~720p and medium-low settings in most games -Expensive games, $60 new -Online costs money on the Xbox 360 -Inferior controls for certain types of games (FPSs, RTSs, MMOs) -Hardware can't be upgraded -Lots of screaming 12 year old brats in the online -Some genres are underrepresented or nonexistent, namely MMOs and RTSs. =========== Gaming PCs Pros -Superior graphics, especially on a high-end setups -Keyboard and mouse is superior for many games, especially FPSs -Upgradeable hardware -Digital distribution of games (Steam for instance) is far more convenient than physical media -Cheap games, often $10 or less during Steam sales -Better online experience with bigger matches and dedicated servers for most games -Older, more mature players online. You rarely encounter little kids or dudebros. -Piracy is easier, which means you can try before you buy. This is also a con as it tends to scare away developers. Cons -Expensive hardware, high-end video cards are frequently $300+ -Complicated; requires current knowledge of PC hardware to get the best experience -Genres like racing, fighting, and action/adventure are under-represented or non-existent -Laptops with integrated video suck balls for gaming, and unfortunately, that's what your average Joe Sixpack is running. This tends to skew peoples' perceptions of PC gaming. Verdict: Draw. Consoles have cheaper hardware than gaming PCs, but the games are so much more expensive, the cost ends up being about the same in the long run. PCs have better graphics, but consoles are easier to use and more comfortable in a living room setup; so it's hard to really say that one provides a better overall experience than the other. Both platforms have their merit, and your choice will come down to your priorities, personal preference, and which game genres you prefer. For instance, someone who's into fighting games wouldn't be happy with a gaming PC, and someone into strategy games wouldn't be happy with a console. Some genres, like RPGs, are a wash, and are fine on either platform. ====== This is not a troll thread. My actual motive is to drive traffic to our site when people search for "PC vs Console" in Google.
You can't upgrade the performance components, like the GPU, CPU, or RAM, but you can upgrade the HDD of the PS3 and use all sorts of USB devices with it, including a keyboard and mouse. But I think they're afraid of allowing too much kb/m. It's rarely used. The 360, on the other hand, is an expensive pain in the ass to upgrade and costs money for the online. The PS+ subscription has a yearly fee, but that's more than paid for itself lately. They are just giving away full games lately, such as inFamous 2 and Just Cause 2. The only major gripe I have with the PS3 is the graphics are getting dated at this point. In general, I think they just avoid these genres because they are already so strong on PC. They'd probably net more conversions to PC gaming than they would generate new game sales in these genres. They could eventually give a serious effort to the MMO, however. If they could get a popular MMO running on consoles, they could get a lot of sales out of that, especially if it could run cross-platform games with PC. It's not like the MMO is the genre known for the highest end graphics. A next generation console should have no problem running one for a decent while. I think they could market an MMO to the less technically inclined on a console. Also, add this to the cons for PC: -Rockstar's quality control for PC games and their idiotic Social Club One area I think PC has actually benefited from consoles is the vastly improved controllers. I remember the pieces of crap joysticks and whatnot I used to try to get working in the old days of PC gaming. Now some games don't even require you to do anything for the 360 controller to work. It's very nice for certain genres. I use a controller for a lot of third party games like the Batman games.
I could never get a 360 controller that's calibrated right. Am I the only one? Is there a way to recalibrate it? some games just no matter what I do it just pulls to the left or right. This is for my Hori-pad (360 ver). my generic Mad Catz and that MW2 pad I had worked for like 80% of the games but some games like Dirt it just won't work with at all.
You're probably the only one. MS made it so you don't need to calibrate it at all. It's one of those hands off simplicity things. But there is a configuration tool if you need it. And I've used it across XP and Win7 no probs.
I think the consoles have got digital distribution ticked as well. They're not quite 100% but big name games as well as the indie crowd are well represented on their respective online stores
True, and I would say that everything is moving towards digital distribution. But Steam is a more fully realized system than what the consoles have at this point.
How does the digital distribution stuff work on consoles? I didn't realize you could download the full games yet? Or is chi being a bit brave with his post? For console like a PS3 having a 160-320GB hdd and then downloading 20-40GB games to it? I was assuming that the PSN games were pretty much the small time titles. I even hear the download speeds of system/game updates are horribly slow on the PS3, so I couldn't imagine downloading a game of blu-ray capacity on that.
You can download some full games, not the full PS3 library but a good amount. Download speeds are fine as long as you're wired. The wireless adapter in the PS3 is pretty poor and will cause you to get very slow downloads but wired is fine as it has a Gb NIC.
Its easier to play a console in a loving room. Its supports simultaneous multiplayer. Beyond that pc takes everything else.
I guess in Britain maybe that's true as I've seen your PC hardware prices and they are about 2-3x what we pay in the US. That i3 laptop you bought for instance would have been about $350 here, but you paid the equivalent of $700. But in the US between Newegg and Steam, PC gaming is very affordable. In fact, the games are so much cheaper, I'm pretty sure it's actually a lot cheaper than console gaming in the long run. Console games are $60, but PC games can be had for $5-10 during Steam sales. And if you already have a desktop, a gaming grade video card can be had for under $200, which is the price of a console. A big part of the reason I'm not more of a console gamer is that the games are just too expensive.
Realistically, I don't think you can claim console games are more expensive. Too easy to sell them on EBay and recoup at least 50% of the list price, and that would be a worst case scenario for anything relatively new.
but at the same time, realistically, not everyone is going to sell their games through ebay and at best, will go to something like gamestop and get $5 or $10 store credit.
That's a lot of effort when you can just buy the same games for $7.50 or so on Steam be done with it. And they often get that cheap after just 4 to 6 months. You're going to lose at least $10 to 20 reselling on ebay. Sometimes more if it's a game that didn't live up to expectations and the second hand market gets flooded with the game. And then there's also the possibility that if it's a shitty game, no one will buy it an you'll waste money on listing fees. And you have to go to the post office or UPS/Fedex to ship it. Yeah, I think I'll just go with Steam. Much cheaper and more convenient.
Due to work and other shit, I fell behind in gaming last year. BUT, I realized it was a godsend. I'm playing the now older games for $10-20 a pop MAX. Plus there is no maybes about quality, since they are so old and reviewed.
You're completely exaggerating. Why is Skyrim still listed at $59.99 on Steam? I do see stuff like Just Cause 2 for less than $10, but most of the flagship stuff that didn't flop is going for $39 or higher...which is right in line with what I'm saying about the console title resale market. For example, Steam is currently having a Ghost Recon: Future Soldier sale for 33% off at $33. Could you pick up the console version for that price on EBay right now? Easily. Yes, you're going to be able to find anecdotal differences here and there, but overall...you can't really claim PC games are significantly cheaper due to the huge resale market for console games.
Skyrim has went on huge sales multiple times since its release. You're just looking at its regular price. Console games rarely see markdowns like these. It first went on a big markdown during Steam's Holiday Sale last year.. yes, not long after its release. Same thing happened to Max Payne 3 just a month after its release. It literally went 50% off on Amazon's Summer sale. Which brings this to another point. Steam's super sales got so successful that other digital distributions are matching it in prices now with their own sales. With greenmangaming around (which is getting hugely popular), you can preorder games at around a 20-25% discount. Even newegg is doing preorder sales with hardcopies. And let's not forget about about Steam sales also including markdowns of the game's DLC. Games get so cheap that it's literally cheaper to buy the game including all of its DLC rather than just all of the DLC itself. We actually have a cross-platform gamer here, AKS. I bet if you ask him to compare his console game purchases to his PC game purchases, he'll say he paid for his PC game purchases for a lot less.
Steam summer and holiday sales Bro. You don't just buy at random times. I got Deus Ex Human Revolution for $10 with all DLC six months after it came out. LA Noire was $12 one month after it came out. You can get AAA games on Steam for $10 or less. You just have to know when to look. In recent years I don't think I've ever paid more than $15 for anything. Skyrim has been massively discounted at several points too. I've seen it for $29.99. By the time the holiday sale rolls around, Skyrim will be $14.99, if not cheaper. Consoles can't match Steam's prices. Even the second hand console market is more expensive.
Console games are marked down by resellers on EBay and Amazon etc. How is that different from a temporary 50% off sale on Steam? The Steam games that really get down to $7.50 like cmdrmonkey is talking about are either quite old, flopped, or were comparable to XBLA games. You don't think I could get a resale copy for $30 right now? Probably much less.