Until some sort of convergence happens, where computers become small enough that a good gaming rig can be had in a small, quiet, cool little box there will always be a war between consoles and PCs when it comes to gaming. Consoles do one thing good, while PC’s are multi-taskers. Is one better than the other?
PC Gaming
- Keyboard baby.
- PS3’s and Xbox360’s don’t glow in neon colors or feature water cooling.
- Framerate. PC’s will dominate in the area of graphics and performance for some time to come.
- I don’t need to buy three game consoles to have complete title availability. If it’s made for the PC, I can play it.
- Multifunction - game, email, web, financial apps, office - all for one price.
- Console getting a little long in the tooth? No upgrading for you! You’ll have to go out and buy the newest version.
Console Gaming
- Buy it once and you’re done. No installing graphics cards, memory, etc.
- If I buy a game, I know it will work with no updating drivers or tweaking display settings.
- I can buy an Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii (if I can find one) for about the same price as a good gaming rig.
- Exclusive titles means no waiting for bad ports.
- Rentals! Try before you buy is real nice.
- Multiplayer made easy for people in the same room. Sit on the couch with a budy and game on. Try that on your PC.
There’s my take - now which do you think is better? Or have you bitten the bullet and do you have both a gaming PC and a console?
Technorati Tags: gaming, video games, pc, console, geek, platforms, xbox, wii, ps3
August 4th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
point 6 is not true.
you can upgrade your ps3 via firmware, or upgrade you hd.
August 4th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
You can upgrade the software or your HDD size - but not your graphics card, processor, or anything else.
I stand by this list as a definitive justification for why PC gaming is better than Console gaming! Or was it the other way around? Damn.
November 12th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
I stop buying consoles when Sega launch the “Mega CD” thanks god for that. Now it’s all PC, I find tweaking my PC fun in away. you didn’t mention that you can download games for PC even if it’s illegal a lot of people still do it, and I think it should be considered.
November 13th, 2008 at 11:23 am
This is the most poorly written “PC gaming is not dead” article I think I have ever read. Your six points are seriously lacking in any sort of logic, factual backing or reality.
1. Other than MMOs and (most) RTS, the keyboard is no better than the 360 or PS3 controller.
2. Like any modded PC, you can MOD your console in much the same way. Search google for modded 360 or Wii pictures and you’ll find some beautiful examples. I am not sure what this has to do with gaming, but you are grasping at straws.
3. Both PS3 and 360 games run up to 1080p. That is 1920×1080 resolution. I’d wager that 80% or more of PC users cannot render games at the resolution with bringing their computer to their knees.
4. Other than MMOs and a few RTS games, the game selection on consoles is probably 300% higher. For every 10 games available on a console, you may get 1 for the PC, and if it isn’t an MMO, it is also available on console.
5. Other than office, I can do anything you mentioned on both the Wii and PS3. The PS3 has a great browser and supports a keyboard got typing on the internet. Puts your well thought out “keyboard baby” statement in a different light. Not sure what this has to do with GAMING at all.
6. You have a point. When this generation of console fades and a new one comes, I’ll have to get a new one. For the cost of one high end PC video card, I get a whole new console. A high end PC will run you $1500 plus minimum. You can get a 360 right now for $199 and I promise you’ll enjoy it way more than a $2000 PC.
I own a $3000 gaming PC and all 3 current gen consoles. I play TF2, a few RTS and MMOs on my PC. That’s it. I spend much more time on my consoles. The games are better, there are no DRM issues, they are MUCH more stable, and compatibility issues are non-existent. I am not saying PC gaming is dead, but your argument above was so terrible that I had to post this.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:51 am
That’s not confrontational at all…
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:18 am
I think you can take this to the point whether its personal preference on which is better. To the person who posted the long comment on how console gaming is better, a lot of it can be considered your opinion. “You can get a 360 right now for $199 and I promise you’ll enjoy it way more than a $2000 PC.” I am 100% against that statement. However this is of course my opinion, and my decision if I want to put up my 360 for sale, in which I am, as well as my PS3. My new PC gaming rig places no use for my consoles, simply because I enjoy it much more. This is of course in terms of modibility, playability, selection, and graphics. But that ties in with my opinion, right?
August 13th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
In response to wow….:
1. Other than MMOs and (most) RTS, the keyboard is no better than the 360 or PS3 controller.
Really? What about RPG’s and simulation games? Controllers are also not good for FPS’s. Back in the day noone even thought it was possible to play an FPS on a controller. This is because the mouse offers a greater degree of movement then a joystick does. The control in your wrist is also much steadier than the control in your thumbs. The only reason you are able to play an FPS on a console is because of Auto-Aim. If you don’t believe me, try playing any FPS from pc with a controller driver. You can download all kinds of programs that will fine tune the dead zone and sensitivity to your liking. But it still won’t be easy to aim. Why? no auto-aim.
2. Like any modded PC, you can MOD your console in much the same way. Search google for modded 360 or Wii pictures and you’ll find some beautiful examples. I am not sure what this has to do with gaming, but you are grasping at straws.
So your saying you can replace the RAM and CPU of your PS3? Sure there might be some mods from some extremely tech saavy people who were able to install RAM on the outside of their PS3, but normal people aren’t able to do that. And what’s the point anyway? There’s no games that support the performance increase. On the other hand, the pc has a variety of games to match the performance increase.
3. Both PS3 and 360 games run up to 1080p. That is 1920×1080 resolution. I’d wager that 80% or more of PC users cannot render games at the resolution with bringing their computer to their knees.
I spent 250 on a Radeon 4890 and it easily renders 1080p. Get your facts straight.
4. Other than MMOs and a few RTS games, the game selection on consoles is probably 300% higher. For every 10 games available on a console, you may get 1 for the PC, and if it isn’t an MMO, it is also available on console.
Ok your right there may be a larger selection of console games. But what about the variety? I think you meant for every 10 FPS’s on a console, there’s one unique game on the PC.
5. Other than office, I can do anything you mentioned on both the Wii and PS3. The PS3 has a great browser and supports a keyboard got typing on the internet. Puts your well thought out “keyboard baby” statement in a different light. Not sure what this has to do with GAMING at all.
Ok you can’t be serious. Your saying that you can do everything on a console on a pc. If that were true why would we even need PC’s? Alright everybody throw your pc in the garbage and buy a PS3. Lol. I can’t even take this comment seriously.
6. You have a point. When this generation of console fades and a new one comes, I’ll have to get a new one. For the cost of one high end PC video card, I get a whole new console. A high end PC will run you $1500 plus minimum. You can get a 360 right now for $199 and I promise you’ll enjoy it way more than a $2000 PC.
Your comparing different time frames. The Xbox 360 costs 200$ now. But what about when it first came out? Just like any new technology, you pay more when it first comes out.
I own a $3000 gaming PC and all 3 current gen consoles. I play TF2, a few RTS and MMOs on my PC. That’s it. I spend much more time on my consoles. The games are better, there are no DRM issues, they are MUCH more stable, and compatibility issues are non-existent. I am not saying PC gaming is dead, but your argument above was so terrible that I had to post this.
For one you seem very angry and your taking a very one sided argument towards a completely nuetral article. Also, i’m not sure why you spent 3 grand on a PC. I spent 1300 on mine and I can run Crysis Wars on full settings with no crashes. And given that Crysis is the current benchmark for graphics, how long do you think it’s gonna take for a game to replace that. Even if it does, I don’t really care because I can just play that game on lower settings or upgrade my PC if I really want too. Even if I do have to shell out some cash, A PC does a lot more things than a console anyway, and I upgrading your PC for some people can be really fun.
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:21 am
consoles are for lazy people obviously
November 11th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
3. Both PS3 and 360 games run up to 1080p. That is 1920×1080 resolution. I’d wager that 80% or more of PC users cannot render games at the resolution with bringing their computer to their knees.
that has been easy to handle for many, many years
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:29 am
pc are not better then ps3 because people on pcs hack like crazy on fps and it cost to much for pcs i have one and id rather game on ps3 i also have a 360 but it died 3 times so lol 360 just blows.
January 1st, 2010 at 8:06 pm
I never usually post on blogs but I have found this very usefull so thank you
February 28th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
1. Other than MMOs and (most) RTS, the keyboard is no better than the 360 or PS3 controller.
Really? There is only 1 “true” RTS on consoles that I know of, and it’s called Halo Wars. The reason that Consoles will never measure up to RTS games like Starcraft is that there is no versatility in controls. Professional gaming is crap on consoles because of this, in MMOs (which there are basically none of), RTSs (also none of), and FPSs. If I were to face off against a professional console gamer with my mouse & keyboard, I would dominate him.
By the way, you think that the console is capable of everything that computers are capable of? You may be a little bit right in this statement, however, consoles are all computers anyways, just prepackaged for gaming purposes. Also, coding for all the console & PC games is done on computers, and is unable to be completed on PS3s, Xbox360s, or Wiis.
May 27th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
@Wow…
Your facts are completely wrong. For one, the PC can render up to 2560 x 1600.
PC’s also support multiple screens. I was playing Left 4 Dead on six of them the other day (it was crazy).
How long have consoles been out? The new ones…maybe 3 or 4 years?
PC’s have been gaming for 10+ years. This means there are probably 300% more PC games than console games.
You cannot really fully mod a console, like he said. Plus you can download MODS, not for hardware but for software. Possibly the best thing about PC’s.
And keyboards and mouses are superior in every way. Your wrist is truly so much more steady, and keyboards have much more customizable options.
Did I mention they now have a headset that literally lets you control a game through THINKING. Ultimate epic win.
And it does work.