should i get a console or more pc games?

ok, here's the thing. i decided to splurge a bit. i can spend about $500-1000. i thought about upgrading or building a new pc, but things are running ok for now, so i don't think i need to do that for another year (though i'm gonna get an extra gig or 2 of ram).

now, i'm pretty much an exclusive pc gamer. i owned a playstation a long time ago, and i ended up playing 2 games on it (metal gear solid, parasite eve) and never touching it again after beating those games. but i've been leaning towards getting a console recently, only cuz i like fighting/action games sometimes (and i really like the look of fight night 3) and would never buy the console versions if available on the pc. i also like sports games, but i would never support ea for what it's done to the pc sports market; so basically, i'm looking at fight night 3 (i know, ea, but where else can i get boxing) and nba 2k8. anyway, i was wondering what i should do. and though i won't necessarily make my decision solely based on what the poll result is, it would be helpful to hear from you guys regarding what i should get. so here are my 5 options:

1) buy a pc steering wheel, a joystick, and like $200 worth of pc games (mostly in the future (except for a flight sim and crysis for sure; perhaps a racing game as well), cuz i want games like mass effect, starcraft 2, etc.).

2) buy x360 + fight night 3, virtua fighter, nba 2k8, and maybe some other games

3) buy playstion 3 + fight night 3, tekken 5, virtua fighter, nba 2k8, and maybe some other games and some blue-ray movies (mainly 'there will be blood' - loved that movie!!!)

4) buy wii + super mario galaxy + umm... legend of zelda? not many action/fighting games...

5) other (and please be as creative as you want!!!)

thanks.

I think its all personal, I personally am lucky enough to own both so I don't really have to pick...generally PC games have a better online community but idk, its all personal...crazymaghie123

yeah, it is. but i'd like to hear people's input nevertheless. it looks like you have an x360? are there any fighting games coming out for the x360 worth taking a look at? sf4? and i hear that x360 might make blue-ray dvds compatible? is that right? cuz it looks like hd-dvd lost the war.

More PC games. Why get a console and some games for it when you can get several superior, PC games on top of more accessories for your PC?

The only way I personally would get a console or consoles and games for it/them is if I was very wealthy and had already bought all released games I was interested in on the PC.

More PC games. Why get a console and some games for it when you can get several superior, PC games on top of more accessories for your PC?

The only way I personally would get a console or consoles and games for it/them is if I was very wealthy and had already bought all released games I was interested in on the PC.

JP_Russell

that's true. there are so many games i still want. and i need to get a steering wheel for my race 07. it's just that i'm also craving a decent basketball game and a boxing game and some decent fighting games. meh, whatever - i'll probably end up getting the accessories and more pc games and make do with real basketball and fighting. :D

Ok listen, i haven't owned a console since the sega cd because i haven't been interested in the games that they had to offer, and quite honestly i still am not interested in most console games.

With that said, if there are console games that you're dying to play, then i don't see a reason not to buy a console. Of course if you're only interested in 3 or 4 games, then it simply comes down to economics, whether the investment in a console (~$400?) is worth it simply for those games. If you can think of 10 games that you'd love to play over the next 2 years on a particular console then go for it and get one, i would.

ok, here's the thing. i decided to splurge a bit. i can spend about $500-1000. i thought about upgrading or building a new pc, but things are running ok for now, so i don't think i need to do that for another year (though i'm gonna get an extra gig or 2 of ram).

now, i'm pretty much an exclusive pc gamer. i owned a playstation a long time ago, and i ended up playing 2 games on it (metal gear solid, parasite eve) and never touching it again after beating those games. but i've been leaning towards getting a console recently, only cuz i like fighting/action games sometimes (and i really like the look of fight night 3) and would never buy the console versions if available on the pc. i also like sports games, but i would never support ea for what it's done to the pc sports market; so basically, i'm looking at fight night 3 (i know, ea, but where else can i get boxing) and nba 2k8. anyway, i was wondering what i should do. and though i won't necessarily make my decision solely based on what the poll result is, it would be helpful to hear from you guys regarding what i should get. so here are my 5 options:

1) buy a pc steering wheel, a joystick, and like $200 worth of pc games (mostly in the future (except for a flight sim and crysis for sure; perhaps a racing game as well), cuz i want games like mass effect, starcraft 2, etc.).

2) buy x360 + fight night 3, virtua fighter, nba 2k8, and maybe some other games

3) buy playstion 3 + fight night 3, tekken 5, virtua fighter, nba 2k8, and maybe some other games and some blue-ray movies (mainly 'there will be blood' - loved that movie!!!)

4) buy wii + super mario galaxy + umm... legend of zelda? not many action/fighting games...

5) other (and please be as creative as you want!!!)

thanks.

fireandcloud

if i wr u i would actually buy a 360 wire remote and play it with my pc games

all the games that u like like sports,fighting etc are on pc also so buy a gamepad and play on pc simple

or mayb buy a console but really after upgrading my pc i dnt play any console games

You asked the question in the PC games forum, you're typically not going to get an objective view.

If you want fighting games than get a console because they handle a lot better on console. If you're wanting flight sims, shooters etc go for a PC.

Wii is the best choice for a PC gamer. It offers the most unique gaming experience and the most unique exclusives for a PC gamer. You can't get Trauma Center, Super Mario Galaxy, Brawl, Twilight Princess etc. on other current-gen consoles or PC. Best of all, the console and the games are cheap so you'll have more money left for PC gaming.

Like zeus said, these are PC forums. It's no wonder people are voting for PC only.

This question is not a question u should ask too other gamers , buth too urself

it fully depends what kind of gamer u are , and what games u like, buying a new console is always fun in my opinion , buth u should ask urself what u realy want , luckly gamespot has all the information about ur choises

[listed]

u said u have about $500 - $1000 , not realy clear about the money u have , cause its a big diffrence between $510 , or $978

buth w/e ,

well the thing is , what games u like ofc? , if u into action games , shooters , or FPS games , rpg , than u should stick too ur pc , or buy a ps3 [xbox360] , depends , on if u want too spend money for a console , cause u can play halo on xbox, buth u can also on ur pc , no diffrence in my eyes.

than again if u like rpg, nintendo based games , than u obl should go for the wii , a fun console for people who often have friends over , or alone its fun to, for the overwellming game atm : Super Smash Bross Brawll [ WII ONLY] , some people actually buy wii only for that game , i did myself too :D

and than u have the dicussion whaty is better 360 or ps3? , i think ps3 , cause i had a 360 , buth it had problems , so i sold ir , in the end i bought myself a new ps3 ,

so dude , ask urself what kinda gamer u are , what games u like , than watch what every console has too offer u , if u dont know what too do , u can always save ur money? and mayby when u do know , u can spend it , no rush in my eyes.

xXx luiW

that's true. there are so many games i still want. and i need to get a steering wheel for my race 07. it's just that i'm also craving a decent basketball game and a boxing game and some decent fighting games. meh, whatever - i'll probably end up getting the accessories and more pc games and make do with real basketball and fighting. :D

baskeyball , boxing , fighting

i would recom a ps3

cause sitting on the couch behind a ps3 , gives just the little more effect , than sitting behind a pc.

buth ofc a ps3 + game aint cheap , and a pc game alone is WAY cheaper

If you've already owned a PlayStation, you know what console gaming is like. You've lived in the world of sparse releases, serialised sports franchises, the finest games lasting one play, no mods, no custom maps, no editors, shoddy or no multiplayer.

You've already been there. I personally think that console gaming peaked with the original PlayStation (a machine I love and still use, by the way).

I understand your curiosity, though. I want all three consoles - but I look at the games lineup, and I say, I want console x for this game, or that game, I want console y for that game, or this game. And that's it. The consoles have a couple games each I want. I can't justify buying a console at full price, with games that last five or ten hours and cost (almost) twice as much as PC games.

Take a long look at the games library, and think long and hard about whether or not you actually want to be playing them. It's a pretty big cash investment, and you'll regret it if it ends up gathering dust.

Most of the console games out today are just better looking versions of the same games that were out yesterday. If visuals aren't your concern, you could buy a PlayStation or a PS2 or an Xbox, real cheap, and then buy old games real cheap, and have pretty much the same experience for a fraction of the cost.

I understand your curiosity, though. I want all three consoles - but I look at the games lineup, and I say, I want console x for this game, or that game, I want console y for that game, or this game. And that's it. The consoles have a couple games each I want.

mfsa

ahh, mfsa speaks the truth once again. yeah, i don't have that many games that i want from either of the 3 consoles. the most promising is the most expensive - the ps3; on the ps3, i want virtua fighter 5, tekken 5, fight night 3, nba 2k8, and the blue-ray dvd player. so i'm leaning heavily towards the ps3 among the consoles. but that's still only 4 games, maybe a few more added to the list (like mlb 2k8 ) if i'm bored. but the pc has so many more games that i have yet to play. i'll think about it some more, but i found that quoted paragraph pretty convincing. thanks.

would be interesting to put this poll on the PS3 and Xbox forums and see what the results are there as well. Maybe it will help you make a more informed unbiased decision.

To me it all depends on the types of games you want to play. I think the PC (for now) does some games better than consoles and consoles do some games better than PC e.g.(sports games come to mind). I think in about 7 years or so it'll be interesting indeed to see how console gaming stacks up to PC gaming.

I own an X360 and a Wii. I haven't turned them on for months, and they are currently collecting dust beneath my TV. I'm contemplating selling my 360. The Wii has no games i play (mostly bought it for my gf) and I still feel that it's nothing more than an OC'ed Gamecube with a somewhat gimmicky controller. Still, I'll probably pick up Smash Bros at some point and I know my gf is really looking forward to MarioKart. The 360 is seeming more and more redundant now that I have a decent PC, and I can't stand the community on Xbox Live (mostly jerks and obnoxious little kids), which is why I may sell it. To be honest, I always seem to end up getting bored/disappointed with consoles, and end up going back to PC gaming wishing I hadn't wasted my money. I think the last great console was probably the SNES. Ever since then consoles have kind of sucked and always trailed behind the PC. I could go on and on about why the PC is a superior platform with much more complex and satisfying games with much greater longevity and better multiplayer, but I'll spare you that.

In my opinion you should save your money, and maybe buy more PC games or hardware upgrades for your PC. If you do buy a console, I would probably go for the Wii. Most of the big PS3 and X360 releases also end up on the PC. The PS3 at least doubles as a media center and blu-ray player, but if you have a half-way decent gaming PC, I see almost no reason to get a 360. Not to mention that the 360 is a huge ripoff once you factor in the overpriced accessories, $50/year for XBL, and $60 games (also true of PS3). The Wii at least has some real exclusives and its very girlfriend/party/family friendly for when you have people over.

i really appreciate all the comments. as to this being a biased forum for my question, i totally agree, but i'm more interested in hearing the reasons behind suggesting one over the others (more so than the actual poll result). and since i'm a pc gamer, i think hearing from fellow pc gamers will be most helpful.

and as for how much my spending money is, it can be as high as $1000 but i'd rather keep it around $500. the only way i'm spending anything near $1000 is if there's a really, really great reason to do that. of course, with $1000, i could buy both a console and the pc accessories... hmm...

The consoles are good, I have the xbox 360 (although I like them all really) but I find that there a few negatives to them.

One example would be the high price, you can expect to pay £40 in the UK for a new xbox 360/ playstation 3 game unless you search around alot and may get it for £35 or something. However, the PC games generally are around £20 a few weeks after launch. Another thing you may not be aware of is the micro transactions that take place such as buying extra maps to play on Gears of War for instance. Now these maps are free but at one time they cost £6.40 or around that figure (800 microsoft points). This is something that you would 99% of the time get for free on the PC.

I can see your side to this as well with the racing games like Forza Motorsport 2, Fight Night Round 3 et al being very good. However, there are some great racing games on the PC like Grand Prix 4, WTCC and many others. I admit there are a lack of fighting games and if you are into them then maybe the console would be the best bet, however, I am not a fan of the figthing games (I have not played many but they are not something that you keep coming back to unless you want to get 100% at every game and gain top high scores in which case it sounds like a game for you).

I was a console gamer for some time, starting with the PS One but in recent times I have been getting a bit fed up of the over priced games and micro transactions for extra content. There are some great PC games I have missed and I may want to get them sometime to get going with the PC.

If you are wanting a system where your games generally work straight off with no issues then a console may be best choice, there are some great games on the systems but these are generally quite expensive to get. If you want racing games there are some excellent ones around on the PC but not so many fighting games (which is disapointing if you are a fan of those games). On the whole, maybe a PS2 may be a good idea to dip your toes into consoles with for games like Tekken, Final Fantasy etc before moving onto a new console as if you don't like it you wont have spent loads of money on it.

Hope this helps :)

hmm... thanks for your opinion, garfield360uk. maybe i'll wait till the ps3 is on its last legs and the price is insanely low. that's what i did with the playstation. fireandcloud

That's what I'm doing. The PlayStation 1 has (in my opinion!!!!!!11) about fifteen world class best ever games. I got a PS1 at launch, since I was a console gamer back then. Back then, it was definitely worth it.

The PlayStation 2 has around four or five great titles, but by then I was a PC gamer so I got the PS2 cheap, after the 360 had already released, I think. I got the machine and over a dozen games for less than what the machine cost at launch. Good deal, but the only games I still play on my PS2 are the Guitar Hero games.

And I'm planning to do that with the PS3, too. I am definitely buying a PS3 when the machine is on on its last legs. The argument isn't that the consoles don't have good games, it's that they don't have enough good games to make it worthwhile - as a PC gamer - until the machine is cheap, and until you can buy the games all at once. Otherwise, it's one game (that lasts a few hours) every few months, and that's it. If you are a PC gamer, your mainstay gaming will still be your PC.

Everything you're looking for with the current gen consoles, you can get from the last generation, or even the one before it. Hell, you could buy a PSP or a DS - it still gives you your thirty minutes of disposable fun a day, but it's a fraction of the cost.

The PS3 will eventually have stuff like Resident Evil 5, Silent Hill 5, Street Fighter 4, Wipeout HD and Metal Gear Solid 4 that I'm really looking forward to playing - but just about everything else will be on PC, and will be better on PC. If you're like me, you don't want a console, you want to want a console - and you're just a little impatient.

Whatever it is you're looking for, I think you could find it with a cheaper machine. Maybe a handheld.

If you're like me, you don't want a console, you want to want a console - and you're just a little impatient.

mfsa

lol! that may be right on the money. yeah, right now, i want 4 titles and that's about it. that doesn't seem enough to buy a ps3. and you're right that some of those titles (mostly sports titles) are available on the ps2. but fighting games do evolve from one version to the next; i don't think i could go back to playing games like virtua fighter 1 or 2 when there's virtua fighter 5 available.

and i'm definitely not interested in the psp. the ds seems kind of interesting. but the whole portable thing seems a bit way too casual for my liking. on the subway and whatnot, i'd rather read a book and be productive than pass my time playing games for the sake of passing time. i play games for the sake of playing and enjoying games, not passing time.

I'll try to give you my views on the matter, although it's impossible to be objective here (as you can see by some of the posts, they're all different, lol). Every other person has his or her favourites when it comes to platform of choice. Why you should get:

a 360. My personal experience has been positive with this console. Let's open with some "bashing" though as it certainly deserves some. It died on me once, I got a new one for free, so I'm not really complaining. 360=noise. I don't know about the new models, but PS3 is a lot and I mean A LOT quieter. Until 2008 most multiplat games have looked and played better on the 360. That will change or have changed already, but I've yet to see a reviewer say "PS3 version looks best". There are some very good games on the 360, some are exclusives. Will Fable 2 come to the PC? Will you be able to play PC-GTA 4 a few months after the launch on consoles? Who knows, I'm not willing to wait and see. The marketplace, Live and all that is very well done imo, every thing works without a hassle. If you can handle the jerks online, but hey, they are present on PC too. It's not like this forum is full of Mother Theresas and Ghandis. You'll find people with attitude everywhere.

PS3: Two(?) words. BluRay and upscaling. Awesome if you have a TV that can show the signal in all it's hi def glory. Spider Man 2 & 3 on BD are fantastic to watch. So is Pirates. I think this console's games-library is a little crappy right now. If I don't have at least 5 great PS3 games in 2009, I'll probably give this console to my brother. But then again, I don't like fighting or sports-games, so you might feel differently. It is an awesome piece of machinery. Very well built. But like I said, a lot of "Meh"-games.

Wii: I know people go "Gimmick, it's just a GC with enhancements, bla, bla, bla..." All I have to say about this console is that it's fun. Will I think it's still as fun in a year or two? I don't know. As long as I'm having a good time now, I don't really care. I understand why it's so popular.

PC: well, enough has been said about this. A couple of new parts, racing wheel, maybe a decent monitor + the biggest game-library out there = win.

Whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll have a good time, but you should really let the game-libraries guide your decision. See some great ones on a console + some future exclusives? Get it. If not, just upgrade your PC.

very nice breakdown of the three consoles. i played all three before. a friend has the wii, and i enjoy the little mini-sports games (especially the baseball - the boxing one was too exhausting :) ). another friend has the x360, but he likes games that are going to come out on the pc eventually, like mass effect and assassin's creed and whatnot, so i'm not all that interested in playing his games. i've tried the ps3 as well at gamestop (nba 2k8 ), and it was pretty sweet. obviously, i haven't played either of the 3 enough to come up with my own conclusion based on the limited experience. but from reading your assessment of all 3 consoles, it makes me want to buy all 3! if only i had the money to do that. heh.

i think i definitely ruled out x360, cuz it has similar fighting games (only less) and sports titles as does the ps3 and lacks the blue-ray dvd player (as of now). the wii is still an attractive alternative option, and i think houseguests would enjoy the wii more as well. but i'm definitely starting to lean towards sticking with the pc and getting more games and upgrading, with the ps3 starting to lag behind a bit. i'll have to see. thanks, arthur79!

but come on, man! spider-man 3? i hated that movie; completely set the franchise a few steps backwards.