I've come up with a few advantages that each have over the other.
Console Advantages:
- Price. I say price and not up front costs for a reason. People often say that Steam sales even everything out in the end, but that's BS. If you shop around and know what you're doing, console software is just as cheap or cheaper than Steam, even when Steam is having a sale. I often get brand new, sealed console games for anywhere from $5 to $15 bucks. Not bargain bin stuff, critically acclaimed games that sell for $60 bucks almost everywhere you go. The real difference here is the platform costs. Consoles are roughly $300 bucks, whereas if you want a top end gaming PC, you're easily spending over $1000 bucks. A top end video card alone costs more than a console, then you have to take into consideration motherboard, disc drives, harddrives, RAM, processor, cooling, power supply, sound card, and if you buy the good stuff, it can get expensive in a hurry.
- Optimization. This sort of goes hand in hand with price. Consoles are streamlined, everything from their hardware assembly to firmware are completely focused on gaming. If you put the same processor and GPU in a PC and a console, you will get significantly better performance on the console. With the PC, you need to compensate for the fact that you're running so many different processes and dedicating less of your RAM, CPU and GPU to gaming. To do this, you need to get really really nice hardware.
- Local play. Yeah, you can LAN up on PC, but local play is so much more convenient on consoles. Whether you be playing Madden, split screen racing or shooting, it's just a lot better on console. PC is just that, a personal computer which delivers a personal experience. Your friends can watch, maybe get a turn or 2, but they're not going to be playing with you.
- Fighting games.
- Racing games.
- JRPGs.
- Halo.
- Uncharted.
- Multiplat games that don't come to PC like Dragon's Dogma and SSX.
- Simplicity. You never have to bother with settings on the consoles.
PC Advantages:
- Hardware. Companies like Intel, Nvidia and AMD are constantly creating new products, better products. You can only experience these on a PC. These companies are the world's leading graphics card manufacturers, and what they have to offer can only be used on a PC. With a console, you have a company deciding what your prebuilt console will contain, and your preferences are irrelevant. Want more RAM? Too bad. Want faster harddrives? Not happening. You get what you get with consoles.
- Mods. Games like Skyrim are infinitely better with mods.
- Controller options. Being able to use the 360 controller along with KB/M makes PC the best for controllers.
- Blizzard. Best developer in the business, exlusive to PC.
- Communication. You see all these silly debates over PSN and Xbox Live. Well guess what, they both suck. On PC, you can just hop on Skype or Ventrillo and talk. You can run any communication app in the background. This is something that PC has always had. On PC, it's not called cross game chat. It doesn't cost $60 bucks a year. It's pretty ridiculous to look at Xbox Live when you look at the PC. Cross Game Chat is a free 10 second download. Plus, having a keyboard on hand in every game makes it so even if people don't have a mic, you can communicate with them.
- Battlefield 3. Play a maxed out 64 player match with all settings on max for a crazy experience. This alone is worth having a gaming PC for.
- More competitive. Games like StarCraft 2 have the highest skill ceilings out of any game out there. Consoles are very casual in comparison to the PC from a competitive standpoint.
I think that the consoles are much better suited for casual gamers. Not casual like farmville casual, but just gamers who aren't interested in having the best gaming experience. PC gaming is more for the gaming enthusiast who want to experience the best. Best controls, graphics, resolution, sound, and most importantly, the most competitive community and games.
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