CP3S said:
$1,000 for a "bleeding-edge" computer vs. a couple of hundred for a gaming console? Hmmm?
I really just have a hard time seeing PC gaming being definitively "where it's at".
No matter how good the computer, sooner or later you're bound to hit some snag that makes you have to go through some kind of a hassle in order to get a certain game to work. It is kind of nice that PC games are usually about ten bucks cheaper than console games these days, but then again you can't resell, trade, or give away most modern games thanks to increasingly strict DRM. The vast majority of my 360 games cost me less than $20 dollars, most commonly I pay in the $8 to $12 dollar range. I also like that I don't have to wait for games to install and that I never have to worry about compatibility, performance, or anything else that might hinder my experience of the game (except in the case of freaking Assassin's Creed II).
I am a big FPS fan and that is mostly what I play, I've never had any complaints with a controller and now the thought of going back to a mouse and wasd keyboard setup is very unappealing. This is really just a matter of personal preference. I would have agreed with you back in the N64 days though, it was really hard to be accurate in games like Goldeneye with the 64's controller. But we've come a long way since then.
I've seen the games I play on my 360 played on high end PCs, and I can't say I feel like I am missing out on that much. If the difference were night and day and I felt really blown away by immensely better frame rates and graphics, then I might break down and agree with you; but really, I just don't see this super duper advantage of PC gaming... Except when it comes to modding, or in the cases like that of Left 4 Dead, free DLC. Modding isn't something I have time for/the slightest interest in (when I was a kid and had a lot of time on my hands I loved it! I even discovered modding on my own by dinking around in my games install folders long before I had the internet and discovered it had a name and thousands of other people did it as well), and while paying five dollars a piece for DLC that is free to PC users is very annoying, it's not really worth getting worked up enough about to run out and buy a $1000 dollar computer for.
For a few years I did all my gaming on the PC and was a pretty big advocate of PC gaming. Back in the mid nineties to the end of the last generation, the console counter parts of PC games didn't even compare in the slightest. The PC version was always going to be better beyond comparison to its PS2 or Xbox counter part, even when my computer got so outdated I had to turn my graphics down all the way, it still looked better than on the PS2. The thing is, that simply isn't true anymore. You really have to have a sharp eye and some decent side by side comparison shots to pick out the differences between the console versions and the PC version of games like Portal 2 or Fallout: New Vegas.
To me, for the difference, I'd rather just have the far more accessible and far more affordable console hooked up to my big screen TV, where I can play it on the comfort of my couch (incidentally TV, couch, and 360 collectively all cost me less than $1,000) rather than play on an expensive machine sitting at a desk on a ridiculously large and expensive monitor that is still smaller than my TV. And as more of a social gamer than anything else, I find I have far more friends playing games like COD or L4D on a 360 than I do on a computer.
Consoles just make more sense for me in every way. The personal advantages of consoles to me are great, and the disadvantages small. Obviously that isn't true for everyone, but I think it is for a lot of us who have many other obligations and only a few hours of (video game) playtime a week.
I agree with this 100%.
I used to be a PC gamer. I used to be a hardcore PC gamer. Back when I was a 3D modeler for commericals, my home PC was bleeding edge. It cost thousands of dollars a year, but it was always new.
A console that I spent $300 on 6 years ago (plus ~$100-$150 in controllers and other other accessories over the years) was the best computing purchase of my life.
Tyrphanax- What makes you call them overpriced? As far as I can tell, they are a steal for what they are. You're getting the hardware below cost- they subsidize the hardware costs to spur software sales.
And let me add a little fuel to this fight:
I think there are about 1000 times as many PC -> Console gamers as there are Console -> PC gamers. Therefore: the argument is usually between people that have only played PC, and those that used to play a lot of PC but now play only console. One group is prepared to argue the pros and cons. The others- not so much. Most PC guys that complain about the controller have never logged enough hours to get above the learning curve.