Jeez, lots and lots 'o bitching around this here parts. And I'll just add a few more coals to the fire, if you don't mind
Coming from both a Console and PC gamer (I recently got a new Gaming PC), I can safely say that my PC is vastly superior to my console, but only in terms of functionality. Afterall, I'm typing this sentence on here right now with ease while working on a Word document and streaming videos, of course my PC is better than my console in functionality.
But here's where the PC's advantage over Consoles comes to a dead stop;
Simplicity.
Want me to say it again?
[HEADING=3]Simplicity.[/HEADING]
If you set out to custom build your own PC, you're in for an absolute world of pain. If you're stupid, your new gaming PC
will cost several thousand dollars. No. Stop. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear how you can find lists online for easy listings of parts for a new gaming computer.
PC's were never meant to play games, they were purely meant to be used for business purposes (and porn), and most people will be perfectly content with their old business machine. Building PCs presents a horde of new problems. Over the past 3 or so months I've had my new computer, there's been a new goddamn problem with it every other week. One time the speakers were on the fritz, other times the screen was, sometimes it would start up slowly, some games would not start, etc...
Here are just some of the questions that I had to ask to make sure I got a good deal for my gaming computer;
The Computer
What is my spending range? What parts am I going to need? What's the difference between a GPU and a CPU? Do I even need one? What the hell's RAM? What's considered a good amount of RAM? Is 8GB of RAM too much or too little to play most games? What kind of OS do I need? Do most games run on that OS? What the hell is a graphics card? Is it a GPU? Which one do I buy? Are any of these graphics cards compatible with any CPUs or whatever? What the fuck's an ATIRaedonHD5700? Is it better than the NVidia680xGt? Would that be excessive, would I even need that amount of whateverthehell it is? Can most games even play on that card? What about the screen, can I still use my old one or do I need to go out for a new one? What the hell is an i5 CPU processor thingy? And for that matter, what's an i7? Would I even need that? What the fuck's a TurboGrafx1y637632? What the fuck's a 724GT260CPU? What the FUCK'S a BIOS? Are there any compatibility issues with any of the parts? And what the FUCK DOES 2.87Ghz MEAN? Do I even need that much? Is that too little to play my games? And what about internet connection, do I need to buy a new router or one of those wireless connector thingamabobs? What about future proofing my hardware? What if one of my devices becomes obsolete? And on top of all of that, will I still be able to run all my old software and crap on it, Word and Powerpoint and iTunes and all that? I still need to use it for projects and stuff! Oh jezuz fuck, I might as well buy an AlienWare.
Every single one of those questions had to be addressed when I was trying to get a custom gaming PC for me. And that's not going into setting up the damn thing, installing all the crap you need just to get on the internet safely.
Now let's compare the questions to buy a console;
The Console
What console should I get? What games am I interested in? What bundles does the console come in and what's in the bundle? Should I buy any additional peripherals (HD cables, accessories, extra controllers, etc...)? Hmm, okay, I think I know what I'll get. *Gets the console, plugs it in a few sockets, puts in some info upon start-up, and plays the game)
Notice how the kind of games the person plays never comes into account in the PC set up, yet it's one of the first concerns in the console one? That's because
PCs are not meant to be gaming machines.
Let this be known, though, that I'm not trying to bag on the PC here, as I said I'm a partial PC gamer (love TF2, it's ungodly on PC) and I'll play just about anything that comes my way. It's just a lot of times, when the "PC master race" starts yabbering with numbers and statistics and newsarticles and crap, they (and subsequently, the "consul-tards" that argue with them) lose sight of what really matters;
the games
Right now, the home console is the mainstream center in gaming. It's all about getting those consoles in homes and getting the bragging rights over who's in more homes. PCs are already standard in most homes in developed-nations, and most of those PCs are never used for any serious games. There are plenty of innovative games coming out on PC, but to really make a big impact games tend to need to be on consoles and be a "AAA" title.
Consoles, overall, are just a much more focused experience as developers can focus on one set of specs, no matter how old the technology in them is. It's not always about how powerful the technology is, it's how you use it that counts. And quite frankly, I rarely see a truly polished game come out on PC that simultaneously influences the entire gaming industry. I mean, say what you will about the Uncharted franchise, when Uncharted 2 came out it was one helluvah polished game, specialized on one specific platform. That's something you can
quite get with PCs.
But whatever, I've ranted on longer than I thought I have. I would love it if someone would like to debate with me on the topic, but please keep it civil.
~Jumplion
