Poll: According to my peers, PC gaming is inferior to consoles.

[V8 Ninja]

Ignoring the issue that sparked the question, it depends. If someone is looking for an easily accessible way to play video games, PC gaming is the laughing stock of the party. When a person wants flexibility and freedom, PC gaming is the one to kick all of the asses and take all of the names.

 

[shabobble]

Wait, which one has the superior controls again? If you play FPS, RTS, or adventures, a PC's keyboard+mouse combo is better; for all else, a good gamepad (meaning: no Sony DualShit) or arcade stick wins by far. Except if you have a more genre-specific controller, such as a flight stick or a driving wheel.

You're right for RTS, and possibly for adventures, but FPS is not always better on the PC. Say what you want about the mouse sensitivity being much higher. Some people are better with lower sensitivity.

 

[Rule Britannia]

My argument against PC gaming is every so often (I understand it's not at all frequent) but you need to upgrade your computer to run games on their best setting which in my eyes is a great burden for PC gamers. I find PC gaming uncomfortable looking at my computer screen holding a mouse and having my fingers pressing keys on the keyboard doesn't feel right to me, this is definitely because I'm not used to it but when I held a controller for the first time I had no such problem (although I obviously wasn't very good my first time playing video games).

PC gamers can modify their games to however they want to modify it so long as they know how to do it, they can solve glitches with commands etc. This is a huge advantage in singleplayer games especially in Bethesda titles with such a vast world there has to be some problems and so a simple command fixes the problem. This is not available to console gamers.

Console exclusives TEND to be better *cough Halo cough*. There are some amazing PC exclusives out there too, I haven't played WoW but I understand that if I had the money to play and a good PC I would play it.


Anyway that's just my opinion. I'm a console gamer so my opinion is bias but frankly I don't give a rat's arse

 

[XUnsafeNormalX]

If you're looking for better games and gameplay then PC is the route to go.

If you just want to play games then a console is fine too.

 

[Roamin11]

You are not part of a Glorious Golden Race.


I hate it when PC gamers think they are better than me.

Well, see I don't think PC gaming is superior, just the technology, consoles are 8 years behind PC's technology wise, but then again a up to date PC's close well over a grand.

I guess it all comes down to, PC gamers are quite tech savvy to keep their monstrous monoliths running and up to date, while we sit down with our consoles and not have to worry a bit, so their pride in their machines makes them spiteful to our lack of work?

I kinda just wish they'd come out with new consoles already, update the tech and such.

 

[Drenaje1]

There's no PC master race, but still, it really is a superior platform. Sure, consoles are cheap, but that's a double edged sword: If you want a standardized platform that's affordable and can play most games easily, then the quality of the hardware going into it is going to...stagnate. They're getting old. Their capabilities are becoming limited. Until we can develop a superior level of cheaply producible hardware to stick in these things, well, let's just say there's not much room for the consoles to grow, at this point in time. It's a fantastic idea, but the technology developers are using in their games is advancing too fast, and the technology for running the games is advancing too slowly.

*Giant tangled mess of affordability to the general masses that I don't care enough about to start talking about.*

Bottom line: Console is affordable. Console runs games decently. But technology is not advanced enough for console to continue being preferred platform in the near future.

PC is somewhat expensive. But for the extra cost, it has a better chance of keeping up with the times.

 

[scorptatious]

Another thread that'll no doubt spawn a flame war between the gaming community.

As for me? I like both. PC for Team Fortress 2 and Plants vs Zombies, and consoles for everything else. I don't think either is superior to the other.

 

[Necromancer1991]

Well I'm using on an not so extraordinary PC and having a blast, allow me to answer why I love PC gaming so much. May I just say right now, it's not "Teh uber grafics!11!", I have an okay graphics card (ATI Radeon HD5570 to be exact) so I can get the games to look at least passable (I can run most source engine games on higher settings). As for the controls I'm not the most keyboard-savvy person on earth (I occasionally find myself switching weapons when I meant to run forward and so on) but I can play most games competently.

The main reason I always find myself playing my PC more than my Xbox/PS/Wii combined, is because of the sheer amount of games at my finger tips, with no legwork required to access them, hell on steam I have access to most of the newest games, and I can get alot of the old favorites from GoG and all that, without even having to leave this chair.

That's not to say consoles don't have their merits, I can at least trust the new game I got to run at 60 FPS on good if not great setting, as well as the fact that they're hooked up to my HDTV, not to mention that I get to sit in a comfy recliner as I slay dragons in Skyrim. Not to mention the convenience of a PSP or Gameboy.

 

[ShakeyJake]

Meh.

Often a pc can be graphically superior (certainly much higher resolutions) and there are other advantages too, my favourite being more scope for hotkeys.

On the downside, there is all that arseing about with drivers this and installing that. It's also a money pit. I can pretty much guarantee that any ps3 or 360 game will work on my machines, not so with PC games. (Especially as I'm a Linux user!)

In short, I voted for apples and oranges.

 

[RicoADF]

This is a direct quote from Facebook:

Bobby your about to get double teamed for saying battle field is gay it looks like a pc game and it doesn't have a story line to it like modern warfare

I did agree to the fact that BF3 didn't have much of a story-line. But since when does it have to have one? Does that take away from the quality of the game? Well, if they have QTE's where you stick a knife into a rat, then yes... But otherwise I don't think it should have too much of a difference whether or not there is a storyline.

On the subject of 'battle field is gay it looks like a pc game'
What do you think he means, and if you agree or not to what this is implying, choose an option in the poll and/or voice your opinion in reply form, fellow Escapists!

I have 2 gaming rigs (one more powerful the other receives the parts from the main one as hand me downs) and the PS3, and each has their advantages and disadvantages.
PC games are generally more customisable, their games have better graphics (debatable and really doesnt matter), and they obviously have alot of uses other than just gaming. Also genres like RTS, FPS and strategy work better with keyboard and mouse. The consoles tho are more conveniant, quicker to get into (pick up and play), more portable (easier to take to a friends) and generally play racing, flying (Ace combat arcade style flying games) and GTA style games better with their controller (tho the opinion on what genres work on which is subjective, and personally I can play any on either system easily).
At the end of the day their the same thing, more no than ever, a X-box and the PS3 are both just computers with a different OS, nothing more nothing less.

 

[Toy Master Typhus]

I don't think people understand why some PC gamers love the pc so much: FOR THE GOD DAMN MOUSE AND KEYBOARD!

PC gaming is capable of more not because they have better components but because there about 100 buttons on the keyboard alone that in most PC games allow for more control capability then on a console with two sticks and 14 buttons.

Don't get me started on Mouse vs. Stick Control.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

Apples and fucking Oranges, people!

I can't believe the Escapist STILL hasn't gotten over this... We have overcome almost every flame-war on teh webz, and yet we still have heated arguments about these two gaming devices.

They both have their perks!

Dear PC gamers: You are not better. Your stuff is not better.

Dear console gamers: You are not better. Your stuff is not better.

THE END!

 

[fix-the-spade]

@Alimarin.

I don't really understand the point you are trying to make, or the point of discussion you are trying to raise.

People who haven't had a chance to get into PC gaming will deride it as inferior, as will those unable to gain entry. Those with the time and the technical knowledge will always know better.

Life on the consoles is deathly homogenous and worryingly out of your control, when publishers decide what you can and can't play it's all very wrong indeed. My XBL subscription expired because of it.
Now I'm off to play Halo 2, online, on my PC, on a custom made map, with mod vehicles. See you server side Xbox fans...

You are not part of a Glorious Golden Race.
I hate it when PC gamers think they are better than me.

That is correct, we are not golden, it's just the particle effects.

Also, it wouldn't bother you if it weren't true.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

PC Gaming is far superior to Console Gaming, however I still play 360 as well as PC because theres a sort of laid back and casual feel about playing a console I don't always get from playing on PC.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

One is not superior to the other. PC Gamers are usually the ones to say that they have the superior system

Yes while that may true but console gamers can't really say they have a superior system as the whole selling point is low cost and ease of access ie no troubleshooting. That is if you mean PC gamers saying they have technically superior system but if you are saying that PC gamers say their platform is better more than console gamers that is untrue people push their platforms equally except maybe the Wii.

BTW; I voted "Yes" just to fuck with the elitists, I don't really think that.

Because that really helps things along I thought we weren't meant to feed trolls.

Just because you didn't say it outright does not mean people will think it. Most of console gamers are tired with PC gamers expecting everybody to pay $2000 for things to look shiny.

[Internet Psychologists]

Are you buying a liquid cooled PC made of gold or other precious metals? No? Then your PC should cost no more than ?1,000 and that is pushing it into high end territory as from scratch you really only need about ?500-?600. Sure you will need to shop around but that is what forums are for to help you do that. Most of everyone is sick of some console gamers having this complex where they think PC gamers are out to get them because a couple vocal elitists on the PC side. People are sick of supremacists on both sides. Just ignore them like most people do.


OT: Neither platform is superior to any other platform. All of them have distinct advantages and disadvantages that come with each side and each one suits different people me. I have a PC and a Xbox 360 now while I am play most of games on PC now as I have a fairly good Gamepad for games that need it I will always go back to Xbox for exclusives and some other games.

PCs have mods and versatile systems(can be high end wow graphics or similar to console but with smoother performance) but the cost here is you need to buy new parts every now and then. This depends on what part of the console life cycle in which we are. At the moment a ?500-?600 from 3 years will not need any upgrading until they release a new wave of consoles as they need the games to run on consoles. My laptop can play console port so it just shows how low the entry is on PC now.

Consoles however, rely on the fact that they are easy to use, set up and get into. So no blue screens and trouble shooting and maybe downloading the odd crack to get a game to work due to the operating system not wanting to read disc. The consoles have a serious lack of freedom though.

So overall neither is better than the other and this needs to be said again.

 

[Bvenged]

Wow - this is a really opinionated situation (console/PC; BF is better than cod but both stories sucked).

PC gaming allows people like me to mod games like TES to maximise enjoyment, more freedom with the games we play, more freeware, multitasking software, get a top-of-the-range experience graphically - stuff like that.

Console gaming allows my friends and I to sit back and relax on our sofas with minimal fuss about patching/servicing/connecting, receive entertainment on a widescreen HD TV/3D with surround sound for a 1/10 the price, with nothing more than a controller (or less with kinect), have a chat with synchronised systems, easily boot up a game and play online with drop-in drop-out, send messages, not have to worry about cheaters/viruses/hackers as much, simple pleasures. It is nothing more than a gaming console - that is what you pay for, but now you get TV & chat & community programs with it for no extra charge, whilst a PC needs to be upgraded for those things.

At the end of the day, I've got a PC that I used for work, internet browsing, modding older games, playing strategy/nostalgia games on; and an Xbox to chat with friends, play modern gaming, sit on a comfy chair, HD tv, surround sound, movies etc. without the hassle of version syncing, viruses, spending large volumes of money or spending more time that I already do with my eyes a few inches from the screen.

If you want all that on PC, nothing's stopping you - but the easier option with a better outcome is to get a console. the only compromise is less freedom with your medium. To go with PC gaming these days it's very little gain over a vast expense in comparison to a little less for a vast expense less.

 

[natster43]

PC Gaming is not inferior to Console, and Console Gaming is not inferior to PC. They both have their pros and cons.

 

[aashell13]

According to me your peer sounds like an idiot.

Now look: anything you can do on a console you can do on a PC (oftentimes PC did it first), but the reverse is far from true.

As for quality of games; well, the average AAA title's quality is nothing to write home about anyway so I won't bother arguing about it.