Poll: PC Gaming Future?

[brainslurper]

Not to start a flame war, but I have really never heard a reason that consoles are superior. The only thing I can think of is you have to have to spent a couple minutes figuring out where to get your PC.

Off-hand:
1. There more portable then a desktop (although lab-top obviously don't apply here).
2. They don't required upgrade on parts during their lifetimes they need to be replaced ever 4 or 5 years but you don't ever have to worry about a new graphics card being needed.
3. They provided universality. All consoles are built the same as a result build specific issues don't exist.
4. They're generally cheaper then a high end PC while still offering good graphics capabilities.

I don't know why some people think PCs are clearly superior in every way. If that was true, Consoles gaming would die out simply by not being as good a deal and thus not a marketable item. There is always some advantage in some way even if its just "not as good but cheaper".

1. http://www.apple.com/macmini/ In case you have never seen one, they are roughly the same size as the power brick on an XBox cord. It's hard drive is 500gb, an XBox's hard drive is 120gb. It has as much graphics memory as an XBox has system memory and graphics memory combined.
2. So being able to switch out parts instead of scrapping everything and buying a whole new one is a negative? Graphics cards have roughly the same lifespan as consoles do in terms of time until it is no longer capable of playing new games (graphics cards also last longer, but reliability is an entirely different argument.)
3. Not exactly sure what you mean...
4. A high end PC costs more then an XBox, but a PC with the same graphical capabilities as an XBox is cheaper.

I don't think the average person knows enough to be able to compare a console to a PC.

1. That's nice. Doesn't change the fact that most people's desktops are not exactly portable while consoles are.
2. Well no but rather then frantensteining your computer by replacing parts on a regular basis for each part which is more complex it is a much easier situation to replace the whole unit on a regular interval. Not to mention that you never have to worry about a part ever falling behind the standards since the games are designed to run on your current hardware. Its not an issue as to weather the game just went beyond what your CPU can do and you need to replace it, it will always run on your CPU. The only time you need to futz with changing is when the console generation turns over.
3. With a console you don't have to worry about issues in regards to specific PC builds for example, if you have graphics card X then some featured doesn't work with a certain game. With a console, they have have the same tech thus if it works on one it will work on all of them. This is actually very nice from a developer stand-point and convenient from a customer standpoint due to not having to deal with the aforementioned type of problem.
4. I would argue with you on which costs more but I don't think it would get either of us anywhere because of the effects of market prices. I suppose a similar but separate good argument is that buying a console is easier then buying a PC since it comes as a single item rather then a series of decisions on various parts.

Maybe not based on raw numbers but they certainly know things like cost and convince. Look on the side of an X-box and you get the system the cords a controller and possibly a game, in a neat package where the majority of systems are all very similar and comparable. Go to the PC section and you see pre-built PC, parts for PCs, etc. It's an entirely different situation. I';m not saying one or the other is better but anyone can see that there is a difference between the buying of the two. Consumers might not be experts but I certainly think they can tell the difference between different products. Not to mention that its often the person who will get the system that directs the purchase(what with gamers buying the system they use or children directing there parents as to what to buy) so I think the consumer often has more information then you might be giving them credit for.

1. Wait, what? Your original argument was that consoles are more portable then PCs, I presented you with a PC that is superior to a console in every conceivable way, and it is invalid because most people don't have mac minis?
2. I don't know how many times I have to say this. A graphics card available for half the price of a console will last you longer then one console generation.
3. No game has ever not worked because of certain hardware for me, and my PC is made of random shit I could pull together. And I wasn't able to play some parts of halo: reach because of what xbox model I had.
4. So you are saying that consoles are for people who can't be bothered to decide between multiple things? I hate to say it, but the differences between the 3 major consoles are much larger then the differences then the PCs on display at best buy or the apple store.

Most people have no idea about the hardware differences between the two, and from what I have seen, assume that because consoles are one purpose gaming devices, they are better at gaming. Which is incredibly wrong.