Should I get a 360 or PC?

[Fayathon]

For the price, a decent PC will set you back more in the beginning, but in the long run you'll end up saving money (per game, I take no responsibility for what a Steam sale does to your wallet). A properly built PC lasts competently for 3-5 years without a notable degradation of what it can do. providing that you properly maintain it. Consoles are easier to deal with, PCs are a more satisfying experience.

 

[Brotha Desmond]

A lot of people are saying that I will need to upgrade my pc, which is not a hobby I want to get into. I don't like spending money on hardware aside from the initial investment if I can help it.

 

[Riley Holt]

I'd go with a decent PC for a number of reasons. Steam is a big one, since you can wait out launch prices and even pick up really stellar sales. There is of course the robust modding community for Bethesda games, and oldie game sites like "GOG.com" where you can snag PC titles from yesteryear, also for good prices. Jim Sterling talked about the differences between consoles in one of his Jimquisitions, so head there for more info. Basically, he said the only real pro for consoles was the controller, but most PC games nowadays has a controller option.

All that being said, I used to be a massive console fan, but that was a day when I didn't have to worry as much about money, and had a large group of friends with which to LAN party during weekends. When I lost both of those things, consoles became far less appealing. It depends on personal tastes, and I can see a good argument for both. However, with this generation of consoles beginning to wind down, you may want to wait it out if you decide on the 360. A desktop PC, however, could be upgraded to last a much longer time.

Anyway, good luck with whatever it is you decide to do!

 

[StylinBones]

It depends. If you know what you're doing and you are going to be active with upkeep and updating, go with a PC. Steam will give you better price deals too.

If you're lazy and just wanna game, go with 360. It's simple, always looks/runs great, no spec issues, and the XBLA is pretty good and affordable.

 

[Joccaren]

A lot of people are saying that I will need to upgrade my pc, which is not a hobby I want to get into. I don't like spending money on hardware aside from the initial investment if I can help it.

It all depends on what you want to do.

Do you want to max everything out at a playable framerate?
You're going to need to upgrade.

Do you want to just play games?
You won't need to upgrade for at least half a decade, probably more.

Keep in mind you have to upgrade consoles too, and that's going to end up more expensive when all you need to do for your PC is buy a mid range graphics card at that point. You spend more after the initial investment to save yourself from making another initial investment, like buying new tires for your car rather than buying a new car.
Either way though, unless you want to max things out that point is still years off, so you'll be fine - especially for the games you have listed as wanting to play.

 

[risue]

If it's not a hobby you'd like to get into then it might be worth it to look at something with a bit more graphical power (mainly in the graphics card i'd think). granted what you have i'd say is by no means bad, it will still provide a good bit of power and gaming capability, and more than what the current Xbox is capable of doing. It really boils down to what you want to get out of you're gaming experience. for that particular computer expect that you'll have to lower some of the quality from the highest possible settings (high Anti-aliasing, dynamic shadows advanced physics settings you'll probably have to turn down a bit) but that doesn't mean the games will look bad (i started PC gaming on a laptop that has probably half the capability of what that computer has and was fine) If you look for a rig that's a bit more expensive but has more power, it will pay off in quality. basically set the bar for you're computer hardware as high as you're budget will allow.

As plenty others have said before, PC gaming does have a lot of benefits outside of just better looking games

I've never owned or used a console aside from visiting friend's so i cant honestly provide feedback or aid in that.

 

[MoreThanANoob]

I'm a little biased as I don't own a 360 at the moment, but I would recommend PC. Contrary to popular belief, it's not that expensive to get a pretty good rig, you have mod support and with Steam you have access to an absolutely massive library of games. Just my tuppence, though.

 

[Braedan]

A lot of people are saying that I will need to upgrade my pc, which is not a hobby I want to get into. I don't like spending money on hardware aside from the initial investment if I can help it.

It all depends on what you want to do.

Do you want to max everything out at a playable framerate?
You're going to need to upgrade.

Do you want to just play games?
You won't need to upgrade for at least half a decade, probably more.

Keep in mind you have to upgrade consoles too, and that's going to end up more expensive when all you need to do for your PC is buy a mid range graphics card at that point. You spend more after the initial investment to save yourself from making another initial investment, like buying new tires for your car rather than buying a new car.
Either way though, unless you want to max things out that point is still years off, so you'll be fine - especially for the games you have listed as wanting to play.

With the system he linked to half a decade is not going to happen.
That said, the Xbox would have died about 4 years before that, but I digress.

OP, Almost all the "Upgrading" that you will be doing will be buying a new video card, and possibly more ram (though I doubt it if you buy the machine with 8 gig).

Installing a new video card is a matter of seconds at most. RAM is even faster, though requires a very slight amount more research. PC upgrades only become a time consuming hobby when you spend hours on reading why the components are better.

Either way that PC you linked will run games better than any current console, and you will have access to not just Steam, but all the OTHER things that people tell me computers can be used for.

 

[maxmanrules]

Computers can do more than consoles. You can do multimedia tasks with editing images and film, you can do 3D modelling and animation, you can do anything. Consoles are much more limited.
Plus, computers have mods, making the overall experience of games sooooo much better. Also, the 360 is nearing the end of its cycle, so yeah.
Upgrading your computer really isn't hard. If you need more RAM, pull out old ram sticks, put in new ones. It's basically like lego, but the result is more impressive.

 

[Joccaren]

With the system he linked to half a decade is not going to happen.
That said, the Xbox would have died about 4 years before that, but I digress.

That all depends on what he wants to play on it. Bastion, Minecraft and Angry Birds - and other games like them - are not very demanding on the system. Assuming he continues playing those types of games, or even many AAA games on medium-minimum settings, you could be able to make the rig last a long time. The graphics are what holds the rig back, and until the next console cycle that will not require an upgrade to simply play games, and even come the next console cycle there is a chance it will be sufficient simply because consoles must be affordable, so they won't be putting high end hardware in them and losing a lot of money like they did this generation.

 

[Braedan]

With the system he linked to half a decade is not going to happen.
That said, the Xbox would have died about 4 years before that, but I digress.

That all depends on what he wants to play on it. Bastion, Minecraft and Angry Birds - and other games like them - are not very demanding on the system. Assuming he continues playing those types of games, or even many AAA games on medium-minimum settings, you could be able to make the rig last a long time. The graphics are what holds the rig back, and until the next console cycle that will not require an upgrade to simply play games, and even come the next console cycle there is a chance it will be sufficient simply because consoles must be affordable, so they won't be putting high end hardware in them and losing a lot of money like they did this generation.

Yeah I suppose you're right. If you don't demand max setting for games and expect more along the lines of what the current console can play than I would almost say the PC he linked would last through the NEXT console cycle.
I would assume though that if he gets this rig he'll want to explore more than Angry Birds. If not I have an old Android phone he could buy for a couple bucks...

 

[Hawk of the Plain]

As for the exclusives I'm interested in for the 360:

Bastion, Trials Evolution, XBLA in general I guess, and Halo.

I only want PC pretty much for angry birds and minecraft. I know Xbox has minecraft but the pc version is better.

Bastion is already available on PC (someone already mentioned that) and trials evolution will be released in 2013

IMO PC is the better choice, I had a 360 before I really got into PC gaming and now my 360 spends almost all its time gathering dust (apart from playing trials evo every now and than, which I will be playing on PC instead when it comes out)

A PC has a higher upfront cost, but depending on your playing and buying habbets, it could work out cheaper in the long run, free online play for most games vs. Xbox live subscription.
There are lots of good free to play games on PC these days, League of Legends for example.
And steam puts on some really good sales around xmas and summer(lots of games were 75% off in the last summer sale).

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

For anyone curious this is the PC I had in mind.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229285&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-NA-_-NA

PC hands down, more game access along with better graphics. This rig here should be fine for anything for the next year to year and a half. An upgrade on the graphics card and ram if it is below 4 gigs will get you another two or three years afterwards. There the easiest to swap out and would take you less than 5 minutes for the both.

 

[Windcaler]

PC is the one to get IMO. You could get an XBOX but the only reason I did so was because of exclusives or games that were only on console (like Dark souls used to be).

On PC not only do you have a wider range of games whether AAA or indie developed but it also allows you to make use of the excellent modding communities out there. I can think of many games that I thought were horrible out of the box but mods made them my favorites (i.e. Morrowind) and some great games become absolutely amazing with mods (i.e. Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines)

Perhaps there are console advantages Im not thinking of but PCs advantages are clear and the only disadvantage, cost, is something that doesnt effect you

 

[neonsword13-ops]

Totally going with PC on this one.

Most of what you get on Xbox is already on PC. And it's usually better.

And if you're only going to use an Xbox to play the exclusives, it's not worth it. If you a console with exclusives, get PS3.

Then we have the online stuff. On Xbox, you have to pay $50 a year for games, internet, twitter, and so forth. On PC, you already get all of that for free. It's just a mouse click away.

 

[Yopaz]

I would go with a PC. Also hold off buying too many games, because in about two months Steam will throw out their insane Christmas sale.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Go make a list of games you want. Be sure to check on internet sites for list of games on both systems, so you don;t leave any out. If one clearly has more games, choose that one. Otherwise, if you don't have a computer of any kind, choose the computer as it is useful for other purposes (but only if this is a first computer and not an upgrade/second computer). If neither of these are relevant then flip a coin.

Do not, however, ever ask these forums as they have very strong and devises opinions and are going to confuse you more then then giving you a straight answer.

 

[Waaghpowa]

A PC is always the better choice considering you can do everything with a PC, not just gaming.

 

[The_Lost_King]

PC PC PC PC PC PC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I used to be a console gamer, but recently(mostly because of steam and Skyrim) I changed over to pc and have no regrets other than having a crappy rig. Seriously I see no advantages of a console other than there are some series I prefer on console(mostly because I don't have a thing that connects a xbox controller to the pc). I am not saying consoles are bad, I never will, but I just feel PC is superior.

 

[Gatx]

PC. It's a better investment. A good PC will give you, I dunno, half a decade where you can run everything at high, and maybe another five years where you'll turn it down to medium. The 360 on the other, is due to be replaced in a year or two, or at least that's what everyone is saying.