The Reason You're (Not) A Console Gamer

[Xman490]

"A gaming PC costs more than a console.

Ah, but console games cost more than PC games, so you pay more in the long run."

Actually, AAA games tend to follow a set path on pricing on all platforms (except for Nintendo's, in which discounts are half as deep and frequent): $60 on launch, $40 after a few months, $20 after around a year, and maybe on a subscription service afterwards.

The points to be made is that PC game discounts are way more common than console game discounts, and PC games eventually go for $10 or cheaper. See: Steam/GOG/GMG sales.

 

[Pitzotl]

Well I had NES, SNES, PS2, GC, Wii and X360. Right now I have PS3 and NDS. I never touch PS3 (to be honest it has been in the drawer for quite some time) and I keep NDS just because I love it so much (and because I STILL have some long-ass JRPGs to finish some day, also Picross 3D). Gamepads are worse that keyboard+mouse in every situation for me, except for Wiimote which found pretty stellar use in some of Wii titles. But I'm a PC gamer from the childhood. PC has point-n-click adventures of Sierra, LucasArts and Legend Entertainment, roguelikes, CRPGs such as Fallout, Arcanum and Neverwinter Nights, puzzles like those of Zachtronics or Incredible Machine (Contraption Maker these days), global strategy games, all kinds of unique stuff you wouldn't find on any console. Not that I dislike consoles, I had a lot of fun with all major Nintendo stuff, those Marios and Metroids, I liked now crapware genre of JRPG (Dragon Quests, Final Fantasies, Shin Megami Tensei Series). But all in all I just found that most of my favorite games are PC games and I will always own a PC (because it's past 20th century already, come on, there is not a single thing better than a computer in the world). The current console generation is underwhelming, uninspired and useless, to say the least. It probably won't be the last, but there is really no point anymore, there is no advantage in a "console" whatsoever, just look at them - they're just cheap PC-analogues with less features and proprietary corporate shenanigans. Hell, they're even less powerful than a mid-range desktop. I remember the days when I looked at GTA3, then exclusive to PS2, and thought - what kind of a technical miracle is that thing, my PC is no match for this wonderbox! And it wasn't only my PC, that was the whole point. But those times are long over.
So... I started from ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 and my first games were over there (River Raid! Blue Max!). The idea of a console seemed alien to me ever since, even when I started playing them because of their "exclusives".

 

[CrystalShadow]

I don't know. considering I have a console hooked up to a computer monitor sitting on my desk. (it does double duty as my pc monitor), and I've seen others with that arrangement too, I find the living room/desk thing a little flaky as an argument.

Granted, from what I've come across, the 'console on a desk' thing usually comes as a result of those of us that didn't choose pc or console, but chose PC and console.

The history stuff seems more definitive though.

I'm not really old enough for the atari era, but I'm too old for the playstation era to have had much influence, and way too old for the xbox.

I grew up in the Nintendo vs Sega era. And, well, we all know what that means for sega fans. (which I wasn't)

I also had exposure to pc's and PC games at a young age.

Lo and behold, by setup for about as long as I can remember has been PC + Nintendo console.
Which makes a nice complement.
There's some overlap, but for the most part they have different kinds of games, so having both broadens my options a lot.
Compared to the other console options, which would represent far more overlap with a PC.

Thing about PC's is, most people have them anyway.
They may not be awesome gaming systems, but you can still game on most of them.

That makes a PC ironically possibly a cheaper option than a console, because you already have it anyway.
This is all the more true if you, or someone in your family has a job that already demands a fairly capable PC...

Remember that a $5000 PC is great and all, but you can still find tons of games that'll run happily enough on a $300 PC too.
That's easily forgotten sometimes.

Anyway, yeah... History probably does matter...

 

[Dollabillyall]

I dunno about the "hundreds of dollars worth of furniture" needed to do a normal pc gaming session. You can buy a decent desk chair for about $30, I dont know anyone who actually uses a keyboard drawer, you don't really need much lighting to play a PC game. Even a decent desk can be bought for $50 or less if you know how to shop or use craigslist. Don't fool yourself into thinking you need a $200 chair and a $350 desk just to play a PC game.
You can also choose to get an HDMI cable for $10 and one of those TV-dinner tably thingies and play the PC games using your TV as a monitor (and maybe even a controller instead of mouse+keyboard). Or someone in the opposite situation can plug their console into their desktop monitor and play a console at a desk. I do both these things, depending on what my girlfriend is doing (watching tv or working) I just switch a single cable around and hey presto I can choose both console and PC gaming either at my desk or on my couch.

As for what I grew up with/what's available... I grew up with both PC and console gaming and I currently have both available. The big difference is that I use my PC for a million other applications and that warrants the PC being an up-to-date technological beast while I only bought a PS3 when the PS4 came out so I could play the exclusives but still get them for cheap. You don't actually have to buy a console for retail price. Just wait for the next generation to come out and pick one up for 20% of the cost and buy entire libraries of games for steam summer sale prices as more hasty fanboy people are scraping together every dollar they can to buy the newest console (with it's bugs and limited release titles). I bought a good condition PS3 superslim 500gb with two controllers and 20 games (including GTA5) for $150.

Honestly at the end of the day I don't even understand why there is still a divide between console and PC. Anyone can own both and actually a console is already so much like a PC that I don't understand why they are still seperate entities.