The Unofficial Console vs. PC debate

[00stevo]

aright so i grew up playin doom on pc and it was badass. so i started on pc. but pc gaming is now dead. heres my list why consoles rule the market.

 

1)cost effective is the argument most people bring up first. you can buy all 3 current gen consoles for less than a decent gaming pc. no to mention you constantly have to upgrade you pc graphics card proccessor. sound card. if you wanna play anything good at decent quality

 

2)no viruses on consoles. sure whatever you can get virus protection. but thats just more money on crap you shouldnt need to buy to game

 

3)ya pc has a lot of games cause theyve been around for 30 years or whatever. but most arent even capatable with newer OS. theyre are more games exclusive to consoles including game of the year this year uncharted 2. also great series like zelda, mario, the tales series, final fantasy (sure some where on pc, but good luck finding them), and now that i think about it most RPGs

 

4) PORN HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GAMING

 

5)emulating other consoles is nothing but a fail The games never run how theyre suppose to. and its not exactly legal

 

6)keycodes. yup you buy a pc game let a friend borrow it and hey! he cant check it out because once the keycode used up it wont install on anyone elses comp

 

7)sure pc game have better graphics but the gap between that and pc is getting smaller and smaller. and graphics have nothing to do with the game. gameplay is what makes a game fun

 

8)plug and play! yup put the disc in and you good to go. sure theres the occasional install on ps3 games and you have the option of installing 360 games but theres no upgrading this or that to play a a game. you get it home and you know its gunna run on the system

 

9)and im sorry sure gaming started on pcs (tennis for two in 1958 depending on what you define "video game" as) but what brought it to the public and what really started the revolution was consoles (the odyssey as ghetto as it was, the atari 2600 was huge for its time as well) also in the video game crash of 1983 who brought back gaming? that right nintendo with their famicon and NES consoles!

 

10)mobile gaming yup that a tough one to argue. PSP and DS sure theyre nothing compared to laptops but theyre way more portable and the battery life last longer than a laptop (at least on the ds haha. sorry PS)

 

11)the online community is way bigger now on consoles. and no WoW does not count that just shows whether or not you have a life. i will say tho its a damn fine game for its genre though

 

12)uh im done typing ill debate some more l8r. bottom line PC gaming is dying especially with the gap between consoles and PC getting ever so smaller. consoles are getting more like pcs now than ever without the cost

Couldnt have said it better myself.Im getting pretty tired of pc gaming now,too much expense.I getting a 360 in a couple of weeks,and i cant really see myself looking back.Sure ive got a soft spot for my pc,but im going back to consoles for the time being.Roll on gears of war 2!

[ClayMeow]

Not true. Phantasy Star and Final Fantasy XI are both MMO's on a Console (XBOX 360), and MAG comes out for the PS3 next year. TBH I'm suprised that Everquest isn't on the PS3, both being a Sony franchise and all. Granted, there are still far more MMOs for PC than Consoles.

Sorry, but I said "true persistent-world" MMOs, which those are not.

 

It's the reason you don't find WoW on consoles, nor will you find Star Trek Online or SWTOR.

[fire_storm]

The flash and web based games argument is like the porn argument. PS3, Wii, and Dreamcast all have browsers... thus all can access porn and flash based games.

 

Browsing the web on a console isn't that really great when you compare to browsing the web on a PC. I've tried browsing the Web on my Wii and the experience isn't that great because the console browser doesn't support a lot of plug-ins required to view some websites. Quite often the consoles browsers can't support large web pages because there memory fills up and the rest of the web page just stops working. Console browsers also load web pages a lot slower then PCs do. Also trying to play flash games on a Consoles browser just sucks because Wii and PS3 controllers aren't very easy to use for those purposes.

 

So even though some consoles can browse the web I'd hardly call it an advantage due to there limitations there browsers have.

 

Also while you can send email using an Xbox360 its still not the same as a PC. As far as I know you can't attach photos or word/excel documents and send them to a xbox360 and view them.

[d3bruts1d]

Yeah, but they are limited to games from the same developer, unlike the PC.

Sure, the "official ones". Though there are Nintendo, Sega, and other console emulators for the PS3.

[d3bruts1d]

Softmodding Xbox & Wii

[d3bruts1d]

Also, to the "Consoles have no hacks or cheaters". Think again. Tons of Xbox accounts have been banned for cheating.

[ClayMeow]

Don't know if it was mentioned already, but I didn't see it:

 

PC Pro - updating and patching are more frequent, quicker and free

- 1. As seen with the TF2 updates, or lack thereof, consoles have less memory than even low-end PCs. Because of this, Valve has been unable to release all the class updates for TF2 to the Xbox 360, as they have reached the memory threshold. They claim to be working on reducing the memory usage, however they've said that for over a year, and now they've just released another two class updates.

- 2. Microsoft often wants developers to charge for extra content.

- 3. As for patching, I'm not sure how Sony handles it, but as for Microsoft, they insist that they test it themselves, rather than trusting the developers. As such, developers of multi-platform games can release patches to PC versions immediately after their own testing, whereas they have to submit to Microsoft and hope they move their butt.

[WhenKittensATK]

You guys should keep your points gaming specific. Yes we all know that consoles and PC can do things non-gaming related, but that wasn't the point of this topic. I can open up a whole new cans of worms as to what OtherOS function adds to the PS3, but I won't, because it's not gaming related. So please keep it gaming related.

 

I agree with d3bruts1d. There are cheaters and hackers on the consoles. There are also exploiters who abuse bugs and glitches in the game and they should also be throw in with the cheaters and hackers.

 

However pirates who mod their consoles to play pirated games are the majority of those who got banned. They aren't in my eyes cheaters/hackers/exploiters they are pirates. Two different groups. One doesn't play legit, while the other does.

 

Don't know if it was mentioned already, but I didn't see it:

 

PC Pro - updating and patching are more frequent, quicker and free

- 1. As seen with the TF2 updates, or lack thereof, consoles have less memory than even low-end PCs. Because of this, Valve has been unable to release all the class updates for TF2 to the Xbox 360, as they have reached the memory threshold. They claim to be working on reducing the memory usage, however they've said that for over a year, and now they've just released another two class updates.

- 2. Microsoft often wants developers to charge for extra content.

 

1. Agree, hardware limitations will affect the way games are developed. However seeing console specific developers strive and reach new highs. While Valve, mainly PC, is testing out on new waters. Going to have to take their word with a grain of salt.

 

2. Sony does something like this as well. They now make the developers pay for bandwidth from downloaded content for the first few weeks or days of release. Which is why Sony is planning on launching an additional to the free service, an upgraded benefits member subscription.

 

Browsing the web on a console isn't that really great when you compare to browsing the web on a PC. I've tried browsing the Web on my Wii and the experience isn't that great because the console browser doesn't support a lot of plug-ins required to view some websites. Quite often the consoles browsers can't support large web pages because there memory fills up and the rest of the web page just stops working. Console browsers also load web pages a lot slower then PCs do. Also trying to play flash games on a Consoles browser just sucks because Wii and PS3 controllers aren't very easy to use for those purposes.

 

So even though some consoles can browse the web I'd hardly call it an advantage due to there limitations there browsers have.

 

Also while you can send email using an Xbox360 its still not the same as a PC. As far as I know you can't attach photos or word/excel documents and send them to a xbox360 and view them.

 

I've used my PS3 with grand precision inside of PS3's Web Browser. Using the joystick for free roam cursor. You can also use the arrow keys to go to specific links and buttons. It locks onto them and makes it much faster than free cursor sometimes.

 

I used the PS3's Web Browser a lot when I was using Hulu, before it was removed from the PS3 browser. Also for transferring files over to the OS drive through HTTP servers.

 

The PS3 supports quite a few plugins, not any that I can name, but all the sites that I visited that had a plugin, asked me if I wanted to install it.

 

Don't forget that the PS3 and 360 have a keypad attachment for the controller and have keyboard and mouse support. Granted that keyboard/mouse don't work for most things, but certain things they do work and work well.

 

At times I can have multiple PS3 tabs open in the web browser as if I was on my PC. Each one works fine easy to switch in between.

 

With the upcoming Natal and the already released EyeToy. Picture sending and video sending is already happening.

 

I'm going to say this again. This has absolutely nothing to do with gaming. So making any reference wouldn't change a thing. As the average buyer would at least have a home computer, that can already do this.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Krazyxazn

[Silverfox]

ever played GTA 4 on a console??? You have to install it and loading it takes FOREVER!! I'm sure there are other console games like this

 

No you don't. GTA 4 is fine on the 360 - loading times are present of course, but install is not required.

[AnomalousX]

I think game makers like consoles better because the games are harder to pirate on them.

 

I like PCs more because the consoles are run in a style similar to fascism. I don't think anyone technically owns their Wiis, 360s, or PS3s, because your not allowed to do much more than play games on the consoles. And if inbuilt software detects a change they will shut your box down. So I think it's more like renting a console then buying one.

Also they are flimsy, my PS2&PS1, Genesis, NES, and Sega CD all still work. Most of what I see with the new consoles is they have a lifetime of about 4 years, from what I've seen of 360 it eats up it's own powersupply fairly quickly and I am not entirely sure why, maybe cheap PSU or in attempt to go for the bare minimum the PSUs are just slightly underpowered for the hardware. I've heard people say the lasers fail a lot, and I know you only have about 4-8 years with a hard drive. Which would be fine because normally they are user serviceable parts except for the user agreement which forbids opening the console, let alone servicing any parts and if you do they will shut down your console permanently.

 

 

So I don't think any of you guys really own your Wiis, PS3s, or 360s.

Edited December 21, 2009 by AnomalousX

[WhenKittensATK]

I think game makers like consoles better because the games are harder to pirate on them.

 

I like PCs more because the consoles are run in a style similar to fascism. I don't think anyone technically owns their Wiis, 360s, or PS3s, because your not allowed to do much more than play games on the consoles. And if inbuilt software detects a change they will shut your box down. So I think it's more like renting a console then buying one.

Also they are flimsy, my PS2&PS1, Genesis, NES, and Sega CD all still work. Most of what I see with the new consoles is they have a lifetime of about 4 years, from what I've seen of 360 it eats up it's own powersupply fairly quickly and I am not entirely sure why, maybe cheap PSU or in attempt to go for the bare minimum the PSUs are just slightly underpowered for the hardware. I've heard people say the lasers fail a lot, and I know you only have about 4-8 years with a hard drive. Which would be fine because normally they are user serviceable parts except for the user agreement which forbids opening the console, let alone servicing any parts and if you do they will shut down your console permanently.

 

So I don't think any of you guys really own your Wiis, PS2s, or 360s.

 

Actually it's a lot easier to pirate games on consoles than the PC. There are quite a few high end title games that are leaked first on consoles months, weeks, days before the game is even released. Before the recent ban against console pirates. Console pirates have been gaming on the 360 for years and doing it on Live! on real servers for years without fear without consequences. Even as this debate goes on a new modded firmware is in the works. The creator has already figured out how Microsoft detected the current versions. It's just a matter of time.

 

Even if someone console were to be banned they can still use it and play pirated games on it. There are many programs like Hamachii for the consoles that let users create their own online lan. So I would say owners do own their consoles. They aren't renting them under the iron fist of the creators.

 

I've owned my 360 since 2007 and I've never had any issues with it what so ever. You can service the 360 if you wanted too. If your warranty has ended you have the option of paying $150-250 to get Microsoft to do it. Or you can do it yourself. Fairly easy to fix the most common RROD errors. Cost you less than $10 to get all the equipment.

 

You can also do this on the Wii. The only console that remained unpirated is the PS3. Although you can use the PS3 to rip blu-ray movies and games, you still can't play those game rips.

Edited December 21, 2009 by Krazyxazn

[ClayMeow]

1. Agree, hardware limitations will affect the way games are developed. However seeing console specific developers strive and reach new highs. While Valve, mainly PC, is testing out on new waters. Going to have to take their word with a grain of salt

I have no reason to doubt Valve, do you?

 

But my love for Valve aside, it's pretty easy to understand their problem...

 

The Xbox 360 and PS3 both have only 512MB of RAM. The 360 shares the RAM between the CPU & GPU, while the PS3 has it split 256MB and 256MB.

 

You state that console specific developers "strive and reach new highs," but are there any other games out there with the depth of TF2? As I'm sure you're aware, in layman's terms, RAM holds the data for current information needed by the game. Due to the RAM limitation of consoles, this is why you will never see true, persistent-world MMOs...they simply don't have the capability, and the same thing affects TF2. When you enter a TF2 game, you need to load the data for every class. The more weapons you have per class, the more you have to keep in memory. The console-specific games don't have this kind of problem because they don't have that kind of depth. It's also the reason why console games have load screens upon load screens.

 

And if you think Valve is the only one that encountered this issue, you're wrong. Bioware encountered this issue with Dragon Age: Origins. Bioware could not have as many enemies on the screen at one time on the consoles as they can on the PC. For that reason, many battles are more complex on the PC than on the consoles.