[niwri]

This "PC Master Race" mentality has left a sour taste in my mouth. It is a joke to a few but it is starting to become serious (weather they refer to it as PC Master Race or not). Most arguments are made by technically unqualified enthusiasts on subjects like architecture, performance, and cost effectiveness.

I suppose the reason I'm bitter is because I'm constantly being told (online and lots of PC enthusiast friends) that my choice of gaming hardware (a console) is vastly inferior to a PC. Choosing a gaming platform is not a 100% performance to cost optimization problem.

[chc]

Well, it really is technically inferior to a gaming PC. And I say this as somebody who owns several consoles and does not own a gaming PC. In making that choice, I had to accept that I would get less power than a PC user, at least for most of the console's lifespan. I use a console because that's what I'm comfortable with and it lets me play with my friends, not because I want to be at the cutting edge of gaming technology.

[flomo]

One thing the "master race" seems oblivious about is how owning a desktop computer has become a lifestyle choice. Many people have no need/desire to have a computer desk and office-style chair and a large screen in front of their face. (Perhaps it seems too much like work?) While not strictly "technical", the size/space/noise is a big disadvantage to PC gaming. (Although admittedly there are things like SteamBoxes.)

[bitJericho]

Would it shock you if I told you you can hook it up behind or under your living room TV, use a wireless mouse/kb/remote and use xbox controllers?

[flomo]

No, because I addressed that point with the reference to Steamboxes (or MediaPCs or whatever other name they have.)

[wink]

I don't see your point how it's any more a lifestyle choice to have a (bigger) TV for your console.

Playing games on my 360 in the living room takes up a lot more space than the desk+chair in the other room.

And yes, I hardly use the living room, actually more often for games than watching TV or movies.

[jfb]

There are more axes to gaming quality than simply polygon performance. You have to be specific about what is superior.

[chc]

I really can't name any technological aspect in which consoles are more powerful than a PC. That's kind of the point I was driving at.

[gknoy]

The secret power of consoles is that the hardware doesn't change over the course of the console's life in a significant way. If I buy an XBox 360 on ebay, I know that ANY xbox-360 game will run on it. In contrast, PC gaming is a mess of compatibility questions.

If I want to play the new Wolfenstein, or Watch Dogs, or any "new" game, chances are my 2 year old PC will not be able to run it well (unless I spent $$$$ on it, rather than $$). If I want to play a new game with all the dials turned up to 9 (or 11), I basically expect to spend $1200-$1500 on a new PC every two to four years.

If I look at OLDER games, it's even worse: Will this game even install? I have a giant library of games which I would love to play, but I can't figure out how to get them to run on a current version of Windows. (Sea Dogs, Starfleet Command 3, etc.) These games are ten years old, and I can't even get the installers to run correctly -- or if I do, the game crashes for other "win 8 >> Win XP" reasons. I would pay money _again_ to be able to play some of these games in a reliable way (and have re-bought things for Steam), but most of the time they're not supported anymore.

My Wii will still play Windwaker (11 years old), and I can buy an XBox and any copy of Halo and be pretty confident that it'll run, even if ten years old (assuming the hardware hasn't failed).

[xyzzyz]

I can guarantee that if you spend $1000 on new PC today, you'll be able to run all games at console quality for at least next 3-4 years, almost all in the next five years, and then still most of the games beyond that range. You'll also be able to run any of the thousands of games that have already been released on PC, a feat no console is able to do.

I bought my PC 3 years ago for around that much (in country with higher import cost and higher sales tax, so it would cost 700-800 dollars in the US), and I encountered only a single game that refuses to run smoothly at all times (Mirrors Edge).

[xienze]

> I can guarantee that if you spend $1000 on new PC today, you'll be able to run all games at console quality for at least next 3-4 years, almost all in the next five years

Or I could spend $400 on a console and play every single available game at "console quality" for the life of the console, which is a good deal longer than 5 years. That, coupled with the fact that console games in general look pretty good, is the reason PC gaming is in something of a decline.

[icushman]

Mirror's Edge has a poor implementation of Nvidia's PhysX, so many people need to disable that in settings in order to run the game properly on AMD's Radeon graphics cards. This could be the case for your rig.

This is an example of a conversation console gamers don't need to have.

[vacri]

If I want to play the new Wolfenstein, or Watch Dogs, or any "new" game, chances are my 2 year old PC

My 5-year-old PC, which was nice at the time, hasn't hit a problem yet, with the exception of some games from the 90s. How many console games from the 90s does the XBox 360 take?

If I want to play a new game with all the dials turned up to 9 (or 11)

That's an unfair comparison, because the XBox most certainly, most definitely, and most absolutely does not have 'all the dials turned up to 9', let alone 11. The simpler, coarser graphics on the xbox are a common meme that's made fun of.

[chc]

That is true, and it's one of the reasons I like consoles. There is just no thinking required, which is really nice.

On the other hand, I think the rate at which PCs obsolesce compared to consoles is often exaggerated. For example, I played Bioshock Infinite at max settings on my circa-2010 MacBook Pro, which was 3 years old when the game came out and was never exactly a gaming machine. And people with fairly mediocre PC setups are able to play Watch Dogs with better graphics than I get on my Xbox One.

[ZoFreX]

More powerful? No. But they are still better in some ways:

* No DRM. I have been burnt several times by PC games on this front.

* No viruses or malware to worry about

* Far fewer updates to install and in general less maintenance

* Warranty - if I build a PC myself and it breaks, I need to fix it (I recognise that for more technical users and/or people with more time, it's a plus that you can fix a PC yourself - but that isn't everyone)

* Compatibility. It's hardly rare to run into issues if you try to play a PC game on launch date, and often graphics card driver updates fix some games and break others.

* Noise and size (it's hard to make a small quiet and powerful PC on a budget)

* Peripherals - there is a standardized set that "just works" for a console. On the PC, maybe half of my Steam library supports my controller out of the box.

And one non-technical aspect which isn't a concern for everyone, but is for many:

* My friends are all on [XBox Live|PSN] and I want to play with them

My stance? I game on PC, PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, Wii, 3DS, iPad, and occasionally on an Android phone. They're all great in their own way. I wouldn't say any of them was better than all of the others on all axes I care about - but if pushed to have just one, I would pick the PC.

[talmir]

* No DRM. I have been burnt several times by PC games on this front.

True, sometimes drm is an issue. To me drm hasnt been an issue for quite a few years.. I think it was with the last game I bought a hardcopy of. If you are talking about the gaming services everyone has different views on different vendors. It can be argued that the need for the console itself, created by a single manufacturer with sole control, is drm in itself.

* No viruses or malware to worry about

If you dont click suspicious banners or run spam executables you wont run into viruses (If you are a legit customer, if you download from piratebay or similar you can only blame yourself). I have been an active gamer most of my life (31 years old now) and I think I ran into my last virus back in windows xp.

* Far fewer updates to install and in general less maintenance

So you live with bugs for longer? Must suck... The awesome thing about pc gaming is that whenever you log on some issue you had in the past might be gone. Updates are there to improve your gaming. If you are talking about your OS, you forget that your computer is not just a game station, it is also a tool. The updates are there to keep things running smoothly.

* Warranty - if I build a PC myself and it breaks, I need to fix it (I recognise that for more technical users and/or people with more time, it's a plus that you can fix a PC yourself - but that isn't everyone)

If it breaks, call a repair guy. I refer again to my point about the computer not being a dedicated gaming platform.

* Compatibility. It's hardly rare to run into issues if you try to play a PC game on launch date, and often graphics card driver updates fix some games and break others.

What does launch day have to do with compatibility? I have never suffered not having up to date drivers if a high profile game using some weird functions not covered by previous drivers is about to be released. Again, I am an avid computer gamer.

* Noise and size (it's hard to make a small quiet and powerful PC on a budget)

No its not. Have you tried? It is cheaper to make a powerful and noisy computer, but silence is not super pricey, ya see. Your little console is partly built with pc components, so you should be able to create an equally powerful machine with the same noise level for just about the same price.

* Peripherals - there is a standardized set that "just works" for a console. On the PC, maybe half of my Steam library supports my controller out of the box.

Not every game uses a kinekt. Not every game uses a joystick. I have a pretty beat up x-box clone gamepad, a cheap joystick and a track ir at home. Never had any issues with them. For most games I prefer the keyboard tho so this might be a bigger issue for others.

And one non-technical aspect which isn't a concern for everyone, but is for many: * My friends are all on [XBox Live|PSN] and I want to play with them

And there we get to the meat and potatoes of your post. You game with your friends, all your friends are on other platforms, so you do as well. That is fine. There is nothing wrong with it. You shouldn't listen to the hype that tells you consoles suck. They don't. They have points about them that are very valid (ease of use, portability, instant gaming). Just dont buy into the hype and use arguments made by 12 year old youtube jockeys to make your point. You do not need to excuse your gaming habits. Just go play, its fun.

[forgotpasswd3x]

Agreed. I love my PS3, and have a PS4 as well. I don't have a gaming PC, because I'm completely happy with the games that are released on consoles, and don't have the interest in building a gaming PC. The games I like are released for consoles first, and often aren't released on PC at all, and when they are, it seems like a lot of times they are just shitty ports.

Console provides the best experience for me. Anyone that tells me differently is simply wrong, because it's subjective.

[thefreeman]

It annoys me too, but for a different reason.

I've been a PC gamer since far before it was "popular". So I have obviously always preferred it. Nothing has really changed in the arena of PC gaming vs Consoles in terms of the actual differences between them, but now all of the sudden everybody's jumping on this bandwagon.

The same people who said Halo revolutionized multiplayer gaming are the ones spamming about "PC Master Race" now. (Not trying to pick on Halo in particular, but I use it as an example because I feel there were many PC games released before it which provided the same or better multiplayer FPS experience)

[vlunkr]

I agree. These PC/Console flame wars have been going on since the beginning of the internet. To say that either is "superior" is pretty meaningless, you can argue why one is better in certain respects, but in the end declaring one to be better than the other is totally subjective.

[ChuckMcM]

It is interesting to look at the history, where the original "flame wars" were Arcade vs private gaming. Pong was an arcade game, and then it was a thing you could plug into your TV, arcade machines (the 'consoles' of their time) got better, and personal computers got better (they fed off the same technology eco-system after all). Then 'consoles' which were nearly as good as the Arcade machines but not as good as full blown computers, but they were cheaper than full blown computers. And then the C64/Atari campaign where they could be "a console AND a computer" and then the Amiga which was better than Consoles of the day and a computer, which inspired other computers (PCs mostly but some Macs) to get better, which nearly wiped out Console sales, until Sony dropped the PlayStation on the scene which was as good as a much more expensive PC, and then Sega and Nintendo fought back and upped their 'console' game with the Jaquar and the Game Cube, except 3Dfx has just put out a really cost effective 3D accelerator card and now PCs jumped ahead fast, and Consoles needed to sell for a long time to make up their costs (money was made on software not hardware) so the rapid evolution of 3D hardware gave PCs an edge as people swapped out video cards and then motherboards with faster and still faster video 'slots', and now the consoles were way behind, except they could still be cheaper than the high end PCs, and now a lot of the performance changes relative to games has flattened and ever since the Xbox where Microsoft showed you could essentially repackage a PC as a console, well the differences have become shallower and shallower.

[vlunkr]

Thanks for the summary, my video game knowledge doesn't go back that far, haha. I agree though that the differences between consoles and PC's are starting to blur. For that reason I'm rooting for SteamOS. I think it won't be an easy transition, because gamers are so entrenched in their ecosystems, but I would love to see the strengths of both platforms together and do away with some of the old principles the gaming world is holding onto.