Console Gaming vs. PC Gaming

[Keith Justice]

Cade and Capn Rawkenspiel both do a segment on one of my favorite gaming podcasts, BroadcastGamer.Com.

Last episode the spoke of the joys of PC gaming and whatnot.

Wanted to see what you guys thought.

You a console gamer or PC gamer or both?

If you're one, why aren't you the other?

 

[Keith Justice]

Me... last PC gaming I did was in 1995, playing Wing Commander and some Sierra adventure games on my roommate's Windows 3.0.

As of now I just haven't gotten around to getting a nice chair to sit in or a nice set up at my computer that I'd wanna sit there for long periods of time.

I've my couch... surrounds sound and sometimes friends in my little Danger Room. Also, the keyboard set up is intimidating for me. With a controller it only takes a few taps, pushes and in about 30 seconds you know the entire game.

Computer... I gotta look at the manual to know what all keys do what and so forth.

Console's have always just been an easier pick up and play and I don't ever have to worry if my console can play a game or not.

What do YOU do?

 

[Sage Shinigami]

I'm too lazy to be anything but a console gamer. Like you said, you have to read a manual for a good little bit before you can figure out what key does what. A controller within five minutes I've usually mastered everything but the advanced techniques of an action or fighting game, and even less than that if its an RPG.

Oh, that's another thing. Most of the better RPGs for PC are usually pay by the month MMOs, or ports of a console game. I'm a hardcore RPG gamer so that's just not enough for me.

And, also like you said, I don't got time to sit around and figure out if my video card is good enough for the new game I bought. And if it isn't do I want to play the damned thing enough to blow 200-300 bucks on a new one or not.

And, one more thing: PC games have never really caught my eye like console games do. I'm not some huge FPS fan or something like that, so the PCs biggest draw doesn't get me. Most of its action/adventure games I just find too generic. Maybe I'm just uneducated about PC games, but they just have never seemed that fun. (Doesn't help that console's first online RPG, Phantasy Star Online, was infinitely more addicting than anything I've ever seen PC come out with except OTHER PSO games.)

Put it like this: I can name 20 or 30 games right now that I have played or want to play on the PS and PS2. Can someone do the same for the PC? No ports, and no MMOs.

 

[Savory Cade]

Man, you are some lazy ass gamers. ^_-

While lots of points are valid, a lot of anti-PC gaming sentiment does come from lack of knowledge.

True, PC games are more complex, but that's the point. You have more control, more options and more customizability. What's this read the manual crap? PC games have in-game tutorials, just like consoles do. OMG I have to remember what 10 keys do! Well, OMG your PS2 has 10 buttons on the controller too! And how many console games with complex control schemes require you to say, hold down R2 while pressing another button, because it ran out of buttons to assign to? I'd rather just hit 1 key thanks. There's a reason a lot of complex strategy games don't hit consoles, because the controls can't be properly replicated on a control pad. Oblivion for PC has a very simplified control scheme that mirrors the 360 and it really hurts the game when you compare it to Morrowind on PC.

It does require more work to be a PC gamer but that's also part of the draw, tricking out your box and tweaking a game to your heart's content. If that doesn't appeal to you then obviously stick to consoles.

Yes, there are far more games for the PC than just MMO's, FPS's and RTS's. There are a lot of them sure, but that's because they're popular and sell. No different than a console game like Tomb Raider getting countless sequels and carbon copies. RPG's began on the PC and have a very fine pedigree. There'd be no KOTOR if Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and the rest didn't come first. No, you're not gonna find your J-RPG Squeenix flavor of the week, but that's part of the difference. BTW, PSO is still my favorite MMO and the PC version rocks. Can't beat having all the Function keys plus the controller for hotkeys. ^__^
There's plenty of console ports as well. The Silent Hills, Condemned, Onimusha 3, Devil May Cry 3 and others are out and Resident Evil 4 will be coming soon. With M$'s Live anywhere with Windows Vista I'm betting a lot more next gen Xbox titles will be seeing ports since it'll essentially turn your PC into a 360.

It'll be interesting to see what's gonna be done with the 360 and PS3 hard drives. WIth loading games to the HD plus patches and updates it's not so far removed from PC anymore. Windows Vista may even play games right off a disc instead of installing them. If that happens the lines are gonna get really blurred.

Obviously I'm not gonna convince anyone PC is the wave of the future, but it's definitely a contender and a good alternative.

Here's my list of PC non-ports, non-MMO's past, present and future that interest me:
Baldur's Gate II
Icewind Dale 1 & 2
Fallout 1 & 2
Planescape: Torment
Freelancer
Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2
Jets 'n Guns
Heroes of Might and Magic series
Might and Magic series
Gold Box SSI Dungeons & Dragons games
Half-Life 2
X-Com UFO Defense
Starflight 1 & 2
Bioshock
Crysis
System Shock 2
Escape Velocity (series)
Deus Ex
FEAR
Unreal
Unreal Tournament 2004
Unreal Tournament 2007
Oregon Trail (you can't deny the trail!)
Warcraft III
Starcraft
Ys Eternal 1 & 2 (Japanese)
Ys VI Ark of Napishtim (Jp)
Ys The Oath in Fehlgana (Jp)
Civilization series
Age of Empires series
7th Guest
Alone in the Dark
Spore
SIM___ (pick one)
Melty Blood (Jp)
Duke Nukem
Commander Keen
Monkey Island series
Day of the Tentacle
Sam & Max
Theif series
Bard's Tale series
Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series
Flashback
Prince of Persia (the original)
Ultima series
Wing Commander series
Morrowind/Oblivion (I consider them PC games 1st, console 2nd)

I could keep going...

 

[Sage Shinigami]

Man, you are some lazy ass gamers. ^_-

Duh. If I weren't lazy, I'd go do something worthwhile with my life. :laugh:

While lots of points are valid, a lot of anti-PC gaming sentiment does come from lack of knowledge.

I guess I'm sort of "anti" PC. The games don't interest me, but I won't try to convince someone else not to play them.

True, PC games are more complex, but that's the point. You have more control, more options and more customizability. What's this read the manual crap? PC games have in-game tutorials, just like consoles do. OMG I have to remember what 10 keys do! Well, OMG your PS2 has 10 buttons on the controller too!

10 buttons? Where? It has four, and then the shoulder buttons. That's eight. I guess it is ten if you count the rarely used R and L 3 though.

And how many console games with complex control schemes require you to say, hold down R2 while pressing another button, because it ran out of buttons to assign to? I'd rather just hit 1 key thanks. There's a reason a lot of complex strategy games don't hit consoles, because the controls can't be properly replicated on a control pad. Oblivion for PC has a very simplified control scheme that mirrors the 360 and it really hurts the game when you compare it to Morrowind on PC.

Personal preference. If you ask me (and yeah I know no one did :anime, games like the DMC series work best on a console.

It does require more work to be a PC gamer but that's also part of the draw, tricking out your box and tweaking a game to your heart's content. If that doesn't appeal to you then obviously stick to consoles.

It appeals to me, but only 'cause I'm a pirate. "Yo ho!", to quote my girlfriend.

Yes, there are far more games for the PC than just MMO's, FPS's and RTS's. There are a lot of them sure, but that's because they're popular and sell. No different than a console game like Tomb Raider getting countless sequels and carbon copies. RPG's began on the PC and have a very fine pedigree. There'd be no KOTOR if Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and the rest didn't come first. No, you're not gonna find your J-RPG Squeenix flavor of the week, but that's part of the difference.

Yes, and its the difference that's the problem. Most american RPGs bore me to death. It takes too long to draw me in. (Tried a couple.) I'm just a few hours into Suikoden V and I'm already sucked into its world.

It'll be interesting to see what's gonna be done with the 360 and PS3 hard drives. WIth loading games to the HD plus patches and updates it's not so far removed from PC anymore. Windows Vista may even play games right off a disc instead of installing them. If that happens the lines are gonna get really blurred.

You've been able to load games onto an HD for a while now though, haven't you? What with the XBox's 8GB and the PS2's 40GB HDs?

Obviously I'm not gonna convince anyone PC is the wave of the future, but it's definitely a contender and a good alternative.

Its a personal preference. Anyone who says one is better as fact is a moron.

Here's my list of PC non-ports, non-MMO's past, present and future that interest me:
Baldur's Gate II
Icewind Dale 1 & 2
Fallout 1 & 2
Planescape: Torment
Freelancer
Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2
Jets 'n Guns
Heroes of Might and Magic series
Might and Magic series
Gold Box SSI Dungeons & Dragons games
Half-Life 2
X-Com UFO Defense
Starflight 1 & 2
Bioshock
Crysis
System Shock 2
Escape Velocity (series)
Deus Ex
FEAR
Unreal
Unreal Tournament 2004
Unreal Tournament 2007
Oregon Trail (you can't deny the trail!)
Warcraft III
Starcraft
Ys Eternal 1 & 2 (Japanese)
Ys VI Ark of Napishtim (Jp)
Ys The Oath in Fehlgana (Jp)
Civilization series
Age of Empires series
7th Guest
Alone in the Dark
Spore
SIM___ (pick one)
Melty Blood (Jp)
Duke Nukem
Commander Keen
Monkey Island series
Day of the Tentacle
Sam & Max
Theif series
Bard's Tale series
Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series
Flashback
Prince of Persia (the original)
Ultima series
Wing Commander series
Morrowind/Oblivion (I consider them PC games 1st, console 2nd)

I could keep going...

Impressive. I figured someone could easily do that challenge.

I don't know. I guess I find sitting at my computer and playing anything but a ROM to be weird. Which is strange since I'm one of the few people who can watch anime and Tokusatsu and everything else basically at my computer rather than my TV with no problem.

 

[Keith Justice]

Man, you are some lazy ass gamers. ^_-

While lots of points are valid, a lot of anti-PC gaming sentiment does come from lack of knowledge.

True, PC games are more complex, but that's the point. You have more control, more options and more customizability. What's this read the manual crap? PC games have in-game tutorials, just like consoles do. OMG I have to remember what 10 keys do! Well, OMG your PS2 has 10 buttons on the controller too!

I'd say you guys were some hardworking gamers versus peeps like us... that just wanna game. Pick up, play and enjoy.

I think the point of lots o' buttons is on a console... it's always the same buttons right at your fingertips. They're just there, where on a keyboard, maybe it's just 10 buttons.. but which combination of 10 buttons across the entire keyboard is it that I need? If a keyboard had just 10 buttons, that'd be less intimidating.

And if computers is your hobby, then I can also see how PC gaming could be fun. But I just want to game.

I pick up Oblivion and I gotta be all like, let see.. says here I need a N-Veedum-2XT!!#@YERMOM video card with @%$ bites of your mom and a Cack swaggerly processor.... sooo... along with this game I'll need to go out, get a blow torch and drop 3/4ths the price of a Xbox 360... prolly need myself a halfway decent chair to sit ing... so thatls like 70 bucks there....

Not saying PC gaming sucks, but it requires work. I mean, to read a book, if I have to upgrade my book cover to properly read the words, I'm going to just grab the book I can open right away to read the story.

J-RPG's have a explosive sense of style and unique pizazz I just don't see in American RPG's which usually are the same generic arche-types over and over and over again. Some prettier than others, but it's still a guy shooting an arrow versus the imaginative and dazzling designs you'll see out of Squeenix that truely take you to things you've never imaged before and have always wanted.

If I ever strike it rich and am able to set up an office and a good rig, and have more time on my hands... I'd look into PC Gaming. As of now.... too much voodoo and witchcraft to dig through to get to it when all I wanna do is sit down and have some fun... and hopefully expand my imagination. Tho it would be quite educational and help me on my job if I did it.

Looking into changing my gorram harddrive just so I can check my email is pain enough for me as it is, I can't imagine the mad amounts of backbone I'd have to put into getting a computer to run Oblivion.

I do want to see what the lightening and madness is behind games like Baldur's Gate and Guild Wars, but that'll have to wait 'til I get a chair I'd like to sit in for a period of time.... maybe a better mouse... nicer keyboard would be nice too.... replace my hard drive...... then I think i'd be set.

Is it a wonder that I don't choose to do all that to get to video gaming versus simply turning on my TV and hitting the power button? :anime:

 

[Judge Faiz]

I'm more towards console gaming, as my PC doesn't have a good graphics card, so it can't run most games.
Only games I really play on my PC is Poker, Solitare, & my MAME arcade games.

-RF

 

[Savory Cade]

I can't even tell you how hard it was to get Oblivion running. I had to like, put the disc in the drive, click install and then fookin' choose the folder to install it to! I almost couldn't handle it, I even broke a sweat!

While I'm not gonna argue PC gaming isn't complex, but it's hardly the rocket science everyone assumes it is. How hard is it to have a general idea what the speed of your processor is? Or a vague notion what series your graphics card is? For both of those there's basically two brands to choose from and they make it easy, listing them. I hardly think reading "Minimum 512MB RAM required" is going to blow anyone's mind either. Hard drive space should be a no brainer. Upgrading these compenents can be a different story, but most people I've taught to do it can't believe how easy it is. Sure you can have Best Buy's Geek Squad install your video card, but why pay them $100 when you literally just have to plug it into the slot?

Personally, I like the extra work involved in PC gaming, it makes mefeel more like part of it. I was born and raised a console gamer and I own all 3 last gen consoles and most of them before that. There's definitely certain types of games I prefer on different systems. I'm not gonna play Mario or Devil May Cry on my PC, those are games I enjoy playing from my couch. FPS's, strategy games and PC RPG's I love playing on the PC. You sit closer, to me it feels more like your immersed into the game and the control is much better for those types of games. I am curious about Resident Evil 4 on PC since I think the mouse would work well for it.

I HATE playing FPS's on consoles because the control is awful. Mouse/Keyboard in an FPS owns a gamepad. Since most PC games generally use the same keys on a keyboard, it's really not hard to adapt or you can customize controls to your liking in just about every game. Yes there are 10 buttons on the PS2 pad, 12 if you count select and start. See how many come up when you plug a PSX->USB converter into a PC.

Console RPG's and PC RPG's are very different and I'm not talking about themes. Generally PC RPG's are far more involved and complex letting you micro-manage stats, equipment and what not while weaving a tale that may not always be as overblown and cinematic (not to mention cliche) as a Squeenix game, but no less riveting. After playing nearly 20 years of console RPG's, I'm getting really sick of them and find myself preferring PC RPG's. Especially when you can make your own character and have full control instead of having to be emo bishonin #6. Planescape Torment's story blows away any console RPG I've ever played.

Even without the hardcore "next-gen" PC games, it's still the epitome of casual gaming. Solitaire says it all.

Anyway, it all really comes down to personal preference. I'm not arguing otherwise or saying PC gaming is better, it's just a different experience. It's a shame more people don't take the plunge.

 

[Black Ranger RX]

Console Gaming, period!! :thumbs:

Why?

- Consoles are easier to use than PCs when it comes to games. With a console you just plug it into your TV, sling in the disc/cartridge, plug your control pad in, turn the power on, and that's it!! PCs are way beyond that. More beyond than it needs to be infact. You have to install games, and sometimes often you have to install like these really expensive 3D Cards and other gibber in order to be able to play various games. Of course like they say, if you've got everything there's nothing to worry about, but what would happen if all your stuff becomes out of date, and like new and more expensive Graphics cards become released and they're needed for your PC to play newer games. It would be like AAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!! MY PC'S OUT OF DATE!! SOMEBODY HEEEEEEELLLLLPPP!!!!

Not to mention some of my old PC Games no longer work on my PC because they're not compatible with Windows XP. Which is a shame because I used to enjoy blasting ass in House of the Dead and Virtua Cop. Oh well, maybe theres some cheaper 2nd hand Sega Saturn ones somewhere..

- Control Pads are more comfortable to use than keyboards. Of course, PCs have their own control pads which can be installed, but the one's I came across were a pain in the ass to install or even use, I can even remember wasting monney on a PlayStation pad emulator for my PC. It never worked, thus I never used it and thus was a waste of monney.

- Console games don't do as much crazy **** as PCs.. well, that was until my Sega Dreamcast started repeatedly restarting (the only part where I'll have to surrender to the PC).

- I hate PC games anyway. OK, the classicy stuff I'm OK with (such as the original Doom, Commander Keen, etc..), but the newer stuff I'm not. I remember my brother a long time ago introduced me to a game called "Deus EX". I hated that game. It looked like a good old fashioned shootemup (like Doom), but in disguise it was another one of those boring twisted games which didn't make any sense whatsoever, which there are loads of them on the PC and none of them I'm ionterested in one bit. Even Mario PWNES Doofus EX. Aside from that, other PC Games include the same old blood splurting, pornographic, movie promoting, crap from the PlayStation and XBox.

(sorry if I sounded harsh).

Thus, my PC is only used for Internet surfing, website making, DVD Watching, and I think that's it.

 

[Sage Shinigami]

I can't even tell you how hard it was to get Oblivion running. I had to like, put the disc in the drive, click install and then fookin' choose the folder to install it to! I almost couldn't handle it, I even broke a sweat!

While I'm not gonna argue PC gaming isn't complex, but it's hardly the rocket science everyone assumes it is. How hard is it to have a general idea what the speed of your processor is? Or a vague notion what series your graphics card is? For both of those there's basically two brands to choose from and they make it easy, listing them. I hardly think reading "Minimum 512MB RAM required" is going to blow anyone's mind either. Hard drive space should be a no brainer. Upgrading these compenents can be a different story, but most people I've taught to do it can't believe how easy it is. Sure you can have Best Buy's Geek Squad install your video card, but why pay them $100 when you literally just have to plug it into the slot?

With me its more about I don't feel like coughing up extra dough after I already bought a game just to play it. Upgrading's no problem. So far I've cracked this thing open on four or five separate occasions to upgrade RAM, add HDs, install PCI cards and add a DVD burner. I've long known how to do that, but spending all that extra money just pisses me off.

Console RPG's and PC RPG's are very different and I'm not talking about themes. Generally PC RPG's are far more involved and complex letting you micro-manage stats, equipment and what not while weaving a tale that may not always be as overblown and cinematic (not to mention cliche) as a Squeenix game, but no less riveting. After playing nearly 20 years of console RPG's, I'm getting really sick of them and find myself preferring PC RPG's. Especially when you can make your own character and have full control instead of having to be emo bishonin #6. Planescape Torment's story blows away any console RPG I've ever played.

Micromanaging is fun for a bit (play some NIS games), but after awhile it just gets ridiculous. Making your own character annoys me in console games, even when its just picking your own name, since that means your character will walk around like a damned mute the whole game instead of actually interacting with the rest of the group.

Emo bishounen #6? Maybe I'm playing the wrong games. Right now I'm playing XS, SO 3, and Suikoden V. The last one's main character is sort of bishie, but by no means "emo", and you can make him sound bad-ass by the choices you make when he gets to speak. It sounds like you're making Final Fantasy represent the whole of Console RPG gaming. Game series like Lunar, Star Ocean, and Suikoden were owning Final Fantasy and its spin-offs back when it was a series that DIDN'T suck. (X and X-2 were garbage, no matter what anyone says. I don't buy FF games to play as a transvestite or a chick who likes to play dress-up.)

I think as time goes on, both console and PC RPGs will just get better, so either way I don't think either of us are losing out. :thumbs:

Even without the hardcore "next-gen" PC games, it's still the epitome of casual gaming. Solitaire says it all.

True that. Solitaire PWNZ all other games in popularity. Everyone who's been on a computer has played it once in their life.

Anyway, it all really comes down to personal preference. I'm not arguing otherwise or saying PC gaming is better, it's just a different experience. It's a shame more people don't take the plunge.

I would've, with PSO: Blue Burst. But then they announced PSU so I just said screw it. :laugh: