Consoles vs PC - what are your pros and cons?

Consoles

Console 1st party games are high quality and are often innovative (Super Mario Galaxy, Shadow of the Colossus,)
Tend to get better perks, like exclusive pre-order bonuses (MGS V collector's edition, Witcher 3 inserts, extra content)
Mainstream games tend to sell better on consoles, ensuring further support for the game
Pick up and play experience, playing on TV, using a controller - all better on console
Don't have to worry about compatibility, drivers, etc. Most games are well optimized from the get-go.
You do have to pay for online multiplayer, but you still get cool perks like games, special discounts, exclusive offers
Can buy and sell used games.
Having a physical games collection.
No DRM platform that you need to run things by

PC

Better graphics and performance, but at a price
Have to constantly update drivers
Most developers don't make best use of the more powerful hardware
Most of the really popular games are MMOs, strategy games, and valve games (which ironically don't require a big rig)
Invented free to play, micro-transaction business model
Online play is free, but matchmaking can be very tedious
Playing on a monitor with a keyboard and mouse
Most games require you to install a DRM platform
Games frequently go on sale, but that doesn't necessarily make it cheaper than console since you can't resell

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Those are my summations. What about you, SW? How do you view the console vs PC debate?

One of those threads in which you don't want to spend the time it would take to break down the thinly veiled bias and stupidity of the OP.

Pass.

Consoles get the best of the best games, PC gets free to play.

Console 1st party games are high quality and are often innovative (Super Mario Galaxy, Shadow of the Colossus,) PC also gets this in the form of great indies as well as some PC exclusives.

Tend to get better perks, like exclusive pre-order bonuses (MGS V collector's edition, Witcher 3 inserts, extra content) Pre-order bonuses are considered a good thing?

Mainstream games tend to sell better on consoles, ensuring further support for the game Yet PC still gets most multi-plat games no matter the sales difference between consoles and PC, plus PC gamers don't have to worry about losing a multi-plat such as Tomb Raider or Street Fighter due to the console wars like the PS4 and X1 did.

Pick up and play experience, playing on TV, using a controller - all better on console Not really considering all the patches and such you get right out of the box, plus you can do all that by simply taking a little time to hook up your PC to the TV and getting a controller synced up if you really wanted to.

Don't have to worry about compatibility, drivers, etc. Most games are well optimized from the get-go. But they are still held back by poor frame rates and are usually under 1080p.

You do have to pay for online multiplayer, but you still get cool perks like games, special discounts, exclusive offers Yet, PC offers all of that, for free.

Can buy and sell used games. Joy, I got $2 for my super rare game, thanks GameStop! :P Just kidding, but with all the sales on PC you can basically get older games for the same price as any used game at a store.

Having a physical games collection. Can still do that with the PC exclusives and multi-plats, I've walked into GameStop and seen several physical copies for PC games, it's not dead by any stretch.

No DRM platform that you need to run things by I'm not sure that's entirely true.

I don't have any pros for consoles anymore (other than a better handle on Japanese games) as the current generation of consoles essentially fail at delivering a console-like experience (a stable, worry- and stress-free experience). At the moment I game mostly on the PC not necessarily because of the pros of the PC, but because consoles no longer offer the "console experience".

The pros for the PC would be:

+Options for variable refresh-rate technologies (for now a PC exclusive, but I expect it will become the norm on TVs in the future).

+Many games support open resolution/framerate standards. And most at least let you go to 60fps.

+Cheaper games, steeper sales, easier access to older titles through digital storefronts.

+The ability to hack in widescreen/high resolution support for ancient games. I picked up Sonic Heroes for pennies and had my own UHD version running in widescreen running a cracked exe through a Hex editor.

Cons for the PC would be:

-The need to mess around (often fruitlessly) for hours with cracked exes, ini files and the like to get retro games working. People often downplay this (yet mysteriously play up the value of backwards compatibility in the same breath) but as someone who plays A LOT of games, many old (completed almost 40 this year alone) I run into headaches like this every other week.

Often forcing me to compromise for my sanity or drop playing the game altogether because I can't get it to work. I'll have to play Bioshock at 60fps because I'd rather not try and get both sound AND open fps working at the same time, and I'll have to skip Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones entirely because I hit a game-ending bug. Crysis stutters like crazy etc;

-UI scaling issues at higher resolutions because developers weren't forward thinking enough.

-Poor Optimisation: This is ostensibly a PC issue. I've seen poor optimisation on consoles before but it is rarely as offensively egregious as it is on the PC where there's ample performance overhead to make performance issues unforgivable.

PC is awesome, PS4 and Xbox One are eh.

Consoles

Pros:

• Handful of exclusives.
• Split Screen Co-op.
• Free to play model isn't big.

Cons:

• Inferior multiplats.
• Expensive Games.
• Have to pay for Online.
• Closed nature restrict independent devs.
• No community fixes. Have to wait for official patches.
• Multiplayer games die soon.
• No Mod support.
• Controllers are not good for a lot of genres, mainly FPS and Strategy games.
• Sales are front loaded because of used game market.
• Most exclusives are designed for dummies.
• No one wants to makes AAA exclusives willingly until Sony or M$ pay them or hijack the IP.
• Popularized Day one DLCs, on Disc DLCs, Pre Order Bonuses, Map Packs, Weapon Packs etc.
• Best selling franchises are annual rehashes that encourage other devs to keep playing it safe.
• Devs are forced to cut corners in multiplats.
• Lack of a lot of genres.
• No Backward Compatibility.

PC

Pros:

• More high rated games and exclusives.
• A lot of variety and different genres for everyone.
• Mouse and Keyboard are better for a lot of genres. For others you can plug in your favorite controller.
• Emulators allow you to emulate any game that came out before 7th gen Consoles.
• Developers make games for PC willingly.
• Open nature of the platform encourages new devs to make games and bring new ideas on the table.
• Games are cheaper due to high competition between digital distribution platforms.
• Mods extend the life and replayability of the game.
• Multiplayer games remain alive for years.
• Sales are not front loaded and games continue to sell for years to come.
• Multiplats are superior.
• Most big exclusives are designed for core gamers.
• Community fixes are always there and official patches come to PC sooner.
• Devs make more money per game.
• Don't have to pay for Online.
• Best looking exclusives and multiplats every gen.
• Backward Compatibility.

Cons:

• Early Access.
• Lack of Split Screen Co-op.
• Free to play model.

@ConanTheStoner: just post that picture you made and call it good

In your opinion. According to GS/MC, PC has been first place for a majority of the decade. More so this gen.

Bitch plz, the highest rated PC game ever is a point and click baseball game lmao.

@bobrossperm said:

PC has exponentially more 80%+ scoring titles at GS/MC vs. any other one system. This is without fan-review padding, far less remasters,and higher standards.....quite amazing. It's a not a mystery why, just look at the E3 line-up for each system.

First place race.

Little 4-5 man dev games. Judged on a different scale to a big game. Console standards are higher from a game design perspective. Assuming you aren't talking about annual releases. A game like Bayonetta is too prime for PC. No way would such a game be exclusive to PC because PC gamers prefer ghetto point and click isometric trash. Deep games? Maybe. Boring to everyone that aren't neckbeards? Absolutely. Adoption rate from neckbeards is a fucking sorry way to measure quality. Now Jankycop get out mah face. :P

Hey look! It's another one of those threads where both sides come out looking stupid, inflating the pros and cons respectively based on the system they prefer.

As a Manticore, I don't have any beef with PC/Consoles. I buy games, play them and any exclusive games that comes my way, I'll have the systems for it.

Source?

Nice, my facts destroyed you into spouting out opinionated garble. A clear sign of victory. ;-)

Blizzard, Sega, Firaxis, CCP, DayBreak, Creative Assembly, Splash Damage, Epic, Cloud Imperium, Valve, ArenaNet, Larian, Obsidian are 4-5 man devs? Link? PS4 currently has a higher percent of Indy's making up its library than PC. PC has higher standards according to gregK and kevinV, and is seen when better versions of PC multiplats still score lower at MC. Not gonna attempt to resolve your insecurity issues about bearded necks.

My good taste.

Too different to compare I suppose. But yeah, PC gets more devs. Open platform and all.

Corridor QTE's FTW!

Not into QTE games at all. I prefer action games, platformers, fighters, beat em ups. Console centric arcade games you know.

@lostrib said:

Look at this way. it's not a thread about Uncharted

They are not in competition at all...

Console experience is totally different from gaming on PC. Till I see PC sales counted in NPD, herms can stop thinking PC gaming is anything more than an expensive hobby.

@deadline-zero0 said:

@lostrib said:

Look at this way. it's not a thread about Uncharted

No wonder it's so disappointing

PC pros:

-More varied library. More mature games, horror games.

-Overall more games that are well written and geared towards a smarter audience.

-Best graphics

PC cons:

-More expensive than consoles overall

-Requires more maintenance than consoles overall

-Compatibility issues sometimes

-More piracy, cheaters in online games, bots in games that grind for you.

-Overall the experience is not as streamlined as consoles

Consoles pros:

-Experience more streamlined, plug and play mostly

-Limited maintenance required, cheaper overall

-More variety in the online community(causals, hardcore players,etc. Versus mostly serious-hardcore players of the PC community)

-More high profile big budget exclusives

Console cons:

-Sometimes online community has too many casuals(they suck at team based games)

-Games are more often dumbed-down to sell more, to appeal to a wider audience

-Less variety in games overall....the highest sellers saturate the market such as fps games

-Low quality writing in most games compared to PC games

Just my 2 cents, I rarely game on PC so some of my views may be outdated......I used to be a PC gamer though in the Diablo-Starcraft days

Consoles offer highly inferior performance down the line in exchange for bigger exclusive titles for me, plus the fact the PlayStation ecosystem has many cross buy incentives. I like the idea of a LootCrate system for games, which is what PlayStation Plus has meant to me. Retail titles means I can just borrow most games from a local library, which I don't mind doing in exchange for the higher performance of my PC.

On the other hand, PC lets you choose options to boost your games up to 60 FPS often at higher settings than consoles. Last gen was when this got crazy, lower than low settings at sub 30 FPS. KBM while not a preference is always an option, and yay emulation. I just hate how fucking annoying it can be to deal with games like Skyrim and Dark Souls. Stuttering on hardware that can easily run it on highest settings and the shitty port that is Dark Souls can really hamper the experience.

So kids stuff. Cool.

I remember the 80's when people cared about platformers, fighters and beat em ups :P

It would be slightly more respectable if you actually owned a fucken PC, scrub.

"Deep games? Maybe. Boring to everyone that aren't neckbeards? Absolutely."

Mobile gaming:

-insane amount of games

-cheap prices. everyday feels like a Steam sale

-on-the-go and comfy in bed gaming

-Kate Upton is on board

-socially accepted

-free, free and more free

Honestly, pc gaming is one big beta these days. And console gaming has been going down for a while now. Mobile is the future along with VR.

Well whatever, those genres are still producing some of the best designed games today. Just think Super Mario Galaxy 2 was better than StarCraft 2. See what I'm saying?

@RoboCopISJesus said:

@bobrossperm said:

It would be slightly more respectable if

"Deep games? Maybe. Boring to everyone that aren't neckbeards? Absolutely."

Yep, and still proud of that statement. Clever as **** :)

And Heroes of the Storm was better than TLOU I guess then *scratches head*

Bet it wasn't. Because GS scores mean nothing. Beyond two trash got a 9 here did it not? Yeah it did. I would rather compress one of my testis between my thumb and my forefinger than play that game.

lol

My point was rather you switching between objective and subjective methods of "good games".

For me personally the games exclusively on consoles (ie not on PC) have been downright disappointing.

Better graphics and performance, but at a price >> GTX 970 only for 160$

Have to constantly update drivers >> Consoles have mandatory Updates

Most developers don't make best use of the more powerful hardware >>GTAV

Most of the really popular games are MMOs, strategy games, and valve games (which ironically don't require a big rig) >> Bullshit

Invented free to play, micro-transaction business model >> Bullshit

Online play is free, but matchmaking can be very tedious >> LOL

Playing on a monitor with a keyboard , mouse >> Steam Link , Xbox 360 and Xbox One Controller 4 PC

Most games require you to install a DRM platform >> Download Steam free .... Only 1.5 MB

Games frequently go on sale, but that doesn't necessarily make it cheaper than console since you can't resell >> Steam GIFT Trading

PC gives a higher quality experience for people who want to put the extra time in.

But consoles are better for the average person who has a full-time job, a family and a number of other hobbies

Cons of consoles:

Agreed.

@SolidGame_basic:

A PC is a computer FYI.

Just making sure we're on the same page.

Factually wrong.

It is in fact, the ONLY way to measure quality.

:) Good post.

Not again

Same to me with PC, which is why I havent games on it much lately.

PC for me is good fro steam sales and <$10 games.

I can play any game on my PC and it will look better than whats on consoles.

@SolidGame_basic: solid tryhard basic.

Someone link the quote from Kevin Van Ord about PC games being reviewed on a higher standard and shut that bobross alt account up.

PC games are trash.

keep it classy.

Consoles

• Exclusive AAA titles
• Simple plug and play
• Unified ecosystem (no Origins, UPlay, Steam, GOG messing up your achievements and collection per account basis)
• First Party Support

PC

• Free to Play, MMOs, indies
• Large selection of games to choose from
• Flexible Pricing (pay for the performance you desire)
• Free Online
• GOG