PC and Consoles on an even playing field?

With the new generation here I want to focus on games over graphics. Is this a close race? Does PC have the better games, or do you feel consoles do? Is it more even now than ever before?

PC and consoles both have their exclusives. With the PC having solid RTS games like starcraft 2 that more then likely wont come to consoles, but Consoles having games like Mario, GTA 5 and Kill Zone. Also the debate that some games are just better with mouse and keyboard like FPS. Then you see games like Diablo 3 ported to console and people tend to have liked it more (some debate it was actually really meant for a console all along)

What do you guys think? If you only had a choice between a PC or a Console, focusing on games rather then specs, what would you end up choosing?

Theres nothing appealing about pc gaming to me. A bunch of rts games, and indies(not meant as a negative, I like indies) that will more than likely appear on consoles.

Don't forget about consoles having better exclusives.

PC all the way. More variety, excellent backwards compatibility, a multitude of stores selling digital content, and a handful of new exclusives just about every week. Nothing else competes with that.

I'd like to be able to say they are on an even playing field but pc is really leagues ahead of the consoles. A lot of people on here will disagree, so be it. But one thing I've learned over the years from owning both. My pc gets a hell of a lot more use then the consoles I've owned. Both are great in their own ways but for me PC takes the cake and eats it too.

And now for a big ol' circle jerk about personal preferences...

sounds fun

PC has both games and gfx. Look at Gamespots or Metacritic yearly tallies. PC always has more aaa/aa.

Then look at multiplatform gfx and performance, almost always better on PC. D3 scored higher on PC and sold 10x more. The best gfx every gen is on PC as well.

Not according to facts, so he actually can forget about it. Oh and PC has more genres than console. Unless you like 5 hour long movie games.

Consoles are a great, perhaps the best, place to find games that are right for everyone. Something anyone can pick up and play for five hours, maybe even ten.

PC is where you go to find the game that is right for you. Something you personally will put a hundreds of hours into. Games you adore, but you can't recommend to more then one or two of your friends because they didn't aim to engage eight million for seven hours. They aimed to engage a million players for sixty. That is why PC gamers tend to be the most enthusiastic. They own a couple dozen games designed for a narrow audience they just happen to be a part of.

Consoles can never catch up there. It is the benefit of an open platform that is easy to develop for. Between that and Kickstarter/early access, a person can pander to any niche.

Great comment. I agree with you on this.

So far next generation appears to be, what you have been playing before, but with Micro-transactions and an extra £10.

It's very exciting.

So far the PS4 is doing very well against the PC in terms of graphics, give it 2 years though like always the consoles will show their age. Meanwhile people like me are upgrading to 2K/4K resolutions and GTX Titans. Come at me bro!

True , and sometimes (actually most of the time) niche market is good . It is good to have something which is targeted for core gamers or fans of specific genre rather than bigger casual market for dumbed down experience .

Naughty Dog , Quantic Dream, Remedy , and apparently Rockstar make games only for consoles.That means , screw the PC !

I think consoles have an edge with exclusives, but PC is the way to go for multiplatform titles.

Not a fair fight for consoles, since they need to gang up to even try to come close to what PC has to offer in terms of games.. And then PC has almost exclusive genres, mods, lots of possible control schemes, community input... Superior graphics and performance are only an additional bonus.

And really, console exclusives have gone downhill over the last 10 years. The need to appeal to the smallest common denominator can be felt in every "major" console exclusive's gameplay.. Sad evolution, but fortunately gaming is still alive and kicking on the PC platform.

Same here, can't wait to pay more for day one DLC and what not, to get the same amount of content I used to get when I bought a game at full price.

PC lost a bunch of exclusives because consoles are more like PC than ever before.

And PC got a bunch of multiplats and console games because of the rise in development costs.

Since 90% of the games I'm interested in are multiplats I'll surely be sticking with PC for a while before getting an Xbone or PS4, because they are seriously lacking exclusives at the moment.

There are more Remedy games on PC than on consoles . Their every game made for Xbox 360 is on PC as definitive version . Not on PS3 though .

Quantum Dream are shitty developers .

PC started to lose shitload of exclusives and developers already past-gen, thanks to Microsoft and 360.

Thankfully, things are getting better in the past several years, but developers are still more prone to consoles with blockbuster exclusives.

Yeah Microsoft closed or redirected a lot of PC centric studios to Xbox development. Started happening since the original Xbox

The only reason why a developer like Crytek makes an Xbox exclusive is because of the massive amounts of money Microsoft pays for that. Same with all first and second party exclusives, there is a lot of money being put into them and MS and Sony want them to sell consoles, so there is no way there'll be a PC version.

You'll never see a big publisher like EA, Ubisoft or Activision/Blizzard make a game exclusive to one system, other than PC: Simcity, Anno, WOW, ...

PC. To say that they have no exclusives is kind of silly. I upgraded my PC just so I could play upcoming games like, The Forest, Routine, and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. Which, by the way, none of those games are RTS. I'm not a ignorant child that has hate for a gaming system, but at the moment there is simply no games on current gen systems worth playing and I don't see any coming out for a long time. Also, most games that look truly exciting are multi plats. There is no need for me to purchase a console yet.

There are also more Rockstar games on PC than on PS3, PS4, XBone or Xbox 360 ...

And seeing through which lengths Remedy has gone to get Alan Wake on PC, I'm pretty QB has a good chance of seeing a PC release as well.

Luckily the quality of blockbuster exclusives tend to be a let down.

It will be , after few months for sure .

No because PC isn't getting the good games these days.

Yeah, pretty much. I think Crysis 1 was one of the last of those.

PC no contest. Most of those saying console are clueless console only gamers that are on the outside looking in, but have never actually stepped foot in to really know wtf they are talking about.

I like the quality of a lot of console exclusives. Exclusives are the only reason I still buy consoles.

It's just a shame that some people equate marketing budget to quality of the game. Like for example a really well known, well marketed game on console is amazing quality. And a hidden gem on PC is instantly crap because it's not well known.

I can appreciate games for what they are worth. And not for how well marketed or well reviewed they are.

I really liked the Crysis series, all 4 of them. When Crytek announced that the series would be done and they would be moving on to F2P games, as that was the future according to them, I instantly lost any interest.

Their games have also been of very poor quality lately. Though their engines are still great and its good to see that Cyengine 3 is quite popular.

@MegamanX97: the comment on Diablo is stupid.... for many many reasons. the only reason people ever said the console version is better because it launched with the real-money-acution-house removed and an improved loot system.... all of which is the same on the PC now, only with the propr non-lan only online and eve more features.

RTS, MMO, Sim , kickstarters like Star Citizen, sadly games like Day Z ..... the now biggest online genre out there MOBA's ....

You cant convince people, but PC is objectively light years ahead. consoles always playing catchup.

Took them nearly 10 years to trend online shooters.... 10 years after the WoW-boom they are now starting to see some MMOs.

IT depends what you mean? considering there are numerous PC exclusives out there that are playing in the millions on a daily basis.... 5-10 years after their creation... is that not what "real quality" is about? what is a "Block-buster exclusive" ... just a 10 hour flashy game that has a ridiculous budget and wants to be a movie?

I mean.... look at the sad reality of Sony's current "exclusives" ... gran turismo has taken a nose dive in relevance/quality. Little Big Planet is about the only creative one left. the 4 spammed franchises of last generation were Killzone, Resistance, Uncharted and god of war ... (which the latter also took a quality nose dive.).... andnow Last of Us will be milked... none of these franchises i might add ARE THE BEST IN THEIR RESPECTIVE GENRES IN GAMEPLAY.

Are games like DoTA, LoL, WoTs, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, ect not the "real blockbusters" here... 500k+ people playing them at peak years after their creation.... because of the gameplay.

no... there are not more console exclusives and there never have been... just big budget flashy games appealing to casuals (not specifically a bad thing.)... but the idea that these GAMES are higher quality because of their PRESENTATION is a joke.

It's so nice to actually see PC and Console fans getting a long in a thread for once..... lol.

When did this happen for the PC? I might just have to buy this game now. I loved Diablo 2.

awhile back, and its got an expansion now... and a new adventure mode which is apperently really good.

make no mistake... its the version to get.

I did build a gaming PC recently.....but I still really don't see any games worth purchasing on the PC that aren't available on consoles. The games are underwhelming.

Wait a minute. If it's all about games, what games are on the PS4 and XB1 right now that warrant a purchase of a console over a gaming PC? Everyone keeps bringing up Naughty Dog. You know that you will be waiting until Summer-Holiday 2015 right? Greatness Awaits I know. And the fact that PC has far superior versions of all multiplats must count for something.

This must change.

#lolconsoles

Ditto, at least currently. There's piles and piles of random indie games on Steam that I've been enjoying, but very few big name games that blow my mind. I reckon Civ and Total War are the only amazing exclusive series I've gained. Meanwhile I'm glad I have a PS4 and WiiU for Sony and Nintendo 1st party, Bungie, Rockstar, Platinum Games, Kojima Productions games.

At least I didn't have to get an X1 for Titanfall though ;)

we get it, you like shallow blockbuster games with little to no cooperative or competitive value.... and same old same old.

Built a gaming PC... didn't like any games... then why do it in the first place.

@PonchoTaco wish granted :D

What did you say? Put em' up Put em' up!

lol. Fanboys can all go die a horrible slow painful death in my opinion, and then I'll piss on their graves. Yes I've just gone full retard.

Such butt hurt man. Shallow blockbusters? No I just happen to like good games. I just don't really see any for computers that aren't available elsewhere. But hey.....whatever you need to tell yourself to stop from crying. Maybe you can save up and buy some consoles and not be so bitter.

It's annoying when posters regurgitate some of this ignorant twaddle and pass it off as a genuine opinion instead of only using it to troll. The latter I can somewhat respect; the former is just annoying,

Onto topic, PC wins all day.

More genres/variety (and AAA developed exclusives therein {ARMA3,Simcity,Civ 5,Total War, Reaper of Souls,Tribes Ascend etc} none of which are "RTS or indie" though there are those too (Starcraft 2 etc- I dont play any indie games), better graphics, better gameplay/performance, more exclusives, 95 % or more of AAA multi-plats this gen and by far the best version of those, mods, customizbility (game however you want with what every you want wherever you want), stellar upcoming exclusives like Star Citizen, The Forest, Elite Dangerous, Routine etc.

All of this on one platform. Realistically if you're gaming on a single console platform or even a couple you'll only get about 4 or 5 really top quality, critically acclaimed games that you wouldn't on PC. While PC is getting the same (except they arent all 3rd person cover shooter movie games). Everywhere else you're getting taken to the cleaners by PC Gaming.

Not gonna be even until pc starts gettting some goty exclusives and stops missing out on the biggest titles of the generation.

Consoles always win.

Need consoles to play the best games the industry has to offer.

Have you tried the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series yet? It's definitely worth a try whenever it goes on sale. Even if you don't end up liking the game, you would have to be completely soulless to not appreciate its atmosphere.

You've just proved my point. The only argument for console over PC is a handful of critically acclaimed exclusives (which lack replayability btw) so basically NG games (Uncharted 2 and TLOU). I'm sure we all know the sublime proper version of GTA V is releasing later this year on PC. Everywhere else it's a wash in every respect. I'm not really sure about the big Xbox/Wii exclusives but you can play the likes of Mario Galaxy 2 on your PC as well as earlier generation console titles and Gears of War/Halo Evolved. The AAA blockbuster exclusives on those platforms are later versions of those games (rehashes and sequels.) I can definetely see Sony having the edge over the other console platforms though- more, better exclusives and IP.

PC all the way. Best exclusives, best multiplats, best graphics, best controls, no disk-swapping, multiple monitors, cheaper games, player-owned servers for most games, mods, free online multiplayer, support for thousands of input/control devices...

It just doesn't get any better.

All 2 of them? And ask yourself: do they have a lot of replayability or are they more like cinematic events that you only experience a few times.

I own everything because I dont want to miss any great games. no matter what your justification is, consoles are worth owning.

Oh yeah Stalker is very cool, I was on about the upcoming gen :)

I do agree to some respect but this thread is about a direct comparison between the platforms. Anyway, its too early for me to consider owning gen console at this point. I'll probably wait a good couple of years before doing so, depending on whats released.