We'll be looking at several critical areas that come up a lot when talking about this sort of thing. These areas are Price, Power, Peripherals, and Problems (you like the 4 P's, don't lie). I'll be comparing and contrasting both PC's and Consoles at each of these key areas, as well as dispelling some myths created about them by both mainstream and gaming culture. So, without further adieu, here we go!
Price:
Historically consoles were much cheaper to buy than PC's. In the 80's and even up into the 90's in order to buy a PC with enough power to play games much better than DOS programs you had to drop a few thousand dollars at least. That made console game look incredibly cheap at the 200-800 dollar price points of the consoles of the day. Now however, as technology and manufacturing capabilities have increased, the price of gaming on a PC is a lot less than it used to be. So much so that gaming on a PC actually will cost you less in the long run than gaming on a console, although the initial purchase price of gaming PC is still higher. The cost of the new Xbox One is 500$ and the PS4 is 400$. If you want to just buy an out of the box PC that is a pretty good gaming PC you will spend around 800-1000$. However, if you build the PC yourself, you can cut that to around 600$. Maybe less if you skip out on some non gaming options that make the PC less functional as anything but a gaming machine. As you can see the difference is not that much, and if you look at the versatility of a PC versus a gaming console, the value for your money is better.
Games are Cheaper on PC as well. On average a new console game is 60$ full retail. PC games are on average 45$ full retail. You can buy used games for consoles which is impossible for PC, but if you've ever seen a Steam Sale, then you know that you can buy brand new AAA titles for less than 5 bucks. If you only buy games on Steam Sales (and don't go crazy with it), then you can save hundreds of dollars a year on new games.
Power:
When I say power I mean processing power. PC's come in all shapes and sizes, but when it comes to raw power even the most basic of Gaming PC's has lots more of it than consoles. PC's can push out much higher resolutions, pixel densities, shader qualities, and polygon counts than a console could ever dream of. Although, that happens to be a double edged sword. Better graphics are nice and all, but the large disparity of PC qualities leads to no consistency or continuity with game developers. Meaning you could have issues not being able to run your game on any setting, let alone the highest one. On a console you always know your game will work, and lets be honest. Consoles graphics have been beautiful for years. Even before the release of the most recent generation they were producing beautiful games like Skyrim, Forza, and GTA V. Now games like Titanfall and the newest Killzone have stepped up the graphical fidelity even more, and these are just the opening acts for this generation of console. So while you can squeeze every extra ounce of power out of a PC and the can look amazingly real, do you need to?
Peripherals:
This is mostly known as the Keyboard and Mouse Vs Controller Debate. Almost everyone will say that K&M is way better, but this isn't true across the board. Actually it's only true for 2 specific genres. Real Time Strategy games and First Person Shooters are much better with a K&M hands down. The precision and large amount of functionality that comes with it outmatches a controller 9 out of 10 times, and that 1 time is only because the guy using the K&M sucks at the game. However, there are genres that a controller dominates every time. Racing games and flight games are infinitely better with a controller. The easy to use nature of a controller and range of motion offered in thumbsticks is much better than the twitchiness of a mouse and the on or off state of a keyboard key. I even prefer a controller to a race wheel or a flight stick for these kinds of games due to how comfy they are in your hands.
Everything else is a toss up and completely preferential. RPG's, puzzle games, platformers, hack and slash, beat em up, arcade, adventure, and the rest don't do better with one control type or the other. It simply comes down to preference on this. I personally prefer a controller, and that's why I have one for my PC as well as my Xbox. Yes, in case you didn't know, you can buy controllers for PC's as well.
Problems:
Consoles and PC's both have problems unique to each platform that are big enough to keep people away from using them. On the Console side of it the severe lack of performance and versatility compared to a PC is usually enough to keep PC gamers away. Consoles also suffer from a lack of customization options since you can only buy 1 or 2 different models of it. These things combined with the various differences and issues mentioned above all add up to a lot of very big problems for hardcore PC gamers.
On the flip side though, PC gaming is not at all standardized. With so many different models of graphics cards, processors, and the ever changing nature of technology it can become quite difficult to keep up. Especially if you don't have the time, skills, or money to put into upgrades and maintenance. The improvements you do see in performance may not be enough to justify the extra cost, and these things combined with the rest of the previous differences and issues could be big problems for console gamers.
Conclusion:
As you can see both sides have some good and bad parts to them. Most people know which side they line up more with, but in case you really aren't sure this is a pretty good way to tell.
You're probably a console gamer if you don't care as much about super high end graphics. You don't posses the knowledge, skills, drive, money, and/or desire to constantly upgrade and tweak your gaming platform. You dislike a keyboard for anything other than typing, and you prefer the feel of a nice controller.
You're probably a PC gamer is you really care about maximum graphic performance. You do posses the knowledge, skills, drive, money, and/or desire to consistently upgrade and tweak your gaming platform. You love a keyboard more than life itself, and you prefer the feel of a smooth rounded mouse.
If you happen to line up with both of them, then congratulations! You're a hybrid gamer like me. If you line up more with one or the other, then congratulations! You're a PC or Console gamer. We are all gamers in the end. It doesn't matter what platform we play on, or what we play it with. Sure, there are some pretty significant differences between consoles and PC's. That doesn't make one better than the other one. It all comes down to the type of gamer you are, and in the end we all win because we're all gamers. Now go play something!
Bonus: What kind of gamer am I?
I'm pretty close to the middle, but I do lean more towards PC gaming. I do it partly for the savings on games, and partly because I play mostly stratagy games in my free time. Which, as I said, are better on PC. I do love console gaming though, and prefer to play my racing games and RPG's on a console. I like sitting on my big comfy couch to do so. I do have a bit of a Halo fetish, and except for a couple of older Halo titles they are all on console (Xbox Specifically). So those things keep me firmly the console world pretty consistently.
Consoles and PC's both have problems unique to each platform that are big enough to keep people away from using them. On the Console side of it the severe lack of performance and versatility compared to a PC is usually enough to keep PC gamers away. Consoles also suffer from a lack of customization options since you can only buy 1 or 2 different models of it. These things combined with the various differences and issues mentioned above all add up to a lot of very big problems for hardcore PC gamers.
On the flip side though, PC gaming is not at all standardized. With so many different models of graphics cards, processors, and the ever changing nature of technology it can become quite difficult to keep up. Especially if you don't have the time, skills, or money to put into upgrades and maintenance. The improvements you do see in performance may not be enough to justify the extra cost, and these things combined with the rest of the previous differences and issues could be big problems for console gamers.
Conclusion:
As you can see both sides have some good and bad parts to them. Most people know which side they line up more with, but in case you really aren't sure this is a pretty good way to tell.
You're probably a console gamer if you don't care as much about super high end graphics. You don't posses the knowledge, skills, drive, money, and/or desire to constantly upgrade and tweak your gaming platform. You dislike a keyboard for anything other than typing, and you prefer the feel of a nice controller.
You're probably a PC gamer is you really care about maximum graphic performance. You do posses the knowledge, skills, drive, money, and/or desire to consistently upgrade and tweak your gaming platform. You love a keyboard more than life itself, and you prefer the feel of a smooth rounded mouse.
If you happen to line up with both of them, then congratulations! You're a hybrid gamer like me. If you line up more with one or the other, then congratulations! You're a PC or Console gamer. We are all gamers in the end. It doesn't matter what platform we play on, or what we play it with. Sure, there are some pretty significant differences between consoles and PC's. That doesn't make one better than the other one. It all comes down to the type of gamer you are, and in the end we all win because we're all gamers. Now go play something!
Bonus: What kind of gamer am I?
I'm pretty close to the middle, but I do lean more towards PC gaming. I do it partly for the savings on games, and partly because I play mostly stratagy games in my free time. Which, as I said, are better on PC. I do love console gaming though, and prefer to play my racing games and RPG's on a console. I like sitting on my big comfy couch to do so. I do have a bit of a Halo fetish, and except for a couple of older Halo titles they are all on console (Xbox Specifically). So those things keep me firmly the console world pretty consistently.
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