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Before I begin, I want to summarize a very brief history of video game consoles and my experience with them. The first video game was in the 1950's, but video gaming first started gaining track and popularity in the 1970's and has been popular even since (E-sports is a great example of this). My first experience with video games was the original Super Mario Bros on the NES (which NES is a part of the third generation consoles). Then, I tried games on Neo Geo and Sega Genesis(4th gen), PS1 and N64(5th), PS2 and the original Xbox(6th), and finally PS3, Xbox360, and Wii(7th). I've had a lovely and fulfilling experience, especially with Super Mario, Super Smash, Mariokart, FF7, Halo(1-3), and Dark Cloud 1. Currently, we are in the 8th generation of consoles, but I have gotten neither the PS4 nor the Xbox One, which I will explain later.
On the other side, PCs first started out as business and office machines, not for gaming. Part of the reason is that it was costly to optimize the hardware and software for both office use AND gaming and also people in the beginning did not really see PCs as an entertainment system. However, when the gaming industry took a dip in 1983, PC then started gaining popularity as a result. From then on, PC gaming became more and more popular, as the hardware became more and more powerful with better and more flexible software and method of distribution. The first PC game I played was Solitaire and for me, that was pretty addicting. I was then introduced to Starcraft in 1998 and Diablo 2 in 2000, which are both excellent games. There are many great PC games, but those two especially stick out in my mind.
As a child, I have always played on consoles, with the exception of a certain PC games, as gaming PCs back in the day were very expensive to get or make. Now as an adult, my primary gaming platform is the PC and I will dabble in console gaming with a group of close friends from time to time. In fact, I built a gaming PC four years ago. It was costly compared to a console, but it was worth every dollar.
Why did I switch to console to PC? I think it was that I was interested in knowing how a computer worked and operated at first, but I later found out how cheap the games can be and how convenient digital distribution is. Plus, the graphics on a good PC are amazing.
There has been much debate of PCs vs consoles and which is better than which. Some argue that consoles today hold down quality of computer graphics that can be produced on the monitor/TV, while others argue that PC gaming is too expensive and consoles are more affordable. Both sides are valid, and I will not tell you to consoles suck or PCs suck or anything of that nature. You are free to make your choice on the entertainment platform. I am not a "PC elitist" or whatever.
Instead, I will state this: Consoles are becoming increasingly irrelevant as time passes and we are currently witnessing this phenomenon with the adoption of PC hardware in consoles and the widespread use of digital distribution (e.g. Steam, EA, Ubisoft, etc.).
At this point in gaming history, there is very little distinction to be made between the PS4/Xbone and the PC (Now, there is also the Wii U, but right now, it looks dead in the water.). The hardware architecture is the same for consoles and PCs, which means that the software are almost directly compatible. Also, I believe 8th-gen utilize digital distribution, if I'm not mistaken. Also, there are features on consoles that are on the PCs, such as social media integration. These are the reasons that I have not gotten the PS4 or the Xbox One. If this trend of similarities continue, then this is going to be the last or next-to-last generation of gaming consoles. Furthermore, Sony and Microsoft are making very little profit, if any, by selling the consoles directly, so it all boils down to how many games they sell on their platforms, which I view as an extremely risky business strategy. If there is no money to be made, then it is time to close shop and focus on something else, no matter how disappointing it may be.
Personally, I advocate more PC usage than console because I have learned so much by making my own gaming PC and learning to configure the games and software myself, not just for the sake of better graphics. But don't get me wrong. With games, gameplay is the core, not the graphics, and this is the main reason I prefer Brood War over SC2, despite the graphics improvements, and also many indie games, such as Hotline Miami, FTL, and Super Meat Boy.
I love gaming, and I advocate it for everyone of all ages. It does not matter what platform you are playing, how good the graphics are, or how "good" the game is by the mainstream media; the primary purpose of gaming is to have fun and enjoy yourself. Just take your pick, chill, and relax.
 
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I find that I enjoy PC a lot more than consoles as a solo gamer, it's just a lot more convenient for social media/media consumption/gaming, with a lot more power to boot compared to consoles.. PC is also the home to competitive games ie broodwar/cs/dota, which is where I have my most fun.. that's why I like PCs more. That said, I realize people like me compose a minimal market share and that console producers won't cater their systems to me, which is of course fine. The only reason I actually use consoles is because most of my favorite rpgs aren't ported to PC (or easily emulated), ie dragon quest 5,6,9, any of the tales games, etrian odyssey1-4, bravely default, etc.. I also prefered demon souls on PS3 until i got a controller, now I'm indifferent between ps3 and pc for that style of ARPG.
However, consoles have one massive advantage over PC gaming, they're way more social. Not social as in xbox live or PSN, social as in a split screen environment. This is why I think the Wii and the WiiU are the correct direction for consoles to take: they capitalize on having fun who you're with. My most memorable experience with consoles is being forced to play some dance game on the wii with my ex's 13 year old sister, where i looked like a complete retard but everyone had fun. Obviously I'm not going to spend days on end trying to improve at Wii dance games like i would trying to go from 1900 to 2000 on fish, but it's a different kind of fun. That's where consoles should stand I think, because as PC becomes more accessible and more user friendly I think PS4 and XB1 will continue to bleed "hardcore" users as they realize how much better PC is at what they want to do.
That being said, bringing people from console to PC is very difficult, I'm personally amazed at how many people i hear switching from PS4 and XB1 to PC already. I remember training my ex to play BW after she hadn't played any form of competitive game and how brutally difficult it was to get her into the right mind set. It wasn't even the difficulty of economic optimization or optimal army control or scouting, it was more about getting her used to how fucking cold the internet is. People in "real life" aren't ready to join a hon lobby and have 4 people call them a fucking retard for picking one hero over another, and broodwar wasn't any different. Anyways I had to show her that people really didn't mean what they were saying in the context that she thought they did, and I taught her this through having her BM people with the mic as I played HoN to acclimate her to it. However, I dunno how people do it without someone telling them that they're being over sensitive, it would be really hard and it's awesome that people are coming through with it.
And I don't want PC gaming to change, I don't mind the culture and I love the competition, so I hope console players keep being vigilant in their transition to PC, and I hope that consoles specialize in social gaming instead of trying to create a poor emulation of competitive PC gaming!
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Kyrgyz Republic1462 Posts
I have built a new PC just a few days ago and to be honest I had a hard time justifying getting a gaming PC. The PC exclusive games that I play a lot (Starcraft and Dota) work absolutely fine on my laptop which is also more than adequate for everything I do at work, and to play the few next-gen games that I look forward to (Witcher 3 and DA 3) getting a PS4 would definitely be much more cost efficient. The only reason I decided to get a new PC rather than a PS4 was that my wife's old laptop was dying and she needed a new PC for her work.
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+ Show Spoiler +On March 10 2014 07:28 Endymion wrote:
I find that I enjoy PC a lot more than consoles as a solo gamer, it's just a lot more convenient for social media/media consumption/gaming, with a lot more power to boot compared to consoles.. PC is also the home to competitive games ie broodwar/cs/dota, which is where I have my most fun.. that's why I like PCs more. That said, I realize people like me compose a minimal market share and that console producers won't cater their systems to me, which is of course fine. The only reason I actually use consoles is because most of my favorite rpgs aren't ported to PC (or easily emulated), ie dragon quest 5,6,9, any of the tales games, etrian odyssey1-4, bravely default, etc.. I also prefered demon souls on PS3 until i got a controller, now I'm indifferent between ps3 and pc for that style of ARPG.
However, consoles have one massive advantage over PC gaming, they're way more social. Not social as in xbox live or PSN, social as in a split screen environment. This is why I think the Wii and the WiiU are the correct direction for consoles to take: they capitalize on having fun who you're with. My most memorable experience with consoles is being forced to play some dance game on the wii with my ex's 13 year old sister, where i looked like a complete retard but everyone had fun. Obviously I'm not going to spend days on end trying to improve at Wii dance games like i would trying to go from 1900 to 2000 on fish, but it's a different kind of fun. That's where consoles should stand I think, because as PC becomes more accessible and more user friendly I think PS4 and XB1 will continue to bleed "hardcore" users as they realize how much better PC is at what they want to do.
That being said, bringing people from console to PC is very difficult, I'm personally amazed at how many people i hear switching from PS4 and XB1 to PC already. I remember training my ex to play BW after she hadn't played any form of competitive game and how brutally difficult it was to get her into the right mind set. It wasn't even the difficulty of economic optimization or optimal army control or scouting, it was more about getting her used to how fucking cold the internet is. People in "real life" aren't ready to join a hon lobby and have 4 people call them a fucking retard for picking one hero over another, and broodwar wasn't any different. Anyways I had to show her that people really didn't mean what they were saying in the context that she thought they did, and I taught her this through having her BM people with the mic as I played HoN to acclimate her to it. However, I dunno how people do it without someone telling them that they're being over sensitive, it would be really hard and it's awesome that people are coming through with it.
And I don't want PC gaming to change, I don't mind the culture and I love the competition, so I hope console players keep being vigilant in their transition to PC, and I hope that consoles specialize in social gaming instead of trying to create a poor emulation of competitive PC gaming!
I agree that the user experience is different with consoles and PCs and the Internet can be a dark place. I didn't really consider the Internet here because online experience overall is pretty across all platforms. Also, I liked split-screen as well when I played with my brother and friends a long time ago.
The Wii was interesting. There were different mechanics and atmosphere surrounding it, compared to PS3 and X360. The Wii U could have been a great success, but I have no idea what Nintendo is doing right now.
The main point I wanted to throw across, other than having fun, was that PCs can easily fill all of the roles that consoles with different software and use of joysticks/controllers. You can build a pretty cheap gaming PC nowadays and hook up joysticks with proper drivers and game support. I really do hope that the Steam OS becomes better in the future for these purposes.
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On March 10 2014 09:38 Random() wrote:
I have built a new PC just a few days ago and to be honest I had a hard time justifying getting a gaming PC. The PC exclusive games that I play a lot (Starcraft and Dota) work absolutely fine on my laptop which is also more than adequate for everything I do at work, and to play the few next-gen games that I look forward to (Witcher 3 and DA 3) getting a PS4 would definitely be much more cost efficient. The only reason I decided to get a new PC rather than a PS4 was that my wife's old laptop was dying and she needed a new PC for her work.
It can be difficult to justify a gaming PC if you don't game much or focus more on PC-focused games(like Starcraft). I use my PC for graphics rendering, software projects, office work, and pretty much any other stuff you can do on a PC. I guess the main benefit with a gaming PC, other than better graphics, is the flexibility that it provides, but I can see that people may not need such flexibility and get a console instead.
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EPT
