Console Vs PC - how has your gaming evolved?

[Aretak]

I put together my first gaming PC in 2009. Before that I'd always owned consoles. In fact, nearly every console, bar the massive disasters like the Jaguar and 3DO. Owning a PC and experiencing higher resolutions and 60fps rather ruined consoles for me though. I sold my 360 in 2011, and despite still having my PS3, it's pretty much a glorified Youtube viewer these days (though I'm hugely excited about Persona 5 next year). Briefly owned a Wii U before realising I hated the gamepad, but other than that I just don't have any interest in the new consoles. They just seem so underwhelming in every respect. So instead I built myself a new, much beefier PC about six weeks ago. I might get a PS4 somewhere down the line when the price has come down a couple of hundred quid, but essentially I've now fully converted to the mustard race.

[mrham4321]

PC is just great. Paying a premium for a premium gaming experience (60fps 1080p is amazing!) is logical, but then you get a free super-PC for all your other needs too

[Saracen]

For me, computing gaming as a whole has lost it's lustre, whether PC or console. My first computer gaming experience was Battleships, on an IBM mainframe in, IIRC, 1967. I wrote some games on ICL mainframes in the '70s, and bought an Apple in the late '70s mainly (though not entirely) for gaming, and have been PC gaming since my first PC in, again IIRC, about 1983 or 84. So, even excluding the mainframe and Apple stuff, that puts me at 30 years or so on PC gaming.

And that might be part of why the lustre has worn off.

Another part of my growing lack of interest is hassle over DRM. I understand why, sadly, it's necessary, but I emphatically don't like the way it is increasingly being done. In no small part, that's down to Steam, and other me-too variants. I understand the advantages for some people, and why many people like it (and fair enough) but for me, it's utterly unacceptable. I'm simply not spending £30 or more on a game when a 3rd party, like Steam, can simply decide, for whatever reason, I've breached their T&Cs and can no longer access the hundreds, or thousands, of pounds worth of games I've bought. On principle, I'm not doing that, now or ever. If that means never playing some, or indeed, ANY more new games, so be it.

Hunting down new, good games has just got too much like hard work. First, there's identifying games that, first, are games I'd like, and second, are actually decent. Then, having found one, checking whether it needs Steam, or similar. And spending ages picking a game only to find it needs Steam is irritating, especially as finding ones that don't is getting increasingly hard, bordering on impossible. And to be honest, I've pretty much given up on even bothering to go into games shops because it's become an exercise in futility.

Then, a friend (another Mod here, that I won't name, but he knows who he is) introduced me to GOG. And THAT rekindled my interest. A huge variety and selection, absent all the Steam cobblers, and by and large, at giveaway prices too. Great. But, perhaos understandably, not much option in current, new releases. Well, so be it, it's an acceptable price for avoiding Steam.

So, now most of my PC gaming is almost back-catalog catch-up, from GOG.

As for console, I have an X360, but don't, to be fair, use it a huge amount. Mainly, I use it when I just fancy a quick blast, in the comfort of my lounge chair, OR when I'm away from home for any period. See, I often spend long periods, often a month or so, at a different address. Not enough to want to set up an entire PC system, or pay for broadband, but enough to want entertainment options beyond TV. And the X360 is ideal to pick up and bung in the car.

So, consoles .... I still use the 360, but probably not like most users do. For a start, I don't use it online.

I've thought about an XBO, but to be honest, I'm about as happy with MS over XBO as I am with them over Win8 and MUI, which most regulars here will be aware is not very happy at all. In part, it's how they keep trying to push their interests over product features or user benefits, like the now poop-canned 'always on' internet requirement. My usage simply does not permit that, as the place I use the 360 most simply doesn't have an internet connection at all, never mind 'always on'. Similarly, built-in Kinect is a deal-killer, and certainly with what MS tried to sell as a pseudo-off command, where it's self-evidently still listening, just not reacting. If I can't be absolutely certain that "off" means truly, totally and utterly off, as in disconnected, then Kinect is a non-starter for me, and in the (to date) absence of a Kinect-less XBO, then that's off the list.

I thought about PS4 but, frankly, can't really be bothered enough to invest the time checking it out. The last PS I owned was a PS2 that I got rid of many years ago, and I'm out of touch. Besides, as a company, I'm no Sony fan, so the case for PS4 would have to be utterly compelling to get me to bite on the very bitter pill of buying another Sony device.

So, long and short, I use PC gaming and consoles in rather different ways, so for me, it's not really a competition between them. They really complement each other for me, rather than compete. But I'm not really THAT bothered about either, any more. Given the hassle, for me, in either, it's easier to just read a book, or indulge in other hobbies. After all, a day only has so much time, and if gaming I want to spend it actually gaming, not trying to sort out what game to get. So a lot of my gaming these days is with old games, and given that I'm not really interested in online gaming, that's normally sufficient for me. All the faff over DRM, Steam, etc, has really killed my enthusiasm for PC gaming, and console gaming only ever was a niche interest for me.

[george1979]

I go thru phases of each. Had a PC some years back, an old athlon x2 system. I love RTS games so PC is the only game in town for those. Then got an Xbox and the 360 a few years after that. After building my first PC I sold the 360 as it was hard to go back to it since the graphics etc really fell behind on console and there were more interesting games on the PC.

However I've recently bought a PS4 as I missed being able to chill on the sofa with a game (dragging my PC into the living room really isn't practical) and I really liked the look of some of the PS4 exclusives. I still love the PC but there is a lot to be said for the convenience and ease of use of consoles.

[Biscuit]

If games had been developed for a PC then ported to the console, there would be no comparison. Unfortunately people suck, so the master race gets the bum deal.

My habits have been consistent. Always had a PC for primary gaming (going back to Amiga and Commodore) but also had console for casual pick up and play. XB360 has recently become a lot more useful now i can use it for iplayer, netflex, 4od etc.

[kusonpadam]

They've always been different entities for me. Early days the NES had platformers, PC had strategy. Now PC just has a ps3 controller attached, what the hec ???? why

[Lampost]

I seem to do multiplayer on Xbox. And my single player games on the PC these days

[jag272]

For me I've pretty much always used PC. There are certain games I've considering buying a controller to connect to pc for though, mainly Assassin's Creed but Ubisoft are making that quite a hard sell.
Other than that I mostly play FPS, RPGs and MMO's (also Warframe alot recently) so usually I'm better off on PC and just buying a controller for the few cases I might want console controls like in AC

[Dareos]

Gaming started on a home computer for me (and a fair few other Hexites) 30 or more years ago. The first mass marketed computer game Pong was a console game I believe, even if it was a 1 game console Over the years I have gamed on Spectrum (shove your C64 where the sun don't shine, I bet you have an iPhone now j/k) BBC B, Master, Archimedes, A3000, Amiga, ST, Super Famicom, Megadrive, PS1,2,3,4 , Xbox, 360. One, 286, 386, 486, and current gen PC's. Tabletop arcade machines, Sit in arcade machines, Stand at arcade machines and even once on an Neo Geo.

Gaming is gaming.

People are always going to have their preferences. There are certain types of game where I want a PC, some where I want a console. I also like to game with friends who are not particularly PC savvy, so I play with them on consoles.

The best thing about the gaming world right now is the sheer amount of choice, both in gaming machines and the titles available.

However, you have not really gamed until you have played Street Fighter 2 in an arcade with about 20 people behind you in the queue less than patiently waiting for their turn, insulting your playing and oohing over a perfectly timed move, with your eyes watering from the cigarette smoke. Of course your lungs may thank you for this.

[abaxas]

Gaming is always better on console as the field is even. Not so with PCs, some just 'pay to win'.

[jag272]

Gaming is always better on console as the field is even. Not so with PCs, some just 'pay to win'.

Personally I've always found the role of the expensive peripherals to be overplayed honestly. At the highest level of play with 2 equally skilled opponents perhaps there is a difference, for general gaming I wouldn't say so. They have an effect certainly but the more skilled player will usually still win. Most games where peripherals are relevant are as much about mind games as they are the player's skill IMO. Though certain types of game benefit more from good peripherals as a result of macro keys eg MMOs, RTS, primarily pc focused titles.

I won't deny though that consoles are probably the closest thing in gaming to equal ground though, near enough equal performance and little variation of other factors such as brightness, modded controllers are still an issue there though.

[imdabossou]

I cannot go back to consoles anymore for FPS.. My friend brought round his console to my house to play destiny and aiming with a controller is just so much more difficult over the precision of a mouse. The frame rates and quality just looked terrible as well.

I still play Little Big Planet on my PS3 but thats about it aha

[Bradeh]

I really got into console gaming when achievements started to become popular but the fad died rather quickly. Haven't touched console for a few years now

[KeyboardDemon]

I started gaming as a child on consoles but that meant I was only able to play if there was nobody else watching TV.

It wasn't until I got my first computer with its own monitor that I was able to play games when I wanted to, so that was first with an Amiga. Then I briefly had an iMac but I didn't get serious until I built my first PC using an AMD slot type processor and since then PC has always been my first choice but I have also had a Playstation, PS2 (still got it) and I have an XBox 360 as well.

[Revvvhead]

Consoles seem to be outdated tech even before they are released, old gen GPU's that will limit development for the next few years.
I'd rather spend similar money on a cutting edge GPU upgrade for my PC.
Much better, larger more detailed maps, more accurate FPS controls.
Consoles are OK for driving or fighting games etc. but for FPS it's PC's all the way.

[TeaLeaf]

I've never found the experience on a console to approach anything like that available from a PC, so I've always stuck to PC gaming. Consoles are a very poor second imo, particularly once you game in a voice-comm-heavy community and play a lot of coop.