Comments on: Console Gaming May Not be the Best Option Anymore

By: Hatm0nster

Hatm0nster — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 01:31:13 +0000

Perhaps PC was always the most powerful, but consoles did have their place once upon a time. They’ve kind of lost that place now though.

By: ouroborus777

ouroborus777 — Sun, 23 Aug 2015 20:31:27 +0000

I posit that consoles never were the best option.

By: Hatm0nster

Hatm0nster — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 02:18:59 +0000

If the Steam controller is indeed as universal as they say it is, then yeah we’ll finally have that bridge that’s been so long in the making. You do have a point about upgrades being expensive though. Cost is still prohibitive to be sure, but it seems like it’s been getting less so with each passing year.

By: Red Metal

Red Metal — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 13:59:49 +0000

I’ve always been kind of a mix between the two – I find myself gaming on both consoles and the PC. Although I do have to say that at this point, consoles have hit something of a point of stagnation. It’s annoying when are one or two interesting games that I can’t play because I don’t have the right console. Not helping is the fact that there’s no backwards compatibility with the new consoles – it gives consumers very little motivation to get them. The PC has almost never had this problem. It did when the newer operating systems were incapable of going into DOS, but that problem was instantly solved with the invention of DOSBox. Also not helping is the AAA industry’s anti-consumer practices such as the aforementioned compatibility problems along with their, not-so-great PR, which only seems to be getting worse with time. A lot of the big-name companies such as EA and Activision are still making a lot of money, but their strategies are not sustainable. If the only thing they focus on is graphics, this just means that there will inevitably be a backlash once consumers catch on and break the pattern.

Having said all that, the reason I switch between the consoles and the PC is because some games play better with a controller and on a TV screen while others are better suited for a keyboard and mouse control scheme. Also, upgrading the PC to play new games can be quite expensive. Then again, one can play a PC game on a TV screen while the opposite doesn’t usually hold true. And then there’s the issue of the Steam controller, which will would allow one to play PC games on the TV screen, thus bridging the gap.

By: cary

cary — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 11:41:01 +0000

Reblogged this on Recollections of Play and commented:

This week I'm sharing a UWG article from my fellow admin Hatm0nster, because he addresses a gaming issue that's not uncommon these days: console vs. PC gaming. And it's not a matter of either or, it's more a question of acceptance. As a mostly console player myself who recently turned back to PC gaming (if not full force), I've come to see the value of having a gaming PC as a viable addition to anyone's gaming setup. And frankly, with as headache-y as both the Xbox One and PS4 can be, I can also see the value in only playing games on PC. But when one has only ever played games on console, making this leap is a bit tougher. If you've recently found yourself on this fence, I highly encourage you to check out Hatm0nster's article and leave your own thoughts.

By: duckofindeed

duckofindeed — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 15:36:58 +0000

It definitely seems that way, doesn’t it? In the past, computers and TVs and consoles all felt like such different devices. Now I can watch Youtube on my TV using a video game console. Everything’s combining into one. Computers are gaming consoles and gaming consoles are computers. TVs are computers. Phones are computers. They now have watches that are computers. Soon, everything’s going to be a computer….

By: The Two Made One? Windows 10 and the Xbox One. | United We Game

The Two Made One? Windows 10 and the Xbox One. | United We Game — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 17:03:25 +0000

[…] in the week, my follower UWGer Hatm0nster posted a great article about the question of console versus PC gaming, if there is a question to be, um…questioned at all. These days, so many of us who chose to […]

By: cary

cary — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 12:23:16 +0000

(Fortuitous timing with this article, as I’ve got one brewing about the Xbox One/Windows 10 integration that was discussed last week at Gamescom!)

There really used to be not just a line in the sand, but a concrete wall between PC gamer and console gamers, didn’t there? More than once I probably derided one or the other depending on whatever I was favoring at the time. But for a long time, it seemed that once you were on one side or the other, that was that. Now, it’s all just “gaming,” no matter the means. Yet, despite this seeming confluence, there’s still issues that set PC-ers and Console-ers apart, such as exclusives and availability and cross-platform play. I think we are headed down a set a converging paths that will eventually all end up in one spot, a spot where gaming simply happens no matter the device.

By: drakulus23

drakulus23 — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 21:26:14 +0000

I think the current consoles are way underpowered when compared to modern gaming PCs. Exclusives are really the only thing that I can see driving console sales now to be honest.

I used to be a physical game collector, but I gladly made the switch once I had my first kid and realized how much they like to mess with my stuff. I really love my Wii U, but it’s hard to recommend to anyone since there is a lack of games on the console and Nintendo is pushing the NX out the door next year.

By: Hatm0nster

Hatm0nster — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 21:00:43 +0000

Agreed. At first it’s the only option, then it becomes a preference. For me, in my mind it’s still *better* to continue with my consoles because that’s what I’m used to, even though I’ve been shown what looks to be a better path. There’s so much more that I want to dive into on PC, but inertia is a hard thing to overcome.