TL;DR? Highlights are in boldface.
I feel should start by saying that I think the PC/Console argument bears similarity to the PC/Mac argument. I think "Mac People" (people who prefer their machines be functional and easy to use vs. expandable or technically superior) have a lot in common with the Console Crowd, and the PC crowd in both cases scoff at the other as being inferior. I see a lot of comments in this thread about being able to just open a box, plug in a console, and play games, which reminds me of the old instructions for the iMacs;
open box, plug in, go.
I also sorted the list so that personal preferences are at the bottom while hard, technical differences are mentioned first.... so... yeah, have fun reading my giant post.
1. Locked Specs
When I buy a console, that console's specs will remain the same throughout it's lifespan. A
ll software made for that console will run on that console from launch day to the day the console dies,
guaranteed. With a PC, you have no guarantee that the next big game you want will run on your system. Sure, you can upgrade a PC, but I like knowing that I don't
have to do that with a console. My gaming purchases are dictated by game content, not whether I meet the system requirements.
2. Single System Development
Storage options not withstanding, all consoles are identical, or built so that any variances in the system architecture are unnoticeable. PCs, on the other hand, can be any of a hundred different brands with a hundred different hardware configurations running a hundred different software setups. That's not counting people who build their own, who will have pieces from a hundred different places.
Because there's just One Console, there's never a chance that Game XYZ will have issues because some random hardware/software has a conflict.
The console is closed and all software runs on it at the same quality level. With a PC game, your experience can vary if the architecture is just a little off or you have some piece of software installed that has a conflict.
3. Singular Purpose
While a lot of consoles are starting to become multi-purpose, for the most part you can only do one thing at a time on a gaming console. Yeah, you can stream movies, listen to MP3s, update facebook and browse the web from your console, but generally those things stop as soon as you start playing the game (music being the exception, more on that in a second).
Apart from friends logging in and out and sending you game-related messages, all of that other stuff doesn't intrude into the game experience.
There's no Alt-tabbing on a console to take you out of the experience (and that's the way most people want it, considering the amount of complaints when achievement messages pop up at inappropriate times.) You can't run a console game in windowed mode and have other stuff going on around it. This makes for a more immersive experience and you're much more likely to sit and become engrossed in the experience if there aren't little distractions constantly intruding.
I personally would prefer to see less of the all-in-one-media-center approach that Sony started. I'm against allowing players to play their own music over the game's audio as I think that has a detrimental effect on the experience (would you go to a theater and then listen to an MP3 player while you watch?).
4. Comfort.
Yeah yeah,
some people have their PCs in their living room, so the whole "
I can play it from the comfort of my couch" argument is total bullshit, right?
I hate to break it to the PC "Master Race", but
most people don't, and I'm one of them. My PC sits at a desk in the second bedroom, with a desk chair and a desk lamp. So does my wife's. As does everyone in my family's PCs. In fact, I don't know a
single person who keeps a gaming quality PC in their living room, even people who are exclusively PC gamers.
A console is a gaming machine designed to be hooked to a TV, and TVs are often positioned in the most comfortable places in the home.
You can pick up a controller, lean back on a comfy couch and game on a big screen with pleasant lighting. Sure, some highfalutin PC Gamers can do the same, but for the majority of people, PC gaming means sitting at a desk, in a desk chair, with harsh lighting and a standardized PC monitor, like most of them do for 8 hours a day at work.
For example, I've been playing Terraria on Steam for 32 of the past 72 hours this week. I've had similar marathon gaming sessions before, but I've never
felt them in the neck and shoulders like this.
5. Controller
I'm not knocking keyboards anymore than I'm knocking refrigerators; they're just part of modern living and they can be just as comfortable as and even more functional than a console controller. Likewise, a mouse is a precision input device second to none.
That said, a console controller is not without it's charms. It's built for one thing, so it does that one thing amazingly well. All of the buttons are placed perfectly, they're comfortable to hold, use in multiple positions (ever try typing laying on your stomach?), and
despite having fewer buttons than a keyboard, controllers give you all the options you need.
I've never thought of my keyboard as an extension of myself, but I've held controllers (hello, Gamecube) where I don't even think about what buttons I have to press. If I don't play a game for a while, I don't have to worry that I won't remember the key bindings.
And yes, I am aware that a lot of PC users have controllers. I have one too. I don't use it very often.
6. Exclusive Software
I realize this is entirely a personal preference since I am not a fan of the RTS games, but there are only handful of times where I've wanted to play a game that was PC only, most of them MMOs. I also know that a lot of console games (especially on the HD side) tend to launch with PC versions or have PC releases shortly thereafter.
That said, there are just as many times when that is
not the case, and
I personally find that the games I want to play are often console exclusives. I think that we'll probably see a blurring of the lines, but there will still be quite a few more exclusives for the consoles than PCs (like everything Nintendo does). I also think we'll see less PC-exclusive games in the future, as even MMOs are starting to transition over.
7. Roots
Completely personal preference, but that's what this thread is asking for. I can remember being 3 or 4 years old with an Atari 2600 Joystick in my hand and I plan to be holding a console controller until the day I kick the Fuckbucket (you know the one, from Crystal Chronicles that somebody always gets stuck lugging around). I can't think of a time in my life when I didn't own at least one current gaming console, or a time when I didn't lovingly dust my proudly-displayed collection and reflect on all the memories.
It's what I grew up with, rather than PC gaming, and that's probably a big part of why I prefer consoles.
For those who stuck it out all the way to the bottom of my post,
here's a humorous image of a squirrel ninja..
