Console v. PC - The Video Game Smackdown!

Posted by ttblogger on 02/06 at 03:58 PM Permalink
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Do you get your game on via PC or console? Which is better? Which has better performance? This has long been argued by many gamers from different backgrounds. This Tech Tip will attempt to address both sides and determine which one is the best of the best!

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    Posted by DP  on  02/06  at  08:21 AM

  1. Madden NFL is no longer available for PC. EA has stopped releasing the PC version since Madden 2009 (NFL year 2008). However, there are mods available out there that provide updated rosters, playbooks, etc

    2. Posted by William  on  02/06  at  08:28 AM

  2. Nice article...I was wondering if you could do one sometime about recycling and modifying an Xbox or other console into a PC computer using some of the Linux OS.  I read a little about them and it seems that some of the older ones, while not so good anymore for cutting edge gaming could be decent computers for other needs.

    3. Posted by Tom  on  02/06  at  08:45 AM

  3. Ok, I have massive beef with this PC versus console portion of this.  First off, everyone of the console companies want you to think that you own your console, however, they ALL get a severe case of PANTY-BUNCHEDNESS whenever you, the supposed owner, crack open that console case and start making “mods” or changes that go beyond what they, the console makers, “approve” of! Plus, they also go beyond butt-hurt when you start looking at their encryption methods, DRM, etc.  The only question I have with all this for the consoles is, did I REALLY buy it or am I just renting (nay, long-term leasing) the console from the maker? If I am renting/leasing it, then they have to provide support to it and take it back when I am done with it.  IF IT IS MINE BECAUSE I BOUGHT IT, then they need to quit their legal actions because I WANT TO MAKE CHANGES TO MY MACHINE basically STFU!!!

    Now don’t get me wrong, because I have two of the three big ones and I can tell you that they all are pretty much gathering dust at the moment because I, and my children, prefer to play on the PC.  And yes, they each have their own PC to play on.  In fact, the Xbox 360 is mainly used for Netflix streaming for now.  I may eventually toss that because I’m getting sick of paying about $60 a year for that option when I don’t have to pay anything other than my monthly Netflix subscription to stream all the movies I want and get the occasional DVD in the mail because all the damn movie companies are too paranoid to actually work with market versus labeling us all as criminals first and then customers.

    As for PCs.....The love of my life! I’ve been with them since the Atari 800 days and have played with various iterations ((cr)Apple included) over the years and kept coming back to them.  I’ve played all the major games (and minor ones too!) and still have the original diskettes/CDs/DVDs that some of them came on.  I can pull MY PCs apart and put them together to my heart’s content!  Break the bank on all the greatest hardware/software to put on them. Not worry (too much) on DRM affecting MY hardware because I put it together (except for Sony....bastards).  My pick of any OS, mainly windows because of gaming and the preponderance of software out there for it compared to LINUX and (s)MAC(ck), and also because I’ve been with a PC since 1991~ish timeframe.  Games are always better on a gaming PC, and once STEAM came along, I’ve never really turned back because now all my gaming catalog is on the cloud and I DON’T have to worry about having any CDs/DVDs any more!  It is a beautiful thing.  Oh yeah, and the graphics cards that are out for the PC blow the consoles away and will continue to do so! And since I’ve been playing keyboard/mouse forever, I prefer that to controllers any day because of the faster twitching ops you get there.  Faster polling w/ the mouse and keyboard make for a much better gaming experience.  Plus, once truly configurable gaming laptops start coming out (almost there but not quite), I will most likely transition over to those and be a happy camper because now I can take it w/ me wherever I go.  Alienware is the bomb!

    Anyway, I’ll stick w/ the PC and enjoy that experience since I have much more control over it.  And if a game only comes out for console, so be it.  I’ll either wait for the crappy port over to the PC or just not get it because the gaming company wants to avoid the true gamers/geeks out there. I won’t be buying into those micro-managerial platforms any more.

    Long live the PC, and eventually, gaming laptops!

    4. Posted by Tae A  on  02/06  at  09:06 AM

  4. so many people tout the console over the PC but as one who has a problem with dexterity
    i find the Console with the controllers extremely difficult to use. and now they have the xbox 360 kinect and PS3 move i have tried and found they are just as difficult as you have to train the system to understand your movement patterns.
    for me the slide and glide of the mouse and a 39 key game board is the best way.  st most i may use8 keys in any given game as it is programmable for the needed key usage.  plus the added cost of the replacing the console as apposed to simple upgrade of the computer which has many more uses that has been stated in the article.
    if you have no coordination issues then maybe the console is for you but it is an easy choice for me to use the computer.

    5. Posted by Grimmace  on  02/06  at  09:52 AM

  5. Okay article, but it missed several things. Madden 11 is not available for PC. EA abandoned PC gamers with madden after the 08 season. Madden 08 was the last PC Madden version.

    I think PC versus console gaming comes down to one thing, money. For the price, a PS3 or XBox 360 deliver a good product. But, compared to a PC they all look bad and slow. But, a PC may cost 3-6 times as much and people are fine with good enough graphics, gameplay and game size limitations. PCs do not have have these issues if you have the money the keep upgrading.

    The 5 year console turnover rate is a lot cheaper than keeping a good gaming machine on the top. The other issue is as game makers cater to the console since it has a mass market of exact machines that aren’t all different, they are leaving PCs behind, or not giving PC versions that can take more CPU or GPU power to run. PC gamers are getting screwed. Games are getting dumbed down since it is not worth the effort to make a game have extra for just a small dwindling PC game market.

    As for keyboard and mouse verse a gamepad. A gamepad is not as exact in FPS or TPS. Keyboards give infinitely more options in strategy games. A gamepad is just limiting. Some games to better with one, but not most.

    6. Posted by J Green  on  02/06  at  09:56 AM

  6. Re: Console vs PC. I disagree that Call of Duty: Black Ops was dumbed down for consoles. If so, then there would be very few computers in the world that could run it!! I have a Compaq desktop with an AMD 64 X2 4400 processor and my system does not even come close to meeting the minimum requirements to run Black Ops, which are a minimum of an Athlon X3 8750 or Pentium Core 2 Duo 6600. In fact, most computers currently sold at major online and brick & mortar stores don’t meet the minimum either.

    7. Posted by Bruce Epper  on  02/06  at  01:17 PM

  7. "Or do you like playing in the living room in front of a big-screen TV with a simple gamepad?”

    This option is not only for consoles.  You can get an XBox controller for the PC.  You can connect your PC to a big-screen TV.  And if you are using a decent gaming rig for this, the gameplay will be smoother and the graphics will be sharper than if you were using a console.

    With a PC, you are not limited to only using a keyboard and/or mouse.  There are a multitude of controllers out there including the Xbox controller, racing controllers (wheel and pedals; some with force feedback), guitar controllers for Rock Band and Guitar Hero, gun controllers, etc.

    8. Posted by Ryo  on  02/06  at  05:16 PM

  8. It’s rather irritating that you mentioned the Kinect and the Wii but not the Playstation Move. Do I detect a bias?

    9. Posted by Roy Jones Jr  on  02/07  at  04:29 AM

  9. I am a computer guy, fix ‘em all day, every day in a call center, so for forever, I was a supporter of PC over console, but I tell you what - keep having a game crash on you when you’re about to defeat the “boss” because your drivers aren’t updated, or the video lags at the wrong time going around a corner so you get shot every try, and you will reconsider.

    Something to be said for “plug-and-play” as in, throw the disk in a console, and it just fires up.  Any updates to the game? All consoles update themselves to handle any particular bugs, or just simply to get something new or cool.  I was part of the Intellivision generation, so that made me resistant to trying consoles as an adult, but these aren’t those old consoles.

    Kind of like Microsoft Windows - it may not be the latest and greatest, but dumbed down just enough for the greatest compatability with the most things

    10. Posted by Gettin' Old  on  02/08  at  07:41 AM

  10. A lot of times, PC games have more content than their console counterparts.  PC’s also do a fairly good job of pulling double duty as game consoles thru the use of emulators.  I’ve played a lot of Toe Jam & Earl on the PC with a Sega emulator and Mike Tyson’s Punchout with an NES one.  It can also handle an AppleII emulator so I can whip out the original Prince of Persia, Wizardry or Karateka.  Plus any other old game I can think of without having to find the parts of an old system.  Ah, the Glory Days.

    11. Posted by Chad  on  02/08  at  08:04 PM

  11. Well, it looks like you really have to choose on whether to go for console types or just plain PC. After all, both have their own ups and downs. As for me, I’d prefer PC when I’m alone and console when I have playmates with me. That’s better, right?

    12. Posted by Adam Haworth  on  02/18  at  02:53 AM

  12. I have always preferred games on PC, i have owed Playstations since they were released but the better graphics and game play make the computer/mac above the rest.

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