Our recent article advising you to buy a PS4 in 2014 once again sparked an argument as old as Frogger on the Atari 2600 – is it better to game on a console or a PC?
If you have a bit of time, go read the back and forth comments in the PS4 article (and similar articles this year). If not, here is the short version:
PS4 owner: “You get exclusives titles on the PS4 and the console is cheaper than a gaming PC.”
Gaming PC owner: “Graphics are better on the PC, and it gives you a better overall experience.”
PS4 owner: “Go back to your room at your mom’s house and play games, PC fanboi.”
Gaming PC owner: “Be silent console peasant, you are not worthy of speaking to the Master Race.”
Following the standard mudslinging, the comments normally shift to the fact that a PC gamer would beat a console gamer at a particular title (normally a FPS or RTS) due to the fact that a keyboard and mouse allows for greater control and accuracy.
PS4 owner: “You would get pwned if you came onto a PS4 Battlefield 4 server.”
Gaming PC owner: “Please, if BF4 was cross-platform you would suffer such a lube-less [insert heinous crime of a sexual nature].”
Once tempers settle, the debate then moves to the modularity of a PC compared to the consolidated nature of a PS4, and the price of games.
PS4 owner: “Yes, you may be able to play games in 4K, but my console costs less than your graphics card alone.”
Gaming PC owner: “Yes, but I can upgrade components of my PC as I need to, to keep up with the requirements of games. You have to throw your whole console way and buy a new version every few years.”
PS4 owner: “Well my PS4 won’t get a virus, and there is little chance single components will crash. The console is put together for the purpose of gaming. It is a built for the purpose of gaming .”
Gaming PC owner: “Cool story, let me know if you are going to pay R700, or R800 for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. The Steam Summer Sale is on, I have to go buy 10 games for R200.”
I could go on, but you get the gist of it.
As a PS4 owner and PC owner (the latter is a work laptop, but spec’d with an i7, 8GB RAM, 500 SSD, and an Nvidia Quadro K2000m, so it is not entirely useless at gaming), I must ask: Can’t we all just get along?
If they can be friends, surely PC and console gamers can, too?
Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy moderating the comments when a Console vs PC argument flares up – I have even used some of the lines to chat up girls (they failed miserably [True story – Ed]) – but my concern is that, while you are arguing, you are missing out on valuable gaming time.
I am therefore compelled to try and settle this tiff.
PS4/Console gamers:
A top-end gaming PC is better than a console. It will perform better, games will look and run better, and modded cases are pretty bad-ass. In fact, the physical modding of a PC is an extension of gaming – a DIY build-em-up “sim” of sorts in the real world.
Playing an RTS or a FPS on the PC is better than on a console. The keyboard and mouse combination for these two genres cannot be beat. I kiss my PS4 control goodnight before I go to bed, but I know that it will not match up come game time.
One more thing, playing a game on three screens in HD is impressive.
PC gamers:
Gaming on a PS4 is cheaper. A PS4 and 10 AAA titles will cost you around R12,500 – the same price as a solid gaming PC. Before you say anything – tell me how many serious PC gamers that you know who will spend R6,300 (the price of a PS4) on their PC and not upgrade any components for 4 to 5 years (the lifespan of a console)? We all know you be spending top dollar on your rig when you get the chance.
Gaming on a PS4 is easy. I know that sounds lame, but some people like easy. Your console will always be able to handle new titles; firmware, software, and game updates are all queued and downloaded for you – Sony like to spoon feed you – and you never have that internal debate as to whether your various graphic option changes are worth the performance sacrifice.
Lastly, you can leave your PS4 in your TV stand/cabinet or on your coffee table and no one bats and eye when they come to visit. Leave your PC in your lounge or next to your TV – especially if the side panel is off and you are putting in new lighting or cooling, etc – and people will automatically assume you are an IT engineer and ask you to help them with every PC issue that arises in the future.
This is far prettier than any console
In conclusion
Whether you choose to game on a PC or on a console, you are gaming, which is the most important thing. Don’t be a console or PC snob, just accept people may have a different opinion to you (it is hard, I know).
The PC and console serve different needs, and both fulfill those respective needs, well.
The only way this debate will truly be settled is to allow cross-platform play, and we have the “PC Clan vs a Console Strike Team Battle 2014”. Unfortunately, Battlefield 4 does not allow that. We can’t even play Diablo 3 together when the Ultimate Evil Edition arrives.
In fact, we should channel our anger towards developers and publishers who do not allow cross-platform play.
Imagine if Activision Blizzard, due to pressure from gamers, announced we could all play Destiny against/with each other how cool would that be?
Oh, wait, it’s not coming to PC yet…
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The need is to kick ass as hard as possible so I don’t know why people will bother with inferior soft and pampering consoles, like they be wearing night time bunny fur slippers. You cannot be as good as your potential if your thumbs are the only things doing all the navigation on the screen.