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PC vs Console... March 2016

I would like to preface this by saying that I don't own and never have owned a console
but my field of expertise is computing. I do have a lot of experience with consoles first hand though.

PC vs Console, what's the difference?

  1. Consoles are for the most part non-up-gradable or customisable beyond aesthetics.
  2. You are at the mercy of XBL/PSN when it comes to being able to play your games online. You are also that the mercy of developers as to the experience you get.
  3. Probably the most intimidating difference is the sheer amount of stuff that the PC has, in terms of games, software, hardware and their various configuration possibilities.
  4. Perceived cost both short and long term.

I would like to state very clearly that both PC and Console have a place.

Cost

First up is cost. I'll break it down, (everything will be in AUD)
  • Hardware = XBO $500 - PS4 $480 - PC *$1300. (specs below)
  • Games = Console $90 each - PC ~$65 each. At release.
  • Online play = XBL $60/y - PSN $50/y - PC $0.
Lets look at 5 years. Lets assume that nothing breaks at all.
The PC I've put together completely destroys the consoles in terms of sheer performance and thus it will look and run better, this is objective fact and can't be disputed.

Assuming you buy 6 games a year on day one without any discounts of any kind.
Total cost of the PS4 is $3430.
Total cost of the XBO is $3500
Total cost of the PC is $3250

*PC specs.
CPU-$295: I5-6500
MB-$89: GB H110M
Ram-$60: Patriot 8gb single (able to add another later if need)
GPU-$333: Asus Nvidia 960 OR Asus Radeon 380
HDD-$140: WD Blue 2TB
SSD-$105: Kingston SV300 240GB
Case-$50: Antec VSK-400B (Just about anything will work)
PSU-$78: Antec VP-600P
OS-~$100: Windows
KB/M-$50: Anything you like.

You could make this build cheaper by going with an AMD CPU and dropping the ssd and os.
And even more so if you get second hand hardware.

The experience

On console, your experience is dictated by the developer with little to no wiggle room.
Most games run between 720p and 1080p at 30FPS, there are game that do run at 60FPS, CoD multiplayer for one.
The PC has options, If you are like me and hate motion blur or need a wider FoV, you can in most games change these types of options.
You are not [in any properly made game] limited to a exact frame rate or resolution. If you put the money in, you can run super high FPS and Resolution at the highest settings.

Beyond the actual game we have the games network which is PSN on Playstation, Xbox Live on Xbox or Steam, Origin, Uplay, GOG Galaxy, Custom developer specific (such as Wargaming.net or Battle.net), etc on PC.
This highlights a key difference in how things are setup. On console everything goes through one main server framework which has many advantages but the downside is that if it goes down, you lose everything connected to that service.
On PC we have the same system [it's how computer system work after all] but we have multiples of these system from various developers, So if Steam goes down, you can still play any games on the other services such as Origin or Uplay.

As a side note I would like to point out the state of backwards compatibility. On PC you have the entire catalog of PC games to choose from.
On console you have limited backwards compatibility with the previous gen.

Sales

I wanted to touch on this real quick to shed light on a part of PC that not many actually know about.
Apart from Steam sale (or equivalent on other services), there are websites that offer keys for games and other software at much lower prices, a couple of these such site are,
  • Humble Bundle
  • Bundle Stars
  • CJS-CD Keys
  • G2A
  • Good Old Game (they sell new games as well)
  • Green Man Gaming
  • Gamers Gate
and there are so many more that I haven't listed or don't know about.
You can get Console keys from a couple of these places but they're few and far between compared to PC keys.

Customisability 

This is basically an open and shut point but I'll go over it real quick.
With a Console you can't change the hardware it's self apart form the hdd and case. It's that simple.

It's the complete opposite on PC. As with console you can completely customise the case to the point that there isn't a case at all but that's where it ends.
You can change everything in your PC to make it 100% unique and fit your needs perfectly.
Also game mods. No need for explanation as to why they are awesome.

Final note

Objectively the PC is simply a superior gaming platform but that doesn't mean it works for everyone.
Some people don't want to deal with all the minor little problems which can occur on PC.
And that is a valid argument, one I acknowledge and accept. Not everyone wants to the have complete control, they may just want to zonk out on the couch and have some fun.

At the end of the day it comes down to what you want from your game time.

.AJ-R. -アパゾ
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