Gaming: PC vs Next Gen Consoles...

[GT98]

Well not as much as a question of whats better, but say you had the same game coming out on both platforms...which one would you choose and why?:

[Nowhere]

Just theroethically, right? Not taking into account that I won't have money I could spend on either next gen console or PC fast enough for future games?

[UtwigMU]

You need to buy TV for console which you don't need for PC and you can do more stuff with PC, so PC.

[Jammrock]

This debate comes up every time a new gen of consoles comes out. "my console can kick your PC's butt." And in the short term they are often times correct. However, the PC always catches up and eventually surpasses the console within a year or so. Plus a PC is simply more versitile.

But there are games that will forever be console-centric. Like sports games and fighters and side scrollers and a few other types. Just like there will be games that will always be more PC friendly, like FPS (although Halo has been a very popular FPS console success, FPS will forever be a PC domain), RTS, some types of RPG, etc.

SO in the end it all boils to what types of games you like to play. For me, I like RTS, FPS, RPG, so PC all the way. Haven't owned a console since the Sega Genesis.

[Helevitia]

I hate the shallow feel of all console games. Console games were fun when I was jobless and bored out of my mind while hanging out with a bunch of friends and drinking However, I do miss the sports games on consoles which are typically better overall. Also, I can't believe people consider the controller acceptable for FPS games.

[ZokesPro]

I voted for 'depends on the game' cause I don't really have the cash to keep upgrading my PC to keep up with all the newer PC games and with a console, there is no upgrade problem, aside from buying the latest console.

[Paddy]

Depends.
FPS and RPG = PC
Arcade/Beat-em-ups/load of mates over for beer and fun = Console (xbox)

[Nowhere]

(OK, assuming "what can be have", not "what I'll have")

In my case it's definatelly not like Jammrock describes the situation in large part of his first paragraph (actaully, I still like the fell of PSOne graphics much, perhaps more than of many recent games). And the "plus"...isn't a plus at all. It's the key sentence. But perhaps versatile isn't a good word...just different. That's all. Versatile could very well mean "if it's good at anything...", and that's not the thing.

BTW, Utwig, most people have TVs already But seriously I know what you mean - HDTV. However...people will have HDTVs anyway, consoles or not. And at the same time, while their PC monitors will be up to it in res, in size - not.
And for me it's really great to sit in a couche, playing some not shallow game...immersing more into it. Also multi with 4 players in such place is fundamentally different and fun.
However...some games play also good/better on the PC...but it's a tough choice overall, with this "PC can do more". Because the truth is that PC can do all of this "more", exlcuding games, even if it's quite old...

So, I would want to play most of games on console (not saying that I won't play on the PC when I see fit).
But in practise I will only play on PC...it is something I probably have to have, so it has priority when it comes to funds, and why not play on it if I can... Besides my Playstation (PSOne kind) probably is dead (spilled...liquid )

edit: I'll stress this: depending on the game, not gametype as most of you hint at. If the game is fun on the platform...why not?
hmm...after all there are brilliant tactical (turn-based) games on consoles that nobody mentions, RPGs are good also (but different), I remember one very good RTS, simply because it's interface wasn't mouse-centered (and let us not forget that first RTS was on console actually), FPS...since I've played in Q2 using mouse and Dual Shock (analog movement also, not only look + force feedback) I'm somehow delighted by the idea...
OTOH I remember some recent arcade beat-em-up 2D games series that were practically only on PC...

[High_Jumbllama]

I strongly prefer PC. I get bored with my console and with the ability to download many games (yes legal ones), utilities, apps, etc . . . . it is not even close.

Except, I do have a place in my heart for the original Nintendo which I have two of and I also check the local Pennysaver just about every week.

[Jessterw]

It definitely depends on the type of game; however, I've grown tired of the hassle that can accompany PC-based games. System requirements have to be met, certain configurations don't work... on and on it goes. Quite honestly, I don't upgrade my systems that often and so I'll never be able to play the latest games that I might like to. I just can't justify buying a new processor or graphics card just play a game.

That said, I prefer games on the PC for the most part, but I've become a big fan of just being able to plop down on the couch and trade head-shots with my son

[GT98]

Well the reason I posted this is that I have an Xbox360 on preorder (#92 on the second shipment! Yah Baby ) and have an 50in DLP HDTV to play it on. I agree that sports games are much better on consoles vs PC's, where as FPS shooters more or less suck on consoles vs the PC. I went out and got another Xbox after selling my last one since I never used it that much, when I got the new TV.

Personally I see with the next gen consoles, PC gaming is going to go away. Its pretty much in the dumper now and has been on a downhill side for the past 10-15 years in my eyes, well at least in the games I started to play on PCs, simulators and war-games. I guess I'm more less fed up with the lack originality out there (most PC games seem to be FPS that do the same thing with a different graphics engine) and then spending $500 on a graphix card nearly every year to play them on (never again am I doing that)

The thing I'm starting to see now is that many games that are coming out for the PC are also coming out on Xbox360. I'm torn between which platform I should get them on, but since the two major ones are FPS (Ghost Recon 3 and Call of Duty 3) I think I'm gonna get the PC verisons.

[GT98]

This debate comes up every time a new gen of consoles comes out. "my console can kick your PC's butt." And in the short term they are often times correct. However, the PC always catches up and eventually surpasses the console within a year or so. Plus a PC is simply more versitile.

But there are games that will forever be console-centric. Like sports games and fighters and side scrollers and a few other types. Just like there will be games that will always be more PC friendly, like FPS (although Halo has been a very popular FPS console success, FPS will forever be a PC domain), RTS, some types of RPG, etc.

But at the same time the PC is versatile, its also its Achilles heel. Hell John Carmack is tired of dealing with driver issues that come with the PC and is constrating on ID's next release to be on the Xbox360. I think many people are sick and tired of having to spend 1500-2K on a new PC to play games on it. Even though the console is fixed hardware, programming for it will get better as time goes on allowing for better looking/playing games.

In regards to FPS...many of the next FPS games that where on the PC are coming to Xbox360 like Quake4, Call of Duty 2 and others...I agree that the controller blows for FPS on consoles for the most part, but it didnt take away from the Experience that Ghost Recon 2 and Halo1/2 offered.

[Jessterw]

My primary gripe with consoles is the current state of online play. Either it doesn't exist or you have to pay a fee that I find a tad much. I love XBox Live and the ease at which the voice chat works, but I just can't see paying as much as they want on top of what I pay for net access and the game in the first place. This of course is likely not going to change any time soon, if at all.

[Mehen]

PC's for one main reason - the intensity of the "twitch-shooters" that you cannot possibly have on a console. That and world of warcraft, which i loved for my entire 10day trial (got to lvl 30, yay!), but I know it would ruin my life if i continued playing it.

[ZokesPro]

Looks like Gran Turismo 5 is due in 2007, and is promising a whole new level of gaming experience. Kazunori Yamauchi, boss of developer Polyphony Digital, claims that the game has something like 100 times more detail than its predecessor, Gran Turismo 4. Preview copies of the game should be available some time in the coming year. Meanwhile, GT 4 is set to appear for the PSP platform soon, so look out for it there.

Mmmm, Gran Turismo 5 on PS3!

D'oh! '07.