I return in the midst of what I’m sure is e-rotten fruit being thrown at me and e-boos at being gone so long. When I’m sick, I view playing video games as expending energy, and when I’m sick, I expend zero energy. Also, the apocryphal gaming PC I’ve mentioned before is finally all en route to my apartment (in pieces) and because I’m so excited to do some real PC gaming for the first time ever, consoles and 14” laptop screens are just not holding any appeal for me.
Preeeeetty ugly . . . but cheap case!
I’ve been thinking a lot about what this is going to mean for my Xbox. My Wii is just collecting dust at this point, which makes me sad, but someday . . . someday I’ll get back to it. Anyway, with Steam sales and Amazon sales, digital distribution is simply the cheapest route for gaming and most games today are on Xbox and the PC. So will my Xbox fall to the wayside as I dedicate my soul to PC gaming only?
My first reaction is no. During the steam sale I almost bought L.A. Noire for $5 (and I should have, really) but something tugging at the back of my mind said “No. Rockstar games are meant to be appreciated with a controller in your hand.” Which, of course I can plug a controller into my PC so . . . really, I should’ve bought it. Damn.
Anyway, there are still some mind blocks telling me that I want to do some things on console and some things on PC. I have heard from multiple sources that the Witcher series, although being recently ported to the Xbox, is far superior still on the PC. But, I’ve always loved lazily turning on my console on a weekend morning and playing some casual action game. I believe the developers of Super Meat Boy or maybe it was Fez, had something to say about that (something that agreed with me, that the feeling of playing on a console is just unbeatable) but as I’m writing this, I’m realizing how silly it sounds for me, personally.
Having bought this on a computer, played on a keyboard, and only recently playing it w/ a controller, I can confirm this is true.
I have my consoles and TV in my room. I’m using my TV as a monitor for my PC, and I can plug in my Xbox controller to play with it on my PC. My experiences are going to be . . . next to the same, on either system. The separation between PC gaming and console gaming will be almost gone, with any differences weighing down the benefits of console gaming. As someone who has only console gamed her entire life, this is a sad realization, not because I think console gaming is superior to PC gaming, but because it is familiar.
I never got into the debates about “which was better” because I think its apples to oranges. There is a clear winner in the graphics and speed department, but I think the nostalgia and cheaper alternative is a valuable side of the argument as well. We’ll see how much I keep using my Xbox, and given the exclusive nature of Wii titles, I’m sure I’ll come back to it to get a Mario or Zelda fix, but I wouldn’t be surprised if PC gaming took over my gaming life. The only things raising any doubt are awesome Xbox Live Arcade game exclusives. Other than that, I may be turning into a PC girl . . . Although I’ll probably never sell it because who knows when the next Red Dead Redemption is coming around, that will be another console-exclusive?
Do you guys PC and console game? Do you have strong feelings one way or the other? Leave a comment, let’s discuss.
thedanner
1) That case IS ugly, but that’s probably why it’s cheap! Also, looks like it has great ventilation. Screw aesthetics.
2) I’ll sell you L.A. Noire for $5 once I’m done with it (no promises that will be anytime soon).
3) The only advantage console gaming has (had?) was a faster boot up time. But that is slowly dying as more people prefer to log into the Xbox dashboard prior to starting a game, or as game updates need to be applied on consoles now. Traditionally, platformers and other game genres excelled on the console, but that is slowly changing as well. The PC is becoming a really robust platform (since you can use a controller or mouse/keyboard) while the console is now somewhat limited (RTS on consoles sucks). Although, oddly enough, random peripherals like Wiimotes and MS Kinect have invigorated the console market (with admittedly casual games).
I prefer console gaming, but it’s only because I’m unwilling to shell out the money required to get a gaming PC. I cringe a little loading Skyrim on the Xbox 360 when I think of its much more beautiful twin available on the PC, but I quickly get over it and play it anyway.
cary
We’ve batted around the idea of getting a gaming PC for years now, but haven’t gone through with it. Money is a big issue, what with all the stuff that’s needs to make a good gaming PC really great. (However, after that’s all done, the games you can get are way cheaper a la Steam, so there’s that.) But I think the lines between PCs and consoles are blurring a bit. While the XBox and PS3 aren’t as graphically powerful as gaming PCs, they are, for all intents and purposes, computers. Is storage on a PC an issue? Where does your copy of L. A. Noire go once your done with it? Does it sit on the PC? Would having a bunch of saved games gum up the works? For me, for now, I like being able to rent and try console games, and then buy and keep games I like–on their discs, on my shelf. $5 is an amazing price point, and it makes sense that PC gaming will become even more popular as electronic distribution gets better and easier.
Looking forward to hearing how your switchover goes!
rainmaker97
I only started playing PC games less than two years ago, but for the most part, I haven’t looked back since. At first, I was stuck playing things that wouldn’t destroy my shitty Core-i3 laptop like Plants vs. Zombies, Torchlight, and Super Meat Boy, but earlier this year I bought an Asus gaming laptop and just went to town. Now, if a game is available on either console or PC, I almost always buy it in a Steam sale and play it with an Xbox controller. I still pick up console excluvsives every now and then like Zelda or MGS, but it actually stings a bit when I plunk down $60 for them. Before I began PC gaming, I never would have thought twice about paying through the nose for games; I was just so used to it.