Time to answer the age-old question that has troubled gamers for decades: Console or PC? Putting aside veterans who know their stuff, newcomers might be 🍸torn on whether to drop the cash on a PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, or computer system. Which awards the best bang for your buck? While this rivalry is not quite as heated as the console wars, advocating for one or the other tends to ignite quite a passionate debate. Certain groups refuse to even acknowledge the viability of consoles, while the technologically inexperienced may be flooded by the prospect of stitching together a PC.
In truth, both avenues carry their own advantages and disadvantages. Depending on the needs of the customer, a console or computer could both conceivably be the correct choice. So, why is this article solely highlighting home gaming systems rather than splitting the praise? Well, consoles tend to get the short end of the stick. Commercially, the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One are all performing admirably; however, these devices are frequently treated as inferior to PCs. Now, in all fairness, a high-end computer destroys any gaming hardware without batting an eye, but processing power is not the only factor worth c💝onsidering when deciding whether to purchase a console or a computer!
PCs trounce consoles in various depꦑartment, but this contest is far from a one-sided wash. Here are 25 things console players can do that PC gamers cannot!
25 🥂 The Grace And Allure Of Nintendo 🎶
Following Nintendo's recent efforts to emulation, purchasing the company's systems might soon become the only viable means to play The Legend of Zelda or Super Mario Bros. Emulation has reached up to the Wii U period, but only a handful of games run💖 at a functional FPS. Crucially, Nintendo💫's first-party games are truly unique. The publisher's brilliance cannot be replicated by any of its competitors, and PC gamers fare worse than most.
Precious few AAA studios endeavor to produce experiences similar to Nint𓆏endo, whose games tend to be incredibly polished and endearing. Platformers are readily available across all systems, but there is ღonly one Nintendo.
24 $400 Is More 💜Than Enough ꦬ
Consoles 𝓀are cheaper. Technically, one can purchase a gaming PC for approximately the same amount of money, but such a low price requires concessions to ♛be made in several areas. A $500 computer could easily pack a graphics card and CPU equal to or greater than a PlayStation 4, but this comes at the cost of a serviceable power supply or motherboard.
Noꦯwadays, consoles are basically glorified computer🦂s.
Comparing production expenses to sales, consoඣle units typically fail to turn a p🦩rofit. As games are the true m0neymakers, manufacturers willingly their hardware to ship as many units as possible. When it comes to computers, you get what you pay for!
23 🌠 Consoles Grant An Escape 💫
Computers are everywhere. Work in an office? Presumably, the majority of your day is spent staring at a moni♔tor. Work from home? The PC might as well be your entire world! Computers are multi-tasking beasts capable of performing nearly anything imaginable; however, they cannot stop being tಞhemselves!
Picture this; Joe wakes up at 7 AM, drinks a cup of coffee, and plummets behind his✤ computer desk. The next ten hours consist of writing articles and scripts while scarcely moving an in🃏ch, before finally shutting down LibreOffice to call it a day. Unsurprisingly, Joe must move away from his work station to unwind. Consoles are an escape from computers.
22 🌄 A Titan Of Titles: Red Dead Redemption 2
Rockstar Games' projects are tailor-made for consoles, with PC owners typically having to contend with delayed ports or scouring Twitch for streaming sessions. Currently, the studio has yet to announce any plans to release on PCs.
Grand Theft Au♌to V waited more than aꦓ year to complete the transition.
Signaling out a single exclusive may seem overly picky, but Rockstar Games is not tied to any particular brand. The studio simply prioritizes consoles over computers. Red Dead Redemption 2 may look spectacular running on an Nvidia GeForce ꦛRTX 2080 Ti, but that time may never 𓃲come to pass! Exploring the new frontier demands owning a PlayStation or Xbox.
21 ♔ Game 𝄹On The Go
Gaming laptops serve as the PC market's answer to portable 💖systems, 🍨but the community tends to shun these devices more than consoles! Laptops cannot be upgraded, eliminating one of the key incentives for purchasing a computer over a console. Along with fetching a hefty price, laptops have an expiration date.
A hybrid designed to embody the best oꦚf home and portable gaming, the Nintendo Switch grants an experience unlike any other. Putting aside 2017's handheld hardware, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One only require a TV to be playable in any location. Desktops are simply too bulky to function as travel companions.
20 🤡 Terrible AAA Ports
Due to hardware limitations, developers typically optimize games to suit a console's specs. Following the PlayStation 3's unique and delayed release, countless seventh generation titles ran superior on the Xbox 360 than Sony's console. Regardless of the effort afforded by the c🅷ompany, ports are nearly always plagued by numerous issues. At best, these releases succeed in delivering an equivalent experience to the original version.
PC gamers frequently have to accept leftovers. is a notoriously terrible port, but Rocksteady's superhero adventure is merely one among many.ꦏ When it comes to shoddy ports, Japanese studios tend to be the worst offender🐻s.
19 A Level Playꦗing Field 🌄
With console manufacturers showing a willingness to step away from , this entry's may not be as big of a deal in the future. Nevertheless, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One players seldꦕom have to worry about being at a disadvantage during multiplayer games. Generally, everyone involved has access to the exact same hardware.
Skill is key.
Some PCs are more equal than others. While skill remains a factor, a zero-delay monitor and a superior gaming mouse can🌳 be the difference between victory or defeat. Along with technological advantages, PC players must contend with far more hackers than their console brethren.
18 Free From DRM 𒁃
DRM is the bane of every PC gamer's existence. Devised to protect a creator's intellectual property from piracy, Digital Rights Management seem like a reasonable idea in theory, but some variants lock people out of their legally purchased games. Many require internet access to verify a product's license, butᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ corporations seldom maintain indefini🎃te servers for all their titles. Players might fail to launch a property on a second PC.
If used wisely, DRM serves as an added level of protection against theft. Unfortunately, a draconian DRM punishes customers rather than pirates. Conceding that many seem to only s𝔍ucceed in a life on the high seas, this practice borders on pointlessness.
17 Buy &🔜; Sell ꦜ
As the digital market steadily gains traction as a means of distribution, physical games face the risk of becoming obsolete. Regardless of what the future may hold in store, at the moment, players are still afforded the option to venture down to their local store and purchase a copy of Kingdom Hearts III.
Later on, they can trade Kingdom Hearts III to GameStop.
While physical games were always fighting a losing battle on PC, Steam effectively put𒈔 an end to this practice. Even if certain titles continue to justify CD releases, few stores stock second-hand computer games. Once more than two hours are played, customers are stuck with their purchases.
16 First-Party Accessories ♏ 🦹
Third-party accessories flood the PC market. On the one hand, customers are granted the benefit of the choice; on the other, there is no guarantee a purchase will be compatible with every game. While the mouse and keyboard combination continues to reign supreme in certain genres, controllers are no longer shunned by the PC community. Yakuza 0's Steam port actively recommends ditching the key❀board for a joystick.
Sony and Microsoft publish first-party accessories created for the sole purpos💟e of complimenting their consoles. Customers do not have to worry about one particular game refusing to recognize the DualShock 4. has taken strides to fix this issue, but fi🎃rst-party accessories are unlikely to gain significant traction due to the overwhelming amount of competition.