PC gaming versus Console gaming

INTRODUCTION In this age of Xbox Live and Wii Store, the once epic gap between PC and console has all but closed. I believe them to be almost equal platforms and perhaps with just one or two more generations of consoles, that gap will be completely closed, perhaps with consoles finally outdoing the modest PC. With that said, here are my arguments for why PC gaming is currently superior: ARGUMENTS The availability of third-party developed games: We are only just now seeing any third-party presence on consoles, namely those provided by WiiWare (World of Goo is AWESOME and well worth the $15 dollars I paid for it). However, the PC has a truly epic wealth of third-party developed games. Between Kongregate and Newgrounds, you have at least hundreds of excellent quality games, free, at your fingertips. It will take consoles a quite a while to catch up to PC in this regard and it’s highly unlikely to ever be free. Community modification: PC is leaps and bounds ahead of consoles in this regard. Compare using map editing software or writing, testing and implementing modifications to games on PC to the Xbox 360. There is simply no competition. Games of the past: Personal anecdote: I’ve recently been re-enjoying the Star Wars movies. At the end, I felt the desire to further immerse myself in the fictional universe. What was my solution? Play Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, released in 2002; a truly excellent game. I purpose that playing the retro game of your fancy is exceedingly more difficult on a console than on a PC. Again, I know Nintendo are doing ground-breaking work bringing retro games to the most modern consoles, but they are still far behind PC. Experiment to prove this contention: Select a console game from the past that you loved and would play again. How difficult would it be to set a friend up in another country so that they could play that game? Console games: Even if they had the console required, you would still have to send the actual game. Add a level of risk, expense and difficulty if they don’t have the console and you want to ship yours to them. PC games: If possible, they could directly download the game. If not, the disk could be sent via the post… This is an excellent Segway to my next point… Backwards compatibility: I’m well aware that with changing operating systems, not all PC games are backwards compatible straight out of the box. However, our modern operating systems allow for the marvellous thing called VIRTUAL MACHINES. This practically ensures that any game ever released for the PC will work on your PC. Consoles obviously don’t bode so well. Between Sega, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft you have at least a dozen different consoles. Even within the consoles released by the individual companies compatibility is limited. CONCLUSION One only needs a PC and an internet connection to have access to more games than they could ever finish in their lifetimes, completely free. Third-party developers can much more easily produce new content for a game on the PC compared to a console. This adds significant replayability to the games you already own. Games of the past are much more easily obtained on the PC compared to obsolete consoles. Any game ever developed for PC can still be played on your new PC, often without any difficulty.