Gaming on PC has its downfalls, yesterday I posted ‘5 Reasons Why The PC Is The Worst Platform To Game On‘ explaining the problems the PC has.
That’s not to say the PC is all bad, in fact it’s far from it.
Today, as promised, I’m going to explain why the PC is also the best platform to get your gaming buzz off.
1. Games Are Cheaper!!!
If you play all your games on a console, you will no doubt have gone into your favorite shop to buy a game and found that the exact same title is considerably cheaper for the PC than it is on the PS3 or Xbox 360.
Yes, sometimes the game is a poor port with many bugs, but the majority of the time you’ll have just the same experience and fun as you would by buying a more expensive copy of the game on a console.
It’s not just in retail either. Services like Steam are pushing digital content harder and faster than a crack addict with a deadline. Deals are ever-present and most of the time offer better value for money than any offer on the consoles respective online stores.
2. Games Look Better
One of the most used weapons used in “console wars” (casualty list: 0) is which one has the best graphics.
It’s a bit petty and to be honest, most multi platform games look pretty much identical, and to me, the only visual difference is “Press Square” instead of “Press X.”
Then over on the top end gaming PC’s you have the likes of Battlefield 3 and Skyrim, both out on consoles mind you, but looking many times better. That’s because PC’s can be upgraded with the latest graphic cards and drivers and other pieces of magic that makes things in games look pretty. The consoles are still stuck with hardware from 6/7 years ago with no option to upgrade until the “next-generation” of consoles come out.
3. You Can Mod To Your Hearts Content
Modding is probably my personal favorite reason to game on a PC. The ability to add something completely surreal to a game is fantastic, and the best part is it’s completely free. Whether you want to fly around GTA IV as Iron Man or play The Sims 3 with added items, it’s all readily available on the countless community created websites. It’s fantastic to see people come together and share their own creativity with everybody else, at the same time providing others with something to enhance their own games.
You can’t mod on your console games unless there is a specific mode, like Halo 4‘s “Forge” or LittleBigPlanet‘s “Create” modes. Modding your console games will actually end up getting you banned from whichever online service you are using, whether it’s Xbox Live or Playstation Network, modding is strictly prohibited.
On PC however, the act of modding a game is actually encouraged. The game makers themselves release modding tools created especially for bedroom hackers and programmers to create extra content for the community. You just can’t beat some good old-fashioned free stuff.
4. You Can Play Online For Free, Plus More!
Ok, this one is directed a bit more towards the Xbox 360 and its Xbox Live service. The Playstation 3 comes ready to play online without paying a penny. (Other than the thousands of pennies it took to buy the console.)
It’s not just the ability to easily play online for free, it’s the fact that a PC will let you do everything your console can do, plus an infinite amount more. With Xbox Live you must have a Gold subscription which costs around £40 or $60 a year, and for your money you get the privilege of playing online and using services such as Netflix or Lovefilm, services you already pay for. Run out of Xbox Live Gold and you will be cut off from your video streaming services, apps, and even the ability to redeem free DLC from your freshly bought pre-order.
The only time you will get that problem on the PC is if your internet connection is lost, the rest of the time you are free to do what you like. Browse the web on whichever browser you like, do some online shopping, download a game or watch some videos, whatever takes your fancy really. The PC is a platform with multiple uses, something consoles will never be able to compete with.
5. You Can Play Games From Yesteryear
Emulation is a touchy subject, some people are all out against it, others fully embrace the movement. Personally, I think it’s great and the big companies should really be doing more to help out.
Just a quick run through for those unfamiliar with emulation. Emulation is basically getting a program, an emulator, and using it on you PC to play ROM files (games.)
So basically you can download an emulator and the relevant ROM files to play a game that is now almost impossible to find for purchase. It’s an idea that should be taken on board by the console makers, and in some way it already is. Sony have implemented PSOne and PS2 emulation for the Playstation 3 (60GB model only) and for the PSP and PS Vita you can run PSOne classics. The problem is that not all games are supported, but you can pretty much guarantee that most are available and working for the emulators available on the PC.
The legalities of emulation are a bit of a grey area, something you would be better off reading up on in this Wikipedia article.
Yes I know we can just re-buy the old games and the old games consoles, but they won’t last forever. Digitally these old classics can live on, and if Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo, or any other company for that matter would create a definitive library of games from previous generations, along with emulators that play the flawlessly, and then charge us a small fee for access to them without the worry of legal ramifications, I’m pretty sure most of us would at least give it a try.
There are obviously more than 5 reason to play on a PC rather than a console, but these are in my opinion the stand-out reasons.
Why do you think PC gaming is superior? Or do you think the opposite? Let us know in the comments below!