PC Vs Console Gaming Part 1
Is PC gaming dying out in the wake of bigger, more powerful and, in the long run cheaper, console units? Let's face it, it's possibly the only gaming argument older than "What's better - Nintendo or Playstation?" (or Nintendo Vs Sega if you are a bit older); "What's better - PC games or console games?". Well recently the Boston Globe in America (Slightly odd topic for them I'd have thought) has published a good article on their website about this argument. You can read the full thing here but I have also put together my own interpretation of their ideas and my own. I am also indebted to this article and its author for the sources of facts and figures presented here.
The facts and figures that go into the idea among journalists and gaming industry analysts that PC gaming is dying out are essentially these. In 2006 PC game software sales stood at $9.3b dollars and console sales at $9.4b. In 2007 these grew to $11.3b for PC game software and $14.1b for console gaming. Console gaming then since 2006 has grown at a far faster rate than PC gaming, giving rise to the concern than PC gaming is dying out. Why exactly might this be the case though?
A substantial number of issues that used to make PC gaming preferable to console gaming have been removed with this generation of consoles, most notably graphical capability. Both the 360 and the PS3, especially the latter, are graphics powerhouses kicking HD gaming out to the world. No longer the preserve of the PC; impressive landscapes, details and effects are replicated on consoles equally as well. And all this for a much smaller price too, assuming you already have an HDTV. For under £200 you can bag yourself an Xbox360 and enjoy HD gaming for much less than you can buy a new PC gaming rig.
Linked to this is the fact that if you invest in a console then you know you're going to have at least 5 years when you can play the new releases and take advantage of the latest games. With a PC you would need to upgrade your computer regularly to do so, with future games planned for PCs not even in production yet, this is a cycle that can soon get expensive. Console games are readily accesible via hundreds of high street stores and don't always carry the hefty price tag they used to, making it an easy hobby to get into, for the this generation. And, as a result of both of these, many children and adults alike simply don't have, or aren't bought, a PC capable of running modern games. For all manner of reasons that aren't within the scope of this article, a games console may be given as a present for a child more readily than a PC is, opening up console gaming to a massive market not accessible by PCs.
Online gaming, arguably one of the most important elements of modern gaming, is often as good and reliable with a console than a PC. There was a period, before the 360 came out that online gaming efforts on the original Xbox and PS2 were more often than not too painful to bother with, leaving PC gaming to plug the gap and supply us with classic gems like Red Alert, Age of Kings and CounterStrike 1.5 plus a selection of other games to be found at one of the biggest original places to play online games, MSN Zone. This allows for clans and a community to build up around console games that would otherwise only be possible with PC games, an important reason why console gaming has grown to the strength it has.
Finally, console gaming has achieved the strength of position it has because of the range of titles, tie ins and franchises that surround it. It's a rare occasion that a big budget movie is released without a game tie in to accompany it, normally for a younger audience. By contrast the PC does not contains as many of these tie ins and so misses out on valuable unit sales surrounding the hype of their release. Similarly there are fewer recognisable franchises and characters associated with the PC than the list of those with one console or another, leading to less 'traditional' buying and fans.
Continue to Part 2 of this article...
