Serious reasons to buy a console

[NewAndy]

Is there any good reason to buy a console instead of a PC apart from "All your friends are using a console because they're stupid but you still want to play with them cuz they're your real life friends", If you don't bother doing research, it's a decent small form factor gaming machine, and last but not least "I love Sony entertainment and/or microsoft"?

[IoWii]

Exclusives.

[nitsuga5124]

Exclusives and more "user friendly"

[The Sloth]

the switch is a handheld, i love the portability and the games it brings. 

ps4/ ps4 pro is a very solid 1440p/1800p/4k console for cheap, with vr support and solid game library for couch gaming 

consoles are very easy to setup and can have cool features like ps vita remote play 

[NewAndy]

1 minute ago, IoWii said:

Exclusives.

If so the Xbox is obsolete, soncr you can buy all xbox exclusives in the windows app store and the playstation offers everything else

[The Sloth]

2 minutes ago, NewAndy said:

If so the Xbox is obsolete, soncr you can buy all xbox exclusives in the windows app store and the playstation offers everything else

not really, the Xbox one s has 4k HDR support, makes a solid media box. 

[IoWii]

2 minutes ago, NewAndy said:

If so the Xbox is obsolete, soncr you can buy all xbox exclusives in the windows app store and the playstation offers everything else

Doubt every Xbox/Microsoft exclusive is availible in the store on PC; none of the Forza's except FH3 is the first game that came in my mind.

[Guest]

 

2 minutes ago, NewAndy said:

If so the Xbox is obsolete, soncr you can buy all xbox exclusives in the windows app store and the playstation offers everything else

Gears of Wars, Forza up to Forza Hor3, Halo

[Windows7ge]

PCs I'd say are more complicated to setup compared to a console and more likely to stop working for unusual reasons. I can't think of anything worse than when you get a BSOD and the error code it throws is either not helpful or one isn't thrown at all. Or the system mysteriously powers off and doesn't turn back on which could be the result of any number of things. So I'd say a benefit of consoles is simplicity and ease of use. Although working though these issues on a PC is educational.

[Mira Yurizaki]

In my case:

• Exclusives are probably the biggest reason
• The interface and UX lend itself to a better "on the couch" experience.
  • Though people will argue to hell and high water this isn't the case. I'll leave it at that
• I like how stupid easy it is to set things up.
  • For example, I wanted to stream something on Twitch. It was much less of a hassle than when I did the same thing for streaming stuff from the PC.
• I don't have to "pollute" my system with DRM platforms. Except for Ubisoft. Maybe.
• PC ports can be hit or miss at times. Especially games from Japanese publishers.
• I don't consider graphics or performance to be deal breakers.
• It still comes on physical media, giving me a much faster "play after buy" time. Though the only problem is I need the disk to play it even though it's on the hard drive.
• This is nitpicky, but I hate how Steam doesn't let you play a game if it needs an update. It updates it and tells you to wait for it. This can be annoying in the case like DOOM when there was 20GB update one time (it was to remove the DRM).
  • On that note, the PS4 also tells you an update is available and you should do it at your earliest convenience. Not "we updated your OS and now we'll restart for you. Your programs have no chance to survive. Make your time. Hahaha"

Edited June 1, 2017 by M.Yurizaki

[NewAndy]

2 minutes ago, nerdslayer1 said:

the switch is a handheld, i love the portability and the games it brings. 

ps4/ ps4 pro is a very solid 1440p/1800p/4k console for cheap, with vr support and solid game library for couch gaming 

consoles are very easy to setup and can have cool features like ps vita remote play 

Nintendo products are kind of different since they offer a different and unique experience and GREAT exclusives (if you like that type of games) of course, you have other, similar things, like Playstation Move on the Ps3 and PS Vita and lots of others (probably). Nintendo products, and other consoles that offer a unique experience is the only conaoles I would recommend buying instead of a PC.

 

8 minutes ago, nitsuga5124 said:

Exclusives and more "user friendly"

I had more trouble setting up my PS4 than I had building my forst PC... It took way longer as well, despite me losing my screwdrivers all the time... 

[Scruffy90]

Exclusives and because other friends have them. 

[Kenoxabe]

1. Exclusives

2. Ease of Use

3. Less cables

4. Couch gaming

5. Somewhat stable games (e.g. Batman Arkham Knight)

[skywake]

Switch:

- Exclusives

- It's extremely portable

- A heavy focus on local multiplayer + two (simple) controllers in the box

 

XBOne:

- Exclusives? Cross-buy with PC

- The S is one of the cheapest UHD BluRay players on the market

 

PS4:

- Exclusives

- Cheaper VR than on PC

[GuruMeditationError]

Exclusives and to game online with friends, if they all use the same console.

Also, controller support: it's good to play with the native controllers, especially if the games you're playing require a lot of very precise fast-twitch response and are tuned to the native controller.

 

Also -- to really nit-pick -- sometimes the games themselves can differ from system to system depending on which platform they were primarily developed for. E.G.: I played through the race mode of SSX3 on the original Xbox with every character in the game and maxed all of them out, and in all of the time I spent doing that there was one rail in the game that I couldn't hit once. I'd try every time but I just couldn't hit it and eventually gave up on it. I later picked up the PS2 version (it was developed for PS2 as its primary platform) and in the first ten minutes of just loading it up to see how it played I hit that rail...

 

...I know it's nit-picky and stuff like that rail I'd overlook in favour of the Xbox's slightly better graphics (and because I prefer the xbox controller to the PS2's for that particular game and the game is very well tuned to the xbox controller in that particular case), but there is something to be said for playing on the native hardware the games were designed for, especially if they require a lot of precision and twitch response reactions. One of the reasons Nintendo's first party titles are often so good (e.g. Wii Sports, and Super Mario 3D Land probably being the prime example) is because they're developed in conjunction with the systems and there's a synergistic synthesis in the development...this is true to a lesser extent with most games, in as much as (I believe many of them) are generally developed primarily for one platform while being "ported" to the others during the development process...

...but yes, it's nit-picky, and given the choice I'd like to consolidate most of my games to a single platform, but when you're using a non-native controller for a game that's not running on the hardware it was developed for, things can start to feel a little woolly at times.

One attractive features of the launch PS3 [edit: hang on, that was a different thread wasn't it...anyway...] is that it can play PS2 games in wide-screen and with anti-aliasing (although it's a bit like the image processing you get with the Gameboy player, in as much as the image is often softened a little too much for people's tastes (people generally think it looks terrible, or at least they used to when the launch PS3 was current) (also, on a side-note -- while we're on the topic -- the Gameboy player is very laggy, but you can get boot media that bypasses the Gameboy player boot disc and eliminates the image processing and the lag, making it a good method for running GBA games to larger screens, and for use with other controllers (primarily the Gamecube controller for stick-control (Kuru Kuru Kururin probably being the prime use-case), or to use an adaptor to play Super Circuit with a snes controller). 

 

But...having said all of that: I'm very interested in emulation and will definitely look at that stuff in the future, especially for PS3 (as all of the launch PS3's it seems are destined for an early departure to silicone heaven), although I have quite a few stereoscopic 3D games for the PS3 that I'm not sure I'd be able to run any other way than through a PS3 at this point, so...I guess I need to look into 3D compatibility with Sony's library...I've really not looked that far beyond PS2, Gamecube, 360 or Wii-U at this point (I'm working my way forward and still need to look at the online services).

[ConnorDahne]

Portability.
I play my pc when I'm at home, but I'd never play anything if I didn't have a 3ds or switch as much as I'm away from the house.

[tatte]

People spend too much time debating things like this. Either you want one or you don't. In some cases you might even need one, but let's not go that far. Consoles are 99% a "nice to have" commodity, there are no serious reasons to get one if you don't have any personal reasons to want one. Most people don't need as expensive phones as they have, but spending an extra buck gives them something they enjoy so why not?

 

Outside of health related things (food, exercise), nothing where not going with what you want isn't the right option comes to my mind. Simply being able to get something doesn't mean you should. In our excessive consumerist societies it's sadly natural to always look for more, but if you're happy with what you have, just be happy and don't forcibly look for something else. Never waste your time trying to convince someone who is happy with what they have, shouldn't be happy because you're happy with something else. That territory belongs to the religions, and most people don't enjoy their crusades either.

[kirashi]

On 6/1/2017 at 10:04 AM, NewAndy said:

Is there any good reason to buy a console instead of a PC apart from "All your friends are using a console because they're stupid but you still want to play with them cuz they're your real life friends", If you don't bother doing research, it's a decent small form factor gaming machine, and last but not least "I love Sony entertainment and/or microsoft"?

As others have stated, story based exclusives. To be completely honest, I'd sooner play games like Beyond: Two Souls, Heavy Rain, and The Last of Us on a TV sitting on my couch anyway, so even if they weren't exclusive, I'd have my PC hooked up to my TV for that. This is one area that I personally feel Sony has been able to excel at over all other platforms because of publishers like Naughty Dog and Square Enix. Of course I own a gaming rig PC too, but I love having a PS4 for certain titles.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Exclusives and/or if you're too poor to build a decent gaming PC (which you can do for roughly $400 now).

[skywake]

21 hours ago, tatte said:

Outside of health related things (food, exercise), nothing where not going with what you want isn't the right option comes to my mind. Simply being able to get something doesn't mean you should. In our excessive consumerist societies it's sadly natural to always look for more, but if you're happy with what you have, just be happy and don't forcibly look for something else.

You're overthinking it in an effort to sound smart. Of course these are wants, nobody said otherwise.

 

If you want a UHD BluRay player an XBOne S is a reasonable purchase

If you want the exclusive games on PS4 then the PS4 is a reasonable purchase

If you want an ultra portable gaming machine or are interested in Nintendo's exclusives then the Switch is a reasonable purchase.

 

If you want those things. If you don't then there's no reason for you to buy them.

[tatte]

49 minutes ago, skywake said:

You're overthinking it in an effort to sound smart. Of course these are wants, nobody said otherwise.

 

If you want a UHD BluRay player an XBOne S is a reasonable purchase

If you want the exclusive games on PS4 then the PS4 is a reasonable purchase

If you want an ultra portable gaming machine or are interested in Nintendo's exclusives then the Switch is a reasonable purchase.

 

If you want those things. If you don't then there's no reason for you to buy them.

If what you took from my comment was "you shouldn't buy what you want", one of us has failed miserably.

If the OP would need a UHD Blu-ray player, he most likely would be elsewhere asking for UHD Blu-ray players, if he wanted exclusive games on some platform, he'd surely realise which platform he needs to get them etc. Instead he is asking us to rationalise the purchase on his behalf, so in any case he seems to be doing fine without a console, and quite possibly he's here just to incite the PCMR bickering "consoles are stupid and useless" (the followup is a little lacking, hard to call yet).

 

You don't have to want one of those things to buy a console, you can just want one and that's perfectly reasonable reason to get one. The OP however is trying to forcibly rationalise (the real overthinking here) getting one without obviously needing or wanting anything. There's no point in this.

[skywake]

@tatte

What does it matter what the motivation for the thread is? Nowhere in the thread has anyone asked about whether or not they personally should buy one thing or another. It was just another generic thread where someone hyped up on PCMR asks why consoles exist. And for the most part people have responded fairly rationally. People buy into one platform over another for the exclusive content and unique hardware features. If you personally are interested in neither? Then that's cool. But not everyone wants the same things you do so some people are interested in those things.

 

I have a gaming PC because I needed a PC for non-gaming stuff and I wanted to play third party titles at 1080p/60fps

I have a Switch because I wanted a portable gaming machine and I like Nintendo's exclusives

 

If other people want, like and need other things? Then they'll buy into different platforms. If I had a UHD TV and wanted some content for it I'd consider getting an XBOne S. It's ~$290AU with a game and the cheapest UHD BluRay player is ~$320AU. But I don't so I won't. If I really wanted to play Uncharted or whatever else is big on the PS4 right now I'd get a PS4. But I don't so I won't.

[Zaki_Owais]

It's a lot compfortable than a pc.You can play it from you'r sofa rather than a chair in case of pc.

[Zaki_Owais]

Plus it's lot user-friendly and a lot less hassle than you would get on a pc

[Zaki_Owais]

Consoles are for slow gamers who can't tell the difference between 60 or 30 fps or doesn't care about graphics