Aspects of Console Gaming that PC Just Can't Match

[minervx]

Operating System

Both PS4's and X1's are relatively simple, easy to use, no endless mess of menus, minimal interruptions, no driver issues and other types of issues.  No spending a half hour diagnosing OS problems.  Windows, apart from the fact that it is capable of playing games, is just not a fun OS to interact with.

 

Plug and Play

Controllers (for the most part) work instantly - no need to download drivers, DS4 and/or map the buttons.  Games install where they need to go - no need to spend time troubleshooting why a certain game won't run.  Streaming onto Youtube and Twitch can be done on console with ease; it doesn't require downloading the right video recorder (and none of the wrong ones) and then editing the settings.

 

Lower Input Cost

There's no realistic gaming PC  that can be had for $200-300.  Yes, PC gaming is cheaper in the long-run if you don't go for the high-end gear and if you don't upgrade parts every year, but we all know 90% of us don't do that.

 

Better living room experience

Being honest, PC has technically could be used in the living room, but it's not living room friendly.  Windows isn't living room friendly.  It could be tweaked to be such, but that would take a time-investment counter-intuitive to someone who is tired from work and wants to relax.  Steam's Big Picture, Geforce Experience and other launchers also need work.  

 

I prefer my PC because I do other demanding work on it, but for those that don't really need a PC, having a laptop/ipad plus a console to manage all of their needs is not bad at all.

[Damascus]

12 minutes ago, minervx said:

no endless mess of menus,

The ps4 main menu has a maddening amount of scrolling and menu layers

 

12 minutes ago, minervx said:

There's no realistic gaming PC  that can be had for $200-300

I built a pc mid mining crysis that wrecks almost every console for $200

[Mira Yurizaki]

8 minutes ago, Damascus said:

I built a pc mid mining crysis that wrecks almost every console for $200

If you built it with used parts, that doesn't count.

 

And it probably doesn't play Blu-Rays.

 

EDIT: The reason why I don't count buying used parts to build a PC: Oh look, here's a used PS4 for $55. Now build me a PC for $55 that wrecks it. And we can move the goal posts until we hit "I can get X for free"

[minervx]

18 minutes ago, Damascus said:

The ps4 main menu has a maddening amount of scrolling and menu layers

 

I built a pc mid mining crysis that wrecks almost every console for $200

1 -- PS4's menu is not optimal by any means, but it has 10 bloatware programs instead of 50 and it has 10 files u want to scroll past rather than hundreds of them in the inner guts of windows (which you will need to plunge into to solve problems - and its not hard but just menial and annoying)

 

2 -- send list, please?   of course, you can find crazy low prices if you hunt for deals, but there's are outliers that happen the minoirty of the time.  sure, anyone CAN get a part that's 1/3 off but the majority of the people arent realistically going to do this for one reason or another, so it is not a representative example.

[manikyath]

for the sake of making a propper statement and not senseless arguments..

 

consoles have their place, that place IMO isnt where you place it, nor where current gen consoles are trying to put it.

 

operating system

on an xbox, is windows 10, on a PS4, is BSD. IMO any of the PC-oriented operating systems are better because while more complex, they are designed to get you to your "destination" faster, whatever your destination is. Although i may be a bit old-fashioned on this regard, i prefer my console to not "have" an operating system as such, IMO the perfect console is one where i can plug in the game i want and go. no "installing updates", no "downloading patches", just plug&play.

 

on the topic of plug&play:

you are entirely right, but only because you really only *have* one controller option, one hardware option, and next to no game settings. Besides, windows 10 is surprisingly plug&play.

 

Lower input cost

yes, consoles are cheaper, but a lada niva is better than a mercedes A class, i dont hear many people say a niva is better than a mercedes. there's a sweet spot of money to spend, and seeing the endless corner-cutting game devs have to do to make their games run on a console they're not really on the mark. they're painfully close, but senseless over-estimating the performance of a "PS4 pro 4K" doesnt help.

 

Being living room friendly

depends entirely on the UI, windows on its own may not be very living room friendly, but as stated before the current xbox is essentially windows 10. All that is between a PC and the living room is a suitable UI (which, there's plenty of options..)

 

 

and on the topic of "a console plus a pc for productivity".. very often your pc for productivity is only the price of a console away from a better gaming machine than your console. about a year ago my sister bought a new laptop, she went for some inbred MSI monster because it literally was the price of a console away from an "at least acceptable" facebook machine, and it allowed her to play the sims 3 in the living room, the kitchen, the dinnertable, the bedroom, and the back yard

[minervx]

its not fair to compare a truck to a sports car.  it's apples and oranges.  mac's, for example, are generally inferior to pc's in hardware, but they're easier to use and have a more compact form factor (and they're considered more premium products to a lot of people).  for that matter, the smallest mini itx pc builds are also more expensive because people are willing to sacrifice graphical power for form factor.  

 

 

[manikyath]

3 minutes ago, minervx said:

and have a more compact form factor

scratch that one out your argument, and you're all good

[Damascus]

1 hour ago, Pangea2017 said:

Last Blackfriday they where sold for 150€ or below including a  controller. This is cheaper then any PC with same speed can be. A Ryzen 3 1200G alone is 90€. And the Xbox scorpio is the same price as a GPU with this power at the moment.

 

For 150€ i was looking at them but decided to stay with PC gaming: Xbox is missing Steam and GOG.

150€ = 200 USD.  The pc I built will also outperform it by a wide margin and I could do it again.

53 minutes ago, minervx said:

1 -- PS4's menu is not optimal by any means, but it has 10 bloatware programs instead of 50 and it has 10 files u want to scroll past rather than hundreds of them in the inner guts of windows (which you will need to plunge into to solve problems - and its not hard but just menial and annoying)

I've never run into an issue on windows I couldn't fix within a few minutes but when I was on ps4 I needed to disassemble it to fix a software bug (not kidding)

Quote

2 -- send list, please?   of course, you can find crazy low prices if you hunt for deals, but there's are outliers that happen the minoirty of the time.  sure, anyone CAN get a part that's 1/3 off but the majority of the people arent realistically going to do this for one reason or another, so it is not a representative example.

I7 860 + p55 mobo + ddr3 = $50-$100

Decent budget psu - $30

Gtx 770 - $100

Free or cheap case $0-$30

Cheapo storage - $10-$50

[Mira Yurizaki]

6 minutes ago, Damascus said:

I7 860 + p55 mobo + ddr3 = $50-$100

Gtx 770 - $100

Those look like prices for used parts, which again, don't really count towards the argument that a "console killer" PC can be built for the same price as the console itself. You're free to provide a link to where one can find these parts new.

 

Because again, I found a used PS4 for $55. Shall I move the goal posts?

[Damascus]

44 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Because again, I found a used PS4 for $55. Shall I move the goal posts?

Impressive!  At that point it's definitely better to go used but the cheapest used ps4 I've ever seen was $200, whereas I've seen and bought dozens of the parts I mentioned at the prices listed.

44 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Those look like prices for used parts, which again, don't really count towards the argument that a "console killer" PC can be built for the same price as the console itself. You're free to provide a link to where one can find these parts new.

 

If we limit ourselves to brand new I'd get something like this

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qGKHhy
 

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($98.90 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350N-Gaming WIFI (rev. 1.0) Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - NT Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($42.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital - RE3 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($23.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Linkworld - 920-01C2121U (Black) HTPC Case w/150W Power Supply  ($54.15 @ Amazon) 
Total: $319.92

[minervx]

23 minutes ago, Damascus said:

Impressive!  At that point it's definitely better to go used but the cheapest used ps4 I've ever seen was $200, whereas I've seen and bought dozens of the parts I mentioned at the prices listed.

If we limit ourselves to brand new I'd get something like this

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qGKHhy
 

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 3 2200G 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($98.90 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350N-Gaming WIFI (rev. 1.0) Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - NT Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($42.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital - RE3 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($23.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Linkworld - 920-01C2121U (Black) HTPC Case w/150W Power Supply  ($54.15 @ Amazon) 
Total: $319.92

 

2200G is much superior as a CPU, but inferior as a GPU.  Fair enough trade, for smooth fps I suppose.

4GB RAM is low considering Windows eats 1-2 GB easily and don't integrated graphics eat up RAM too? 

Storage seems fair, but also takes into consideration Windows is spacious.

Case is a good find ^^

Doesn't include peripherals.  $10 keyboard is doable, tho a ps4 controller is a more premium product.

 

 

Of course, keep mind that in order to even compare these, you have to go with the leanest PC specs to get near full retail price.  if we're stretching on both sides, you can get a ps4 for $50-100.  However, considering the fact, it's also a computer, and you can spend an extra $80-100 on another 4gb ram stick and a 120gb ssd to turn it into an actually good PC, i do see ur point.  

[Damascus]

3 minutes ago, minervx said:

if we're stretching on both sides, you can get a ps4 for $50-100. 

Where do people find $50 ps4s?  I really want one for horizon zero dawn but they never go below 200 from what I've been able to find.

3 minutes ago, minervx said:

2200G is much superior as a CPU, but inferior as a GPU.  Fair enough trade, for smooth fps I suppose.

4GB RAM is low considering Windows eats 1-2 GB easily and don't integrated graphics eat up RAM too? 

Storage seems fair, but also takes into consideration Windows is spacious.

Case is a good find ^^

Doesn't include peripherals.  $10 keyboard is doable, tho a ps4 controller is a more premium product.

Windows uses less RAM the less you have, and an igpu will use 512mb and be quite happy.

[Mira Yurizaki]

7 minutes ago, Damascus said:

Impressive!  At that point it's definitely better to go used but the cheapest used ps4 I've ever seen was $200, whereas I've seen and bought dozens of the parts I mentioned at the prices listed.

And that's the problem with buying used. It's not a stable market and really, what's stopping me from saying "my friend gave me his PS4 what now?" or "I found all these PC parts in a dumpster bin out back and they still work." You can literally say anything you want and it can't really be proven true or false. As a formal argument, that doesn't really work.

 

I'm also starting to wonder what sense does it make to compare hardware that was available then to hardware you can buy now. I feel like people just assume because something new and improved is out, the old stuff drops in price linearly, or keeps dropping in price. That doesn't really happen. The only time hardware really drops in price is from flash sales of stores trying to get rid of their stock. You can still find new old stock parts for a price that, if you wanted to apply a price/performance ratio, doesn't make sense.

 

Even then, you can see this in storage. The price difference for a Western Digital 1TB and 2TB hard drive on Newegg is ~$10, but the price difference between the 2TB and 6TB is ~$100. What I'm getting at is that the consoles have a fixed price point and the costs can only go down so much before you can only break even on the manufacturing and logistics process itself.

 

Also in some sense, trying to compare a console is like saying "I can build a desktop PC with today's parts that totally wrecks a $1000 PC built 3 years ago."

[minervx]

5 minutes ago, Damascus said:

Where do people find $50 ps4s? 

there are exceptions.  that's a stretch.

 

ignoring the outliers on each side, people will be paying double for a console on average.

 

if something is superior in a certain category to something else, but only if a dozen different stipulations are met, then its not really superior in that regard.

[Damascus]

3 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Also in some sense, trying to compare a console is like saying "I can build a desktop PC with today's parts that totally wrecks a $1000 PC built 3 years ago."

Fair enough, I don't generally compare consoles and pcs other than to say that you can generally get better value and performance out of a PC (when both are brand new or when both are used)

 

5 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

And that's the problem with buying used. It's not a stable market and really, what's stopping me from saying "my friend gave me his PS4 what now?" or "I found all these PC parts in a dumpster bin out back and they still work." You can literally say anything you want and it can't really be proven true or false. As a formal argument, that doesn't really work.

 

Fair enough, I did just get a free fx 4100 and I effectively paid $400 for a 6950x, these are both certainly specific to me (more so the i7)

 

3 minutes ago, Pangea2017 said:

most times they do

1€ = 1 USD

also in europe the tax and other cost are higher then in the us (already included in the price).

 

for 150€ you don't get anything:

psu: 30€ is the lowest you can do and it will not be a good unit.

hdd: 20€ 500gb 

case: 20€

RAM: 40€ (8gb)

Now you have 40€ left and no mobo, cpu, gpu, windows licence or controller.

 

130€ on the used market (20€ is a normal controller)? good luck to find something which is able to run games at min settings (1gb vram is normal). Most times you get better deals with buying new parts.

 

GPU used market? even the AMD HD6870 went up from 20€ to over 30€

Interesting, the Canadian and US used market is much, much better.  

[48Hz]

People are gonna hate on me for this, but I still think the One X shits on PC when it comes to just playing 4k games.

 

Dynamic scaling works way better on consoles, as well as frame pacing, and HDR.

 

locked 60FPS with good frame pacing, or get a decent HDR experience, or optimized settings designed by the devs.

[Stefan Payne]

On 25.3.2018 at 7:06 PM, minervx said:

Operating System

Both PS4's and X1's are relatively simple, easy to use, no endless mess of menus, minimal interruptions, no driver issues and other types of issues.  No spending a half hour diagnosing OS problems.  Windows, apart from the fact that it is capable of playing games, is just not a fun OS to interact with.

1. That's the cost of a rather open plattform wich lets you decide what you want to do.

2. You overstate it. Problems on PC aren't that common.

And Consoles can also crash due to false settings. Like Tomb Raider (the Original one) on PLaystation 4 with Boost Mode Enabled.

3. I don't see any Problems with Windows and I've used multiple Linux (Mostly Mint and OpenSUSE) and OSX as well. 

Windows is still the best for 'Power Desktop Users', the other two have some serious limitations when you are using 2 or more screens.

 

On 25.3.2018 at 7:06 PM, minervx said:

 

Plug and Play

Controllers (for the most part) work instantly - no need to download drivers, DS4 and/or map the buttons.  Games install where they need to go - no need to spend time troubleshooting why a certain game won't run.  Streaming onto Youtube and Twitch can be done on console with ease; it doesn't require downloading the right video recorder (and none of the wrong ones) and then editing the settings.

1. Since XInput and Xinput compatible controllers, no, you don't need to remap buttons. Especially if the controller is supported in Steam, wich the DS4 is. Hadn't had any Problems with Steam Games and my PS4 Controller so far. Though the XBox controller makes more sense for PC.

 

2. Remapping Buttons is an advantage in some games that have rather shitty defaults.

And especially if they do it differently so that you always press the wrong button, you have no chance to rectify that on consoles.

For example Final Fantasy XII and Ni No Kuni 2.

Both use completely different buttons for Menu or Map.

 

On 25.3.2018 at 7:06 PM, minervx said:

Lower Input Cost

There's no realistic gaming PC  that can be had for $200-300.  Yes, PC gaming is cheaper in the long-run if you don't go for the high-end gear and if you don't upgrade parts every year, but we all know 90% of us don't do that.

Yes, that is true, if you talk about new stuff.

And the first real good point you made thus far that's not totally subjective.

 

 

There was this UI for Windows a long time ago it was called "Media Centre".

It was still in Windows 8(.1) PRO and should give you the Experience you want.

 

 

And there's also Kodi:
https://kodi.tv/about

 

The old XBox Media Centre Thing...

 

[DeagleMaster]

Honestly the only two aspacts of console gaming that I think might be better than pc gaming is 1. Its cheaper. In some countries you might be able to bulid a similarly priced gaming pc, but that probably isn't the case for most people. 2. Its less stressful. If you get easily stressed out than pc might not be the best option. There are way more things that could possibly go wrong with a pc.

[Stefan Payne]

On 25.3.2018 at 9:29 PM, Damascus said:

Case: Linkworld - 920-01C2121U (Black) HTPC Case w/150W Power Supply  ($54.15 @ Amazon) 

Wich will last for about 5minutes before it kills your components...

 

And pls stop the price argument, the consoles are just cheaper - new and used. You can't do anything about that.

If you compare used to used or new to new, both times the PC will loose.

 

Oh and by the way: The PS4 was introduced in just 2013. Arguing with components before that, well...

[Damascus]

1 hour ago, Stefan Payne said:

Wich will last for about 5minutes before it kills your components...

Not if you're running a system that draws like 60w from the wall

1 hour ago, Stefan Payne said:

And pls stop the price argument, the consoles are just cheaper - new and used. You can't do anything about that.

If you compare used to used or new to new, both times the PC will loose.

Not where I live.  Again, this is entirely subjective but pc part are far cheaper than consoles in Ottawa

1 hour ago, Stefan Payne said:

Oh and by the way: The PS4 was introduced in just 2013. Arguing with components before that, well...

My original argument used a cpu from 2009 and a gpu from early 2013 so your point is moot

[jtmoseley]

On 3/25/2018 at 12:30 PM, Pangea2017 said:

Last Blackfriday they where sold for 150€ or below including a  controller. This is cheaper then any PC with same speed can be. A Ryzen 3 1200G alone is 90€. And the Xbox scorpio is the same price as a GPU with this power at the moment.

 

For 150€ i was looking at them but decided to stay with PC gaming: Xbox is missing Steam and GOG.

If you just want to play, consoles are better short term options. But they aren't upgradeable, have almost no versatility outside of gaming, have a pay per month system for online, and sometimes require discs for games. (I say sometimes as alot of people download them now) Also games for them are usually more pricey, and you lack the huge library of good indie games that Steam has.

[SSJGodemis]

PC Gamers who talk about their junkyard PCs that "crush" consoles are completely full of shit. Consoles are a great entry point and for the money destroy PCs. Windows has far more issues than PS4 and X1. Majority of people never have to worry about crappy drivers or something going wrong with software/hardware. Consoles also offer a very similar visual experience to PCs for a fraction of the cost. If you want a truly superior experience you will be spending more when you get a PC. 

 

I can understand why PC gamers are so blind to that fact. PC's are for enthusiasts plan and simple. You want a customizable experience that performs better, than you pay for it with time and money. You want a nice gaming experience that runs well enough and looks damn good still get a Console. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

1 hour ago, jtmoseley said:

they aren't upgradeable,

Which isn't an issue if you don't need anything more. And games are designed around the capabilities of the hardware, so it doesn't really become an issue. Plus how many casual computer users upgrade their computers beyond storage and maybe RAM, if they can upgrade anything at all? And even then, when they want an upgrade, it's probably better to get a new computer anyway considering how old their current one usually is.

1 hour ago, jtmoseley said:

have almost no versatility outside of gaming,

PS4 and Xbox One are great multimedia machines and you can browse the internet on them (with a keyboard and mouse) if you really wanted to.

1 hour ago, jtmoseley said:

have a pay per month system for online

True, but for PSN, if the game is free to play or already requires a subscription fee, you don't have to pay for online access. And while it's a tossup, people do report a higher quality of service using consoles for online gaming than PCs.

 

1 hour ago, jtmoseley said:

Also games for them are usually more pricey, and you lack the huge library of good indie games that Steam has.

The price thing is so convoluted and messy that there is no point in comparing them. PC gamers like to brag about Steam Sales and Humble Bundles... Well, at least on the PSN, they have flash sales and would you know it, Humble Bundle also does consoles! And that's also not including sales other storefronts have.

 

It's also arguable if Steam's catalog size is an indication of anything. Over half of Steam's total catalog came from the last two years. I'm sure there are some good games here and there, but a lot of them are bound to be rubbish.

 

The only thing that PC gaming has going for it is its huge library of games. Well, if you can get older games to work on your modern system without it turning into a weekend project.

[Cole5]

Price: A Base XBox or PS4 is like 200 bucks, another 30 bucks for a 1tb HHD

Blue Ray: Because pretty blue lasers 

Plug n Play: I Can take my Xbox to any house and just plug it in, Good luck with one of them weird huge gaming cases\

Optomized: With few exceptions, a game will play the same on every xbox or PS4, a bit better on every XboxX and PS4 Pro 

5 Dollar AAA Games: With Xbox Live you can usually expect 1 AA game and 1 Okay (Sometimes GREAT) Indy game every month that you get ta keep 

[ImNotDeViLzzz]

I had a GTX 1080 Ti at one time playing in 4K ....

enough said.