The debate rages on between PC and console gamers over what is the best platform to play video games on. While PC gaming continues to thrive on its resurgence, one can’t say that console gaming is dead or even dying just yet.
Looking over the latest NPD numbers from July 2014, the bulk of the $514.3 million spent on gaming merchandise went toward the new generation consoles, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. On top of that, this year continues to be on pace to excel the $15 billion spent on console games in 2013.
According to Venture Beat, nearly $200 million was spent on consoles alone, and the PS4 is at the top of the charts yet again.
“Console gaming is dead? Not quite.”
-Colin Moriarty, IGN
IGN’s Colin Moriarty compared the numbers over the first nine months of PS4 and Xbox One over the first nine months of PS3 and Xbox 360. Sales saw an increase of approximately 80 percent.
Despite Forbes’ claims back in April that console gaming is dying, there’s simply not sufficient evidence to make that statement. Gaming in general on both PC and consoles is rising, and that can easily be seen by those gamers that praise whatever set up they have and simply hate on the other.
Consoles Have Pros & Cons – PC Does Too.
Both PC and console gaming have their positive and negatives. One isn’t “vastly superior” than the other in any way. Gamers that want to devote time to building a great for PC gaming will ultimately get the best bang for their buck, especially with games being cheaper, but that takes time and effort, and can often come at a much higher inital cost. Those that build a rig from the ground up could face multiple issues with completing their setup, as they must make sure all the hardware elements are compatible with each other, and scouring the internet to find the best prices.
PC gaming (unless set up in the living room) doesn’t have the same comfort of console gaming. There’s no tweaking of graphics cards, sound cards, compatibility issues, nor needing to solve all the various issues that could arise with playing a game on a PC.
Consoles benefit from their plug-and-play nature. It’s simple to grab a game and get to playing. The problem is, we’ve reached a stage in console gaming where the games themselves are too powerful to be played directly off of removable media. They must now be installed onto consoles before playing, which requires a beefy hard drive to hold multiple games, and a lot of waiting.
In some ways, console gaming is having the same problems that steered people away from PC gaming, which is incredibly ironic.
Some gamers prefer the customization of PC, while others prefer the simplicity plug-and-play of consoles. Let’s not continue down this ugly road of trying to prove which one is better than the other. Based on sales, clearly people have their preferences on both sides, and ultimately gaming is winning overall.
