July 05, 2008

Sohail Saleem compares the PC and the consoles, for which is a better choice for gaming.

So I picked up May 25, 2008 Sci-tech World issue to admire my published game review, when I was bamboozled by a query that appeared in the Q&A section of the same issue. In the query someone had asked Sci-Tech’s resident whiz kid that he wanted to spend Rs2, 50, 000 on a computer so that he could play games with ‘excellent’ graphics and also be able to play Xbox 360 and PS3 games on this ultimate machine through an emulator, which showed that even though his wallet was pointing towards a gaming PC his heart was still towards console gaming (romantic stuff, eh?).

What platform to play game on has confused gamers for a long time now, but take it from a guy (me) who has been a gamer for more than 15 years, has upgraded his PC twice to play games. Played games on all major consoles and have been a part of the gaming revolution, that console gaming is now a much, much better option for gamers as compared to PC gaming. In this article I will present a few advantages that console gaming has over PC gaming which will hopefully convince even the most diehard fans of PC gaming to admit that console gaming is a worthy and at times a better choice for gaming.

Price and technology

A PS3 will cost you around Rs40, 000, an Xbox 360 around Rs30, 000 and a Nintendo Wii around Rs25, 000, with all the necessary accessories, but pick up any of the leading local PC and/or internet magazine and you will find the price for a PC is capable of playing high-end games at their highest settings is around Rs80, 000 to

Rs1, 00,000 mark which shows that consoles obviously cost less as compared to a PC.

Not only do they cost less but they do not become old and outdated very soon. A console has an average life of around seven to nine years, which means that it takes around seven to nine years before a new console is launched in the marketplace. On the other hand PC components such as processors, graphics cards and motherboards become old in about a year’s time.

Once you buy a console each and every game will run on the ‘best’ graphics without making you to adjust any settings and you would not have to spend even a single rupee on an upgrade to continue playing games. Of course, if you break a joypad or damage the storage unit then you will have to spend some cash but that would not be spending on an upgrade.

On a console you also do not have to worry about updating drivers of anything, every component works the way it should from day one till the end. On the PC however, it is a totally different story. You constantly have to check for driver upgrades, adjust game settings to ensure the best gaming experience for almost every game and you also have to spend cash in upgrading your Ram speed or in increasing the storage capacity of the hard drive. So, when it comes to the price that you pay and the technology that you get, I believe consoles are a bargain as compared to a gaming PC.

Games

There was a time when certain genres of gaming such as First Person Shooters (FPS), Real Time Strategy Games (RTS) felt just ‘right’ on a PC. The W, S, A, D movement settings in an FPS and the point and click settings in an RTS made it feel as of the PC and these genres were a match-made in heaven but not anymore. All the three genres have made transitions to consoles with flying colours. Command and Conquer 3 on the Xbox 360 is a glorious example of how great an RTS can play on a console. Similarly, FPS games such as The Darkness, the Halo trilogy and The Orange Box prove how much fun FPS games can be on a console.

Similarly, exclusive PC releases in these genres are things of the past. These days many games are released on the consoles first and then on the PC or sometimes even not released on the PC, for example, Mass Effect, a great RPG, and Gears of War, an awesome third person shooter, were first released on the Xbox 360 and later released on the PC. Similarly, the FPS game, The Darkness was released on the Xbox 360 and PS3 but not on the PC. The legendary Civilization series will make its debut on consoles with a consoles exclusive title, Civilization Revolution, which is not planned to be released on the PC.

Staying on the subject of games, all PC games have to be installed on the hard drive like everything else on a PC. With today’s games being on more than one DVD, you have to spend at least 30 minutes in staring your monitor screen before you actually start playing but on a console, you do not have to face this hassle. Just insert the DVD and you are in the game. Installing every game means that you need a huge hard drive on PC while on a console a 20 GB hard drive like the one that comes with the Xbox 360 premium version is more than enough.

Interestingly, some multiplatform releases require more space on a PC than on a console. For instance, Bioshock is an FPS and is released on Xbox 360 and PC both, but on the Xbox 360 it is available on a single DVD while on the PC two.

Also, since pirated DVDs are the norm here, the defect rate in pirated PC games is quite high when it is compared to console games. Sometimes some file is missing or some file is corrupt when installing on a PC while on a console the most which can happen is that the DVD might be scratched.

Other functions

Consoles like PCs are now more than capable of performing functions other than gaming. You can listen to music, watch movies, store pictures and music on the hard drive, play games online and chat with friends too, among other things. The PS3 can also connect with the PSP that gives both of them added functionality. Similarly, an Xbox 360 can be synced with a PC to transfer files from one to the other.

Final word

The above are just a few areas in which consoles are better than PCs. If you have got money to spend this summer on gaming, I urge you not to spend Rs80, 000 to Rs1, 00,000 on a ‘gaming PC,’ but go for a console that will cost you half the price or even less. And you will definitely enjoy the unique experience that a console has to offer.

Take this advice from a gamer who has been playing games for last 15 years.