Console Vs Computer

Let's face it, whether it be a console or a PC, these machines are just Gaming Delivery Devices (GDDs). While the nature of the two are different. The console is a targetted GDD provided as a lounge room based entertainment centre piece. The computer is a multifunctioning GDD. Allowing the user to perform other functions besides gaming. Namely forwarding porn via email to acquaintances and anyone on their mailing list, forwarding chain letters via email, using MSN as a means to avoid talking to people on the phone or in person, typing up documents, and looking up porn on the internet. I think you'll find that when people are at work the computer also functions in a similar manner to at home with the previously mentioned list. However, for many so-called gaming purists the PC is the ultimate GDD.

However, traditionally the console was the device which brought gaming to lounge rooms and the home. The Atari 2600 was the first console which I can recall in Australia and the first which I owned. For someone who was too young to travel to arcades it was my first experience with video games. While there were some games floating around for computers (I can recall Load Runner on the Macintosh) many of the major gaming releases at the time were on the console. After the Atari came the Commodore 64. A computer which was designed specifically as a GDD and the first real division we see in the console Vs computer gaming war. The Commodore 64 and later the Commodore Amiga were probably the two best GDDs ever created. The Commodore 64 saw a massive boost in gaming and the establishment of the home gaming industry. It also saw the beginnings of a divide between console and computer. However, I would argue that the Commodore 64 was little more than a console with a keyboard. Essentially, you still used cartridges or cassettes to load the games. You plugged in a joystick to play the games and, if you were lucky enough, you had a floppy disc drive to play the games. However, the Commodore 64 was not like computers of today. It was not upgradable. It was a glorified console.

It was really in the early 90s that the home PC became the GDD which has shaped games of today. The thing about consoles is that they don't age well. They are stuck in a time warp based around the date of their creation. They will not be able to improve on the performance from which they were built. Certainly the programmers will get better at coding the machines, but the technology in them cannot change. Where as PCs are upgradable. With this upgradability also creates a divide for gamers related to performance. Not all PCs are equal and some are definitely more equal than others. This also created a divide in gamers. There are the so-called gaming purists, the ones who would sell their own mother to have enough money to upgrade their PCs with the latest devices in order to play the games with the best frame rate and the highest resolution. All others fell into the broad category of casual gamers. Casual gamers may even own a PC and a console. Whereas the gaming "elite" specifically focussed their attention on spending money on their PCs and refining their skills with a mouse and keyboard.

PCs have definitely been able to cater for a broader spectrum of games across a number of different genres. PCs have also allowed far more diversity with independent gaming developers. Consoles have not been Real Time Strategy friendly devices. Controllers are much more difficult to streamline for such games. And the most important factor is that consoles are seen as being a GDD catering specifically for casual gamers and not the hard core.

One of the reasons for this is based around the controller. It is seen as a slower input device. It is more difficult to run backwards, shoot and aim as opposed to the mouse and keyboard. Whereas the mouse and keyboard is seen as being the fundamental tool kit for the hard core gamer. This can be seen be the sheer number of mouses available in the market now. The ridiculous nature of mouse mats (glass, teflon coated, inflatable friends of the hard core gamer guaranteed to keep them from feeling lonely on a 24 hour coffee and Red Bull fueled gaming session). All of these emerging niche markets have been created by the so-called "hard core" gamers who literally lust for some form of domination over their online rivals.

Microsoft are attempting to bridge that divide somewhat. They want the Xbox 360 to be able to compete with PC gamers online. This has many PC Gamers laughing in the face of their somewhat retarded controller cousins. Knowing that they are going to have the edge when it comes to a face-to-face show down online. Yelling, "I'm going to pawn those console noobs," into the void of their empty rooms or over teamspeak to their PC weilding mates.

What does it matter unless you are a professional gamer? What does it matter whether you get your thrills running a console or a PC?

The reason why I have considered these things is because I was lucky enough to become the owner of an Xbox 360 before Christmas. I have enjoyed playing it so much that I haven't played anything new on the PC since. It has been an opportunity for me to, once again, explore my gaming roots which began with a console. While I have thoroughly enjoyed playing Gears of War I have also spent many hours on Xbox Live Arcade playing Geometry Wars and Billiards. For me the consoles simplify the gaming process. I don't worry about my email. I don't worry about who's online I just put the DVD in the console and play.

I must be getting soft in my old age because it seems that the Xbox 360 may be here to stay and any PC upgrades I had planned will be put on hold. This doesn't mean that I won't be playing PC Games but if their is a console version of the same game I will probably lean towards getting the console game. No more screaming, die noobs for me. I will probably be the noob at the other end of a console controller.