Pc or next gen console

Hello Jhbetts  

You could build a hell of a PC for a thousand bucks, and no game will look better on any mass produced gaming system than on a decent PC with a mediocre card. The video card in a PS3 is simply a modified GeForce 7800 with a core clock of 550 mhz. Gaming systems are simply always going to be behind PC and you can't upgrade a resell your components as tech advances your at the mercy of the industry. This Post may help you make a decision.

Just my 2 cents do with it what you will.

pc by far
i have a ps3 and i thought the graphics on that were the best but heck i was wrong
PC has better graphics, modding, to me better online and one of the best parts is you can upgrade at any time and can be used for much more things than a game console.

I struggle with the same question some times,
I have been building gaming PCs and playing online games for the last 15 years. I remember building my first Pentium based system. I remember the day I bought the first ATI radeon card, I still have that 7000VE and the 7400 that I got 1 year later. I remember playing the first CoD for hours. That was the first game I remember that had prone and iron sights. I'm pretty old school.

Through out the years PC games have been far better in terms of visuals, game play, and multiplayer. That is until just recently, last 3 or so years. Both Xbox and PS have very mature systems with great game play and awesome online support.

As a whole there seems to be a lot more money going into the development for consoles, and console games. This leads to a much healthier console market, while the PC game market seems to be shrinking the console market looks to be growing.

If you want a large variety of games that you can play with your friends, the new xbox might be the way to go.

If you like tinkering and tweaking your system and you like the best possible graphics and input devices, you’re going to have to stick with the PC for a few more years.

Personally I’m too old to learn to use a gamepad, so I am going to stick with my KB and Mouse.

+1 Try burning a DVD with your game consoles

Bucknutty makes a sad but true point... The worst part of PC gaming is more and more, we see direct console ports to PC. The visuals are terrible and don't even match the capabilities of the PC.

For now, though, there are still a lot of excellent titles for PC which not only look, but also play better than console games. Hopefully the game companies will keep pumping the PC games out with better graphics and playability, but considering sales trends (PC sales way down) and the almighty $, we should see an even greater focus on console/tablet/phone game development.

Personally, I'll continue to update my gaming PC as new tech is released. There is absolutely nothing on a console that looks or plays as well as a decked-out PC. When they quit making decent games for PC, my playing time will definitely decrease.

Buy a $1000 PC and you will be able to game in native 1080p at 60fps with 8xAA, 4xAA or 2xAA depending on the title and on high detail for most games. For a pre-built PC here in Canada at ncix, $1000 gets you a 3470 3.2 GHZ quad core CPU, a 7950 3GB video card, 8GB 1600MHZ RAM and an OEM version of windows 7 home premium 64-bit for $89.99 (at least here in Canada). If you build it yourself, you get to save even more money  

Buy a $700 console, and I predict that your gaming will be at 600p (stretched to 1080p of course) with either 2xAA or no AA, running at mostly 30fps. I hope my prediction is wrong because I want console gaming to push PC gaming.

 

There is only one advantage of console (Xbox360) ie KINETIC GAMING! which means you'll be actually playing games practically like tennis, boxing, cricket etc by just holding motion controller and waving hands or by wearing motion sensor enabled gloves.

OR if you are traditional gamer with a Game-pad, Joystick, simulator gear, or just a KB and mouse like most people, then you should stick to PC gaming. Another advantage is that you can upgrade your system according to your needs whereas you'll have to get rid of your old console and buy new version console to play the next sequel of same game.

So in order to play great games with great graphics getting regular PC updation you should stick with PC gaming.

And who knows this motion gaming can be introduced for PC in forthcoming years.

On the other hand, the PS3 will still be getting games for another couple years at least, so say it will have a run of 9 years (probably more). I had a rockin $1500 gaming PC that I got in 2007. By last spring it was gasping along and barely able to run BF3 on low. That's more than twice the cost for a little more than half the lifespan. My PC gaming slowed down but the PS3 "feels" more or less the same.

Still, love my PC and will stick with it til the bitter end.

I would have to go with the PC for 100% sure. My PS3 while at the time a few years ago was great for some good looking games (What I would'nt give for a PC version of Wipeout), the PC has and will continue to blow it away even next gen if you grab a decent card.

As far as actual games go, the PC is imo getting better and not quite shrinking as some think. Yes we do in many (not all) get shabby ports of console games, but being the most flexible platform we also get some outstanding exclusives. Some are FTP and run better than some you find for $50-$60 retail.

Quick list of PC games you (probably) wont ever see on consoles:-

Path of Exile - Daiblo stlye game, online only but tbh looking and playing a ton better than Daiblo 3. Oh and its FREE
http://www.pathofexile.com/game

Mechwarrioir Online - Online teambased 60foot tall mech wearing destruction. Oh FREE too.
http://mwomercs.com/forums/

Mechwarrior Tactics - Turn based ( i think ) mech action.
https://mwtactics.com/ oh yeah FREE too iirc

Add into the mix, other like Starcrft, WoW, Guildwars and the upcomming stuff like Star Citizen and more, it looks like the perfect time to get into the PC for gaming.

Thanks for the input everybody. I'm actually not a pc gamer, the original post had a typo in it. Im currently playing on an 360 and have been relatively satisfied with it until I got a bigger tv and was able to see the lack of detail. So from what I understand a $1000 pc will easily out do the next gen consoles, but will i have to basically rebuild it every three years to run games at setting at least equivalent to consoles where as consoles will always work with the games designed for them? Also, do you guys have any problems with crashing? I know windows isn't exactly the most reliable os.

Crashes in windows is pretty well stamped out. Running win 7 on two desktops and a laptop and cant remember the last crash. Knock on my skull.

When the new consoles come out the tech is already old compared to PC. Pulling a Video Card every so often and sell the old one on eBay isn't that big of deal. A current processor should last a long as your favorite gaming system generation, when the next gen system comes out you might have to rebuild.

This is definitely true. Kinect gaming is cool and you're not sitting there with a light-up dildo in your hand as with the PS3. Gaming with no controller using body movements / gestures / voice is definitely pretty awesome and innovative. It seems like the future of controlling devices in general.

I have the 360 and Kinect which is really cool, but when it comes to serious gaming, I still prefer the PC. There is really no reason they couldn't create a Kinect device for the PC.

Lenovo has since copied the Kinect design and is soon to start production. I wonder if this will be another patent battle?