Opinion – The System Wars

I would like to say that this article is only an opinion piece. If you do have anything against this article, then I’m sorry you feel that way.

Personal Computers were built years ago before small rectangular machines with controllers were made. Technology itself progressed faster each year and it always improved. In 2013, the next-generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony were released: the Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Debates are still rising about what system is superior until someone will raise the white flag to surrender… but looking at the situation of this never-ending debate, an end of this argument is far from happening.

Let’s take a quick look at both system. PCs and consoles can be used for gaming and media. Each platform offers unique experiences and this can be decided by a gamer’s perspective. Experiences such as the motion sensor gameplay of Xbox’s Kinect or the cute white remote of the Wii system. I owned consoles (PS2, PSone, Sega Genesis) before I had my high-end best dual GPU personal computer for gaming.

In the time when I didn’t have a powerful computer, I was comfortable using vibrating controllers playing certain games on a couch in front of my television. It became convenient. The word there was: convenient. Consoles provide convenient experience to gamers. I’m not saying that playing on a PC is inconvenient, but aside from sitting on couches, consoles were convenient enough not to think about component upgrades until the end of its lifespan. Game developers focus more on optimizing the game on consoles to make it perform well. This means leaving personal computers to have poor optimization from the developers on some games.

Graphics comparison of Titanfall.
Graphics comparison of Titanfall.

Both PCs and consoles have their own advantages and disadvantages. PC’s are expensive in terms of upgrading its components while a console’s disadvantage is the lack of upgrade option for its system. The console’s lifespan ends approximately 6-7 years. Consoles are cheap and provides great quality experience during its generation; with this being said, PC’s lifespan is endless and that makes it expensive. Why? Let’s take this as an example: A console’s standard retail price is the cost of a high-end graphics card for a personal computer. Maintaining a gaming rig, with its upgrades, is expensive. But its performance makes it worth the money.

Gamers with high-end gaming personal computers label themselves as the PC Master Race. Branding gamers who plays on consoles as Console Fanboys. Labels such as “PC Master Race” and “Console Fanboys” are unacceptable. Why? It’s inappropriate. All of us that have gaming systems, whether if its a gaming PC or a console, should not be debating what platform is superior.

This is how the debate looks like.
This is how the debate looks like.

 

We should be discussing our memorable experiences, citing the great things about one system not bashing them, and most importantly be united as one community. A growing gaming community.

I understand that pride tells us that our system is better compared to the other gaming systems. But the fact that we play games and the passion we have on video games is the thing that matters most. Not arguing about who’s superior.

I am a PC gamer and I prefer to play games on PC. But I don’t tell console owners they have a weak system or blaming them for game’s optimization. There is no point of the debate which I find it as waste of time and effort. This is why I am stirring clear away from this pointless topic of gaming system superiority and just play my games.