Are consoles a rip off?

[Nella_Bolt]

I guess it comes down to exclusives and the personal enjoyment of the system itself. I have a Switch and Steam, and have found while playing PS4 that all 3 of these platforms hold most of the same games, especially in the indie games, which seem to be what I play the most. The Switch is perfect for portability and when I'm home I have my PC. My girlfriend has a PS4 because she didn't own a computer for a while and I don't mind having that around if say, my PC or her laptop took a crap on us.

I'd say I don't really prefer consoles because of the lack of other things I do on my PC. Video editing, forum surfing, and other such things. Youtube is also a big issue because on console it's horrendous. The Switch made it easier by having a touch screen so it's just like using Youtube on my phone, which isn't terrible at all. I still don't like the UI, but at least traversing it is easier on the Switch. Though I can just use my phone if I'm out or my if I'm at home.

In all, I personally don't see anybody's need for XBox anymore. It has, in my eyes, become irrelevant behind PS4 and The Switch, so if you're gonna go for consoles over a PC, the PS4 and Switch are fine. I don't think Nintendo is a rip off as they have ALWAYS done their own consoles and nobody's been that upset. Nintendo also makes sure to release systems and games that actually work when they come out of the box. Playstation is a little greedy as well when it comes to exclusives (I'm looking at you, Bloodborne and Horizon Zero Dawn), but I don't think they do a bad job of bringing those games to their platform in a well done way, and the Playstation controller has also been my friend since I was a small child.

Which also brings me into the subject of kids. Just get them a console until they're older. The transition is pretty easy. Get them a Gameboy/3DS/Switch, then a home console. Lately my Switch has become warped after a few months from being in the dock time after time so I don't recommend it as a "home console".

[vippy]

My only reason for staying away from consoles is the monthly fee required for being on their network. Imagine paying for a multiplayer game and then having to essentially pay for it again every month to actually be able to play it. If this ain't a ripoff I don't know what is.

[N7Mith]

I just don't like PCs. It takes way too much time and money to build them and get them to work properly, and even then they can fuck you over at any time. I'll take the plug and play convenience of consoles any day of the week.

[Aidy]

"All of its dedicated hardware"? If you're not a tech enthusiast that likes to tinker, you buy your PC in one piece and that's about it, just like with a console. Especially with laptops.
"Required space"? I assume you mean physical space, like in a shelf? I'm pretty damn sure my laptop is smaller than any current gen console. My desktop PC isn't, but it is easier accessible if I need to change something. Still, it's not like it is 4x as large as a console, so I don't really see the argument here. You'd have to live in a tin can for that to make a difference.
"Management of specs\requirements"? My PC runs everything, I do not need to check it. Just like with a console. It even runs many console games...
"Occasional hardware updates"? Yeah, that is true. However, that happens about as often as you'd buy a new console, every few years, so... again, not that convincing an argument.

But please do "and so on", it is quite funny to refute your failed attempts at argumentation.


I really do not understand where you manage to come up with sentences like that. Nothing I said redefined convenient in any way. I just proved that convenience is a highly subjective thing. That's not too hard to understand, I'd wager.


You are a miracle in reading comprehension. And not in a positive way.
I wrote very clearly (in the sentence you conviently forgot to include in your quote, nice work, you should consider becoming a "journalist") that there is an increased amount of work in the initial setup to get to the same convenience. But that is only the setup. You do that once.
Quite probably, you never had a PC to begin with. I had multiple ones over the last 20 years and that big maintenance is a myth, nothing more. As I wrote, you need to "maintain" your PC about as often as you'd buy a new console. My current one I had for three years, and in all that time I bought one new graphics card, that's it.

So, yeah... exlusive titles, a lesser initial setup (seriously, we're talking about half an hour or so here) and a lower price point (for inferior hardware, of course, but valid nonetheless).
I fully understand why someone with a very limited budget would choose a console over a PC. In the long run, you can save way more with a PC, but it does require quite an initial investment (I wouldn't bother spending less than 1k on a new PC) and not everyone can make that investment.
But convenience (other than the initial setup)? Nah, just not true.

Nice wall of text. You're already sufficiently proven that for you a console is no more convenient to play games on than a PC. Good job you. Most people disagree, but what do they know? I mean, anyone who thinks a box you simply buy, plug in to your TV and use it to play games with zero maintenance is more convenient that gaming on a PC is just clearly in the wrong. It's amazing that so many millions of people buy consoles for games, and for what? Nothing! A PC is just as convenient, just as easy, just as maintenance free!

[MetroidJunkie]

As I mentioned before, modern day consoles aren't much more convenient than PC's. You still have to juggle hard-drives, system updates, game updates, and even differing hardwares leading to different experiences. The closest to the quality of a PC you can get on consoles is through homebrew measures, which the companies heavily discourage and will always patch out the second they appear.

[TheSHEEEP]

So there are people for who putting a console under the tv, connecting it and playing games on it with nothing extra needed is less convenient than using a PC to play games, with all of its dedicated hardware, required space, management of specs\requirements, occasional hardware updates required and so on?

"All of its dedicated hardware"? If you're not a tech enthusiast that likes to tinker, you buy your PC in one piece and that's about it, just like with a console. Especially with laptops.
"Required space"? I assume you mean physical space, like in a shelf? I'm pretty damn sure my laptop is smaller than any current gen console. My desktop PC isn't, but it is easier accessible if I need to change something. Still, it's not like it is 4x as large as a console, so I don't really see the argument here. You'd have to live in a tin can for that to make a difference.
"Management of specs\requirements"? My PC runs everything, I do not need to check it. Just like with a console. It even runs many console games...
"Occasional hardware updates"? Yeah, that is true. However, that happens about as often as you'd buy a new console, every few years, so... again, not that convincing an argument.

But please do "and so on", it is quite funny to refute your failed attempts at argumentation.

Now you're redefining what "convenient" means.

I really do not understand where you manage to come up with sentences like that. Nothing I said redefined convenient in any way. I just proved that convenience is a highly subjective thing. That's not too hard to understand, I'd wager.

If you genuinely think PC gaming is no less convenient that simply wiring up a console and playing games, then for you the only reason to buy a console probably would be exclusive games. However for the rest of us normal, sensible folk who aren't just saying things because they don't want to admit they are wrong...consoles are far more convenient and easy for gaming than PC gaming is. Ergo exclusives are not the only reason to get a console, the convenience is also a reason.

Not for you though....I understand that....for you setting and maintaining a gaming PC and all it's associated hardware is more convenient than setting up a console

You are a miracle in reading comprehension. And not in a positive way.
I wrote very clearly (in the sentence you conviently forgot to include in your quote, nice work, you should consider becoming a "journalist") that there is an increased amount of work in the initial setup to get to the same convenience. But that is only the setup. You do that once.
Quite probably, you never had a PC to begin with. I had multiple ones over the last 20 years and that big maintenance is a myth, nothing more. As I wrote, you need to "maintain" your PC about as often as you'd buy a new console. My current one I had for three years, and in all that time I bought one new graphics card, that's it.

So, yeah... exlusive titles, a lesser initial setup (seriously, we're talking about half an hour or so here) and a lower price point (for inferior hardware, of course, but valid nonetheless).
I fully understand why someone with a very limited budget would choose a console over a PC. In the long run, you can save way more with a PC, but it does require quite an initial investment (I wouldn't bother spending less than 1k on a new PC) and not everyone can make that investment.
But convenience (other than the initial setup)? Nah, just not true.

[Baron Baldric]

Current equivalents in performance.

Switch = AMD Athlon 200GE (without considering it is portable)
XBOX O = AMD Athlon 200GE + rx 550
PS4 = AMD Athlon 200GE + rx 560
PS4PRO = AMD Athlon 200GE + rx 480
XBOX X = AMD Athlon 200GE + rx 580

Maybe consoles are't a rip-off, but they are the right place to be ripped off.

[Rockin-Renegade]

My xbox one s cost me 150 bucks with controller and assassins creed origins. My pc cost me 150 bucks. Now my pc can't even open notepad without lag. So my xbox gave me more bang for my bucks there.
plus i can not concentrate about gaming when im on pc.

[Aidy]

Wrong. What may be convenient to you will not be to others.

So there are people for who putting a console under the tv, connecting it and playing games on it with nothing extra needed is less convenient than using a PC to play games, with all of its dedicated hardware, required space, management of specs\requirements, occasional hardware updates required and so on?

For me, it would be way less convenient to slouch on a sofa, looking at only one screen (which I guess would be your definition of "console gaming"?) than it is to sit focused on an ergonomic chair in front of my monitors, one of which may run a game while the others allow me to also browse, mail, or whatever else I feel like doing (including nothing else at all).

Now you're redefining what "convenient" means.

My point is that PC gaming can be just as easy and convenient as console gaming.

Only if you redefine "PC gaming" and "convenient"

If you genuinely think PC gaming is no less convenient that simply wiring up a console and playing games, then for you the only reason to buy a console probably would be exclusive games. However for the rest of us normal, sensible folk who aren't just saying things because they don't want to admit they are wrong...consoles are far more convenient and easy for gaming than PC gaming is. Ergo exclusives are not the only reason to get a console, the convenience is also a reason.

Not for you though....I understand that....for you setting and maintaining a gaming PC and all it's associated hardware is more convenient than setting up a console

[TheSHEEEP]

I gave (some) reasons why a console is more convenient to use for gaming than a PC, reasons I'm sure everyone not just looking for an argument would agree with.

Wrong. What may be convenient to you will not be to others.
For me, it would be way less convenient to slouch on a sofa, looking at only one screen (which I guess would be your definition of "console gaming"?) than it is to sit focused on an ergonomic chair in front of my monitors, one of which may run a game while the others allow me to also browse, mail, or whatever else I feel like doing (including nothing else at all).

Your rebuttal to that was that a PC could be configured to behave in a similar way, and while I don't dispute that, that's not what people refer to when they talk about PC gaming. Most people understand PC gaming to mean playing on a dedicated device with a range of dedicated peripherals; so a dedicated box, monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers and those things usually require a dedicated area as well.

So you magically know what "people" refer to or understand as. Sorry, Dr. Xavier, didn't recognize you there for a moment.
What you said there is certainly PC gaming, but so would be carrying a giant battery as well as your rig on your back and strap the monitor to your forehead with duct tape.
You won't find an official dictionary entry of what "PC gaming" is, so in the absence of that, the only logical conclusion is that it means "playing on a PC" - and nothing more than that, as that is literally the only thing that can be inferred from the words.
Just as console gaming means nothing except "playing on a console".

A PC can be configured to behave in just the same way as a console, yes. I'm glad you agree with that. If I wanted to have that sofa slouching experience, I could have it without a console, no problem at all. Maybe half an hour of work to change the setup. And if I did that, what would that be then for you? Console gaming or PC gaming? I'm really curious, because your "definition" seems to ignore the actual device and just includes the environment it exists in and the way it is used.

Are you claiming that PC gaming is as easy and convenient as console gaming, or not? That's what I got from your post anyway, if that's wrong then feel free to correct me and explain what you actually meant.

My point is that PC gaming can be just as easy and convenient as console gaming.
It only requires more work to set it up like that. If that initial work is already too much for someone, then they'll need to get a console. But don't go around claiming a PC must always be inherently more complicated just because it is more flexible, as that's just not true.

I'm fine with people saying "I prefer a console because it doesn't require any amount of work at all to get going, not even an initial setup besides internet settings". But to claim that you couldn't have the same comfort in everyday use with a PC is nonsense.

[Aidy]

Not really.

I gave (some) reasons why a console is more convenient to use for gaming than a PC, reasons I'm sure everyone not just looking for an argument would agree with. Your rebuttal to that was that a PC could be configured to behave in a similar way, and while I don't dispute that, that's not what people refer to when they talk about PC gaming. Most people understand PC gaming to mean playing on a dedicated device with a range of dedicated peripherals; so a dedicated box, monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers and those things usually require a dedicated area as well. Whereas you just toss a console under your telly and that's it. Turn it on and go...no separate monitor, keyboard or mouse is needed. I don't think these concepts are particularly outlandish or unusual to people, and any attempt by yourself to imply that PCs can be as convenient as a console for gaming would require a redefining of what PC gaming is.

Are you claiming that PC gaming is as easy and convenient as console gaming, or not? That's what I got from your post anyway, if that's wrong then feel free to correct me and explain what you actually meant.

[TheSHEEEP]

I just did. Well, I'm ever the optimist!

[Eriixas]

Look at his other posts on this topic. He's not even trying to bring good arguments.

[TheSHEEEP]

Like I've already said, I could p*ss in my washing machine, but I don't. If you have to redefine "PC gaming" such that it matches how no-one uses PCs to play games, then your argument has failed.

Not really.
I am stating facts, not trying to define "PC gaming" (why would I, it is rather clearly defined as playing on a PC...).

While you are bringing strawmen to burn instead of arguments.
I mean, who doesn't like a nice fire, but how about at least trying to strengthen any of your points, if you do have any more than what you wrote initially.

[Aidy]

Then please provide me with those reasons, because...


... all of the things you wrote can as well be done with a PC.
They are just not the default.

Like I've already said, I could p*ss in my washing machine, but I don't. If you have to redefine "PC gaming" such that it matches how no-one uses PCs to play games, then your argument has failed.