The dude who started this thread....there was a pretty long thread about pc versus ps3 in the comp gaming section and like this is what i think when i compare pc with the different available consoles....also this type of thread does not make any sense because u cant compare the pc as a whole to all the consoles together....like a ps3 or a xbox 360 against a pc will have different issues whereas when u compare the wii with a pc theres a different issue... so i am trying to say is that ur query should have been more specific to a console..
1. Price factor :
For a moment lets forget about piracy and assume we are in the present tense we are not talking about the past ...
So basically lets start looking at the main contenders for the pc .....they would be the ps3 and the xbox 360 ..
Now a ps3 would cost you 20k ... so would an xbox 360 ...
an xbox 360 would cost 20k because ull get a wireless adapter....a hard disk so you can add 5-6k for that ****
now a new pc which would be able to play games what the ps3 and xbox can do would be about 45k assuming we use the same display thats a full HD 40 inch LCD Tv for 45k
the price for the ps3 and xbox 360 works out to : 65k
the pc works out to 90k
so that way ur initial setup cost for a pc goes up ....but we need to keep in mind that you cant run a windows or a similar OS on a console like a ps3 or xbox 360 so now the dude who got a console invests another 20k for a pc for doing his work.... that way theres only a diff of 5k ....so that way ur doomed..
also assuming that you buy say one game a month for a console ... presently would cost you 2.5k and a little more for the exclusive titles.... the same titles for the pc cost half that amount... or one fourth...
so like when u own a pc you save nearly 1k+ a month depending on the game against the guy with a console ....
but you need to upgrade your pc every 10months since the hardware requirements increase.... so say you save 12k in 10 months and sell of ur old gpu and get a new card for 14k so u are future proof for another 10 months... but after 2 years you would need to give a complete overhaul ... so like you would be again spending a 15-20k on upgrades of ram and processor etc... so that way you'll be at par with that dude whos got a console...actually he'll be spending less than you and saving about 5-10k....
so in the long run yeah a console works out a little cheaper
2. Eye-candy and gfx
This is one area where a pc wins hands down.... a 50k pc could beat a ps3 or an xbox 360 in this area very easily... given the pc is configured with the correct parts.... a pc for that much amount has a lot more processing power than a console for the current time and they'll only get bigger meaner and better..
a ps3 can do max raw power output of 2.5TFLOPS...and the xbox 360 about 1.5TFLOPS....at standard clock rate.... and the ps3 can push max to about 6TFLOPS...thats when u overclock it from default 3.2ghz to 6ghz
same thing goes for the xbox i think
so theres no question that the ps3 or xbox 360 have better visuals than a pc ....its just not possible..
3. Pirated games and modded consoles
This is the most interesting part of the discussion ....
pirated games for the pc are avilable for like 50 bucks a disc... and the pirated games for the xbox 360 are avialable for like 100 - 150 bucks a game...moreover you can download them on the pc no need to buy them also ...but the ps3 is not crackable.... so like you have to shell out 2.5k for a game or atleast 1.5k so i really cry when i have to shell that much out for a game...
this part really gives pc the lead....it depends on you...if you are a game collector or no .... like i am so i often get the limited edition pieces of copy of a game every month from the USA... and i prefer to buy original games i have like 10 titles on the pc thats pretty less.. but i play only one thats cs 1.6....the rest of the titles i have on the ps3...
and yea the next part is modding the consoles..
console modding to run pirated games is a art in itself.... all the tech biggies spend millions of dollars developing encryptions algorithms hadrware locks etc etc to protect the digital media... but eventually except the ps3.... every device has been broken into and re-engineered...so the point i am making is that console mods are good ... in a way since they give u the freedom to do what you want to do with ur console and not what the biggies want you to do ...
additionaly to play pirated games you need a modded console....which is expensive depending on the console like modding a xbox 360 costs like 2-5k and then u cant play on xbox live ....whats the point then ? for a psp the thing costs free-500 bucks... i remember for the psp 3k when i bought mine i kept up with the chichHEN thing and i was able to mod my psp 3k to run M-33 firmware and i was in bangalore that time and 1 day after the exploit was released i went to the market to buy a 8gb mark 2 mem stick ... so the shop keeper saw M-33 on my psp 3k and asked me if i could show him how to do it .... he would give me the stick for free... and then i bargained a little and i got a original UMD + a 8gb mem stick that like 3.5k worth stuff for free..
so like i basically dont support piracy but at the same time i feel that the users should be allowed to do what they want with their console.... you get that type of freedom with a pc ... so a pc clearly wins in this area also...
5.Online gameplay
this is where the pc sucks and the consoles rock ! ! ! ! !@@@@@
okay this is from my experience of playing online since past 7 years i know how much the pc sucks and specially when u live in india ...
the network gaming architecture of the pc is really bad .... specially when u live in india and the minimum latency to non-indian servers is above 100ms ....its like really irritating u shoot at the guy you can see the bullets hitting him but he doesnt die ...and you go WTF @@#@@$$@#%$%$#^%^%$^%^%&^
and believe me i stopped playing online on the pc just because of this ... i was like OMFG>... this is so shitty and i waited like 3 years for the game server hosting to come but even now.... apart from cs and quake and some other few games there are hardly any servers in india then i was going to purchase a console and i decided to get a ps3 because i heard that the online gaming experience is like nirvana ....total bliss
and like really i was just shocked when i put up my ps3 online ... i played battlefield bad company 2 and i was like just ****ing staring at the screen it was like pure nirvana....i couldnt believe i was playing with guys from america and it was like they were sitting beside me on LAN.... and my latency to that server from my internet is about 250ms ... so i was like w0w ... i really hadnt enjoyed playing online like that since the days on LAN in the gaming cafes in mumbai ...
so like even if the games are expensive after playing online it was like a tooooooooooo-gooooood-gawd experience and i really dont regret my decision ..