My first blog on N4G will be my way of breaking down this on going argument between console gamers, otherwise referred to as peasants, and the PC gamers, the self proclaimed master race. Its worth noting however, that both of these terms are created by PC gamers themselves, if only by the minority, as PC has such a great community in all genres I wouldn't dare tarnish just how great it is. Also, I won't be going too in depth into tech talk or trying to break down things to a definitive outcome, so please don't go all serious, this is an opinion piece. One in which changes myself as I write it, and afterwards as i think of other things, haha!
If it all comes down to statistics and raw power, then PC's win…. By a large percentage. What can be achieved not only by its visual prowess and resolution capabilities is beyond what any console can do, PC can continue to be upgraded and games themselves can then be modified to look simply epic, think skyrim or GTA 4 or even crysis. But all this comes at a cost, to truly be cutting edge you are going to be spending well over $1500 as your initial cost, and they can cost over double this still. You can argue that you pay for what you get, you can earn a living off a PC, you can use adobe Photoshop or literally do anything you can think of even before you mention gaming. To compare an actual monster PC to a consumer friendly games console is quite simply stupid. You would laugh at an 18 year old in his/her Toyota yaris as they pulled up next to the latest Bugatti veyron… OK, the ps4 or Xbox one is more like a Nissan skyline GTR as they are still impressive, IMO. But the ps4 and Xbox one are essentially mid range PC's when lined IP next to these monster rigs, they are not high end specs… games being compared are just not truly pushing PC's that are this level of spec. At least not ones that are being made with consoles in mind. And this is nothing for console gamers to feel ashamed about, when we see games like Tlou on ps3 look so stunning, or indies like journey being artistically amazing, console gamers have never been let down visually, ever! And the gap between console and PC has been massively reduced since the new gen has come, for now if you go by face value and ignore elitist issues like fps, screen tearing or whatever as we are all aware PC is beyond consoles, and that the average gamer can look past these issues, unless its crysis 3 on ps3…. Then its just a no! Begone foul demon!!
Raw power is one thing, when you mention Tlou you have to mention naughty dog. They squeezed amazing results from hardware that if inside a laptop, you would likely use it for watching movies or general media usage, ignoring cell of course. But the point is, lazy devs rely on power to do the hard work, while technically, devs like naughty dog, quantic dream, remedy, guerilla studios and cd project red "the witcher 2 looked great, especially considering how great it looked on pc too" to name a few all made stunning games. Elitists will moan about screen tearing or resolution…. But you cannot deny consoles are still impressive today.
So consoles, they are the go to medium for gamers. You will pay far less outright to own one and will be safely in the knowledge your gaming device won't require any upgrades aside from the HDD. You will get games like uncharted and other great exclusives, while getting multi plats in advance to PCs quite often. Although games often cost more on condole, combined with gold/plus subscriptions, chances are your annual spend will be higher than PC gamers, but the initial cost and upgrades may still weigh down PCs too much. $300 console, 10 $60 games in 12 months PS plus, general sales could push the average 12 month costs for console players to over $1000, which is really a rough guess but for the sake of argument, that's obviously less than PC. And again, the difference are not earth shattering if you look at the specs, it should be more. Consoles need to hit 60fps and 1080p… that will be sufficient, 4k on consoles? Doubt it! But with a great lineup of future exclusives for both Xbox and PlayStation, I'd feel very happy owning both, without a single worry that of might look better, consoles still produce stunning visuals. Consoles are just so easy, pick up and play… great visuals, solid games and this gen is really maturing the console to the point all condole gamers are playing next gen games for less than most monster rig graphic cards do alone….
So are PC gamers master race due to specs and the height of what is technically possible? Or are console gamers due to having full dev support and great visuals for less money? I'd have to say for me, console gaming just edges it. I will look at the PC footage and go wow… but I do just that on my ps4 all the same.
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
At least to me, console gaming in terms of power is a little better in that although they don't have the power of a souped-up PC, neither do most PC gamers; and so the PC devs mostly design for the average PC specs, which is currently inferior to the PS4, and perhaps the Xbox One this gen. In terms of control, I to love the PC as the kb/m is vastly superior to controllers. I hate controllers compared to kb/m.
Congratulations on your first blog post. If I may, I have some issues with some of your statements. First 1500$ pc's are indeed a excellent starting point if your going for 2k or 4k resolutions. For 1080 750-800$ are more than sufficient. Speaking of cost I see that you omitted to talk about game price on consoles Vs pc. Second, by today's hardware standards current consoles are below average. You are correct in regards to optimization, it's much easier and more profitable for developers to prioritise the console market. Third, never bring up exclusives in an argument like this, friendly advice. Apropos, no mention of backwards compatibility should add that just to retain some credibility. I'm happy your enjoying your PS4 and x1 you should they're great consoles, and again congrats on your first post but try to shy away from this kind of topics until you do a little more research. As for the
whole Master Race thing, it's satire and should be treated as such.
I have a pretty decently powerful PC myself (i5 3570k, 2x 660ti SLI, 16 GBs of ram) but most of the games I play do not need a lot of power. Torchlight 2, Path of Exile, Nidhoog, Civ 5, Divinity OS and Shadowrun Dragonfall are not exactly graphical, Crysis-like powerhouses.
But here's what PC offers me in terms of gaming BEYOND what a console can. The game I bough 7 years ago will still work on my PC 7 years from now. If I ever want to visit some of my favorite old games (Super Metroid and Persona 3 are good examples that I go through multiple times every year) I can do that on the same, single platform. If a part on my PC breaks down, I don't have to wait for a coffin to arrive so that I can send it back to be fixed and then wait some more until I get it back. If my PSU stops working (and if I'm out of my 7 year warranty), I can just get a new one and I don't have to scrap a whole system.
There was a time when PC games might have been a bit of a pain to get running, but that is mostly not the case anymore. Also the whole plug and play nature of the consoles has gotten pretty hazy with the recent ones. Still all those years that I was tinkering around trying to get Starcraft or C&C Generals to run, or switching parts of faulty hardware, helped me develop real-world skills. Now I'm working in IT with decent pay, (hopefully to get a LOT better soon) and while I absolutely adored my consoles, that might have never happened if I hadn't gotten involved with PC gaming.
So most people should try to get it out of their head that PC gaming is all about graphics because that is NOT true at all. PC gaming is 1st and foremost about choice. If you're a super competitive gamer interested in running games at 144 Hz for the responsiveness, or a mostly single player hardcore gamer (like myself) who is very much interested in high framerate and resolution but 60fps and 1080p is perfectly enough, or someone who is into fascinating indepentdent games and unique experience, PC has you covered.
Its nice to see some feedback from those who are obviously setup nicely on their PC's. I never thought of how games bought now, on PC, will work literally forever on your system, unlike consoles where we largely have to start anew each gen.
One thing I do love on my PC, was civ 5!! Such a great game, and also mmorog's are at home on PC. Although, a realm reborn on ps4 gives me hope for more games like this on consoles.
There are some major areas that you have left out. Like game library and game prices. Which would be fine if you knew what you were talking about when it came to specs. But I don't think you do.
Also be careful about calling developers lazy. Not every dev team can have the money, time and focus on a single piece of hardware in order to bring graphics that look like Last of Us on weak hardware.