Do consoles have a place in a world with PC gaming?

Every gamer knows the old meme of the PC gaming master race. For years, PC Gaming’s most vocal defenders have shouted to all who would listen about the seemingly endless benefits of gaming’s most powerful platform. Those gamers that still squabbled over their preference of Playstation or Xbox were regarded as lowly console peasants. This argument is one of the many controversial issues debated among the gaming community, spawning many debates of its own surrounding framerates, resolutions and the relevance of plug and play convenience.

My personal view is that yes, playing on the PC is the most premier experience available to gamers today. If you want the very, very best way to play a videogame, chances are that outside of console exclusives, you will want to play it on the PC. This issue sums up to basic logic; simply put, playing on a PC lets you play at the highest resolutions and framerates with the highest graphics settings possible, if your computer can handle it.

However, that last qualifier is the sticker in this debate; for many gamers the sheer level of cost and research needed to play the latest games at such a great level is a prohibitive point. Many PC builds can range into the thousands of pounds and there are many pitfalls with compatibilities that can brick such machines. Imagine buying a thousand-pound machine only to inadvertently make one fatal mistake, and break the machine rendering all that cash a waste. It’s intimidating, to say the least.

The value proposition is handily debated about between PC and console gamers; the former insist that affordable builds can match, if not exceed the performance of the latest consoles at a lower price, while many console gamers have found that the small outlay for their black boxes offers the best possible value. It seems quite obvious at first; £250 for a PS4 today vs £1200 for a good, future-proof PC. From the level of investment, it looks like consoles come out winning.

However, PC gamers are quick to counter here; a PS4 costs £250, which gives you a machine that can do nothing but game (and some multimedia features). On the other hand, a PC gives you access to basically everything; fully-featured internet browsers, productivity software and an indispensable level of general functionality combine with best-in-class gaming performance for those with big enough wallets.

In addition, there are the infamous Steam sales, many of which represent huge savings that can more than decimate the cost of a game. Then there are other avenues; from the resurgent indie scene that offers a glut of excellent experimental games at tiny price points, to the widespread and much-championed modding community. PC gaming offers something for just about everyone.

In my opinion, on the value level there is a purpose for consoles. Quite simply, consoles remain the most accessible way to get into gaming at a moderate-to-hardcore level. To play the latest, most important games, the average person can just pick up a black box for £250, plug it in, download a patch or two and they’re away.

With a PC there are many differing and intimidating levels of access. To get into PC gaming there is a lot of research required from graphics cards to processor clocks. It’s hard to gauge the right amount of investment required to give you the best experience. But again, for the customisability and range the PC remains triumphant; if a gamer is so aligned, they can still play even on a low-budget machine with no graphics capability to speak of. There are a massive amount of Indie and Flash games that can cater for these exact needs. What is still up for debate, however, is how much value this actually offers. Sure, playing Flash games is one thing, but they’re a far cry from the latest and greatest AAA experiences out there. There may be many levels at which a player can game on a low-budget PC, but how much of this is worth playing when at around the same cost for a PC with such low-capability one can buy a PS4 and open themselves up to playing the latest Doom, or Resident Evil 7? This may be a controversial point, but who can honestly say they can find a £250 PC that will reasonably run those titles?

As a gamer that has recently bought a gaming PC, simply because I want to experience the very best way to play games for once, I have to say that I am not as devout a follower of the PC Master Race doctrine as many others are. The main conclusion here is that PCs are great value if you want to experience the very best way to play, but there is a place in the market for consoles. Like them or loathe them, the world will not be a better place if the consoles just failed. As I have stated before, more competition is, in general, usually a better thing for both consumers and for companies in the gaming space. As a proud owner of a new, proper gaming PC, I want to make clear that I love gaming in all its forms, and this includes consoles. This whole argument that pitches consoles and PCs against one another is just one way in which the gaming community is breeding toxicity, and I hope that this article has gone some way in showing why that makes little sense. Quite simply, there is a place in the market for the consoles and for the PCs and if the gaming economy is going to continue to grow we need to be more accepting of people’s purchasing choices.