If you have Netflix account you don't have XBL $50.00 a year to stream movies or shows 8) But seriously, they both have their strengths and weaknesses. PC's will always be far more powerful than any console. However, console's are great for just playing games without the hassles that some games put you through. i.e. Grand Theft Auto 4.

I own 19 gaming consoles, if you count PC.

All gaming platforms contributes to gaming culture, each has its unique quirks and areas where it shines.

Of course, if I had to *choose* only 1 platform I'd pick PC in a heartbeat.

I'm mostly a PC gamer (though I don't play games much these days), but I have a Wii and I'm going to buy an Xbox 360 + Kinect soon. The one way I see them as significantly better than a PC is as family entertainment. PC games are mostly for one person sitting at the PC. Consoles have a lot of these games, but they also have a lot more games where you're making a spectacle of yourself while you're gaming, and several people can join that fun. I'd never buy a console for its hardcore titles (although I do own a Zelda and Metroid games on the Wii), but I find the family ones compelling.

By the way, I also find the mobile gaming experience to be superior to the PC in some respects. I want the freedom to take my games with me anywhere, and phones/tablets have a distinct advantage in that over a PC.

For a while there, when we all felt threatened and ostracized by gaming press that were quick to declare our platform dead, I kind of understood the rage and elitism. It was an angry response to stupidity from the other side.

Now-a-days though just shut up about it.

Also known as "party games". Yes, those are much better suited in the living room in a big TV. Sure PC can be connected to the big TV too, but I gather it is much more probable for most people that the PC is in its own corner or room, away from the big TV. Just because most stuff you do on PC is pretty personal, starting from web browsing and reading emails. I'd really not want to do those on the big TV, especially if my gf wants to watch X Factor at the same time.

And that's actually why I personally prefer PC gaming overall to console gaming: with the console I am mostly trying to play it on the same TV that other(s) are using for watching TV shows, which usually means I'd have to restrict my console gaming to wee hours, and play with headphones anyway. I guess modern consoles can be connected to PC monitors, but then that's where we are already with PC gaming. :) But if I lived alone, none of these would matter much obviously.

That said, I'm still looking forward to play some of my PSOne and PS2 backlog away, even if I had to do it on a big TV in wee hours. Many games are worth the extra effort and inconvenience. Goes also to PC gaming of course.

Actually, that's exactly why I prefer PC gaming on laptops to desktop PC gaming. A windows laptop is still a PC, isn't it? :) But I call it "portable gaming", not "mobile gaming", ie. I definitely wouldn't try to fire up any of my laptops on the bus to play a quick round of Rise of Nations Gold or Crysis 2. I wouldn't do that with a laptop until I've moved from point A to point B, ie. not while I am travelling between them.

But then, if I wanted to play something while riding a bus or waiting for my train/plane, I'd much more probably try to play something simple on a smartphone, not a tablet. To me, tablets at this point are still in a bit of gaming limbo (talking about my ASUS Transformer tablet): they can't replace my portable gaming needs because overall their games are much simpler (and less interesting) than PC games, while quick rounds of mobile casual gaming are even better suited for a smartphone, which run mostly the same games as tablets.

But to each his own, your mileage may vary, better two stones in a pocket than one in a tree, etc. etc.

I don't think it's that rare. I do have an HTPC, and it even has one game installed (Marvel Super Hero Squad Online), but PC's just don't have what it takes for "party games". The consoles have games geared for that, and wireless controllers or no need for them at all (with Kinect). As you say single player games hog the TV, which is why I clocked a lot more hours on Mario Kart Wii than the more hardcore titles.

That's changing. A lot of Kickstarter projects offer interesting games for tablets, and it's already possible to play ScummVM games, DOS games, some Infinity Engine games. For shooters I think that tablets still have nothing significant to offer, especially since they're not very convenient for that, but for slower games tablets are a good solution, and also for some types of action games (2D scrollers, racing games).

I still don't have a Nexus 7, mainly because Google isn't selling them here, but I think it's the right combination of size, weight and gaming power that I will find gaming on it convenient. I already have several games I want to play on it (Broken Sword,
Avadon: The Black Fortress, possibly Baldur's Gate). I don't have much time to sit at my PC and play, and I hope the Nexus 7 will allow me to rekindle my gaming career.

Not sure how it works in Finland but you can get a cheap Tv or monitor (used) and often even free since people are replacing their old tvs and monitors with HD TV and HD monitors in my contry.

My only contribution to this thread is this:

At the end of the day, I'm a gamer. If there's a game on my console I can't play on my PC due to lack of horsepower, (I'm a po'boy) and/or exclusivity, guess what? I'm going to purchase it for my console. If there's games that are only available on my PC, then I'm going to purchase them FOR MY PC.

I'm a GAMER. Idgaf about which is superior, I like GAMES. Whether they be via my smartphone, 360, PC, or a tablet, I'm going to play GAMES. So whichever platform allows me to acquire my GAMES at the best price point and convenience, is the one I'm going to be playing...which is frankly? ALL OF THEM. (Except Wii, Nintendo really dropped the ball on that brick.) trollface.jpg :3

^^THIS, i love it, and this is how i feel quite often... its about easy of play, price and how i can get it.... you just nailed it man!

I think it IS that simple, but people have to slap labels on anything/everything. For me, personally, a gamer is anyone/everyone who like and enjoys playing games. Whether they be card games, video games, tabletop RPGs, board games, etc.

Absolutely there's genres I don't enjoy, just the same as there's genres of books, movies and music that I don't enjoy. Does that mean I hate music? No, across the board. I may not give a crap about Angry Birds, but that doesn't mean I'm not a gamer, that means that I don't enjoy that particular KIND of game. Personally, I love playing FPS, grand strategy, RPGs, 3rd person action games and shooters, but I also enjoy Zuma, Hexen, the occasional game of Risk, or even playing drunken Golden Tee at the bar with some buddies.

I think the problem is labels, not preference. People feel the need to label, quantify and then shit on parts of the culture they don't like, for whatever reason they feel the need to do so. Me, if I don't like something, I ignore its existence. If something occurs to make me rethink that, then I do so, until then, there's no point wasting time, energy, breath, etc in attempting to defend what I do and don't like. If someone asks my opinion on something, I'll be brutally honest about it, but if not, oh well!

I may be a silly gamer, but I honestly think that we, as a culture have become increasingly jaded in response to the things we do and don't like. I know guys that wouldn't know Halo from a hole in the ground, but they love playing things like Golden Tee. I know women that don't know Xbox from a carrying case, but they'll sit and play those table top bar game units like there's no tomorrow. So what do we call them? They're not gamers even though they only specifically enjoy THOSE kinds of games? Do we need to label them as casuals to make ourselves feel better about our love of hardcore games? Nope. I'll crack a joke, pat 'em on the back or even join them because being inclusive means the genre of entertainment will survive. Otherwise, we'll all be Twin Galaxy geeks, desperately trying to extend our 15 minutes of fame over high scores for games that not many people give a shit about anymore.

Those are just my thoughts/justifications for my attitude and I have no problem with you tweaking me for more definitive answers. Maybe it's just because I've mellowed with age.

Look, the PC platform is more experimental, has more potential, and embraces the newest technology. If I considered myself to be 'superior' to console gamers then you'd have a point. But I don't. I'm just saying the platform can do more.

See, I think those labels are useful. That was my point, saying "gamer" tells me nothing about you. Labeling me as one doesn't say anything about me. Getting down to what I actually enjoy is more telling and effective.

Just my opinion though. I mainly mean it as a counter to what people have said to me before, not you. People who have said "well any gamer should have a console" or "any gamer should enjoy Nintendo" or whatever. I don't see myself as an all-encompassing gamer label which isn't really informative. I see myself as a fan of Western RPGs, old-school FPS games and Lucasarts adventure games. That actually defines me and means something.

PC or Console? Easy question. Consoles has GOG and Steam? No. :P

Yeah, I think maybe it's just a perspective difference. I don't actually LIKE being labeled? Because I enjoy a little of everything that the umbrella term "gaming" offers me. Therefore, I truly CAN identify myself as a gamer, because gaming is a hobby that I enjoy, from puzzlers, to adventure games, to grand strategy, to cards, to tabletop boardgames, to stupid golf games for drunken people at a bar to enjoy. If you REALLY break down gaming to its most basic elements, practically everyone IS a gamer, and a lot of the evolving DNA OF gaming has taken us from the rudimentary Ponglikes and Space Wars, to what we enjoy now, a full fledged interactive experience.

Everybody had to start SOMEWHERE. For me, it was an old Vic 20 and coding text adventures, but before that? It was handheld nine volt battery sports games and Axis and Allies at the dinner table. By the time the arcade boom started, there were more and more involved and complex games out there. Did I ever stop being a gamer? Not really.

I can appreciate trying to fit into a niche, but for me, it's as simple as the pleasure I derive from being involved in something I take pleasure from. Am I saying that all games are great and good? Nope. But that's not really what it's about to me.

Happy gaming, bro. Thanks for the opportunity to use my brain cells a little more. :D