PC is the superior choice
Picture by Official GDC via Flickr
I remember when I was younger, consoles were my go-to type of gaming system. Consoles seemed superior in every way to PCs. There did not seem to be a single reason to use a PC for gaming rather than a console. Of course, this was all until I owned my first PC. My ideologies about gaming systems changed completely and I was able to see why PCs are superior. PCs provide the best gaming experience because they have the widest variety of games, the highest performance capabilities, and the most versatility. There are many gaming systems on the market such as the PS4 and Xbox One, the two most popular consoles. PCs offer a better gaming experience than both of these consoles.
PC is a viable gaming system for any gamer because it has the largest game variety. There are a total of 866 PS4 games and 494 Xbox One games. These numbers may seem large, but are certainly not so in comparison to a PC. There are a total of 781 million registered games on PC. A PC has roughly 550,500 times as many games as both the Xbox One and PS4 combined. More games lead to a larger audience; PCs can serve a much larger gaming audience.
The performance capabilities of a PC are higher than those of a console; it is the smoothest platform to game on. The Playstation 4, the most selling next generation console, takes twenty seconds to boot to the main menu, and the Xbox One, the second most selling next generation console, takes sixty-five seconds to boot to the main menu. A PC on the other hand, takes under ten seconds to boot to the main menu. The majority of games on Xbox One can not even be run at sixty frames per second by this console. Sixty frames per second is the desired amount of fps (frames per second) by the human eye. Any game that runs slower than this appears choppy and unsmooth. Meanwhile, a PC can run any game at 60fps which makes it the smoothest gaming platform.
PC offers a wider variety of capabilities than the two most popular consoles on the market. On both PS4 and Xbox One, users can browse the internet, play games, and talk to friends. However, PCs all these capabilities and more.The two most popular next-generation consoles do not offer their users the capability to program software, create art, and modify games, but a PC does. There are many software development tools available on PC such as Microsoft Visual Studio. An example of software that was programmed on a PC is Notepad++.
The opposition makes the argument that PCs cost more than consoles. An Xbox One costs 399 dollars, and a PS4 costs 349 dollars.The price range for a PC is 600 to 900 dollars. To compensate for being more expensive, PCs last longer and have cheaper games than consoles. New versions of old consoles are released every three to five years. Upgrading is a necessity for those who want to play new games. PCs last approximately seven years and never forces a user to upgrade.PC games are also cheaper than console games; twenty dollars is the usual price of a PC game while sixty dollars is the norm for console games. This saves the user money over time. PCs are more expensive than consoles but still a better value.
Consoles can seem like the superior type of gaming system because of how popular they are. When this topic is delved deeper into, it becomes quite undeniable that PCs are better. PCs have a larger variety of games, higher performance capabilities, and are more versatile. Markus Persson, the creator of Minecraft, said ”PC gaming has always been strong, and I see it surviving for quite a few more years. It will be around for at least as long as people use PCs.” PCs are not going away any time soon.
Interesting piece. The age old console wars and the overlapping battle with the die hard PC users has always been an interesting topic in my mind. I have been playing on consoles my whole life, from Nintendo 64 to Xbox One, so I can relate to your topic. The presentation of your argument is well done, as you have provided sufficient evidence as to why you believe that PC gaming reigns supreme. Logos is used effectively throughout the piece as you dip into the amount of games available and the performance capabilities of each platform, this is almost mandatory in your situation, seeing as how you are trying to explain why one platform is superior than the others. Although, you could’ve explored the benefits of console gaming more, you adequately supported your stance and made a decent argument.
LikeLike
This is a very well thought out piece of writing. Personally, I have never strayed any farther than the standard Wii, but this article interested me quite a bit. There was an immense use of Logos to back up your claims. Anyone in their right mind would have to reconsider their own gaming system choices after they read the numbers in this piece. You do a sensational job at explaining the reason that PCs are the superior gaming system out there using facts such as the difference in Frames Per Second between multiple systems. Also, you do a nice job exploring why someone may not purchase the more expensive PC, but used facts to make a great rebuttal to the opposing claim. One thing that could have made your argument even better is if you had went into more detail on the actual gaming experience of the PC system and how it compared to others.
LikeLike
This is a very intriguing piece of writing. You use Logos very effectively throughout this piece to explore the reason that you think that PC is the superior gaming system. For every claim that you make, you back it up with numbers that would make anyone have second thoughts about not having a PC. One thing that would make this piece even better is if you explained the actual gaming experience of the PC compared to other systems.
LikeLike
Thank you for the lengthy response, I appreciate all of your feedback
LikeLike
You did a great job comparing and contrasting PCs and gaming systems. When I was younger, my go to gaming system was Dreamcast. Now, I rarely am playing on a gaming system. I agree with the quote, too. I agree with J. Chmiel on one part. I think you should have talked more about the gaming experience, too.
LikeLike
kk
LikeLike
thanks for the comment, it’s cool
LikeLike
The piece was written very well. I enjoyed the counterclaim the most, where you acknowledged that the consoles do in fact cost less, but provided facts to compensate for the price rather than saying that claim was wrong. It was also clear that you were very informed about the topic at hand, and channeled logos very well.
LikeLike
Thank you for the comment
LikeLike
k
LikeLike
I’m not a big gamer, but I found your argument very interesting and unique. Usually I hear opinions about consoles being better than the PC, but your perspective of the PC was very informational. For instance you provided a wide variety of logos that both educated me and probably a lot of other readers.
The only parts of the essay I felt you could maybe work on are the connections between paragraphs and elaborating more on ethos. I felt as if the coherence wasn’t as strong because the paragraphs do connect, but the topics sentences do not connect. You go from audience to performance without connecting the two paragraphs that much.
Overall the essay was very interesting; especially the ending 🙂
LikeLike
I very much enjoyed the article you wrote, as I for one, am infact, what you would call a “hardcore” PC gammer. I very much enjoyed the use of statistics of console prices, and library content, although I did find a few flaws in your argument. A pc, doesnt simply cost 600-900 dollars, a PC is an investment you put as much, or little into as you want. I as an example put over 2000 dollars into mine, but I am what many would consider a rare case. I also disagree with the PCs never force you to upgrade, because every time a new generation of games come out, it becomes harder, and harder to run, forcing you to upgrade every three to four years to have a top notch experience, while consoles will play the games developers make for up to twice that time length, The last gen. consoles, only just relatively recently had game support cut for them, but they lasted almost 10 years. But A PC while would still work, will degrade in quality. In the end I very much Enjoyed your article, I did disagree on some aspects. I did enjoy having a like minded person write an interesting article none the less!
LikeLike
Thank you for the well-written, lengthy response. I highly appreciate all of your feedback.
LikeLike
The writing is very convincing. You were very confident and always stayed on focus. I completely enjoyed your style and your lack of “fluff”. The only criticism I have to address some of the complaints against PC in greater depth. Such as the high price point, the lack of quality control, the lack of exclusives, the constant need to update hardware, etc. Great job pointing out the weaknesses of consoles, just improve your defense of PC gaming.
LikeLike
Thank you for the response, I appreciate it.
LikeLike
Whilst I think the statistics are a very good way of convincing people due to how drastic they are I am a little concerned of what a “registered” game means. Does it mean solely games on Steam and Origin? (Which is highly unlikely) Or does it also include virtually every flash game on the web from places like Newgrounds. Essentially providing other counter-arguments could have helped a lot, like the ideas of console exclusives or the lack of prominent quality control on platforms like Steam. Another criticism is that when the PC for seven years argument comes up it seems to contradict the 60fps, as a pc from seven years ago is not going to run Crysis 3 at 60fps. Overall your argument is solid, just feeble in terms of counter arguments.
LikeLike
Thank you for the response, I appreciate it.
LikeLike