Whether or not to buy a console orbuild a gaming PCcan be a difficult decision, particularly for those who don’t have a lot of money to spend. Thankfully, there are many ways that consoles are better than PCs, which can help make the choice a lot simpler for those who are still struggling to decide.
It’s important to note that there are certain areas in which PCs lead the way, so anyone on the fence should also check out the related article above once they’re done reading this one.Both platforms can be excellent investments, but depending on your exact use case, a console could end up being the best option.
1Value for Money
Consoles Offer a Better Price-to-Performance Ratio
Although the gap has certainly grown a lot narrower in recent years, in most instances, consoles still offer much better value for money when it comes to price to performance. A $450 gaming PC built using brand-new parts is going to struggle to compete witha PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X, particularly if part of the player’s budget has been spent on a decent mouse and keyboard.
It’s also worth noting that in most cases,console owners can still purchase physical copies of their games. This not only allows them to pick up used games if they’re not too bothered about playing new releases right away, but also means that they can sell their games once they’re done playing them to recoup a fairly significant proportion of their initial investment.
2Optimization
Consoles Make Optimization Easier
One of the biggest selling points of a gaming PC is the user’s ability to upgrade it as time goes by, but this could also be seen as a bit of an Achilles' heel. Because of this upgradability there are thousands ofpotential hardware combinations when building a gaming rig, making it impossible for developers to properly optimize their games for every possible build.
When it comes to consoles, however, developers know exactly what hardware their games will be running on and so can dial everything in to get the best possible results. Granted, high-end rigs can still outperform consoles even with the latter’s improved optimization, but when it comes tocomparably-priced systems, consoles will usually come out on top.
3Longevity
Consoles Last Longer without the Need for Upgrades
Being able to upgrade a PC as time goes by is definitely a selling point, but there comes a point when the Ship of Theseus paradox comes into play. It’s also worth noting that a console doesn’t need to be upgraded to be able to play some of the most popular modern titles, as evidenced bylast-generation systems like the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.
Recent releases likeCall of Duty: Black Ops 6andEA Sports FC 25are still available on these last-gen platforms, despite the two consoles having released all the way back in 2013. According to the games’minimum system requirements, both require graphics cards and processors that were released in 2015 or later (and, in some cases, fairly high-end ones at that), so those still running PCs built back in 2013 are out of luck.
4Simplicity
Consoles are the Very Definition of Plug and Play
While on the subject ofminimum and recommended system requirements, this isn’t something that console players ever have to worry about. If a game is released on their console then it’s more or less guaranteed that it’s going to run, which isn’t always the case when it comes to gaming on a PC. There’s also no assembly required with a console, which will likely be appealing to the less tech-savvy gamers out there.
Console players don’t have to worry about outdated drivers or viruses either, both of which can be problematic on PC. If anything happens to their console while it’s still under warranty, getting it repaired or replaced should be relatively simple, unlike with a PC, where they’d first need to figure out which part(s) have failed. For some, this kind of troubleshooting might not be an issue, butfor less experienced system builders, diagnosing a fault can sometimes be quite challenging.
5Exclusives
Consoles Offer a Wide Range of Exclusives
Although most big PlayStation exclusives tend to get ported over to PC eventually, there still tends to be a fairly long wait for this to happen. It’s also worth remembering that several of theformer PlayStation exclusives that have been ported to PChave launched with some rather serious technical issues, as was the case withThe Last of Us Part Iback in early 2023.
Then there’s Nintendo, which to this day has expressed no public desire to bringfranchises likePokemonandMarioover to PC. Sure, there are ways that players can accomplish this for themselves through emulation, but when it comes to legally playing first-party exclusives, PC players are still missing out on quite a few top-tier games. It’s not just first-party titles either, with companies like Rockstar and Square Enix often releasing their games on console long before they make it to PC.
Consoles offer excellent value for money when it comes to cost to performance, but they can also offer peace of mind. If bought near the start of a console generation,gamers can expect to get at least a decade of service out of their consoleswithout having to spend another dime on hardware, which isn’t really the case witha comparably priced gaming PC. It’s worth noting that a high-end PC will pretty much always outperform a console, yet those chasing the best possible performance will need to spend big to achieve it. A top-of-the-range graphics card is more than triple the price of a PlayStation 5 and will be replaced by a newer model within just a year or so of its release. Sure, thanks to all of the guides and tutorials available online these days, building a gaming PC is nowhere near as complicated as it once was, yetthe plug-and-play simplicity offered by a gaming console just cannot be beaten.
