The traditional “war” between PCs and Consoles is more equal than ever. Today I will give you the reason that which one is best and why?

Both have many advantages as well as disadvantages, so, choosing one is very subjective and depends both on the preferences of the user and their budget.

In this article, I will offer a comparison of these two types of gaming platforms and help you decide which one is best for you.

PC Gaming vs Console Gaming

Do you like video games but do not know whether to lean on a console or update your PC?

Are you looking to buy for yourself or your family? It is convenient to compare a console without having a PC? These and many more are the doubts that arise when choosing between buying a next-generation console or a notebook gamer or a PC.

MonitorBeasts will point out several key points so you can decide with what you identify and what is best for you.

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7 reasons why it is better to play in a console

The consoles have undergone a spectacular evolution in recent years, to the point that they have lost much of their identity, to be able to adapt to the new times.

Today, modern consoles are closed architecture PCs that have copied their virtues and defects. You used to connect them, put the disk or the cartridge, and play. Now it’s a little more complicated …

They have taken from PCs virtues such as online connection, games on download, installation on the hard disk, the power of their graphics chips, or their software architecture that allows creating games more easily, and porting them more easily to other machines. But they have also cloned some of their defects, such as patches and bugs.

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Very few current console games work well without a patch of the first day, and rare is the game that does not receive several.

The consoles look like PCs more than ever, so it is more difficult to decide which is better when playing. With Xbox One S and PS4 Pro have taken a step forward, so we are going to give you 7 reasons why it is better to play in the console than in PC.

The consoles are cheaper

It is the most recurrent argument, but it does not stop being the most valid. When it comes to saving money, few arguments carry more weight.

A PC for gaming may be more powerful than a console, no console denies that. But it is also quite expensive.

And this reality is even more evident with the launch of the new Xbox One S and PS4 Pro. Two consoles more powerful and with more possibilities than their predecessors, without increasing the price:

Right now you can buy an Xbox One S console with the FIFA 17 gift set for $329approx on Amazon. Possibly, only the graphics card to match its power on PC will cost you that. And you still lack the rest of the team! Xbox One S is not only smaller and consumes less than its predecessor, but it is also slightly more powerful and offers support for 4K HDRs. It also includes a Blu-ray reader 4K UltraHD, to watch movies in this new format.

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Affordable virtual reality (VR)

If you are tempted to enjoy the magic of virtual reality, again the consoles offer you the best quality/price ratio. On PC you need a powerful, GTX 970 card up.

In fact it is almost essential to change to the NVIDIA Series 10 that includes exclusive improvements for virtual reality, the cheapest being the GTX 1060, which costs about $ 250 . To that you have to add the price of the glasses, 699 $ the Oculus Rift (without controls) or 899 $ the HTC Vive.

In consoles, if you have the PS4 you only have to spend $392 to buy the PlayStation VR glasses, and enjoy a quality experience.

You don’t have to configure (almost) anything

Initializing, environmental occlusion, FXAA filter, DSR, shaders, CUDAs … Are we talking about playing video games or learning a new language?

The magic of consoles is that you just have to worry about playing. You put the disc or download the game, and ready. At the most, you will have to install a patch, but everything is done automatically, even in the background while doing other things. It is true that some games let you select some graphics options, but they are minimal and do not interfere with the game experience.

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Every time there are more offers in games

One of the main criticisms of the consoles is that their games are more expensive than PC. It is true with some titles, but not all. Indie or downloadable games usually cost the same.

In addition, one must take into account one of the improvements of the current generation, with respect to what was a tradition in consoles.

Soccer is about consoles

If you like football games, especially if you are a fan of the Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) saga, you have no choice but to opt for a console, if you want to fully enjoy this sport in a virtual version.

There is the PC version of PES 2017, but its graphics quality is much lower than that of PS4 or Xbox One, more typical of the last generation, as you can see in this striking image. Not only the textures of the letters have lower resolution in the boot. There are also fewer shadows, and the grass is completely smooth:

It also shows quite in the brightness and shading of the faces of the players. Konami itself has acknowledged that the PC version is inferior.

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Until last year the same thing happened in the FIFA saga, where the PC version was very basic. Luckily EA has already put the batteries and the computer version of FIFA 2017 seems to be up to it, so it has been seen in the demo.

In spite of everything, if you want to play online games the biggest and most dynamic community, in both games, will be on consoles.

Free games, paid

Only in consoles, you can get free, every month, paid games to play everything you want. It is true that this requires paying a monthly fee for PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold, but since the fee is for playing online, the games that are given each month can be considered free.

Both PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold offer 2 or 3 free and full games per month for each console. That is, if you have a PS4, PS3 and Vita you will get games for all of them, paying a single fee.

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You can keep these games for as long as you keep paying the fee, so they are a kind of permanent rental. Although the consoles force pay to play online, at least you can recover part of the cost-saving money in games.

And we do not talk about mediocre titles or that they have sold little. For Xbox Live Gold have passed classics such as Rayman Legends, Tomb Raider, Assassin’s Creed IV, and many others. PlayStation is already free Journey, Trine 2, Spelunky, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes or NBA 2K19, to add more than 400 free titles on all PlayStation consoles.

All your friends have it

Sometimes, the decision of where to play video games, on PC or console, do not take them according to your tastes, but depends on the machine your friends have, to play online with them. It does not do any good to buy a PC if all your colleagues have PS4, because you will miss the games of FIFA 2019 or the battles of Call of Duty.

There are initiatives so that all the platforms can play online together, and even some game offers it, but at the moment the thing is very green.

If you want to play the most popular games online with as many friends and family as possible, the consoles (and especially PS4) is the safest bet, because it is the one that most people have

The online community is also bigger, or at least it is not as dispersed as in PC, so it is easier to find people to chat about certain games.

Exclusive games … and before

The last important reason why it is better to play in the console than in the PC, the most important one for many people, are the exclusive titles of the consoles.

Great games like Uncharted 4, Halo 5: Guardians, Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros, Splatoon, and many others, can not be played on computers.

And this Christmas the guys are going to put their teeth along with exclusive games for a console-like Final Fantasy XV, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last Guardian, or future successes like Gran Turismo 7, or the future Mario and Zelda of the Nintendo NX :

It is true that exclusive Xbox One games now also come on PC, and that there are also some exclusive titles on this platform, although almost all are a strategy, simulation or online multiplayer type World of Warcraft or Civilization VI. But that does not hide the pile of titles of PlayStation or Nintendo that cannot be enjoyed on computers.

Even in multi-platform titles sometimes the PC version takes a few weeks to come out, as is often the case with Ubisoft games, or even several months, as happened with GTA V.

7 reasons why it is better to play on PC

If this debate had taken place 6 or 7 years ago, it would not have many colors. The PC games were about to disappear, sunk by piracy. But then came Steam, digital downloads, the next generation of affordable and powerful graphics cards, and PC games resurrected.

With more than 160 million users and 5 million players playing at any time of day, Steam is the largest video game platform. And there are dozens of stores that orbit around them, or that dare to compete, such as GoG, Origin, and others.

We must also recognize that it is becoming increasingly complicated to define the sides. The current consoles have copied many of the virtues (and defects) of the PCs, to the point that they are actually PCs with a closed architecture, instead of consoles in the classical style.

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With the cards on the table, we are going to give you 7 reasons why it is better to play on PC than on console. Maybe they help you decide if this Christmas you plan to renew your hardware.

For all those who feel offended to belittle your beloved PS4, Xbox One or Wii-U, we have also prepared an “article-replica” in which we offer 7 reasons why it is better to play in the console than in PC. Read both points of view, and decide on your own.

Better graphics and technology

The main difference between PC and console games is the graphics quality of games.

For a few years, computers have always been a generation ahead.

In PC you will always get more technical quality, whether it is more resolution, better graphics, better anti-aliasing techniques, or better frame rate.

Even Sony recognizes this, declaring that ” the PS4 Pro exists so that people do not go to the PC looking for more graphics quality “, not because of Xbox One Sexists.

The consoles have been around since PS3, making us believe that their games are 1080p when in reality their internal resolution is almost always lower, and sometimes it does not reach 720p … Even on PS4 and Xbox One S, only some titles offer resolution Native 1080p, and when they do most are limited to 30 fps.

In PC you can play at 1080p and 60 fps for years in almost all games, and many players have long been playing 2K and 4K in powerful teams. With special effects and graphics techniques that can not be achieved in the console.

PS4 Pro promises games to 4K, but it is known that most will render internally to 2K, and still remains to see the graphics quality and the framerate. Project Scorpio is still far away, and it’s a mystery.

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You make the decisions

One of the limitations of console games against the PC is that you can just change the graphics settings. This saves a lot of headaches for the developers and the users themselves, who just have to put the game and play.

But in these times when the consoles are closed architecture PCs, leave users with their hands tied. What do you prefer? Greater resolution at the cost of sacrificing frame rate? Less frame rate to put more antialiasing and eliminate the annoying saw teeth? More frame rate at the cost of sacrificing graphics quality?

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In the console, developers choose for you, and if you do not like the chosen option, you can not do anything. In PC you are the one that you choose the resolution, the antialiasing, and the graphics options, and with it, you get the frame rate that you want and you play as you like.

Also in the hardware

The same can be said when it comes to expanding your machine. In the console, the expansion options are almost nil, beyond putting a larger or external hard drive, or a 5.1 sound system. From now on, you can also sell the entire console and buy an Xbox One S or a PS4 Pro.

In PC you have the option to expand what you need, according to your needs or budget. Nothing prevents you from using two cards in SLI if you want. Or improve in installments. One day you expand the memory, later you change the processor, at another time the graphics card … You are always in control.

Multi-screen support, peripherals, and Modding

A few years ago, playing with two or three monitors was a luxury of eccentrics (and rich). But today with the price drop you renew your monitor, a friend gives you the one he no longer uses, and suddenly you find three monitors in your power.

And if not, you can get a decent monitor for just over $100 …

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That is another of the advantages of the PC over the consoles. You can play many games in multiscreen mode, something that consoles do not allow:

Many players use it in genres that demand a lot of panoramic vision such as driving titles, shooters, or space-operas like Elite: Dangerous. The immersion that is achieved is spectacular, although you need space to place two or three monitors and a graphics card that can have the highest number of pixels.

In PC you will also find more varied peripherals, more brands, and cheaper prices, not having to pay licenses or block them for certain machines in question.

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If you like to tinker with technology, modding turns the computer into a sculpture that you can mold at will:

E-Sports and strategy games

Esports has become a social phenomenon. Tournaments and videotape competitions, both amateur and professional, that fill stadiums and obtain good audience figures on televisions that broadcast them live.

Although there are console games that are used in eSports tournaments, from Street Fighter V to Super Smash Bros or Halo 5, the most prestigious and popular events are carried out with PC games, where the precision of the mouse and other specialized peripherals, they are at another level.

Games like League of Legends, Dota 2, Heroes of the Storm, Starcraft II, Counter-Strike, and many others, win the tournaments with more winnings.

The king of strategy

Although there are some strategy titles in consoles, the best and deepest ones are only available in PC. The mouse is the key in these games based on building bases and micromanage troops.

Masterpieces like Starcraft II, Total War: Warhammer, Cities: Skylines, Civilization VI, and many others, you can only play them on PC:

Free Online Game

On the Xbox and PlayStation consoles, if you want to play online you have to pay a fee of around $ 50 per year. Wii-U is free, but with exceptions such as Mario Kart, Splatoon or Super Smash Bros, there are not many online games.

It is true that this fee entitles two free games per month, discounts on PlayStation Store, or storage in the cloud. But those free games are just a permanent rental. When you stop paying the fee, they will disappear. And the cloud storage is free on Steam, Origin and other PC platforms.

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It is also true that taking advantage of promotions you can buy the annual fee for about $35. But if we do accounts, in the entire life cycle of the console, which we can round in about 8 years, you will have paid a minimum of 35 x 8 = $280. A very high price if you do not play much online.

On the contrary, in PC the online game is free for all titles. And that does not mean that the performance is lower. It is even easier to find dedicated servers, and more customizable. Significant savings throughout a lifetime gamer.

Cheaper games, more promotions … and without DRM

The main argument against gaming PCs is that they are much more expensive than a console.

It does not hold up because the games are much cheaper and you do not pay to play online, so in the medium term, the expense is equal.

A PC at the last costs a paste, true, although to play at 1080p and 60 fps you do not need to spend too much. You can mount a PC for games for less than $500. And do not forget that a computer is used for many other things besides playing.

Take a look at this video to mount your gaming PC

The initial investment is greater, but in the medium term is compensated with what you save in games. Most console games go on sale at a price of between $ 50 and $ 80. PC games usually cost between $ 35 and $ 45. The $ 60 launches are a minority.

Another advantage of PC gaming compared to consoles is that you have many more stores, offers, promotions, and universal keys.

In consoles, you are forced to buy in the official store of your region. And although there are third-party stores that sell keys, they do not usually make many offers because the price is still set by the official store.

In PC there are dozens of stores selling Steam keys, and they are also global keys for the whole planet. You can buy a key in a store in Singapore, and if you activate it in a Spanish account the game will be in Spanish, including dubbing (if it exists). This allows you to buy very cheap games and find promotions 365 days a year. For example, every month there are several Humble Bundle, packs of quality games for which you pay what you want.

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Finally, there are stores like GoG that sell games without DRM, that is, without copy protection. You can install them on the computers you want or leave them to a friend, without restrictions.

MODs and creation tools

We must recognize that thanks to its PC architecture, and a wider sleeve of its manufacturers, some console games have level editors, and allow the use of MODs. But they put many limitations, and only official tools can be used.

In recent days we have seen the controversy that has mounted to recognize Bethesda that there are no MODs of Fallout 4 or Skyrim on PS4 because Sony does not allow it (although in the end, it seems that it has given in Skyrim).

On the contrary, in PC the players are free to create their own MODs and even tools that allow to edit the graphics, change aspects of the game, alter the gameplay, etc.

A good example is the GTA V MOD called GTA 5 Redux, which not only adds graphical improvements but changes aspects such as the physics engine, the police AI and the effects of explosions:

Many other titles, such as Fallout 4 itself, No Man’s Sky, The Witcher 3, etc., improve with the use of MODs.

Conclusion

MonitorBeasts recommend that you take a look at their different features. If the games that interest you are among the exclusives of a platform, then acquire that platform.

If you are looking for multiplatform games, and do not mind investing more money, then we strongly recommend playing on a computer.