How to Buy a Game Console

[HardOCP News]

This "How to buy a console" article was written by the folks at PCMag. Apparently the "PC" in their name now stands for "prefers consoles." Yeah....I went there.

Why a Console and Not a PC? For starters, they're less expensive than gaming PCs. Even the Xbox One$499.00 at Amazon, the most expensive game console available, is only $500, while a gaming-capable PC will cost you at least $800, and a "gaming PC" with high-end hardware can run into the thousands.

 

[Xinmosni]

"[XBone] is only $500, while a gaming-capable PC will cost you at least $800, and a "gaming PC" with high-end hardware can run into the thousands."

Not true in the slightest, with what most people play on.

If you're only pushing 1080p, you can make a "gaming-capable" PC for much less than $500, especially if you put together from used parts. WTF @ this utter bullshit...

 

[cleathco]

Not to mention most X-Box One games can't even do 1080p.........yea, I went there.

 

[Xinmosni]

Not to mention most X-Box One games can't even do 1080p.........yea, I went there.

Thought about this after submitting the post.

Even worse, can you even use an XBone for DLNA anymore? So many things you can do with a PC that you can't with the DRM-infused "Next Gen" consoles, especially when the x86 architecture allows developers to port everything to PC now.

 

[manwich]

Was this bring your kids to work and let the write online articles day?

You can definitely build a very capable gaming pc to run at 1080p for under $500, you just need to know where to shop and do some research. Plus, you save way more in the long run with the deals for digital downloads compared to paying $60 for console games. Console accessories also are pretty overpriced compared to pc equivalents.

 

[Ashbringer]

Also, the only thing cheap about consoles is the console. There's the monthly service to have the privilege to play games online, and in Xbox's case to watch Netflix. Also, PC games are significantly cheaper, or free like League of Legends.

Like it's been said before, you can easily put together a $400 PC that will outperform PS4 or Xbone.

 

[Xinmosni]

Ugh yeah, forgot about the requirement to have XBox Live and PS+ now -_-

 

[sfsuphysics]

Yeah why do you need a PC when you can get a console for $500, I mean you already got internet on your $1300 macbook and/or your $400 ipad and/or your iPhone with $120/month subscription. I mean there's virtually no reason at all why a $500 console shouldn't be bought and think of all the money you'll save!

 

[Nenu]

The cost of games is higher, the number of games is lower, backward compatibility is terrible, the quality of gfx and control options is lower, the capabilites of the console are limited...
I dont see the value, quite the opposite.

 

[Sate]

At the moment I think the consoles are price-competitive (taking into account not just resolution, but graphical complexity, post-processing and all that).

But it'll be really sad a year from now (ostensibly, just 1/6th or so into the console platform's life) when bargain basement PC's will be able to do 1080p aa/af Crysis 3 without breaking a sweat.

 

[lilbabycat]

This is how bad the industry has become.

 

[Ashbringer]

At the moment I think the consoles are price-competitive (taking into account not just resolution, but graphical complexity, post-processing and all that).

But it'll be really sad a year from now (ostensibly, just 1/6th or so into the console platform's life) when bargain basement PC's will be able to do 1080p aa/af Crysis 3 without breaking a sweat.

Right now you can get.
This case for $40.
This motherboard for $50.
This memory for $70.
This CPU for $110.
This hard drive for $55.
Finally, this graphics card for $100.

All that will get you a very good gaming PC for ~$425. It's upgradable and has quality components, except for the Logisys 480w power supply. I really doubt that's a quality power supply, but you could always get something like this EVGA 500W which will do the job nicely and then some, and it's only $45 more.

The kicker is that right now it's the APU generation. You could replace that Gigabyte motherboard I linked for this FM2+ Gigabyte board and buy this AMD A10-7700K. You no longer need to buy that $100 graphics card. Though it only dropped the price a little, and this setup doesn't perform as well as the AMD 4300 + HD 7770, but all you gotta do now is replace the CPU to upgrade everything. If you don't need max settings, then this will do. It'll even do a better job then PS4 or Xbone.

Should be noted you can add a DVD drive, and you probably should. It's not absolutely necessary. You can get one for $25.

 

[ManofGod]

Right now you can get.
This case for $40.
This motherboard for $50.
This memory for $70.
This CPU for $110.
This hard drive for $55.
Finally, this graphics card for $100.

All that will get you a very good gaming PC for ~$425. It's upgradable and has quality components, except for the Logisys 480w power supply. I really doubt that's a quality power supply, but you could always get something like this EVGA 500W which will do the job nicely and then some, and it's only $45 more.

The kicker is that right now it's the APU generation. You could replace that Gigabyte motherboard I linked for this FM2+ Gigabyte board and buy this AMD A10-7700K. You no longer need to buy that $100 graphics card. Though it only dropped the price a little, and this setup doesn't perform as well as the AMD 4300 + HD 7770, but all you gotta do now is replace the CPU to upgrade everything. If you don't need max settings, then this will do. It'll even do a better job then PS4 or Xbone.

Should be noted you can add a DVD drive, and you probably should. It's not absolutely necessary. You can get one for $25.

Do not forget the OS, keyboard, monitor, mouse and game controller.

 

[kreno]

Do not forget the OS, keyboard, monitor, mouse and game controller.

Well if that's gonna be the case then we should also include the price of an LCD TV in the price of the console

OS though is $90. Still for about $500 you can have a great machine.

 

[rudy]

"[XBone] is only $500, while a gaming-capable PC will cost you at least $800, and a "gaming PC" with high-end hardware can run into the thousands."

Not true in the slightest, with what most people play on.

If you're only pushing 1080p, you can make a "gaming-capable" PC for much less than $500, especially if you put together from used parts. WTF @ this utter bullshit...

One thing PC gamers have to learn is that used parts and the best deals are not how most people shop and are not very valid comparisons.

That said you are right that you don't need $800 to buy a gaming rig that can play 720p at 30 fps like a next gen console. This is where things break down on the console argument. They compare apples and oranges. Second you need a PC anyway, there are just way to many things you do on it that you wont ever do on a console. So lets say you decide you can save money, you buy a $300 bottom of the barrel PC and a Xbone, oops you are at $800 right there.

 

[mi7chy]

Sony PS4 could've ruled the world at $400 if it had Windows virtualization option but alas it doesn't so the next best thing is building a near equivalent:

$200 AMD Kaveri A10-7850K + Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI + BF4 (from Microcenter combo deal)
$99 8GB (2x4GB) Radeon DDR3-2400 DRAM (using Asrock $20 off promo code)
$29 Fractal Design Core 100 mATX case (from Newegg)

I reused existing hard drive and power supply otherwise if purchased for ~$50 each, 1GB HD and ~450W PS, the complete system would still be ~$430.

 

[blood]

Didn't realize PCMag still existed. Just hearing the name brings me back to the 90s

Well, there's always a strong argument for console, but it's not price or quality, but simplicity. To each their own. At [h]ard, PC > console.

 

[Ashbringer]

Do not forget the OS, keyboard, monitor, mouse and game controller.

If you don't already have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor then Windows 95 will sound very alien to you right now. Also, there's this thing called printers. It puts letters and imagines on paper, even in color! Cool, I know right? Also, monitor is completely optional as is game controller. If you have a HDMI connector on your HDTV, then that'll do. Got Xbox 360 and PS3 controllers? Those will work on PC as well, even as wireless. Just got any usb bluetooth adapter for PS3, or a Xbox 360 wireless gaming receiver. Both can get had for less then $15.

The OS is the only real cost that I exempt, for a reason. There's a lot of ways to get a copy of Windows cheap or even free. For example, maybe you're a college student, then you can get a discount. Another more deviant method is to grab that old broken PC you have lying around and reuse the license. Just call Microsoft and claim that you're replacing a motherboard or something. I think this is OK with Windows 8, where you maybe breaking the law with Windows 7? I'm not sure on this, and wouldn't know why this is against the law. Back in my day, you had a CD Key then it was your copy. Not this locked to motherboard nonsense.

 

[chameleoneel]

Right now you can get.
This case for $40.
This motherboard for $50.
This memory for $70.
This CPU for $110.
This hard drive for $55.
Finally, this graphics card for $100.

All that will get you a very good gaming PC for ~$425. It's upgradable and has quality components, except for the Logisys 480w power supply. I really doubt that's a quality power supply, but you could always get something like this EVGA 500W which will do the job nicely and then some, and it's only $45 more.

The kicker is that right now it's the APU generation. You could replace that Gigabyte motherboard I linked for this FM2+ Gigabyte board and buy this AMD A10-7700K. You no longer need to buy that $100 graphics card. Though it only dropped the price a little, and this setup doesn't perform as well as the AMD 4300 + HD 7770, but all you gotta do now is replace the CPU to upgrade everything. If you don't need max settings, then this will do. It'll even do a better job then PS4 or Xbone.

Should be noted you can add a DVD drive, and you probably should. It's not absolutely necessary. You can get one for $25.

a 7770, let alone an AMD APU, will not do better than the PS4. The PS4 is an 800mhz 7870core, with GDDR5 similar in speed to a 270/270x, and the same compute setup as a 290x.

GPU compute is governed by what's called an "ACE", which manage the compute queues. The 7870 normally has 2 ACEs with 2 queues each; for a total of 4 compute commands at once. The PS4 and 290x both have 8 ACEs, each with 8queues; for a total of 64 compute commands at once.

AMD is shooting for a roughly 2 year timeline (from launch) to educate devs and get compute heavily integrated into games.

 

[Deleted member 184142]

I also think the price thing people here are talking about is a bit misleading on buying/building a $500 gaming PC. The way I see it, most people already have/spend $500 on a computer, plus $500 on a console, but if you get/build a gaming PC from the start, you only need the one, and can drop 800-1k for something that will do the normal computer functions and do damn well as a gaming rig also.

 

[DPI]

I also think the price thing people here are talking about is a bit misleading on buying/building a $500 gaming PC. The way I see it, most people already have/spend $500 on a computer, plus $500 on a console, but if you get/build a gaming PC from the start, you only need the one, and can drop 800-1k for something that will do the normal computer functions and do damn well as a gaming rig also.

not to mention take advantage of sales as someone already mentioned, since there is actual competition between digital storefronts unlike Xbox/Playstation, parts can be swapped and upgraded or repaired interchangeably, etc. It is for these efficiency multipliers that I hope SteamOS takes off and revolutionizes the livingroom gaming space. A console that plays Skyrim mods? Yes please.

 

[drakken]

I play quite a few games where the on board APU simply can not render the games yet. They still have issues with things other than flash games, spreadsheets, email and office tasks.

That said I can understand morons not wanting to deal with drivers and software updates or wait all the modern consoles do that now too... seriously a computer is an investment you can take off your taxes it has to excess 5% of your gross income and only the percent actually used for work counts but still spend a little money then upgrade as needed.* Personally this tends to means spending a couple grand every two or three years but hey I'm here not on PC mags forums... lol


*Note you need to talk to a tax adviser to deal with you exact situation for taking your PC purchase off your taxes, and the IRS may still give you grief even if you are in the right. They really don't like 139.

 

[chameleoneel]

Many of you are forgetting the price of windows.

Many of you are using caveats like "oh if you know where to shop" or "if you re-use parts from a previous PC", etc.

Any newb can buy a PS4, straight up normal price, without any special deals, for $400.

There are a lot of problems in assuming you can use anything but a hard drive, from a previous PC. In particular, a 7790 (the Xbone actually has this core in it. with support for 16 compute queues) or better, is going to need a better power supply than what came with your mom's Dell.

The only PS4 game right now I know of that isn't 1080p, is BF4. There could be one or two others. The point is that it's a low amount. and I'm willing to bet BF4 could have hit 1080p on PS4, had BF4 not been such a pile of game code.

Yes, in a year or two, you'll be able to buy a $100 GPU for your PC that is as good as the PS4. You can't right now.

 

[Sate]

Right now you can get.
This case for $40.
This motherboard for $50.
This memory for $70.
This CPU for $110.
This hard drive for $55.
Finally, this graphics card for $100.

All that will get you a very good gaming PC for ~$425. It's upgradable and has quality components, except for the Logisys 480w power supply. I really doubt that's a quality power supply, but you could always get something like this EVGA 500W which will do the job nicely and then some, and it's only $45 more.

The kicker is that right now it's the APU generation. ...[/url].

That's a good system for the money. The APU is especially impressive for the price/performance. It won't out-do a PS4 though. It's in the same performance area.. you can run lower settings/higher fps or vice versa. The devs will also probably squeeze some more power out of the PS4 over time. But yeah, in a year there will be an obvious gap and PCs will pull substantially ahead.

 

[blood]

The way I see it, most people already have/spend $500 on a computer, plus $500 on a console, but if you get/build a gaming PC from the start, you only need the one, and can drop 800-1k for something that will do the normal computer functions and do damn well as a gaming rig also.

A lot of my friends have a laptop and no desktop. They won't trade their laptop for a desktop, it will be additional. I think there are a lot of people out there like that.

 

[chameleoneel]

That's a good system for the money. The APU is especially impressive for the price/performance. It won't out-do a PS4 though. It's in the same performance area.. you can run lower settings/higher fps or vice versa. The devs will also probably squeeze some more power out of the PS4 over time. But yeah, in a year there will be an obvious gap and PCs will pull substantially ahead.

AMD's desktop APUs are not even close to what's in the PS4.

 

[blood]

That said I can understand morons not wanting to deal with drivers and software updates or wait all the modern consoles do that now too...

... I don't want to deal with drivers and software updates. It's really a lot easier on my PS3, hit a button, and it succeeds, game works or don't. Fewer GPU specific issues with combinations of GPU setup / driver version. Fewer driver conflict with audio driver, etc. I remember my Garmin GPS watch causing certain games to crash. Had to unplug it each time. It's really more of a tradeoff between simplicity and power.

 

[Ashbringer]

a 7770, let alone an AMD APU, will not do better than the PS4. The PS4 is an 800mhz 7870core, with GDDR5 similar in speed to a 270/270x, and the same compute setup as a 290x.

GPU compute is governed by what's called an "ACE", which manage the compute queues. The 7870 normally has 2 ACEs with 2 queues each; for a total of 4 compute commands at once. The PS4 and 290x both have 8 ACEs, each with 8queues; for a total of 64 compute commands at once.

AMD is shooting for a roughly 2 year timeline (from launch) to educate devs and get compute heavily integrated into games.

1. A lot of that GDDR5 bandwidth is being shared between the CPU and GPU. There's going to be less bandwidth for the GPU on the PS4. Is that enough to equal 72GB/s of the 7770?

2. The CPU in the PS4 sucks. Even more so if you consider it's using GDDR5 instead of DDR3. It's literally two glorified netbook cpu's glued together.

3. None of that matters cause we know a number of games that aren't doing 1080P. Like for example Battlefield 4. That game does barely 60 fps with 900p at medium to low settings on the PS4. A Radeon HD 7770 can do 1080p with low settings just fine, and even medium.

The AMD A10-7850K is a different story. It clearly can't do 1080P at 60 fps in Battlefield 4, but it'll do it at ~30fps. Which to me is very playable. But the point of the APU is that eventually it'll catch up to the graphics you see in the PS4, and then surpass it. Probably in a relatively short period of time. This isn't taking into account of things like Mantle, which could further boost the performance in Battlefield either.

We could argue about the paper specs all day long, but none of that matters. We need to see what the consoles can do, and they can't do 1080P 60FPS. If a $500 PC with a 7770 can, then a $500 PC already surpasses them. If not then throw an extra $100 top the graphics card and it'll obliterate them. Think of it as the cost of 1 year of Xbox Live.

 

[BOTA:49]

My PC does a fuckton more than my consoles do. The only "cost" I personally have to incur to have a capable gaming machine is to up my PSU and buy a GPU. The rest I'd have regardless thanks to work. I'm an exception to the rule, I'm sure, but it works out for me. Only consoles I have any interest in come from Nintendo (thanks to exclusives, obviously), while my 360 and PS3 haven't been touched in close to a year, each. So in other words, no thanks PS4 or XB1, PC gaming is cheaper for me.

 

[Ashbringer]

Many of you are forgetting the price of windows.

Many of you are using caveats like "oh if you know where to shop" or "if you re-use parts from a previous PC", etc.

Any newb can buy a PS4, straight up normal price, without any special deals, for $400.

There are a lot of problems in assuming you can use anything but a hard drive, from a previous PC. In particular, a 7790 (the Xbone actually has this core in it. with support for 16 compute queues) or better, is going to need a better power supply than what came with your mom's Dell.

The only PS4 game right now I know of that isn't 1080p, is BF4. There could be one or two others. The point is that it's a low amount. and I'm willing to bet BF4 could have hit 1080p on PS4, had BF4 not been such a pile of game code.

Yes, in a year or two, you'll be able to buy a $100 GPU for your PC that is as good as the PS4. You can't right now.

If you can't deal with PC, then deal with it's cousin. It's going to be a PC, with replaceable parts.

 

[Sate]

AMD's desktop APUs are not even close to what's in the PS4.

But the gaming experience is similar. I agree the PS4 is ahead, but that's only true at the lowest of price ranges. Adding as little as $50 or $60 can put the PC ahead.

 

[Quix]

Buying consoles is brain-dead easy. This piece is more of an advertisement than anything else.

 

[Xinmosni]

If you can't deal with PC, then deal with it's cousin. It's going to be a PC, with replaceable parts.

PCs already have replaceable parts...

But hey, get ripped off for Steambox if you're too afraid to plug a card into your PCIe slot

 

[Flogger23m]

Was this bring your kids to work and let the write online articles day?

You can definitely build a very capable gaming pc to run at 1080p for under $500, you just need to know where to shop and do some research. Plus, you save way more in the long run with the deals for digital downloads compared to paying $60 for console games. Console accessories also are pretty overpriced compared to pc equivalents.

A bit of an exaggeration. Sure, console games do not go on as large of discounts but you can find plenty of newish titles for $15-20 from places like Amazon.

And a $500 PC might be stretching it. Unless you happen to live by a Microcenter. If you don't, you'll spend at least $100 or so on a CPU alone. Windows 8, aside from some special deals, is $90+. A console is $400 (PS4, faster than the One) or $500 all year long. A lot of the good PC deals only happen a few times a year. And when they do, the consoles often get bundles with $100 or so off counting games/accessories.

 

[Flogger23m]

Right now you can get.
This case for $40.
This motherboard for $50.
This memory for $70.
This CPU for $110.
This hard drive for $55.
Finally, this graphics card for $100.

All that will get you a very good gaming PC for ~$425. It's upgradable and has quality components, except for the Logisys 480w power supply. I really doubt that's a quality power supply, but you could always get something like this EVGA 500W which will do the job nicely and then some, and it's only $45 more.

The kicker is that right now it's the APU generation. You could replace that Gigabyte motherboard I linked for this FM2+ Gigabyte board and buy this AMD A10-7700K. You no longer need to buy that $100 graphics card. Though it only dropped the price a little, and this setup doesn't perform as well as the AMD 4300 + HD 7770, but all you gotta do now is replace the CPU to upgrade everything. If you don't need max settings, then this will do. It'll even do a better job then PS4 or Xbone.

Should be noted you can add a DVD drive, and you probably should. It's not absolutely necessary. You can get one for $25.

Garbage PSU. And no OS. Unless you are a tech person who builds lots of PCs you will not have spare OS copies lying around. If you did I doubt you'd be spending $500 on a garbage PC in the first place anyways.

Add the cost of a mouse and keyboard to. Consoles include the primary control input in the cost. At least another $10 for the keyboard, and another $15 for a mouse. But we all know how $10-15 mice are. It is just not the quality of the console controllers.

So essentially we have a junk heave which already costs more than any of the consoles at ~$550.

I did not count the cost of a monitor or headset either. Most people have TVs/speakers for them already. Not many have monitors anymore (they use laptops). Just about everyone has some type of earbuds, but if they do not have a headset or speakers you will have to add that to the cost as well...

You get what you pay for. PCs cost more, but they are better. Obviously you do not need to spend $2,000 every other year but you are not going to buy a $400 PC that can hope to play games the PS4/One can and have it last 5-6 years.

 

[mtrupi]

Thought about this after submitting the post.

Even worse, can you even use an XBone for DLNA anymore?

Yes you can, I just bought one. Not sure of what the limitations might be as I don't use that feature much. Would I recommend XB1 over a PC? For some people maybe, but there are several things that need to be improved to make me happier with having chosen it.

 

[Exavior]

Well if that's gonna be the case then we should also include the price of an LCD TV in the price of the console

OS though is $90. Still for about $500 you can have a great machine.

OS for $90ish is only going to be an OEM version. which means come your hardware upgrade / replacement time to buy a new copy of windows. And you still do need all that stuff. Lets forget the screen if you want as your tv could fill that gap, but if looking at both as apple to apple. you buy a console you get a controller. you build a tower you need a keyboard and mouse to interact with it. you need a controller to play your games (or the ones that are better played with a controller vs keyboard and mouse).

If you don't already have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor then Windows 95 will sound very alien to you right now. Also, there's this thing called printers. It puts letters and imagines on paper, even in color! Cool, I know right? Also, monitor is completely optional as is game controller. If you have a HDMI connector on your HDTV, then that'll do. Got Xbox 360 and PS3 controllers? Those will work on PC as well, even as wireless. Just got any usb bluetooth adapter for PS3, or a Xbox 360 wireless gaming receiver. Both can get had for less then $15.

The OS is the only real cost that I exempt, for a reason. There's a lot of ways to get a copy of Windows cheap or even free. For example, maybe you're a college student, then you can get a discount. Another more deviant method is to grab that old broken PC you have lying around and reuse the license. Just call Microsoft and claim that you're replacing a motherboard or something. I think this is OK with Windows 8, where you maybe breaking the law with Windows 7? I'm not sure on this, and wouldn't know why this is against the law. Back in my day, you had a CD Key then it was your copy. Not this locked to motherboard nonsense.

I am sorry your logic here is bullshit. You are making so many assumptions for how to get the price down for you to make your point. Somebody could give you a Xbox One or PS4 as a gift which makes them free thus far cheaper than a pc that you pay for. See it is easy to do that to make something "cheaper" as I just proved it is cheaper to get an xbox one or ps 4 than it is a pc. Don't look at it as one of us buying it, but the average person. IE the people buying consoles. They may not have spare copies of windows, and all the other hardware. If looking at somebody that has no console they won't have the 360 or ps3 controllers. As for as that locked to motherboard stuff. that you brought up. That is because of the version you purchased. There are full copies of windows and OEM (just like any other software). OEM is cheaper, but is meant to be locked to a single piece of hardware. So you buy some DVD burner, you get a copy of nero (or whatever) that is licensed only with that single burner. you want the full version of software or the version that you can use with any drive you buy. then you pay more. Same for windows. you pay $90 ish for an OEM version and you are saying that I want to get a copy of windows to lock down to this hardware config. You want the copy to install over and over again or on a different computer later. then you buy the full retail version and you can do that.

At the end of the day, for us, sure the cost can be cheaper, for the average person that would be actually buying consoles. they would need to add on a lot more.

 

[Exavior]

Garbage PSU. And no OS. Unless you are a tech person who builds lots of PCs you will not have spare OS copies lying around. If you did I doubt you'd be spending $500 on a garbage PC in the first place anyways.

Add the cost of a mouse and keyboard to. Consoles include the primary control input in the cost. At least another $10 for the keyboard, and another $15 for a mouse. But we all know how $10-15 mice are. It is just not the quality of the console controllers.

So essentially we have a junk heave which already costs more than any of the consoles at ~$550.

I did not count the cost of a monitor or headset either. Most people have TVs/speakers for them already. Not many have monitors anymore (they use laptops). Just about everyone has some type of earbuds, but if they do not have a headset or speakers you will have to add that to the cost as well...

You get what you pay for. PCs cost more, but they are better. Obviously you do not need to spend $2,000 every other year but you are not going to buy a $400 PC that can hope to play games the PS4/One can and have it last 5-6 years.

Plus the price there doesn't include an optical drive. when one was suggested it was an OEM DVD drive. Which not only doesn't match the Blu-ray playback of the console but doesn't give you any software for playback. So add say $60 for a Blu-ray dvd player and about $70 for CyberDVD or something to actually have playback. Unless there is a drive with software for playback that I am missing for cheaper. I only see drives with no software and a need to buy that separate. So add that to the price also.

 

[Sate]

Plus the price there doesn't include an optical drive. when one was suggested it was an OEM DVD drive. Which not only doesn't match the Blu-ray playback of the console but doesn't give you any software for playback. So add say $60 for a Blu-ray dvd player and about $70 for CyberDVD or something to actually have playback. Unless there is a drive with software for playback that I am missing for cheaper. I only see drives with no software and a need to buy that separate. So add that to the price also.

This is a side note really, but there is very little reason to own an optical drive. I have one in my PC, which is 1.5 years old. I have never used it. Not once. My Asus Zenbook has no optical drive. It's never mattered.

 

[Deazynthe]

To be honest, I think it's crazy to even make the comparison. If a particular console has one great game that no other platform has, everything else be damned. PCs do a lot more besides, so why make them compete?

I wish newer consoles weren't trying so hard to be PCs themselves... it's just not right. Even back in the "multimedia" days it was understood that games themselves were supposed to become obsolete with what they were doing. If these console makers want to kill consoles and just make "PCs that play games", they need to go ahead and do that. They'd certainly make Nintendo happy...