26th April 2018, 10:33 PM
So, this is something I've been thinking about, and have mentioned sometimes, for a while now, but I want to make a thread for it again anyway. Basically, here's the point -- excepting Nintendo and Sony first-party software, there isn't much of a reason to buy any consoles anymore, is there, if you have a PC. It used to be that a lot of third party games were console-only and the handful that got PC ports sometimes had badly compromised ports, but today most non-mobile games that aren't from Sony or Nintendo themselves get released on the PC, and the ports are often either good or get fixed by the fans. It feels like consoles today have less value than ever as a result of this. If you have a PC you can play almost everything.
And even better, with devices like the Steam Link, it's easier than ever to play PC games on your television, too! Most modern games that should have it have controller support, and with Steam Big Picture Mode there's even a good interface for using PC games on a television. too. I don't use my Steam Link as often as I should, but for me it works great and is a really nice thing to have. The "comfy couch" argument isn't as strong as it used to be.
Now, on the other hand, I can think of two counter-arguments to this. First, PC hardware prices right now are crazy high, while consoles are affordable. And second, while the Steam Link is great, it has a 1080p resolution limit, so if you have a 4K TV, if you want to play games at 4K you either need a console (Xbox One X or PS4 Pro) or some other way of hooking your PC up to a television. And last, the PS Vita (and its library of ports of indie games and such, if you have a hacked system or actually have functioning large Vita memory cards) and Switch have value because they are portable, to play these games that are also available on the PC away from home. These three are all good reasons to get a console. How good they are compared to the basic argument of "how many games do you want to buy on multiple platforms that are better on PC" is tough, though.
Now, I will admit that I'm surely thinking about this more these days since the last two major systems I got are the Xbox One and Vita, the two newest systems with the smallest libraries of exclusive games, but even on the Switch and PS4 you have this same issue with their third-party libraries. PCs have always been the best gaming platform, but there used to be a whole lot of games you needed consoles to play. That is much, much less true now.
And even better, with devices like the Steam Link, it's easier than ever to play PC games on your television, too! Most modern games that should have it have controller support, and with Steam Big Picture Mode there's even a good interface for using PC games on a television. too. I don't use my Steam Link as often as I should, but for me it works great and is a really nice thing to have. The "comfy couch" argument isn't as strong as it used to be.
Now, on the other hand, I can think of two counter-arguments to this. First, PC hardware prices right now are crazy high, while consoles are affordable. And second, while the Steam Link is great, it has a 1080p resolution limit, so if you have a 4K TV, if you want to play games at 4K you either need a console (Xbox One X or PS4 Pro) or some other way of hooking your PC up to a television. And last, the PS Vita (and its library of ports of indie games and such, if you have a hacked system or actually have functioning large Vita memory cards) and Switch have value because they are portable, to play these games that are also available on the PC away from home. These three are all good reasons to get a console. How good they are compared to the basic argument of "how many games do you want to buy on multiple platforms that are better on PC" is tough, though.
Now, I will admit that I'm surely thinking about this more these days since the last two major systems I got are the Xbox One and Vita, the two newest systems with the smallest libraries of exclusive games, but even on the Switch and PS4 you have this same issue with their third-party libraries. PCs have always been the best gaming platform, but there used to be a whole lot of games you needed consoles to play. That is much, much less true now.