Sure, it takes some tweaking, but the point is that it's possible on one machine to play games from the early 90s until today. As far as I know, consoles aren't nearly as flexible.

Yes, i do, but it works from what i have seen. This is no different than those apps to map keyboard keys to a gamepad. The PS3, on the other hand, does have native keyboard+mouse support. Not to mention that there are a few shooters in which you can use the PS Move.

No, sometimes it is impossible to run older games on modern OSes. If i didn't have a dual-boot machine with a 32bit XP partition i would certainly be screwed. I have many old physical games that just refuse to install on my Windows x64 (such as Dark Earth and KKND2). Not to mention the early 3D games which are a fucking bitch to run, since the architecture in modern video cards is completely different than those in old GPUs (Heavy Gear 1 and 2, as an example).

Some old games require tweaking, but there are some that will simply not work at all, or will run with issues. Dark Earth, for example, works in XP-only, and even then is crashes often. I have one game in particular (Meat Puppet) which does not work at all on XP. It took me 2 days messing around with virtual machines till i finally got it to work on a VM loaded with Windows 98. It's just not as easy as you say.

This is why for older games i usually prefer the consoles version. They're guaranteed to work, while PC games aren't.

Consoles:

Enclosed platform you can expect the games to work in, though in modern times more issues and things like patching from the PC world have creeped in.

Ability to resell and trade your games if you buy retail. This is also something slowly creeping away.

Lower price point of entry overall. For the overall price, games will look better on a console than a PC of the same cost.

PC:

"Guaranteed" backwards compatibility for your library. Granted it will often take tweaks or virtual machines or what not, but you can be relatively sure most of your games will work going forward. Not perfect, but a far higher percentage than consoles.

More sales for games. Console games are starting to have sales more often, but nowhere near PC.

Open platform, though I feel this is starting to show the early signs of slowly creeping away too.

Far more hardware options. You can go with more storage to have all your games on hand. You can go with more powerful hardware to make your games look better, ect.


For myself, I've owned at least one console from every generation from the NES to today. There are games that consoles get that never get ported to PC and vice-versa. Most of the genres I loved that stayed mainly on consoles have faded over the years though (Fighting games, platformers) So my overall interest in consoles is at a low today. I still keep them hooked up and play games on them though.

That's quantity over quality. It is true that there are more indie games on PC than on consoles, but you have to take into account that the PC doesn't have any sort of quality control because it's an open-platform. Due to this fact there are plenty of shitty indie games just trying to sell on the "indie bandwaggon". I mean, just look at Desura, there are just a few games worth playing there.

Both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 have great indie titles. THey just don't have as much as the PC because there is control over what is published on XBLA/PSN. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The Xbox 360 in particular has a great selection of great indie titles on XBLA, such as Fez, Dust, Hybrid, Trials, N+, Crimson Alliance and many others i don't recall right now. The same goes for the PS3, which has Journey, considered the best indie game released last year.

Not to mention that the best indie games on PC were either ported from consoles (such as Costume Quest, Stacking, Super Meat Boy, Sine Mora, Castle Crashers) or make their way into consoles later (Minecraft).

I don't think you should view it as PC vs. consoles but instead try to look at the list of games for each system and then decide if any of them appeals to you. It depends of what type of gamer you are. If you only play RTS and FPS then stay on PC. If you mainly love WRPGs but would like to try JPRGs then buy the PS3. Platformers are good on PC but better on consoles. Sports games are also better on consoles and racing games can be played on both if you have either a pad or wheel.

I have always been a PC gamer but this past summer I got a PS2 and PS3 and have enjoyed so many good games on both - games like Final Fantasy series, Rogue Galaxy, Dragon Quest 8, Persona 4, Demon Souls, Red Dead Redemption, Uncharted series, Bayonetta, Vanquish, Resonance of Faith and Metal Gear Solid series. Naturally the PC also have many good games so...

While I have PS2, XBOX360 and Wii, I don't play it much(mostly for some neat exclusives). But what I play a lot is PSP and 3DS. Handhelds are amazing. First of all the library is really different from PC, secondly, you can play with it when you don't have ability to use PC.

Subjective statement is subjective. I would say the sheer amount of indie games on PC compared to consoles means even the cream of the crop far outweigh console offerings.

And I say that as someone who generally doesn't like that many indie games.

Actually PS2 and PS3 have native support for USB mouse and keyboard... of course after that it's up to the game to support it or not and not all does. I played Dirge of Cerberus with WASD and a mouse on my PS2 back in the day and it made the games one billion times more enjoyable than using the pad.

Don't know if modern shooters support KB/mouse though as I usually don't buy shooters on console.

To me a "shooter" means games like Ikaruga, LA Machineguns, and Shock Troopers, and I'd much rather play those kind of games on a console.

I've been a console gamer for years because Mac + native programmed games = no. I don't want emulated crap (Aspyr ports). While I did finally end up getting a Windows machine last year, I still like consoles because I don't have to deal with Windows. I don't see why PC and console have to be at odds with each other. Want a US title? Get it on PC. Want a Japanese title? Get it on console.

As does the XBox 360, at least USB keyboards are supported for text input. But yes, it's up to each application (game) to support it, and as far as games go, I'd bet very few (if any) do.

Believe it or not, joysticks used to be a popular input device for early PC FPS like DOOM. It took years for mice to win out.

I think you may have forgotten about the actual Xbox indie arcade titles. Those titles you mentioned are fine but they were released on Xbox Live Arcade officially; There's that whole other section of XBLA actually marked as indie that's filled to the brim with Minecraft clones and twin-stick shooters. I haven't been there for a while but quality control wasn't something that was apparent on that section.

Not to say it was all crap, Sturgeon's Law and everything, I MA3D A GAM3 WITH ZOMBIES IN IT (however it's spelled) is pretty fun and it's only a dollar(80 points) to boot. Cthulu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII(?) were there as well although I haven't played Cthulu Saves the World.

I have fond memories of playing DOOM with only a joystick at my friend's house.