I think the costs are pretty even at the end of the day between console and PC. The console hardware is cheaper (as long as it doesn't fail in RROD), but that is somewhat offset by the high price of the games. At release PC games are usually $10 cheaper, and they seem to drop in price faster (or have sales). There's no monthly fee to play games online either. PC games can also have better longevity because of user-created modifications (although PC gaming is moving away from this to some extent
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You can also do a lot more with a PC than just play games. Most people need a PC anyway (which are $300+ at the very cheapest), so spending a few hundred more for a gaming capable one isn't that bad.
I enjoyed console games (Mario 3 and Metal Gear Solid are still some of my all-time favorites) but I couldn't be compelled to buy any of the current generation. I refuse to ever buy a Sony product again (I've had 10+ Sony products and literally every single one has failed) on principle, and after seeing my friends all have RROD problems with XBOX360 that turned me off of those. The Wii is just too casual.
Vrock wrote:That makes sense. It's hard to master a gamepad, so it's totally understandable that you can't handle it.
It's not that it's "hard" to master a gamepad, rather that it's impossible for it to have the precision of a mouse (or wheel in the case of racing games). I played consoles from the age of about 4 up till I was 20 or so, but it still always felt like I was fighting the controller in FPSs, rather than fighting the enemies.
That being said a controller can provide a better experience for certain games (2D platformers, sports games, etc), which often aren't even released for PC (even though you can hook up a controller to a PC). Likewise a mouse+kb is ideally suited for strategy games, so very few strategy games are made for consoles. Simulations tend to be nearly impossible with a controller as well (In Flight Sim X I use a keyboard, mouse, AND joystick)