Introduction: Griefing the grieving

The opinion that consoles are superior to the PC has been diagnosed terminally ill; it has just one editorial left to live. What stage of grief are you in?

PC Gaming has been on its death bed for years — if you believe the countless debates that have occurred most commonly over the last decade. The drum beat roared from the masses: “Why game on the PC anymore when you could just buy a console?” The focus of conversation was set upon the attack and defense of the PC as a viable platform at all, let alone the platform of choice. The question that swarms naggingly through my brain is quite the opposite: “In the long run, why game on a console?” The concept that consoles are better than PCs, given a fraction of the support that consoles receive, is about to die; console supporters are in various levels of grief.

U mad Mario Bros.?

I am an avid, though this editorial may suggest livid, video game supporter. My first exposure to video gaming was mixed between the Nintendo Entertainment System and the family 80286. I have equally fond memories with the keyboard as with the gamepad. The balance between console and PC was level throughout my life until just a few years ago when I carefully thought the situation over. The PC is now my platform of choice.

There has been no shortage of comments from console and former PC gamers about the supposed shortcomings of PC gaming. The critiques ranged from a distaste for the mouse and keyboard through to the heightened costs of PC gaming relative to the console. The difficulty is: the vast majority of the issues brought to my attention are simply wrong; the couple that are valid are completely eliminated by a larger core user-base; and the consoles have fundamental issues that will always persist to harm gaming as a whole.

If you argue that consoles are better than the PC in any way, that opinion will be dead by the end of this editorial. You are likely experiencing denial; read on for more information.

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