Over the last few years the amount of PC gamers has begun to drop. People have started to favor consoles as their main source of interactive entertainment. Computers have become more of a digital lifestyle tool rather then for enjoyment. This is one of the things that I associate to the increase in Mac sales. With people buying consoles they no longer need a computer that can play games.

However this hasn’t stopped companies like Alienware from flourishing and manufacturers continuing to promote their line of gaming desktops vigorously. For instance the newly releasedDell XPS 730. Truly a beast of a machine. This sort of computer still has its market for those who want an experience that the console does not yet offer.

Long Live The PC

The gaming PC is bound to be around for a while longer, there are still a fair few things that attract consumers to PCs. For instance, they’re more customizable to suit your needs. With a PC you can tune your computer to play whatever form of games you want - something that the console (power wise especially) does not yet offer.

Your also less limited to games, playing a real-time-strategy using the Xbox 360’s controller isn’t the most friendly experience. While with a good old keyboard and mouse, you have far more control. And of course, with a console you are pretty much limited to playing games and watching video content (though Microsoft is slowly making changes with this). On a PC you’re only limited by the software which is available for the platform.

Power is important, let’s face it, if you compare the latest and greatest gaming PC to something like the Playstation 3 there is no comparison (admittedly there is not comparison in price either) but if people are willing to make a large investment they want the best, which graphically wise the Playstaion 3 or Xbox 360 does not have.

Consoles Are King

There are a fair few attractions to the consoles, the price (as previously mentioned) been one of them. You could buy ten Playstation 3’s for the price of the base Dell XPS 730! When you get a console you get a GUI that is fine tuned to the gaming experience and making it easier for you to get to your games straight away. With the PC, it has been designed to do many more things: send and receive email, browse the web, create Excel spreadsheets - the list goes on.

It’s also a lot harder to fit a gaming computer in a home media center experience. You really have to have a separate area, it’s not as easy to game, you can’t simply switch input and turn it on as you can do with a console.

Conclusion

Though desktop gaming still remains to be many people’s preference the future seems to be the console for gaming and the computer for everything else. As for whether this is really a good thing really depends. It may keep everyone innovating and my hope is for PC makers to realize that they are alienating their customers by having such high prices - and therefore make them more competitive against consoles.

It seems, for now, the jury is out.

I feel the tag-line “next generation gamer” is far past its use by date, instead I now prefer the tag “current generation gamer” for those adopting a new console such as the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, or Nintendo Wii.

This Christmas I picked up an Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 is one console I’ve had my eyes on since it was introduced. The Playstation 3 really didn’t capture me as much as the 360, down to a few different reasons.

There was a brief period where I never touched games on any platform. when I first picked up my Playstation 2 I was quite keen on picking up the controller on a regular basis, this quickly faded away and for the past two years I’ve neglected video games. I wanted to make a re-entrance with all the great new games on the market and the new and developing technologies powering the systems.

When comparing the two consoles (360 & PS3), I looked at two main aspects. The online gameplay, and overall game catalogue. I feel the Xbox 360 leads the PS3 in both of these areas, Xbox Live has been perfectly executed. Along with gamertags, achievements, and all the other features packed under the hood, Xbox Live appears as if it’ll stretch the lifeline of games with all the added content and gameplay abilities over the service.

The exclusivity of the game catalog is currently won by the 360, mainly due to the age of the console compared to the recently released PS3. There are a few games on the 360 which really caught my eye and further stretched my preference over the PS3. 80% of my game catalog I had on the Playstation 2 were solely racing/sport games. I have never got into the whole FPS (first person shooter) scene.

This trend has continued with the first handful of games I’ve picked up for the Xbox 360. Including Skate, FIFA 07, Forza 2, Top Spin 2, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007. On the list of games I’d like to pick up include NBA Live 2008, Madden 2008, Grand Theft Auto 5 (on release), and Call Of Duty 4. See the developing trend?

I’ve been very impressed with the console to date after owning it for a week. If there’s any negative points I had to find, it’d be the excessive noise and heat the system creates while in use, and the lack of ability to create a wireless network connection right out of the box. I don’t like the idea of having to drop another $175 NZD on the Wireless Network Adaptor. I’m thoroughly enjoyed playing friends over Xbox Live, and I think it’s this feature alone which will end up introducing me to the world of FPS games such as Halo 3 and Call Of Duty 4 as my friends push me closer and closer to purchasing them for Xbox Live battles.

This won’t be the last I’ll be writing about the Xbox 360. There’s still so much more for me to discover and play with.

For all those who asked, my gamertag is “Glenn Wolsey”.