Pc hands down.

I was out of the console game when my PS3 died probably a decade ago. But I just picked up a ps5 for gta6 and I’m gobsmacked by how bad the experience is. A monthly fee to go online, a monopoly on digital games making games stupidly expensive. A very lackluster games library, no keyboard and mouse support, and in terms of cost it’s barely cheaper than a gaming PC which is obviously infinitely more flexible. A ps5 is a mediocre toy that says “fuck you” to it’s owner, every chance it gets

PC versatility is unmatched by consoles and i can still play some of my favourite games from PS1 and PS2 using an emulator and the few exclusives aren’t enough for me to throw money at a console.

More than ever, consoles seem like a worse PC. I had the displeasure of interacting with an xbox a week ago, it seemed kinda ass and wouldn’t recognize the controller i brought over.

I used to be a console gamer, then switched to PC when I could finally afford a good one. I think PC is way superior to console gaming, but I’ve come around on handheld gaming. I didn’t like the Switch 1 back in the day but now I’m in love with the Switch 2.
I also have a Steam Deck but I’m not that attached to it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s absolutely amazing, but just being able to take my steam library on the go is not useful for me. It’s the Nintendo exclusives that make it for me.
But consoles like the PS5/XBox make absolutely no sense in my eyes.

A PC can do anything a console can, even console exclusives are becoming less common.

I prefer the steamdeck.

It run on linux arch and that’s a small desktop. It is less expensive than a gaming laptop.

And my current laptop has longer battery. It is lighter without gpu and has more relability than a gaming laptop.

The cons are Valve drm.

Well, to me the question comes down to where you want to play.

Consoles are arguably better in bed relaxing (and yes, there’s ways to do that on pc, but it isn’t the default setup). PCs have the advantage if you want a more fully immersive setting where you’re upright and focused.

Now, please remember that this is mypreference set, and doesn’t automatically apply to others, despite the use of the casual inclusive “you” up there. It should probably be “one” but sometimes I prefer to use you in the same way for my own pleasure.

Just like how, in my old age, I prefer the comfort of a couch or bed vs even the most comfy computer chair I’ve found. However, I generally dislike consoles themselves. The whole locked in ecosystem thing with limitations on gear and extra costs to play online just annoy the fuck out of me. I still prefer the experience of pc gaming overall, but end up not using my desktop hardly at all.

Luckily, the steam deck exists! Best of both worlds. With a docking station and controller, you aren’t even limited to the small screen size. It really is my preference for gaming now. If I really want m&k play, I have a great little mechanical keyboard an even greater friend gave me, and a wireless mouse that does okay for most games. Which, I do that sometimes, even if I’m playing in bed and not docked. It’s a little trifling to set up, but my arthritis gets tired of holding the deck, and aren’t happy with a controller either.

I’m going to be sad if/when my deck dies. No way I can afford to replace it, and parts aren’t guaranteed to always be available.

But, yeah, if limited to standard pc gaming vs a console, my body makes the console the default.

I tried giving console gaming a shot but it’s not my thing. My PS4 is by far the most useless piece of tech I’ve ever owned. I probably haven’t started it in 3 years.

I’m not much of a gamer anymore anyway, but when I play I’m using a PC. Mouse + keyboard is far superior for aiming though for driving I prefer a controller - that’s the only useful piece of the PS4.

For ownership, I prefer console for their discs and cartridges but that option’s coming to a close with a mostly digital future. I prefer PC now due to emulation along with Steam and GOG offering some amazing deals.

Pc gaming but with a controller

Pc means my games roll over with every upgrade and often get a big boost. As well as just being able to do everything else a pc does. Also better indie options.

I do love my steam deck though, and I keep my computer plugged into the TV

I have a decent PC with a long optical HDMI running from my office to the living room TV and a Switch 2.

The order I play from most to least is:

• Switch 2 handheld
• Switch 2 docked
• PC on the TV
• PC at my desk

Switch 2 handheld wins for me, because I can play in the living room while my wife watches TV. I very rarely sit at my desk to play games anymore.

I’ll always be a PC player, every console I’ve owned has just become a dust collector. The last console I seriously played over a PC was the Super Nintendo.

Mostly PC but consoles seem easier when you’re hanging out at someone’s house and playing split screen. I’m sure a PC could be used for this but nobody I hang out with has their’s connected to their TV.

PC.

PC pros:

• Much larger game library.

• More control over games (modding, save game editing, whatever).

• Generally less-expensive games.

• Strong backwards compatibility spanning many more years.

• More hardware options. If you want more graphics horsepower, different resolutions, a vertical screen or some oddball resolution, whatever, going to have more flexibility on the PC.

• For whatever reason (high screen resolution? More memory? Mouse?) a lot of deeper sandbox and strategy games tend to be PC-only. Think, say, Oxygen Not Included. I tend to like those more than console exclusives. I’d like to have, say, HD releases of the 2D Metroid series on PC, but I just don’t care nearly as much about them.

• In many cases, the PC can emulate older consoles (and thus has better backwards compatibility for a console line’s older library than the console does).

• Access to games and mods without console vendor censorship or regional content restrictions.

• For a long time, consoles had worse loading time for similar games than one could achieve on the PC by throwing fast media and RAM at the thing. I remember playing though Fallout: New Vegas on both the PC and the XBox 360, and it was just a constant source of irritation. That said, that may have been largely eliminated these days.

PC cons:

• Less plug-and-play and more potential troubleshooting due to wider range of hardware and software interactions. Not an issue for me.

• More vulnerable to cheating in online multiplayer competitive games. I don’t play those these days, but if I did, I might consider just playing those on a console.

• No remote power-on support on-controller if you’re playing in the living room (the Steam Machine can do this if you’re using a Steam Controller, but most PC hardware cannot). Not really something that I care about, as I don’t living-room game, it’s not much hassle if I did, and there are other ways to accomolish remote power control if I really wanted to do it.

• Less level playing field on hardware for multiplayer competitive games. Consoles don’t have a “pay more to a hardware vendor to try to get a slight edge”. I don’t play multiplayer competitive games these days, so not a huge issue.

• Console games tend to take more advantage of hardware, since everyone has basically the same hardware and the console vendor can require everyone with the console to buy a baseline set of hardware. A console vendor knows that you have a game controller and that it has at least X features. PCs could have God-knows-what, so less-interesting to try to leverage features that only a fraction of the playerbase may have.

• Consoles have better isolation of games. If some game developer gets compromised, they probably don’t even compromise your console. If they do, your video games get compromised, which probably isn’t the most-catastrophic event. I do think that this is a real console win, but also that the PC situation has potential to improve (and some people on Linux do run an isolated Steam, which is a start).

• Consoles have better local multiplayer game library support. I don’t do local multiplayer gaming.

For me, the PC pros outweigh the cons.

I’ve owned a number of consoles, and they mostly just wind up gathering dust.