There was a time not long ago when there were two distinct Gamer camps - PC and Console. The PC Gamers - and I was one of them - surveyed the World from high atop their expensive, overclocked, super-cooled tower machines and felt sure theirs was the realm of the 'serious' games. Our PCs had lots of buttons and (almost) infinite upgradability to tackle the biggest, bloatiest, most complicated games out there. Simple interfaces, cartoony colour palettes, and 3-button controllers were the domain of the kiddies in the Valley of Console Gaming.
Likewise, Console Gamers declared theirs was the One True Religion - although I suspect they didn't think about it too much. These were not like the hardware junkies who considered PC-pimping to be part of the gaming experience. They were only too happy to trade 'game complexity' for the joy of popping in a cartridge or disk to just play their damn games in their comfortable living rooms.
Like I said, I identified with the PC Gamer camp. I'd owned consoles forever, but the kind of games I liked back in the day required the kind of horsepower that consoles could not match. Sure, Super Mario 3 was a lot of fun to pick up and play, but a real man played King's Quest V on a PC. And we were sure that the 3D badness that was Wolfenstein 3D would never see the light of day on a puny console.
Somehow between Then and Now, I've changed. There was no epiphany, no audible click. I think I've just grown tired of worrying about my PC. Is my processor fast enough? Do I need a new video card? How about a bigger monitor? Can I play BioShock2 on this thing?
These days, I jones for the XBox360 hooked up to 36 inches of HD goodness. It's a more comfortable experience to pop in a disk or (gasp!) download a game from XBox Live from my comfy sofa. My PC could never match this experience nor could it possible render Arkham Asylum (without become a puddle of molten silicon). And in full turnabout, my PC gaming experience is more and more those cartoony Flash experiences that were once the domain of the 8-bit Famicon system.
So there you have it. I'm a Bi-Gamer, with a predilection for XBox and Wii consoles and totally secure with hitting up the PC when I get the urge. Still, I do miss my mouse and W-S-A-D keys from time to time - especially for first-person shooters. But I'm sure that I just need more time with my new friends to explore my boundaries.
2 comments:
I was always a console gamer, since I apparently emit an EMP field that wipes any software I'm nearby. But it's nice to see you've decided to join us here in Console Corner.
Now just download Toy Soldiers so we can ignore growing old together.
I too am in the camp of PC gamers who have made the switch. Frankly, I just got tired of the upgrades that I felt I needed. And I certainly don't mis IRQ and Com port conflicts (wee! Fun!). What really killed it for me was spending 45 minutes trying to get some kind of voice chat working in order to play some damn fps. After 45 minutes my friend and I enjoyed 5 minutes of gaming before he had to go. Fun. Though, I do have a Logitech wheel and three great racing games that give an experience you just can't get on the 360. But then I have to hide in the basement like a cave troll in order to play. And I like my couch.
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