Today’s gaming community is in a full blown civil war and the internet has become its battlefield.  Just look in any gaming related comment section or forum and one will find a mess of FULL CAPSLOCK rants.  For years now, PC gamers and console gamers have been at each others throats, arguing over which platform is the best.  Like any other debate, each side of the argument requires careful analysis of their respective pros and cons.  Both PC’s and consoles have their importance and should not be chosen purely out of favoritism, as many are guilty of.

Although gaming itself was born on the early colossal PC’s of the 1950’s, as Henry Ford made the automobile more practical, consoles take the credit for bringing video games to the average consumer.  In 1981, an Atari 2600 gaming console was $200.  An IBM 5150 PC however, cost over $1500.   This huge price gap made consoles like the Atari very successful and the success of the video game console also provoked something that all gamers enjoy: a large selection of games being produced.  Since the dawn of the console in the late 1970’s, they have more or less reigned supreme.  Now however, PC gaming is beginning to show it’s merit as the new gaming norm.

One look at Walmart’s game selection will give an obvious hint towards the underdog popularity of the PC.  The price gap between PC and console has been the deciding factor for many years, but with console prices of the newest generation being so high, PC is becoming a much more viable option.  Some huge advantages of PC gaming include the simple fact that PC’s can do much more than a console, they have ability to run games at much higher graphics settings and frames per second, and the fact that PC’s can support much larger scale multiplayer servers.  Yes, a high spec PC will cost around $1,000 dollars, but for around $600 dollars (just $100 more than a PS4) one could assemble a computer that will run most games at medium video settings at a respectable FPS.

In conclusion, the popularization of video gaming itself, at it’s roots, comes from the introduction of consoles.  PC’s however, are the future.  They can be upgraded, they can run games at their peak performance levels, and PCs can be used for more than just gaming.  While consoles from the past should still be enjoyed, investing in a PC is a much more sensible choice and will only become more affordable in the future.