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There are both pros and cons to either, PC gaming for starters is expensive considering today's economic landscape considering handheld PC's a cheaper alternative. Console gaming (Switch, XBOX, PS) cost less than a full desktop PC (let alone a gaming laptop), there are consoles for indoor use only (PS5) and portable / hybrid (like the Switch). Each format has exclusive titles.

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[-] AndyMFK@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 days ago

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

[-] orenj@leminal.space 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

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.

[-] Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 day ago

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.

[-] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 1 points 1 day ago

Pc gaming but with a controller

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

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

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

[-] InGodWeThrust@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 day ago

The longevity of the games is something that I've had in my mind a lot. I hope I can hold on to the games I own all my life and still play them some day in retirement.

That is one big reason I like PC, and line buying the games from Gog. Besides playing on any PC in the future, I can keep the offline installers too and hopefully future computers have emulation available to play them as needed too.

[-] horse@feddit.org 1 points 2 days ago

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.

[-] Eternal192@anarchist.nexus 7 points 3 days ago

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.

[-] stopforgettingit@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

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.

[-] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 1 points 2 days ago

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.

[-] ThunderComplex@lemmy.today 6 points 3 days ago

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.

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 1 points 2 days ago

I just prefer playing good games. But when the game is on everything, I prefer PC for three reasons:

  1. Power. Even if I have a weak PC, I can upgrade it.

  2. Modding.

  3. No extra charge for online multiplayer.

[-] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

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.

[-] happysplinter@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Which small mechanical keyboard do you use? I just got a steam machine and trying to figure a way to mouse and keeb on the couch. I have a small split keyboard that's fine, and a wireless mouse and a little lap desk. It's all fine, works well for Internet browsing and watching downloaded media on the TV. But I have yet to game with the setup as I find myself naturally choosing games that use the controller. I'd love to play BG 3 or seven days to die in the living room, but... Too many radials make my ADHD head spin.

[-] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

It's a kisnt kn85. It's not tiny, but it's compact enough to comfortably sit on my knee. 13 inches, plus a tad

https://kisnt.net/products/kisnt-kn85-wireless-mechanical-keyboard

Keys are gentle, but responsive; just enough clack to be pleasant. As a gaming keyboard, I like it better than my Logitech wireless, or my wired Microsoft natural ergo. As a general typing keyboard, well it's my favorite non ergonomic because the key response really is perfect for my hands. I tend to prefer full size for serious writing, and need an ergonomic if I'm going to be at it for extended times (like editing a book), but for comfy typing around the house? Bang on.

I feel you with radials getting a tad overwhelming. I cope well, and I'm not diagnosed, but it's easy to get lost, especially since bg3 in particular likes to occasionally move things around. I've put in a few thousand hours on that game, and I still get a little frustrated running a wizard or cleric. Other casters, I tend to use a more limited range of spells, so I can just ignore anything past the first two radials.

[-] happysplinter@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Thank you very much? I'm going to check this out soon!

[-] ZigZyx@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

I’m going to go with PC. Mostly due to the majority of games I play don’t agree well with playing with a controller and aren’t in consoles. I also feel like you get a larger variety of games in general when on PC that you couldn’t ever experience on console. That being said, there’s something to be appreciated about lounging on the couch and enjoying a favorite that is in a a console.

[-] tal@lemmy.today 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

That being said, there’s something to be appreciated about lounging on the couch

I kind of feel like there's a lot of room for the office chair to evolve.

And I don't mean those "gaming chairs". Like, how practical would it be to have something more like an easy chair on casters with a swivel "desk tray" for a keyboard and mouse?

Historically, one had to sit up at a desk to write and work on paper and keep a collection of related documents for whatever one is working on present. But...I don't do much of that these days. I'm basically always looking at a computer screen. My documents are almost all electronic and laid out virtually, not on a slab of dead wood. I don't need a big surface to lay them out on. Most of what I think most people are looking at could be handled by a monitor on an arm with a VESA mount---it's why you see "laptop bars" and tiny standing desks.

Maybe you want to keep a traditional desk surface somewhere and a chair that can roll under it for times when you are working on physical objects. But I feel like the "computer work environment" has just kind of stagnated over the years while what many of us actually do there has changed an awful lot over the past 30 years or so.

[-] Bronzie@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

I’ve gone from 15 years of PC, to a few years on console, then back to PC.

I enjoyed gaming on the couch, but I missed the modularity and multi functions of PC’s.
If Sony follows through with removing discs, then I’m probably gone from consoles forever.

[-] lonesomeCat@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago

I generally prefer general purpose devices over anything that is locked down. So I'd go with PCs and anything that can have a fully functional FOSS OS (Got an Android handheld that fully runs Linux, it's a literal PC running ARM this way)

[-] Snoopy@piefed.social 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

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.

[-] Mr_Fish 3 points 2 days ago

the cons are valve drm

I've heard gog is working on an official Linux client, so that will be that problem solved

[-] Iconoclast@feddit.uk 3 points 3 days ago

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.

[-] emeralddawn45@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 days ago

Except you can also use a controller on PC...

[-] Iconoclast@feddit.uk 1 points 2 days ago

That's why I said the controller was the only useful piece of the PS4.

[-] dkppunk@piefed.social 1 points 2 days ago

I still have my old PS4. It’s now used exclusively as a dvd player for when I borrow blue ray discs from the library 😬

[-] DGen@piefed.zip 1 points 2 days ago

It really depends on the Game. Story rich games= console on a tv. I get distracted too fast at the Computer. Some other games are good on a bigger Screen as well.

Most other Games Like the most Cozy, fps and stuff is Computer for me.

[-] Honytawk@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 days ago

And why don't you just connect your computer to the TV and play with a controller?

[-] apotheotic@beehaw.org 2 points 2 days ago

Carrying computer around annoying

[-] orenj@leminal.space 2 points 2 days ago
[-] apotheotic@beehaw.org 1 points 1 day ago

I guess if you're not doing high resolution/high framerate, sure, but if you're doing that then long active cables can be like £100

[-] tal@lemmy.today 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

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.

[-] Honytawk@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

One thing: PC has better local multiplayer games support. It has more local multiplayer games than even the Wii has in total. They just don't get advertised as much.

Co-optimus isn't even fully up to date, but it lists 5400 games on PC at the moment.

[-] Malica@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 days ago

I used to be PC all the way, then I hurt my back and couldn't sit in a chair for very long, so now I play console. Given the recent bullshit with Sony, I'm going back to PC on my laptop and hope for the best.

[-] dkppunk@piefed.social 2 points 2 days ago

Hello fellow back problem person. I’m the same way, I can’t sit in my PC chair for hours like I used to, it doesn’t matter how comfortable the chair is. I have a sit/stand desk now and I tend to game standing more often. It’s really helped a lot! Otherwise, I’ll game on my Steam Deck in the comfortable living room chair.

[-] Malica@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago

That's a good idea I may try that, thanks

[-] dkppunk@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago

No problem! I hope it works for you. I’m fused from T10-L3 and I prefer to stand whenever possible. I even stand while watching tv but hamstring stretches really help on moderate pain days.

[-] emeralddawn45@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 days ago

I mean it's easy enough to hook a PC up to a tv and use a controller. I don't know why people act like couch gaming is some console exclusive thing that can't be done on PC. I have my PC hooked to the TV and a monitor at my desk so I can use either, and I have wireless controllers for multiplayer/coop games.

[-] Malica@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago

I've tried and it just doesn't work for me, I can do that with my laptop though.

[-] christopher@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 days ago

I enjoy both but mostly play on the PC. I usually play older games and use Retroarch alot.

[-] dkppunk@piefed.social 1 points 3 days ago

I game almost exclusively on PC. The last console I had was an Xbox360 and that was over a decade ago. I have a Steam Deck, which I use when I don’t feel like gaming at my desk.

[-] akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 days ago

This question has never been an issue for me, although I could just be heavily biased. It's all about the individual title for me. If I want to prioritize graphical fidelity, I choose PC, although my card is an nvidia 3080 and I don't see myself upgrading ever again since I play less so maybe I have hit some sort of ceiling. If I'm playing games that I grew up with and the overall atmosphere is more important than UE5 visuals and the title is not available on PC, I choose the original console.

[-] IWW4@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 days ago

Up until about ten years ago, I was PC all the way. Now i am a console guy.

[-] emeralddawn45@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 days ago

Can I ask why? What can a console do that a PC can't?

[-] Honytawk@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 days ago

I would wager exclusives.

I just put a small form gaming PC under my TV and pretend it is a console.

[-] IWW4@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago

I don’t know really why I made that switch, I think it was because I had Horizon zero for PlayStation,

[-] thezeesystem@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 days ago

PC. Used to be both but sense consoles are gatekeep and forced on what I can and can't do and the whole bullshit there doing there just going to get worse.

I prefer steam machine for my games. Sense I can do whatever I want with it without fear it will suddenly change.

Steam could turn to do things the console company are doing but sense the steam machine is basically a small form Factor PC they can't just update it and lock things out.

[-] AskewLord@piefed.social 0 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

i haven't PC gamed in like 10 years. it's just easier, more convenient, and comfortable to use a console. I have a PS5 and a Switch 2.

and i have no idea why this opinion basically brings out insane people who want to PM and comment at me about how stupid I am. That shit is so weird.

In my life experience PC gaming more expensive and comes with tons of extra headaches, that I was more tolerant of in my 20s but lost interest in dealing with in my 30s. The only games I ever play on PC anyway was like 4x games, since those aren't available on console. I recently helped two of nephews build gaming PCs and it was... nothing but headaches and extra costs and they both ended up spending like 50% over budget, and then a year later were agonizing about upgrades they couldn't afford.

I also have some games I've had on both console and PC, and generally found the console experience better, but I'm don't care much about FPS or any of those things that PC gamers go on about. It just works and that's what I want, to sit back on my couch and just chill. I don't want to manage patches, driver versions, or have to edit startup configurations anymore or install custom mods just to get a game to load. spent way too many hours of my life doing that shit in the past.

this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2026
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