Quote Originally Posted by Gameguy View Post
That's exactly what I was getting at. If consoles are the same price point as a PC, you might as well just buy a PC which has less limitations with how you use it.


My argument was that as a casual consumer, it doesn't seem like a good deal to spend more than $300 on a console. Since the current Wii U released at $299.99, it's more than just possible for consoles to be released at that price point. If a console was $500 today, I would spend a bit more to buy a new PC and stick to that. At least when there doesn't appear to be any exclusive games that look like must own titles. Consoles aren't even just for playing games anymore, they're like media players for streaming video. Any PC can do that too. Just reading up on the "benefits" of this Xbox One console, it includes a built-in Skype client for videoconferencing, the ability to use voice commands and gestures to navigate the console's user interface, cloud computing, the ability to automatically record and share video highlights from gameplay, and support for live streaming gameplay online. How many of these things would help improve the way games play? It just sounds like upgrades for a new computer. I'm not going to buy a new console at $500 just so I can use voice commands to boot up a game, or so I can Skype with people, or upload gameplay videos to youtube or other video sites. I can already do that with my PC, not that I bother with that either. Also, when we personally buy new computers they tend to be used regularly for about 10 years before they're too old to be useable for daily use. Consoles are usually replaced every 5 years or so, it's just not worth spending so much on them.

There was a time when consoles were actually more suitable for games than PCs, back when Super Mario Bros came out side scrolling games of that quality weren't possible on home computers, it wasn't for a few years until Commander Keen pulled it off on the PC. Those days are long gone, computers are just as capable as consoles for playing games.

I was also a bit confused by the article that you posted, I assume you posted it to support your argument but the article actually supports my view.
Your argument is just silly. The WiiU hardware is well below the capabilities of the Xbox One or the PS4 hardware and in fact is only slightly more capable than the Xbox 360 or PS3. Considering those two consoles are 7+ years old and can be had for as little as $200 during the holidays and other sale periods, paying $300 for a WiiU seems downright expensive IMHO if you're just looking at cost and capabilities on the hardware side. It's like arguing that all cars should be priced the same as a Hyundai or a Scion just because those cheaper cars exist. Consumers don't make choices solely based on price, they also consider things like features, comfort, reliability, longevity, ease of use, capabilities, etc...The same goes for gaming hardware.

The reality is that gamers buy the WiiU because it has great exclusive games, not because it's $300 and therefore cheaper than a cheap PC. Gamers also know that Nintendo won't be selling their console games on a PC, at least not in the near future. The same is or will be true of the Xbox One and PS4. Many gamers like the reliability and seamless support for gaming that a console provides. You don't have to worry about upgrading the graphics card every 2-3 years and you don't have to worry about hardware or software incompatibility or what operating system you run or what drivers are installed, etc...I say this as a long-time PC gamer and someone who actually has a fairly recent gaming PC. Frankly, a $500 gaming PC is not going to be able to run most FPS or graphics intensive games in 3-5 years while at least in the previous generation, Microsoft and Sony were just hitting their stride at five years and seem likely to support the 360 and PS3 for at least a couple more years with AAA releases, making the lifespan of the past generation probably a decade.