TTBM: commenters on articles about PC gaming. 99% of the articles boil down to "PCs are amazing and anybody who plays on a console is an idiotic peasant".
While I've played quite a few games on PC and thoroughly enjoyed them I've also had some excellent experiences with consoles. People say that consoles offer a limited range of titles, which is probably true to an extent. But come on: We Love Katamari, Okami, Super Mario Bros and many other great, innovative titles found their home as console exclusives. Not to mention we've got up and coming games like The Unfinished Swan on PS3. Each platform offers experiences you can't get anywhere else, and some of our most highly-acclaimed games, like Super Mario Galaxy and Metal Gear Solid 4 to use recent examples, were built on so-called inferior hardware.
Heck, one game I own on Wii, Let's Tap, involves placing the Wii remote on a box and tapping on the box to interact with the game. And you know what? It works. Alarmingly well. That's a great idea, and it was done using some of the weakest home hardware currently available. And what about games like Super Mario Galaxy, WarioWare and And Yet It Moves?
Similarly, another touted feature of PCs is mods: the ability to change a game around to suit your interests. Well, I'm sure that is a wonderful feature but the crucial point is it doesn't make an already good experience worse. Half-Life 2 has heaps of mods for it, but is my playing experience diminished just because I don't have access to these mods? No. It's still an atmospheric and intelligent game that I love.
This brings me onto my next point. Yes, games like Half-Life, Deus Ex and most other shooters will play better on PC but this doesn't mean they play terribly on console. I've managed to make my way through a great number of console shooters without feeling crippled by the use of a joypad. Indeed, if this generation and the rise of the Wii has taught us anything it's that no control scheme works with everything. A mouse and keyboard is great for shooters but a bit naff for platformers and racing games, just as a controller is a poor substitute for a mouse and keyboard in FPS situations. Neither is automatically better than the other.
I suppose what I'm trying to say is that while I'm sure the restrictiveness and static nature of the console is a problem it doesn't make it some fundamentally broken system devoid of innovation or quality. I like consoles because they're stable: I know the games I buy now will work without issue however many years from now assuming I look after the hardware, which I do. I actually like a lot of console exclusives like Ratchet and Clank. They offer up good local multiplayer options and I can play them whilst sat on my bed or sofa. I may not be experiencing every possible fact of every possible game, but what of it? They're bloody games, and they do what I require pretty well.
In short, what I'm trying to say is that I think consoles are worth people's time and offer high-quality experiences, even if they do have some restrictions.
