History MediaNotes / PCVsConsole

By the end of the 1990s, things were gradually moving back in [=PCs=] favor. It was the obvious choice for many genres, such as FPS and strategy titles that just did not handle well on consoles, and by the end of the 90s PC hardware caught up with -and even outclassed- console hardware. Still, in terms of overall sales and ubiquity, consoles would continue to surpass [=PCs=] for quite some time.

The C64 survived in this period largely because it had already become a common feature in millions of American households, schools, and offices. However, Commodore as a company would be badly affected by the 1983 crash and would eventually go under. The C64 primarily made sales by constantly decreasing its price, but throughout the 1980s consoles largely dominated the gaming market. The C64 and other [=PCs=] became more of a niche for those who were really into the homebrew scene and wanted to program their own games, as opposed to those who just wanted to plug in and play. It also faced some competition: Commodore's founder Jack Tramiel went on to purchase and reorganize Atari, using it to market the UsefulNotes/AtariST to limited success[[note]]it was [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff more successful in Europe]] and the built-in MIDI ports made it popular with musicians[[/note]]. On the more technical side, IBM's computers provided greater capabilities at a significant cost, making them a commodity only for the geekiest (and wealthiest) of PC gaming nerds.

Console games mostly stayed on consoles, but with few exceptions, every popular arcade or computer game was ported to almost every platform available, even though the common home platforms had widely varying processing power and graphical capabilities, and porting a game to a system with a different UsefulNotes/CentralProcessingUnit would likely mean hiring another programmer to recode it from scratch. Still, most computer games were simple in design with relatively unsophisticated 2D graphics, and even arcade driving games built for state-of-the-art dedicated hardware were often ported to far less capable home computers. The gaming audience was diverse enough: some owned the UsefulNotes/CommodoreAmiga, some owned IBM PC (or more likely a PC clones), some owned PC-88; you want to make your games playable in all of them if you want profit. The IBM-compatible PC architecture which would come to dominate computer gaming in the next decade was relatively weak in the 80s, compared to both consoles and other home computers.

Things would gradually change midway through the 1990s for a variety of reasons. The PC market homogenized as the list of competitors grew smaller and smaller, and IBM architecture would become the lion's share of the market, remaining as such to this day. Operating systems were becoming more user friendly, with mouse control becoming a feature throughout the 1980s, and most operating systems utilizing a GUI (Graphic User Interface) instead of the old text-based model. This simplified [=PCs=] and made them far more accessible to the average person, while still allowing them to retain their complexity underneath the surface, making them the go-to platform for independent developers and hobbyists. Developing for the PC required little more than patience, with no expensive contracts or licensing fees. This allowed hundreds of small teams -often no more than 3 or 4 friends- to work together to make entire games in their spare time, with little more than commercially available [=PCs=]. This helped propel the PC market forward when smaller developers broke in to the 'shareware' market, where demo versions would be shipped to someone's house or passed around in hobby shops, and upon playing, the consumer would determine whether they wanted to pay for a full product. This helped push developers like Creator/IdSoftware to the cream of the crop, while giving PC gamers a larger variety of options compared to their console bretheren. Consoles still dominated in polish and were the prime medium for big budget, AAA releases, but PC steadily regained its footing.

On the other hand, while console platforms are easier to tailor a game for, [=PCs=] are easier for small indie studios to ''publish'' games for, with a wide variety of distribution options and technologies available and cheap or free open source game engines and [=SDKs=] to work with and no platform licensing fees. The digital distribution model is also more amenable to the smaller cheaper games that indie teams are capable of creating, and these smaller games tend to run well on the lower-powered laptops and tablets that are starting to be favored as new hardware purchases. Consoles have been fighting to alleviate this problem over the last decade, however, with markets such as UsefulNotes/XboxLiveArcade for Microsoft's systems, the UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork for Sony's systems, and the UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole for Nintendo's systems.

* PC gamers usually cite the computer's modding abilities, versatility and utility, keyboard/mouse control along with the ability to use every control scheme you can think of[[note]]Even Kinect and the Wii Remote are usable on the PC[[/note]], cheaper games, better graphical capabilities, openness to indie games, free online play, and sheer practicality: ever since the late '90s, the PC has turned from an optional luxury to a necessity for modern life. Usually, it is also cheaper to build a very powerful gaming PC (especially if the more basic PC you [[ItsForABook have for homework or job-hunting anyway]] is a desktop model), although pre-built [=PCs=] are another story.

A major source of contention, the PC vs. Console wars pit fans of both platforms in battles of nerd rage on forums all over the internets. As with UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars, fans of both platforms will argue on which is better for gaming.

As for the market, it is not so easy to tell, unlike in the UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars. While it is fairly simple to measure out the sales for consoles and their games, since the sales of console games is related to sales of the consoles, it is much more difficult to measure it out for PC games, since there are millions of [=PCs=] in the world that have never had a game installed on them. And this is just including ''mainstream'' PC games. It could be argued that the millions of ''VideoGame/{{Farmville}}'' players are PC gamers as well (though if you did you might GoMadFromTheRevelation). There is also the issue of piracy on the PC side. Developers usually prefer to work more on the console side because it's significantly harder to pirate console games.

The C64 survived in this period largely because it had already become a common feature in millions of American households, schools, and offices. However, Commodore as a company would be badly affected by the 1983 crash and would eventually go under. The C64 primarily made sales by constantly decreasing its price, but throughout the 1980s consoles largely dominated the gaming market. The C64 and other [=PCs=] became more of a niche for those who were really into the homebrew scene and wanted to program their own games, as opposed to those who just wanted to plug in and play. It also faced some competition: Commodore's founder Jack Tramiel went on to purchase and reorganize Atari, using it to market the UsefulNotes/AtariST to limited success. On the more technical side, IBM's computers provided greater capabilities at a significant cost, making them a commodity only for the geekiest (and wealthiest) of PC gaming nerds.

The C64 survived in this period largely because it had already become a common feature in millions of American households, schools, and offices. However, Commodore as a company would be badly affected by the 1983 crash and would eventually go under. The C64 primarily made sales by constantly decreasing its price, but throughout the 1980s consoles largely dominated the gaming market. The C64 and other [=PCs=] became more of a niche for those who were really into the homebrew scene and wanted to program their own games, as opposed to those who just wanted to plug in and play. It also faced some competition: Commodore's founder Jack Tramiel went on to purchase and reorganize Atari, using it to publish the Amiga gaming PC to limited success. On the more technical side, IBM's computers provided greater capabilities at a significant cost, making them a commodity only for the geekiest (and wealthiest) of PC gaming nerds.

Console games mostly stayed on consoles, but with few exceptions, every popular arcade or computer game was ported to almost every platform available, even though the common home platforms had widely varying processing power and graphical capabilities, and porting a game to a system with a different UsefulNotes/CentralProcessingUnit would likely mean hiring another programmer to recode it from scratch. Still, most computer games were simple in design with relatively unsophisticated 2D graphics, and even arcade driving games built for state-of-the-art dedicated hardware were often ported to far less capable home computers. The gaming audience was diverse enough: some owned Amiga, some owned IBM PC, some owned PC-88; you want to make your games playable in all of them if you want profit. The IBM-compatible PC architecture which would come to dominate computer gaming in the next decade was relatively weak in the 80s, compared to both consoles and other home computers.

The C64 would dominate the North American market, while the indigenous ZX Spectrum computer would provide still competition for it in the UK. Despite the Spectrum never gaining any popularity outside of Western Europe, it would still have an important legacy on the gaming industry, as its ubiquity in British households is one major reason why PC gaming continues to dominate in that country compared to consoles.

A major source of InternetBackdraft, the PC vs. Console wars pit fans of both platforms in battles of nerd rage on forums all over the internets. As with UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars, fans of both platforms will argue on which is better for gaming.

* Console gamers cite ease of use, the "plug in and play" nature of consoles, simple (and sometimes [[{{Waggle}} unusual]]) control schemes with the controller, game stability, uniform hardware eliminating concern over technical specs, and easier local multiplayer, especially split screen. They may also cite the ability to resell/buy used games, though [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes that is itself a very controversial issue]]; let's not get into the InternetBackdraft on ''that'' subject [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment in this page]].

* Console gamers cite ease of use, the "plug in and play" nature of consoles, simple (and sometimes [[{{Waggle}} unusual]]) control schemes with the controller, game stability, uniform hardware eliminating concern over technical specs, and easier local multiplayer, especially split screen. They may also cite the ability to resell/buy used games, though [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes that is itself a very controversial issue]]; let's not get into the InternetBackdraft on ''that'' subject [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment in this page]].

* PC gamers usually cite the computer's modding abilities, versatility and utility, keyboard/mouse control along with the ability to use every control scheme you can think of[[note]]Even Kinect and the Wii Remote are usable on the PC[[/note]], cheaper games, better graphical capabilities, openness to indie games, free online play, and sheer practicality: ever since the late '90s, the PC has turned from an optional luxury to a necessity for modern life. Usually, it is also cheaper to build a very powerful gaming PC (especially if the more basic PC you [[ItsForABook have for homework or job-hunting anyway]] is a desktop model), although [[CrackIsCheaper pre-built [=PCs=] are another story]].

One thing that's almost never mentioned is the developer's point of view. Consoles are easier to develop for because every single version of that console has (or should have; hard drive size will vary) the exact same hardware and firmware; it's much easier to tailor the game to the platform, and to push the platform to its limits. Meanwhile, the PC world doesn't ''have'' standardized hardware; you might be running at least one of three operating systems[[note]]Windows, [=macOS=] or Linux. For a long time, Windows was pretty much the default gaming OS, but this is starting to break down just a little now that more publishers and developers are serving [=macOS=] and Linux as well. Though both competitors biggest gains are in tablet and smartphone gaming.[[/note]], two manufacturers' style of graphics cards[[note]]AMD Radeon vs Nvidia; they're fairly interchangeable in function, but varying names, designs and requirements can confound the unwary) [[/note]], two manufacturers' style of ''CPU''[[note]]Intel vs AMD[[/note]], and God only knows how much hard drive space and RAM. And to be popular, your game needs to be accessible to as many of these options as possible. Part of the reason that games like ''VideoGame/JurassicParkTrespasser'' and ''VideoGame/UltimaIX'' flopped was because most computers could not run them; likewise, part of the lasting charm of games like ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', ''VideoGame/SinsOfASolarEmpire'' and pretty much all indie games in general is that you ''don't'' have to upgrade your computer to run them. To further confound it, there's the fact that the PC Format is constantly evolving. Nobody is able to stay "on top". PC gamers long ago ceased boasting about their rig's strength, since [[CrackIsCheaper nobody can afford the most advanced hardware except game developers themselves]]. Even buying a dedicated gaming PC can be a lot more expensive than buying one gaming system. PC gamers are actually more likely to applaud a game for making the best use of an older set-up than to boast about the strength of their personal format, because they could be buying a new one next year.

PC and Consoles would continue to battle it out throughout the early 2000s, with consoles generally remaining the top dog. The release of the incredibly affordable (if underpowered) Playstation 2 gave households what was at the time the cheapest and easiest way to play games, causing it to dominate that console generation in overall sales. Consoles in general were far more affordable than [=PCs=]. While [=PCs=] could manage some truly impressive things (with 2005's ''{{VideoGame/Crysis}}'' being one of the most visually stunning titles ever released, and absolutely flooring people when it came out) they became prohibitively expensive, thus reinforcing the stereotype of PC users being little more than elitist nerds who prided stunning visuals over actual gameplay.

Mobile gaming significantly upset the balance of the market, because its massive audience and cheap development cost means that it makes far more money than mainstream gaming. However, mobile developers are prone to scummy practices, such as the maligned microtransactions and premium currency models. These allow games to be "free" to download and play, but to actually invest time and excel at them requires paying in a little money. These transactions are often made to be small enough that they are done without a second thought, and many mobile games are designed entirely around them, intending to 'funnel' the player into a purchase by hooking them with easy early levels and then rapidly ramping up the difficulty or time commitment.

These practices began bleeding in to the mainstream gaming market, with microtransactions and premium currencies becoming a prominent sight. At first it was largely restricted to games using the same 'free to play' model as their mobile cousins, but eventually such things would find their way into full-priced games.

In 2018, something horrible happened to the Triple-A publishers - the downfall of the Lootbox, a feature which was especially dominant in PC games. EA's excessive Lootboxing of game content was being deemed as 'gambling' by Belgium, which moved to ban Lootboxes, which would make a series like FIFA pretty much unplayable. EA gathered its lawyers to insist lootboxes were not gambling - since a successful ban in Belgium would mean other countries inevitably following suit. But by them it was already notorious for buying successful small companies and then killing their houses by pumping their best franchises dry.

It got especially ugly at Activision's special announcement of Diablo: Immortal - the Dev announcer was almost booed off the stage when he asked dedicated PC fans "Don't you have phones?" (a Website/YouTube viewer commented "Honestly, when the boos start up you half expect the guy to be pelted with rotten veg.") and one audience member was ''applauded'' for asking if it was a late April Fools joke, with share prices taking a rapid tumble. Activision is also known for putting lootboxes in its games ''after launch'' so that they don't affect reviews or initial sales figures, which only shows they ''already know'' lootboxes are unpopular with gamers and just don't care.

Ubisoft's fall wasn't so dramatic but the company was still notorious for its games being excessively grindy to the point that games were being ''designed'' to incorporate grinding, and was often accused of being the most greedy of the three major publishers, and for being all the worse for hiding it.

Unfortunately, these Triple-A companies have been riding a serious gravy-train with only a small number of franchises (Like EA's FIFA series) that rely on a large number of Microtransations and Lootboxes, and there's speculation that if people turn away from them, there will be another Video Game Crash for the big guys - and there's no small number of gamers who would say that they might deserve it.

It got especially ugly at Activision's special announcement of Diablo: Immortal - the Dev announcer was almost booed off the stage when he asked dedicated PC fans "Don't you have phones?" (a YouTube viewer commented "Honestly, when the boos start up you half expect the guy to be pelted with rotten veg.") and one audience member was ''applauded'' for asking if it was a late April Fools joke, with share prices taking a rapid tumble. Activision is also known for putting lootboxes in its games ''after launch'' so that they don't affect reviews or initial sales figures, which only shows they ''already know'' lootboxes are unpopular with gamers and just don't care.

Multiplatform galore. Console games (largely a Japanese phenomenon after UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983) mostly stayed on consoles, but with few exceptions, every popular arcade or computer game was ported to almost every platform available, even though the common home platforms had widely varying processing power and graphical capabilities, and porting a game to a system with a different UsefulNotes/CentralProcessingUnit would likely mean hiring another programmer to recode it from scratch. Still, most computer games were simple in design with relatively unsophisticated 2D graphics, and even arcade driving games built for state-of-the-art dedicated hardware were often ported to far less capable home computers. The gaming audience was diverse enough: some owned Amiga, some owned IBM PC, some owned PC-88; you want to make your games playable in all of them if you want profit. The IBM-compatible PC architecture which would come to dominate computer gaming in the next decade was relatively weak in the 80's, compared to both consoles and other home computers.

[[AC:1992-2002]]

With the vast dwindling of competing PC platforms, and flourishing console game development, the port-it-on-everything phase dies off. Both sides pretty much kept to themselves, using the strengths of their platforms to produce games suitable for themselves and mostly not paying too much attention to each other.

What's [[TechnologyMarchesOn difficult to believe today]] is that during this decade, [=PCs=] simply were ''not good enough''. Graphics card manufacturers were locked in a battle comparable to the UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars ten years previous, and even the most basic sound card was an extra expense. As a result, [=PCs=] were still considered business machines.

The mainstream success (and profits) of the console market led to PC game developers going multiplatform, while some were exclusive to consoles:
* Creator/{{Bungie}}, whose previous games were made for the PC and UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh, is acquired by Microsoft in 2000. ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' is originally released for the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}, and takes almost two years to appear on PC.
* Creator/EpicGames, the makers of acclaimed PC hits ''VideoGame/{{Unreal}}'' and ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'', pretty much goes console-exclusive after ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar''. [[note]]There was actually a too-little-too-late PC port, but [[PortingDisaster nobody bothers with it.]][[/note]] An exception, ''[[VideoGame/UnrealTournamentIII UT III]]'' was a simultaneous release that even allowed a USB keyboard & mouse ''on consoles'', hinting at cross-platform play that was never implemented. Then, PC gamers became upset when they learned that they would not be getting a demo for ''VideoGame/{{Bulletstorm}}'' until after the game had come out. [[SarcasmMode You know, because people don't want to test the game before deciding if they want to buy it.]] Cliff's [[http://twitter.com/therealcliffyb/status/25979475304906752 tweet]] didn't help matters either.
* Koei, in the past the makers of many highly complicated strategy games, today are mostly known for ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' and its many spin-offs. Only the ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' and ''Nobunaga's Ambition'' strategy series remain, and to a lesser extent ''VideoGame/UnchartedWaters''.
* Some time later, the attempt to port some console games to the PC have mostly resulted in bad ports, most notably ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'', the first two ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' games, ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'', ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''.
* ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'' was a major front on the console vs. PC debate. Developers of the aforementioned game removed modding tools, the developer's console, and dedicated servers, among other things from the game, making its multiplayer similar to that of the console. In addition, its price tag was $60, which was a console-exclusive markup as far as AAA games go at the time.[[note]]The cost exists to pay for licensing fees to Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo, which are naturally non-existent for a PC game.[[/note]] Many big PC games are now sold at this price. Naturally, this [[InternetBackdraft didn't go over so well with the PC crowd.]]
** The backlash from this was so bad that [[VideoGame/{{Battlefield}} DICE]] played up the fact that [[TakeThat they had dedicated servers]] for ''[[VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany Bad Company 2]]'' (although they were locked down, unlike the dedicated servers in older PC games). Nowadays, when a game is being released for the PC as well as the consoles, somewhere in the game's fact sheet, dedicated servers are mentioned to be available.
** Both ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' and ''Modern Warfare 3'' had dedicated servers due to this fiasco. However, in ''[=MW3=]'', to actually be able to play on dedicated servers you have to find an obscure toggle in the options menu, none of what happens in a dedicated server counts towards your rank, and it took over half a year's worth of patches before the server browser actually worked, before which it often refused to display any servers for seemingly no reason.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' allows players on the 360 and PC to engage in competitive multiplayer. The massive imbalance caused by the control differences causes plans for including this feature in future games to be halted.
* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike: Global Offensive'' was originally planned to allow cross platform gaming between UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation 3}} players and PC players. To help even out the playing field, [=PS3=] players can use a keyboard and mouse with their console. However, Valve has since decided not to support cross-platform play.
* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', a once PC-exclusive game, was announced by Notch (head developer of the game) that the game would also be released to the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}} with Kinect controls. PC players ''exploded'' with fury at the news, saying that ''Minecraft'' would now be ruined by retarded ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}''/''Call of Duty'' fans who would muck up the ''Minecraft'' community with their trollish attitudes and would demand the game to have guns or other things, or were worried that the game would now have even less updates because of how split the development team would be between PC and the Xbox 360. This is after Notch has stated that A) a separate team would be working on the console port while he and his team would focus on the PC version, B) a standard controller would be an option to use should Xbox owners opt to not use Kinect controls (and even then, Kinect was never implemented into the game even after release), and C) updates were still coming regardless.
* Console gaming dominates Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, and especially the United States and Japan, but the gaming industry in other parts of the world (particularly in Russia, mainland Europe, China, and Korea) is still massively weighted towards the PC, with many commercial titles being released for the platform regularly. Most of the ''advertising'' tends to be for console or {{multiplatform}} titles due to to the larger potential markets, so now -- as always -- countless major and minor PC titles come and go without appearing on the English- or Nihongo-speaking radars.
* ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}'': This has currently been a mixed victory for PC players. On one hand, PC gamers rejoiced when they heard that the PC would be the lead platform, and that the PC version would have 64-player maps, and larger maps than the console versions. On the other hand, backlash occurred when the server browser was stated to be in an Internet browser, rather than in game, and that the consoles would have an in-game browser. The fact that the game is not being sold on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} has also been a source of Flame Wars on the Internet as well, along with [[http://nightmaremode.net/2011/08/ea-origin-drm-big-brother-in-the-making-9870/ privacy concerns]] with Origin. The issues with Origin snooping around though can be easily fixed by putting it in a Sandbox environment though. Details on how to do that can be found on the 19th post in [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/960869-battlefield-3/60145714 this thread.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{RAGE}}'': PC gamers were upset when it was announced that id Software's latest wouldn't be using the PC as the lead platform. Then, when the game came out, it was found that there were no graphics options on PC (other than resolution and anti-aliasing), that the game engine was optimized for home consoles, and most damningly, that stock AMD and Nvidia graphics cards (which dominate the market) had trouble running the game properly and needed to be optimized/patched.
** One point of contention is the fact that, since the Xbox 360 has just a DVD drive (as opposed to [=PS3=] supporting the comparatively-massive Blu-ray, and PC being able to just download games), ''every version'' of the game had to be massively cut down so it would fit on a reasonable number of [=DVDs=] for the 360 release.
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' already had its share of console version vs. PC version flame wars, but it rose to a new level for the Cold Stream DLC. The DLC was released to the PC players in beta in March 2011 and over time, Valve released ports of the ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' campaigns for the DLC in beta as well so players could give feedback on what needs to be fixed. 2012 rolls around and Valve announced in their blog that the DLC is in certification process by Microsoft to which the DLC will be released to the PC and Xbox 360 after it is done along with last minute bug testing. An entire year had passed since the DLC was released in beta and no word has been shown for a release date (due to Valve Time). The long wait has caused PC gamers to blame Xbox owners for holding the DLC back (due to the certification process) while Xbox players flame PC gamers because they feel the PC version is taking so long to test that it's holding the DLC back. It's basically a flame war over which side gets content the quickest.
** Now that Cold Stream is finally, finally out, many Xbox 360 players are angry about the fact that the Xbox version is releasing a week later than the PC/Mac version.
** On the other hand, many are excited for the upcoming ''Linux'' version of Steam and ''VideoGame/Left4Dead''.
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': The game itself and the [=DLCs=] are available for Xbox at least a month before PC (or [=PS3=]) due to an exclusivity agreement. What's funny is both platforms are Microsoft.
** On the other hand, the modding tools are PC-exclusive (which has been the case since ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', the first multi-platform ''Elder Scrolls'' game; both of these points are also the case for ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' and ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', which are from the same developer and publisher, respectively). In addition, ''Skyrim'' was the launch bed for Steam Workshop, which allows user-made content to be shared online and added to the game with a single click. The modding community for the ''Elder Scrolls'' series is very extensive, and within days of a launch of a game or DLC, modders will have already patched all the bugs left untouched by official patches, which are essentially PC-exclusive.
* On PC, ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' is a LongRunner FourX series, much beloved and often known for its complexity and depth. When brought to consoles as ''Civilization: Revolution''? Massively simplified with a very whimsical and cartoony art style. Firaxis [[TakeThat may have been making a statement with that]].
* After the first ''Franchise/MassEffect'' being Xbox 360-exclusive for a while, the DVD format of the platform caused some heavy story changes to its multiplatform sequels to accomodate having to swap discs as few times as possible, including splitting the available dossiers in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' in half until a story mission in the middle is completed. PC players can mod latter-half characters (notably [[spoiler:Legion]] into the former half, but they still despise that [=BioWare=] had to compromise more open-ended storytelling and mission structure to "cater to" the 360's limitation.

Steam was released in 2004 to launch ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''. While initially received with mixed response, with many finding it to be a hindrance to playing games, it gradually picked up greater and greater acceptance over the course of the decade. The digital distribution platform allowed distributors to sell games directly to consumers - no packaging or shipping or retail stores or discs required. Steam had no bias and would sell almost any game, with any rating, to anybody with an internet connection and a credit card.

However, similar hardware architecture gives hope that PC ports will be cheaper, easier to make, and/or more importantly actually financially feasible. Not to mention there's hope that since developers can spend all of their resources on a single architecture, it will deliver better results for everyone. A common complaint (if misinformed) from PC gamers is that consoles are limiting what PC hardware can do, because everything has to run on a common denominator... which isn't much.

In late 2012 ''Franchise/WingCommander's'' Chris Roberts comes back from his ten-year vacation from game-making and pitches ''VideoGame/StarCitizen'', a PC-exclusive space MMORPG. A large part of his reasoning for the exclusivity seems to be PC fanboyism: he wants to prove once and for all that [=PCs=] have more power by creating a game with uber-realistic, ridiculously high-poly graphics[[note]]To be fair, the game is only in Alpha testing and has already done just that. Unfortunately this means the game currently requires relatively high end gaming [=PCs=] just to play.[[/note]]. Although some commenters noted wryly that in the promo video Roberts was controlling his ship with an Xbox controller instead of a joystick.

In 2013, the Xbox One was announced. Game journalists have been weighing in on this debate in favor of [=PCs=], as they claim the Xbox One has announced draconian DRM the likes of which even [=PCs=] haven't seen. [[UsefulNotes/XBoxOne See its page for details]].

In 2015, the somewhat high specifications for the UsefulNotes/OculusRift are released, and it and at least one competing VR headset are months from launch. This could spell the end of the 'good enough' PC, while in the meantime Sony's Project Morpheus for the [=PS4=] has yet to bear fruit but has received some good press. Stay tuned on that one, as the fates of both [=PCs=] and Consoles are uncertain with these factors in play.

In 2018, something horrible happened to the Triple-A publishers - the downfall of the Lootbox, a feature which was especially dominant in PC games. Over time, Triple-A publishers had become undeniably greedier with large games seemingly half-finished on release. As Triple-A games raked in more and more money, Shareholders began to see ''any'' game making less money than the game previous as a failure, regardless of how much money it made. It didn't happen all at once. But gamers grew ever more resentful of publishers who used DLC and Microtransactions, and that these huge companies were focusing on the money-raking capabilities of Mobile games.

EA's excessive Lootboxing of game content was being deemed as 'gambling' by Belgium, which moved to ban Lootboxes, which would make a series like FIFA pretty much unplayable. EA gathered its lawyers to insist lootboxes were not gambling - since a successful ban in Belgium would mean other countries inevitably following suit. But by them it was already notorious for buying successful small companies and then killing their houses by pumping their best franchises dry.

EA's excessive Lootboxing of game content was being deemed as 'gambling' by Belgium, which moved to ban Lootboxes. EA gathered its lawyers to insist lootboxes were not gambling - since a successful ban in Belgium would mean other countries inevitably following suit. It was also notorious for buying franchises and then killing their houses.

It got especially ugly at Activision's special announcement of Diablo: Immortal - the Dev announcer was almost booed off the stage when he asked dedicated PC fans "Don't you have phones?" (a YouTuber commented "Maybe they prefer Bluestacks"; another said "He was lucky not to be pelted with rotten veg") and one audience member was ''applauded'' for asking if it was a late April Fools joke, with share prices taking a rapid tumble.

In 2018, something horrible happened to the Triple-A publishers - the downfall of the Lootbox, a feature which was especially dominant in PC games. Over time, Triple-A publishers had become undeniably greedier with large games seemingly half-finished on release, more than half of their content being released over time as DLC, or using Lootboxes, or designed to be grindy to force players to use Microtransactions. As Triple-A games raked in more and more money, Shareholders began to see ''any'' game making less money than the game previous as a failure, regardless of how much money it made. It didn't happen all at once. But gamers grew ever more resentful of publishers who used DLC and Microtransactions, and that these huge companies were focusing on the money-raking capabilities of Mobile games.

It got especially ugly at Activision's special announcement of Diablo: Immortal - the Dev announcer was almost booed off the stage when he asked dedicated PC fans "Don't you have phones?" (a YouTuber commented "Somebody should tell him about Bluestacks") and one gamer was applauded when he asked if it was a late April Fools joke.

Ubisoft's fall wasn't so dramatic but the company was still notorious for its games being excessively grindy to the point that games were being ''designed'' to incorporate grinding, and was often accused of being the most greedy of the three majors, and for being all the worse for trying to hide it.

One more -- and perhaps unrelated -- thing to consider is the advent of UsefulNotes/{{emulation}}. If accepted for the sake of the argument, this can easily put the PC over any console it is given the power to imitate. However, there are proprietary, technical, and [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil legal]] challenges when it comes to emulation, such that it is difficult to find working PC emulations for consoles less than a decade old.[[note]]For example, emulators for UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, which was originally released in 2000, are notoriously unable to properly emulate the system architecture, despite the greatly-increased processing power of the modern PC. The system hardware is partially to blame -- a lot of the [=PS2=]'s architecture was and is proprietary, and therefore follows its own rules -- but even a decade and a half after release, coders ''still'' find the system extremely difficult to emulate with any degree of reliability.[[/note]]

On the other side of the fence, when PC games try to go over to the console side, things don't always go as well either. Control-wise, there are more buttons on a keyboard than on a controller, and it's almost impossible to translate the speed and precision of a mouse to a pair of analog sticks. As a result, games with a wide range of actions or those requiring quick and accurate pointing don't go over so well on the console.

It's worth noting that when it comes to controlling a port, Consoles could have the short end of the stick. Not only are there perfectly adequate joypads and controllers available for the PC, but some PC Gamers simply become very adept at using a mouse and keyboard even for platformers and shoot-em-ups.

As for the market, it is not as easy to tell, unlike in the UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars. While it is fairly simple to measure out the sales for consoles and their games, since the sales of console games is related to sales of the consoles, it is much more difficult to measure it out for PC games, since there are millions of [=PCs=] in the world that have never had a game installed on them. And this is just including ''mainstream'' PC games. It could be argued that the millions of ''VideoGame/{{Farmville}}'' players are PC gamers as well (though if you did you might GoMadFromTheRevelation). There is also the issue of piracy on the PC side. Developers usually prefer to work more on the console side because it's significantly harder to pirate console games.

Another thing that commonly pops up is the issue of cross-generational compatibility. Consoles are rather notorious for requiring one to buy completely new hardware to play the next generations' games, and you can rarely use your new system to play games from the previous generation. (The backwards compatibility of the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 and UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance were touted as ''selling points'' for those systems, and the removal of backwards compatibility from later models of the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 caused a lot of DarthWiki/RuinedFOREVER cries.) For [=PCs=] this is less the issue, which is more "Will it run faster than a slug on barbiturates?", as seen with gamers having more or less powerful systems. It's been showing up in recent years, but [[OlderThanTheyThink there have been problems with older games being incompatible with modern systems as far back as the '90s]]. Some games used to be on different formats, such as floppy discs, and even if you could buy a CD Version, there were still problems with it being unable to run without causing glitches. That is, if you can find them. [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes Some games you just flat-out can't buy anymore]] for various reasons, and if you could get them, you'd have to use an emulator or fan-made patches so it would actually run and not look really really weird due to the resolution since they weren't made with computers 20 years later. To remedy the problems of backwards compatibility, as well as availability, companies have put up "virtual console" or "Digital rerelease" versions, and the PC in fact has a [=DOS=] emulator.

Naturally, this results in many a FlameWar on the web, not to mention high levels of FanDumb. According to PC gamers, consoles are holding back the development of gaming due to outdated hardware, while console gamers are either immature adolescents or obnoxious frat boys screaming obscenities and racial slurs into the microphone, too stupid and/or lazy to learn how to use a computer, unwilling to play any game not RatedMForMoney, and likely unable to properly type their own name (at least, not without framing it in [[XtremeKoolLetterz Xs]] and adding [[TheStoner "420"]] at the end). According to console gamers, PC gamers are elitist nerds with no life who [[YouNeedToGetLaid need to get laid]], pour hundreds if not thousands of dollars into the latest hardware that will be outdated in two years, and consider themselves the [[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation glorious master race]] despite living in their [[BasementDweller mom's basement]]. Unfortunately, magazines only reinforce these stereotypes, making gamers who play both or even exclusively one to yell "StopBeingStereotypical" every time they read the next issue of their gaming magazines.

* Console gamers cite ease of use, the "plug in and play" nature of consoles, simple (and sometimes [[{{Waggle}} unusual]]) control schemes with the controller, game stability, uniform hardware eliminating concern over technical specs, and easier local multiplayer, especially split screen. They may also cite the ability to resell/buy used games, though [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes that is itself a very controversial issue]; let's not get into the InternetBackdraft on ''that'' subject [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment in this page]].

* Console gamers cite ease of use, the "plug in and play" nature of consoles, simple (and sometimes [[{{Waggle}} unusual]]) control schemes with the controller, game stability, uniform hardware eliminating concern over technical specs, and easier local multiplayer, especially split screen. They may also cite the ability to resell/buy used games, though that is itself a very controversial issue; let's not get into the InternetBackdraft on ''that'' subject [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment in this page]].

* Koei, in the past the makers of many highly complicated strategy games, today are mostly known for ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' and its many spin-offs. Only the ''RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' and ''Nobunaga's Ambition'' strategy series remain, and to a lesser extent ''VideoGame/UnchartedWaters''.

Paradoxically, the advent of emulation can also be accepted as a reason for why console gaming is better, since a few emulators (such as the Everdrive) require you to download the games on a chip, which you can plug into a cartridge, which then can be plugged into a console (and thus gives access to all the titles that were released on that particular console). This has the advantage that it does not take any loading space. The disadvantage is that it does not directly update and that you thus have to update it regularly by yourself by reinstalling it on the PC to play the homebrew title for it that just came out. It also has an even narrower range of games you can play for it, as it can only work with cartridge-based consoles.

2015 also saw the increasing number of games announced exclusively for one console AND PC, most commonly timed-exclusive [=PS4=] and later PC combo, even when the console makers fund the game like in case of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV''. Possible explanations range from PC re-gaining enough ground to be relevant again, to rising costs of game development necessitating for the game to be on as many platforms as possible without breaking "exclusivity", to Sony and Microsoft not caring as long the games do not appear on the competitor's console.

[[AC:2015 - The Age of the Lootbox]]

By now, the graphics of PCs seemed to be reaching a level of detail where their gamers were complaining that even high-end computers couldn't handle the graphics. Even as the graphics for a PC became ever more detailed, the required specs for a PC to handle games with such high detail and speed increased with them, and so did the price of the PC. Laptops, which usually come with integrated graphics chips that can't be upgraded, certainly couldn't play with the big boys any more. Ironically while smoother animation was appreciated, nobody had ever ''asked'' for photo-realistic graphics on gigantic Orcs, even as simply-animated indie games like ''StardewValley'' and ''PrisonArchitect'' blossomed with graphics that any system could play, even one ten years old. Triple-A publishers had created a rod to beat their own backs even as prices rocketed for the consumer, and the inevitable winner would be the rod.

But more importantly, Triple-A publishers were latching onto another way to funnel money into their pockets - the Lootbox. Their use and abuse became increasingly blatant. This was never accepted well, not that Triple-A publishers were put off and found new and increasingly less consumer-friendly ways to use them, up until the 2017-18 controversy of EA's Star Wars: Battlefront 2 when it was finally pointed out that random drops from paid-for lootboxes basically amounted to gambling.

Large publishers started arguing that the Lootbox was value-for-money, optional, and popular, which is hilariously incorrect, because how can something you pay for be BOTH value-for-money (any value being that it would improve your gaming experience) ''and'' optional? And there has never been a point in history when randomised lootboxes, paid-for or otherwise, were popular (they are bought only because of the potential for popular items being within them).

Additionally PC gamers were catching onto the fact that due to clever Terms and Conditions, they didn't technically ''own'' the games they had paid for online, and had simply paid a one-time rental fee - even though most of the game data was still stored on their computer. Should these publishers go bankrupt, turn off server support for the game, or cancel their account (Valve can cancel your Steam account at any time for no reason), they would simply lose the games, end of story. Unlikely as it was, it seemed ever more unethical as awareness spread.

On the Steam front, the very thing that had elevated the PC platform to immense strength, became an increasing nuisance as more low-skill programmers took advantage of Steam Greenlight. It became harder to find games that were actually any good among the great steaming mess piling up, and PC Gamers were tiring of Valve calling itself a games producer and taunting with promises of Half-Life 3 while doing nothing but raking in 30% of every game it sold on Steam. Valve was no longer the 'good guy' of PC gaming.

Even as the price of PC games went up, with Triple-A publishers thinking up new and exciting excuses for doing so, like how expensive it was to animate every hair on Lara Croft's head or hire celebrity voice actors, Console prices remained largely static, since they lacked the processor power to make such excuses, and were significantly more likely to release a game that was actually ''complete'', rather than exploiting lootboxes or DLC. On top of this, the original advantages of Consoles were returning to play, such as any gamer being able to play any game in the library.

A new player was also testing the waters - the mobile gamer had access to more than just ''Candy Crush'' at their fingertips.

On the Steam front, the very thing that had elevated the PC platform to immense strength, became an increasing nuisance as more low-skill programmers took advantage of Steam Greenlight. It became harder to find games that were actually any good among the great steaming mess piling up, and PC Gamers were tiring of Valve calling itself a games producer and taunting with promises of Halo 3 while doing nothing but raking in 30% of every game it sold on Steam. Valve was no longer the 'good guy' of PC gaming.

* The announcement of the Playstation 4's specs caused many PC gamers to scoff at it, stating that the console will quickly be outclassed by a more powerful PC. It also did not help that developer Linus Blomberg openly stated that [[http://www.gamerevolution.com/news/avalanche-ps4-will-outpower-most-pcs-for-years-to-come-18015 the Playstation 4 would outperform most [=PCs=] for years.]] [[CriticalResearchFailure Most people found the statement hilarious]].