Xbox 360 Vs PC

Hey guys

This is following a conversation i have had with a friend on which is better for games. A friend of mine is shelling out 2000 for a Pc to play games. He is getting a very high spec. Basically because games are better on the PC .

I do like my PC gaming myself but when ever he see's a game on the 360 he has to say it looks better on the PC.

So for the like of Oblivion , COD4 and other games , what is better ?

white_falcon

Well for a start games are cheaper for the PC, the controls are far less limited etc.

Graphics are on a par almost, but I'd say myself that a PC would outrun a 360 in terms of graphics.

Kur4mA

"Looks"(graphics) wise in games the PC will always be better because of the latest technology and the possibility of upgrading to improve your gaming experience.

unklerosco

Pc is generally better for GFX n sound etc. But the €1600 cash in ur back pocket ud have as change from a 360 is generally better all round.. That n u never have to upgrade the 360... €2000 on a pc now... then upgrade this n that. It goes on n on.....

For the price of a PC u'd get an Elite, nice lcd TV n a laptop...

Heck if u wanted u could get a premium(€350), cheap laptop(say €400), 32" LCD(€550), Wii(€270), PS3(€450)... all for just over €2000. Thats more gaming than you could shake a stick at...

keen

PC better for graphics, but for ease of play and not having to worry if your rig will play the latest games 360 wins.

I like my computers but prefer to game on the 360.

Branoic

Yeah, technically the PC will have the edge, but its not worth it that much IMO. I used to be a die-hard PC gamer, but with this generation the PS3 and 360 have taken my PC's place. I just can't afford to keep it up to date, compatibility is a nightmare, and I'm much more comfortable flaked out on my couch infront of my hdtv.

Xabs

You'll never find an Xbox game you can't play on your Xbox......

Dcully

Well i have both a new high end gaming pc and a new 360 ,for me pc wins hands down.
Comparing games i have on both systems:

COD4 looks amazing on 360 @1080 i on 32" panasonic lcd tv.
BUT it looks even better on 22" lcd monitor on a high end pc.
Running at 1650x1050 4Xfsaa just looks so much better than on 360.
Gears of war, pc again is so much better looking mainly because of high res but even on lower res its looks a lot better.
Both games give far better framerate on pc too so the whole experience is so much smoother.
Pc have dedicated servers,mods etc

I do like my PC gaming myself but when ever he see's a game on the 360 he has to say it looks better on the PC

He is indeed correct but only if you have a high end pc.
I spent 1700 euros on components for my gaming pc but got my 360 for far less which is mighty impressive.

Funnily enough im playing more of cod4 on 360 than i am on pc even though my clan mates are on our clan server everynight.
Im just finding the 360 so much fun at the moment since i got it a few days before xmas.

Id never be without my gaming pc,i need my fix of fps,rts,racing sims, and wow,only a pc can offer me this.
Right now i also dont want to be without my 360,im loving cod4 [when live works] mass effect is great,forza is decent.

Tell your mate he is correct that games will always look better on pc but hes missing out bigtime by snubbing the 360.
I never ever thought id enjoy fps games on console without my beloved mouse,since i got used to the lovely 360 pads im loving playing fps games on it

forgot to mention, i cant play guitar hero3 on pc

Everyone should have both

Beecher

Dcully wrote: »

forgot to mention, i cant play guitar hero3 on pc

Why cant you? I can

PixelTrawler

Buying a 360 was one of the best things i ever did. I used to spend a fortune upgrading pcs and buying new pcs. I was even planning to buy again this year but the 360 has cured that.

Its saved me thousands and i still get a great gaming fix. The older generation consoles werent good enough but this generation is.

My old pc can have a quiet retirement now for browsing the web and a bit of work...

Considering u wouldnt get a half decent graphics card for the price of a 360 its an amazing little machine.

Theres plenty of other things i could do with the money for a high end pc... the games arent that much better.

Dcully

Why cant you? I can

didnt realise it was available on pc

Fnz

Better for games? Games are the same but game types and their control methods may lend themselves better to one or the other. Though I suppose even the pc can adopt console-type controllers too but, then again, there are less PC games suited to the controller.

Also you have to factor cost of entry into both. Graphics cards alone can rival the cost of a console. The console have the advantage of being able to play any game you throw at them for the duration of their life cycle. PC don't have life cycles but their components do.

I'm at the stage now where I'm generally happy with the quality of graphics we get with new games (maybe not so much with the Wii). If graphics and frame-rate are important to you and you have the money to keep up with advancing technology, then console gaming may be too restrictive to you.

Different platforms are also tailored to suit different types of social gaming. PC's would not be as suited to having 4 people playing on the 1 screen. Online gaming is relatively new to consoles and lacks the maturity of the PC's online community... both in infrastructure and the individuals you encounter when using it.

bretttp1

By its very nature a new gaming PC will be technically better than any console, but as stated in other posts it’s the cost constantly upgrading a PC to gaming standards that’s the biggest issue in PC gaming, as soon as you buy your shiny new graphics card for €400 it starts it journey to obsolescence and will be out of date in 6 months, on the other side the 360 has been around since Dec 2005 this gives programmers more experience with a stable architecture and as a result can get more out of it.
For fps, driving simulations etc the console experience of gaming is fine and the difference in spending 400 over 2000 is not (in my opinion) worth it. The only thing I feel about console gaming is that it never feels as involved as gaming on a PC.

Personally the biggest draw back of console gaming is when it comes to RTS you cannot play strategy games properly on a console you need the keyboard mouse combination, so looks like I’m going to have to keep spending a fortune on my PC ….. Ah well

stakey

If you want a top end PC to play the latest games like Crysis at stupidly high resolutions then yes, PC gaming is expensive and will hurt your pocket alot.

However, PC gaming isn't 'that' expensive. I don't do the whole upgrade once a year thing, when my budget is right I upgrade specific parts. Processor/Ram/Motherboard tomorrow could cost be in the region of 350 - 450 (or more if i wanted to go nuts), that's generally the same price as an XBox 360 or PS3. But i can still use all my hard drives, sound card, video card, optical drives, case, PSU etc

If i want to upgrade the graphics card down the road, yeah, it'll cost me that extra bit as i'll probably have to get a new PSU. But i can offset all of these costs by selling my decently spec'd current Graphics card and my old Mainboard/RAM/Processor. In essence i lose around 400 a year on upgrading.

My PC is generally 2-3 months behind the latest stuff that's out there, but I can still play crysis at a decent resolution and frame rate, I haven't come across a game that was unplayable.

And really, nothing beats the freedom of a PC, keyboard, mouse, tinkering with the game to make it run best on your system, the ability to play on any server (PC based games of course), not being tied into an exclusive service to play them. When games have graphical or gameplay issues on consoles your stuck with 'em, PC gamers can download patches, modify configuration files and generally tweak the hell out of a game.

Branoic

bretttp1 wrote: »

as soon as you buy your shiny new graphics card for €400 it starts it journey to obsolescence and will be out of date in 6 months,

Obsolescence is my new favourite word

bretttp1 wrote: »

Personally the biggest draw back of console gaming is when it comes to RTS you cannot play strategy games properly on a console you need the keyboard mouse combination, so looks like I’m going to have to keep spending a fortune on my PC ….. Ah well

RTSs on consoles are getting better. C&C3 on the 360 was perfectly workable, and Universe at War and Halo Wars are looking like they could work pretty well.

unklerosco

stakey wrote: »

When games have graphical or gameplay issues on consoles your stuck with 'em, PC gamers can download patches

U can download patches on the 360 n PS3... you've been able to do it for ages. All games a regularly updated.... €400 a year loss on upgrading ur PC is quite alot. Thats a new 360 or PS3 every year... I used to be like that, I spent a fortune upgrading pcs... Got a 360 n a mac n my sanity n bank acc are nearly back to normal

stakey

I unfortunately went and bought a mac and a Wii...

now my bank account is fubar'd!

zAbbo

Xbox has a more level playing field for online gaming, as everyone has more or less the same components.

PC's (for me) was all about tweaking configs/fps/components to get the best.

XBL (when it works) is a pretty damn good online setup.

mickoneill30

The last time I reinstalled Windows on my PC was about May 2005. It's a 4 year old P4 and it runs all my work stuff great. Before that I used to upgrade bits and reinstall OS and tweak drivers a lot more frequently.

It's horses for courses. Neither is better. Both have advantages.

For the OP define better?

Does better mean playing the game at the highest resolutions known to man but paying a lot to get it going?

Or does better mean playing the game at a lower resolution for a lot cheaper and at 37" or 42" whilst lounging on the sofa.

Fnz

mickoneill30 wrote: »

For the OP define better?

Does better mean playing the game at the highest resolutions known to man but paying a lot to get it going?

Or does better mean playing the game at a lower resolution for a lot cheaper and at 37" or 42" whilst lounging on the sofa.

Yeah, I'd imagine it would have to be 'the experience' the OP's asking about - which is too subjective to give a definitive answer either way.

The OP's friend has simply chosen his favoured platform... and hopefully is not one of the "PC gaming is a purer experience" a**holes!

TheDoc

ive been playing pc games for years, since i was about 8 id say playing ****ty dos games

consoles were always a fad thing for me, and so was the 360 to a certain extent. I bought all the top games at the time, but rarely touched it, and was hooked on wow.

But after halo3 arrived i went and bought it and the multiplayer just sucked me in, when i finished that i went back and played other games, finding out rainbow vegas is probably one of the best games i ever played...

xbox 360 is now my frontrunner for gaming, havnt touched wow in months, and im afraid my pc is now jsut an occasional gaming machine and educational use.

Thanks microsoft....you finally gave me a console i use

AnCapaillMor

Mouse and keyboard, i'm physically unable to play an FPS any other way.

Dcully

Mouse and keyboard, i'm physically unable to play an FPS any other way

Thats what i thought too,only recently i posted here a few days after i got my 360 about my frustrations with using the pad.
Someone replied that after 2 weeks id see it differently and feel comfortable with using the pad with fps games.
Well here i am 3 weeks later and im actually enjoying using the pad with 360 more than mouse/keyboard on my pc.
For years i snubbed consoles when it came to fps games but halo 3 and cod4 have changed this view forever.

For sure your top pro pad user would struggle against an average mouse user but ive found that anyone who says fps with a pad is just wrong just havent given it time.
I know how wrong i was about it.

ive been playing pc games for years, since i was about 8 id say playing ****ty dos games

consoles were always a fad thing for me, and so was the 360 to a certain extent. I bought all the top games at the time, but rarely touched it, and was hooked on wow.

But after halo3 arrived i went and bought it and the multiplayer just sucked me in, when i finished that i went back and played other games, finding out rainbow vegas is probably one of the best games i ever played...

xbox 360 is now my frontrunner for gaming, havnt touched wow in months, and im afraid my pc is now jsut an occasional gaming machine and educational use.

Thanks microsoft....you finally gave me a console i use

I hate to admit it but im the same,
Recently i splashed out 1700 big ones for a kick ass gaming pc but its literally just been used for surfing since i got the 360.

I have huge incentive to game on my pc as my best online friends from my GFF clan/community are on the very cod4 server i run and look after everynight with a packed teamspeak channel.
These guys are online friends for a few years now but i just cant take myself away from the 360 with cod4,halo3 online.

Maybe this will change in the future but either way i have this lingering thought in the back of my mind all the time while gaming "was that kick ass pc worth it?"
I find all thats preventing me selling it on is the great friends ive met online who are diehard pc gamers.

Trust me im trying so hard to convinve them to get a 360

silvine

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote: »

ive been playing pc games for years, since i was about 8 id say playing ****ty dos games

consoles were always a fad thing for me, and so was the 360 to a certain extent. I bought all the top games at the time, but rarely touched it, and was hooked on wow.

But after halo3 arrived i went and bought it and the multiplayer just sucked me in, when i finished that i went back and played other games, finding out rainbow vegas is probably one of the best games i ever played...

xbox 360 is now my frontrunner for gaming, havnt touched wow in months, and im afraid my pc is now jsut an occasional gaming machine and educational use.

Thanks microsoft....you finally gave me a console i use

You could have been talking about me!

For years I have loved gaming on the PC. I have lost countless hours to Doom, Command and Conquer, Wolfenstein 3D, Dune and Warcraft. However, gaming on the PC was always a source of as much frustration as it was enjoyment. The whole constantly having to upgrade the PC every six months or so was a strain on me and my wallet.

The ease of use of the XBox is a pleasure. It's great to put in a game and find it just works. And XBox Live makes gaming online easier than ever. Somethings I do miss about PC gaming include the fact that it's free to play online, that you can download mods for your games (anyone remember the one that put in a load of gore in Jedi Knight?) and the level of depth and control you can have with a keyboard.

After playing Gears of War co-op on the Xbox I was converted. And the best thing is a lot of games I want to play appear to be coming out on the console first e.g. Mass Effect.

RIght now you can get a great gaming system in the XBox for a lot less than the equivalent in a PC. Sure in year or two, the XBox will be dated and it'll be time to return to the fold, but for now you'll find me on Xbox Live.

dazftw

Im the same as alot of people on here, I use to just PC game all the time and since ive gotten a 360 ive not played much besides some BF2 CS and lately sim city 4 lol

The 360 all the way it wins hands down Price/Performance wise! But performance/graphics wise it doesn't! Call of Duty 4 on PC looks alot better alot sharper and less jagged edges.. Only game ive seen the same as pc is bioshock.. Theres no difference whatsover between platforms.

Online wise ill have to go with the pc cause the most players you can get on the 360 is like 20? (could be wrong) and theres hardly any servers most of the time I found this especially in TF2 all servers numbers were low and laggy! Call of Duty though is pretty good(cause its popular) On the PC it can go up to 64 players and having the option of a proper headset is great.. That xbox one is the biggest load of ****e ive ever used...

Joypad and Keyboard/mouse wise.. Im used to the pad now and its great to just kickback and play some games! FPS games are grand once you get used to them.. Only thing I dont like is your never going be 100% accurate EG All those challenges in portal are so hard with the pad you just cant be accurate enough with it.. Im not going choose one this time cause there both fine!

Scruff

have converted to the dark side and become a console gamer for the last year or so. Got sick of trying to keep my pc upgraded and at that i wasnt even buying the latest most expensive gear. Last pc i bought was a decent latop that played BF2 and Half-life 2 era games at acceptable settings. Much prefer spending my dosh on auido visual equipment that the 360 can also make full use of.

though i have to admit if i had loads of dosh and time i would make a return to pc gaming, if only to be able to play on a monitor like this

silvine

Scruff wrote: »

though i have to admit if i had loads of dosh and time i would make a return to pc gaming, if only to be able to play on a monitor like this

Nice but I'm sure you could connect an Xbox to it?

unklerosco

silvine wrote: »

Nice but I'm sure you could connect an Xbox to it?

I dont think so, it has some bonkers resolution... Most games will prob need an update to run on it. I'm sure if they wanted the could release an update for the 360 to work on it but i'd say these will be a rare beast of a monitor...

Price.. "more than a 17" lcd and less than a Kia"

Dcully

As ive said i agree with you all except the "having to upgrade pc every 6 months"
I couldnt disagree more.
I only upgrade every 3 years or so.
My last pc was a dual core with 7800gtx its 3 years old now and can still play all games out there perfectly well.

My new one with quad core and 8800 gts is even better of course but my point is once you get a high end pc it will last you 2-3 years easily without any upgrades at all.

I also disagree about the percieved hassle,ive never had any hassle whatsoever in over 10 years pc gaming.
Good components,oficial drivers,proper operating system updates etc and you will be fine.

Blazer

Use my 360 for streaming video/ Fifa 2008/Mass Effect /PGR4.
For FPS games bar Halo/Gears of War it has to be mouse. No controller presently comes close to the mouse for sheer accuracy. Look at the sights on any FPS game on a console and they're huge...
Look at the sights on COD1/BF2 and they are tiny and require a whole lot more accuracy to hit the enemy.
So let's say €480 for Elite+ 1400 for TV to go with it, monthly sub to Live (€8?), €70 a game..that ends up costing quite a packet..
PC..Mine cost me about 1500 through buying and selling plus €250 for my monitor as I sold my last one.
€50 a game and they can be got considerable cheaper than this..
No internet charge for gaming so this is a winner. Basically both work out the same.
You buy 10x games on 360=700.
10xPC=500 so that leaves you €200 plus live charge for upgrading your pc..
Looks to cost basically the same to me.

Gran Hermano

Mathew Reilly wrote: »

Use my 360 for streaming video/ Fifa 2008/Mass Effect /PGR4.
For FPS games bar Halo/Gears of War it has to be mouse. No controller presently comes close to the mouse for sheer accuracy. Look at the sights on any FPS game on a console and they're huge...
Look at the sights on COD1/BF2 and they are tiny and require a whole lot more accuracy to hit the enemy.
So let's say €480 for Elite+ 1400 for TV

You can pick up a 42 inch 1080p TV for €1300 in the sales at the moment, not really a like for
like comparison when you compare a 42 inch LCD to a monitor you paid €250+trade-in
(how much without trade-in? what size monitor?)as you can use the TV for much more
than you can a monitor. Unless you've a 42" monitor on your PC
you must agree you're not exactly comparing like with like.

Mathew Reilly wrote: »

€70 a game..that ends up costing quite a packet..

€70 per game? You must be mad, you can easily pick up 80% of new
releases for much less, Virgin have specials for €55 on new releases
and Play-Asia can get you new releases for €35-45.

Mathew Reilly wrote: »

PC..Mine cost me about 1500 through buying and selling plus €250 for my monitor as I sold my last one.
€50 a game and they can be got considerable cheaper than this..
No internet charge for gaming so this is a winner. Basically both work out the same.
You buy 10x games on 360=700.
10xPC=500 so that leaves you €200 plus live charge for upgrading your pc..
Looks to cost basically the same to me.

I think it only fair if you insist on comparing PC Vs 360 you do so in a fair manner.

Also one must take into account how much you will need to spend over the next 12-24 months
to ensure your current PC will be able to play any future new releases (the 360 will not require
any additional purchases or hardware upgrade).