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PC V.S. Consoles - Which Is Better and What Should You Get?

Heads-up: the word "Console" is dirtier than "Mac" for hardcore PC gamers

I'm going to be blunt here - when it comes to PC graphics, there is no contest.

Now of course that means you need a good PC, so you'll have to spend a minimum of $800 for an entry-level setup - although, if you look on YouTube, there are some videos where you could (amazingly) upgrade your PC or build a new one for less than $200, that's capable of playing most games.

I've been playing consoles like NES and Sega Genesis (or Saturn as some of you know it) since I was two. I played games like Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog, Donkey Kong and Tetris. Then I moved to Super Nintendo, N64 and Sega Dreamcast, so I can play Mario 64 and NBA 2k.

I began to see graphic potential in games when the Nintendo GameCube came out. The visuals were stunning - titles like Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi's Mansion and Mario Kart were all I played for months.

Then I got a Nintendo DS for my birthday and I got to play Mario Kart DS online connecting to other DSs. My point? Not that I'm a game addict (even though I am), but I started off on consoles like a lot of gamers do.

I mean used to play Blue's Clues, Dora and Pajama Sam on PC, but those are interactive adventures - not full-out video games.

My first true PC game was the Sims original. That game was incredible - I could build an entire family, forget to add a ladder to the inground pool, then burn my house down in all of three minutes.

But I didn't fall in love with PC gaming until later. I had the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 to keep me occupied.

It was when I bought my little MacBook Air and I set up windows to play the Mass Effect Trilogy everything changed.

After running GTA at 10 fps on my previous laptop, I knew it was time for an upgrade.

My Mac sported a core i7 processor, 4 GB RAM, a 256 GB SSD and Intel HD (onboard) Graphics 3000.

I'd wanted to play Mass Effect for years and I bought the third game for PC, (I downloaded it through Apple Bootcamp which let's you run Windows on Mac) and loved it enough - although it ended with a cliffhanger and felt a little incomplete - that I bought the first and second right after.

I created a custom female Shepard and got locked-in to a romance with Samantha Traynor (I just wanted to laugh at the part in the shower!)


Those of you who are not, Mass Effect is a third-person shooter-based RPG, so you create your character male or female (pick the woman, she's Jennifer Hale!) and choose whatever your want to do essentially. You're a space commander after all and you choose what aliens (or humans) can be trusted.

I've played through the trilogy seven times and I'm on my eighth (that's dedicated and very obsessive), which takes about 100 hours per runthrough.

So that and playing games like Battlefield 2 when I was younger and GTA IV, is how I fully got into PC gaming. I never turned back.

Now, should everyone ditch their Xboxes and switch over to PC? Well it couldn't hurt.

First off, some people want to play Xbox on their brand new TVs they got for 40% off during the Black Friday Sale over the Holidays.

That's valid. Some of you guys have a super comfy couch with an indented groove for you to wriggle into every time you want to play.

The again many of you like the network on Xbox Live or PSN.

All good reasons - for casual gamers that is.

For the hardcore ones - go with triple 27" monitors, dual-GPUs with liquid cooling and a $150 mouse (no controllers here.)

It really comes down to this: how much are you willing to spend?

It you're a weekend gamer, and prefer to spend $400 on a new console, cause you have a nice couch and TV or got a console on sale for $50 off- then by all means, go for it.

But if you play games for more than four hours a day, plus you have a nice ergonomic office chair and have no problem spending anywhere from $800 to $8000 on your new setup - do it.

That is, If you can tell the difference.

I surprised many people actually can't! The difference between console and PC gaming five years ago was night-and-day.

Today with Xbox One and PS4 the lines are blurring.

Go on YouTube and look up your favorite title and find a platform graphics comparison - something like PS4 VS PC - and see if you can really tell which one looks better.

The only reason I can is because I'm super obsessive - but if you really can't, best go with the cheapest solution.

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