Argue like its the 90s! PC Gaming vs Console Gaming

[CPTRAVE]

Definitley console gaming, easier to handle. I never really tried playing a PC game.

[Arkhan]

Then how do you know its not easier to handle...? lol

[liquitek]

I never understood PC gaming as a primary (or even significant) platform... until 1993.  X-Wing, Syndicate, NHL 93 & Master of Orion showed me what I was missing on consoles. 
Ever since it's been a good mix of both.

[geise]

I started most of my gaming on the Amiga and Atari ST before jumping on the Turbo, then Genesis.  At the time they were both great cause computer games were easier to just run and play.  Ever since Windows 95 era you had to start worrying about system specs.  Then it just went downhill from there.  Every damn year it seemed like you had to worry about "God damn it will my computer be good enough to run this game!?" *reads back of the box* "f*ck!"  I pretty much gave up on most PC gaming by the time the Dreamcast got released.  When you buy a console game you know it will run how it's meant to.

[esadajr]

PC gaming has been a complement to me. That was how I was able to play some games like Sonic CD, Sonic R, Need for Speed, the late 90s FIFA games, etc

[motdelbourt]

PC gaming then at least was educational. You had to learn why the sound didn't work, why the game wouldn't install, why it would run terribly slowly, etc.

[Xray]

First PC game I saw was probably mid 80's, my buddies older brother was absolutely hooked on this submarine game.
He'd literally sit for days in a little basement room hunting convoys, and we'd check in every now and then to bullshit with him and watch his progress.
"Yeah, I'm about 900 miles south west of the Azores now, in about 9 hours I should have them in my sights ,,, Wanna stay and watch ??"

Uh, thanks, but no thanks.  Graphics were pure shit, even by 80's standards. Most of it was just numbers and bearings, if he popped up to have a look above the sea, you'd really have to stretch your imagination to see anything resembling a sub cruising on the surface. [The guy, Jerry, was a glue sniffer, tried to get everyone else to sniff. "No thanks dude, I know what it smells like", I'd tell him. Laid him back, and he was heavily addicted. Died of a brain hemorrhage some years later].
When Nintendo & Turbo game out, things picked up dramatically, but I joined the service for an 8 year hitch around that time, so missed out on much of the early action. When I was able to get a system, I went with Turbo, and happily played and built up my game inventory for a couple of years ... But when Windows 95 came out, things changed.
I got it around 97, and got Battlezone, and that game blew me away. Incredible graphics, and a control system that I have never seen before, or since.
I still play it, and it still looks great skimming over the moon, and leading battle squadrons against the enemy. After a dose of that, I pretty much put the turbo away as childs play, until I had kids old enough to play it. [Still was very protective of my Turbo, and made sure they didn't abuse it. I banned one of my sons from Turbo for a whole year when he got pissed and slammed the control pad on the ground].
Never really looked back, I think PC games are far superior to consoles in almost all respects. Although my kids ended up with just about every gaming system that came out, I never got into them. That said, I'm not exactly a PC game addict. I still have many stashed away in the attic that I never even opened, and the majority of games I'd play and lose interest quickly. I have probably well over 100 old PC games, boxes and all, stashed away, many more that were downloaded and saved to CD. Haven't looked at them in years. I can count on both hands the numbers of games that I seriously got into.
Aside for Battlezone, my all time favorite, they include:
System Shock 2
Far Cry
Total Annihilation
And a few others that I can't even think of their names. One was a hot chick named Rhen flying around on a dragon.
The only game I play now and have been playing for years, and the only game I have ever played online, is Dawn of War Dark Crusade, an incredible base building race war game.

[Arkhan]

PC gaming then at least was educational. You had to learn why the sound didn't work, why the game wouldn't install, why it would run terribly slowly, etc.

HIMEM.SYS, MOTHERf*ckERS

[ProfessorProfessorson]

First PC game I saw was probably mid 80's, my buddies older brother was absolutely hooked on this submarine game.

Sounds like Silent Service.

[geise]

Sure does.  Had that on my Atari ST.  Was boring as all hell.  Maybe it could also be Hunt for Red October.

[wilykat]

Consoles vs computer...  that's a toughie.  I was raised in console only era ('77 with Atari system my cousin owned) and didn't have a home computer until I got a VIC=20.  poor VIC=20 didn't get much use because games were hard to find locally.

A few years later I got a C=64 with better game selection, got Ultima V and Ultima Trilogy set (1-3) and a few games.  I didn't get U4 until 20 years later when I found C64 emulator and arnold ftp site for the games. (and got CIB off eBay so I'd have "complete" 6 games set)

Once I tried to hack U5 save game with disk editing and got maximum gold and some supplies. But I goofed on one part and ended up with my character mounted on a shadowlord.  I was able to control the shadowlord "mount" and go through anything including the tall, unpassable peaks.  But when I dismounted and moved, it attacked me :/

With C-64 I think I spent a lot more time on it than any console system until I got NES in '87. I learned in BASIC and I was able to do crazy tricks* that otherwise seems difficult on C64's limited BASIC library.  I had a few games like Tron light cycle type game (2 players via joysticks, using crude 40x25 ASCII graphic)

*crazy trick like 1 line substitute for if-then-else loop as C64 did not have else support. Instead of that, I used on 1*(a=21)+2*(a=34)+3*(a=54)... goto 100,200,300,400...  Since only 1 variable can be true, it'd return a 1 multiplied by the number, while rest would be a 0 which is still 0 when multiplied.  Without this creative use of on x goto command, I'd have done multiple if-then lines wasting lots of memory.

I am OLD....  not only do I know BASIC (and still do), I also did LOGO and PILOT.  Today's kid would say huh if I mentioned those 3 languages.  LOGO is an easy graphic based programming like draw forward xx, turn right xx, etc.  PILOT is a harder version of graphic based programming.

I've tried newer computer languages but at 37 my brain just doesn't want to save any new information. It is true you learn better as a child than as an old man.