PC vs. Consoles vs. Mobile Phones for Gaming: Which is the Right One for You
Browsing through forums and social media, you would often find gamers insulting each other’s preferred platform while touting their platform as superior
What is the best platform for gaming? PC? Console? Or mobile? This is a never-ending debate among the gaming community. With video games now more popular than ever, fans tend to gang up on the platforms they don’t favor and that’s where the debate starts.
Browsing through forums and social media, you would often find gamers insulting each other’s preferred platform while touting their platform as superior. However, the debate is more of a meme than an actual quarrel.
Gaming is one of the best ways to unwind whenever you find yourself wanting to take a personal leave or a short break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. If you started playing fun educational games on a PC as a child, you’d mostly be inclined to that platform unless you were introduced to console as well.
And if you’re looking to make gaming one of your hobbies as an adult, you might find yourself asking – which is the best platform? The funny thing is, there really is no “best platform” as each platform has something to offer for everyone.
On the surface
Before getting into the pros and cons of each platform, let’s dive in at the debate’s surface level. Originally, the debate’s only between PC and console but mobile gaming has joined the discussion due to the advancement in smartphone technology in recent years.
PC refers to desktop computers and laptops regardless of the operating system. Meanwhile, console refers to gaming consoles such as the PlayStation, X-Box, and other handheld consoles such as the Nintendo Switch and older ones like the Game Boy Advance. Mobile refers to smartphones whether Android or iOS.
Looking at face value, it’s easy to say PC gaming is the best, console is second best, and mobile is the worst. But that entirely depends on what kind of gamer you want to be. Ultimately, the common factors that define each gaming platform are cost, graphics, speed, and portability.
PC gaming
If you’ve spent a good amount of time online or you’re familiar with gaming culture, you’ve probably heard the phrase “PC Master Race” a couple of times. It’s the first thing PC elitists say when joining the age-old debate. Well, is the PC really the master race? The basis for this is the objectively superior computing power PCs can achieve.
If a gamer has enough funds, they can make their rigs as powerful as they want. But then again, the latest high-end PC hardware can get exorbitantly expensive. Truth be told, no one needs that amount of power to enjoy most games. Aside from being pricey, a major downside of PC is its bulkiness. Once the PC has been set up, it can’t be moved easily.
Despite all that though, PCs are the most versatile among the three. An average gaming PC today is overkill for the typical office work. PCs can play all sorts of media, browse the Internet with the utmost freedom, run applications used by professionals, mine cryptocurrency, and many more. PCs can run virtually any video game available, even ones built for consoles and smartphones thanks to emulators. PC is considered the jack of all trades.
Console gaming
Called “dirty console peasants” by PC fans, console gamers have suffered discrimination in the gaming community. They’re not fazed though, because console gaming has a certain charm that PC doesn’t have. Gaming consoles, unlike PCs, are built exclusively for gaming.
Sure, you can’t run the latest games in the most jacked-up graphics settings, and you can’t use them for anything else, but that’s where its charm comes from. Consoles are all about gaming. You turn on your console and you just play your game without having to worry about compatibility problems that you might encounter on PCs.
Console gaming is simple. Unlike PCs, consoles don’t require a lot of technical knowledge to enjoy. Console newbies don’t have to fear pressing the wrong button or accidentally getting the machine infected with a virus.
For handheld consoles, portability is king. Consoles such as the Nintendo Switch, the PSP, and others can fit in your pockets and still be powerful enough to run your favorite games for several hours.
Of course, the simplicity and portability of gaming consoles do have drawbacks. You don’t have a lot of control over games you play on consoles, unlike on PC. This is best exhibited in the existence of mods in PC gaming that enhances gameplay.
As consoles have limited power, sometimes they can’t run games smoothly and have to downgrade a game’s graphics to perform optimally.
Mobile phone gaming
As smartphones became more advanced, they became capable of running games that previously only PCs and consoles can. Its size also beats the portability of handheld gaming consoles. Like PCs, they’re also multifunctional since they’re just like a compacted PC.
Obviously, all these positives don’t come without cons. The games developed for smartphones are still less complex than those created for PCs and consoles. After all, they must be designed in a way that suits the smartphone’s limited controls, energy, and power.
Considering these, how has mobile gaming gained prominence? It’s the most accessible gaming platform out of the three because the smartphone has become an essential possession of people. On field work days or during short breaks, a gamer remote worker’s hacks is to simply pull out his smartphone and play games on it.
For a cheap price, smartphones today can already run the most popular mobile games smoothly. Meaning, you don’t have to break the bank to join your friends in playing the hottest mobile games available. Today, even the most unlikely persons can end up gaming because if you can do it on your phone, why won’t you?
Summing it up
If you want a powerful machine that can multitask, PC gaming is for you.
If you want to just sit on the couch and just focus on playing a game, go for console gaming.
If you’re a casual gamer who wants to play anywhere you go, mobile gaming suits you the best.
Depending on what type of gamer you are, there’s a platform for you. But who says you can’t play on all three platforms?