So who's taken by consoles? +free beer

Does it have to be one or the other? Who is going to enforce this ban, and on what basis?

I absolutely do not think consoles should be banned. We gotta have the shiny objects to attract the 10 year olds and assorted idiots you find in places like Xbox Live. If consoles were banned, those people might start playing in MY games!

(note: not all people that play on Xbox Live are idiots, so don't take offense. But there's a crazy high percentage that are)

from what I've seen, the PS Vita is going to be one nice handheld as soon as their PSOne/PS2 library starts showing up. I for one wish I had a Vita to play the Disgaeas I've missed, and for a chance to play remastered FF7-9.

Never enjoyed much playing on consoles, i bet someone gonna rage at me, but oh well.

Everything is fine as it is in my opinion. Consoles always have those exclusive games while PC sometimes can aswell. The advantage of PC is that you dont necessarily have to upgrade constantly. While with consoles they become outdated fairly quick. The communities on PC gaming are fairly allot more friendlier than those in the console community. (this is just my opinion)

Do you think consoles should be banned

What were you taking/smoking while making this thread?

I used to be a primarily console player, then I stepped into the realm of PC and never looked back. The superior control with mouse +kb, true native, not upscaled 1080p and above, and 60 fps really help immerse me more into the game. I tried playing BF3 on my ps3, and locked at 30 fps using analog sticks felt way too sluggish to me and it wasn't a pretty sight to look at at all. I do however keep a ps3 for the exclusives, but I haven't bought a ps3 game in quite awhile.

Consoles definitely have their place, for those not wanting to spend more money on a PC or have to deal with such potential problems that may come with a PC. But I hate seeing ignorants say it costs $2000 + to have a decent PC when that is nowhere near the case. It's a bigger down payment with a PC, but with such great steam sales vs. the full retail price of console games I'm sure the price of a console, over time will lapse that of a PC.

I however feel that the current gen consoles overstay their welcome. The "10 year life cycle" is just way way too long with their ancient hardware. They've topped out on the kind of games they can produce at this point in time and they hold back PC as we get their trickled down ports. I'll rejoice when the PS4/720 come out because we'll finally be getting better multi plats, and that's the unfortunate truth that we, the PC folk, are indeed on the backburner just getting the scraps. But hey, consoles are where the money is so I can see why devs focus on them the most. But banning them as you say....lolno.

I don't really understand why they would be banned... As long as people are interested in a cheap way to play good games, it will continue to exist. Also, it is more practical to have a console in your living room then another computer (which once again is towards the cheap argument). I like my console because it doesn't get outdated every 2 years, and I do not have enough money to keep upgrading my computer.

I used to be a home computer / PC gamer (various Commodore computers then PC). I played with consoles a little, but never got the hang of their controllers. The first (and only) console I owned is the Wii, which I got as a wedding gift, and I liked its controller and what was being done with it. I think I'll like the Kinect too. So my opinion now is that consoles can a fun family pastime, but I still won't use one as my main gaming platform.

And Dereck, you might not have said directly that consoles need to be banned, but you raised the idea. That's kind of like asking "do you think that women should be prevented from voting?" and then answering the angry shouts with "hey, I only wanted to get an opinion". It's either your opinion or it's trolling.

Consoles lack the required amount buttons for a lot of games. There is a reason StarCraft 64 didn't work! I'm sure you could 6pool with a N64 controller without troubles though. (If it isn't apparent already, I never played StarCraft 64)

There are a lot of other good reasons, but I'm tired and this one sounds good. I like talking about buttons. Wanna poke my button?

I used to be major into consoles. I still like them, but mine's started acting up, so I've migrated more to my computer. Anyway, consoles definitely do have their place. It's great being able to buy a game, put it in the console, and just know it's going to work. No BSOD, no CTD. (Okay, yes, I realize all games can crash, not my point though.) Computers can be put together in so many different ways, with so many different variables that can affect the way games play on them. Consoles are purely gaming machines, and they do it well.

I don't know about having my own console on the market, but in an ideal world there would either be one console standard (all consoles can play the same game discs, cross-console online MP/communication/possibly merging with PC MP as well, peripheral sharing), or at the very least a networking standard just allowing the cross-console online/communication. It could also be interesting to see a console that could be upgraded (N64 comes to mind), so when the time comes that they want to release a new console, they can just release a self-installed part kit that upgrades your rig.

Before Steam and indie games I was more a console person, but right now I use them only for exclusives, like Nintendo ones

200$ for a 7 year old machine that can play today's games. No doubt about it they are the cheapest way to game. Big plus there. They are however completely in the hands of one corporation and thats a big minus.
I own two consoles and use them regularly. They arent bad.

Grew up on SEGA, PSone and PS2. Love <3

Okay.. I can no longer ignore the elephant in the room. WHERE'S THE FREE BEER!?

But seriously, good points here. Consoles (big ones directly compared to PCs, not handhelds, mind you) may seem cheaper initially but then you make it up to them by buying pricier games. But that of course depends on your need to have hundreds of games.

On the other hand fixed specs and established publishing environment are boons to game creators. But currently it starts to feel maybe it's time for next generation of specs.

A point I didn't see yet is that I reckon consoles are much easier to buy and use, you don't worry about specs and stuff like that. Plug and play. You can have some netbook or tablet or w/e for light office work, and console for gaming, this all is still a smaller package than big serious PC rig. Unless you need big rig anyway because you are e.g. a developer or computer graphic artist.

So.. well, point is consoles do have their place on the market and the market enthusiastically agrees, I might add.

I personally don't like the fact that consoles have different GUI design paradigms so games targetted at consoles and PCs can have some kind of identity crisis. It's still nice for some games to play with a gamepad even on PC, though, and here it troubles me that I don't own XBox controller yet and they are on the pricier side.. So I have to run emulation to change input from the gamepad I do own to XInput.

Consoles that live in different niche, like handhelds, are a completely different story. If you want gaming on the go, like on a bus or something, that's the way to go (though I personally prefer to read a book.. there are electronic solutions to that, too, but that's yet another story)

I was led to believe that there would be free beer...

My opinion is that consoles are recommended for kids. This is for one simple reason: They are much more socially oriented. To kids, a video game should NOT be a replacement for social interaction. Sure, it's fine to blow an afternoon playing Killing Floor with anonymous teammates when you're a 20-something college student, but kids need to be playing with real life friends. Video games are one way to facilitate that. Gimmicks like the Wii-Mote and Kinect also help with exercise. Finally, it is easier for parents to supervise and interact with their progeny in meaningful ways when sharing a couch rather than leering over the back of a computer chair.

Yes, I know, you can rig your PC to the TV, buy a dongle and four xbox controllers, and be set for an almost equivalent experience. Ease of use comes to mind there, though.

In summary, consoles have their place: It's probably just not one that most sg users would fit into, though. Still pissed about the beer.

Where is beer?

Um, I need a console to play Rock Band, therefore consoles are spectacular. I'm a rhythm game junkie and will play all of the ones I can get my hands on, so consoles are necessary for that. Also, I prefer using a controller in many contexts, so even on PC games, I use Joy2Key or a gamepad a lot. The computer I own now is my first outright gaming computer. The last one was mediocre, I mainly was concerned about running Sims 2 on it, but I used it to play older games like KotOR or something like Audiosurf which didn't require spectacular graphics. I do love steam, I love the moddability of PC games, and I really enjoy emulating older games on both my PC and handhelds for portability. There are a lot of fun and unique things on consoles, though. I have a PS3 and a Wii.

Gaming on consoles has many merits as well.

One of them is playing the Metal Gear Solid Series, Way of the Samurai, Red Dead Redemption, Silent Hill, Journey and all the other great games I like but won't ever get released on the PC.

I don't have to worry if my PS3 will play the latest game available. I just buy it and play.

I also don't have to worry if my hardware will be compatible with the monitor or even with each other.
I just plug it in, hook it on the TV and game away.

True, I may like some genres that aren't suited for consoles (Adventure and Strategy games, for example) but is this reason enough to ban them ,of all things?
What if someone placed a ban on PCs instead?
Yes, both notions sound and are ridiculous.
Now give me that beer, my good sir.

I started out in gaming on a console, most of my most cherish games were on consoles. Consoles serve a niche and as a believer in the free market (someone who wants there to be a true free market), I wouldnt want anything like a console banned. However, in my opinion, the proliferation of consoles and hand helds with their market share has helped to shape the gaming industry in a negative fashion. Dumbed down gameplay, lacking of in-depth story telling, crappy graphics, and the general lack of innovation that spurs on other industries to also innovate all stem from the take over of consoles. When the majority of companies make a game for a console then port it over, it looks like hell, controls like shit, and basically makes it so that there is no reason to improve hardware anymore. Now with the creeping of day 0 dlcs, 10-15 dollar dlcs for maps or character unlocks and the planned removal of backwards compatibility AND used games, I just see it as a sad time for the industry. Whats the point of buying consoles anymore if they do away with the only real perks of owning a console. (Used games/backward compatibility).

I heard German ban xbox 360 :D Consoles have different games and some of this games is not available in pc, same with the pc. so i have both pc and ps3,psp,wii and some old consoles ps1,ps2.

Consoles have this problem where they eventually become obsolete. It's even more of a concern when online stores offer games that will inevitably become incompatible with future iterations of that console's hardware.

I can still run plenty of older games on my PC courtesy of fan patches, mods, and other things. It takes an annoying amount of effort at times, but the fact is that the community for it is there. Console side, any and all improvements and bug fixes to a game are handled strictly by the developers, and if they drop support, well, you're shit out of luck. Pretty much the only reason I prefer my PC, even though I own a PS3. Hell, with a gamepad, it pretty much outclasses it in every regard.

Also, console exclusives fill me with great anger. Mostly because, thanks to a hilarious restriction by the PSN, I can only buy my PS3's games at retail. And when you live in a third world country where finding an original copy of a game can be the equivalent of the bloody holy grail, you can be damn sure the shopkeepers will bleed you dry for their prices. I've wanted to play heavy rain since the day it came out. It's currently priced at 90$ dollars.

Every PC comes with Games For Windows Live. It would be a terrifying world if that were the only option. Just saying that consoles aren't as fortunate.

Why bother banning consoles? I don't see the point.

I think that the Xbox 360 console is really good and it has a really good community. Paying 50 dollars every year or 25 every three months is worth it.

Xbox Live is more better because you could have party chats and video chats and it is more easier to communicate and receive messages and you could have gamercards and see other peoples friends and their bio and it is just not all about kids whining because there aren't that many that complains unless you piss them off.

The Halo community is really good lots of people makes custom maps and games to play on with there friends to have fun and laugh others builds maps to share and others makes clans to have clan battles or meetings and others makes teams to play on competitive gametypes Called MLG and others likes to rank up.

The Cod Community is very different there are different kinds of players : The ones that play and rank up, the competitive ones that play in competitions on gamebattles, the ones makes montages by getting killfeeds and trickshots(you get lots of reactions getting a trickshot on xbox but on ps3 you just might only hear one guy talking and just get messages) and the competitive snipers that forms teams and plays other teams in private matches quick scoping and getting ranked on SLB(sniper leaderboards)

Unlike the PS3 because i barely see people with mics and everybody in game lobbies barely talk and there is no party chat (playing different games and still talk to friends) and everybody has to be in one game to talk to each other. Another way to communicate is to send people subjects instead of the message. On the Xbox you could private chat to communicate with the other team.

Xbox = Bigger Community and Better Socializing
PS3 = Less Exciting and really quiet