Which is better, console or computer? What to buy, gaming computer or console

And the dispute between PC and console users is still in full swing. We tried to figure out what to run our favorite games on in 2017, and what determines the choice.

Game on PC

Convenience

Convenience is one of the most subjective factors that influence the choice of platform. First of all, we are talking about the convenience of control via a controller: some people cannot play on a gamepad, while others, on the contrary, cannot imagine playing on a “typewriter”.

Another aspect that affects convenience is the available space in the apartment. A console requires a TV, a sofa or an armchair, and a computer requires a desktop, and it all depends on the person: someone has both, while others have already gotten rid of the TV or work lying on the couch with a laptop.

Nothing prevents you from combining: connecting your PC to the TV or placing the console under the monitor and periodically switching cables, but these solutions are compromises, and you are unlikely to experience full comfort when playing.

The third aspect is the need to move frequently. If you go to conferences and on business trips or change rented apartments every six months, then a lightweight but powerful ultrabook would be a convenient option.

If controllers are equally convenient or inconvenient for you, there is enough space in the apartment, and your last business trip was three years ago, then let’s talk about other factors.

Genres and "exclusives"

The games themselves are also an important factor. Who cares how powerful your PC is if it doesn’t have your favorite God of War, and FIFA comes out in a stripped-down version with poor graphics and broken physics. Likewise, there's no point in having a console if your favorite game is Dota 2 and you prefer indie games like Faster Than Light or The Banner Saga to distract yourself.

Each platform is suitable for specific gaming genres and also has its own “exclusives”. PC is more focused on:

Session online games, such as Dota, League of Legends or the new hit PlayerUnknown’s Battleground;

Strategies. All strategies, real-time and turn-based, are exclusive to PC, since correctly transferring this genre to a gamepad is a non-trivial task that often does not pay off.

Original indie games. Lately, console makers have begun to look more closely at indie games and announce some of them at their conferences, but the PC is still the main platform for low-budget games.

What games are best to play on a console? High-budget story-driven projects are often released as console exclusives: Horizon: Zero Dawn, the Halo series and the aforementioned God of War do not appear on personal computers.

Even multi-platform projects are often promoted in partnership with console manufacturers, making applications for Xbox or Playstation. In addition, recently there has been a tendency among large publishers to ignore the next point in our program - optimization.

Optimization

On the one hand, a new powerful PC is an opportunity to get the best picture, 4K resolution and any number of frames per second as desired. On the other hand, high-end games on consoles sell better, and they are easier to optimize, since instead of a whole fleet of devices there are two or three hardware.

Now owners of top-end computers have nothing to worry about: most of the new products will run on their machines without problems, but in a couple of years the developers may forget about your configuration, and you will have to update to play comfortably. Which brings us to our next point.

Prices

The cost of a gaming platform consists of two parts: hardware and games. A top-end PC, the configuration of which will correspond to the parameters of the most modern games for at least three years, will cost from 100,000 rubles. At the same time, a machine with a new 18-core Core™ i9 processor inside can become a more promising investment for at least 10 years in the future (subject to periodic upgrades).

Consoles are cheaper: Xbox One X, announced at E3 2017, will cost about 30,000 rubles, but there are nuances. Life cycle the console is 4-6 years old, after which it will have to be replaced. Almost all the games you played on the previous generation console will be left behind. Some of them will be launched under a backwards compatibility program, some will receive remasters, but there is no talk of full support for the old library of games. And they weren't cheap.

The cost of a console game in Russia is approximately 4,400 rubles, while AAA projects on a PC cost approximately 2,000 rubles, and games of a lower class are even cheaper. For example, the slasher game Hellblade on PS4 will cost 2,200 rubles, but on a personal computer only 500 - the difference is more than four times.

The main PC gaming store is known for its sales, where you can get games with absolutely obscene discounts - up to 90%. Console owners can trade games with friends or find sellers of used discs, but all this takes time.

We can conclude that a PC is more profitable in the long run if you play a lot of games and buy all the new products. The console is convenient if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on equipment at a time and don’t play every day.

Friends preferences

In fact, the most important factor for choosing a gaming platform is the preferences of your friends. Games are a social phenomenon, and most people prefer to play with other people. Single-player games are also good, but playing with an opponent is brighter, more unpredictable and more fun.

Therefore, there is a cumulative effect in sales of gaming platforms: than more devices sold by the company, the more it will sell in the future. It is unlikely that anyone will buy a new console just because it is very powerful if all their friends play on PC and do not plan to change the platform.

Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself and have both platforms at home so as not to miss game “exclusives”, not to lose contact with friends who play on different platforms, and to have the opportunity to choose in multiplatform games.

A difficult choice for a gamer: game console or PC? Everyone faces such a difficult choice, so we invite you to look at all the pros and cons of both sides and help you make your choice.

In turn, I was an active PC user and believed that consoles, to put it mildly, were not worthy of my attention. However, my opinion completely changed when I purchased a PS4 with a wonderful and unique game"The Last of Us"and passed it in one breath. It was worth it: there was just a sea of ​​emotions.

So, let’s look at all the above options and determine the Pros and Cons.

Pros of game consoles:

Price (since the price of a good gaming computer is many times higher);

Full 100% optimization of the game for the hardware of consoles;

Protection against piracy (only licensed discs);

Purely multimedia and gaming orientation (created for games and only for them);

Exclusivity (many gaming masterpieces are released only on consoles, for example, mega cool game"The Last of Us" If you have a PS4, I highly recommend buying, exchanging, or playing this wonderful disc with the game. By the way, a minus in the direction of XBOX One, you won’t be able to use it with your friends anymore. After the first launch on a console, the disc will not run on another. And this, in my opinion, is a huge minus);

Compactness, weight, dimensions (convenient to transport even in plastic bag to the dacha, you only need a TV and the Internet);

Has built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (which is very convenient).

Cons of game consoles:

Frankly weak this moment, hardware (optimization alone won’t get you far);

The cost of discs (depending on the game, the price varies from 2,000 to 4,000 thousand rubles. PC games are several times cheaper);

Controls (this is my subjective opinion. I’ve been playing on the console for a very long time, but I’m still not used to playing shooters comfortably. If you’ve been playing with a mouse and keyboard all the time and here you suddenly took the console’s joystick in your hands, then at least a little nervous a breakdown lasting the first couple of weeks is guaranteed);

Permanent connection to the Internet (for XBOX One this is a prerequisite);

A small amount of third-party multimedia software (yes, in principle, for other functions, except for games, the console is not very suitable).

Pros of PC.

An endless increase in performance, since upgrading hardware is truly a pleasant experience and very interesting. If you have adequate funding, you can simply assemble a “monster”;

The amount of software and games (just a lot, the Internet is 200% full);

Input devices (keyboard, mouse and other devices, the same joysticks, but in principle they are also available on consoles, but the price is several times different from a PC, I would say tens of times);

The cost of the discs, I repeat (at least doubled, or even tripled);

Functionality of use (for all functions, from multimedia and games, to typing and converting videos. Yes, even surfing pages on the Internet is much more pleasant through a normal browser and on a mouse with a keyboard than typing on a joystick, which is terribly annoying).

PC Cons:

Dimensions (this is the main disadvantage. A good system unit weighs a lot, plus a monitor of 24-27 inches))), it’s difficult for one person to carry it away, unless from a store);

Price (a good gaming machine at the current rate costs about 50-70 thousand rubles and this is without a monitor, keyboard and mouse, not to mention audio, Wi-Fi, etc.);

The absence of many gaming hits for the PC platform (see the question of exclusivity above);

Availability of Windows (the most common operating system, in turn, the most buggy and with a sea of ​​viruses. However, Windows 10 is pretty good, I recommend it);

OS price (again, Windows 10 costs about 5-8 thousand rubles).

Conclusions:

I won’t go into too much detail; of course, it’s up to you to decide. Some will say that the comparison is not equivalent, but I am an active user of the console, namely PS4 and PC in the average configuration, and I can safely say that the graphics on the PC and the console are significantly different and far from being in favor of the latter device. These are, of course, different devices, but still we looked at the gaming component, which is key in our review.

The console is an excellent device for gaming, which is 100% optimized for comfortable gaming. However, if you want to really enjoy cool graphics, for example, crush a couple of police cars into an accordion GTA V(which you will never do on consoles), and also need not only to satisfy gaming appetites, but sometimes or constantly use a PC for work, watching movies, converting videos, and so on, then your choice is obvious.

A gaming system unit with an average level of performance for games without a monitor will cost about 45,000 rubles. And for 30,000-35,000 rubles we can also afford a new modern PS4 or XBOX One console. Again, the question is finances. The choice is always yours. Good luck to all! Thank you for your attention.

IGB were with you.

The announcement of PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox Scorpio became another reason to be convinced of this

Computer next to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3

This may surprise some of you, but we here at the editorial office are big fans of PC gaming. Shocking statement, I understand. Console fans will probably accuse us of being biased, but we will still take the liberty of saying the following: PC games are more accessible today than ever before, and for many they have a higher value for a variety of reasons. once again convinces us of this.

And that's why.

Price

Let's start right away with the price issue, which for some reason they prefer not to mention out of politeness or caution. It is clear that previously PCs were significantly inferior to consoles according to this criterion. “Yes, I would have to spend thousands of dollars on a PC, while a game console can be purchased for only 300-400 dollars.”

PC games still cost more, at least initially. And little has changed here. Anyone who can build a desktop computer for $400 is either a wizard or a lucky guy who buys all the components at a discount and spends his whole life waiting for sales. All that remains is to wish him good luck.

At the same time, PCs are no longer as expensive as they used to be. In a number of online stores you can find a lot of entry-level models for $550, but when I saw high-end computers for only $800-900, my eyes widened.

Prices have fallen very much - especially for video cards. The AMD Polaris GPU now seems like a very good buy for anyone who wants to game on the cheap. A Radeon RX 470 video card based on it will cost you only $200 - simply incredible! Those interested can familiarize themselves with the test results in detail, but I will only touch on the essence. At 1080p you get 60 frames per second on virtually any modern game. And it's only $200.

Yes, today it is not easy to find an RX 480 at a recommended price, but the whole point is that manufacturers are striving to make PC gaming accessible to consumers. They want enthusiasts to buy GPUs. And competition is causing PCs to become cheaper than before.

But a $200 graphics card is much more powerful than what’s inside the recently announced PlayStation 4 Pro console. Let's compare at least the pure performance in teraflops:

Xbox Scorpio (with unknown AMD GPU, presumably Vega): 6

We might be going a bit wrong by doing this, though, because consoles and PCs use the available hardware differently, but it's good enough for a rough comparison. For $200 you get a graphics card that (at least on paper) looks better than the PS4 Pro. Add the missing components and you'll have a great computer for very little, especially if you (like many others) already have a keyboard, mouse, and a suitable monitor.

And if you focus on the performance of PS4 and Xbox One, everything will be even cheaper. A $110 graphics card like the GeForce GTX 950 or Radeon RX 460 paired with an affordable FX-6350 processor gets you past that low bar.

However, this is still not enough

“Okay, I’ve convinced you: games on PC today have become more accessible than ever before. But they are still quite expensive compared to consoles. And I don't understand why PC is so much more valuable to most players." A moment of patience, dear skeptic, now we will come to this.

Easy to upgrade

Happened in the world big changes, which inspired this article.

Many people are looking forward to November today with vexation. After all, several years ago they bought the PlayStation 4 - the most powerful console in the world at that time. And these people expected that it would serve them for a long time. For many, many years.

Sony PlayStation 4 Pro console

Isn't it strange: why are users willing to shell out more than $600 for a phone every two years, but at the same time believe that a $400 console should serve them for at least ten years? However, now we are talking about something else. It doesn't really bother me at all - after all, I write for PC World. Yes, and the argument leads us away from the main topic.

The main thing is that console manufacturers decided to adopt the modernization strategy characteristic of PCs. And based on the current announcement of PlayStation, we can expect the transformation of consoles into “platforms” - the division of equipment into levels with the advent of more powerful devices every three to four years. And it's not just Sony doing this. U Microsoft there is its own Project Scorpio, according to which the Xbox One update is planned for the fourth quarter of 2017.

At the same time, the consoles are not adapted for modernization. In practice, it is completely impossible to modernize them. And here we generally need different terminology. You can't open up the PlayStation 4 case, put a new GPU in there and continue to enjoy games as if nothing happened. You'll have to take your old PS4 to a flea market and buy yourself a new one.

Install new, more powerful processor You won't be able to play Scorpio on your old Xbox One console.

I’m ready to admit that when you first buy a PC, it will cost more, but upgrading it later will be much easier. If you approach this sparingly, the processor will easily last you up to six years, and the graphics card - four to five years. Frame? Memory? Power unit? Fans? Hard disks? All this is relatively inexpensive, and you can upgrade it ad infinitum, from assembly to assembly, replacing only what is really necessary.

You can easily stick to your budget by making the necessary upgrades over a very long time, especially if your goal is just to stay ahead of the consoles. Plan ahead and you'll end up spending no more than buying a new console every three to four years.

True, I’m not sure that in a few years we will see the next iteration of the PS4/Xbox One. Perhaps this is all a one-time event. Still, I think regular console updates will become the new norm.

The era of exclusive console games is over

Tonight I can open Steam and launch Street Fighter V. Or play Dead Rising 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Axiom Verge, Talos Principle, Killing Floor 2, Darkest Dungeon, No Man's Sky, Downwell, SOMA, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Transistor, Grow Home, Hotline Miami 2, N++, Volume and much more . In the video presented here you can see what Tekken 7 looks like on PC at 4K resolution.

All of these games were developed exclusively for the Xbox One or PlayStation 4. More precisely, they were positioned on the market for a specific console with the “Console Exclusive” mark, although in addition to the console version, as a rule, a PC version was also released. Both Sony and Microsoft considered the PC to be neutral territory.

Sony, however, was more cautious, keeping first-person games to itself. You still won't be able to find a PC version of Uncharted 4. But there are already signs that things may be changing. Sony recently launched a subscription-based game streaming service for PCs.

Microsoft went even further and immediately announced its support for Xbox and Windows 10 by launching the Xbox Play Anywhere program. Today, almost every "Xbox Exclusive" game releases a version for Windows 10 on the same day. Examples include Gears of War 4, ReCore, Quantum Break, Forza Horizon 3 and many more. The only Xbox series not yet included in this program is Halo.

Basically, when you buy a PC, you now have access to most console games. True, a number of first-person games for Sony consoles still remain unavailable, but everything else is already on the market, and often (with the exception of rare cases like Arkham Knight) in higher quality compared to the console versions.

Nothing exclusive to PC

Probably, you will find a friend who snickers sarcastically: “But for the PC, there is nothing exclusive at all.” It must be that everyone has already met such people, and if not in person, then certainly on the forums.

The argument is quite strange, and it only indicates ignorance of the PC platform. Perhaps your interlocutor simply does not finish: "There is nothing exclusive to the PC that I would like to play." Meanwhile, there are far more games exclusively for PC today than for consoles.

Civilization VI: PC Only

Take the strategy genre, for example. With the exception of Halo Wars and a few less successful games, all strategy games, both turn-based and real-time, are mostly on the PC - and there are plenty of them.

Moreover, the matter is not limited to just strategies for the assiduous. There are hundreds of games released every year that make a name for themselves on PC and never make it to consoles. They belong to a variety of genres, ranging from shooters (Unreal Tournament, Quake Champions) to role-playing games (Tyranny, Mount & Blade II) and... I don’t even know what (Duskers, Factorio).

backward compatibility

It should also be noted that once you get the game for PC, you become its owner forever. (True, some are panicky that the Valve Steam service will close and their games will stop working. But in any case, there is also an alternative in the form of GOG.)

The PC gaming legacy stretches back forty years. Thanks to the passion of the PC community, most games released over the past 40 years are still available today. Text adventures? The Interactive Fiction database is at your service. DOS? Thanks DOSBox. More complex environments from 15 or 20 years ago? Again, GOG.com plus (if the game is popular enough) dozens of modern options that improve the experience.

This 24 year old PC game is still playable

But I have not yet mentioned console emulators for PCs that are not entirely legal from a legal point of view. However, we will not dwell on them in our article.

Buy a PC and the whole story will appear before you. Literally on last week A whole series of classic Sierra games have appeared on Steam, ranging from Gabriel Knight to Phantasmagoria and Caesar III. The best of what was offered in the 90s is still available to today's players.

Of course, this approach also has its drawbacks. Installation can be a daunting task, especially if you have no idea what you're doing. But if I get the opportunity to play Planescape: Torment on the hardware I have (without having to go looking for a 1999 PC or relying on a publisher to maybe fund a modern version), I'll definitely take it. Meanwhile, PlayStation 4 owners can only play PlayStation 3 games, and then only if they pay $20 a month for a PlayStation Now subscription.

Sales and free games

“Okay, but I don’t like classic games and/or have played all these games before.” Great news! If we're talking about Only about new products, playing on PC becomes even cheaper. Prices fall quickly, become lower and tend to remain at this level.

The first thing that comes to mind is Steam Sales, but it doesn't stop there. GOG.com, Amazon, Green Man Gaming, Gamersgate, Humble - they all regularly have sales. You can easily get a huge library of games on the cheap and completely offset the cost of your hardware.

It's not uncommon to see pre-orders for popular games on Steam at a 10 or even 20 percent discount, and six months after release, many publishers sell their products for $15-20, or even cheaper. Great indie games can often be found on sale for under $10 or even $5. You just have to be patient. What about consoles? Even on sale, most AAA games haven't gone below $30 in years.

And there are also free products. Oddly enough, even the most famous (and beloved) games are sometimes distributed for free. You must have heard about Dota 2 and League of Legends? About Team Fortress 2? About Path of Exile? About Evolve? For some of these best games on PC, you can spend hundreds (or even thousands) of hours without paying a cent.

What else

Are you annoyed by flickering on the screen? Correcting the field of view will mitigate the negative effect. Personally, I prefer to have a field of view of around 100 degrees when gaming on PC. When playing on a console, the screen is further away and the field of view is usually limited to 60 degrees. But this is not the main thing. The most annoying thing is that console games usually have a fixed field of view, which means you can't change it even if you get tired. (This also includes motion blur.)

Playing a game you don't like? Steam, Origin, GOG.com and many other sellers are willing to refund money for the game if certain criteria are met. This allows you not only to get money back if the developer does not release the game on time, but also to check whether it will run on your machine. Many doubts can be dispelled in this way.

We probably won’t touch on paid online tournaments. No, no, not now.

Management flexibility

You can talk about the merits of a mouse and keyboard for a very long time, but I would prefer to refrain from doing so. Suffice it to say that they are much more accurate, more familiar (for new players) and more responsive than a controller.

However, today so many console games have already been transferred to PC that it would be natural to use the original control scheme on at least some of them. They immediately come to mind Dark Souls and Assassin's Creed. These games are best played with a gamepad. Luckily, connecting an Xbox One or DualShock 4 controller to your PC is easier than ever. It doesn't matter whether it's via cable or (as in the case of the Xbox One S and DS4) via Bluetooth. Most games today support PC controllers, especially when it comes to popular multi-platform titles.

PC anyway

Well, in conclusion, the most important thing.

It’s probably not right to discuss the price of a gaming PC in isolation from everything else. However, there are reasons for this. Perhaps in his Everyday life you prefer laptop computers. And some people are used to doing all their work on a tablet.

But for many, a desktop computer is still a must (or at least a preferred option). People who process photos, sound and video, who spend long hours typing on the keyboard and are used to gaming for fun, need a powerful PC. And some people just like to sit at a table in front of a large screen and a comfortable keyboard.

Why not use your PC for both work and play?

In other words, there will almost always be a reason to subsidize the purchase of a gaming PC. “Well, I still need a desktop computer that can run Ableton, Word and Premiere, so why not splurge on the extra $200 that the Radeon RX 480 is asking for and turn it into a gaming machine as well.” ?

What about the console? Unfortunately, it only has one purpose, and this is especially noticeable in the era of $35 Chromecast. There are so many ways to display Netflix, Amediatek and the like on the TV screen that buying a console for this is no longer necessary.

Conclusion

Of course, playing games on a PC comes with certain difficulties. Twitch streaming seems too confusing for the uninitiated. If the game crashes, be prepared to spend some time on the Google or Steam forums. Need to update your graphics drivers? Another obstacle. Even the process of assembling a PC can be stressful at first.

After all, this activity is not for everyone. Not yet.

But PC gaming has become much more accessible than in the past. On the Internet you can find the answer to almost any question you may have, explaining all the error codes that the game gives. Driver updates are now done with the click of a button and take significantly less time than updating firmware on any existing console.

PCs are in good shape - perhaps the best in the history of their existence. At the same time, they are constantly improving. And if the Sony PlayStation 4 Pro announcement left you disappointed or left you wondering, perhaps now is the time to make the switch to a more open platform.

And we will be glad to see you in our ranks.

that's it! depending on what you play)

The main dilemma is to buy a game console or a personal computer for games?

Without going into details.

Buy a personal computer without a doubt if:

You don’t yet have a home personal computer, and you really need a universal device for work and entertainment;

You do not want to use the TV for games, since its functions are quite important to you, and a set-top box constantly connected to it will create a number of inconveniences;

Do you prefer online games, for example, strategy or RPG;

There are not enough funds to purchase games for the console. The same games for PC are much cheaper.

It makes sense to purchase a game console if:

You have a TV, and there is no need to purchase a bulky gaming computer, and an expensive one at that. But the laptop is quite suitable for you for work, and the console is suitable for games. This kit is optimal and practical;

You don’t want unnecessary headaches about the compatibility of purchased games and your computer, you don’t want to deal with upgrades, installation disks, you’re bothered by slowdowns and freezing of the system during the game, and much more;

You are going to buy a game console for your children. It will be much easier for younger family members to deal with.

The mentality of our state forces people to put practicality first. It was this that led to the fact that game consoles were not in sufficient demand. But the PC, as a universal tool for both entertainment and business, has become widespread among us.

But in our time, the situation has changed radically. More and more users are choosing laptops over personal desktop computers. Purchasing a game console as a separate device for gaming has taken on a new meaning. The question remains open, what knowledge is desirable to have in order to competently buy a game console.

First, you need to come to terms with the fact that the game console is not subject to any “upgrade”, you cannot change its components, there is no opportunity to install software, increase the amount of memory or use operating systems of your choice. The game console is created by a closed system.

And yet there are some exceptions.

True, they are designed for those who like to overcome obstacles for the sake of the process itself. One such example is that after a series of special actions, a working GPS navigator can emerge from a pocket PSP console. The question is, why is this necessary? After all, it is more convenient and rational to purchase a navigator separately, and a game console independently of it.

Why are game consoles more convenient than PCs? In fact, the answer is simple - insert the disc and play to your heart's content. There are no difficulties, no installing the game on your computer, the system will not ask unnecessary questions before playing, no updates are needed, and the game will definitely not slow down.

Today's game developers overwhelmingly release games that can be run both on a personal computer (or laptop) and on a console. This is everyone's favorite Need for Speed ​​and the super popular Call of Duty. The controls in these games are designed to use a gamepad. Graphics and optimization are at an excellent level, without any unpleasant moments. So, you need to play optimally comfortably on a game console. Some may doubt the convenience of the gamepad. The mouse is more familiar and the question arises about connecting it to the console. However, don't rush to conclusions. You can get used to the gamepad quite quickly. Remember, before it was difficult for you to cope with a keyboard-mouse set. Although everything will be resolved. There are special mice for these purposes, or special adapters.

Are you not sure about choosing a game console because of the high cost of specialized games? Essentially you are right. The price of the games is really high. But this is only at first glance. If you have a TV at home, then purchasing a set-top box for it will be much cheaper than buying a complete set of PC with all the peripherals, or a gaming laptop. And you can buy games not on the day of their world presentation. Let's say 3-4 months after the game's debut, its price drops almost three times. Significant savings! Plus, stores practice promotional sales of games, where you can save your money.

Separately, we need to touch on the topic of piracy. To be honest, on modern consoles you can easily run an unlicensed version of the game. The only question is what consequences this may cause. The worst of them is that your console can be banned from the Internet for life if you go into online multiplayer mode. Add to this the lack of technical support from the manufacturer, which results in the inability to receive updates and fixes for the game. In general, the choice is yours - cheap games or absolute peace of mind.

Game consoles are designed for more than just playing games. They also have additional, very convenient functions. This includes watching videos, photos, listening to music, some models even have the ability to surf the Internet. They can be connected to both a TV and a computer monitor using the required adapter. DVD or Blu-Ray discs, flash media, built-in or external HDDs are available for reading. Undoubtedly, these properties will be useful to you.

All of the listed tasks do not pose any difficulties for the operation of the set-top box. She copes with them at a good level. Only for surfing the Internet it is still more convenient to use a PC, laptop or tablet.

How well do consoles cope with these tasks? Overall not bad when it comes to media capabilities. But to navigate the Internet, it is still better to use a PC, laptop or tablet.

Characteristics and capabilities of modern game consoles.

PlayStation 2.

A hit from the Japanese concern Sony. The year of her birth is 2000. Over the 11 years since the release of this game console, more than 150 million copies have been sold. And today it is popular and in consumer demand in the gaming products market.

What is the secret of her popularity? There are two of them. The first one is a huge, great library of games. A couple of them: God of War 2 and Rogue Galaxy. The first is an epic game about battles with the Gods, the second is a game about filibusters, the main character of which is Jaster from the planet Rose. Also in the library you can find excellent car simulators, for example Gran Turismo 4, a real horror movie Silent Hill, arcade games like Burnout, music games, fighting games and everything your heart desires. Who else can compete with the PS2 in this?

Well, the second secret of the PlayStation 2 is the price. It is accessible to the common man, even those with limited means. You will be able to purchase an amazing game library, and will not be left at a loss.

True, there are some drawbacks to this wonderful console. Age takes its toll. Mainly on the chart. It leaves much to be desired by today's standards. There is no HD resolution, no special effects and no photorealism. It looks more than modest. Media functions are primitive. The PlayStation 2 game console will be able to work as a DVD and music CD player. Network integration is not provided, like other popular options today.

PlayStation 3.

The PS2 was replaced by the PlayStation 3 in 2006. Its capabilities are already much more modern than those of its predecessor. This console serves as a very decent home media player that can read Blu-ray format along with standard DVDs. The PS3 has a built-in hard drive. In addition, it is compatible with external drives and can be used to view images.

In addition to the above advantages, the PlayStation 3 game console is equipped with its own WEB browser. Its capabilities are not so great, but it is quite suitable for watching videos on YouTube, reading the news or reports from meteorologists. Writing letters or comments on relevant sites will be more difficult. Typing speed is very slow. But nothing is impossible. If you really want to, then buy a special mini-keyboard for your pleasure. Connection to the Network is possible using a Wi-Fi adapter or a specific network cable.

On sale today you will find the PlayStation 3 in the Slim modification. The previous Fat modification has already been discontinued, so it can only be purchased on the secondary market. Slim is practically no different from the earlier version. Is it just a smaller weight and size, as well as a hard drive capacity - 120 GB as standard.

Games such as the exciting racing MotorStorm and the adventure series Uncharted (like Indiana Jones, but much more interesting) were exclusively developed for the PlayStation 3 game library. It also includes wonderful children's toys - ModNation Racers, a fun LittleBigPlant construction game.

What’s especially pleasing is that PlayStation 3 games in online mode are absolutely free. There is an excellent accessory for this gaming console, the PlayStation Move. It is functionally almost a copy of the Nintendo Wii. With the difference that it is more accurate, the graphics of the games are much more beautiful and pleasing to the eye. The games provided by Move are fun and interesting, and not difficult at all. So they will attract even those family members who do not know how to play at all.

PlayStation Portable.

Between modern game consoles Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable, PSP has gained great popularity. Probably, the difference between our people and Japanese citizens plays a significant role in this. The games offered by the Japanese on the DS are somewhat specific to Europeans. But action movies, racing, hand-to-hand combat are very close in spirit to our compatriot. And all this is enough in the library of PlayStation Portable games.

The PSP drive format was developed by Sony specifically for this console. The UMD drive is not particularly popular. It’s good that the developers of this game console provided the ability to record data onto a Memory Stick type memory card. This simplifies things. The media player option is of course present in the modern PSP. But this is probably not so important, because... It is uncomfortable to use a game console for these tasks. To watch the video, you will need to re-encode it - unnecessary hassle. The browser on the console is weak and slow. In this sense, a smartphone is 100 times more convenient.

But if you're looking to buy a gaming console as a gift for a high school student who loves video games, the PlayStation Portable is a great choice. Moreover, the original games for it are sold at good discounts.

Nintendo Wii.

What sets the Wii apart from other consoles is its unique control system. The Wiimote is somewhat similar to a regular home TV remote control. "Nunchuck" is a small controller with a joystick. They are taken in the right and left hand at the same time. The game console detects movement within a certain perimeter and makes it possible to get as close as possible to real actions during the game. If you are shooting from a bow - pull the bowstring, fight with a monster - swing your weapon as hard as you can, are about to throw a ball - throw it.

This non-standard game control makes the Nintendo Wii console accessible to everyone who is not an avid gamer, for kids and adult family members. Also, this game console can be successfully used at parties as excellent, non-boring entertainment. Among the mega hits from Nintendo, it is worth remembering the Mario series.

The disadvantages of the Nintendo Wii game console are its low technical performance. According to these parameters, the Wii is inferior to such gaming projects as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It does not have HD images, and the graphics are unpretentious. It is also not suitable for navigating the Internet. Multimedia functions at a low level. There isn't even a simple DVD player function. Pirates corrected this omission in their unlicensed versions of the product.

Despite the obvious inconsistency with the current requirements for consoles, it would be right to buy a Wii game console for home entertainment or for the average user, as a pleasant entertaining toy.

Xbox 360.

One of the most popular game consoles of our time. This creation was created by Microsoft engineers. The pluses include support for HD DVD. The downside is the lack of a Blu-ray drive, which is more useful and in demand today. A simple DVD-Rom produces unnecessary annoying noise while playing. This can be avoided by recording the desired game to the integrated hard drive. The set-top box is equipped with an interface for connecting external data storages. This allows you to view media files directly from external media.

Games for the Xbox 360 are varied. Among them are the high-quality simulator Forza Motorsport, the fantastic games Gears of War and Halo, and the mysticism of Alan Wake. Compared to Sony games, they are certainly inferior. But for multi-platform games, the X360 is the best choice. Need for Speed, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, the list goes on. You won't find a better console for online gaming. So, if you like to play in the company of real opponents, you should definitely buy an Xbox 360 game console.

There are some conditions that allow you to play online on Xbox. Gold subscription to the branded Internet service Xbox LIVE. Subscription price 60 USD in a year. Paying this amount is not entirely easy. This service does not want to accept Ukrainian payment cards. There is a way out of the situation - purchasing a scratch card in special online stores.

If you decide to buy an Xbox 360 game console, then consider the following. The consoles from the first arrivals were unreliable, often broke, and overheated. To avoid such problems, buy a fixed version or an improved and updated modification of the Xbox 360 S. It looks sleeker, runs quieter and lasts longer. The Wi-Fi module built into the set-top box will also come in handy. The early version of the Xbox 360 used Wi-Fi peripherally.

For amateurs, but not for gaming professionals, the Kinect game controller from Microsoft will be of interest. This is a plank with a video camera and a 3D sensor. It tracks the player's movements and makes it possible to play without a controller in hand. You can run, jump, swing your arms and legs, and make other movements. True, Kinect is only applicable to specific games. Unfortunately, there are few such games, but they are bright and interesting.

Leading companies producing game consoles are already working to develop more advanced and modern consoles. Although, announcements of such consoles have not yet been in the press. So we should assume that there are still 2-3 years before their world release, no less. Without specific developments, companies will not advertise future products. Based on the above, we summarize - the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles are and in the near future will remain leaders in their product category.

Recently, a new release of the Nintendo DS, the Nintendo 3DS, went on sale in stores around the world. The difference from the previous version is the function of outputting stereo images. Oddly enough, the product did not gain much popularity even in the West. Apparently, here too, she will not be able to make a splash.

Now we just have to wait until the end of 2011, when Next Generation Portable (aka PSP 2) will be released. Perhaps Sony will have better luck and be able to satisfy the demanding gamer of our time. We can definitely predict that the price of the new product will go through the roof at first. And the game library will not be overly saturated.

Well, our whole life is a game! All that remains is to wish you a successful purchase of the console and enjoy the game!