There is a battle raging across the internet. No, I'm not talking about getting fragged in Halo. I'm talking about the war between Xbox gamers and PC gamers over which is the superior platform. They both have their strong points, and they both definitely have a few week points. I'm going to try to be fair and outline both sides of the argument here. Whether you're an experienced gamer that's tried one but not the other or a newbie who is looking to get into gaming but unsure which way to go, hopefully I'll be able to provide you with some valuable insight.
Xbox Weak Points: One of the biggest complaints PC gamers have about the Xbox is that it's "dumbed down". Many PC gamers are irate because they feel studios have simplified their games in order to fit better into the Xbox market, and then lazily port those same games with the same "dumbed down" feeling to the PC. Whether it is the 4.7 Gigabyte limit on the Xbox 360's DVD based games or the way Xbox controllers are designed, PC gamers find the entire thing very limiting.
PC Weak Points: The primary reason PC gamers can be snobs about such limitations is they're constantly buying new hardware to have the most powerful and up to date systems out there (in order to get the most out of the latest games) but this can become a very expensive habit to maintain. An Xbox 360 has a base price up front, pay once for the lifetime of the console. A PC gamer trying to keep his system up to date with the latest technology may spend the price of a new Xbox 360 or more * every single year *. Another problem with PCs is you can not just put the disc in the drive and play, you need to go through an install process and then launch the game. The entire experience of PC gaming is far less fluid and seamless than the Xbox experience.
Xbox Strong Points: Microsoft's console gaming platform is a polished gaming package. You can unwrap it and start gaming with extreme ease. Their online system is fairly robust and if you're trying for special achievements in the latest role playing game or just want to break some guy from New Jersey in Halo, you do not need to read a manual to figure it out. The entire experience is straightforward and fun.
PC Strong Points: Like the Xbox, the PCs disadvantages are also its advantages. You may call it the eye of the beholder, or simply weighing the pros and cons. Whichever way you put it, the facts are clear: The constant pressure to upgrade hardware also means PCs can offer state of the art graphics and spectral gaming experiences that the console systems can not. The less straightforward nature of PC gaming also offers gamers complexity in both the width, breadth and depth of games specifically made for PC as well as in finer-tuned and more advanced control schemes.
