Care to elaborate on everything?

PC
Pros - Upgradeable. OS will be around for a long time. More developers for games, including homegrown, freeware, shareware, open source stuff.
Cons - Must be continually upgraded if you want to play the latest state of the art games.

Consoles
Pros - Fixed hardware means developers know what they are getting and you can expect a consistent play quality. Dedicated machine means everything is optimized for game play, not general use.
Cons - Not much in the way of freeware type projects and you have to replace your console every 3-5 years to play the newest games, can't just upgrade components to do it.

Oh, and console pro... Usually sold for a loss so cheap for the hardware you get.

And in terms of actual gameplay?
Also, are consoles sold for a loss? Really? Why?

PC (assuming a gaming computer):
Pros:
Better graphics
Cheaper games (especially if you're taking advantage of steam sales)
Better and more Indie games
Keyboard and mouse (as someone who plays most strategy games, I couldn't imagine how one could give units orders without a mouse. I also find aiming in FPS to be easier with a mouse then a console, but that may be because I almost never use consoles and don't presently own one)
Games are modable and mods make a game infinitely better

I think Skyrim would be the game that comes to mind as the best example of why PC gaming is superior to console gaming. Looking at all the mods the haveoverhauled the graphics and added multiple gameplay. GTA IV with mods vs GTA V on consoles also is another good example of how superior PC gaming is.

Cons:
A good gaming computer is most expensive and doesn't last as long as a console

A console is better then a keyboard for fighting games (which I don't play)

Better Lan, when playing a game multiplayer (NHL is the game me and my friends play the most against eachother), its far more enjoyable to be sitting on the same couch or at least in the same room so we can talk, have a few beers together etc. With PC gaming its far harder to set up a Lan party because, as someone who doesn't own a car, getting a PC from one house to another for a Lan party is next to impossible. To me Lan parties happen every 2-3 years due to these pains while playing xbox with a friend 2-3 times a month.

You can't compare them in terms of gameplay. PCs can actually have better or worse gameplay depending on what game and what hardware. I have a gaming PC at home with gamepads, flight sticks, etc that blows away any console out there. I also have a laptop that I run WoW on that wouldn't play some of the high end games of the gaming console.

And yes, consoles are sold for a loss often when they first come out. The equipment in the original Xbox was worth 2 times what it sold for.

The get a computer with the same specs as an xbox one, it would cost just under $700, so yes consoles are cheaper

I agree with Draug's first post above. Another pro of a console is you can relax, sit on the couch and play on the 55" TV with the wireless controller as opposed to having to sit at a desk.

"Another pro of a console is you can relax, sit on the couch and play on the 55" TV with the wireless controller as opposed to having to sit at a desk. "

You can do this with the right PC setup as well.

Consoles offer a very good gaming experience for little investment in time or money.

For a little bit more, though, PC gaming blows consoles out of the water, both in quality and quantity of games.

Also, now that both Xbox and PS4 are litteraly x86 computers, you're basically buying a computer with a crippled OS.

PC's -
Cons - constant need to upgrade. My rig used to play WoW perfectly well on higher end graphics. Now I can't run shit when I download stuff to try (looking for a new MMO)
Pros - MMO's - don't exist on consoles to any great extent, First Person Shooters have better precision control
Con's - Free-to-play is killing the MMO market with Pay-to-Win crap that isn't as good as old subscription based MMO's.

Console:
Pro - No upgrades, games always work out of the box
Cons - loss of precision control -- but hey, (PRO) equal footing, because all your opponents have the same controller. No good MMO that I've found

krell's there is another MMO paradigm I like (and I still play WoW). Free to play without pay to win, but with "pay to have cool looking toys and gear that isn't any better than the other stuff". STO has gone this route. You can pay for cool pets and an NX registry for your ship and stuff and even buy outfits and ships that look even better, but they don't do any more than the stuff you earn in game.

Don't you need to pay for the top ranks in STO, somewhere in the progress towards getting the very best ships out there? I thought I heard something like that from you Draug.
Also, MMO games like APB: Reloaded give bonuses for P2Pers but you certainly stand a chance as F2Per because there's a threat ranking system which is used for matchmaking and the advantage is in cosmetics, leveling up and gaining cash faster and hiring better guns for 10 days. Those better guns are of course the real advantage in any given match, but you can get pretty close with F2P if you get the best you can, possibly even getting those best guns for unrealistic prices.

LE PC MASTERRACE
ALL HAIL GABEN

You pay just like in WoW, monthly subscription. I just chose to pay a lifetime subscription when they offered it. But the stuff you can just pay cash and buy is only visual. The equivalent to uncommon, rare, and heirloom stuff in WoW is earned in game.

Now, I do think they cap how high you can level on the non-subscription accounts, but WoW has that now as well.

gaben gaben gaben

I must say APB scores a bit weak on the first M of MMO though.

So basically you guys would say good and expensive PC for the ultimate experience, console for good and relatively cheap experience if you don't want 'real' RTS or MMO's for example?

I'm not sure if I could get used to the controller good enough in fast-paced shooters, in fact I'm fairly certain I would never truly master it. On the other hand I would like to play GTA V for example which might not come for PC and if it does not for a while, and I really want to 'keep up' with Total War and Paradox. So I suppose that in the end it's choosing between just PC or PC and console for me (I have a Playstation 2 but...).

On a sidenote, I found that my graphics card in my laptop is by far the weakest point when looking at minimum system requirements of the newest games. What kind of graphics card should I get, or should I get a new laptop, since the current one is presumably outdated in a year too? Or get a 'full' upgrade perhaps, if that's cheaper and equally good?
I know I'm not giving much information there, feel free to ask :)

Laptops are always weak on graphics cards. Integrated graphics rarely have the full memory dedicated and have to share memory with the rest of the system. They also don't usually have multiple GPUs. You should usually build your own, although the integrated Intel cards in the Core i7 isn't bad and plays most MMO and RTS games quite well.

Just do a build your own computer.

Steephie - I used to be a die-hard, PC-only gamer with no use for the console. Bought the 360 a couple years back and I don't regret the purchase, I'm enjoying my FPS's and even get a few kills in PVP with my old-man's slow reactions (lol). The kids love the 360, and it is essentially our entertainment hub beyone being a game machine -- so I'm very happy with it and will be buying a XBone this year probably.

....but I'm also debating upgrading the PC...

I was a playtester for live on the original Xbox (still got the well-worn t-shirt). I keep a console around for very specific series (the James Bond, Star Wars Battlefront, and Medal of Honor series) but find I play more and more on my PCs.

PC.

Although I certainly love my trusty SNES.

Wow, when I saw this thread I thought i totally got to get in on this discussion!

And so.... you did?

ASUS makes some amazing gaming laptops. If for some reason your require your gaming machine to have ultraportability, that's what I'd recommend.

Want to know why PC is better?

because P = 16th letter of alphabet, C = third letter, 16+3 = 19, sum of number of letters in swag = 50 + 19 = 69, 69 / 3 = 23 + 1 = 24 / 8 = 3, half life 3 confirmed.

And yes, asus gaming laptops are amazing.

wouldn't it have been easier to just say C is the 3rd letter of the alphabet, half life 3 confirmed?

I think the main points have already been covered. PC games can be modded and there's a lot more indie games out there that are really, really cool (yay Steam sales!). Though, that being said Playstation is really trying to break into the indie games market. All PS4 users who are part of PSN will get I think three free games a month? So lots of cool new options for consoles that Sony is trying.

But...nothing can compare to a rig you've built yourself. The sheer power of a good gaming PC overwhelms any console. That, and all the cool VR hardware that's being developed for it (Oculus Rift, etc) means PC wins by a longshot in my books.

I'm actually a little surprised that people are upgrading their gaming machines as often as they are. I built my rig back in 06/07, with midrange parts, and can still run all the new games that come out. Hell, I've even got Skyrim running with all the fancy texture packs on it and I still get a frame rate high enough that I never notice any problems. Maybe with this new generation it will be time to get some new parts, but I've found that the hardware requirements were pretty stable throughout the entirety of the last console generation.