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While Xbots and the Sony Defence Force argue among themselves, and Wii-mers (Wii-ers?) throw ever more ridiculous shapes pretending to play the tambourine or something, there is another group of gamers who quietly, happily, enjoy the best gaming platform yet invented - the PC.
And while, granted, some huge percentage of PCs are never used for anything other than Outlook and basic web, PCs remain the most flexible and happiest way to game. And, unlike Wii Sports, it won't cause you permanent physical damage.

1. Mouse and keyboard support
Well, duh. Console kids who have grown up with a controller in hand might argue, but there's still no better way of playing just about any game in any genre – not just shooters – than the combination of keyboard and mouse. It just works, offering orders of magnitude more precision and speed than fiddly analogue sticks.

2. High screen resolutions
While Microsoft and Sony scream about 'true HD' in their games – but in many cases don't actually deliver it – the PC has been happily running games at 1080p and above for yonks. In fact, the near-HD default res of 1,280x1,024 is very 2001; even a medium rig can handle 1,600x1,200 or more these days.

3. Free mods
Were you a raw naif, you might be forgiven for thinking that LittleBigPlanet et al single-handedly invented the idea of (nnnggh) 'user generated content'. But guess what? PC gamers have been coding mods (modifications) such as add-ons, total conversions, unofficial levels and all manner of other gubbins for… well, pretty much forever. And then distributing it for free, for the sheer love of it.

4. Upgradeable hardware
With the aforementioned higher resolutions and textures, chances are a new PC game already looks better than its console counterpart right now. But even if you can't run it with all the visuals tweaked to the max, processor and graphic cards prices drop so quickly that it's hardly bank-breaking to refit your rig in a year or so, for better graphics and more speed.

5. Cheaper games
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo's licensing and publishing costs inevitably drive up the cost of every single game released, and even pre-owned games tend to be far pricier than the PC equivalent.

World of Warcraft and EVE Online are only available for the PC - need we say more?


World of Warcraft


Eve Online

6. You're not tied to one online service
Imagine not having to rely on a single, central server such as Xbox Live or PlayStation Network whenever you go online. Imagine not having to suffer downtimes, silly licensing agreements, or daft console-restricting DRM. Oh wait… that's the PC online, isn't it?

7. No extra dosh needed for playing online
Okay, this only applies to Xbox Live, but who's to say that Sony might not start charging for PSN as it keeps haemorrhaging money? And yes, Xboxers can use the free Silver service, but really – why would you?

8. Unlimited storage space
The Xbox 360 is limited to whatever can fit on a DVD (or, if you're unlucky, more than one). The PlayStation 3 has to struggle with turgid Blu-ray access and enforced installs. PC games, meanwhile, just sit happily on the potentially unlimited storage space of your hard drive. Easy.

9. Save game hacking
Like modders, PC gamers are rabidly enthusiastic about pulling apart save games and data files, fiddling therein, and finding ingenious ways to cheat or fix corrupted files. Try doing that with your Wii.

10. Unofficial fixes for older games
PC games such as Vampire: The Masquerade often get unofficial, free, support long after publishers have gone kaput and official support is abandoned, thanks to the tireless efforts of their fans. Bug fixes, enhancements, new hardware support – it's all there.

11. Abandonware
The geek term for 'old games which you can't buy any more'. There are a huge number of classic PC titles out there from years gone by, and many thousands are available to download, legally, for free.

12. No red ring of death
Well, you only get this on the Xbox, of course, but the last thing you want your gaming machine to do is to completely konk out. At least when a PC goes wrong, it really goes wrong. Like, with fire and everything (possibly).

13. Emulation
Emulation without fear of bricking your machine

Plus, PC gamers on average are more intelligent, better looking, funnier, have better taste, live longer, drive nicer cars, have more fun in life etc etc.

Crusty : I made the pic chaNGES FOR YOU

Thanks Ht, much sexier blog now, What a team we are

For pretty much the SAME REASONS, I use Linux! I can run it on any hardware, just like a PC (and make my own, if desired). I can hack almost anything. It runs any software, emulators, even PC games. (I should probably try the full version of Portal someday.) Added benefits of Linux:

hundreds of free games: freely and easily available, without having to hunt for them. (open source, easy to "port" to other systems)
no need for drivers: most Linux "distributions" have generic drivers, so you can just plug in your hardware (even mid-game) and start using it.
security: I've never seen a Linux driver, and restarts are rarely required. If you manage to wreck your account, which is hard to do, only your account is affected, and can be recovered from another administrator's account.

In summary, you made a . How did you get only 50%?

In summary, you made a . How did you get only 50%?

Help me get a better rating, hit the thumbs up icon in the top right hand corner.

Hot Trout wrote:Plus, PC gamers on average are more intelligent, better looking, funnier, have better taste, live longer, drive nicer cars, have more fun in life etc etc.

Crusty : I made the pic chaNGES FOR YOU

Very nice =]

Unfortunately, there are some things that can't be fixed by OS. In Linux, NVIDIA's drivers for my graphics card are so out of date, they are of no use. Even the 3D glasses that came with the card don't work. In windows the drivers are update more frequently, but I have set a record for the number of crashes in one level of Portal/Portal 2: 16 graphics driver failures. I need a new graphics card, cooling system, and/or power supply.

Wellwell, you're right.

Although, some adventures I had on NES and SNES consoles, also come up close to the nights of playing DOOM in the dark @ 2am.

Some games that I think need mentioning here just because they bring joy to my mind:

• After Burner
• Alpha Centauri
• Battle Chess
• Blues Brothers
• Captain Comic
• Commander Keen
• Cosmo
• Dangerous Dave
• Diablo
• Leisure Suite Larry
• Little Big Adventure
• Loom
• Lotus 3
• Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
• Monkey Island
• Police Quest
• Prophecy: Viking Child (anyone know this one?)
• Sam & Max: Hit the Road
• Snarf
• Stargoose
• Stuntcar
• The old Dutch man mine (anyone know this one?)
• Trolls ( )
• Unreal Tournament

.. And the list goes on!

I played most of those as well. Sam and Max was a superb lucasarts title.