PS3 vs PC? What's the "real" difference?

Look if you're going to ask whats the real difference between a console and a computer, then i tell you always computers will win. why? simple, a computer can be modded, tweaked, upgraded (hardware), updated (software). It gives you more control IF AND ONLY IF you know how to do it. This means those who have slight experience with computers are recommended to go with a console which pretty much has everything pre-configured for you. If you are a computer enthusiast, then you bet your ass that you wont get satisfied with a console. With a console, you dont have update your drivers (well maybe the firmware and still go to sony website and you find anything related to PS3 there), you dont have to upgrade the inside hardware (since all play station games are developed to suit the hardware specs of the PS3), and connecting the PS3 to a TV takes 5 seconds (plus less cabling mess). With a PC, of course there will be some environment design problems like ugly case in the room and cables all around (plus dont forget a UPS to be connected), but for PC you can upgrade hardware whenever you want, you can install any software you want, you can go with any operating system and even run several OSs either in virtual or dual boot, you mod your computer case (like i did) to make it look cool, you can increase your computer storage to infinity (i currently reached the terrabyte mark and can still go up more). Regarding expenses, pretty much both are the same (dont argue and say PS3 is cheaper cause its not, games are more expensive, REPAIRING it means your just paying for a new PS3, right??). Anyway, if you want instant gaming and less mess in the room and dedicate a sum of money just for gaming and your NOT a PC enthusiast, then go with PS3. If you want to take control of your machine and upgrade and update your machine however you like, then go with PC. And by the way, you cannot compare the graphics between PS3 and PC regarding graphic rendering, cause each game differs. But if you want to compare the hardware performance of both graphic cards, then the best graphic card for gaming easily tops the one in the PS3 (just check out the cute babies Nvidia GTX480 and ATI 5870)

a core 2 duo 2.9ghz 4gb ram and a gts 250 1gb graphics card would cost u $550(including a good 22" display), iv been using that build for months, it can acheive outstanding 720p with crysis at all settings at max, 1080p at all settings at medium............most ps3 games run at 720p so u can say that this is as close as u can get to the ps3 with close costs

@Hamboza: thanks dude.

Guys there is a big mistake i had but no one noticed it: The PS3's CELL has 6 SPE for the games 1 is reserved for OS and security.
P.S: Actually CELL has 8 SPE but one is completely disabled for better production yields.

Kareem, about that 8th disabled CELL, what is it kept for future use, general purposes, or what exactly?

I have thought of that many times because it means that they improve production yields which is to decrease the cost, i didn't find this logical and if i am right maybe they'll unlock the 8Th SPE with a software update later.

I think some engineers might help us here.

I prefer PC for FPS games as they are far better to play with a mousse and a keyboard. The only problem with using a PC is that new games always demand better performance from the PC making it obsolete way faster than it would happen with the PS3

yeah the mouse might be easier for fps on pc for some people, but the problem is with the keyboard, it's very limiting, it does not offer what controllers offer when it comes to gameplay.

@Kareem, i hope that's what it means, unlocking the 8th CELL with an update, that would be extra nice.

Hamboza wroteyeah the mouse might be easier for fps on pc for some people, but the problem is with the keyboard, it's very limiting, it does not offer what controllers offer when it comes to gameplay.

Hamboza what do you mean by that ? limiting ? The keyboard has like 100 keys or buttons while controllers have 9 or 10 buttons and a Dpad. Where is the limiting thing in a keyboard ?

Hamboza wrote@Kareem, i hope that's what it means, unlocking the 8th CELL with an update, that would be extra nice.

But the games wont use it if they dont get updated by the developers. I dont think this will ever happen because they cant even catch up with the 6 SPEs.

i'll have to look more into that to understand what does it do excatly.

Flakk, by limiting, i wasn't talking about the number of keys, keys has got nothing to do with that. what i meant is that the controller offers better controls for games, easier and faster than the keyboard. like you can't tell me that the keyboard is better than the ps3 controller when it comes to games like fighting, racing, platformers, action/adventure...etc. for me, even when it comes to shooting games, the pc only has the advantage of the mouse but not the keyboard.

@hamboza
Oh if you mean it that way then you are definitely right. I personally prefer a controller for racing and adventure\platformer games.
Keyboard and mouse are only good for FPS and RTS games.

In terms of development, consoles take the cake. SDKs provided by MS and Sony, testing simplified since there's only one spec to test on compared to the multiple hardware that requires testing and optimization on a PC.

Consoles have a better online experience. Services such as PSN & Live help maintain a global friendlist, provide game invites, voice/text messaging without 3rd party software, etc., the list goes on. Everything is provided in one service. On the PC side of things, you have multiple services such as Steam, GfWL, Battle.net, xfire, etc. that do not synchronize and leave you with a disconnected experience. A lot of games require 3rd party anti-cheat tools and install annoying DRM software.

Friendliness and easy of use is also a plus for consoles where all you need is the console and the game. Everything else works itself out. On a PC, you need the right hardware, the right software (Operating System) and a lot of patience.

There's a lot of hand holding on consoles and that's why the mass market prefers them. That's the advantage of having a closed platform with guidelines and requirements for games to get published.

Nemesis-301 wrotelet me remind you that games sometimes have expansions that cannot be added to the consoles like fallout 3 had 5 expansions(operation anchorage, broken steel, mothership zeta...) you can simply add these expansion to your pc but you cant put expansions in the consoles, and lets not forget the mods that you can add, with so many mods the game turns into something completely different and you can multitask on the pc =D

I don't mean to derail the discussion, but expansions/addons exist on consoles as downloadable content (DLC). Fallout 3 has all DLC available on both the PSN store and the XBOX's Marketplace. Also, the GotY edition of Fallout 3 includes all the extra content on one disk.

ChickenExpress wroteIn terms of development, consoles take the cake. SDKs provided by MS and Sony, testing simplified since there's only one spec to test on compared to the multiple hardware that requires testing and optimization on a PC.

Consoles have a better online experience. Services such as PSN & Live help maintain a global friendlist, provide game invites, voice/text messaging without 3rd party software, etc., the list goes on. Everything is provided in one service. On the PC side of things, you have multiple services such as Steam, GfWL, Battle.net, xfire, etc. that do not synchronize and leave you with a disconnected experience. A lot of games require 3rd party anti-cheat tools and install annoying DRM software.

Friendliness and easy of use is also a plus for consoles where all you need is the console and the game. Everything else works itself out. On a PC, you need the right hardware, the right software (Operating System) and a lot of patience.

There's a lot of hand holding on consoles and that's why the mass market prefers them. That's the advantage of having a closed platform with guidelines and requirements for games to get published.

Nemesis-301 wrotelet me remind you that games sometimes have expansions that cannot be added to the consoles like fallout 3 had 5 expansions(operation anchorage, broken steel, mothership zeta...) you can simply add these expansion to your pc but you cant put expansions in the consoles, and lets not forget the mods that you can add, with so many mods the game turns into something completely different and you can multitask on the pc =D

I don't mean to derail the discussion, but expansions/addons exist on consoles as downloadable content (DLC). Fallout 3 has all DLC available on both the PSN store and the XBOX's Marketplace. Also, the GotY edition of Fallout 3 includes all the extra content on one disk.

here are some reasons why pc's are better in gameing than concoles:
1-RTS games have never been done well on the console and FPS are barely passable on consoles
2-PC exclusive games like supreme commander, Flight Sim X, indie games from manifesto, open source games like flight gear, DirectX 10, directX 11...
3-multi monitors
4-Free online play!
5-PC Free ware wheres the consoles free ware? no where thats where
6-PC/Console Emulation a PC can play console games with help of complicated emulators but a console most definitely 100% will never play a PC game
7-ever try to replace a fried or defective component of a console like the CD drive ? or even a simple fan perhaps? nope, you can't do it...
8-Full scale modding, which is one of the best arguments in favor of PC gaming. While console gamers are pretty much stuck with what they buy, PC games continue to live long past their shelf life. Take for example any of F1 simulators to come out, or how about Morrowind, or Oblivion?
Morrowind had over a hundred must have mods that provided massive improvements to the game. Same goes for Oblivion.
The maps, interface, character skins, environmental sound effects, visuals can all be easily overhauled in Oblivion for the better. In fact my evil friend -- evil because he played Oblivion solely on his 360 -- came over and was shocked to see the difference modding had made. Simply put, it was like night and day.
Even something as popular as Counter-Strike is just a mod, and free to use for owners of Half-Life.
Mods and map editors, oohh and custom skins, those are always fun to create.
9-Being able to play TF2 with more than 16 players
10-you can have mouse+keyboard+joystick+gamepad+driving wheel at the same time...I've never tried it b4 I'm sure its awesome
11-Tweaking PC is always fun, actually it's a game on its own
12-bigger hard drive than most consoles
13-On consule you cannot control cheaters and hackers to keep games fair. On PC you can warn, kick, or ban smacktards.
14-being able to play a game and watch tv
15-"THE MOUSE."
16-multi-tasking
17-lets say your playing, crysis or call of duty and your walking and killing enemies and someone jumps up behind you, now if your on PC you could easily rotate your character 180 degrees but if your on console you have to turn the analog stick and wait for the character to turn 180 degrees ---> which btw you would be dead...
18- better hardware and always new, cuz everyday the game engine is getting better and better graphics. while consoles...well u still stick with 2 years old tech.

summary:
01- pc wins
02- nobody wins
03- nobody wins
04- nobody wins
05- pc wins
06- pc wins
07- nobody wins
08- pc wins
09- pc wins
10- nobody wins
11- pc wins "alot of people (like me) have fun overclocking there computer and getting the max performance out of it"
12- nobody wins
13- console wins
14- nobody wins
15- nobody wins
16- pc wins ex: I can play any game and turn down the game music and put my own music and chat on msn at the same time,when I hear the msn sound I pause the game and alt-tab and see what the other person wrote, simple !
17- nobody wins
18- pc wins
I think its obvious which platform is better for gaming :) I also want to add 1 more thing I forgot to say:
19- pc games always cost less then xbox/ps3 games, ex: I have a pc and my friend has an xbox 360 when we want to go and buy a game, the pc game costs 1000 L.L while the xbox game costs 5000L.L and if its a dvd9 pc: 3000L.L xbox: 7500L.L so you see I always pay less for games so lets say every week we buy a game and I always pay 4000L.L less then him so 4000L.L * 4= 16000L.L a month, 16000L.L * 12= 192000 L.L a year I can use that money to upgrade my pc or put it in my pocket also if I want to play the game online I can buy the original and play online while he cant because his xbox is cracked...

Uh... There really isn't a better platform. It all boils down to preference. What you consider a required feature is probably something useless to others. Your evaluation is based on opinion, just because you like PCs more - doesn't make them better.

11. The "A lot of people" argument... Well, since console games are optimized to play perfectly on consoles, you don't need to tweak anything...
As for 16. You can do those on an xbox360. You can play custom music, pause the game and use WLM (MSN as you call it.)...

19. Untrue on so many levels. First, since you're on the topic of piracy, it's virtually free if you know what to do. Even on a 360, you can avoid using DVDs altogether. Second, as for not being able to play pirated 360 games, that's also untrue. In fact, you can play pirated 360 games on their intended service which is LIVE but when it comes to PC piracy, you need an alternate solution such as G-arena or a virtual network to play online.

Anyway, this is getting repetitive. I get that you enjoy PC gaming the most, I enjoy it too. But to say that it's the ultimate gaming experience is absurd, especially when you obviously know so little about the alternative. I'm not saying consoles are better as I enjoy all platforms equally. My point was simply that consoles are geared towards the mass market by using a very user-friendly but closed environment.

Umm, I know I posted earlier regarding this matter. Obviously in my post I was going with PC, until my GTX280 began to fail. My graphic card, which costs more than a PS3, failed on me and began causing crashes. Now I have to spend another 700$ to get another graphics card. But seriously I am thinking of getting a PS3. (Awkward Situation)