Ok: I'm going out on a limb. Why would anybody even want a Play Station?

There is a far better alternative to console gaming. It's called having a computer. I mean, with the same wonderful piece of equipment you can learn, work, communicate and have fun all in one half hour!

For me, it's no contest. I've grown up my whole life playing computer games. I've had lots of friends with consoles, but I'd never trade my PC for a Nintendo. The computer offers innumerable advantages. I'll list a few which come to mind.

Firstly, they're upgradable. When new high-end games come out, you don't have to get a whole different console to play it. At most, you'll probably only need to update one or two parts of your computer at a time. That means no stampedes, no beat-downs over who gets the last Play Station on the shelf. It's great to have things under your control. Computers are totally customizeable. Consoles are not.

Secondly, games are cheaper. You've got to be nuts to buy a $60 game for Play station. You can get most computer games for $40 or less.

Thirdly, computer games support more and better games. Complex strategy games just don't make sense on a console. Neither do long-term "dynamic campaign" games like Il-2 Sturmovik (perhaps the greatest combat flight sim series of all time). Console games, even in similar genres, usually include linear campaigns, no diversity, little or no planning capability etc. Going back to my example... why play the scripted, derivative Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator when you can throw on a few cheap Il-2 expansion packs and presto! You can simulate almost any WWII dogfight.

Don't even talk about strategy games. Sim City, Tropico, the Close Combat series, the Total War series and the like just don't translate into console gaming. With computers, you get the best of all worlds. From side-scrolling emulators to the tops in economic simulations, a computer can do it all.

Lastly, the mouse and keyboard is the best control system for action gaming. Add a joystick and a steering wheel and you've got it all. I love Mario Kart, but it's not the same as grabbing a flight yoke and tooling around the world on MSFS. Can't do that on a console. Plus, with the keyboard, you can assign actions to buttons that make sense. Like "U" for use, numbers for specific weapons scaled by the amount of power they pack, etc. Not on a console. Please tell me why I should have to cycle through weapons by pressing "B" when I could just hit "4" and go straight from the pistol to the sub-machinegun. Again, computers win.

So, to conclude. PCs rOxOrs, consoles most definately do not. But I wouldn't tell that to the people who just slept on the sidewalk last night out of the faint hope that they'll get a PS3 today. They're probably already in a bad mood.

Not that I would buy one cause they are too damn expensive, but.. here's some reasons:

Exclusive games (Frequently some games are exclusive to certain consoles, the Final Fantasy line is typically exclusive to PlayStation, Zelda exclusive to Nintendo etc.)

Better graphics/power:

http://playstation.about.com/od/ps3/a/PS3SpecsDetails_3.htm stats for PS3

To do what the PS3 does, on a computer, you are most likely looking at around at least $1000. I'm sure you can do it cheaper, that's just ballpark.

Even I know that. :hi:

because its a lot less expensive

nuff said.

And my SO loves the Grant Theft Auto series.

Because they're easier to program for and make more money.

More and more of the new PC games are poorly ported old console games. This results in drastic reductions of the gameplay quality in some cases.

Also, there's little to stop people from having both.