I'm not sure how anyone can dispute that the new xbox and play station are anything other than slightly customised branded PC builds that offer no physical advantages over the real thing, only marketing ones like DRM and exclusive releases.
When they come over, the thing we want to spend most of our time doing is 2 v 2 FIFA. If I spend 30 mins doing anything here, we're losing precious time. If I spend 60 mins debugging, I'm just not going to do it. I'll even take a zero probability of fixing if it means a lower probability of failure of any sort (even recoverable).
A lounge PC is a shithouse experience compared to a console. Absolute garbage. Simply supporting multiple people in a household on an Xbox is trivial and easy. On a PC using Steam it's absolute trash. Steam treats PCs like it's 1995 and single-user.
* I can rent games from my local redbox to try out for a few days. Sometimes, that's all I need and I saved myself the price of the game.
* Couch co-op is typically superior on console.
* Ease of use: simple connection to TV, simple remote controllers. The story for HDR support is also steamlined (as in, my TV supports it so if the game does too, done)
* Consoles are much quieter, making them a much better TV-room appliance.
* Easy purchase and sharing games, especially with a physical copy. Loan out the physical game, no fuss.
* Some sort of resale value for physical games, albeit not that much. However if you are the type to locust the content of a game quickly, as in the first week of release, you can often resell for most the purchase price.
* A UI built for TV and remote use. No, I'm not excited about controlling Windows from across the room by keyboard/mouse.
* Great portability. One of my consoles is a Nintendo Switch, and it travels far better than a PC. Yes you can get a gaming notebook but that solution is no longer competitive on pricing.
* Better multi-user design. It's easier to have a family console with multiple accounts than it is have a Windows PC with multiple accounts. And have parental controls, etc.
Sure, with suitable amount of time/research and other stuff I'm just no longer interested in doing, I can get wireless controllers, quiet(er) fans, apps for launching that are usable at typical resolution from 6' or more away, fiddle with multiple accounts on Windows (who ACTUALLY does this outside a work setting? It's just... not smooth at all), but there is a cost in my time I don't want to invest anymore.
and other reasons such as
* I want to step away from Microsoft Windows and various issues from privacy to updates. Since the consoles are only for entertainment (gaming, playing videos) I am less concerned about telemetry possibly swooping up everything I'm doing.
Many might not care about that last case... but how many times do half the people in an HN thread about Windows gripe loudly about privacy or monthly updates? It seems like there is some problem with a Windows update 2 or 3 times a year. Yeah, I want off that merry-go-round for my ENTERTAINMENT system.
So, I'm actually doing something about a Window dependency, rather than just griping online. I migrated to Linux for my dekstop (on a NUC) and console gaming to fill the gaming gap. Yeah it isn't perfect and there are a handful of games I still need Windows for, but between linux and consoles, that's about 90% of my need for Windows removed.
> * Consoles are much quieter, making them a much better TV-room appliance.
This is a joke, right? My gaming PC is virtually silent (140 mm exhaust fan FTW) while my friend's PS4 Pro sounds like a hair dryer under load.
My Switch is essentially 100% silent, as in, not detectable that it is on from any noise that it makes.
I don't know about Xboxes.
As far as anecdotes, I have a friend whose gaming PC is loud enough to be distracting while watching movies. Heck it's audible above the A/C.
Now that I'm more into consoles, I'm more sensitive to PC noise... before I'd just accept and tune out a certain amount, but now it is grating because I've seen the alternatives and am constantly unintentionally comparing.
Having built various gaming PC's over the years, yes you can have a fairly quiet gaming PC. But you also need to invest some time/effort/money to get liquid cooling, quiet case fans, quiet power supply, quiet CPU fans, etc and you need to take that into account.
Yes, I've read PS4's can be pretty loud. It's a common complaint on /r/PS4. I can't say I've tracked actual numbers, but my feeling is that 80% of those situations are the same root cause: dust/pet hair clogging up the fan, and after cleaning, the system is much quieter.
My current gaming PC is a PowerSpec G706. You know, for those handful of games I still need Windows for. ;) And I got lazy just buying a system instead of building individual components because... I'm just not into that anymore. Anyway, I would rate this system as pretty quiet compared to other ones I've had, but I always know that it is on. Even not playing a game, the ambient noise under zero load is there. Meanwhile, I can't always tell my PS4 is on. And I can't tell if the Switch is on without looking at it.
So, YMMV but in my experience, for off the shelf purchases, consoles are quieter than PC's on average. Also, the people that have "silent" PC's, like myself in a former gaming life, bought specialized components to get there.
If you have any links to computer systems, pre-assembled (since the average person isn't going to build them component by component) that are also price competitive with consoles (around $275 for a ps4 slim or xbox one s, around $350 for a ps4 pro or xbox one x) that are ALSO silent, I'd like to see them. I have a feeling that a PC in that price range is nowhere near as quiet as a console, but I'd love to hear otherwise.
I'll also state without proof that there is zero chance of a gaming PC, price competitive with a switch, that is quieter. That's equivalent to a gaming PC quieter than a cell phone. I don't believe it exists at that price point ($200 to $300 depending on whether you get a switch lite or regular switch).