[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ConsoleGamerPCGamer_809.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:330:[[http://www.gamesradar.com/f/the-top-7-stereotypical-gamers-we-hate/a-2008032410612871091 What console fans are to PC fans, and vice versa.]]]]

A major source of InternetBackdraft, the PC vs. Console wars pit fans of both platforms in battles of nerd rage on forums all over the internets. As with ConsoleWars, fans of both platforms will argue on which is better for gaming.

* PC gamers usually cite the computer's modding abilities, keyboard/mouse control along with the ability to use every control scheme you can think of[[note]] even Kinect and the Wii controller are usable on the PC[[/note]], cheaper games, better graphical capabilities, openness to indie games, free online play, and sheer practicality: ever since the late nineties, the PC has turned from an optional luxury to a necessity for modern life. Usually, it is also cheaper to build a very powerful gaming PC (especially as an upgrade to the more basic PC you'd [[ItsForABook need for your homework or job-hunting anyway]]), although [[CrackIsCheaper pre-built [=PCs=] are another story]].

* Console gamers cite ease-of-use, larger communities, simple control scheme with the controller (sometimes [[{{Waggle}} unusual]]), the ability to resell/buy used games (let's not get into the InternetBackdraft on ''that'' subject in this page), game stability, and easier local multiplayer, such as split screen.

Naturally, this results in many a FlameWar on the web, not to mention high levels of FanDumb. To PC gamers, console gamers are either twelve year olds screaming obscenities into the microphone or a bunch of skill-less, obnoxious, and unintelligent frat boy dirty peasants, who couldn't even type their own name into a computer, both of which completely unwilling to play any game not RatedMForMoney. According to console gamers, PC gamers are elitist, stuck-up geeks with no life that consider themselves the glorious master race and who live in their [[BasementDweller mom's basement.]] Unfortunately, magazines only reinforce these stereotypes, making gamers who play both or even exclusively one to yell "StopBeingStereotypical" every time they read the next issue of their gaming magazines.

One thing that's almost never mentioned is the developer's point of view. Consoles are easier to develop for because every single version of that console has (or should have; hard drive size will vary) the exact same hardware and firmware; it's much easier to tailor the game to the platform, and to push the platform to its limits. Meanwhile, the PC world doesn't ''have'' standardized hardware; you might be running one of three operating systems[[hottip:*:Windows, Mac OS or Linux. For a long time, Windows was pretty much the default gaming OS, but this is starting to break down now that more publishers and developers are serving Mac OS and Linux as well.]], two manufacturers' style of graphics cards[[hottip:*:AMD Radeon vs Nvidia]], two manufacturers' style of ''CPU''[[hottip:*:Intel vs AMD]], and God only knows what amount of hard drive space and RAM. And to be popular, your game needs to be accessible to as many of these options as possible. Part of the reason that games like ''{{Trespasser}}'' and ''UltimaIX'' flopped was because most computers then available could not run them without melting down; likewise, part of the charm of games like ''LeagueOfLegends'', ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', ''SinsOfASolarEmpire'' and pretty much all indie games in general is that you ''don't'' have to upgrade your computer to run them -- you could run them on lower-to-mid-end computers. To further confound it, there's the fact that the PC Format is constantly evolving, and nobody is able to stay "on top", even the most dedicated PC gamers don't bother to stay "on the top" because [[CrackIsCheaper nobody can afford it]]. Even buying a dedicated gaming PC can be a lot more expensive than buying one gaming system. Long story short, it's easier to make a game that "a PS3" can run than "computer''s''" can; and in today's environment, where games have Hollywood-movie-level budgets and expectations invested in them, lower risk and fewer variables makes everyone happy.

Another thing that commonly props up are issues of cross-generational compatibility. Consoles are rather notorious for requiring one to buy completely new hardware to play the next generations' games, and in only some cases, you can rarely use your new system to play games from the previous generation. (The backwards compatibility of the PlayStation2 and GameBoyAdvance were touted as ''selling points'' for those systems; and the lack of backwards compatibility in the Playstation3 caused a lot of DarthWiki/RuinedFOREVER cries.) For [=PCs=] this is less of an issue, but there have been a lot of bumps. It mostly showed up in recent years, but [[OlderThanTheyThink there have been problems with older games being incompatible with modern systems as far back as the 90s]]. Some games used to be on different formats, such as floppy discs, and even if you could buy a CD Version, there were still problems with it being unable to run without causing glitches. That is...if you can find them. Some games you just flat-out couldn't buy anymore for various reasons, and if you could get them, you'd have to use an emulator or a lot of fan-made patches so it would actually run and not look really really weird due to the resolution. To remedy the problems of backwards compatibility, as well as availability, companies have put up a "virtual console" or "Digital rerelease" version, and the PC in fact has a [=DOS=] emulator.

Until it became more common than not to have a console almost always connected to the Internet, PC games had the advantage and disadvantage of patching. Patches for PC games can often add new content and fix {{game breaking bug}}s, as well as fix other issues that slipped past the beta testing. The disadvantage of patching is that, for some reason, developers seem to use patches as an excuse to release games [[ObviousBeta half-completed]], using the consumers as testers to find issues for them to patch. By no means is this exclusive to the PC platform; it's become pretty much a standard for games to require a couple of patches because they're rarely without a couple {{game breaking bug}}s fresh out of the box. (Unless there's an UpdatedRerelease, like a "Game of the Year" edition, Blizzard's Battle Chests, bundle games, etc.) Currently, there are plenty of clients that automatically patch the game for you, making this better. Bottom line, if you buy a PC game on release, most of the time you can expect to have purchased an invite to the late beta.

It should also be noted that some genres just naturally fit onto certain platforms better. RealTimeStrategy and other RealTime simulations are accepted by most people to be PC-only territory, due to the difficulties with attempting to "click and drag" with a joystick (''StarCraft'' is ''the'' most-played RTS in history, but its Nintendo64 port was a wipe), and trying to do a {{MMORPG}} on a console is probably suicidal (''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' has been the only console MMO with financial success). Meanwhile, {{fighting game}}s belong in Console Country, since those games are designed for local multiplayer, which video arcades have been offering since the '80s but which [=PCs=] only managed around 2006 once HDTV sets became affordable.[[hottip:*:Individual PC games have attempted to make multiplayer using the same system, except that this really does ''not'' work as a PC is designed for ''one'' person to use.]] Today, the major battleground is the shooter genres (be it [[FirstPersonShooter first]] or [[ThirdPersonShooter third]]); wars have been fought, only some of them digital, over whether a game's console version or PC version was better. Initially, [=PCs=] had the edge, due to the awkwardness of gamepad controls in a shooting environment and the lack of Internet multiplayer, but then dual analog sticks, ''[[VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 GoldenEye]]'' and ''{{Halo 2}}'' came along and collectively made those things work on a console, and from that day forward all bets were off.

Nowadays, consoles and [=PCs=] are both powerful gaming machines, capable of online gaming and vibrant effects. It is starting to be unusual to see games exclusive to a platform; releasing a game on not only the PC but multiple consoles is typically where the money is at. This brings us to yet another set of pitfalls: "porting" a game from one system to another. Simply put, it's so easy to do this badly that we have an entire trope for it: the "PortingDisaster." The PC had it so bad that it even has [[http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Home an entire wiki]] dedicated to fixing these problems, one that's still going strong today.

When it comes to porting a game over from one camp to another, things ''will'' go hairy if the port job is half-assed, or if the game in question was never meant to be on the other side. This is especially common with Japanese-developed games, since console gaming displaced PC gaming early on in Japan (where in the 1980s the {{MSX}} contended with the {{Famicom}}) and ports of those games are sometimes outsourced to Western development teams. Usually though, the PC ends up taking the brunt of sloppy porting jobs, as many games were designed for controller, not mouse-and-keyboard, inputs (though there are plenty of controllers designed to plug into [=PCs=] these days including any standard XBox controller). To PC gamers, this is known as ''consolitis'', where it is claimed that the developers are making their favorite game series [[LowestCommonDenominator easier]] for the console crowd. If a long-running PC franchise goes multi-platform, the console release often gets blamed for any [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks unpopular changes]] to the game, particularly those which result in [[ItsEasySoItSucks simplification or loss of options]].

On the other side of the fence, when PC games try to go over to the console side, things don't always go as well either. Control-wise, there are more buttons on a keyboard than on a controller, and it's almost impossible to translate the speed and precision of a mouse to a pair of analog sticks. As a result, games with a wide range of actions or those requiring quick and accurate pointing don't go over so well on the console. Hardware-wise, the relentless drive of PC component manufacturers to outdo each other results in performance advancements that rapidly outstrip that of consoles, whose specifications remain static for their entire lifetime. A couple of years after the release of each subsequent console generation, even the average Joe or Jane who doesn't care much about gaming often has a PC that is far more powerful (especially if he or she has just bought a new computer), forcing the creators to compromise the console port in ways that degrade the quality of the gameplay experience (such as less-detailed graphics, smaller levels, or LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading).

As for the market, it is not as easy to tell, unlike in the ConsoleWars. While it is fairly simple to measure out the sales for consoles and their games, since the sales of console games is related to sales of the consoles, it is much more difficult to measure it out for PC games, since there are millions of [=PCs=] in the world that have never had a game installed on them. And this is just including ''mainstream'' PC games. It could be argued that the millions of ''{{Farmville}}'' players are PC gamers as well (though if you did you might GoMadFromTheRevelation). There is also the issue of piracy on the PC side. Developers usually prefer to work more on the console side because it's significantly harder to pirate console games.

One more -- and perhaps unrelated -- thing to consider is the advent of {{emulation}}. If accepted for the sake of the argument, this can easily put the PC over any console it is given the power to imitate. However, there are proprietary and technical challenges when it comes to emulation, such that it is difficult to find working PC emulations for consoles less than a decade old.

A brief chronology:
* 1984-roughly 1992: Multiplatform galore. With few exceptions, every popular game was ported to almost every platform available.
** Do keep in mind that during this time, just about every platform in which games were running had similar capabilities (that is, [[SturgeonsLaw everything were crap]]). Graphic acceleration was non-existent (barring arcade machines, who solidified the idea of machines dedicated to playing games). Hardware were simple, games were simple, porting was simple. The gaming audience was diverse enough: some owned Amiga, some owned IBM PC, some owned PC-88, you want to make your games playable in all of them if you want profit.
* 1992-2002: With the port-it-on-everything phase dying off, both sides pretty much kept to themselves, using the strengths of their platforms to produce games suitable for themselves and mostly not paying too much attention to each other.
** The thing that is [[TechnologyMarchesOn difficult to believe these days]] was that during this period, PCs simply were ''not good enough'': accelerated graphic was the exception rather than the norm with the PCs, and developers were not able to ensure that their game run smoothly on PCs. During the first half of this decade, you can't even expect that a PC will have a sound card that works with your game. During the second half of this decade, [[MassSuperEmpoweringEvent the jump to 3D]] happened, bringing to households something that was previously only in massive rendering facility. PC hardware manufacturers initially dismissed the idea of PC as serious competitors to 3D gaming consoles, but games like ''QuakeIII'' showed them the potentials. This is also the beginning of the stereotypes: PC gamers must tinker with their rig to get performance that can catch up to PS1 and the like, and they were largely derisive of the kids who simply "did not earn their fun". The console gamers reacted by painting the PC gamers as insufferable nerds with no social life.
* TurnOfTheMillennium: The mainstream success (and profits) of the console market led to PC game developers going multiplatform, while some go exclusive for consoles.
** EpicGames, the makers of acclaimed PC hits ''VideoGame/{{Unreal}}'' and ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'', pretty much goes console-exclusive after ''GearsOfWar''. There was actually a too-little-too-late PC port, but [[PortingDisaster nobody bothers with it.]] Similarly, PC gamers became upset when they learned that they would not be getting a demo for ''VideoGame/{{Bulletstorm}}'' until after the game had come out. [[SarcasmMode You know, because people don't want to test the game before deciding if they want to buy it.]] Cliff's [[http://twitter.com/therealcliffyb/status/25979475304906752 tweet]] didn't help matters either.
** Koei, in the past the makers of many highly complicated strategy games, today are mostly known for ''DynastyWarriors'' and its many spin-offs. Only the ''RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' and ''Nobunaga's Ambition'' strategy series remain, and to a lesser extent ''VideoGame/UnchartedWaters''.
** Some time later, the attempt to port some console games to the PC have mostly resulted in bad ports, most notably ''{{Halo 2}}'', the first two ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' games, ''StarWars: TheForceUnleashed'', ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''.
** ''ModernWarfare 2'' was a major front on the console vs. PC debate. Developers of the aforementioned game removed modding tools, developers console, dedicated servers, among other things from the game, making its multiplayer similar to that of the console. In addition, its price tag was $60, which was a console-exclusive markup as far as AAA games go at the time.[[hottip:*:The cost exists to pay for licensing fees to Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo, which are naturally non-existent for a PC game.]] Many big PC games are now sold at this price. Naturally, this [[InternetBackdraft didn't go over so well with the PC crowd.]]
*** The backlash from this was so bad that [[VideoGame/{{Battlefield}} Dice]] played up the fact that [[TakeThat they had dedicated servers]] for ''[[VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany Bad Company 2]]'' (although they were locked down, unlike the dedicated servers in older PC games). Nowadays, when a game is being released for the PC as well as the consoles, somewhere in the game's fact sheet, dedicated servers are mentioned to be available.
*** Every ''CallOfDuty'' game after ''[=MW2=]'' has had dedicated servers, due to this fiasco. However, in ''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3'', there's an obscure toggle in Options to turn the option on for this option, and everything that happens in the Dedicated Servers doesn't count one bit towards your stats or level.
** ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' allows players on the 360 and PC to engage in competitive multiplayer. The massive imbalance caused by the control differences causes plans for including this feature in future games to be halted.
** ''[[VideoGame/{{Counter-Strike}} Counter-Strike: Global Offensive]]'' was originally planned to allow cross platform gaming between {{PlayStation 3}} players and PC players. To help even out the playing field, [=PS3=] players can use a keyboard and mouse with their console. However, Valve has since decided not to support cross-platform play.
** ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', a once PC-exclusive game, was announced by Notch (head developer of the game) that the game would also be released to the {{Xbox 360}} with Kinect controls. PC players ''exploded'' with fury at the news, saying that ''Minecraft'' would now be ruined by retarded ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}''/''Call of Duty'' fans who would muck up the ''Minecraft'' community with their trollish attitudes and would demand the game to have guns or other things, or were worried that the game would now have even less updates because of how split the development team would be between PC and the Xbox 360. This is after Notch has stated that A) a separate team would be working on the console port while he and his team would focus on the PC version, B) a standard controller would be an option to use should Xbox owners opt to not use Kinect controls, and C) updates were still coming regardless.
** The gaming industry outside of the United States and Japan (particularly in Russia, Europe, South Africa, Australia, China, Korea, and even Canada) is still massively weighted towards the PC, with many commercial titles being released for the platform regularly. Most of the ''advertising'' tends to be for console or {{multiplatform}} titles due to to the larger potential markets, so now -- as always -- countless major and minor PC titles come and go without appearing on the English- or Nihongo-speaking radars.
** ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 3}}'': This has currently been a mixed victory for PC players. On one hand, PC gamers rejoiced when they heard that the PC would be the lead platform, and that the PC version would have 64-player maps, and larger maps than the console versions. On the other hand, backlash occurred when the server browser was stated to be in an Internet browser, rather than in game, and that the consoles would have an in-game browser. The fact that the game is not being sold on {{Steam}} has also been a source of Flame Wars on the Internet as well, along with [[http://nightmaremode.net/2011/08/ea-origin-drm-big-brother-in-the-making-9870/ privacy concerns]] with Origin. The issues with Origin snooping around though can be easily fixed by putting it in a Sandbox environment though. Details on how to do that can be found on the 19th post in [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/960869-battlefield-3/60145714 this thread.]]
** ''VideoGame/{{RAGE}}'': PC gamers were upset when it was announced that id Software's latest wouldn't be using the PC as the lead console. Then, when the game came out, it was found that there were no graphics options on PC (other than resolution and anti-aliasing), that the game engine was optimized for home consoles, and most damningly, that stock AMD and Nvidia graphics cards (which dominate the market) had trouble running the game properly and needed to be optimized/patched.
** ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' already had its share of console version vs. PC version flame wars, but it rose to a new level for the Cold Stream DLC. The DLC was released to the PC players in beta in March 2011 and over time, Valve released ports of the ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' campaigns for the DLC in beta as well so players could give feedback on what needs to be fixed. 2012 rolls around and Valve announced in their blog that the DLC is in certification process by Microsoft to which the DLC will be released to the PC and Xbox 360 after it is done along with last minute bug testing. An entire year had passed since the DLC was released in beta and no word has been shown for a release date (due to Valve Time). The long wait has caused PC gamers to blame Xbox owners for holding the DLC back (due to the certification process) while Xbox players flame PC gamers because they feel the PC version is taking so long to test that it's holding the DLC back. It's basically a flame war over which side gets content the quickest.
*** Now that Cold Stream is finally, finally out, many Xbox 360 players are angry about the fact that the Xbox version is releasing a week later than the PC/Mac version.
*** On the other hand, many are excited for the upcoming ''Linux'' version of Steam and ''VideoGame/Left4Dead''.
** ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': The game itself and the [=DLCs=] are available for Xbox at least a month before PC due to an exclusivity agreement. What's funny is both platforms are Microsoft.
*** On the other hand, the modding tools are PC-exclusive (which has been the case since ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', the first multi-platform ''Elder Scrolls'' game). In addition, Skyrim was the launch bed for Steam Workshop, which allows user-made content to be shared online and added to the game with a single click. The modding community for the ''Elder Scrolls'' series is very extensive, and within days of a launch of a game or DLC, modders will have already patched all the bugs left untouched by official patches, which are essentially PC-exclusive.
** On PC {{Civilization}} is a LongRunner FourX series, much beloved and often known for its complexity and depth. When brought to consoles as Civilization: Revolution? Massively simplified with a very whimsical and cartoony art style. I think Firaxis is trying to tell us something...
* TheNewTens: The reveal of PS4 specs and the most plausible rumors about "Xbox 720" specs led to these conslusions:
** The new generation of consoles for all intents and purposes are specialized gaming [=PCs=], abandoning the unique hardware architecture (Cell, Emotion Engine) that could cause troubles for developers (like it did for PS3 at the start of its life) and raise the already high costs.
** When only considering the ''raw numbers'', they are noticeably weaker than the above mid-range [=PCs=], when at the start of PS360 gen you needed a top of the line PC just to have a slight advantage.
*** It doesn't help that the new consoles are built using AMD [=APUs=], which for all intents and purposes in the PC gaming community, is very low tier.
** The now similar hardware architecture gives hope that PC ports will be both cheaper, or more importantly financially feasible, to make and be less terrible from the technical standpoint. Not to mention there's hope that since developers can spend all of their resources on a single architecture, it will deliver better results for everyone. A common complaint (if misinformed) from PC gamers is that consoles are limiting what PC hardware can do, because everything has to run on a common denominator... which isn't much.
** The announcement of the Playstation 4's specs caused many PC gamers to scoff at it, stating that the console will quickly be outclassed by a more powerful PC. It also did not help that developer Linus Blomberg openly stated that [[http://www.gamerevolution.com/news/avalanche-ps4-will-outpower-most-pcs-for-years-to-come-18015 the Playstation 4 would outperform most [=PCs=] for years.]] [[CriticalResearchFailure Most people found the statement hilarious]].
** In late 2012 ''Franchise/WingCommander's'' Chris Roberts comes back from his ten-year vacation from game-making and pitches ''VideoGame/StarCitizen'', a PC-exclusive space MMORPG. A large part of his reasoning for the exclusivity seems to be PC fanboyism: he wants to prove once and for all that [=PCs=] have more power by creating a game with uber-realistic, ridiculously high-poly graphics. Although some commenters noted wryly that in the promo video Roberts was controlling his ship with an Xbox controller instead of a joystick.
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