Years ago there was an unspoken competition between my group of friends – who had the best computer? This generally revolved around graphics since our primary focus in computers at the time was competitive LAN gaming. I was a late bloomer here and it was unusual for me to last very long in matches, at least as far as Counter Strike or Unreal Tournament went. I had not yet learned the tricks of keyboard customization, and so when I found that I was better controlling movement with my left hand and actions with my right, I actually had to cross my arms to do it, as I was unaware of the WASD standard. This led to being taunted for quite some time, even after I learned the ropes. Keep in mind this was ages ago.

Anyway as time went on we did less and less LANs. Partially because we moved on to real jobs and families, partially because it was before I became a professional Network Admin and we took hours troubleshooting the LAN to sort through firewall conflicts among other things, so some of us lost patience for it. But then at the tail end of the original Xbox generation, we finally discovered Halo. Halo 2 specifically.

And it taught me something wonderful. Although less precise than a mouse, Console First Person Shooters (FPS) are the only way to go. Don’t get me wrong, I get that people enjoy pimping out their gaming rig with the best video card, processor and RAM configuration along with a laser mouse and 24-inch LCD. If I had a constant overflow of money I could throw at that, it would be great. But I don’t. Most people don’t. Not to mention how easy it is to cheat on most PC systems. Wall hacks, skin hacks, auto-aim, auto-headshot, no-reloads, and more. It’s just not fun anymore at that point.

So in comes console gaming. What GPU/CPU/RAM combination gives you the best performance? Oh, wait! They’re all the same. No smooth graphics for one while choppy for another. No editor to remove wall textures in order to see through them. No programs or scripts running in the background to perform stunning instant headshot victories. And the controls? Everybody gets the same one (usually).

In fact, generally the only real advantage you can achieve aside from modified controllers (which is a niche market at best) is by way of a good internet connection or a sizeable TV. Everyone is on an even playing field, as it were. Skill vs skill alone.

And in console games I’ve prospered. Every so often I have my ass handed to me, but I personally know of only one other Halo player who is my equal, and he runs dcolumbus.net. From my PC gaming days I discovered my love of being the Sniper. For some reason there’s no better feeling in competitive gaming than picking someone off and know the frustration that he must be feeling. I absolutely harass people with the sniper.

However, there is an obvious exception to the superiority of console games, and that is Real Time Strategy (RTS). Nothing beats the mouse and keyboard shortcuts for a good game of WarCraft, StarCraft, Age of Mythology or the classic, Age of Empires. It simply is too precise for a dual-analog controller to handle, and the graphics are typically minimal so no there’s not much effect of graphics on gameplay.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love PC games if the hardware didn’t need to constantly be upgraded, but even then I’d prefer console games to be on equal footing with all other competitors assuming we’re talking about a multiplayer scenario. Otherwise for single-player campaigns that my computer can handle? Sure, great.