PC Games more Addicting than Console Games?

Prelude to the post:
I got a new computer a few days ago, 2ghz, 256MB RAM, some sort of weak GeForce 4. Nothing special, but a big step up for me - I've been using the same computer for the last four years. I used to really be into PC gaming, but over the past two or three years (basically since the Dreamcast really got into gear) I've been playing console games almost exclusively. I got tired of upgrading, patching, it was more fun to buy DC games, dunno why exactly.

Anyways, one of the games that had been thrown in with the cheap GeForce was No One Lives Forever, great game, so on. It's one I'd been meaning to buy for a long time. Turned up the difficulty, got going.

Anyways, I ended up playing the game for about 5 hours in a row, which is absurd for me (I don't really ever play for that long and concentrated of a period). Started thinking about it, and I realized that the last time I played a game for 4+ hours in a row, it was when I was still playing PC games. I can't play console games like that, my attention just doesn't hold, or something.

Anyone else like that, notice a similarity? I like consoles, but it seems like PC games have a capability to catch hold of me beyond that of most any console games. Maybe you feel the opposite way - you can play a console game for hours, but an hour's about all you can take with a PC.

I do find PC games more addicting for two reasons:

1) When playing on a console, I'm practically supine and far too relaxed, so my mind tends to wander and I think of other things to do. Since my mind is mostly unchallenged, I tend to quit playing.

2) PC games have a better pacing and sense of speed thanks to the mouse, whose fluid control are capable of moving games at a faster pace so I'm drawn in much easier. Since I'm sitting in an upright position with attention focused, I'm usually convinced to play a little longer.

I'm the same way. I rarely play any console game for more than an hour at a time, RPG or not. However, with PC games, be it FPS or RPG, I'll get sucked in immediately and I'll play for many hours at a time until the game is finished. Even then, sometimes I'll feel like going back through (though that hasn't happened yet). PC games are just so much more immersive for me, and they give me a lot more to think about and play with (in general) than console games. Aside from strategy games (and even with those sometimes), console games tend to be much less involving experiences, in my experience (heh).

I cannot play extended amounts of time on PC games because the keyboard/mouse hurts my wrists and hands. I wouldn't say I have Carpals Tunnels, but playing the PC too long makes me hurt!

But to be on topic, I would say PC games have tons of replya value since most of them are long RPGs, or FPS you can play over and over, or they are online games (CS, WC3, etc) that you have to play for a long time to get really good at.

I can't really say one is more addicting than the other. It's always just depended on the game itself.

I fined myself playing pc games longer then console games, I do own all the new systems, I just like working with the mouse, and you can play online, download new stuff for the game etc. Also my PC is upstairs which is more convenient then going down into the basement to the big screen where my consoles live. BTW if you want a sweet game go buy Age of mythology for PC bestest game out! :)

Yeah, I'd say PC games are on the whole far more addicting than console games. That's partly the reason I don't play them anymore. X-Com, Civilization, Starcraft...I could spend 4+ hours on any of those games in one sitting.

I much prefer sitting down with a console game for 30-60 minutes and then doing something else. It's much easier to do that with console games.

I think thats because flat out a lot of PC games are better than console games. Cease comparing genres ("FPS on PC is better than on console but...") and all that and you end up with a lot of PC games which are just plain more fun than console ones.

If you think NOLF is addictive (and it certainly is), wait until you try stuff like CounterStrike, TFC, and Civilization II/III. There has never been a console game more addictive than any of those three. Outside of fighting games, there is no genre which is not covered by some absolutely class PC game (RPG? Neverwinter. Strategy/Action? Freedom Force, and etc.). And keep in mind when there is a game which spans consoles and the PC, 90% of the time the PC version is the best.

I started playing videogames maybe... 14 or 15 years ago. I didnt really get into PC games until maybe five years ago. But, since that time, I have generally found PC games to be a cut above console ones at any given moment. I suppose its arguable if this is the case now, especially with Xbox Live bringing some major enhancements to the online gaming arena, but for the most part this is the truth.

I used to be an exclusive PC-only gamer, back in the days when PCs = Apple 2s.

Then I started console gaming when NES became popular, but now, I no longer find console games to be as fun or addicting as they used to be in the 2D days.

So now, I'm back to being a PC gamer.

First of all, Stone, our stories are stangely similar. Well, minus the part about the new PC. I think the reason the DC really caught my attention (aside from the obvious price point and hassle advantages) was the sheer number of outstanding fighters, shmups, and arcade style stuff that it offered, which the PC is sorely lacking. I got sucked back into consoles hard this generation, and I've only just begun to look back after about two and a half years. I've always felt that console stuff, for the most part, has a certain charm (can't put my finger on it- but who the hell is Gordon Freeman other than some asshole who showed up late for work?) that seems to be largely absent with PC games. Despite that, I could always spend hours at a time clicking away at Diablo (or the sequal), even after I decided that it was a relatively bland and tedious game. I'm currently trying to play through the first Suikoden, and even though I think I probably like the game better than I ever did Diablo I will seriously start to nod off if I play for more than an hour or so. Weird shit. Maybe its because most of my gaming time these days follows a twelve hour work shift whereas I had a lot more free time a few years ago. I can still spend several hours at a time playing console stuff, but it usually involves company (mostly for fighting games). But I do agree that sitting upright (and close to the action no less) with a mouse in your hand is somehow more involving than lounging on the couch across the room from a TV gripping a gamepad. The pacing is most certainly different for most software between the two, but one thing I've noticed is that you almost have to go out of your way to purchase a weak PC title. I can stroll into Walmart and buy a shitty console game any day of the week, but 90% of the PC software they carry in a place like that I've at least heard of. Maybe large non-specialty retailers just have to be more selective with what they carry in regards to PC titles due to the fact that shelfspace is more of an issue (at least until the recent trend towards smaller boxes- but the practice is most likely deeply ingrained at this point). I've seen plenty of bad press on off the wall PC titles, you just never see that junk for sale antwhere until they bundle it with nine others, sling it for $15.00 and call it a deal. I guess we all just know better than to jump on that ship...