As someone who's an older gamer (my oldest son is 21), I've played plenty of things at least a little bit going all the way back to when my parents brought home the original Pong. Yeah...nostalgia. I haven't had a console since my wife and I went nuts on the original Nintendo console playing Yoshi's cookies... we still joke about those damn Mexican wedding cookies or whatever they were lining up when it was my turn and her literally screaming at the top of her lungs, "SNOWBALL! SNOWBALL! SNOWBALL!"
Good times...
The kids had a PS2 with a few games, but they were young and we never really got into it. Mostly the grandparents bought them a few games from the bargain bins and they were really young at the time.
Anyway, I've toyed with the idea of getting a console now for a few years.
The wife and I have considered a Wii U for the Wii Fit and Wii Sports and the games we could play on a family night. That has a huge appeal considering that with iPhones and iPads and laptops, there's always a damn screen in people's faces and it's all too easy for the cats to wander off and for us parents to spend the night herding cats instead of having fun with everyone. Sometimes cards, board games and charades are okay, but sometimes it just doesn't cut it.
So, the Wii was a potential fit (no pun intended).
I've also considered the PS4. It would replace the Blu-Ray player which would be nice in that it wouldn't add to the clutter. It would potentially add to if not replace my aging first gen Mac Pro as my gaming platform that has stood strong for seven years. That's phenomenal for a gaming rig and I really got my money's worth. I really only play a few games, so it was perfect for me (I bought it to start an editing business, but health issues ended that before I could start it). Unlike the Wii (that I know of), the PS4 also has games with MMO aspects. There are group play games, be they FPS (I'm not very good at them) to RPG games like Diablo 3 that I enjoy very much and I'm pretty good at them although I've never spent much time adapting to console play so that would take a fair bit of time. I also enjoy sports games and it really doesn't bear repeating that sports games on the Mac are just...lacking...to put it kindly. Plus, the DVD/Blu-Ray allows for the playing of DVD family games like those movie trivia games and those are actually a big hit and the Wii U doesn't have a media input.
So, the PS4 was a potential fit.
Personally, I'm leaning toward AND. Not sure I can afford it (pretty sure it would take a long while in any case), but they don't really overlap. If I have to choose, I'll probably lean toward the PS4 because of the utility and the fact that I would use it as an eventual replacement if my Mac Pro can't play the Warlords of Draenor expac...
As a former network/multimedia engineer who went through the whole platform wars (Windows/Mac) back in the day and as someone who has used everything from DOS 3.3 to a couple Unix variants to Windows to Mac since 6.0.7, I don't understand all of this. Use what works for you. Help others find what fits them. I just don't get the...I dunno...tribalism.
I think I may want to get a console. Maybe two. I'll actually have to bring this to the wife who is anti-console. Some help from the community would be great.
Some good pros and cons for each would be really helpful from those who have experience. I mean, I haven't held a console controller of any kind in years.
Oh, I have a 55" LG LCD 1080p 240Hz monitor with available HDMI inputs. I have 75/35 FiOS and the latest wireless router from Verizon (which most assuredly isn't the "latest" on the market). Not sure what other pertinent info I could give that would make a difference. I am trained and absolutely can tell the difference between 1080p, 1080i, 720p and 720p upconverted (although sometimes with the upconverted 720p, it's close enough that if you haven't seen it native, you'd be hard pressed to tell because the codecs have come so far), but I don't sweat it such that everything has to look perfect or I lose my beans.
I think if you have to put on warpaint to post... prolly shouldn't. I'm too old and all that angst and anger will just make me have to pee... Otherwise, like I said, any help and/or expertise is greatly appreciated.