Steps:



1. Think about the price of the system. A good PC may run as much as $2,000, and the best may be closer to $3,000. A console system is only about $200 to $250.

2. Consider power. Today's PCs can offer a 300-MHz, 64-bit processor; a 32-bit wave table with FM synthesis (for sound); 16.8-million-color, 800-by-600 or greater resolution display; 16 megabytes (MB) of RAM; 500MB of storage and a quad-speed or faster CD-ROM. Consoles offer a 6-MHz, 32-bit processor; 16-bit FM synthesis (sound); 32,000-color, 500-by-300 resolution display; and 1MB of RAM. The more limited console capabilities force detailed games to skip frames in the animation and lower the speed. Consoles miss a lot of the detail and depth found on PCs.

3. Ponder compatibility. Every PC has different specifications and a huge range of other variables attached to it (operating system version, other software installed that may conflict with games and so on). PC owners may find themselves calling the tech line to find out how to configure the computer properly for each game - a problem console owners don't have.

4. Consider the price of the games. The cost of games for PCs is often less than the cost of games for consoles.

5.

Determine who's going to be playing the games. If your kids are the gamers, do you want them messing with your computer all the time, perhaps trashing your files in the process? Do you want play games with multiple participants? This can be easier on a console.