Game console

Game console is the living-room box for people who want to play on a TV with a controller, not wrestle with a PC setup. By our assessment, its real strength is the fixed hardware: games are built and tuned for one machine, so the experience is usually more predictable than on a general-purpose computer. The downside is also baked in, because consoles trade away upgrade freedom, keyboard-and-mouse flexibility, and some of the openness you get on PC. In practice it is a sit-down, pick-up-the-pad kind of device, with menus, downloads, subscriptions and the usual waiting around that modern games bring with them. Game console sits between a gaming PC and a handheld, closer to the couch than the desk. It makes sense for people who want a straightforward way to play on a television, and less sense for anyone who wants to tinker with parts or keep everything open-ended.