I am bored and want to figure out if someone can convince me otherwise.

LazyABB

SOOO..... Recently I got in an argument with someone over the definition of console. I was telling him PCs are a type of console. He completely is against it, and states only things like Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo, blah blah blah you get the idea, are the only types of consoles. I was telling him they are a type of console which why people refer to them as gaming consoles, and that PCs can be built to be a gaming console, but a stand alone PC is also a console just not a gaming console. Through whole debate I basically go to the Webster dictionary and post

"Definition of console for Students. 1 : a panel on which are dials and switches for controlling an electronic or mechanical device. 2 : an electronic system that connects to a display (as a TV) and is used to play video games. 3 : a cabinet (as for a television) that stands on the floor."

I asked for another credible source that contradicts this definition and after an hour of not saying much, when before he was responding within minutes he comes back with dictionary.com definition that doesn't really disagree with my statement.
"noun
1. Also called game(s) console, gaming console, video-game console. a computer system specially made for playing video games by connecting it to a television or other display for video and sound."

However he didn't include the second part which does agree with my original statement.
"2. the control or monitoring unit of a computer, containing the keyboard or keys, switches, etc."

So I dunno, I saw other people side with him just because, and people side with me for I don't know. I just curious what other people think. Kind of the same idea with the definition of platform. Basically the debate came up cause some news source said Minecraft was the first game to ever cross-console. Which in any sense they are wrong. Even they only meant between the main Gaming Systems. Since I know FFXI was between PC, XBOX 360 and PS2. But I was trying to tell the person cross-console and cross-platform basically mean the same for the most part. From what I was taught all a Platform is, is a device with a operation system, which usually just means what operating system is running. Windows, Linux, Mac, Dos, Android, whatever they call the operating systems on the video game consoles(not really sure) are all some platform just installed on its device. You can put Windows on a Mac, only makes it a Windows based platform now.

Only thing I ask is opinions are fine, but I am looking for real solid evidence from some source that explicitly states that PC is not a console. Nothing from 3rd party websites, wiki, things where anyone can state their opinion with citing 1st party sources. I figured a company that was made to define words and has been around for over a hundred years was good enough. But I want to see if anyone knows something I don't.

Gally

https://www.gamespot.com/forums/system-wars-314159282/is-pc-a-console-26151305/

The reality is you're both right. The slang usage of "console" is what you've called a "gaming console" and not a PC but the technical definition of "console" does include PC.

Jimmy_Scissors

I'd say 90% of folks consider consoles to be dedicated gaming, plug n' play hardware like Xbox, PS etc. Dates back to older consoles like the nes, snes, coleco, atari etc. There were atari computers with superior games but they were never considered consoles.
P.C. gaming is it's own genre.
The dictionary definition doesn't really apply, it's more about the history of gaming in general.

LazyABB

@Jimmy_Scissors I know that most people consider the generic term of console as being a video game system, however, just because it became slang for one thing doesn't mean the other meanings of the term has vanished from the face of the earth. The guy refused to accept PC as being a type of console. Gaming Consoles are a sub-category of Consoles in general.

Jimmy_Scissors

LazyABB wrote: »

The guy refused to accept PC as being a type of console.

Again, 90% of gamers will agree with him. Maybe more. I don't think you'll win the argument by being pedantic about 'console' definitions. It's just the way it's always been.
Accept defeat on the matter, ask him to show you his favorite console, then batter him over the head with it.

LazyABB

Lol @Jimmy_Scissors well wouldn't matter he blocked me. It wasn't an argument at first. Merely correcting him on the reality of the matter with the origin of the word. He was the only one to argue with me about it, everyone else just accepted what I said, and were like "I didn't realize that". His excuse was like, I have 25 years of experience in the matter(I am assuming 25 years of playing video games), since he looks like the Warcraft gamer with no life from Southpark. When he said he 25 years of experience, I said I guess the teachers and engineers who taught me about the matter know nothing now.

G***y

For all intents and purposes calling a gaming computer a gaming console is not correct. You can have a PC act as a gaming console but systematically a console was designed to provide an interface layer to another hardware device when computer architecture was invented. In IT/systems we only communicate to devices via the console interface never through a GUI (of course there are idiots everywhere who need a GUI because they have no skills instead got the job through EOE). The console consists of an input device and a display device. It does not have to be a video display either some consoles are printer based and some are based on led matrices (LED console would be a building interface display such as a fire alarm system). Gaming console came about in the early stages of game development because it provided a user console to interact with the software / hardware layer directly that had a single purpose and would output it visually. Whereas a PC has multiple purposes and was strictly was never designed to play games when it was conceptualized. I would never call a PC strictly a console unless the only thing you do on it is play games and you bypass the user interface strictly into a game with a low layer OS. The new game systems out now are also far from the definition of console and I would classify them as entertainment devices, since they now offer more advanced features such as playing movies, internet, etc.

Jimmy_Scissors

LazyABB wrote: »

he looks like the Warcraft gamer with no life from Southpark.

best.episode.ever.

LazyABB

@Unadulterated they do have gaming computer consoles though now. Made by Alienware and Steam. As far as I know they don't really do anything else but play PC games that you download.

Yep that's the guy @Jimmy_Scissors lol.