I am a Minecraft addict. I play it a lot; it might be my favorite game. But I’ll make a confession: I only play the console editions of the game. Originally the 360 Edition, now the PS4 Edition and occasionally the Wii U Edition. And there’s a reason for that—a reason I stay away from the original, purest Minecraft, the PC version. Because that way destruction lies. In the perennial Minecraft PC vs Console Edition question, from a technical perspective, there’s only one answer. But that’s not the only perspective.
Let’s face it: Minecraft for PC is the best version of the game. Sure, it doesn’t have local co-op (at least not so easily), which is nearly a deal breaker for me. Sure, the Console version of the Ender Dragon was better for a long time. But in most other ways, the PC version is clearly superior. It’s several versions ahead, for instance; even now that ocean monuments have come to the consoles, crazy things like end cities have started to show up on the PC version. On PC, you can play development versions; you can enjoy stable new features a year or more earlier, and, possibly most of all, you can play mods. And the world is essentially unlimited, instead of merely massive.
And that right there is my top reason for not playing the PC version: Because it is so clearly better. It’s a bigger world, with more stuff in it, dramatically greater options for multiplayer, and crazy mods like Galacticraft (which I’m dying to play). And for me—and, I think, for a lot of people—that’s just too much. I know I would love PC Minecraft. But only with the constraints of the Console Edition, a bounded world with unchangeable laws, can I actually play the game in a healthy way.
Minecraft PC Edition would be the biggest gaming time suck I’ve ever experienced. I’ve seen similar arguments with Skyrim—some people play the console versions simply so they don’t go down the rabbit hole the PC versions open up. PC games in general are widely praised for the freedoms they offer, whereas console games and consoles in general work out-of-the-box, but have less flexibility. Well, when it comes to Minecraft, that’s just what I need. I would not be strong enough to withstand the sheer majesty and purity of PC Minecraft. It is the Holy Grail, and I am no Sir Percival—the dangers are too great.
Plus the crafting interface on the Console Edition is better.
UPDATE: I played Minecraft for six hours today instead of posting this article. I have a problem.
