Purchasing games for the "correct" platform.

  Is there really a correct platform for each and every person to use?  No.  Definitively now and forever onward, no.  However, there is a correct platform for each game.  A platform that is better supported for each game.  A platform for which the game was usually coded.  A platform which just runs the game better.  Why?  Because they each have different hardware, different chip architecture and different operating systems.  While I can't exactly say how each of these things comes into play to create the problems that we see in games, as I am not a computer engineer, nor a software engineer, I can however point to a few things that will help you decide as a consumer, to help you make a more informed decision when purchasing your games.  The very things I look for before purchasing a game.  This will not be a complete checklist, but a few weapons to add to your arsenal, in the war to spend your cash without regret.

1.  Screen Tearing: The first thing on this list is screen tearing.  Screen tearing can be seen when the system is trying to display the next image before it has fully displayed the last one.  On PC systems this can be fixed simply by turning on an option called V-sync.  An option normally found in the graphics options, however if this is not the case, one can turn it on in the driver software.  However this is not an option for console players.  This makes it all the more important to choose the correct platform for your console only titles such as Final Fantasy XIII (pictured to the right).

2. Frame rate:  Frame rate, is closely linked to the previous item on this list, screen tearing.  Frame rate is the frequency at which frames are displayed.  Games like Call of Duty often try to maintain a solid 60 frames per second (fps) to ensure great performance, while other games, such as Battlefield 3, Crysis 2, Asura's Wrath, and many others, prefer to stick around 30 fps to eek out better looking visuals.  The human eye, commonly thought to see around 30 FPS, can actually see "frame rates" upwards of 200fps.  So the higher the better.

3. There is no wiki link for this one, and the problem is platform exclusive bugs.  This one is the worst and trickiest issues to watch for.  Certain game breaking bugs may not pop up until you are hours into a game which is why I would always suggest waiting for a few days before pulling the trigger on any purchase of new games to allow these problems to rise to the surface.  Two prime examples would be the PS3 Skyrim issues such as the infamous "water crash" or the save file induced lag problems.

There are however a wealth more things one can take into consideration in making your choice as to which platform you make a purchase on. Such as modability, exclusive content, and platform support, but this little tidbit should help you with any upcoming purchases.  Good luck out there.