Gaming, on the Table Top or on the Screen?

As a gamer, I have a bad habit. Not only am I a big time Video Gamer, I am also a big time Table Top Gamer (No, I'm not talking Monopoly here, I'm talking games like Wealth Of Nations, Shadowrun, Titan. Games you tend to find in specialty shops and conventions). This creates a lot of interesting situations for me, primarily, which do I spend my money on and which will I play more? Often, my video game friends will ask me why I love table top gaming so much and my board game friends will ask me why I play so many video games. In short, there is no clear cut answer, as you can easily make a good case for both hobbies. What exactly are the pros and cons of each hobby, and which is right for you?

The Case for Board Games

1. Cheaper Entry Cost - Board games are, for the most part, much cheaper than video games. When you consider the fact that the average board game is cheaper than the average video game (Not including special circumstances like GOG.com's freakishly low prices on older games, or collectible games like Warhammer) on top of the fact that you do not need to pay for extra hardware to play board games (I'm talking $1,000 gaming PC's or $300 consoles), you can see why this would be an attractive feature.
2. No Extra Hardware - As I just mentioned above, table top games require no costly and fragile extra hardware. If I want to play a board game with a bunch of friends, I simply need to bring the game. No extra computers, networking equipment, consoles, controllers, etc. Granted some games do require extra bits and pieces, these are generally either included with the game (Like dice and counters) or extremely cheap (Like graph paper and rulers).
3. Accessibility - Table top games are, in general, more accessible. With video games, especially in the PC gaming realm that I inhabit, there are lots of variables involved. Will my computer run the game? How well will it run? Will my network connection be good enough to handle it? Will there be any corrupt files during install and will I have the right patch to play with my friends? All of these questions simply do not exist in the board game realm. You simply have a game, the rules, and your buddies. As long as they possess the intelligence to learn the rules and the ability to read, there is nothing stopping them from playing, short of lack of interest. Your graphics card and processor are your brain, and you can make the games be whatever you want them to be.
4. Limitless Potential - Speaking of making the games whatever you want them to be, table top games (Especially RPG's) are only limited by your creativity. In one of my first RPG's, one of my fellow party members knocked over a barrel of oil, lit it on fire, and started shooting arrows through it. I have yet to play more than a handful of games that give you such freedom. Even in the modern sandbox video games, you are limited by what the game designers programmed you to be able to do. Granted, with the advent of faster and more powerful processors, the options for video games are expanding.
5. Sociability - Board games, by nature, require you to be social. You have to play with/against people locally. Console gaming generally is this way as well, but PC gaming is stale. The only time I usually play with fellow PC gamers in person is at LAN parties, and those are costly and difficult to organize. Every week when I play board games, its like a little LAN party. My friends are all there, and we play together and have a good time. Until recently video games had(have?) a stigma that the kind of people that play are anti social and don't go out much, and while this isn't completely true, its certainly not false. With all the LAN parties and console parties I have been to, none of them have the level of social enjoyment I get when playing Shadowrun with my friends on Saturday nights.

The Case for Video Games

1. Space - I own about as many video games as I do board games. Come to my apartment some time and take a look at the available space I have. My closet is crowded out with board games, and it only gets worse with each new game I buy. My PC on the other hand, stays the same physical size no matter how many games I buy, and with how cheap storage is these days, there's no reason I cant contain every game I own in one small form factor.
2. Audio/Visual - As much as I care about game play over graphics, I can't help but to admit that watching something blow up in high resolution with apartment shaking sound effects is damn cool.
3. Realism - Most board games are, by nature, abstracted. Most people (Not including me :P) don't want to spend all day simulating every little thing that could possibly happen in a military engagement. For this reason, many board games are streamlined and simpler to play (With exceptions of course, like Advanced Squad Leader, Harpoon 4.1, and Attack Vector Tactical to name a few). With video games, having a computer run all the numbers means you can simulate the largest of military engagements in minutes. Also, removing the low level calculations from the player allows them to focus more on the game play than running the game and making sure everything works. For this reason, it is possible to run things in real time with a video game, unlike board games which usually must be turn based to allow the players to make their actions and calculate results.
4. Singleplayer/Multiplayer - While board games tend to be more entertaining to play with/against people, it is usually difficult to not only find people to play with, but also find the time to play. With video games, if I have a few minutes to spare, I can simply get on line, hop into a game of Team Fortress 2, play a few rounds, and quit. Board games are much harder to play on line, and its generally harder to find a group of people to play with. On that note, 99% of board games out there do not have the ability to play single player. With a video game, there are plenty of single player options, and even entire games that are only single player, such as Borderlands or Ghostbusters. Single player games tell a story, much like a book or movie, and you can't get that from board games. Even with table top RPG's, the story usually isn't linear, and they require a party of people to play with. There are also video games that feature AI and allow players to challenge themselves alone. Many strategy games I own I tend to play against the computer, either to sharpen my skills, or simply because I cannot find anyone to play with. Board games have the restriction of not only needing to find an opponent, but of finding different opponents so that you do not play the same kind of game over and over again.
5. Physical Content and Distribution - As I stated before, the physical size of my board game collection compared to my video game collection is rather significant. This also creates another unique issue. If one of my board games becomes damaged, I generally have to buy a new one. If my video game disc gets damaged, I can simply download a new copy, put in my CD key, and start playing again. I don't have to worry as much about losing components or damaging pieces, since the game is purely digital. This also makes it much easier to buy video games. Thanks to services like Steam and Impulse, I do not have to drive down to the game store, pick up a game, and hope its in stock. It is also much easier to distribute new patches and updates to a video game. Board games have these in the form of errata, but this generally requires the player to go to the manufacturer's website, look up the errata, and print it out.

There are of course, may other pros and cons of each hobby, but these are the ones I've encountered most frequently. Whatever kind of game(s) you enjoy, the most important part is to have fun. Game on!