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In what I can only feel like what was some hybrid mixture of a stroke of complete luck and sappy-movie-tier holiday miracle generosity, I find myself with a PlayStation 5 right in time for the holidays. It’s a sad state that merely buying a console has become a heroic feat, and yet, that fact makes it all the more exhilarating to be part of the next console generation. So, what better to do with this powerhouse system, than play Assassin’s Creed II; a game that’s over 11 years old, and originally released two console generations ago?

Backwards compatibility is one of the greatest features of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series line, letting players go back and experience an entire enhanced backlog of games while waiting for the heavy-hitting “next-gen” games to release, or while waiting for Cyberpunk 2077 to be in a playable state. Add to the fact that many of the games from the PlayStation 4’s library consisted of touched-up PlayStation 3 remasters in the form of Heavy Rain Remastered, Dishonored: Definitive Edition, The Yakuza Collection--every “trilogy”, “collection”, “legendary/definitive/ultimate/special” edition, and so many, many more; you could easily have a hundred PS4 games, none of them originating from that system’s own generation.

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In fact, I’ve yet to actually play a single PlayStation 5 game on my PS5. Perhaps it would be seen as bizarre, but as an ex-PC player, and only ever having owned the original PS4 and not the Pro, my favorite part about the PS5 is its ability to play older games at higher framerates or better quality. Games that I easily ignored on the base PlayStation 4 due to their performance have transformed into titles that I find myself wishlisting in hopes of nabbing them on sale at a later date. Even more exciting is that, as opposed to PC games which get dramatic price cuts seasonally, once a console game has been out for a while, the physical version tends to undergo a permanent price drop. It may not be as steep of a discount, but it’s affordable, and doesn’t require waiting around to be sniped during a perfect sale; the ideal combination for someone who’s just gotten a PS5 and is too impatient to wait for holiday price cuts just yet, or might have missed the best deals during Black Friday.

While I still hold an appreciation for PC gaming, the simple nature of consoles has won me back over. Yes, you can’t mod your games as freely, you can’t...try out all those fun demos from Codex, and the fidelity won’t come close to the best of what PCs are capable of right now--especially in the future--but at the same time, you also don’t have to do any fiddling with settings, there’s no worrying about the quality of a PC port, and most importantly, a PS5 doesn’t multitask; it has one purpose: games, and I find myself not getting distracted by things that might normally pull me out of an experience on my PC, like untimely Windows Update restarts, random BSODs, or compatibility issues after said updates. Perhaps it’s just part of my ongoing bad run of luck with PC gaming, but it took an entire hour of messing with settings, watching a game crash repeatedly, and desperately scouring the Steam forums with a friend after Detroit: Become Human stopped working, thanks to an Nvidia GeForce Experience update for Cyberpunk 2077 rendering the former unstable and unable to be played without rolling back to a random sketchy upload of a driver from over six months ago. That’s not something that would ever happen on a console.

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The amount of customization PCs provide is a blessing as much as it is a curse.

This generation, Microsoft and Sony seem to have understood what might pique the interest of PC gamers: giving players that same option between graphics and performance, in a simple box that doesn’t ask much of its user; just download a game or slide a disc in, and It Just Works (TM). Of course, not everyone is going to see things that way, and that’s fine. After all, the PC platform is all about giving users the freedom of choice, and now, excitingly, PlayStation and Xbox users are able to get a taste of that glorious freedom, too.

 

[Kioku]

I've put in a fair bit of thought as to downgrading my PC and just picking up a Series X... I probably would, but I have a heavy preference to kbm over controller.

Edit: since some of you are so inclined to sound smarter than you are? I leave this edit for you.

I clearly mean lack of kbm support in games. Yes, we all know that Xbox has KBM support. It has for a while now. Doesn't mean every game does.

 

[Hells Malice]

Console gaming has always been about simplicity, and it's definitely nice to install a game and just have it work.

Now that we've finally hit consoles that can attain stable 60 FPS I think it finally hit the sweet spot for performance AND stability.

I love my PC but when I want something to just work, i'll use my Xbox SE X
Best name btw micosoft love it


edit: Reminds me, I helped my sister and her fiance build their first-ever PC for Christmas/new years and the very first game they installed and tried to play was Soulcalibur VI. So we launch it...and it black screens and does nothing. And I just exclaim "Welcome to the glory of PC gaming"
Turns out the game refused to load because we had no audio device connected. That's such a perfect example of how fucking stupid PC gaming is sometimes. It makes no god damn sense, it's like everything is held together with scotch tape and bubblegum.

 

[Chary]

I've put in a fair bit of thought as to downgrading my PC and just picking up a Series X... I probably would, but I have a heavy preference to kbm over controller.

Does the XSX not support KBM? I thought that was a whole big deal when they finally added it to the Xbone. Or is it finicky and not 100% compatible with everything?

 

[Kioku]

Does the XSX not support KBM? I thought that was a whole big deal when they finally added it to the Xbone. Or is it finicky and not 100% compatible with everything?

It does. It's the games that decide if KBM works. I know there's a few titles, like Call of Duty... But I play Apex Legends.

 

[Bladexdsl]

the ps5 better than pc

surely you jest?!!

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Does the XSX not support KBM? I thought that was a whole big deal when they finally added it to the Xbone. Or is it finicky and not 100% compatible with everything?

Devs have to implement it, and most devs don't bother.


As to the article, lol fukn peesant scrub lrn2pcmustardface hw cn u b chif editer whn u dnt hv vstly supror gamng pc ths is y i wntd 2 b chf editr so i cn bn al teh fkcn consul peesunts frm GBA Temp. i m vry dispunted in u

;O;

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I have been moving in the opposite direction. Always been a console guy and only played certain games on PC that weren't available on consoles, or some cases where I got the game much cheaper in a sale on PC than the price on console, but now that I finally have a PC capable of 4K@60 and 1440p@120 gaming (even 4K@120 depending on the game) I find myself preferring the PC version of most games for improved graphics and/or performance.
But I feel your pain. I recently got a HP Reverb G2 (VR headset that just came out) and I've been having constant issues with crashes and lag that I'm pretty sure are down to bad drivers, or bugs in SteamVR for Windows Mixed Reality. It kind of ruins the experience because I can't just sit down and enjoy VR for a few hours, I'll be restarting SteamVR or rebooting my PC multiple times because something crashed and it won't work again without restarting. I swear I spend more time rebooting and troubleshooting (to no avail, might I add, I've tried every suggestion I've found online and ones people told me personally and it's exactly as bad as it was on day 1) than actually playing the games. It's especially annoying because I have to take the headset off every time in order to use the mouse/keyboard so it takes me completely out of the zone. I hope these issues get ironed out soon as they do seem to be software issues.
I haven't had issues like that with PC gaming in general though. Generally it works well. Though I couldn't get the *a-hem* totally legit version of Persona 4 Golden I grabbed to work at all. Just a black screen. Not sure if that's just a bug in that particular version of the game or I would have the same issue regardless.

Maybe some people are fine with it, but I don't see going "all console" or "all PC" as viable. Some games are just not available on console, others are not available on PC. And some games that are available on console are really much better played with mouse and keyboard (or they are just too demanding to run well on consoles) - on PC you always have the option to use either KB&M or a controller, on consoles you only have controllers, unless you get some device that emulates a controller using keyboard & mouse but they just don't work the same as native mouse support.

I love Nintendo and their games and that is the main reason I play consoles, but games designed for PC and ported to consoles generally just work better on PC. Of course you also have games designed for consoles and ported to PC where it might be the other way around and there could be more bugs or hardware incompatibilities in the PC version, locked framerates so that you can't take advantage of the more powerful hardware, and stuff like that.

PCs definitely come with a lot of problems, but figuring out solutions to issues is kind of fun too and the issues are usually minor ones that don't ruin my day or impact my experience in any major way.

 

[linuxares]

I see that Chary given up on Cyberpunk ;D

 

[GhostLatte]

is typing...

 

[Sansgaming420]

Playing first person shooters with a controller feels like ass so I'll stick with PC. Not to mention no mods.

 

[eyeliner]

This and the EGS giving away Star Wars... Why are they news?
This one should be a post in the forums, and the other is... not worthy, as they are giving away games for quite a while.

Slow news day, perhaps?

 

[RyRyIV]

This and the EGS giving away Star Wars... Why are they news?
This one should be a post in the forums, and the other is... not worthy, as they are giving away games for quite a while.

Slow news day, perhaps?

Wow, good thing no one ever claimed for this editorial to be news then, huh?

 

[The Catboy]

I honestly can't stand PC gaming. I play some games on my PC but overall, I find PC gaming to be more work than reward, and the cost of constantly needing to update one's hardware not worth it. If there's something I enjoy about console gaming is that chances are higher that any game I buy for my systems is going to work, unless that game is Cyberpunk.

 

[Mama Looigi]

Console convenience is great. Although the only game systems I really use are the 3DS and the Oculus Quest 2. Everything is so nice and simple. Download a game, update it, play it. Never any issues. But they really just don’t have the customization or nearly as many options as PC does, which is why I prefer PC. But then PC is... unreliable when you don’t take proper care of everything. And sometimes it’s unreliable just because it feels like it- then you freak out and it fixes itself the next day ;w;
I used to be a huge keyboard and mouse person. But I found over time that I much prefer controller now.
There’s also the fact that you can pay to upgrade your PC and let yourself do more things-
On console all you can do is what the publishers allow you (unless you jailbreak your systems. But it can lower stability and you often risk bans) And it doesn’t improve the limits of what your console can do. I’m the type of person who loves making things the best I can.
And while I can’t afford hardware upgrades often- the customizability and software/all the options still allow me to get a majority of the newest games to a decent performance level on a three year old laptop.

I recently got a HP Reverb G2 (VR headset that just came out) and I've been having constant issues with crashes and lag that I'm pretty sure are down to bad drivers, or bugs in SteamVR for Windows Mixed Reality.



Though I couldn't get the *a-hem* totally legit version of Persona 4 Golden I grabbed to work at all. Just a black screen. Not sure if that's just a bug in that particular version of the game or I would have the same issue regardless.

That’s likely a Windows MR issue. It was never... even close to perfect. Functional, but straight SteamVR or Oculus has always had less issues.
Or if you have multiple GPUs- it’ll automatically set itself up terribly. So you have to fix it.

And for P4G-
Well black screens like that are common if you get a bad copy. Or if someone didn’t... ‘un-legitimize’ it properly. It instantly worked fine for me.

 

[Chary]

EGS giving away Star Wars..

Oh no, it's another "Epic Games doing something in the games industry!? How dare they! This isn't REAL GAMER NEWS!"

It doesn't even bear an explanation as to why it's there. Epic does free thing, gamer liek free thing, gamer want to know when how get free thing!!!

Some people don't live with their finger on the pulse of gaming related topics, and likely even more people don't care enough to hover on EGS to know what and when the free games are. Thus, here we are. Limited Run Games does physical releases sometimes, should their news not be posted? Nintendo always has firmware updates, but yeah, we don't need to ever know about those since they always happen.

And yeah, we've never written editorials ever. Might as well bin all of FAST's discussion posts too. This is hardcore serious front page only. No opinions, no thoughts, just gaem.

 

[Xzi]

We've basically reached unification where gaming PCs and consoles are concerned. Thus PS5 is certainly not devoid of its own set of "quirks" and problems that would normally be associated with PCs. I've had games crash on me, I've had Demon's Souls uninstall itself twice when I eject the disc, and there are still performance issues with games like Maneater. Before it was patched, some unfortunate souls even bricked their PS5s just by putting the console to sleep while playing Spider-Man.

Not to mention the QoL stuff such as lack of 1440p support, and playing voice chat audio through your controller speaker if you don't use a headset.

Even despite all this, PS5 has given me a pleasant experience so far, but is it superior to gaming on PC? Nah. If Sony decides to add support for all competitors' controllers, support for 1440p, and backward compatibility for at least PSX/PS2, then maybe we'll talk. As-is I can't even retire my PS2, it sits up right against my PS5 on the desk.

 

[Hells Malice]

This and the EGS giving away Star Wars... Why are they news?
This one should be a post in the forums, and the other is... not worthy, as they are giving away games for quite a while.

Slow news day, perhaps?

Sir this is McDonalds, are you lost?

 

[Chary]

If Sony decides to add support for all competitors' controllers, game mods, 1440p, and backward compatibility

A few of these should be features already there, like the PS1 BC, but at the same time, it's why consoles are so much simpler. If you try to shove all these things into what consoles try to do, then they're just effectively PCs, with all the insane amounts of customization and you're back to square one because your PS5 caught on fire trying to play Skyrim backwards compat with 409 mods on an NES controller. That's the whole conceit of the article. Both have their strengths, and for some, that makes it worth the compromise.

sometimes it’s unreliable just because it feels like it- then you freak out and it fixes itself the next day ;w;

This is entirely why I've given up on PC. I've built 4 PCs, none of them worked right. Plug in the Oculus, whoops we've reset your headset, please set it up from scratch thanks. What's that? You wanted to play games? We're going to make your library just not work for some reason hooray! Oh your sensor? Look at that, your USBs aren't working. Oh you spent 3 hours unplugging everything and troubleshooting and you plugged everything back in? Jk it's fine now.

Mobo came faulty? RAM isn't recognized. CPU died out of nowhere. USBs don't work.

I've given my PCs their fair shake and I appreciate what the platform can do, but sometimes it's just not worth it. I fully get that I'm probably in the 0.0001% of cursed individuals who lives on a haunted Windows burial ground, but I give up.

I still use my PCs fwiw...but only because I've had a long-established library built up on there. Really the entire point of the article is just, people can enjoy whatever, and be happy, because there's options in the industry now.

 

[Hells Malice]

A few of these should be features already there, like the PS1 BC, but at the same time, it's why consoles are so much simpler. If you try to shove all these things into what consoles try to do, then they're just effectively PCs, with all the insane amounts of customization and you're back to square one because your PS5 caught on fire trying to play Skyrim backwards compat with 409 mods on an NES controller. That's the whole conceit of the article. Both have their strengths, and for some, that makes it worth the compromise.

And even with 409 mods Skyrim still isn't fun