Making the transition to PC gaming - Memoirs of a Console Gaming Peasant

[emigre]

Early in 2017 I had this epiphany about console gaming, I wasn't happy with the inflexibilities of console gaming from the need to pay for online gaming to backward compatibility coupled with a tiring of AAA games. Hence I decided to do something about it, no I didn't buy an Ouya, instead, I built my first PC.

I had previously dabbled in PC gaming but these were on shitty cheap laptops, this was going to be a proper gaming, albeit low cost, build. It would have the added benefits of acting as a media host for Plex for the Roku boxes in the house.

Now let's explain why I made the shift to PC rather than any other forms of gaming, well firstly it was the only viable alternative for a hardcore mature gamer like myself. The gaming market is huge with the growth of mobile but I'm a traditional gamer guy, I like my single player, I like buying a game and it's bought. Secondly, the openness of the PC market, there are many places to purchase PC games which is fantastic as I play more and more digital only games. This means rather than be solely in the Sony or Nintendo ecosystem, I can go the Steam and if I'm not happy, I can go to GOG or Humble Bundle.

Collating on what I needed and putting it together was daunting as fuck. PC Builder helped in easing the former and putting the PC together is the second most difficult thing I have done all year. To put this into context, the most difficult thing I have done was a data project at work which took four months to do and three job interviews I've had this year. However on that Saturday, I put it together, when I turned it on for the first time and I saw the Bios pop up, this was the most rewarding emotion I've felt all year. To put this into context, I got offered the job in all three interviews. Putting this fucker together taught me a lot and I've taken up an interest in PC hardware as a result and built a budget HTPC for the house since.

Over the year I've adapted my setup over time, not in terms of hardware but how I game. When I started PC gaming 'full time' it was on my desk and I didn't enjoy it too much that way because, at the end of the day, I'm a filthy console peasant at heart. So I made my setup more console-like, I use an Xbone controller and used a long HDMI cable to connect my PC to my tv. I've been gaming like this for the past few weeks and it's been the most enjoyment I've gotten out of my rig. What I want to do is get a decent wireless keyboard/trackpad to play VN and point and click games on my giant TV. I never envisaged utilising this flexibility and it's been great.

Has this changed my approach to Console gaming? Yes. My opinion of the PS4 has improved, I did a quick count of my PS4 library and the majority were PS4 exclusives, the rest was typically things which for 'social' gaming. However, my inclination to continue buying games on the platform has dwindled because of PC. The PS4 is now an exclusives and blu-ray machine. WIll I continue to buy consoles in the future? I intend to as long the software is there. I certainly see myself buying a PS5 someday.

Any regrets? Nothing substantive. The only thing I would have done differently is put off my build a few months as that point Ryzen was released and I had a new job which paid more thus increasing my build budget.

Overall I'm glad I made the shift and it's been a pretty great experience. I appreciate it's not for everyone particularly as shit like crypto mining as hurt the mid range market but I'd advise everyone to look into it. WIth more devs supporting PC properly, it really is a fantastic time for a PC gamer.

tl;dr: Job interviews are easier than PC building for me.

 

[Flame]

Poor children gaming on one single platform.

be like flame, glorious GOD owing all platforms!

 

[Taleweaver]

when I turned it on for the first time and I saw the Bios pop up, this was the most rewarding emotion I've felt all year. To put this into context, I got offered the job in all three interviews.

Erm... Do i dare to ask where you've solicited?


It's a weird comparison. Of course we're different people and the jobs and region are different as well, but i do solemnly hate job interviews (it's pretty much a lottery in my country), whereas building computers... It's not the easiest thing for me, but with a couple days of research, a budget and an afternoon of montage I'm confident not to run into major problems. But if course my first time was hard as well. Oh, and... Did you go for a large case? A small one makes things exponentially harder.

But more on topic: congrats on the pc as well as enjoying the act of building.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

I'm gonna be honest, I'm really curious as to how you found actually putting a PC together in any way as difficult as described. At this point, it's basically "Put Card A into Slot B, put Cable C into Card A", rinse, repeat. I mean, the hardest part really is just cable management, and if you're a lazy slob you can just tuck half the cables behind the mobo mount points and be done with it. I mean, I suppose I have the luxury of having built probably 30-40+ odd PCs for myself and various people, but I don't think it's ever been as difficult as described

Irregardless, congratulations on joining the master race ;O;

 

[kuwanger]

The hardest part about build PCs today? The cramped conditions. Some are definitely worse than others, but at least that's my experience. Other than that, gaming PC builds are pretty cheap now thanks to a mostly stalled progress on high-end gaming systems (Ryzen and the like might change that, but I tend to doubt it). The biggest win today, of course, is relatively cheap SSD drives. The biggest lost today, still, is unstable frame rate due to background processes. :/ I wonder how well Windows 10's "gaming" mode actually helps.

 

[emigre]

Erm... Do i dare to ask where you've solicited?


It's a weird comparison. Of course we're different people and the jobs and region are different as well, but i do solemnly hate job interviews (it's pretty much a lottery in my country), whereas building computers... It's not the easiest thing for me, but with a couple days of research, a budget and an afternoon of montage I'm confident not to run into major problems. But if course my first time was hard as well. Oh, and... Did you go for a large case? A small one makes things exponentially harder.

But more on topic: congrats on the pc as well as enjoying the act of building.

Let's put it like this, I've finally gotten good at interviews. I've given some truly horrendous interviews when I was younger. I put that analogy there because 2017 has been a significant year for me on a professional level, so I just wanted to put it there as a comparison.

I'm gonna be honest, I'm really curious as to how you found actually putting a PC together in any way as difficult as described. At this point, it's basically "Put Card A into Slot B, put Cable C into Card A", rinse, repeat. I mean, the hardest part really is just cable management, and if you're a lazy slob you can just tuck half the cables behind the mobo mount points and be done with it. I mean, I suppose I have the luxury of having built probably 30-40+ odd PCs for myself and various people, but I don't think it's ever been as difficult as described

Irregardless, congratulations on joining the master race ;O;

To put it bluntly, I'm a clumsy oaf so doing anything which involves putting thins together is just hard for me, If I was building a computer some years ago, I would have truly been fucked.

 

[tbb043]

PC slave (to steam) race.

 

[Kioku]

I'm gonna be honest, I'm really curious as to how you found actually putting a PC together in any way as difficult as described. At this point, it's basically "Put Card A into Slot B, put Cable C into Card A", rinse, repeat. I mean, the hardest part really is just cable management, and if you're a lazy slob you can just tuck half the cables behind the mobo mount points and be done with it. I mean, I suppose I have the luxury of having built probably 30-40+ odd PCs for myself and various people, but I don't think it's ever been as difficult as described

Irregardless, congratulations on joining the master race ;O;

Irregardless... Oh my..

 

[DarthDub]

It's really hard to justify buying PS4 games when most of them are on PC.

 

[330]

Good for you for having fun with PC gaming! I prefer consoles but to each its own

 

[Veho]

Irregardless... Oh my..

The word has been in use since 1795, let it go already

 

[Kioku]

The word has been in use since 1795, let it go already

Nope. Not until we abolish "Bae".

-snip-

 

[MasterControl90]

I love your post emigre and I think a lot of people that did this kind of switch had exactly your experience. In the past (year 2000) I used to own also a console (PSone) for some games I liked a lot and couch multiplayer but then I switched to PC entirely because very few games on consoles interested me. Speaking of today the entry price for just a couple of exclusive titles I'm interested in on PS4 are still keeping me off from consoles, in fact today my only console experience is a Sony PSP 2000 that I got for free because bricked, carefully restored in both software and hardware and I'm loving it because I can experience on the go a huge and really good catalogue of games for super cheap and, since it's modded, I can copy any UMD and put it on the 8GB microSD card (no mistake I use a memory stick adapter)... I wish Sony didn't kill so quickly PSvita.