Modern-day console gaming is a sensitive subject. That’s especially true if you’re talking about siding with one over the other, or skipping that out completely to become a PC gamer. However, a lot of people’s pockets are lighter this year, what with the global pandemic etc. Even those with funds for this-gen of consoles have noticed prices drawing dangerously nearer to that of low-end cars and might understandably hesitate at the pre-order checkout. Attempting to set bias aside, here are nine compelling reasons why 2020 is the year to drop out of the console race altogether and invest in gaming PC
Consoles Have Lost Their Identity
As Sony recently unveiled, a PS5 without a disc drive is £100 cheaper. With Microsoft’s Xbox Series S model the potential savings of going digital are even more tempting. If gamers aren’t pulling collective ‘sceptical Fry’ faces at that strategy then the war has already been won. It’s very clever marketing, which if successful can and will wipe out the second-hand games market. The implications of that move are troubling.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting that gamers pull all support from big-name console brands as that would be a bad move. I’m merely pointing out that you, the demographic, have more power to lead companies like Sony and others to water. As it stands consoles are imitating PCs to the point that their identities and purpose are fading. They even look and feel like PCs now. Unless their soul spark is rediscovered, it’s PC FTW.
A Gaming PC is More Cost Effective
It’s no secret that a well-planned custom PC build can sustain years of thermal punishment and it’ll still load four-hundred Skyrim mods on command, maybe even with Chrome running in the background. Upgrading one component every once in a while is all that’s necessary. While the initial cost may be higher, future you has the security of knowing progressive upgrades won’t break the bank.
Use PriceSpy with PCPartPicker to help compare prices on components and Honey to find voucher codes, shaving even more off your final price. What’s more, Microsoft released its Xbox Game Pass for PC last year which allows the PC users to take advantage of Xbox console exclusives. While Sony hasn’t yet bowed as far to this newly tapped market, many predict that they will – and soon.
A Gaming PC is Arguably Easier to Maintain
Need a clean? Some gaming cases come with thumb screws so you don’t even need a screwdriver, and an average of 2-4 on each side makes the process easy as pie. No more fifty-eight and a half screws all with different kinds of thread, threadlocker and general curveballs console manufacturers will throw your way.
It’s not King Tut’s tomb, it’s yours and therefore it’s your right to pry those doors off with minimal frustration (and curses). The power supply is dead? Stick another in. Too few USBs and/or hard drives? Add more. This is a small nugget of the freedom a PC offers.
A Decent Investment = Unparalleled Quality and Personalisation
There’s always going to be some who feel a console doesn’t suit their purposes, which results in having too many unnecessary devices in the place of one. That’s a good outcome for everyone except the user. Sure, you can reskin it and pretend it’s different. Deep down it’s just the same old internals running the same OS with the same thermal efficiency and not much choice at all where software customisation is concerned.
For casual gamers, this is more than enough for jumping on and off games, though even so, with the ease of buying prebuilds, plug+play controller support and nearly every gamer and their nan owning a PC anyway, why not combine them into something which best suits your every want and need? A video editing PC (which will be packing lots of high-speed ram) will most likely only require an SSD and a graphics card to reach mid to high-tier, for example.
A Gaming PC is More Optimisable
PCs also have optimisation tweaking for graphics settings either in game or bundled with your graphics card drivers to produce better visuals and/or scrape better performance over consoles. Sizing down components, unfortunately, results in the same dichotomy you’ll see between PCs, laptops and mobiles: they’re worlds apart in performance and compromises increase the smaller you go.
This is precisely why previous-gen consoles have struggled to manage steady FPS at even 1080p in some games. As consoles all have restrictive methods of cooling dictated by space, overclocking hardware is not only a risk, it can’t be done. Some areas in Dark Souls and the graphical intensity of games like The Last Guardian reflect this problem clearly and the list goes on. The solution: go big or go home, as this-gen of consoles will prove.
PC Games are More Modifiable
With regard to game mods, look up the nexus and be startled by mods no one ever dreamt they’d want until they saw them. Even the likes of Morrowind has mods still being created and worked on by dedicated teams of fans. From HD feet textures (don’t ask) to replacing Skyim’s dragons with Thomas the Tank Engine(s), there really is a mod for everything.
Mods on consoles will never be quite as available as they are on computers either, as console game mods are usually developed or at least screened by the game developers themselves for quality as well as lore-friendliness. Not to mention they’re often so far along in their iterations that they’re more like add-ons. Usually the ‘privilege’ of mods on consoles comes at a premium.
It’s Easier than Ever to Build Your Own Gaming PC
Although prebuilds are a viable option and many in the gaming world swear by them with their ‘warranties’ and stickers/general gubbins, the most bang for your buck comes from making measured decisions on each component and building your PC yourself piece by piece.While you’re waiting for your intended graphics card to go on sale and if your CPU has onboard graphics as many do these days, you’ll be able to put the whole thing together and get it running beforehand so you can chuck the card in with minimal faff.
Contrary to popular belief, many individual components (if bought new) have a warranty so the argument against trying your own build holds little merit. Building may sound difficult, but with patience and as little as one YouTube video to follow along to, many can learn a skill they’ll never forget which opens doors for them in terms of further performance and aesthetic customisations over your average user. Using sites like PCPartPicker means incompatibilities between the parts you ‘pick’ are a thing of the past. Forums and Facebook groups are also your friend. Post your PCPartPicker list up for scrutiny and let the hivemind take your build to new heights.
Emulation Stations for the Nation
So, the PS5 is backwards compatible with all prior generations. Big whoop. A Gaming PC can freely emulate nearly every console there is, with the exception of more modern ones from the PS4 onwards. This isn’t because the hardware of a PC isn’t capable, in fact quite the opposite, but of course console manufacturers take steps to delay those who try to reverse engineer their systems. I say delay because when old console security updates/model variants stop being produced, techies catch up and it eventually gets ‘sussed’. The security features of the PS4 were already recently overthrown.
Which console can switch from SNES to GBC to Wii U to PS2 at a few clicks? Even Raspberry Pi(s) are on their way to achieving that. Many things a PC can do are watered down and released to console gamers at their expense. This will become more pronounced as console manufacturers fulfil their current vision in full. Once upon a time having dedicated OS’ which streamlined the gaming experience in a swanky, speedy UI gave consoles an edge over primitive bulky PCs. Those days are long gone.
Alphas and Betas for When Waiting Takes the Biscuit
Not long ago in a galaxy which was this one, sites like Kickstarter began the global trend of selling half or even quarter-baked cakes. Sometimes an image of the aforementioned cake and a half-decent preacher behind a camera was all that was necessary. This caught on like wildfire and it didn’t take long for indie devs to wake up and realise their agreements and promises were vague enough to be outmanoeuvred legally. Thus, a great many games in their alpha and beta stages were abandoned completely.
Things have come a long way since then. While many still don’t agree that gamer community comments should be the masthead of a game’s future, alphas and betas are still popular and (for the most part) they appear to be mutually beneficial to both users and developers. Quite rightly, consoles tend to steer clear of indie alpha/beta releases on their platforms until they can be certain that the devs aren’t going overboard in stormy seas. At the end of the day: to make your own mistakes, to invest in the careers of bright young minds and to have a hand in improving a game you enjoy is a freedom PC gamers take for granted. The Elder Scrolls Online had a limited PC beta test, the results of which proved integral to the game’s final identity.
If these nine reasons don’t convince you and if by some divine miracle we can calm ourselves down enough to sympathise which each others’ points of view, we can agree to disagree. While I see the custom gaming PC as a world of opportunity and derestriction many see it as a challenge or a mess of complexity.
Do you feel that modern consoles are lacking identity? Are prices too steep? Do you need a hug? Please leave your responses in the comments section below.