Why I Hesitate to Invest in PC Gaming
There are many reasons, but the biggest of them all is the technical baggage it brings. I’ve been there and done that I could care less about how awesome 8xAA at 70FPS looks. I just want to play the game.
Okay so let’s say a new game comes out. I buy it, bring it home. Now I have to install it. PC games nowadays are quite large. So that’s about 20 to 45 minutes depending on your harddrive throughput specs. But if you’re on Steam, you have to download it and that takes even longer depending on the size of the game and internet connection. Granted, this argument is not a good one, but considering I (mostly) don’t have to wait at all on consoles, it’s an important point.
So now the game is finally installed and ready to launch. You launch into the game, play the first few minutes. Boom. It crashed and you’re back to your Windows desktop. You realize you don’t have the proper video and or sound drivers to run the game. You pull out your Google hat, find the proper drivers, install them and restart your computer, launch the game. Sweet Lord, it’s working.
Then hours later you start encountering graphical issues (not game-breaking, but enough to put a bad taste in your mouth). But this time it’s simply because your game’s developer failed to cover all the bases in the PC version and now you’re stuck with a game that isn’t performing like it should. Even though your $1800 rig is built for it. Now you have to wait for a patch. Mind you, all of that was never the case on consoles. Maybe a hiccup or two on the multiplayer servers.
I could keep going, but
Maybe one or two of those things can happen on a console and for the most part it rarely does. Most game-breaking issues console gamers deal with are induced by outside forces like servers or just oversights by a game developer. It’s never because you bought the wrong hardware.
The point is I don’t have the time, patience or money to just waste on a platform that requires me to cross my fingers with every game I purchase. Sure, console hardware is outdated by 6+ years. But the games are still wonderful to play and still look great. I still enjoy every minute of the games I play on console (if the game is good of course).
What reason do I have, other than prettier graphics, to build a PC? And don’t you dare bring that “deeper gameplay” garbage in here. That’s weak. We all know most games are virtually the same across all platforms with concessions made specific hardware and peripherals.
But If you have a good reason, put it in the comments!
