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You must not play many games. There are a variety of games for PC that just aren't on console. If you want to play them, you do not have any alternative. Ther

You must not play many games. There are a variety of games for PC that just aren't on console. If you want to play them, you do not have any alternative. There are a variety of games where you need a mouse, or have grown up using a mouse, and switching to constroller is like asking someone who runs marathons to switch to sack racing. This is not an alternative on consoles. Games are frequently cheaper on PC. MUCH cheaper. If you're on a budget, it's hard to justify. Not all multiplayer games are cross-system compatible, and many never will be. If your friends play on PC, you can't switch to console without agreeing to never play with them again. Maybe you'll be the one to start the exodus if you try, but maybe not. That's a lot to ask of people, to buy a new console, rebuy all their old games, and then be okay with all the above-mentioned issues, including the network effect of your friends' friends who all play on PC, etc. In short, there are quite a number of valid reasons to run Windows on your PC, especially if you play games.

kibwen 5y ago
I too wondered about how switching away from Windows would impact my access to games. My earliest memories are about games. My entire childhood was spent playing games, to the detriment of any other activity. My first non-burger-flipping job was in the gaming industry. Games are constantly on my mind. I love video games. But today, in practice, I don't miss any Windows-only games. The first observation is that we're in a golden age of video gaming. There are so many quality games coming out, for every platform, that you could spend the rest of your life playing only the games available today and barely even make a dent in the backlog. The world has too many games as it is (which isn't a bad thing, to be clear). The second observation is that, even though there are so many objectively high-quality games, I've become bored of almost all of them. Almost none of them have anything new to offer, and are, at best, refinements on existing formulas. Now that I'm older, I've seen all the formulas. For younger people, maybe they would suffer from not getting to have some formative experience in some Windows-only game. But I've put in my 10,000 hours, twice over, making me an expert in video games, and in my expert opinion I'm not missing out.
goosedragons 5y ago
> Games are frequently cheaper on PC. MUCH cheaper. If you're on a budget, it's hard to justify. It's not really the truth anymore. At best it's a couple of bucks on sale, day 1 prices are typically the same and have been for 10+ years at this point, PSN/XBL regularly have sales that are just as or close to as steep as Steam or even cheaper. Plus you can still resell that physical PS5 game and get something back which you haven't been able to do on PC for a while.
- Johanx64 5y ago
  It's true as in the PC games you bought 15-20years ago are still largely with you. It spans multiple gens. Where on console you'd have to rebuy. Console subscriptions and some sales have gone more competitive, but it's still not there and probably never will.
  - goosedragons 5y ago
    You don't have to rebuy. You just keep the old console if you want to play the old game. I still have 20+ year old consoles and games that work fine. While PC backwards compatibility is nice sometimes it's also a giant pain where you're spending 4 hours to figure out WTF Sims 2 won't launch on your 4K monitor (true story). No, the sales are just as competitive. It's been there for years. Take a look at sites that keep price histories for Steam, PSN and XBL. Only real value in PC gaming is free online.
    - Johanx64 5y ago
      Old consoles are different devices. Most people don't keep around a whole stash of old consoles, while keeping a 10-15 year old steam account is way more common. If you game on PC you will most likely have a steam acc. Meaning whenever and whatever kind of PC you get, you have your library. Plus the abandonware, freeware, and all the giveaways (Epic store front regularly gives away all sorts of great games for free, even new AAA titles sometimes) and other goodies that come from an open platform. If you just go to a store and buy a console, you basically have nothing, other than the F2P lootbox games. It's a closed platform so you have nothing. And have to rebuy stuff from zero if you want to play the games you had in past. The fact I can just go buy a PC and have the whole steam library dating back to almost two decades is the real value. And that i'm not locked out.

kibwen 5y ago

I too wondered about how switching away from Windows would impact my access to games. My earliest memories are about games. My entire childhood was spent playing games, to the detriment of any other activity. My first non-burger-flipping job was in the gaming industry. Games are constantly on my mind. I love video games. But today, in practice, I don't miss any Windows-only games. The first observation is that we're in a golden age of video gaming. There are so many quality games coming out, for every platform, that you could spend the rest of your life playing only the games available today and barely even make a dent in the backlog. The world has too many games as it is (which isn't a bad thing, to be clear). The second observation is that, even though there are so many objectively high-quality games, I've become bored of almost all of them. Almost none of them have anything new to offer, and are, at best, refinements on existing formulas. Now that I'm older, I've seen all the formulas. For younger people, maybe they would suffer from not getting to have some formative experience in some Windows-only game. But I've put in my 10,000 hours, twice over, making me an expert in video games, and in my expert opinion I'm not missing out.

goosedragons 5y ago

> Games are frequently cheaper on PC. MUCH cheaper. If you're on a budget, it's hard to justify. It's not really the truth anymore. At best it's a couple of bucks on sale, day 1 prices are typically the same and have been for 10+ years at this point, PSN/XBL regularly have sales that are just as or close to as steep as Steam or even cheaper. Plus you can still resell that physical PS5 game and get something back which you haven't been able to do on PC for a while.

Johanx64 5y ago
It's true as in the PC games you bought 15-20years ago are still largely with you. It spans multiple gens. Where on console you'd have to rebuy. Console subscriptions and some sales have gone more competitive, but it's still not there and probably never will.
- goosedragons 5y ago
  You don't have to rebuy. You just keep the old console if you want to play the old game. I still have 20+ year old consoles and games that work fine. While PC backwards compatibility is nice sometimes it's also a giant pain where you're spending 4 hours to figure out WTF Sims 2 won't launch on your 4K monitor (true story). No, the sales are just as competitive. It's been there for years. Take a look at sites that keep price histories for Steam, PSN and XBL. Only real value in PC gaming is free online.
  - Johanx64 5y ago
    Old consoles are different devices. Most people don't keep around a whole stash of old consoles, while keeping a 10-15 year old steam account is way more common. If you game on PC you will most likely have a steam acc. Meaning whenever and whatever kind of PC you get, you have your library. Plus the abandonware, freeware, and all the giveaways (Epic store front regularly gives away all sorts of great games for free, even new AAA titles sometimes) and other goodies that come from an open platform. If you just go to a store and buy a console, you basically have nothing, other than the F2P lootbox games. It's a closed platform so you have nothing. And have to rebuy stuff from zero if you want to play the games you had in past. The fact I can just go buy a PC and have the whole steam library dating back to almost two decades is the real value. And that i'm not locked out.