The PC Master Race Debate

Graphics. Customization. Mods. Massive library. Power. Control. These are some of the biggest arguments that I’ve heard for why PC gaming is better than console gaming, and why I should make the switch. All that being said though, is that these aspects of PC gaming not only don’t excite me, but turn me away from wanting to game on PC. The future might change for me, who knows, but as for now console gaming is where I plan to stay, and here’s why.

To build a PC capable of gaming (or buy which would cost even more), a decent build from scratch would cost me over a thousand dollars. This doesn’t even include the fact that I don’t have a desk or a place to put it, and have no idea what I’m really doing, so I’d have to bribe some friends to help me find and purchase parts as well as set everything up. My PS4 on the other hand cost $400 and had one plug that went into the wall and another that went into the TV which I already had. My main reasoning for not switching to PC, therefore, is that I will not get an extra $600 dollars of value out of it. In fact, I almost feel like I would lose value because instead of sitting on my nice couch and playing on a big screen TV, I would be at a desk chair playing on a smaller, slightly more capable screen. For the remainder of my arguments I’ll pretend that money is no issue, however, and still you’ll see why I don’t think of PC as the “master race” people make it out to be.

I started this blog with a few words that I hear often about why I should switch to PC. Better graphics sounds great, sure, but some of the things that truly made me say “WOW!” had nothing to do with the fidelity of the graphics. Some moments of beauty come to mind like in Journey when you run sideways through a deserted temple and have the vast desert behind you with the sun setting and the shadows looming, or in Battlefield 1 being in the middle of a war zone with buildings collapsing around you while the sun shines through the trees in the distance. I’ve seen graphics differences on PC, and let me tell you, it’s not the ‘be all end all’. There’s a small increase in how sharp the image is and allows for a better frame rate, but these cinematic moments are amazing just the way they are on console.

Customization and mods are things that actually make me dislike the PC more than like it. Developers create games and experiences for us, so who am I to say that I don’t like something about it and can make a change that will make the experience better. These are professionals with a story to tell, so I’m one to trust their judgement and go along for the ride. Games like fallout and GTA are widely known for being completely different games after people have modded them to their specifications, but I purchased the game to get the fallout or the GTA experience, not that of some other game.

I’m going to put these next two – power and the massive library – into the same category here. I’m doing this because the massive library is partly because some games are just too big for a console to handle such as Playerunkown’s Battlegrounds. In addition there’s some games where the only way for the game to really be controllable is through point-and-click such as RTS games (think Starcraft, Age of Empires, etc.). To me, none of this matters because developers want their games to be played, and they know that people play games on consoles, so scale down to make their games playable on consoles. Even with PUBG they released a version on XBOX, while the game Fortnite created a version of it for consoles that has me more excited than the idea of the original game.

The final argument I hear is that you get to control everything so much easier on PC. Having a mouse makes aiming easier in shooters, having more buttons allows you to do anything at the single click rather than a button combination, or that typing and menu navigation becomes so much faster and easier. While great in concept, online gaming in this atmosphere is just too competitive for me, and people are just too good. Having a controller in your hands almost levels the playing field a little bit, making for games to be more even in my opinion. I know this isn’t my best argument for why PC gaming isn’t all that, but I had to recognize this aspect, and show why it just doesn’t make me want to play on PC.

All this being said, it all comes down to what do you play games for. I enjoy playing games to escape into these magical and amazing worlds and journeys where I can do anything I want. I like playing games with friends where we bond and play as a team or have fun by taking each other on for pride and glory. All of this to me can not only be done on console, but can be done better and easier than on PC. To those who love playing games on their PC I don’t mean to tell you that you’re wrong, because maybe you play games for reasons other than mine. Maybe you care about certain aspects that I don’t, and that’s OK. While I enjoy telling my PC friends that they’re playing on the wrong machine, in the end it doesn’t really matter as long as we all get to enjoy the greatness that is video games.