How do people find their way into PC gaming? I know it might seem like a lot of us were born to game on PCs but at some point someone or something somewhere caught our eye and made us think, "...you know what, I would really like to become or try PC gaming." So lets fire out that idea, what made you become a pc gamer and why does a gamer decide to step into the world of PC gaming?
So the question we are exploring is, What makes new gamers become PC gamers and what influencers are around to make us move into this area of gaming? There are a number of gaming choices around, with VR being one of the more recent hype categories to draw people into our worlds, but why do people end up gaming on PC and eventually buy their own machine with which to play on?
Right, some of the reasons that might encourage you to game on PC, that I have come up with, are as follows.
Family PC. My family has a PC that I could use and I started to explore PC gaming through this. This I reckon feels like it will be the most common reason. Accessibility and exposure can help people to try before they buy.
PC Exclusives. Some strategy games like the Total War series were only available on PC and so I realised that I must own a PC to enjoy them.
Custom Builds. Tinkering with hardware and creating my very own bespoke computer for with which to game on was something I have always liked the idea of doing. Working out which piece goes where, installing and even choosing the operating system, made PC gaming an obvious choice.
Cheap Gaming. I realised a lot of game sales seemed to be happening for PC and their starting price point seemed a bit lower than other options for gaming. So to play great games for much less PC gaming was an obvious choice for me.
Indie Gaming. The independent game development scene excites me. Always pushing new gaming ground, innovative ideas of how to explore the gaming environments, tools publicly available with which to tinker and play with myself. All this indie magic drew me to PC gaming.
Modding and Modders. Tonnes of PC games seemed to last for longer because healthy modding communities materialise around games. PC modding supports and adapts games to become more than a single developer could ever hope to achieve, adding new imaginative life to a game. PC mods enhance huge numbers of PC games way beyond their initial scope and this was a powerful reason for me to become a PC gamer.
My Friends/Family Introduced Me. Lots of my friends or my family members were already playing PC games and they showed me how much fun it could be.
Benchmarking Hardware. The sheer variety and science that goes on with gaming hardware was something that seemed only really accessible through the PC gaming space. Benchmarking the latest or even oldest hardware with modern tools and games provides a lot of satisfaction and proves to be a great part of PC gaming. Becoming a hobby in its own right.
Peripherals For All Occasions. PC gaming has been around for along time and consequentatly the input devices available are broad and fascinating. Often the PC flight sticks and steering wheels allow my PC gaming experience to take on a personalised experience
Chances are it is a combination of some of these reasons, but vote below and let me know which you think your main reason for gaming on PC and why do gamers become PC gamers? This list is not definitive, share your thoughts and I would definitely love to hear everyones experience as to how they got into PC gaming.
You can vote twice on the poll below.
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PC rules ... :D
Consoles are just getting by for their "Exclusive" Titles only.
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Honest truth of how I personally got into PC gaming: My dad being a bit of a PC tinkerer and piracy...
The first bit is fairly simple - my dad bought a family PC for us to enjoy. I didn't know how to install games or where they even come from as I was merely 5 or 6 years old at the time. But what a grand time it was! Later on he showed me how to install and crack games - and as a kid I just assumed it's how it's done! I didn't even know it was illegal.
Then later on I obviously realized what's going on, but being a poor kid I didn't have money for games. So piracy got me through to the age of 18...
These days, however, I can say I've absolved my sins, bought all the games I enjoyed!
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I got into PC gaming because of the attractive price point. And a youtube channel called green ham gaming.
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I got into PC gaming, simply because i was fascinated by PC's. I found a store all about PC's and gaming just down the road from where I lived when i was 12 and I was only just beginning to learn about PC's. So I went in there, and it became part of my routine. I would always go down there whenever I would have the....
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chance and became really good friends with the guy running the store. I eventually convinced my mum to buy me a custom built PC from there for my birthday and well that's where my journey into PC gaming begun. I find it very hard to go back to consoles now, and most of that is due to how well i can play with M&k
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i play on pc because i love its noise and sexy graphics cards
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Piratebay enough said
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Because Consoles have been a dying breed.
Gamers are sick and tired of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo's monopolies.
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i don't mean to be rude(just my inner economic thoughts talking) but a monopoly is when one business owns an entire market and have complete control over it. in this case it is an oligopoly(i believe it can also be referred to by another term, but i can't remember it) which actually works very well for this market....
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As they are still competing very heavily with each other, and as shown by the gaming market crash of the 83, over saturation of the market(pure competition or monopolistic competition) can lead to every business involved going bankrupt and the entire market crashing. Which we don't want. However we have the problem of
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these companies being in an oligopolistic market, is they are using exclusives to create product differentiation, which is bad for consumer however can actually be good in some cases, as it has lead to development focus for a specific console, allowing the company making the game to work as effectively and efficiently
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as possible. So yeah, it sucks but at the same time it's great. I know i wasn't very clear, as GD only allows a certain amount of characters per comments but hopefully you understand my point. Also don't take this as me being rude or condescending, i just wanted to get that out there. So sorry about the long post
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Sony and Microsoft had somewhat history of lackluster E3 events. It makes perfect sense why consoles are not as thriving as they used to be.
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I think we should add a choice. I got into PC gaming mainly due to my field of work. I'm in IT and when before I got into the IT field, I was always a console gamer. The more experience I had gotten made me realize I'd like to build my own computer, so I did. I love building computers now because of my career and building my original gaming rig was a direct reflection of that.
Can we add an option for that?
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Me parents could grab spare computers from work (they are it) since the beginning of the 90s
We would not be able to afford these and they were always a few years old. But my first videogame was warcraft and it teached me stragegic thinking when i was like 3-4. Without pc i would be someone entirely else
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Modding (games and the PC itself) and flexibility made me a PC gamer.. started as NES, SNES, PSX and PS2 console gamer.
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Tl;dr, I switched to PC for performance. I actually remember the exact reason I switched to PC full time: Metro Last Light on PS3. I had been looking forward to that game so much, and when I got it, the framerate was less than 30 for most of the game, and it looked like someone took a jar of grease and smeared it all over the screen. I remember thinking how awful this game looked and played. No longer will I be subjected to subpar framerates and bacon grease screens.
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Freedom !
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I simply enjoy the versatility, usability and upgradeability that PC provides.
Mods are also another massive plus for me, and strategy games of which are barely any on other platforms.
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I once played starcraftvon nintendo 64. It was great bit pc is way better. Tom Clancys EndWar was really good on console due to voice controll
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When i played max payne 2 game that has been in to my pc and i didnt know,i was bored and there was no one to play with outside,i just played half life 2 over and over again untill i find max payne 2 was extraxed somewhere in my local disk C,since then i am pc gamer and i love to play games. :)
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Back in 1998 when i startet "gaming" i had a gameboy with pokemon and a win 95 pc (no internet) with warcraft 2 on it. But there was always a pc at home since me parents are IT guys. So i saw it befor i even understood what it actually was. Moving pictures in a box. The cat loved to sleep on the screen since it was so warm ;) darn i miss that old bugger
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For me its cause pc is much more powerful and backwards compatibility helps for games that are really old so i can have the whole franchise on one machine, also lots of graphic options to tweak the game to how you want it
Custom building is fun too and on pc you have many great emulators to use so that means more games :D
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I never thought about backwards compatibility, really take it for granted.
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It might sound weird to your comfy first world ears but most people start PC gaming as kids in second or third world countries due to wider availability of pirated games on PC compared to consoles. And then they grow up, and never look back
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and a general highend pc do wonders for your life
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Because they have awoken to the light.
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Yup, becuz of the gloriuos PCmasterrace .... praise lord Gaben
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One of my first pc games was VIPER, NFSU2 and Re-volt back in 2002 on a pentium 3 and integrated graphics xD .
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I started PC because my first PC back in 95 was a lease PC and it was costing me a fortune and I said to myself I am going to make these things myself! I never looked back and have been building PC's ever since! I started gaming on the Atari 2600 back in 1982 I think, so, I have been gaming for a long time now lol