Hello—my name is Jason Schreier, and I am now officially a PC gaming snob.
I wasn’t always like this. I grew up playing tons of PC games, but then mainly switched to consoles at the turn of the century, relying on the PS2, then Xbox 360, then PS4 for the bulk of my gaming. Then, in January 2018, I built a PC. Now I’m having a hard time going back.
See, I used to be one of those video game players who said things like “oh, consoles are just so easy” and “I don’t care about graphics,” but then I played a bunch of Assassin’s Creed Origins at 1440p and I think I live in Ancient Egypt now? When you’ve climbed the pyramids at 60+ frames-per-second, it’s hard to go back to your PlayStation for very long.
Kotaku Game Diary
Daily thoughts from a Kotaku staffer about a game we’re playing.
It’s not even just about the graphics. I spent the bulk of Memorial Day Weekend with a 2D role-playing game, using an emulator to play through Lunar: Silver Star Story (a game I’ve already bought twice, on PS1 and PSP, so have no qualms emulating). While Nintendo and Sony fail to deliver consistent, reliable access to their backlogs, the PC already has it all.
Checking out Assassin’s Creed Syndicate for the first time? Sure. Revisiting The Curse of Monkey Island and finding that it still holds up? Hell yes. Being able to play just about any game that’s ever come out, with better performance and more convenience than any other machine I own? I guess that’s just PC gaming.
I’ve become the type of person who stops playing a new Destiny 2 expansion on PS4 because the framerate keeps dropping below 30, the type of person who actively watches that beautiful green number in the bottom right just to make sure that it’s as high as possible.
I’ve become the type of person who regularly reads “PC building” forums and has to resist the urge to chime in and offer advice to everyone.
I’ve become the type of person who now does almost 100% of his gaming from a computer chair instead of a sofa.
I’ve become the type of person who refuses to play games like Monster Hunter: World until the PC version comes out.
I’ve become a snob. An elitist. A Kirk Hamilton. The type of gamer who scoffs at his consoles and no longer has patience for low-framerate ports. It’s all very strange. But I also think I kind of like it?