I’m not a PC loyalist. I was raised on consoles, like anyone born circa 1980, mainly because PCs didn’t exist but video games did. I’m a videogame loyalist. But if you ask which console I’m going with in the next generation, or went with in the last generation I’d give you a confused look. I haven’t been drawn to a single console since the Gamecube, and that was really just to get my hands on Smash Bros. Melee.





That’s not the say the PC is the end all and be all of platforms, but when I use an XBox, Playstation, or Wii, knowing what is under the hood, I keep asking myself “that’s all it does?”. I anticipate Microsoft will be deploying apps to the X-Bone, and Sony, well, they’ll do whatever the hell a company that struck-out huge for 5 years does. Nintendo will keep existing in a completely different dimension from its kin, making it the least appealing and at the same time most disappointing platform to me; Touchscreen tablet? What can I do with it? Nothing besides play WiiU games? Oh.





Oh.





Frowny face. Exit stage left.





The PC is always the best investment for me. I’d like to think it’s not just because I’m getting a PhD. in computer science and anyone who purchased one would be able to get more value out of a PC that a console these days. Steam provides me more games than I can play. Really. I own over 200 games on Steam. I’ve played maybe 25% and beaten maybe 10%. But I’ve still managed to log thousands of hours on this platform through the years.





My favorite part: even though I’ve upgraded to brand new PC builds over the years, Steam is perpetually backwards compatible.





Watch. I’ll show you.





I just played Bioshock Infinite.





I just played Bioshock 1.





I just played System Shock 2.





I just played Wolfenstein 3D.





I just played Sonic the Hedgehog.





I didn’t swap out systems. I didn’t launch virtual machines. I just played. Beautiful.