It’s been a few weeks since I’ve had a working PC. I decided to try something new: Set up my PS4 on my desk like my PC.
Yeah, I know. A PS4? The PS5 costs a lot of money, and I probably won’t get one until the next console is about to be released anyway. My fiancee had suggested I move my PS4 from my tv dresser to my desk, and I can’t believe I never thought of this earlier.
My PS4 feels like a brand-new system
I’m not sure if it’s from a literal perspective change, or if it’s the fact that I’m using it as my main entertainment system, but the PS4 is a seriously great system. The menus are still crisp after all these years. Additionally, a large library of apps means I can find nearly anything I want to watch.Â
Growing up, I’ve always had a PlayStation system. In 2016, I joined the dark side of gaming. I bought my gaming PC and left consoles in the dust, or so I thought.
When Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End was announced for the PS4 back in 2016, I had to get it. The Uncharted series is one I enjoyed in my teenage years. It felt sacrilegious to not see the finale of Nathan Drake’s fortune-hunting adventures.
I’d go on to buy a few more titles for the PS4 over the years Unfortunately, they mainly took a backseat to the dozens of titles I bought on Steam over the same timeframe.
Now it seems what’s old is new again.
The results are pretty cool. Refresh rate appears faster, lag seems lower, and the colors are crisper. I didn’t know this until I looked it up, but many key gaming factors are just better on a monitor.
I know, I feel like an idiot, too. The thing is, for the majority of my life, I never had a PC to play games on. It was always the PlayStation connected to my tv. That’s just how it was. So, why would I ever think that console gaming on a monitor was viable?
It’s made me rethink PC and console gaming entirely. Especially since current generation consoles are basically PC’s in their own right – albeit quite cheaper than their baseline gaming PC counterparts. Which brings me to another question.
Do I Even Want To Invest In My PC?
Okay, I’m being a little hyperbolic, but it’s a legitimate question! Yeah, the games I have on my PS4 are pretty old, but I can always get anything that’s available on current systems, too.
Why spend hundreds of dollars fixing a PC I haven’t been able to use since March when I have a completely viable option with my PS4? At some point I’ll get my PC fixed, but that probably won’t happen for a while, and I’m okay with that.
Maybe I’m on a bit of a nostalgia trip here. There is something that feels inherently “old school” in using a console. Despite the fact that consoles today can utilize streaming apps and access the internet, I’ve always viewed those functions as tertiary to a console’s main function: playing games.
PC’s are the antithesis to me. They’re machines that are for browsing and searching information on the web first, and gaming mechanisms second. Even though I have a gaming PC, maybe I never really felt like I was using a gaming system until I started using my PS4 in lieu of a broken PC.
Maybe it’s generational, I’m not sure. But what I am sure of is that there’s nothing like taking a disc out of its case, putting it into a console, and seeing a myriad of menus pop up until you reach the main menu and start your adventure.
