The PS4 might change your future PC plans

At E3 2013, Sony issued a beat-down on the Xbox One – Sony’s Jack Tretton announced on stage that there would be no used game sales restrictions, there would be no frequent online authentication, games can be borrowed and lent among friends, and the benefits of a user account with Playstation Plus apply across the console when signed into PS3, PS4 and PS Vita.

That changes a lot of things for Microsoft, but does it change anything for the PC? Well, it does for me, at least.

The E3 presentations from Sony and Microsoft both confirmed the respective console’s foray for the first time into the world of free MMOs. Sony had Bethesda announce The Elder Scrolls Online at their show, while Microsoft flaunted a made-for-360 version of World of Tanks. Both consoles are creeping into the PC’s territory and they may win a large part of that market share.

The fact that I already own a PS3 and most of my favourite game franchises are on console also makes me wonder if I will ever need a beefy PC again.

See, both consoles have targets of running games at 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second. That’s a tall order for most desktop computers and to get to that level of playability you typically have to spend R6,000 or more.

My initial plan for an upgrade was to move to AMD’s FX-6300 six-core processor, a new 990FX motherboard, and a Radeon HD7870 graphics card.

This looks gorgeous, but I just don’t need that kind of power.

But if the majority of my gaming will be done on the PS4 in the future, do I really need that much power? After all, I’m not fussy about turning down graphics settings – I’m currently forced to play Crysis 3 on low settings because my Athlon X3 is a major bottleneck, but I’m totally fine with it.

Now that I’ve seen what both consoles can do, my plans for my PC upgrades shift a lot. I’m now looking at upgrading to:

• A quad-core processor
• 8GB of DDR3 RAM
• AMD Radeon HD7790
• 256GB SSD
• mATX or mini-ITX chassis
• 300W power supply

Do I need more than that for games at medium to high settings, at 1080p, with good-enough frame rates? Absolutely not. While this may not appeal to everyone (and I can certainly already hear the dissenting voices of the PC Master Race), I just really don’t need that good a computer any more. Consoles have evolved so much and the software has changed significantly enough that I don’t buy that many games for PC.

The Playstation family

In fact, the last game I purchased that’s PC-only was Company of Heroes, which I found in a bargain bin. All the others I’ve bought previously like GRID, Spec Ops: The Line, DiRT 3 and Crysis 3, were only bought because they were cheaper than their PS3 counterparts.

Price, rather than performance, is what wins it for me now and with franchises like God of War, Metal Gear Solid and Gran Turismo, I spend more money and time on the console anyway.

The only franchise I’ll keep buying on the PC is Borderlands, purely because the Game of the Year editions are so cheap and I’m faster and more accurate with a mouse and keyboard.

I’m also looking to get into the Playstation ecosystem. In the future I’ll be getting my own PS4, Sony’s Xperia V and a Playstation Vita. The tablet won’t be much use, but it is on the table as an option. In addition, Playstation Plus now applies to the PS3, the PS4 and the Vita – Sony is offering me a cheaper and more flexible deal, and as a bonus it involved Google’s Android as well.

I think that’s an ecosystem worth buying into for a gamer. Microsoft could take a few pointers here.

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