People often find it odd when I say I don’t play PC games, but it seems rather complicated (and also expensive) to me.
I mean, I enjoyed it back when I had friends with PS, but I never had to set up anything myself. Searching around it seems rather… overwhelming, and I don’t know if it’s actually the case.
- PC seems most versatile, and with the prices, I considered piracy, but I would need a separate computer for security. Hell, I wouldn’t even trust the device firmware on it afterwards.
- So I considered maybe paying the amounts, but I went to check some games and lo and behold, kernel-level anti-cheat. Great, so pirated games might even have less malware in the end.
- Since I’d need a separate device anyway, how about getting a PlayStation. With a disc drive, I want to be able to go future proof and fully offline. Well, about that… apparently it needs to verify the disc drive online. For what? It’s a BluRay drive, either it works or it doesn’t. And then I heard another shitty thing, “most games are released almost unplayable and need updates right away”. So they just release Alpha quality software on the most permanent medium???
So that just sounds like shitty experience no matter what. How is it actually? I’d expect consoles to be least buggy and fully future proof.
The only thing I ever had was a $4 NES bootleg console from AliExpress, Contra was glitched out and Battletank unplayable because they forgot the select button, but ok, $4.
As you didn’t play games you can go and play banger titles from previous years that you can grab for pennies when they go on frequent sales. There is dedicated community of [email protected].
kernel-level anti-cheat is vary good headline clickbait for media to write on. Most games don’t have them. Some competitive multiplayer games have them but you can check it case by case basis.
If you REALLY want to have separate device for gaming, as you don’t really need that, there are few options to choose from. Playstation, Xbox, and Switch are the mainstream consoles right now. The have a fair share of anti-consumer practices and they offset the cost of hardware by making games more expensive, but you buy convenience and simplicity. The lemmy bubble will tell you to buy Steam Deck and it is really fine choice to make. (Steam is releasing new hardware this year so you might take a look)
Steam has 2 hours of playtime return policy, so you can return the game if you don’t like it. Their hardware pitch is to sell console-like experience (Playsation etc.) on PC. They succeeded in that regard.
I’ve seen the anti-cheat warning on GTA V page on steam, plus it needs additional account on Rockstar Games. I like GTAs the most. But also, I apparently can’t even buy the original GTA SA anymore. Seems like a mistake considering its popularity.
Sometimes publishers make game of the year edition, ultimate edition or as in GTA SA definite edition. Usually they just include DLCs and additional content that they released so far. I wouldn’t mark it as not-original.
From game preservation perspective, torrents are the best bet to get that one specific version.