Step into the unknown: How to properly let the console into your life? [Opinion and advice]

This post is dedicated primarily to those who are thinking about purchasing a console after many years of PC gaming, but I hope it will be of interest to everyone – from those people who have never had their own console at home or in their pocket, to those experienced by various brands and generations of experts – sometimes it’s interesting to look at an entire industry through the eyes of newcomers, isn’t it?

I would like to answer the questions that people often ask themselves and those around them who are about to choose their first console and are trying to decide among a variety of modern offers. After all, today there are an immense variety of consoles:
– flagships (PS4, Xbox One and steadily gaining momentum Nintendo Switch)
– portable (PSVita, still the same Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS etc.d.)
– retro consoles (Atari, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive etc.d.)
And this is not the entire list of possible groups of gaming devices.

Some people, of course, may not make a choice, but what is Caesar’s is what is Caesar’s, and for now we would like to decide on at least one prefix.

The idea of ​​purchasing a console comes to people for various reasons.

Back in 1999, we got our first PC at home. This car was used by my parents for work, and I only got to it a year later, when I went to first grade. Then the only games available to me were those that my stepfather played – Civilization 2, strange quests and shooters with a very low frame rate. It seems that there was also Wing Commander IV on a huge number of discs, but I didn’t have to play it – after trying it once, I realized that it was too difficult. These games had a serious barrier to entry – especially for a small child, so even with Civilization and quests things went lousy.

I remember there were strange video game programs on TV – it was from them that I learned what consoles are and what they are used with. It seemed to me something not particularly exciting – apparently, the lack of success in games beyond board games had a negative impact on the attitude towards digital entertainment in general.

In 2001 I got my first own game – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Yes, yes, there was no smell of any “philosopher’s” stone in the title – later, of course, I found out that this was the title of the book in the American edition, but even then it did not bother me. My adoration for the book series was so great that by that time I had already read the beginning of the second part printed from the Internet in a fan translation, after which it was either a sorcerer or a philosopher – as long as it wasn’t Hervey Pott.

This game really opened the way for me to the world of PC entertainment – soon the home collection began to grow significantly, and mainly with quests and rpg. These were Diablo II, Warcraft III, the Pilot Brothers and Pink Panther quest series, educational games about Freddy the Fish and the little pig, densely packed collections of games about the brownie Kuzya (Hugo) and much more.

From the height of my years, I can say: it was the experience of “Potter” that introduced me to what “responsive control”, “pixel hunting”, etc.d. – not the most technically advanced game, coupled with a fierce, fanatical childhood love for fairy tales, helped me overcome the barrier of entry into the world of electronic games as such. Now, when I launch Super Meat Boy or Bloodborne, I sometimes giggle sarcastically – after all, there will always be a “witch stone”, which was once much more difficult for me than everything that happens on the screen.

By middle school I had tried all possible genres – Need for Speed ​​Underground 2, Battlefield 2, GTA: Vice City, the first parts of Call of Duty – all this was just a small part of the games that I came across.

By that time, my neighbor had a console, and as soon as my mother went to visit his parents, I immediately joined. On PS 2 I saw Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, some parts of Tekken and Soul Calibur and… fell in love. I fell in love with this control, with the very feeling of playing comfortably on the couch in front of the TV, with the fun that playing next to another person gave and the excitement of split-screen battles – there was something magical and hitherto unseen about it.

At the same time (maybe a year or two later) the “period of computer clubs” began. Many people had this and it consisted in the fact that with the money left over from school lunches, you ran to the subway, to a semi-basement room where it was always cool, paid yourself for 2-3 hours and played competitive games. Compared to the 40-90 minutes our parents allowed us to play at home each day, it was pure bliss. Of course, I wanted to sit and go through single projects that I didn’t have time for at home, but this thought disappeared every time when you heard “Ks start”, “To the point of host”, “I created, I created!». Interest in consoles subsided, overshadowed by fierce battles behind adjacent screens that were available to everyone.

Of course, thoughts about a gaming station never left me – but, being a realist, I didn’t even ask my parents for a console, knowing the obvious futility of such requests – the computer was a family device and was used more for work than for toys. It also became pointless to ask for money for games with the advent of broadband Internet and torrents – so, the path to multiplayer was closed to me..

That is, it would have been closed if I had not used the same money from lunches (and then from my first part-time jobs) to buy World of Warcraft and pay for a subscription. After playing for some time on a pirate server, I realized what I was missing – all the most interesting things in the game simply did not work. After getting onto the official server, I came to the conclusion that the game was worth the money – I still remember the excitement of the general gathering for the battle on the Lake of Icecaps, the gathering of the raid for the assault on Icecrown Citadel and the discussion of the abilities and phases of the bosses in the group chat, where everyone knew each other by name.

It took me until the end of high school to develop a taste for gaming. If I wanted to have a good time, I could do it in one of the RPGs like Fable: The Lost Chapters, Diablo II, The Witcher, etc.d., if I wanted to rack my brains, I looked for a fresh quest, I wanted something new, I tried some “pirate” or shareware projects (and it’s still unknown which is worse).

During the same period, I was able to get my hands on the PSP, and it was a really interesting gaming experience, but I missed the feeling of “space” that was missing not only when playing on laptops, but also when playing on a computer – the feeling of the PS2 from childhood sat tightly in me and made me remember the comfort and spaciousness that made the game easier to perceive and reduced the tension from what was happening on the screen.

At the institute, when I began to live separately, when my own money began to appear, it was time again to think about buying a console. Back then I wasn’t particularly interested in the video game market and platforms – the words “exclusive for PS” would have made me think that some game was simply not very convenient to control with a mouse and keyboard, so it was published on the console. The desire to purchase my own console was more based on constant hangouts with friends, and I understood that this could be more interesting than when we sit with beer, like King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, each plugging into our laptop, once again playing custom maps in Warcraft III.

Unfortunately, as soon as this thought crept into my head, the antediluvian laptop from the flea market went to hell. I had to urgently drain all my modest savings and buy a brand new laptop for studying, gaming and part-time work. And then something happened..

The first full-time job, graduation from college, a serious relationship and a civil marriage – life just rushed at full speed, and I could barely keep up. But the thought of a console somehow crossed my mind. Because with my other half I wanted to play arcade racing together, chop up monsters in Diablo III, and much more..

The decision came largely thanks to my friend, a big cinema lover, who described his impressions of The Last Of Us, Uncharted and other exclusives on Playstation 4, that one fine day even my missus howled from my constant persuasion. It was decided – I had to take it.

But is the source of the idea really that important?? What matters is that you or your parents decide to spend a hefty ton of money on an electronic device designed solely for gaming, and you inevitably have..

In this block I will highlight those “stumbling blocks” that worried me specifically, because losing a significant part of small, but already family savings is a simple matter, but avoiding the bitterness of regret after this is much more difficult.

1. Why do I need a console??

There is no wrong answer to this question – after all, your choice will be dictated by a bunch of factors: from personal preferences to third-party influence.

We were only interested in the current generation of consoles – although a slight veil of nostalgia for the PS2 ran through my soul, the desire for the coolest gaming experience (as it is now fashionable to say – “at your fingertips”) greatly prevailed.

My wife and I initially understood that we were taking the home console for joint and individual pastime, and were not going to take it outside the house.

These are the https://casinoroocasino.co.uk/games/ factors that led us to purchase PS4 Pro — it met our main needs better than other options.

If, for example, you are building a career and thereby doom yourself to frequent business trips, it is appropriate to take a portable console – PSVita or Nintendo Switch. The second will also be especially relevant if you don’t mind playing the console at parties with friends in your free time from work.

If you were the happy owner of a console before, and then the daily routine fell on you, for a second breaking out of which you feel the sweet aroma of nostalgia, why not get Super Nintendo or Sega Mega Drive from a flea market? At the same time, you can also buy a collection of games there, so that from time to time you can indulge in wonderful moments from childhood or youth? And you will spend significantly less money than on a modern console.

Conclusion: There can be an infinite number of scenarios – try to understand how much time you are willing to spend on games, in what conditions you are going to play them, and what kind of games are interesting to you.

2. How to choose one of the consoles in a category?

So, you already have an idea of ​​where and how you will play. The remaining question is which company will receive your hard-earned money, and whose controller you will be holding in your hands for the foreseeable future. Well, let’s do it again, using my example:

There are many interesting exclusives coming out on the Sony console – including the very same “game cinema” – be it Uncharted 4, Last of Us or one of the other famous titles

If my friend has the same console, it means I don’t have to look for an ally in online co-op games

One of my friends had Xbox 360, from another PS3 – at different times I visited both of them, and I always had the same fun. When it came to buying your own console, everything turned out to be not so simple – the games differ, as do the price tags for them, they all have their own major projects and features. My choice fell on PS4 Pro for a number of reasons, namely:

Please note – if my friend had Xbox — perhaps there would be one more fan in the Microsoft camp. After all, 2 out of 4 points relate specifically to a third-party factor, and I wouldn’t have heard about the subscription if that same comrade hadn’t told me in detail about it.

But this was not the last stage – before purchasing, I carefully scoured the video game market and came to the conclusion that the new Nintendo Switch There simply aren’t enough games yet, and waiting for them to come out is a thankless task, I want to choose from a huge library. xbox was the main competitor, but the reasons described above affected.

In your case, everything may be completely different.
Try to answer these questions for yourself:

What features does one console have that the other doesn’t?? Which console has more additional features that are useful for me??

The list of questions and priorities may differ for each reader of this article – after all, this will be your device, and not someone else’s, and it is also necessary to express your own individuality through a personal item.

Conclusion: Make yourself a list of requirements that your future console should satisfy, based on both personal experience and expert opinions, facts and available information. Try to learn as much as possible about all the consoles in the category that you have designated for a future purchase.

3. What additional costs await me??

Let’s start with the obvious – it’s a good idea to first familiarize yourself with the price tag for games on the selected console. If you set yourself the goal of buying one modern title per month on your new generation console, get ready for your wallet to become 4 thousand rubles thinner; you want a rare cartridge for your old console – depending on the title, the game can also cost several thousand (but here this is rather an exception and is more applicable to collector’s editions).

Retro consoles and modern consoles of past generations (PS3, Xbox 360 etc.d.) may turn out to be much more attractive in terms of prices for games – very often you can buy them on discs from your hands, but take into account all the possible risks.

A question arises within a question:
What are the ways to save money??

Be sure to find out about possible services provided by console manufacturers. For example, PS Plus on Playstation, like Xbox Live Gold For Xbox will allow you to save a significant amount of money by getting many games (including exclusives for these consoles) for only one and a half thousand rubles every three months.

Exchanges between players are also quite common. If you purchase versions of games on physical media, use one of the services with advertisements, find the game you are interested in and contact the seller in a personal message with an exchange offer, offering a choice of one of the games in your collection.

Of course, various stores (including the web sites of the manufacturers themselves) often hold promotions, reduce prices on old games or sell series or games on similar topics in bundles, but this is more of a seasonal phenomenon.

Conclusion: Carefully review all game sources for your chosen console. The open price of games often frightens newcomers, who previously always had a torrent at hand, which helped them avoid the costs of a dubious title. I won’t talk in detail about the fact that people and consoles are hacked – everyone has their own relationship with piracy, for my part I urge you to avoid it, but no one can make the choice for you.
Still, I can assure you that with a little effort, you will definitely be able to reconcile your interests with your wallet.

A short afterword

So I shared with you the main three questions that worried a newbie in me when buying his first console.

Firstly, I would like to invite you all to actively participate in the discussion – if you are concerned about another, key issue in your opinion – it would be interesting to know what you are guided by and what you are trying to focus on.

Secondly, I would like to express my gratitude to:
1.Batman and LastStepToHell for their thoughtful criticism of my first article, thanks to which I tried to work on the mistakes and design this one better, plus polish up the information on the topic. Batman – especially for advice for beginners on his blog, I learned a lot of useful information.
2. To my friends and subscribers of one of the closed VK public pages, where I conducted a survey. Results and information about this are below, in the bonus materials.

Thirdly, I will be glad to hear what you would be interested in reading about in terms of experience and feelings from console gaming – if there is any burning question – I would be happy to collect the material for you in a separate article.

And for those who are not yet tired of my writings..

Bonus materials

While working on the article, I came to the conclusion that the opinion of a beginner is better perceived, supplemented by reviews of console players of varying degrees of involvement – maybe an outside opinion will help you get a more complete picture.

First of all, I interviewed my friend, whom I often mentioned in my article – it was he who dragged me here with all his might.

After asking him 3 questions, I got a huge story.
These questions were:
1) What was your first console, what year did you get it and what can you say about it?
2) If you have had several consoles in your life, name the one that left the most vivid impressions, and why exactly did you remember it so much?.
3) What console/consoles do you currently use, and what games for them could you recommend to beginners at the start??

My first console was the Sega Mega Drive (aka Sega Genesis). I got it when I was only five years old, and from that moment to this day I have been a regular user of consoles. I have only bright memories of Sega: when I came home from school, my uncle and I played Mortal Kombat, Rock’n’Roll racing and everything that could be played together – fortunately, the library of games was impressive.

In fact, I also had Dendy (aka NES), but besides “Mario” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” I, alas, can’t remember anything.

Then I got my first Playstation, and with it, endless summer games with friends in everything I could get my hands on. Fortunately, the discs for it cost about 100 rubles (sometimes more expensive – it depended on the game), which was a huge plus for the schoolboy who played all this.

Finally, quite a lot of time has passed, and I want to tell you about my biggest disappointment in console gaming – I missed the second generation of consoles from Sony (namely PS 2).

Then, of course, I had Playstation 3 and 4, but this omission was very painful. All because of those exclusives that were released on the second Sonya. This is MGS 3 (because I played the second one on PC), and Shadow of the Collosus, and Jack and Dexter, and much more. Fortunately, Sony is now remastering its old games, and I can correct this omission.

Now I am a Playstation 4 and PS Vita user (purchased on reflex because of the PSP).
I strongly recommend getting a gaming console, and specifically a console from Sony – after all, the most important advantage will be the exclusives. I know, there is a threshold of entry, and it’s hard to buy something that you are familiar with from memes about soap and conversations of evil commentators from the Internet, but give it a chance – and you will truly be drawn into the wonderful world of Crash Bandicoot (as he drew me in as a child), Nathan Drake (who became a real treasure for the owners of the third Sonya), endless interactive films, tough stories about the post-apocalypse and much more.

There is always a place for both lonely gamers and noisy groups at the console.

I also asked this question to a couple of my playing friends and brought it up for open discussion in one of the small VK public pages – not a thematic gaming resource, but just a club of interests.

My first console was the notorious Sega mega drive. I got it from my older cousin around 2000, if I’m not mistaken, of course.
What can I say? In my childhood it was just a magical thing) I sit down with it after an evening walk, blow out the cartridges to start the game. An overheating set-top box that turned off at some point. And I had to wait for it to cool down. The first games, excitedly completed the blue Sonic the Hedgehog, Spider-Man and a bunch of other things. All this had its own indescribable charm and I would have been very happy to play through a couple of games on that notorious console
Probably, this was the most memorable of my two consoles) It was those games and a certain atmosphere and memory of childhood when I remember it now
I currently have a PlayStation 4 in my possession. For new players I would probably recommend Ni No Kuni 2. It is not demanding in terms of skill level, the whole time you play there is a feeling of a beautiful family bedtime story, and it also contains several genres, which, in my opinion, will help the player better understand their gaming preferences.

It’s difficult, the very first game console I had was a famicom in the common dandy and the very first video game I played was a black cloak. In general, every console that I got left a lot of emotions and impressions. From this we get the answer to the second question. Each one left a lot of impressions, I can’t single out just one, it wouldn’t be fair to each of the consoles. Currently there are PS3, PS4, PSP, PsVita. I can recommend exclusives from Sony, they are always divine!

I use PS Slim, bought it in 2017
I won’t write about dandy and sega.
I didn’t regret a penny, the best purchase in 2017. I always take it with me on business trips.
At the start I advise you to take
1. UFS, FIFA, hockey, mortal – for games in a group
2. Trine, live until dawn – for games with tart
3. Last of us, uncharted, fallout, skyrim – for solo

1) Dandy with a keyboard, approximately 1999-2000. She did not live long, but she will be remembered forever. My favorite game was Felix the Cat.
2) Sega left the most vivid impressions, t.To. played it at a more conscious age. I really liked the Sega sound, I still listen to game soundtracks on YouTube. Favorite game: Pirates of the dark water.
3) Now I have PS3 and PS4. I highly recommend Red Dead Redemption and God of War.

1) I got my first console in 2000 (I was 4) and it was dandy. She left very positive emotions – I still remember all sorts of Mario with diggers and clones of famous games on 1000 in 1 cartridges with warm feelings. I especially loved going through the counter with my father for two.
2) But here it’s already more difficult. I had Sega and the aforementioned dandy, and later the first dog Slimka appeared. Now I’m actively addicted to PS 4. I can remember a lot of good and wonderful things about each of the consoles, but my favorite was the PSP, I still play it sometimes. Why? She was with me everywhere – at home, on the way to school, and at school itself, both during breaks and during boring lessons, playing Tekken with classmates over Wi-Fi, just a sea of ​​emotions, and even more games. But I think the most useful feature of the console is the compatibility of games from the first curling iron! Thus, I’m now going through the seventh final, since I missed it at one time, and in general I’m installing my favorite games and immersing myself in memories from a carefree childhood
3) as I already wrote above, now I’m mainly using PS4. There’s a ton of Igor on it, especially exclusives, there’s room to roam. I would definitely recommend the new God of War, Bloodborne (if you like PAIN), Spider-Man is coming out soon and I have no reason to doubt its quality. Ratchet and Clank, Tearaway, Journey, Until Dawn – all these are good, exclusive games that I can safely recommend to beginners and others.
That’s it, finished.

1) Dendy, year 99-2000. I didn’t sit for hours, but the children’s delight in all this grew into a love for games.
2) PSone – some of the best games I played for days on end. The first normal hotsits and co-ops with friends.
3) PS4 FAT. I took it at the start, went through a period of LESS GREAT 😉
Like Farhad, I recommend UFC for the company (but it will be a little difficult for beginners), Fifa, mortal.
For Solo – all exclusives, except for Last Guardian – very much for everyone (Last of Us and God of War – one love)
Other turkey meat and remasters – purely to your taste

At first there was a dandy in 92, in 94-95 there was a Sega, in 99 PS1, all three were top-end, PS3 was already a delight 0.

2001- dandy. played donkey con with batyei
2002 – Dad cheated on Atari, played Di4 Daga
2004- ps1 and around the same time ± year psp. silent hill, nfs
2007- boxing 360. the first game was skate 3
2016- Juan
I love all the consoles, but the dandy caused wild delight

1) my first console was a PSP, I bought it for the New Year in 2010. They’ve already written a lot about it, I agree with everything, it’s a very $3 #date console for that time, and to some extent is still relevant, compatibility with PS1 games is just a gun, I still replay Crash and Spyro sometimes. Literally this winter MGS1 took place on it.
Before that, I played a bunch of all sorts of games with my friends on PS1, Tekken 5 on PS2 in shopping malls, and played dandy with a friend in Chip and Dale, Battletoads and Doubledragon in a completely fucked up way.
2) I probably remember PS2 most vividly, which my friend and I bought together, because I spent the most evenings with it, playing various interesting games, precisely at that age when it was still interesting and had not yet become boring. It was on it that I first played through my favorite game so far, Fahrenheit.
3) PS2 – Fahrenheit, shadow of the colossus, God of War (but only the first one, then it’s an insurmountable, uninteresting masturbation), Tekken 5, Bully, guitar hero (deliverable even with a regular gamepad)
PS3 – heavy rain, last of us, uncharted3, tekken tag tournament 2, any motorstorm, red dead redemption, JOJO ALL STAR BATTLE, demon’s souls, dark souls 1-2, you can also include Oblivion and Skyrim, but it’s better to drive them on the pitch, although if you want to go on vanilla without mods, then it’s very.
PSP – obvious classics from ps1 – crash bandicoot 2, spyro 2, croc 2, mgs1, Diablo. From the console library itself, I recommend silent hill origins, silent hill shattered memories, tekken dark resurrection, tekken 6, motorstorm arctic edge, God of War: Chains of Olympus, dante’s inferno, dissidia final fantasy, flat out head on, rock band unplugged (wow @$I have so many favorite songs there), a bunch of other good PSP minis, but it would be boring to list them.
PS4 — detroit become human, bludborne, dark souls 3, horizon zero dawn.
PSvita – console #$@nya, don’t buy it, all the good stuff is on other consoles, but if you’ve already taken it, then: metal gear solid HD collection (the second and third part, you can also play on PS2 or PS3, as you like), dragon’s crown (also available on PS4 and like PS3), don’t starve (available almost everywhere), all sorts of visual novels to your liking, Wipeout.
Nintendo 3ds – pokemon x/y, fire emblem awakening, fire emblem Fates, pokemon sun/moon, ace attorney (from the first to the sixth), legend of Zelda ocarina of time, legend of Zelda triforce heroes, shin megami tensei 4 (no longer for beginners, but good), animal crossing if you are autistic. Plus, the console is compatible with games from the previous Nintendo ds, there are generally overdo#@i games, just Google it and choose. The main thing is not to mess with &@learning mario.

1) ps4 slim 2018
2) ps4 slim, I remember the lack of worries about whether it will work or not, expensive games and Netflix.
3) PS4 slim

1. Dandy, probably 1993. Well it was fun.
2. PS4 and Panasonic 3do – a rare thing that was in the computer club, it seemed to have too cool graphics at that time, but for some reason it didn’t work.