Thanks to a recent technical malfunction on my five-year old BYO personal computer, I was able to convince my wife it was time to build anew. And so I have, with my brand-spanking new PC. Good to know this thing registers a nice 5.2 (of 5) on Vista, with my highly-overclockable dual-core CPU the weak link in the rating scale. Not to brag, because dual-core is now old-core, and I’m sure there are some out there pushing sixes on the Windows Experience Index. Ironic how my “Windows Experience” is absolutely awful on Vista x64, which has forced me to run XP as my primary OS.

But back to the point – although I’ve sold my better half on the system’s video editing capabilities, as most fellow parents would understand without hesitation, a pleasant “side effect” is the ability to keep up with the steep system requirements of today’s games. Or even yesterday’s. Hey, it’s been nearly two years since I was able to run games at a decent rate, so cut me some slack…

So as I have recently gone through the pain of installing nearly 50 GB of games I’ve stockpiled over the years, I now have a game machine which seriously challenges my Xbox 360 for my attention. And quite frankly, my PC makes the 360 look as it really is – a game console, nothing more. Whether it’s the PC’s multi-purpose nature, or the hard-edged, metallic sexiness of its design with faint blue glow; there’s just something about it which makes it more sophisticated.

Consoles still haven’t divorced themselves from physical media, so there is still a belief a CD, DVD or BD is essential for the gaming experience. After installing all those PC games, I say it’s not required. I still associate console gaming with tangible materials – disc, case and manual – and I feel a little bit of separation anxiety at the thought of playing Oblivion on the 360 without them. Kind of like jumping off a cliff without a net. However, with the PC, installing games is considered the norm. It’s a pain in the ass to have a game require a CD in the drive to play. So I’m more open to purchase full, multi-gigabyte game downloads from a service like Steam or TotalGaming.net sans materials.

There are several benefits to purchasing PC games, and software of any kind, for that matter. First, the requirement to install the game to play makes it pretty seamless. Larger and cheaper drives make it easier not only to install, but to back up files on separate hard drives, discs, etc. Loading times are rarely an issue.  But the biggest benefit is the selection of software available online versus retail. A game like Space Rangers 2 would be hard to find on retail shelves, and would probably only be available from an online retailer. Instead, I can have immediate gratification to purchase, download, install and play with little wait.

And as console titles approach PC-like patching, it’s nice to have the flexibility of adding mods at my leisure to my favorite titles, like the High Definition Texture Pack for Deus Ex. Anyone would tell you, if your PC has the cojones to run something like Oblivion, go for the PC version over the console one for the free user mods.

What’s my highest barrier of entry now? The control scheme. I was never a WASD kinda guy, and I felt if controls can’t be mapped to a game pad, it’s too complex. But now I’m thinking I just need a better keyboard and mouse, which are both currently in the mail as I write this.

One could argue the PC is a largely solitary experience. I’ll counter by saying with the rising popularity of online gaming on consoles, the two are closer than you think. It is only here where the Wii, DS and PSP start to differentiate themselves from the PS3 and Xbox 360. Which is exactly why my 360 is starting to feel a little jealous.