December 28th 2024.
As a person who has been a fan of PlayStation since the very beginning, I was over the moon when I got my hands on the PlayStation 5 on its launch day. Like many others, I had been working tirelessly during the Covid pandemic as a healthcare worker, and my free time was limited to either work or taking care of my own children and sometimes even my niece and nephew, as my sister and brother-in-law were also essential workers. The PS5 was a welcome distraction during this chaotic time, and I thoroughly enjoyed playing games like Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and God Of War: Ragnarök, as well as third-party titles like Resident Evil Village and Elden Ring.
However, as the end of 2022 approached, I found myself losing some of my enthusiasm for the PS5. Part of it was due to my busy schedule, as I had started a master's degree on top of my full-time job and parental duties. But the other reason was that I had already played most of the big titles, and there was nothing new on the horizon that piqued my interest. That's when I made the decision to trade in my PS5 and some games for a base Steam Deck and an SD card, along with a few games.
My experience with the Steam Deck wasn't without its hiccups. It took two weeks for it to ship, and to make matters worse, the first model I received had an issue where it wouldn't reboot from sleep mode. Thankfully, it was replaced with a working one. But once I got the hang of using the device, I had a blast. Being able to play games in bed with my wife at night or during downtime while waiting for my kids at their various activities was a game-changer. And let's not forget about the price of games. As a console gamer, I used to rely on buying second-hand games and trading them in to afford new releases. But with digital games, that option was no longer available. However, on PC, I found that I could amass a large collection of games for a relatively small amount of money. The lower prices of digital PC games were a recurring theme, and I was able to purchase several AAA games for a fraction of their console counterpart's cost.
This affordability also allowed me to expand my gaming library beyond what I could have done on consoles. And with my wife's Amazon Prime subscription, I was able to get some decent AA games for free through various storefronts, such as the Tomb Raider trilogy, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Deathloop, and The Outer Worlds, among others. This year, for my 40th birthday, I upgraded from the Steam Deck to the Legion Go, and it was one of the best decisions I've made. The improved resolution and larger screen, along with better performance and the ability to play Xbox Games Pass without any hassle, made the upgrade worth it.
However, I did have a slight moment of weakness when Astro Bot was released, and I ended up buying a second-hand PlayStation 5, even though I had sold my original one only 18 months ago. My wife wasn't too pleased, but I had some birthday money left, and I also sold my Xbox One, which I wasn't using much. But now, all the games I play are on Game Pass, and I can enjoy them on my Legion Go, whether downloaded or through cloud streaming. And even though Indiana Jones And The Great Circle doesn't run well natively, I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth it was on cloud streaming.
Looking back, I realize that I could have waited for the Legion Go from the start without all the trading and buying, but I have no regrets. Handheld PC gaming has become my preferred way of playing, and I'm glad I took the plunge. It's amazing to see the variety of PC handhelds available now, and I believe it's a trend that will continue to grow in the future. These are my personal opinions, and they may not reflect those of GameCentral or Metro. But I encourage others to give PC handheld gaming a try and experience the benefits for themselves.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
