This article was automatically translated from Japanese using AI. The Japanese version is the authoritative version.
When you decide to play APEX, Call of Duty, or other big-name titles, you’ll probably wonder whether to play on a PC or buy a PlayStation 5.
As someone who owns both, I’d like to walk through the advantages of each and who I’d recommend them to.
About gaming PCs
Who they suit
・People who want to do plenty of things besides gaming
・People who plan to stream their gameplay
・People who can spend a fair amount of money
The biggest advantage of a gaming PC is, without a doubt, that you can customize it to your own taste.
You can pick your own parts and build it yourself, or you can buy a pre-built machine from a shop like Dospara.
The more you spend, the higher-performance a PC you can build.
If you want to game in 4K, expect to pay at least around 200,000 yen for a full setup.
That works out to roughly 150,000 yen for the PC itself, plus about 50,000 yen for accessories like a display and mouse.
It costs money, but you can add lighting, fuss over your peripherals, and really express your own style.
Choosing a PC also requires a certain amount of knowledge, so you’ll deepen your understanding of computers along the way.
Speaking from experience, the knowledge I picked up while building my own PC has come in handy in all sorts of situations—I can do a quick diagnosis when a friend’s PC acts up, and I can handle maintenance on my own machine myself.
Also, since it’s a computer at heart, you can do things other than gaming.
In particular, programming requires a machine with reasonably good specs, and a gaming PC easily clears that bar.
Some people may worry about game availability, but you can generally buy games on a site called Steam.
Most of the well-known titles sold on the PlayStation Store are also available on Steam.
So there’s not much to worry about.
If anything, you can also play PC-exclusive games, which greatly widens your options.
Next, about the PS5 (home game consoles)
Recommended for
・People who aren’t comfortable with computers or electronics
・People who just want to play games
・People who don’t want to spend that much
・People who want to play with friends
Here I’ll use the PS5 as my example.
PlayStation has a friends feature, which makes it extremely easy to play games while chatting over voice.
Because it’s a dedicated gaming machine, these gaming-oriented features are very easy to use.
By buying games on disc, you can sell them at a used shop like Book Off once you stop playing, which saves you money overall.
The console is also smaller than a PC, and a single unit draws less power than a PC. (PCs consume about as much electricity as a hair dryer at this point.)
It doesn’t get brought up much, but the thing I personally liked best was how the controller feels to use.
You can use a PS5 controller on a PC too, but problems come up easily—you have to remap buttons, and connecting wirelessly introduces lag, so I ended up using a wired connection. On the PS5, I barely noticed any lag even over a wireless connection.
You might think that goes without saying, though.
Precisely because it’s a dedicated gaming machine, it’s inexpensive, yet its gaming performance is on par with a PC costing around 300,000 yen—I honestly have no idea how they pull it off.
The PS5 is built to unbelievably high specs.
This has only been a small slice of the comparison, but I hope it helps you see which one is right for you.
Personally, I think deciding based on your purpose—whether you just want to game or want to do other things too—leads to the decision you’ll feel best about.