> Every generation since has been dominated by unremarkable competitive FPS games.

PvE games are for unskilled gamers. PlayStation and Switch are the preferred platforms for unskilled gamers. PC is the preferred platform for skilled gamers who can afford a good PC. Xbox is the preferred platform for skilled gamers who are poor (Xbox controllers are better for shooters than PlayStation controllers).

Oh man, don't let yourself be triggered by a Verge article.

For what it's worth though, the really skilled FPS players have always been on the PC side.

> skilled

Nerds. The word you’re looking for is nerds.

By the time you’re 28 it’ll be impossible to be a ”skilled” gamer as your reaction times will start to slow down due to being a “senior gamer”. No amount of expensive gaming peripherals on PC or XBox can stop this.

Biology catches up fast, and it doesn’t matter what gaming hardware you’re using. I’d suggest chasing fun or develop competency in a longer term skill instead of working on your “skilled” gaming clout.

But what do I know, maybe I just need to git gud.

Hard disagree. The top Quake Champions player right now - a German called k1llsen - is 40+.

Now, you are free to argue that Quake has been dead for a while and competition isn't as strong but the guy's reflexes seem just as good as they did 20 years ago. Yeah, he's been around for some time.

There are many formidable old school guys in their 40s, even 50s, that still play high skill games and they will kick your ass.

I'm still in the 40-50 range. My reflexes and hand-eye coordination haven't deteriorated significantly. It's not about age, it's about practice, talent, and will.

I still kick some ass in CS, TF2 and Quake. I get tired a lot quicker, of course. But it's mostly my unwillingness to waste my stamina on games rather than work.

When I was involved in CoD Blackops the top player in pulic play, was a guy in his 50s iirc. He had a username that we called Kidfan (for convenience and privacy) and had above average stats, per game. He was such a statistical outlier that he was invited to an onsite office where his play was recorded. Some people just click with game design choices and he was a super intuit.

Most competitive shooter players, or rather, any genre, are absolute trash at the game.

I have a PS5 and Xbox Series S and Series X - the PS5 is just gathering dust, started up only now and then to play one of the few exclusives(last one being God of War.....like 6 months ago?) or Genshin Impact as it doesn't exist on Xbox. It's a brilliant system but the ability to pick up any Gampass Game and have the saves instantly synchronized with my gaming PC is just incredible. I can play something like Forza or Yakuza 0 on my gaming PC upstairs then go to the living room, pick up the controller and continue the same game on the Xbox - that's a complete gamechanger and what makes this console more useful(for me) than PS5.

The exclusives come to PC after a long time so if you are prepared to wait there is no need for Playstation.

Still waiting for GT 7, but honestly I can't justify buying a PS5 just for a game.

Still waiting on that Bloodborne port.....

I do similar with the upstairs/downstairs, except in the living room it’s another PC instead of an Xbox. It does Steam, GoG, etc in addition to Gamepass for a much wider variety of games. It was more expensive than an Xbox sure, but the greater game variety and flexibility is worth it.

My PS5 also hasn’t gotten a ton of usage playing PS5 games, but there are finally some interesting ones brewing now. It’s been nice as a “PS4 Ultimate” with backwards compatibility though.

I like gaming on the couch. All my friends are on either Xbox or PC and, seeing as I don’t want to game on a PC, Xbox is perfect. Quick resume, SSD, and enhanced backwards compatibility make the Series X the best console I’ve ever had. This definitely reads like an ad lol but figure I’d give you some insight into why people still buy Xbox.

Haha this is funny as it reads exactly like the checklist of why I bought a PS5 after playing PC games for the longest. Which like, we’re adults here and I don’t care what console you have, more power to you. I think we’re both comparing to PC more than anything here.

The first game I played after getting my PS5 was… Bloodborne. I’d tried it on PS4 then sold the PS4 as it offended my eyes how ugly the game was back in December 2020. Two years later when the PS5 finally became available where I could just walk into my local store and buy it, it looked very pretty on the new PS5 hardware once the market calmed down. Such a delightfully weird and creepy game.

I've never bought or owned an Xbox, but my friend has a One, bought new at roughly the same time I bought my PS4 new (2014). my PS4 sounds like a helicopter taking off and his One is almost silent. I remember roughly similar experiences for my PS3 and others' 360s. it seems that perhaps Microsoft is (or was) less expectant of you buying their Slim/XS/mini/etc model in 3 years time. no idea how true this still is though