The stereotype of PC gaming is a huge desktop tower filled with rainbow lights and spinning fans, while water gurgles through pipes. However, the reality is much more modest, and most people don't even need a big rig PC to play.
It's worth clearing up what I mean when I say "PC gaming" since there are different interpretations of the term. First off, a PC is a computer that descends from the original IBM PC. There are broader definitions of "PC" that would include non-IBM compatible systems, but that's not what the term "PC gaming" refers to.
So any IBM-compatible modern computer falls into the PC gaming sphere, but that would exclude non-Intel Macs. Hang on, what about the current big consoles? They are basically IBM-compatible PCs on the inside right? Well, yes. However, the very nature of PC is that it's an open standard, and with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles the hardware and software has been locked down. You can't run whatever software you want, and not just anyone can make hardware for those systems.
There has been an absolute proliferation in the form factors that PCs come in. Beyond the desktop tower everyone thinks of, there are tiny mini-ITX systems, Windows gaming tablets like the ASUS ROG Flow Z13, handheld PCs like the Steam Deck, ultra-thin gaming laptops, ultra thick gaming laptops, and probably even more we haven't seen yet.
Not to mention, a device doesn't have to be designated as a "gaming" system to play PC games. Even modest PCs these days have enough performance to competently play most of the PC gaming library, with only games from the last few years out of reach. So, if someone has any sort of PC at all, they can enjoy some form of gaming on it.
Handheld PCs have been around for some time, but a combination of Valve's Steam Deck and advances in power-efficient PC hardware has made a new boom in PC
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