What things has PC gaming taught you?

Soldato
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PC gaming is probably the reason i work in IT, like many others, i learnt through troubleshooting to make games work. Which led to upgrading, which led to enjoying the more enterprisey aspects of IT.

On the flipside, backwards compatibility, like others have mentioned is amazing....
I setup batocera on a decent intel NUC PC recently, two xbox one controllers connected to it, and i've got over 10,000 games from mame, amiga, nes, snes, n64, wiiu, ps1, ps2, dreamcast, mega drive, master system, gameboy all accessible in a lush UI.
 

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Soldato
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Way back when I got into the modding community for the original GTA making 2D cars with the damage sprites in PaintShop Pro. I then moved into some 3D stuff for GTA III, Vice City & SA. On the back of this I got into making websites and was even an admin on GTAForums for a short time.

PC gaming opened up a bigger community and social life for me for hobbies none of my IRL peers would understand, not many of which even had a computer at the time. It helped me be creative and gave me purpose as opposed to being bored in a rural community.

I'm now a 35 year old web developer and I have my PC gaming inspired past to thank for steering me that way not just in technical ability but working with others and others remotely which is so relevant right now.

I haven't ended up a hunched up gamer blob either, I'm still an active outdoors person despite many hours in front of a screen.

I do miss the old modding days and creating stuff, not involved anymore as I've lost interest at least in GTA. Might have a crack with Unity one day as I have a little game idea I'd love to explore.
 
Soldato
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Definitely a more outside the box thinking approach to things, starting messing with computer and bits from an early age and have enjoyed tweaking with things since.
I liked that (more back then) things were not box ready so you learned what went on behind the scenes , you weren't stuck with the limitations of a console for example.
 
Soldato
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I suppose if a ZX81 is a PC (though primitive compared to modern computers), it taught me programming and how computers work, and helped start a lifelong interest and career in computing. For that I am grateful every single day.
 
Man of Honour
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PC gaming is probably the reason i work in IT, like many others, i learnt through troubleshooting to make games work. Which led to upgrading, which led to enjoying the more enterprisey aspects of IT.

On the flipside, backwards compatibility, like others have mentioned is amazing....
I setup batocera on a decent intel NUC PC recently, two xbox one controllers connected to it, and i've got over 10,000 games from mame, amiga, nes, snes, n64, wiiu, ps1, ps2, dreamcast, mega drive, master system, gameboy all accessible in a lush UI.

PC gaming is one of the reasons I don't work in IT - I don't want to be spending all day at work at a computer then long periods at home, etc. I used to do IT work and it just ruined the enjoyment for me and computers as a past time/hobby. Friends and family don't understand it as they think because I'm good with computers I'd want to be working with computers especially as some of the roles I'm capable of doing pay very well.
 
Soldato
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PC gaming is one of the reasons I don't work in IT - I don't want to be spending all day at work at a computer then long periods at home, etc. I used to do IT work and it just ruined the enjoyment for me and computers as a past time/hobby. Friends and family don't understand it as they think because I'm good with computers I'd want to be working with computers especially as some of the roles I'm capable of doing pay very well.

I think for me as it's the only thing i've ever really enjoyed it felt like the natural path. The biggest change since working in IT (which will be 15 years this summer) is that where i used to tinker, overclock and so on at home. That as just become purely gaming. I don't do the tinkering or overclocking any more and I refuse to do any work on the side for family and friends unless it's fixing my mums PC or my sons PC, and even then, they have to wait until i feel like doing it rather than at the drop of a hat.

I think while working in IT has sometimes taken the fun out of IT in general, i still get that excited feeling over completing something big at work, like a server/storage refresh, or making SCCM do something new and fancy etc.
 
Associate
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Some good responses here, mine will be a little different.

It taught me this: there is more to life than PC Games, there is an outside world and look after your physical and mental health.
 
Soldato
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In comparison to other people that do the same job as me, I think I'm the only gamer.
Over the years, I have noticed I pick up new systems quicker than other people and I think thats partly due to playing so many games with different control systems.
 
Associate
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That no matter the game i will utter the word "oops"

Followed by several of my team dying by my grenade.:eek:
 
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Associate
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Gaming has taught me that if I was a pilot in the Battle of Britain I would not have lasted long.

Same here. It has taught me the principles of flight, tinkering about with various flights sims over the years, I get the basic controls - I don't mean I can fly a plane but grasp the basic controls. Same with a race car. Years of playing GPL and other sims.
 
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