A Guide to Getting Started with Online Gaming

If you haven’t played games online in 2021, then what are you waiting for? More and more games are made with an enormous focus on online multiplayer modes. Take Call of Duty, for example – the majority of people have never set foot inside the campaign mode and less than 10% of gamers have completed it. Unfortunately, the days of sofa multiplayer games like Worms Armageddon have left the chat, because they live online these days. Technology has made gaming a glorious pastime, schools are using games to teach, and eSports competitions are constantly growing in popularity. With all of this in mind and more, there’s no better time to plug yourself into the internet and start competing with players all over the world.

Choose Your Game Preference

Jumping into the world of online gaming at this stage offers an abundance of genres to sink your teeth into. Hopefully, you’re off to a flying start and have an idea of some of the games you want to play. However, if you’re completely oblivious to the world of gaming, then you can search through a list of popular games, speak to your game-savvy mates, watch trending streams on Twitch and YouTube and see what takes your fancy. If you only have a broad idea of what genre of games you want to play, just search for that and it will point you in the right direction.

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Set a Budget

Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that online gaming costs money to take part in. However, you don’t need to start off spending a fortune just to dip your toes in. You can get into gaming by investing in a simple set-up with second-hand parts and upgrade your gear the more you get into the world of online gaming. However, to compete with friends playing current games, you will fail to keep up using old tech. For example, if you head out and buy a cheap laptop but want to play the latest Call of Duty game, you’ll have a hard time. That being said, you can enter the world of gaming with a setup that costs you around £600 at the lower end.

Choose the Platform for You

Once you’ve decided on your budget and know what sort of games you want to play, it’s time to choose which platform you will pledge allegiance to. Costs fluctuate greatly between the different platforms and some games are only available exclusively on specific devices. In general, mobile gaming is the cheapest, PC gaming can become fairly expensive, and consoles hang around somewhere in the middle.

The majority of people have a mobile phone with access to an AppStore of some description. At the tip of your fingers, you can download games like Words With Friends and start your online gaming journey. One beauty of mobile gaming is that you can play them from literally anywhere in the world, so you never really need to stop. The majority of mobile games are free to play, with an abundance of microtransactions hidden inside that you should steer clear of if you want to keep the cost down. If mobile gaming is the way you wish to go, you need to check whether your chosen game is featured through Apple, Android, or both.

Going console is the choice for those wanting to fully invest in gaming. After all, people buy a console for the pure purpose of gaming. At the moment, the primary choices are the recently released PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and the Nintendo Switch. If you would like to dip your toes and save some money, consider investing in one of the big three’s previous models that are still very much alive and attracting new games. A console will set you back around £500 for the initial device, even at the next-gen end of things. This investment isn’t bad considering you won’t need to upgrade for around 10 years (based on the rate of previous release staggering). However, as you’ll find out, when it comes to PC gaming there are constantly new GPUS, CPUs, cooling systems, and RGB lighting trends. To play online through console, you will likely need to subscribe to a service, but you do get access to some pretty awesome games every month.

PC gaming is one of the most popular ways to game because it’s so diverse. Depending on your needs, the cost of a PC set-up can be budget or phenomenal. Although components for high-end gaming PCs cost a pretty penny, you are compensated by the fact that your gaming experience will perform better than on consoles. For online multiplayer, PC has the largest player base and it’s completely free. Through the game store Steam, you can access the latest titles, mods, and expansions; they also throw in the odd freebie from time to time. Not only is a PC a great option, but you can also have a lot of fun by modding games to alter the state of play (these tend to be locked for console games).

In a Nutshell

Online gaming is fun, exciting, and makes a great way to pass the time with your friends. To get started, you need to decide on a budget, a few games, and then narrow down your platform. Each platform has desirable qualities over the other, but whichever you, choose you’ll be entering a community of players all sharing the same interest.

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