I still remember the time when I couldn't wait to come back home to fire up whichever game had me hyped at the time. And this wasn't just in school or college — I used to spend three to five hours gaming every day till 2020, four years into my full-time job. However, when the pandemic hit, I had to stay away from my PC for almost a year, which, combined with other responsibilities, pushed me away from PC gaming. And things haven't been the same since.

It's not that I have given up PC gaming completely; I still play the occasional AAA title that catches my fancy or the new multiplayer game my brother begs me to play with him. However, compared to pre-2020, it's barely a drop in the ocean. This is why I think something needs to change to get me back into PC gaming — and I think a controller might be the answer.

4 Gaming shouldn't feel like working

A controller will unlock laid-back gaming

My current job as a tech journalist and reviewer means I sit at my desk for six to eight hours, finishing my deliverables from Monday to Friday. On the rare occasions when I still have some motivation left to launch a game at the end of the workday, the thought of sitting in the same chair and desk doesn't exactly fill me with joy.

Plus, my back and neck aren't what they used to be, and I can't endure long gaming sessions without getting uncomfortable. Swapping my keyboard and mouse for a PC controller could remove much of the friction I experience during these rare moments of gaming motivation. Relaxing on an easy chair, recliner, or a small couch with a controller while playing on the same gaming PC and monitor would be miles better than my current setup.

I would have to make slight changes to the furniture in my room, but that's no biggie if I get to enjoy games again. Maybe I could even get back to playing for one or two hours every day since I would be looking forward to unwinding with my favorite games instead of thinking about them as chores.

3 More immersion in my favorite games

Sometimes, a controller is simply better

I'd like to clarify that I have used a controller before, namely the DualShock 4 on the PlayStation 4 and DualSense on the PlayStation 5. However, my time with them was short since I played only a handful of single-player, narrative-driven titles on the PS4 and just Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on the PS5. The bulk of my gaming was still done on a keyboard and mouse on my gaming PC.

Switching to a controller on my PC, at least for some of the games I still play, is bound to feel completely different. Playing Need for Speed Unbound, Forza Horizon 5, and Tekken 8 on a controller is objectively superior to playing on a keyboard and mouse. The precise analog input is simply not possible on a keyboard. The only reason I never switched to a controller in the last few years was that I barely played games anymore.

Besides racing and fighting games, playing once-exclusive PlayStation titles that are now available on PC, such as God of War, God of War Ragnarök, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Ghost of Tsushima with a controller is something I'm eagerly looking forward to.

2 I want to play couch co-op games with my brother

The childhood dream

My brother and I started our gaming journey on a PC in 2000. The first console we got was the PS4 in 2018, just to play Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us. The only split-screen multiplayer shenanigans we got into were on our gaming PC, crashing cars in Split/Second: Velocity or beating each other to a pulp in Raw Ultimate Impact. So, we've never technically played a couch co-op game together.

It's only recently that we got a TV worthy of being a gaming display, supporting HDMI 2.1 and a 120Hz refresh rate. Considering my brother has no qualms about relocating his PC to our TV station, a new controller will finally allow us to jump on the couch and play titles like It Takes Two, A Way Out, and Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero.

My brother already has a DualSense controller that he loves to use on his gaming PC, so I don't need to convince him of its benefits. I'm sure both of us would love to take time out of our busy schedules to return to a WWE game or play split-screen multiplayer in Dirt 5 or Hot Wheels Unleashed.

1 I love adaptive triggers, haptic feedback, and motion controls

Spider-Man 2 on the PS5 sold me on the DualSense

There are some things that you simply can't get on a keyboard or mouse. One of them is the precise analog input I alluded to before, but other, more impactful features like adaptive triggers, haptic feedback, and motion controls are the ones that I truly miss on my keyboard and mouse. Playing The Last of Us Part 2 on the PS4 and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on the PS5 made me feel much more connected to the game, thanks to these immersive technologies.

Haptic feedback is nothing new to controllers, but the level of quality you get on the DualSense controller is genuinely impressive. The adaptive triggers are equally good and are now found on many controllers besides the DualSense. Even using the motion controls to accomplish little things in a game adds to the joy of using a controller.

These features might not be game-changing on their own, but together, they make a wireless controller one of the best investments you can make for your gaming PC. Sure, not every feature will work in every game on a PC, but you can still experience something new in your gaming sessions, especially if you've never touched a controller before.

Time to awaken the kid in me

Over the years, my love of gaming has stayed the same, but time and mental space have been in short supply as work and personal life caught up with me. A controller might not reverse everything on its own, but it has the potential to be the catalyst that I've been looking for. The change of pace, added comfort, and the possibility to play couch co-op games can become the spark that reignites my motivation to pick up more games and hopefully finish every one of them.