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Game Consoles Are Pricing Themselves Out of Relevance (www.gamespot.com)
submitted 3 days ago by alyaza@beehaw.org to c/gaming@beehaw.org
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For a long time, the common wisdom was that game consoles would usurp PC gaming, leaving it a niche hobby, ignored by the greater gaming community. And indeed, for a long time consoles were the most popular way to play mainstream games. But recently, especially since the release of the current generation of consoles, the very opposite seems to be coming true. PC gaming has been expanding while consoles falter.

Looking forward to the next Xbox and PlayStation consoles, analysts are predicting $900 as the low end of possible pricing--and that number is seeming more and more optimistic. That's a lot of money to spend for a dedicated machine that, for most console owners, is just used for playing Call of Duty or the latest football game. Consoles are becoming too expensive for all but the most dedicated gamers to justify--especially when gamers in their teens and early 20s have grown up in a world where a console is no longer needed to play the vast majority of games.

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[-] mp3@lemmy.ca 22 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

They're stuck being priced-out of the game with the rising price of hardware caused by AI data-centers.

And to the surprise of no one, those with a vested interest in building and maintaining those data-centers are trying to make cloud-gaming a thing (Amazon Luna, GeForce Now).

You won't own your AAA games any more, and they'll make them cloud-exclusive to stomp piracy and game resales.

[-] slauraure@beehaw.org 10 points 2 days ago

There are already more games released than one can ever dream of playing in a lifetime. Indie developers also release groundbreaking new stuff left and right that will run on ancient PCs, Steam Decks, and older Switch models.

  • Hang on to your older consoles and check Gamestop for the titles you missed the last gen, you might find them cheap.
  • Get a cheap emulation handheld or jailbreak your old PSP or DS to unlock thousands of genre-defining titles for games coming out today.
  • Affordable adapters let you use your fancy 8Bitdo controllers and whatnot on your PS4 with stick drift or otherwise dead controllers.

I literally cannot get FOMO for the new stuff because there are so many options. Battlefield 6 comes with a rootkit? No problem, I just won't play it. New Capcom game is too expensive? I'm sure I can get a similar fix elsewhere or wait 6 years for a steep discount.

Every time a game company/dev does something questionable like price-gouging aging hardware, introduce digital download-only games on cartridges, make a racist tweet, or revoke games from digital libraries, it helps me strike a bunch of stuff off of my backlog. That gives me more time to play what is left on the list and maybe even to touch grass.

this post was submitted on 16 May 2026
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