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If it’s a Playstation or Nintendo you get exclusive games, Xbox you don’t really, these games are available on Windows or cloud.
Though a lot of exclusives do get re-released on PC so not sure how much of a benefit that is.
I’ve seen mini PCs (Shared link to one in other comments) which are around the same price range as an Xbox Series S now. Maybe at one point it was a benefit but now there are good quality mid-range options for people getting into PC gaming (or who want a nice living room setup to play their casual games from steam on the big screen).
Plus the fact that all consoles have subscription costs associated with them means that they ultimately cost slightly more in the long run.
There are cheaper and decently powerful mini PCs for about the same cost as a console, probably even a bit cheaper than a game console if you get a deal.
As much as I love my PC, playing on my GFs PS5 really sold me that a cheap PC just cannot compare, especially if more than one person will be using it.
Hand over $1500 and you’ll have a better set up with a PS5, a good TV, and multiple games, I just can’t tell someone it’s better.
A gaming PC is a “get what you pay for” experience, especially as AAA games become less optimized.
That’s true, though the little Ryzen mini PCs do seem to get good power out of them while being within the same price range as a console, obviously more powerful ones can run much more demanding games better but it’s still quite good for the price.
Definitely not a third. A $500USD Xbox Series X or PS5 has about the same performance as a ~600-650 PC in the current market maybe. They sell at a small loss (or used to), because they intend to get significantly more back from you via subscription payments. Most people want to actually be able to play games they paid for online or use basic online services, so after like 5 years you’ve already spent another 300 (xbox) to 500 (playstation) assuming you buy the cheapest option annually.
On console you also have significantly less choice for peripherals and pay more for games, a lot of extra money spent for most people. With PC you can spend way less to get the functionality you need.
Plus if you like pirating, you can consider that a few hundred dollars in savings on games… considering you don’t pay for them and all.
The most expensive PSN option was £83.99 a year last time I got it, for the full Game Pass type deal. I’ve bought a grand total of two games since I got my PS5 a few years ago (Baldur’s Gate 3 and Talos Principle 2, and neither are even available as a physical disc making my disc drive in the console pretty pointless), and I play the damn thing just about every day.
It’s completely optional in any case, I very rarely even play multiplayer games. The price you’re hoping to beat is £389.
I can get an equivalent GPU (3060 12GB is about as close as you can get if you want to avoid lack of VRAM stutter) for about £270, which isn’t leaving a lot for the rest of the PC. There may well be regions where the PS5 is more expensive than a PC, but the UK ain’t one of them.
There are many strengths of PC gaming, like being able to buy extra hardware, modding, many digital stores, piracy, etc, but competing with consoles in the budget space is not where they shine.
Apples to apples, I wonder how much that holds true…
When a console launches, buying off the shelf equivalent parts is probably a fair bit more expensive. After a couple of years though, the latest and greatest whatever is at least two years old.
I’m sure console manufacturers flatten out these prices by making long term contracts, but still a 4 year old machine is still 4 years old. AMD has released new chipsets since that are in turn themselves coming up on 2 years old.
Granted, console games are optimized for a specific platform, but that will likely be very game specific.
You can make PC’s with comparable price and performance of a console. Especially when you facotr in the cost of subscriptions to use online services. Content creators just rarely cover that because it doesn’t get them views
What is the value proposition of a modern game console over a PC?
If it’s a Playstation or Nintendo you get exclusive games, Xbox you don’t really, these games are available on Windows or cloud. Though a lot of exclusives do get re-released on PC so not sure how much of a benefit that is.
Xbox is just very cheap entry. I can’t give my son something the value of xbox series s (£110 when I picked it up)
I’ve seen mini PCs (Shared link to one in other comments) which are around the same price range as an Xbox Series S now. Maybe at one point it was a benefit but now there are good quality mid-range options for people getting into PC gaming (or who want a nice living room setup to play their casual games from steam on the big screen).
Plus the fact that all consoles have subscription costs associated with them means that they ultimately cost slightly more in the long run.
It’s about a third of the price.
There are cheaper and decently powerful mini PCs for about the same cost as a console, probably even a bit cheaper than a game console if you get a deal.
As much as I love my PC, playing on my GFs PS5 really sold me that a cheap PC just cannot compare, especially if more than one person will be using it.
Hand over $1500 and you’ll have a better set up with a PS5, a good TV, and multiple games, I just can’t tell someone it’s better.
A gaming PC is a “get what you pay for” experience, especially as AAA games become less optimized.
That’s true, though the little Ryzen mini PCs do seem to get good power out of them while being within the same price range as a console, obviously more powerful ones can run much more demanding games better but it’s still quite good for the price.
Steamdeck costs about the same
Definitely not a third. A $500USD Xbox Series X or PS5 has about the same performance as a ~600-650 PC in the current market maybe. They sell at a small loss (or used to), because they intend to get significantly more back from you via subscription payments. Most people want to actually be able to play games they paid for online or use basic online services, so after like 5 years you’ve already spent another 300 (xbox) to 500 (playstation) assuming you buy the cheapest option annually.
On console you also have significantly less choice for peripherals and pay more for games, a lot of extra money spent for most people. With PC you can spend way less to get the functionality you need.
Plus if you like pirating, you can consider that a few hundred dollars in savings on games… considering you don’t pay for them and all.
The most expensive PSN option was £83.99 a year last time I got it, for the full Game Pass type deal. I’ve bought a grand total of two games since I got my PS5 a few years ago (Baldur’s Gate 3 and Talos Principle 2, and neither are even available as a physical disc making my disc drive in the console pretty pointless), and I play the damn thing just about every day.
It’s completely optional in any case, I very rarely even play multiplayer games. The price you’re hoping to beat is £389.
I can get an equivalent GPU (3060 12GB is about as close as you can get if you want to avoid lack of VRAM stutter) for about £270, which isn’t leaving a lot for the rest of the PC. There may well be regions where the PS5 is more expensive than a PC, but the UK ain’t one of them.
There are many strengths of PC gaming, like being able to buy extra hardware, modding, many digital stores, piracy, etc, but competing with consoles in the budget space is not where they shine.
I pirate all of my console games
Apples to apples, I wonder how much that holds true…
When a console launches, buying off the shelf equivalent parts is probably a fair bit more expensive. After a couple of years though, the latest and greatest whatever is at least two years old.
I’m sure console manufacturers flatten out these prices by making long term contracts, but still a 4 year old machine is still 4 years old. AMD has released new chipsets since that are in turn themselves coming up on 2 years old.
Granted, console games are optimized for a specific platform, but that will likely be very game specific.
You can make PC’s with comparable price and performance of a console. Especially when you facotr in the cost of subscriptions to use online services. Content creators just rarely cover that because it doesn’t get them views