this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2021

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Do you think there is any reason to get exited for new consoles anymore? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Full disclosure, I'm a PC gamer. So I'm a little biased. However I personally see more value in old consoles from 2nd to 6th generation. In the old consoles all had their own advantages. NES games were customizable, TG16 was more powerful, SNES had Mode7, Genesis was faster, PC had more input and provided a more free market to developers, PS1 was easy to develop for and so on. They had special hardware. They had different controllers and appealed to different kinds of gamers and were more convenient. It doesn't seem like that anymore, you leave the system off for a while you boot it back up and there are gigabytes of updates, they just use off the shelf AMD cards, they all for the most part offer the same games and are getting more and more expensive. Switch is saved by it's portability and the stellar first party line up, but same cannot be said for Series X and PS5. Playstation in particular is borderline worthless, as it's exclusive line up can be stereotyped as "movies that make you press buttons to make sure you pay attention" it seems more logical to just watch a playthrough of them. Combine that with the fact AAA games suck across the board, it makes more sense to just build a midrange PC and play indie games in them or to buy the FPGA systems made by Analogue for example. What do you guys think?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 years ago (1 children)

I mean consoles have been this way for the past decade pretty much. They're marketed to a completely different individual than the type who wants to spend the money on a PC, and generally you'll get a better deal on a console that will run games at better specs than a comparably-priced PC. There was little reason to buy a PS4 or Xbox One at the time either, other than for the few exclusives that haven't been ported to PC (yet?).

Moreso I think your issue is with the gaming industry at large and what sells and is pushed avidly via the console experience, which is AAA gaming. And in that respect, sure, consoles are less exciting because even if the games look better than the last gen, it doesn't mean the games are really any more interesting. But then, barring a major crash or at least downturn of the industry it seems like it's gonna keep staying the course on this games-as-a-service model. The people looking for a different experience clearly aren't the ones buying consoles. For them, there is the PC, I suppose.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 years ago

Bigger budgets. Risk averse. Until something trends e.g Battle Royale and then it’s all aboard.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 years ago (2 children)

Worst thing I have realised recently is that consoles are basically okay computers which are rendered practically useless because of vendor lockdown. PS3 in the beginning (even if for it's own nefarious reasons) allowed installing Linux but once hackers started exploiting vulnerabilities through it and allowed used to resist Sony extorting money from them they shut it down.

You can't even use the browser properly on it. It's absolute shit. Because of the fear of webkit exploits they don't allow browser customisability too. So yeah, unless you are drinking the Sony/MS koolaid I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice by buying a console, which basically is a medium for the manufacturing company to collect rent from you.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 years ago (1 children)

Yeah, this is why I disagree with the argument that consoles provide better value. Yes PCs are more expensive but you can also do more with them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 years ago

True, but not everyone needs a powerful PC. If you have a PC capable of running modern games you can then probably edit videos, do 3D rendering, etc. But a vast plethora of people just need the ability to use a browser and text-editing programs, rather than use any specialized programs like that. And for the people that need those specialized programs then it was already kind of a given they'd also use it for gaming were they into it (unless they're diehard Mac enthusiasts or what have you).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 years ago

Doesn't xbox have some "developer mode" that technically lets you run linux vm on it?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 years ago

Nintendo exclusives have kept me buying their consoles, everything else is on my computer.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 years ago

IMO the advantage of consoles is you buy them once and never worry about hardware again. New generation gets people "excited" about better graphics etc. but it's an expense you were trying to avoid by choosing console in the first place.

If you prefer indie games, chances are a midrange PC will outlast one or more console generations.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 years ago (1 children)

I think the last "exciting" consoles were the Wii and (I'm aware that is was hated) Wii U. I mean that stuff was crazy, all the exclusives, all the multiplayer games, everything. I am not and never have been into shoot-em-up games like COD, so I've never really been excited for the Xbox or PlayStation line of consoles. Now its just "hey look we put more vibration motors in our controllers so... yeah". It just seems worthless. I'm looking forward to the day when VR becomes more like the Index but without selling your soul to Facebook or selling your kidneys to afford it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 years ago

Yeah, you know you hit the ground when your selling point is a SSD (that has barely any storage on it). I personally love First Person Shooters, but these just play better at PC.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 years ago (2 children)

Sure, it's not about having the best hardware, it's about support and having a good user experience. Good hardware is fine, but a lot of people lean towards affordability, and even new hardware isn't as revolutionary as it once was. If I were to buy a console now I'd probably get a Switch just because it's the most supported platform, and Zelda of course.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 years ago

A friend of mine recently bought a Switch and he is endlessly complaining about the high sales price of the games. With previous generation consoles you had at least a big & cheap second hand market of games, but now the value proposition is really not there anymore unless you plan to buy only very few games.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 years ago

Well Xbox and PS4 support isn't that better than PC. Userbase is also the same.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 years ago (1 children)

It's never about the consoles. It's about the games.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 years ago (1 children)

Games add artificial value. There is no reason for PS4 games to be exclusive to that system, if you are forcing me to buy a product than I don't think you are selling a good product. You might argue they don't force you to buy it but if you really want to play a PS4 exclusive game your only other option is not playing the game.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 years ago

Games are the value. A PS4 without games is worthless. I don't understand your issue. You can't demand Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft to give up their exclusive IP just so you don't have to buy a console.

And reading again through your post there are other things I don't get.

they just use off the shelf AMD cards

This is not the case. Microsoft and Sony use heavily specialized AMD chips that are not have no commercially available equivalent.

are getting more and more expensive

Also not true, console and game prices have been relatively constant adjusted for inflation.

AAA games suck across the board

This may be your opinion, but a lot of the AAA games that "suck" so hard sell huge amounts.

Just chill and have fun gaming, whatever you game on.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (1 children)

The pc vs console debate has been thrashed/rehashed to death but if you’re a console gamer of course there is a reason to get excited. New hardware upgrade with all the benefits plus knowing you will get the latest games running on the hardware for the duration of its cycle without additional expenditure koff cyberpunk being the exception.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 years ago

That's a good point.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 years ago (1 children)

I feel like exclusives are the only exiting part, and these are completely artificial reason since the is no technical reason anymore. So not really I guess ?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 years ago

Indeed they add artificial value to the system, so they don't really count.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 years ago

I can't even get a ps5 if I wanted one without jumping through hoops... Just to play games I can already play at a higher framerate or resolution.