With sales dropping and confidence declining, how close are we to the end of consoles as we know them?
    • Random Dent ( CrabAndBroom@lemmy.ml ) English
      10·
      2 years ago

      I could see the appeal of consoles back in the day, when they were weaker specs but much cheaper and the games just worked right out of the box. But nowadays it seems like they’re just as expensive, still not as good for specs and the games are just as bug-riddled as PC games half the time. And Sony has been releasing all their big hits on PC anyway so yeah really no reason for me to get a PS5 that I can see.

      • BorgDrone ( BorgDrone@lemmy.one ) 
        5·
        2 years ago

        But nowadays it seems like they’re just as expensive, still not as good for specs and the games are just as bug-riddled as PC games half the time.

        No they aren’t ‘as expensive’, LTT did a video a while back where they tried to build a PC that could beat a PS5 for a similar price. They had to buy used parts to match the price and the PC did not include a controller ($69). If you’re going to use used parts, then also compare it to the price of a used PS5.

        And Sony has been releasing all their big hits on PC anyway so yeah really no reason for me to get a PS5 that I can see.

        Sure, if you want to play old-ass games, get a PC.

          • BorgDrone ( BorgDrone@lemmy.one ) 
            2·
            2 years ago

            I see you don’t replay games, so why even own a console if you only play a game once?

            I’m not sure what you’re trying to say here. If I don’t play a game multiple times I shouldn’t play it at all?

        • 0ops ( 0ops@lemm.ee ) 
          1·
          2 years ago

          Not sure why you’re being downvoted. Gaming PC’s are expensive and a luxury! It makes sense economically. With consoles there’s an incentive to sell hardware cheap to get people into the ecosystem. With the exception of the steamdeck, there’s no such incentive for PC’s: if the hardware is worth x amount, you can bet your ass you’ll have to pay at least that. Yeah games are generally cheaper on PC, but not by much, and the barrier to entry is much lower for consoles. Hell, the PC I just built from used parts and Amazon deals cost me $800 (not including accessories), and while the processor and ram is almost certainly better than the ps5’s, the graphics are about on par, if anything slightly worse. You can find used ps5’s for less than $400. Is there really a used PC out there that can touch that?

            • BorgDrone ( BorgDrone@lemmy.one ) 
              2·
              2 years ago

              You’re not going to play any of your PS5 games in 5-10 years?

              No, I only ever play through a game once. After I finish the main campaign I’ll never touch it again.

              Why would I play a game I already played when I could play a new game instead?

              • jjjalljs ( jjjalljs@ttrpg.network ) 
                1·
                2 years ago

                Roguelikes.

                Roguelites.

                Chess.

                Deck builders.

                More broadly, games with different narrative choices (eg: Witcher 2 has two mutually exclusive middle acts).

                And also more broadly, games with different mechanical choices (eg: many RPGs).

                There’s also games where the process itself is fun (eg: Tetris).

                Also, as many humans have imperfect memory, after enough time has passed a game may feel fresh playing it again. It may also land differently playing it at a new stage in life.

                • BorgDrone ( BorgDrone@lemmy.one ) 
                  1·
                  2 years ago

                  Roguelikes.

                  Roguelites.

                  Chess.

                  Deck builders.

                  Not my cup of tea.

                  More broadly, games with different narrative choices (eg: Witcher 2 has two mutually exclusive middle acts).

                  I kinda like it that it makes my decisions in the game more impactful. If you’re going to go back and play the other option anyway, then it kind of makes the decision meaningless.

                • anguo ( anguo@lemmy.ca ) 
                  1·
                  2 years ago

                  I hâte to agree with the other person here, but I’m a big roguelike fan and I rarely dust-off one that I have played before. I go through a period where I play a game quasi-exclusively until I burn out, then I will probably never touch it again.

      • frezik ( frezik@midwest.social ) 
        2·
        2 years ago

        I’m not sure why I’d want a PS5 when there are zero games that interest me on it, and most of PC games I do want have very modest requirements. A Steam Deck is overkill for most of them.

  • Fizz ( Fizz@lemmy.nz ) BannedBanned
    10·
    2 years ago

    The money is in the users not selling the hardware. As long as Playstation has hundreds of million daily users they will continue to make insane profit. The people will move up a generation eventually.

      • Fizz ( Fizz@lemmy.nz ) BannedBanned
        4·
        2 years ago

        Focusing on PC more than ever isn’t exactly a high bar. Consoles (maybe not xbox) are still doing extremely well and consoles are more popular than PC by quite a big margin. I expect Sony and Nintendo to continue to grow their userbase even if the sales on the latest platform drop a bit.

        • thingsiplay ( thingsiplay@beehaw.org ) 
          5·
          2 years ago

          consoles are more popular than PC by quite a big margin.

          How do you measure this? Steam alone has 130 to 150 million active users, more than Switch customers at a whole. And that does not even include some of the most popular PC games at all. I also expect PC user base to grow, it has more potential than consoles.

          So yes, its a big deal for companies like Sony to open up this big to PC and to be that successful. They don’t even need to sell a console to sell games. Off course consoles will remain popular and for good reason. But most popular games are mulitsystem games and not specific to consoles anyway. In my opinion it is remarkable how much Sony focuses on PC now. I hope they keep doing it; its only beneficial for the players, the publishers and for Sony.

          • Fizz ( Fizz@lemmy.nz ) BannedBanned
            2·
            2 years ago

            The stats I could find compared pc and current and last gen consoles so ps4 and ps5 era and the split was basically 50/50. But if you think about it that’s not a fair comparison because pc has people who running on hardware worse than a ps3.

            I mostly take issue with the smug tone of the article acting like it’s over for consoles just because they didn’t meet expectations and decided to bring some games to pc. Consoles are still extremely popular and far more powerful than the average pc according to steam hardware survey. They will still be around and successful no doubt about it.

            • AmbiguousProps ( AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today ) English
              5·
              2 years ago

              that’s not a fair comparison because pc has people who running on hardware worse than a ps3.

              This is a benefit of using PC, not a downside. Unlike consoles, you aren’t forced to upgrade every few years and you actually have the ability to change graphics settings. Even if you want to upgrade your PC, you don’t need to get an entirely new build.

              That’s also missing the fact that plenty of people don’t need or want to play the latest AAA title.

            • thingsiplay ( thingsiplay@beehaw.org ) 
              4·
              2 years ago

              I mostly take issue with the smug tone of the article acting like it’s over for consoles just because they didn’t meet expectations and decided to bring some games to pc. Consoles are still extremely popular and far more powerful than the average pc according to steam hardware survey. They will still be around and successful no doubt about it.

              I agree with you here. These articles are stupid telling people it would be over for consoles. It’s just clickbait or they are uninformed. Maybe besides your point that the “average pc” is that weak as you say. Most are at a level of PS4 or stronger. But that is not all you need to compare if you want to an analysis. This topic is extremely complicated. You can’t just take the average. There are far more PC users than console players. Its like taking the Game Boy into account and saying that the average game consoles is weak. That’s not the full story.

              In example most monthly active users on consoles play games that could be played on a potato PC or last gen consoles too and these people probably do not buy newest games. Similar to the situation on PC.

    • orbitz ( orbitz@lemmy.ca ) 
      4·
      2 years ago

      Going back awhile now too for that no install right? Like didn’t PS3 have some installs? My memory is fuzzy on when it exactly started, but yeah it was nice to just pop in the media (cart, disc) and play. That was a great perk of console games, especially rentals,though there was a small time I could rent PC games when I moved to a city in the late 90s. These days I mostly play on PC anyways so always install but it was nice for the first few decades of my gaming to not require it.