Paying $700 for a locked system is crazy.
It also costs $468.68 over 7 years with the 12 month plan.
So it’s really $1168.68.
You sure? Last I remember the “crazy” quota was paying $999 for a monitor holder branded by a fruit (a bitten fruit, not even a whole one).
Joke aside, the most amusing thing, is that you have to pay $700 for a device attached to your TV, then if you want to check a website you have to resort on your smartphone or whatever shitty browser is integrated in your “smart” TV… because PS5 don’t have web browser support!
because PS5 don’t have web browser support!
That one’s pretty easy though. Browsers are a HUGE attack surface for jailbreaking. It’ll happen eventually anyway, but I can’t say that I’m surprised
That’s not how the enforce security works. You’re either capable to secure the device without removing basic functionality, or don’t.
Xbox has a browser, as any iphone/ipad out of there. If the only way for Sony to keep security is cripple functionality; it doesn’t mark their device as valuable at all
(additionally, with proper web browser support you can play web videogames without have to pay Sony: would you say this also apply to Sony’s choice to remove web browser?)
Well, it is a gradient
Consoles are only a few rungs further down on the freedom ladder than a Windows PC. Both are somewhere near the bottom.
Answer: A Windows PC + all of the consoles + all of the handhelds + both major mobile device brands.
It just depends on how much you’re willing to sell your soul… in order to amuse yourself.
Modern consoles with digital games already blur the lines on console generations, but like, very few games are even using the PS5 to max.
PC you can decide your own “generation”, and if you upgrade your PC, you don’t have to buy remakes, you just turn the settings up.
Between that and locking yourself to one entity to buy games from, there’s a lot of downsides to consoles and not many upsides left.
I was always a fan of consoles, everything is packaged nicely and you only had to worry about buying the game itself.
Eventually I ran into the problem where Sony prevented me from starting a DLC I bought and downloaded simply because the base game is validated for a different region. Umm I’m sorry I live in a different country now?? Couldn’t get their AI chatbot to help with refunds either (but honestly shouldn’t they prevent purchasing in the first place…)
Bit the bullet and built a PC instead. Fuck Sony.
But friendly reminder: games are almost always cheaper on PC. Maybe not at first, but very quickly.
And you don’t pay a monthly fee. Which i only found out a few month ago. Like what the actual fuck
Yes no monthly fee just to play multiplayer, that one really saves a lot of money.
My kids got a hand-me-down PS4, and I found out that we had to pay a connection fee to play online on top of my existing ISP internet fee. I had a what-the-actual-fuck moment. You’re forced into the walled garden of the console maker’s store and forced to pay more to play with friends? I built them both PCs and they’ve never really looked back.
I’ve never been a console fan simply for the proprietary nature of the devices along with the walled garden concept (and fuck controllers lol, I’m too used to mouse and keyboard) , but it really cemented my further rejection of the systems when it became apparent that online play was extra $.
If you use the subscription for like a single console generation, you find out most of the cost of the console was hidden in the find print via those installment payments. At least with the PS5Pro, thanks to the really high console price and relatively short time til the PS6, the cost of the subscription isn’t that much if you intend to upgrade to the PS6 immediately. But if you got the original 5 and planned to keep it until the 6, then you might be spending more on your PS5 basic-tier subscription than the MSRP of the PS5Pro (and double if you used premium the whole time).
It doesn’t really matter as a PC does so much more than play games. It’s like arguing that a Nintendo Switch is cheaper than an a flagship smartphone. Ok, have fun trying to file your taxes, run blender, write code, browse the web, or backup media on your playstation.
More importantly, PC has significantly more and better exclusives. Factorio, Dwarf Fortress, Ostranauts, and Squad off the top of my head that I’ve been playing lately. There are so many incredible games, frequently that are $20-40, that will never be on a console. They’re never advertised as “PC exclusives” because there’s no marketing budget to push that stupid concept, but they are. People always talk about which console to buy because they have better exclusives, but any reasonable person would choose a PC if they cared about that.
Yes – and just to add, many of the console AAA exclusives aren’t “exclusive” at all, because a significant number end up on PC anyway. They’re only exclusives if you’re in the PS/XB bubble. (Switch is a standout because Nintendo)
Switch is only exclusive from PC if you care about legality. The Switch emulators are quite good.
I really like my PC, but it is the absolute worst, that you cannot buy disc versions for PC anymore, like for consoles.
If you are willing to, you can sell some discs for the same amount you spent before. Especially price stable games like Fromsoft titles.
Maybe I’m too Canadian to understand but where on earth are you able to build a decent gaming PC able to play the latest AAA games on high graphics for $700?
No really, please tell me. I want to upgrade my PC.
Edit: For everyone trying to explain it to me.
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There’s more to a PC than a CPU and GPU. Those of you giving me only those 2 that make up more than half of the $700 are kind of reinforcing my point.
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The key thing here is running AAA games on high settings using this budget. You can’t really do that.
I think this article is sensationalizing the situation a bit. It could be $700 (if you already have a case, hdds, psu, and cooling on hand.)
But really comes down to your desired resolution and frame rate. I know plenty of people who are fine with 1080p and 60fps.
1440, 2160 120 is another story. The higher end gpu would likely require a slightly higher tier PSU and more efficient cooling which could add a few bucks to the GPU and CPU investment.
I recommend checking out PC part picker to see what your ideal components would shake out to.
I mean you can build a 2k gaming PC for under $700. I think the only games on PS5 that’ll be running at 120fps will be the anything shooters that’ll run at 250fps on a toaster.
Random “$700 PCPP” search. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8PmJZJ
It’s something. B450M is about as low as you can go, and not sure i’d go with ddr4 or WD green for storage, but it would definitely be a PC.
The PS5 Pro is a decent value compared to a PC. It’s just not an amazing value like the original PS5 was in 2020.
Take PCPP’s Entry Level AMD Gaming Build. Upgrade it to a 2TB NVME and a RX 6800 GPU. That’s $830. https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/NtFfrH/entry-level-amd-gaming-build
That’s pretty similar specs to the PS5 Pro (with a better Zen 3 CPU, but minus a gamepad).
(if you already have a case, hdds, psu, and cooling on hand.)
You can also get all of those except the hdds for quite literally 0 dollars, although depending on electricity prices and what upgrading you want to do it might be better long term to spend on the psu.
You won’t be able to do ultra, but you can do high at 1080p30fps in most every modern game pretty easily for that price. 1080p 60fps for a solid chunk of them too.
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/MzFVh3
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A6coMhaOw0Q
Your point still stands though; you’re still better off spending 1000$ so that you don’t end up shooting yourself in the foot with regards to upgradeability, which is one of the big reasons people want a PC in the first place.
That’s still better than consoles can run most native games too lul. People always use the argument that consoles ‘just work’ at max graphics as a selling point when it’s rarely the case. Almost every new game has issues on release that need to be fixed and even after some never run at max.
the PS5 pro uses 60 CU rdna 4, so if you want to match that, buy the supposedly rumored 8800XT that amd is trying to pump more of as they forgoe top end end generation supposedly (basically similar to the RX 480 and RX 5700xt generations)
keep in mind, console and pc sales and cost differ because of where they focus on making money. Sony for example makes money off accessory sales (the ps5 pro is disk driveless and no vertical stand) ontop of never adressing the rampant stick drift problem the dualsense has, ontop of paid online, none of which is any signicant factor on PC, which generally speaking is more front loaded cost heavy but overtime has lower cost in games, services and such.
You could probably build something decent for CAD$1000. Canada computers often have massive discounts on a lot of items. US$700 to CAD$1000 is not that far apart. The console would probably still be more performant but the point is, the prices are not that far apart anymore.
With exchange it’s closer to $950 cad, best bang for your buck is probably used. Quick glance at kijiji and I saw some 3070tis for sub $400, heck if you’re fine with slightly older hardware just saw a ryzen 3700x + 2070 super, ram, full system honestly for $650 cad. You’ll probably get quite a bit of mileage out of that CPU, I ran with a 3rd gen i5 for nearly a decade
Assume someone is already going to buy a Chromebook for $200-300. Why not spend $900-1000 on a nicer laptop or desktop and need a console at all?
And if you’re a certain age, why invest in an ecosystem that will die with the next hardware iteration, when you’ve seen it happen over and over? I bought a cartridge of Super Mario Bros 3 in 1993 with my birthday money. Why should I have to buy it again, ever, if I still own the cart? Why not invest in an ecosystem that’s by and large always backwards compatible?
The initial buy in for the steam deck is so much cheaper. It has everything you need in a package: oled screen, portable, better sales, mods, repairable and free multiplayer.
I love my Deck.
If you’re interested in higher performance, have a use case for a desktop, are willing to go for used parts you put together yourself; then you could get a really decent performance PC for the price of a Deck.
Seriously, buying used parts when building a gaming PC is the way to go if you’re looking to save some money. I just snagged a used 6700 XT for $220 (~400 new) and a used 3070 earlier this year for $300 (~500 new) on ebay, and better deals could be had if you’re willing to be patient and hunt for a good deal.
There are benefits to buying new (such as warranty), but you can save some serious cheddar if you shop smart.
You could also buy cheaper ‘lesser’ parts if you’re not interested in playing the top of the top new games. I basically only play league, ff14 and indie games. My 12 year old laptop can run everything I play still with no problem (I know cause I take it to my girlfriend when I stay over), granted I do have a pretty nice pc now a days.
I’m going to be very excited for the Steam Deck when it comes out. Though I feel like Valve has been building hype around it for a little too long. I feel like they should have started advertising a year or a year and a half from release date. And considering they haven’t even announced a release date yet, perhaps that magical date is in the future. By the time Valve actually starts selling the thing, the hype might be all dried up.
