Console services have destroyed the market for consoles - Switch to PC Now

Utnayan

F16 patrolling Rajaah until he plays DS3
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Playstation:

Mid Gen Hardware Upgrades where you have to pay for software upgrades on a game where you "Hope" it gets a patch.
Paying for the most basic of online play.
Game subscriptions where you do not even know, unless you look, 70% of the games coming in and out of the service are the same and recycled every 6-9 months.
Severe drop in AAA quality of Sony 1st person titles
No support for standard enhancements (Tempest 3D)
Locked down moderation for drop in and out party chat/groups
By the numbers reporting system without human oversight gets your account banned and lose access to your titles and console operation.
DEI leadership

Xbox:

Paying for the most basic of online play.
Gamepass Ultimate's price hike to include Ubisoft Classics which are 5+ years old, or a fortnite service both of which you won't use.
Gamepass Ultimate stating 75 Day One games - now in a menu system - of which 75, 3 are actually worth playing. And those 75 games are over 6 years of launches.
Complete disintegration of Microsoft 1st party title quality even with powerful acquisitions.
Two price hikes on the hardware blaming tariffs when the cost of the hardware over the last 5 years has decreased over 30% (Hardware for Series X is static as we all know) which is an outright lie.
85% of the games on Gamepass Ultimate are rated at, or below, 3/5 stars. These are games you would never play or purchase anyway. They are throw away titles to build a sense of value where none exists.
3 games in the last 5 years of Gamepass Ultimate on launch day worth playing (Subjective - but this would be Expedition 33, and both Plague tales for me) That's $599 for those 3 games.
Microsoft fails to realize how many of their subscriptions were stacked Xbox Live conversions to begin with.
DEI leadership

PC:

Yes, cost to entry will be higher initially. Over the long run the financials are clear.
You can play in an office or simply hook up the PC to your TV and output sound via TV or eArc - just plug in the HDMI cable and change your sound output setting. The smoke and mirrors of console vs PC ease of use is a fallacy.
Steam Ecosystem is more consumer friendly with refunds, one click to join games with friends, friend visibility, communities, all of this is there - at no charge.
In game chat, multiplayer, via discord for voice or drop in out party chat, communities for games are easily found - not locked behind a paywall.
Upgrade your graphical settings anytime you upgrade your hardware without paying for a patch or hoping it comes out in the first place. It is VERY surprising for me to learn that a game from 2015 with max settings (From Mad Max to Witcher 3) cranked to max in 4k at 100+ FPS completely destroys the graphics fidelity of a PS 5 Pro with a game launched to support that hardware in 2025. (Once again, no software paywall)

The evidence is pretty clear that Microsoft does not want to be in the hardware business at this point. They are shifting to being a game developer/publisher. They win either way because the move to PC means Windows 11, productivity packages, and a base to expand Co-Pilot.

The evidence for the gamer is VERY clear. Subscription services and their price elevations do not equate to their previous value add. In addition, numerous paywalls for using new hardware on older games hoping one gets a patch and having to pay for said patch is a whole new level of retard if a consumer falls for it.

Do what I and many others have if you are on the fence. Ease of use is barely a concern any longer. Controller support for most games are native. Tons of PC sales, free online, free voice chat, pro-consumer rights in Steam, and a huge backlog of games you can play or revisit with huge graphical upgrades at no charge - just max out the sliders.

The paywalls have gotten out of control, the quality of games on console has dimensioned greatly due to a wide variety of reasons (DEI, Progressive movements, political ideology, unions, bot ad spam on socials, sponsored progressive influencers - and along with all that, complete lack of skill sets and hive mind creativity with most developer houses) and stifling of options in in the services you pay for anyway (Censorship, guard-rails on free speech, etc)

The console market will soon crash.
 
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Chanur

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I am told the Switch 2 is the fastest selling console in history, but ok (I also don't get why).
They were quick to 3.5M and last numbers I saw were 7m. Unless it keeps up like that it means nothing.
 
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...

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I am told the Switch 2 is the fastest selling console in history, but ok (I also don't get why).
cus: kids. it's super easy to get a kid playing a switch. it's not infested with adds, gatcha and malware like phones.
 
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GuardianX

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it's not infested with adds, gatcha and malware like phones.

Ad's they have for DLC in games.

Malware, sure, not yet, til someone figures out how to make a game that accesses your digital library. Which, combined with Nintendo's shit poor ability to DRM and their absolute fear of anything online, won't be too far off if someone gets creative enough.
 
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Utnayan

F16 patrolling Rajaah until he plays DS3
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alwayshasbeen.jpg

Yeah I should have listened a long time ago. I was worried about using my new PC gaming rig in my theater room. Then I simply plugged HDMI into eARC on my LG OLED 65, went back to my receiver which supports Atmos, HDR and Dolby Vision, ALLM, etc - use a small wireless keyboard to switch my sound to output Nvidia (or use my nova wireless pro when voice is wanted) and it’s off to the races. Big picture mode via Steam is awesome. No complexity at all other than you have to ensure eARC TV settings and receiver settings are correlated.

wireless Xbox controller over blue tooth, WiFi 7 connectivity, dream come true. Weekend is over just move it back to my office and the same config exists originally.
 
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...

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Ad's they have for DLC in games.

Malware, sure, not yet, til someone figures out how to make a game that accesses your digital library. Which, combined with Nintendo's shit poor ability to DRM and their absolute fear of anything online, won't be too far off if someone gets creative enough.
yea but if you click a thing on the switch it takes you to the market (asking for a password) then if you try to buy it it asks for anotehr password.

cel phones will let kids wander off into a rabbit hole of retarded advertisements and attempted purchases on your phone.

there's a wide gulf between the pitfalls of "phone games" (see i quoted there because i think phone games are a joke, often cash grabs, but generally terrible) and the switch.

The switch is just easier to use for a kid than steam because it has great big pictures for all the games and great big icons to click on.

I havne't touched a playstation since uhhh.. ps2. and xbox since.....shit i think i played huge xbox at a friend's house . maybe they're better. dunno. the grandparents got the girl (a 5 year old) a ps5 and she need a ton more help to use it.

anyway that's the biggest strength of the switch. good for kids. second biggest strength is that you can play it portiable but it's not as rancid as mobile phone games.

that's why it's selling gud despite not being powerful or having a good game lineup. folks are content to play old switch games and emulated games on it. its not about quality or innovation. it's just the easiest to use.
 
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GuardianX

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Yeah I should have listened a long time ago. I was worried about using my new PC gaming rig in my theater room. Then I simply plugged HDMI into eARC on my LG OLED 65, went back to my receiver which supports Atmos, HDR and Dolby Vision, ALLM, etc - use a small wireless keyboard to switch my sound to output Nvidia (or use my nova wireless pro when voice is wanted) and it’s off to the races. Big picture mode via Steam is awesome. No complexity at all other than you have to ensure eARC TV settings and receiver settings are correlated.

wireless Xbox controller over blue tooth, WiFi 7 connectivity, dream come true. Weekend is over just move it back to my office and the same config exists originally.

My HTPC box doubled as a home server for quite a while, had a shitty GPU and CPU in it as well, then decided to cleave the 2.

Server got it's own dedicated box. Only thing I really need to do is Dual NIC on the Server box and make a true adblock for the entire house.

HTPC got a hand me down GPU (I wanna say it's an AMD 7600 or something). Sucker plays nearly anything, sure not at 4k but, the cares I don't give, pop most things on it at 2k or whatever 2500~ x 1440 is and it runs it amazingly well. Whole family uses it. Have used it for playing MMO tests for Adrullan Online Adventures, PoE2, God of War, kid plays some Palworld on it.
 

Ambiturner

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Xbox:

Paying for the most basic of online play.
Gamepass Ultimate's price hike to include Ubisoft Classics which are 5+ years old, or a fortnite service both of which you won't use.
Gamepass Ultimate stating 75 Day One games - now in a menu system - of which 75, 3 are actually worth playing. And those 75 games are over 6 years of launches.
Complete disintegration of Microsoft 1st party title quality even with powerful acquisitions.
Two price hikes on the hardware blaming tariffs when the cost of the hardware over the last 5 years has decreased over 30% (Hardware for Series X is static as we all know) which is an outright lie.
85% of the games on Gamepass Ultimate are rated at, or below, 3/5 stars. These are games you would never play or purchase anyway. They are throw away titles to build a sense of value where none exists.
3 games in the last 5 years of Gamepass Ultimate on launch day worth playing (Subjective - but this would be Expedition 33, and both Plague tales for me) That's $599 for those 3 games.
Microsoft fails to realize how many of their subscriptions were stacked Xbox Live conversions to begin with.
DEI leadership

Isn't it 75 games "per year" and not "over 6 years"?

Agree with everything else, with the biggest issue being how massively disappointing most of the day one release games have been.
 
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Caeden

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Tend to agree. But my backlog on PS4/PS5, Switch, and SnES (lol) is so large that it’s gonna be a year. I did build a new PC with this in mind.
 

Utnayan

F16 patrolling Rajaah until he plays DS3
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Isn't it 75 games "per year" and not "over 6 years"?

Agree with everything else, with the biggest issue being how massively disappointing most of the day one release games have been.

Since I am still subscribed until Aug 2026 I went into their Day 1 release menu. It listed 75+ games, all over the course of the last 5-6 years. That just may be me thinking that is what they meant though.

When I go to their day one release schedule upcoming, some with dates and some without, there are 32.


Most of those I haven't even heard of.
 

Cybsled

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Look what forum you’re on. Most people probably primarily pc game anyways lol
 
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Noodleface

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Look what forum you’re on. Most people probably primarily pc game anyways lol
I come and go between both. Haven't touched my consoles in ages though outside of beating piss out of my kids on Mario kart world

I'll stick to steam sales

Utnayan Utnayan drunk gaming night some day soon plz
 
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Vorph

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I'll do this when MS finally makes connecting a PC to a TV work as well as an Xbox for gaming and a Shield TV for everything else.

Maybe they'll get there by Windows 21, but I wouldn't count on it.
 
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Valderen

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For me it's not a console vs PC issue, it's living room vs office issue, as I use the same PC for gaming and work.

I prefer by far to play in the living room, 65" inch OLED TV vs 34 Inch OLED monitor, recliner chair vs office chair (comfortable but doesn't match recliner). There's also an intangible where I am more relaxed in living room than in office.

The biggest issue for me still for me is controller support as it's almost impossible to play with a mouse anymore due to tremors in my hand hand cause by Parkinson's, the effect is mitigated a lot on a controller.

I cancelled Playstation Plus a while back since I barely use my Playstation, basically only for first party exclusive which are mostly single player, and just maintaining the basic subscription for Gamepass just for online play, I don't care about the free games.

So for now console are still a thing since I have them already but their live service value is getting worse and worse.
 

Tasty The Treat

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Overpriced subscriptions for online access on consoles is probably the #1 reason why my next gen plan is to just get a gaming PC and no longer support any of these consoles. I have a Switch 2 already if that counts but I am pretty sure that will be the last console I will buy for the foreseeable future.

Even if you find them affordable now, what just happened with Xbox and their Game Pass subscriptions is what is sure to happen everywhere else, just look at the way PS+ subs have crept up in price over the years, even their most basic subscription is $80 a year now. I have to give Nintendo some credit for keeping a $20 basic access subscription, they seem to be the only one not trying to ripoff their customers for basic online services.

It's like all I want is just basic online multiplayer access and maybe some cloud saving, features that are free on Steam and other PC services. Having to pay $75 or $80 just for that feels like I am being extorted by this point. It's like yeah I can easily afford this shit but it's just the principle that I am standing against, I just don't like being ripped off and having to subscribe to something that I shouldn't have to.
 
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rhinohelix

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It's amazing that from 5 years ago at the pinnacle of console hardware, with three diverse approaches to the market (MS PC/Gamepass; Sony 1st/3rd party Exclusives, Nintendo Walled Garden/Distinct IP) Only Nintendo remains standing. MS has completely cratered as a business operation; they are still making tons of money but not with the growth they were hoping for and obviously without the internal confidence from MS Exec support/leadership they need. Playstation owns the hardware market but has let their stable of exclusives die. There is nothing compelling about either MS or Sony consoles any longer. Nintendo still has their walled gardens but to what end? It feels like we have regressed 25 years in the console space, which used to be a stripped down, easy to use, specialized experience because the people in charge are MBA Corporatist and/or DEI idiots.

Innovation in the console space died, they became PC's and thus fail in comparison to actual PCs when they charge near PC prices.

Microsoft better watch out because folks are going to be coming for their Windows OS PC dominance soon.