Are consoles a rip off?

[ISP]

Nope. They offer a good value but with their own benefits and trades offs as compared to a pc.

[Justince]

It really comes down to personal value I suppose. The Xbox One X, in my case, is of lesser value than say a PS4, because everything I could play on an Xbox I can also play on a higher end PC. Inherently, consoles are not a rip-off; they provide plenty of current term value for very little maintenance/investment. They also provide a necessary and simple approach to just getting into the game. If people want to invest more, like in a PC, they simply get more, but not without certain caveats. The PC market isn't for everybody, I know hardcore gamers that simply won't put up with PC hardware problems, cleaning, or upgrades. They want to buy a box, and set it up on the TV and be done with it. That's not going to change, and for many, that makes up for the entry fee and the eventuality that the system becomes obsolete.

Besides, I think backward compatibility is becoming a real force once again, especially with the shift from unique processor architectures in consoles to moving everything to something familiar like x86, will almost guarantee ease of this feature in the next generation of consoles.

[RevolverGirl]

I dont particularly think they are, (I define "ripoff" as buying something and not getting what you payed for) or at least I used to think they werent. The jump from PS3 to PS4 isn't that impressive. And I dont see any graphical improvements to justify a PS5 or new Xbox 4. We are literally only going to buy the next gen consoles for the exclusives and that gane companys will flock to the newest toy. So in that sense...yeah consoles are kind of bullshit.

Outside of PC which provides the best graphics and online and the Switch which provides me a new way to play on the go, the PS4 and Xbox1 are kind of the same thing. And the PS5 and Xbox4 are not something im hype for...why wpuld I get hype to buy yet another slighlty upgraded box which will provide nothing different just to get the newest games coming out.