Are consoles a rip off?

[Seth The Cartographer]

before I talk about this I'd like to preface that I own all the Play stations, an Xbox 360, Nintendo switch, and a $2500 PC. So are Consoles a rip-off? I've been struggling with this a lot in the past year for a few main reasons. The first being that after a few years they become obsolete, this was very apparent with the PS3, once the PS4 came out there was little need to play on the PS3 and mine got moved to become a very expensive DVD player. The PS2 is the only console I believe kept its relevance for a few reasons I won't get into but I still play the PS2 today for guitar hero and GTA. Another reason is the fact that they are expensive for what you are getting, my PC I built in 2016 and since then I have had to upgrade it once but that was only to play VR, if I didn't upgrade then I could still play the AAA games that come out today. And the last reason would be the game selection, The indy scene on consoles are a lot better but with a console, you are limited in some indy games that are only available on PC.

For me nowadays I've been trying to sell my PS3 and 360 because they are just collecting dust and I really enjoy my PS4 but when the PS5 comes out and support is lost for it, I'm not excited to buy all the games I own on PS5 for the same or slightly reduced price. Now I'm not arguing that PC than consoles at all, there are a lot of things I really like about them but with the price tag and when the new and improved one comes out making the one you own lesser or obsolete I just can't see myself going further with consoles than what I currently own. The saving grace that may pull me over is the exculusives, it's upsetting that so many great games you have to buy $300-$400 consoles just to play, the only real reason I have a PS4 is for games like spider man and shadow of the collosus

Id like to hear what you guys have to say about this and your thoughts, id also like to say I'm super excited to join this community, and I hope to see a lot of you around


Edit: Id also like to point out the biggest ripoff of consoles is PSN, nintendo online, and Xbox Gold (Live? idk i never have used it) Having to pay to be able to play online is ridiculous i and highway robbery. If i were to give any reason on why PC is actually better than console it would be not having to pay to play with friends. Its straight up highway robbery in my eyes and in the long run you will save money having a gaming pc than a Console

[Aidy]

I dont see anyone buying in his right mind to buy a console if not for its exclusives

I didn't, so you're wrong.

The fact the consoles having them, is proof of it self

So the fact that PCs also have exclusives means people only buy PCs for exclusives?

[Redbear]

You debunked it? Wow! I dont see anyone buying in his right mind to buy a console if not for its exclusives. The fact the consoles having them, is proof of it self. But if you think i lie. please explain that to me. I will share it with my friends to laugh at.

[Aidy]

I wouldn't go so far as to say consoles are a 'rip-off,' but as we move further into an age where games and platforms need to constantly be online and hardware is evolving quickly, rapid obsolescence (planned or otherwise) is becoming a more frequent reality. You can upgrade a PC with new parts as technology develops, but eventually you'll need to upgrade a central part (ie: the processor) which in turn will demand further upgrades to the rest of the system (motherboard, RAM, eventually a new graphics card, re-imaging, etc), so at the end of the day you're practically ending up with a new PC altogether. This is similar to the way consoles work, but with consoles you cannot necessarily upgrade them and will need to wait for the next iteration or generation before you can enjoy the latest titles. I'm a proponent of both PC and console, having experienced both, and I'd wager to say it comes down to preference, which kinds of games you enjoy, and how much work you are willing to put into your gaming experience.

Also I think the length of console lifespans may increase as the improvements in graphics tech lessen. When I look at some PC games of games I play on console you can clearly see they are better graphically, but they're not *bad* on the console, just have less flair, less lighting effects etc. It's not like we're still three generations of consoles back where everything was blocky and low-res textures. The "acceptability" of the graphics on consoles is much longer these days.

[system11]

Not a rip-off - they're cheap compared to an actually good PC and last just as long, you don't have to deal with Windows 10, virus software etc. On top of that they're sold to "do this list of things" and they're usable for that list of things by people not qualified to manage their own operating system. You can get it out of the box, plug it in and follow the prompts, done. All for less than the cost of a good graphics card.

The games on the other hand - I was ok with full RRP for a single player game with multiplayer tacked on. I'm much less fine with paying full RRP for a bare bones multiplayer with training missions. Yes, I'm looking at you Black Ops 4.

[Ma Ma G47]

I wouldn't go so far as to say consoles are a 'rip-off,' but as we move further into an age where games and platforms need to constantly be online and hardware is evolving quickly, rapid obsolescence (planned or otherwise) is becoming a more frequent reality. You can upgrade a PC with new parts as technology develops, but eventually you'll need to upgrade a central part (ie: the processor) which in turn will demand further upgrades to the rest of the system (motherboard, RAM, eventually a new graphics card, re-imaging, etc), so at the end of the day you're practically ending up with a new PC altogether. This is similar to the way consoles work, but with consoles you cannot necessarily upgrade them and will need to wait for the next iteration or generation before you can enjoy the latest titles. I'm a proponent of both PC and console, having experienced both, and I'd wager to say it comes down to preference, which kinds of games you enjoy, and how much work you are willing to put into your gaming experience.

[Aidy]

Click the "Quote" option below the post and you get a template that puts the entire post in a single quote. If you want to split the post into multiples, just copy the starting quote tag and put your own end tags in where needed.

[Inkdipper]

Any product that isn't conducive to my right to repair is sort of a ripoff imo.

[PriestTroit]

How do you quote people and have it say "originally posted by (user)??

[PriestTroit]

• You can play your games offline without any issue whatsoever, whereas that's not always 100% true on PC.
Really, think better about this.

Care to elaborate? As far as I'm aware, you can walk to Walmart and buy a PS4/Xbone, plug it in without having any internet at home at all, put in whatever offline game you have, and you're set to go. I don't think you can relly do that with a PC. Can you even buy PC games without an internet connection anymore?

• You can sell your older consoles and recoup some of the costs much easier than you could with a PC
PCs are generic hardware, they can be used for practically anything. Selling them costs nothing.

What I mean by that is you're going to have a much more difficult of a time selling your whole PC or the parts on the secondary market than you would a modern console. Just take a look in your local FaceBook marketplace, Craigslist or even pawn shops.

• Consoles cost less, especially if you purchase an older model or generation.
If you buy an old PC they are very cheap too.

Maybe, but can you beat the original Playstation on sale at E-bay right now for $23.99 or the Pawn Shop used 360 for like 50 bucks? I doubt it.

Can you play Mario Party on a PC with your kids? That's what I thought!
Emulators

What are you gonna do, have 4 keyboards and mouses hooked up to your computer with 4 chairs crowded around the screen somehow? With kids? Pft! A couch, floorspace, controllers and a TV works best.

Consoles take up less dedicated space in your home.
Mini PC, Laptops.

I would bet most PC gamers don't use those and instead have a desktop setup. And I would also bet most Console gamers have their system hooked up in front of their couch and beside their living room TV. Less dedicated space on average.

• Consoles are more energy efficient both in operation and construction. Good for your wallet and the environment!
WTF NO

Yes, my friend.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michael.../#3397a47b1bff

• Your friends are more likely to have a console
WTF NO
• Consoles are more culturally acceptable
WTF NO

I'm pretty sure most gamers are console gamers. Though I bet it depends on how you define "gamer." If you throw in grandma who plays Farmville, maybe that tilts the balance.

Consoles are easier to transport
Mini PC, Laptops.

Buy and large, gaming PCs aren't laptops.

[Eleven Bravo]

Well, if you enjoy the consoles for the time their relevant than thats fine. You dont need to buy a new console every cycle as well as you really dont need to upgrade your PC because new hardware dropped. If you enjoyed the time you had with those consoles than great! I wouldn't count that as a ripoff.

Something I found strange was your opinion of Indy games on console, not that your incorrect by thinking the scene is better on console it's just however extremely uncommon to think that.

[Borghir]

Shhh! Gabe might be listening!

[Aidy]

the only excuse to have a console these days is the exclusives

I've already debunked this. On this thread. Maybe read everything before you reply

[Baron Baldric]

[Redbear]

For me PC is the longterm cheaper version if you wanna play games or other things you need to do on. Also no extra cost to play multiplayer games or other games that hide behind a paywall. And the most importent one, you can play all the older games on your new computer, and it has the option to have emulators onboard. the only excuse to have a console these days is the hostage... i mean exclusives on the consoles. Else they wouldnt sell that well. Unfortunally software devs have grown lazy besides a couple of few. Most cant be bortherd anymore. look for current released games that are rushed out the door.