Just gonna go on a little rant here, like, why? Why do people still buy consoles? I just dont get it, you're buying essentially a computer that can do nothing other than games? And on top of that you still have to buy the games themselves, which aren't cheap.

Like, why not just build/buy a PC? Because with the price of modern consoles (~$500) you can get a pretty decent PC. Now the thing with PCs is that you can at least do other things when not gaming (Office work, a bit of coding, video editing, photo editing, artwork, etc, etc...). On PC there are many free games, or, 🏴‍☠️ is also an option (though not reccommended), you can also emulate many old games.

Don't have the time to build and set one up? Buy a prebuilt or a mini PC, shouldn't be harder to set up than a console.

Exclusives, mostly. And sometimes PC ports of games aren't that good. It can also be cheaper to get a console than a computer that can play the same games at the same quality. A system you can keep near and easily hook up to your TV as well.

And with something like the Switch or Switch 2, it's easy to take with you.

Not to mention consoles are space savers. A PC, even a pre-built one, requires a decent space to set-up. Whereas as a console can be placed pretty much anywhere.

taranuka said:
Not to mention consoles are space savers. A PC, even a pre-built one, requires a decent space to set-up. Whereas as a console can be placed pretty much anywhere.

is a PC really is that much larger than a console? you can get decently priced prebuilts that are only about the size of two Series X consoles.

that all being said, if that stuff that I've heard about the next MS console being potentially able to run Windows and/or Steam OS is true, it sounds like it effectively just is a prebuilt PC. so... there is that.

Perhaps it's silly, but that's something I like about consoles- that they're only for videogames. I can turn on my Wii and play a single game for hours without having to worry about the potential distractions that would otherwise pop up if I played something on my PC. Depending on the game, it's also easier to use controllers over keyboard, as the actions are just more natural. I've had my Wii since 2009 (super mario bros bundle edition) back when I bought it from Sears (rip Sears), and it still works great. I would even go as far as to say that these days, computers don't really have the same longevity they did when it came to consistently playing games on them over the years. My current PC which I've had since 2017 can hardly handle running larger gacha games, and don't even get me started on chatting on discord while the games are running, it's a BSOD every time! I never have to question if my Wii will fail me like my PC does with certain larger games, because my Wii was built to handle all Wii games that came out.

seraphfallen said:
Perhaps it's silly, but that's something I like about consoles- that they're only for videogames. I can turn on my Wii and play a single game for hours without having to worry about the potential distractions that would otherwise pop up if I played something on my PC. Depending on the game, it's also easier to use controllers over keyboard, as the actions are just more natural.

PCs can use controllers. I got Nine Sols recently, and it automatically detected and works perfectly with my Switch Pro Controller that I have connected to my system. Just hit Play in Steam, grabbed the controller, and it plays flawlessly without touching the keyboard. PCs have the advantage with input, since it can use controllers, or keyboard and mouse, or flight sticks, or steering wheels... basically anything a console can use, a PC can too, plus more. As long as the game was developed properly, it's your choice what to use, depending on what's most comfortable for the style of game. You can also turn off apps before playing (or set them to Away or whatever mode to disable alerts; though some apps I do want to still get alerts for, some things are more important than games after all, so I can leave those on).

seraphfallen said:
My current PC which I've had since 2017 can hardly handle running larger gacha games, and don't even get me started on chatting on discord while the games are running, it's a BSOD every time! I never have to question if my Wii will fail me like my PC does with certain larger games, because my Wii was built to handle all Wii games that came out.

That's a bit of an unfair comparison. Your Wii was built to handle Wii games, and that's all it's allowed to handle. Consider the Switch was released in 2017, how many games released in 2024/2025 can it play? Some, those that were released specifically for it, but you don't typically limit the games/apps your 2017 PC can potentially play like the Switch.

Consoles do have a bit of an advantage when it comes to stability, since it doesn't give you the choice to run unapproved software. You can be better assured that something released for the specific console will work on that console. Though especially as times move on, consoles and console games do see system and game crashes more often than in the past. I miss the days of the SNES and N64, where I could pop in a game cart, hit the power switch, and I'm playing within seconds, with relative assurance that the game fully works. CDs adding bootup and load times, and later consoles having their own system UI to manage, load, install, and upgrade games and manage save data, online patching... they're nowhere near as convenient to just "insert and play" as they used to be.

watsit said:
PCs can use controllers. I got Nine Sols recently, and it automatically detected and works perfectly with my Switch Pro Controller that I have connected to my system. Just hit Play in Steam, grabbed the controller, and it plays flawlessly without touching the keyboard. PCs have the advantage with input, since it can use controllers, or keyboard and mouse, or flight sticks, or steering wheels... basically anything a console can use, a PC can too, plus more. As long as the game was developed properly, it's your choice what to use, depending on what's most comfortable for the style of game.

Yeah, that last sentence is the real kicker. While there's a ton of games that play with one just fine, being controller-preferring in the PC landscape can be considerably suffering, between games that don't have native controller support and need workarounds of varying levels of tedium, games that have it but it's just not good to the point that no amount of playerside remapping can fix, and the eternal gambling curse that is "Partial Controller Support". (Sometimes mitigated by searching the forums/reviews or a google search for some other soul who went before you, but there's times you gotta be the guinea pig, or worse, the poor bastard asking the dev about controller support and dealing with a wave of "lmao why would you play [genre] with a controller???" type posts.)

I do have a gaming PC, but I like having handheld consoles. I like playing games while traveling, plus due to my conditions, I sometimes need to spend quite a lot of time in bed. I know laptops exist, but I am not about to drop couple thousand of euros for a decent gaming laptop just to play games when I am too exhausted or in too much pain to get out of bed, or when I want enternainment for a long trip. (Also laptops are way too clunky for me)

Something I didn't see mentioned when skimming is that these arguments tend to be very first-world centric.

Consoles can be significantly cheaper than PCs that are able to handle gaming to a similar degree if you live in a second or third world country. Of course, this isn't always the case, because the economy will do what the economy does, but it is often not insignificantly more economic for people to buy consoles. Especially consoles which are one or more generations behind the current systems. And console game piracy/console chipping is a huge market in these countries, so the price of games in the US or UK doesn't necessarily reflect the accessibility of games in these countries.

That's my perspective as someone in Oceania with a lot of friends from South/South-East Asia, anyway

For me portable version makes sense that allows you to play at any pose and pixel art or old 3D games look nice on it. While on stationary version you will still play at fixed pose, so it’s not much different from PC if you are decent PC user.

xbox 360 gp brrr

thats why

I've stopped buying consoles as well as games altogether. I'm 36, and the gamer in me is dying off. Plus, I just don't have any interest in any new games. I just use my Xbox Series S for YouTube now

I think is more about preferences of people than money or how many ganes can you play. Since I had my first PC when I was 5 I used to play lots of games, 90% I didn't even own because they always were costly and my parents wouldn't buy them because they thought they were useless. So obviously I pirated a lot and since the law here considers piracy ok as long as you keep it for yourself and not distributes to soelmebody else (personal use only) it was never either a legal problem. But I couldn't play nintendo games, like pokemon for instance (I guess ds emulation wasn't easy back then, or it was to complicated for me) so ever since I firstly watched pokemon I wanted to play the games and 12 years after my first PC I got myself a nintendo New 3DS (initially to play pokemon) and I honestly had a blast with it since then. Yeah, sure, it didn't had a keyboard, but the controller like layout was simple and it worked in my hands. I still have it and I still play all sorts of games, notably Yo Kay Watch games now and ocassionally Resident Evil Revelations fors some third person shooters. The graphics are PS 2 era, but it wasn't a big problem to me as lons as it can do 30 or higher FPS. Those "nintendo" games have an aestetic to them that I really like and are quite clever build to make with system limitations. Meanwhile my PC has gotten pretty old and barely runs any moder game. It barely runs Monster Hunter World at 20 fps (lol) and a new one that would be worth my investment would cost at least 1000 euros (and god knows how much more with this stupid trade war..). Like you said, the PC can do a lot of things, mine may not play well current games, but it can run Unity /photoshop /word processors/google chrome... I just used it for something while for playing I use something else (in this case a console that I have for 8 years, lol) and play Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate or 4U on it. I even use the 3D effect all the time, something my PC doesn't have and is such a cool gimmick :P) . I also got a switch and I have playd ganes like Bayonetta and Monster Hunter Rise or event the Batman Arkham Trilogy on it without any running issues.

My reason (maybe) is not necessary the costs but more the idea that I don't want all the things in my life to conclude in one single object. I try to have many separate things for specific tasks, with no distractions and stuff like that and play games that are exclusive and made for that platform (like pokemon). I also like to just..own things instead of just downloading them digitally or pirating them anymore.

So yeah, that's the reason I use consoles for gaming + I forgot to mention that both the 3ds and switch are handheld portable consoles, so I can just lay on my bed insted of sitting on a chair and play (and yeah, I know abot steamdeck and stuff, but is just too bulky to me :P) . Also, is not like that I don't play PC anymore, is just very rare for me and maybe is just not interesting anymore for me, idk. On PC I either draw or work on something else.

I've only ever bought the Nintendo consoles for both their exclusives and generally having a gimmick feature that can't be replicated easily on PC, or being handheld. However, seeing that the price range of Switch 2 games is allegedly going to be in the $80-90 range I probably won't touch that one. Especially considering recent games like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet felt like an incomplete Steam early access game with a AAA title price.

My Switch also collects dust for the most part, because outside of the Nintendo exclusives everything else is way cheaper on PC. I've been considering a Steam Deck, for being handheld and allowing access to my massive library, but my instinct is that it will also be a dust collector.

I've always had decent PCs ($1500+) for work purposes, and it would be foolish to not use that.

faucet said:
However, seeing that the price range of Switch 2 games is allegedly going to be in the $80-90 range I probably won't touch that one.

$70-$80, but, yeah...
Mario Kart World - $80
Donkey Kong Bananza - $70

crocogator said:
$70-$80, but, yeah...
Mario Kart World - $80
Donkey Kong Bananza - $70

MKWorld is $90 for the physical* edition

_{*it's not actually a physical edition, it's a key on a card. you pay $10 extra for the privilege of owning what is effectively an empty box.}

crocogator said:
$70-$80, but, yeah...
Mario Kart World - $80

For the digital version. A proper physical copy will seemingly cost more, likely $85 or $90. That's on top of the Switch 2 alone being $450 (I expected the upper range to be $400, given the hardware is weaker and Nintendo has typically priced their consoles competitively).

Well I imagine it's for a number of reasons. My personal reasons are that it's a dedicated entertainment system that's easy to unplug and move around, unlike a gaming rig, and that it's meant to run games exclusively. Like with a PC you have to play games that will run on your device. There are many games that will not run on lower end PCs or only on the lower graphics settings. I much prefer knowing that every game for the console is optimized so that it runs without any tweaking of settings. I've enjoyed PC gaming at internet cafe's and friend's houses but I've never had the finances or lifestyle to facilitate getting into building a PC. At those times a console was just more affordable and user friendly. I must emphasize that I enjoy PC indie games and competitive fps over console titles of the same type. But I settle for what I have access to just like most PC gamers. There's always some bottleneck in your life limiting your time, money, or access to the games you want to play. Heck I know people with thousands of steam games in their library they're meaning to play but can't find the time to because of work, relationships, and family stuff, all looking for time to play a game on their computer.
I especially like being able to use my controller from any position. Sit down on the couch, grab a controller, plug in the headset, and away we go. Games update while in standby mode, you don't have to mess with drivers or plug-ins you just boot the game up and start playing. Sure I don't have the freedom that a PC has as more or less a PC is more of a workstation that can run games but a console is not intended to be a workstation. It's built as an entertainment system. Both my PS4 pro and PS5 have web browsers. Heck even my PS3 had one. They include streaming apps for TV and movies. I have it linked to my phone so I can que up games and music through my phone. It's a little bit different than the simple PC master race vs console agenda. It's based on your needs. Not everyone is interested in playing with a mouse and keyboard, some folks have disabilities that make that form factor uncomfortable. Not everyone can maintain a computer as is necessary to keep it performing well. Like upgrading it, cleaning it, reapplying thermal compounds, managing heat and power usage, keeping antiviral apps up to date, using the appropriate drivers and software to make games perform as intended. There are many many things you have to understand to utilize your PC workstation as a gaming system. Not to mention the cost of building an adequate system that can handle everything you would want to play, imagine buying what you can afford and not being able to play the games you intended on playing and need better components you can't afford. That would suck. So there's an abundance of casual gamers who want to turn on their machines and jump straight into a game with friends, and fortunately consoles are built to do that right out of the box.
Not trying to shit on PC gamers or people who exclusively play games on PC. Not disagreeing that a console is just a limited PC running a limited OS. Many of us console gamers are waiting for the next gen machines to integrate steam and epic games store libraries into our console libraries so we can all play together irregardless of form factor. Wouldn't that be nice? It's going to happen whether we like it or not as these game companies struggle to find an edge over one another. The first console to implement steam into their available content will take the Market by storm. I'm hoping it'll be Xbox and justify my next console purchase. But after 30 years of console gaming and drooling over PC exclusives, that get ruined by cheaters after a few years of being out, and never really feeling like console has had many issues like PC does. I am torn between truly being a gamer or getting a PC that is meant for work that can handle high demand PC exclusives and sometimes older games through emulators and streaming. It's a lot of things man, I try to enjoy what I have access to. It's not a big deal, moving into the future there won't be such a big disconnect between the two ways to play and hopefully the rivalry won't be based over exclusivity and barriers of entry. Ideally we all get to play together irregardless of how much money or knowledge you have about hardware. If you disagree with me that's fine I understand PC gamers don't want an influx of console gamers bogging down their servers or creating a massive skill gap to imbalance team play but the other side of that is that console gamers have to deal with scripts and cheats that they have limited access to. The only thing that will determine how things play out is what sells the most for the most money. And I'm fairly certain that most games are built with console in mind and most games would make more money if they were available to console markets. It's in a company's best interest to sell to all available platforms. Hope this helps explain.

dba_afish said:
MKWorld is $90 for the physical* edition

_{*it's not actually a physical edition, it's a key on a card. you pay $10 extra for the privilege of owning what is effectively an empty box.}

Damn... That sucks.

C O M F Y C O U C H

But also people already have their established digital library so if the console makers keep doing retro compatibility they will keep buying the next consoles even if there are...problems.

I think it's largely related to casual gaming vs hardcore. A lot of people who buy consoles these days do just sit down for maybe an hour a day, if not a week, if they're lucky enough to play.
And the people who play the shit out of them got it as a gift or hand me down, and eventually get their own PCs.

Convenience.
Not having a desk/chair combo to set up a pc.

Not sure 'Buy' is the right word in my case.

I own many game systems, which seem to be identified here as 'Consols', and I own many games for said systems.

I own an old XP Laptop, and a Windows 7 Desktop, on which I run a few older PC exclusive titles, such as the Space Quest, Police Quest, and Dooms 1-3.

I was gifted some of these systems, and purchased others, over the 45 years or so I have lived.

Are they new systems? No.

Have I put money into owning them and using them? Yes.

Now, for the kicker. Do I feel any pressing need to purchase forth the Bright-N-Shiny(Tm) New Gaming PC and all the required software, including new game ROMs, just to keep playing the Phantasy Star series? Not really, I already own those games.

As someone who likes PC but prefers console (though, given the way things are going, that is subject to change) it's for two reasons:

1. I prefer having a dedicated space for games. I do all kinds of work and life stuff on my computer and I prefer to have a nice separate little world to transport myself into when I game.

2. Console are, for the most part, uniform. It's very easy to fix issues with them. Computers are variable, epically if they're custom built. Every computer is diffrent and so every problem has the potential of being super niche and/or a pain in the ass to fix.

As a bonus, I'll also say that both of those reasons help to foster a community, which is always great to have!

Imagine buying a PC seven years ago for $800 and still being able to play games on high/ultra settings.

Consoles reached their peak during the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 era, when games were actually optimized for the hardware and ran much better than on PC.

Now, you're just buying a crappy PC for a slightly cheaper price, why not just buy a real PC?

I've stopped buying most consoles after i had the ps4 pro and xbox one because I was finally able to afford a gaming pc. I still buy nintendo consoles, though I have even dabbled in handhepd pcs ike the Asus ROG Ally, which is honestly retty cool. Things like the ROG Ally, Msi Claw, and Lenovo Legion Go takes the idea of the steam deck but makes it better because it runs on windows instead of steam os. My work bag usually consists of my acer predator 14 and my og switch though. I'll rotate the switch out for my retroid 3+ or n3dsXL at times.

I might catch flack for this, but I'm looking forward to upgrading my og release day switch to the switch 2 as I held off from the oled model because mine just worked (though the speakers are now starting to crackle). Luckily everything I have will be compatible, just sucks they went from oled to led even with the hdr being comparible. Bonus hz and finally a bigger handheld screen will be nice though.