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[Puscifer]

Consoles are approaching cell phone prices.

Even with my salary, let's say my 5080 build I got for around 2K will cost me 3000. I built it when I made around 90K even with my new job and salary of 150K something about 3K for a high end PC just seems gross.

For consoles? I dunno man. Rather go backwards than forwards if 7-800 might be the norm - no way are they subsidizing hundreds per unit anymore and I just don't feel like anything more than 500 for a console is worth it and I was even considering a Pro but 900 dollars is a hell no.

Maybe I'm just accepting I'm watching the death of personal and open (key word, OPEN) computing, affordable gaming and high end home compute.

 

[Sethbacca]

I think somewhere in the very near future we're mostly gonna be retrogamers. I don't intend to make the push into cloud gaming myself. Once local hardware dies so does my interest in gaming. It's hard not to doom about it honestly.

 

[Metnut]

It's possible to make games without running them super high end cutting edge hardware. Developers will either have to find ways to innovate without improvements to hardware or they'll need to chase the high income folks and there's enough of them that keep paying.

 

[nial]

I mean, even in the absolute worst case scenario, there is an established base of Switch 1 and PS5 consoles out there. Should keep some busy for a good while.

 

[Puscifer]

I think somewhere in the very near future we're mostly gonna be retrogamers. I don't intend to make the push into cloud gaming myself. Once local hardware dies so does my interest in gaming. It's hard not to doom about it honestly.

Maybe I should buy some FPGA hardware in the near future.

 

[memoryman3]

Buy less cutting edge hardware.

You don't need a 5080. 5060 Ti will do. Or if you want the best of the best, pay up. Developers are not going to ignore the mass market.

On the low end you have the Switch 2 and Xbox Series S which are both $500 or below.

 

[Gamezone]

Play your backlog and hope that things normalize. Also most games can run on a potato. Most people don't need a 5080.

 

[Puscifer]

Buy less cutting edge hardware.

You don't need a 5080. 5060 Ti will do. Or if you want the best of the best, pay up. Developers are not going to ignore the mass market.

On the low end you have the Switch 2 and Xbox Series S which are both $500 or below.

I mean I know what I need and don't need. I'm just saying that current prices a 2TB SSD/32Gb low end up shot up roughly 7-800 dollars for the same hardware at a minimum.

I wanna upgrade my NAS storage while I can.

 

[Gamezone]

I think somewhere in the very near future we're mostly gonna be retrogamers. I don't intend to make the push into cloud gaming myself. Once local hardware dies so does my interest in gaming. It's hard not to doom about it honestly.

Cloud gaming is no solution, because the price is going up there as well once they have enough users. Netflix subscribers have already become slow boiling frogs with price increases all over the place.

 

[geary]

 

[Gonzito]

Yeah its pretty bad

Soon I'll have to make an onlyfans account if I want to be able to play videogames

 

[Sethbacca]

I mean I know what I need and don't need. I'm just saying that current prices a 2TB SSD/32Gb low end up shot up roughly 7-800 dollars for the same hardware at a minimum.

I wanna upgrade my NAS storage while I can.

I really really regret not buying another couple large drives for mine when i was looking at them last year.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

It'll go to the worthy

aka not poor people

 

[LectureMaster]

Hasn't really changed much. Like many gaf, finding time to play is a much more arduous challenge than pure financial constraints.

 

[Idleyes]

3K for a high end PC just seems gross.

Nigga 3K will only get you a graphics card in a high end PC!!

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

It moves forward without you. You are aging out and the hobby is just transforming to meet the needs of the folks that become the target demographic.

 

[clarky]

A 3k 5080 build will last you a good few years. If you are earning 150k then I don't see the issue unless you are up to the eyeballs in debt.

It's not like you are buying one every year.

 

[Hollywood Hitman]

I spent 47 years playing games well 44 id say, and I just keep playing... I hate these type of threads because it screams someone isn't really a gamer as even if gaming stopped tomorrow i could dig up 20 years worth of backlog, but it's more about the dramatics than gaming.. I rather just game and enjoy it as much as possible.

 

[March Climber]

For PCs? I'm not sure.

For consoles, these companies will have no choice but to find a way to make sure that their ecosystem is the destination to go to, and I'm sure part of that means much longer generations to ease the pain of having to buy a new system again.

I predict the PS6 and Helix will not only last much longer as consoles, but that they will last so long that things will loop back around to Nintendo releasing a new console around the same time as the PS7 and Xbox 6 release, so that coincidentally Nintendo isn't the offset console anymore.

 

[Zacfoldor]

I can currently afford one thousand dollars every 6 years, so I'm good.

Can you explain more why you refuse to move over to consoles?

 

[Puscifer]

It'll go to the worthy

aka not poor people

I know you're joking but did you see that gamers nexus video where they mentioned the best thing you can do is aim towards people like me?

My boyfriend made a joke that "with your salary and interest you're the customer REI is looking for" and yeah, I get it was a joke but I just feel that's where so much of this is headed.

Nigga 3K will only get you a graphics card in a high end PC!!

Nigga you're straight tripping.

It moves forward without you. You are aging out and the hobby is just transforming to meet the needs of the folks that become the target demographic.

I mean yeah, but I'm just talking local compute as well. I still have use for computers that aren't gaming.

 

[geary]

Yeah its pretty bad

Soon I'll have to make an onlyfans account if I want to be able to play videogames

So a Twitch streamer...

 

[PlayStaytion]

Consoles are approaching cell phone prices.

Even with my salary, let's say my 5080 build I got for around 2K will cost me 3000. I built it when I made around 90K even with my new job and salary of 150K something about 3K for a high end PC just seems gross.

For consoles? I dunno man. Rather go backwards than forwards if 7-800 might be the norm - no way are they subsidizing hundreds per unit anymore and I just don't feel like anything more than 500 for a console is worth it and I was even considering a Pro but 900 dollars is a hell no.

Maybe I'm just accepting I'm watching the death of personal and open (key word, OPEN) computing, affordable gaming and high end home compute.

It's Jensen and Sam's phobia, don't waste your time thinking about it, the industry is much older and wiser than these clowns cause they talk from their deep pockets.

 

[yogaflame]

Consoles are approaching cell phone prices.

Even with my salary, let's say my 5080 build I got for around 2K will cost me 3000. I built it when I made around 90K even with my new job and salary of 150K something about 3K for a high end PC just seems gross.

For consoles? I dunno man. Rather go backwards than forwards if 7-800 might be the norm - no way are they subsidizing hundreds per unit anymore and I just don't feel like anything more than 500 for a console is worth it and I was even considering a Pro but 900 dollars is a hell no.

Maybe I'm just accepting I'm watching the death of personal and open (key word, OPEN) computing, affordable gaming and high end home compute.

I hope they resell Ps1 to Ps3 console again as options.
But seriously its a motivation to work harder and do your best to get that promotion.

 

[Signalis]

I spent 47 years playing games well 44 id say, and I just keep playing... I hate these type of threads because it screams someone isn't really a gamer as even if gaming stopped tomorrow i could dig up 20 years worth of backlog, but it's more about the dramatics than gaming.. I rather just game and enjoy it as much as possible.

Are you the authority on who is a true gamer and who isn't?

 

[Puscifer]

I can currently afford one thousand dollars every 6 years, so I'm good.

Can you explain more why you refuse to move over to consoles?

Increasingly Digital and locked down and all the reasons and benefits I used to enjoy them for are irrelevant. Also not a fan of soldered SSDs on them, either, if that dies the entire system goes. Feels like a ticking time bomb and partly why I left Apple machines ten years ago.

I haven't touched a Nintendo game since the GB remake of Zelda on switch, Xbox is dead, I'm not paying 80 dollars just to play guilty gear.

I hope they resell Ps1 to Ps3 console again as options.
But seriously its a motivation to work harder and do your best to get that promotion.

I mean my house is paid off (s/o to my ex who made me cash out my 401K!) and it's not like I'm hurting for money. Gaming just never felt like... This... Sure I'm the target audience but it feels fucking gross!

 

[Magic Carpet]

I bought Control Ultimate Edition on my iPhone.
Maybe one device really can rule them all.

 

[Zacfoldor]

If the main goal is to play games and you can't afford the PC but you can afford the console, why set an arbitrary number on the amount of the console.

So if you like gaming, and are willing to pay 2k for a gaming pc to keep gaming, but not willing to pay > 500 for a console to keep gaming, why?

What about the PC offers you so much more percieved value in your opinion that you would be willing to drop the hobby over it, keeping in mind these purchases are only made every several years....

I think PC gamers just don't want to swap back to consoles and would rather quit gaming and it less about the advantages of PC and more about identity. You love your PC identity and don't want to become a console pleb, correct?

 

[Puscifer]

If the main goal is to play games and you can't afford the PC but you can afford the console, why set an arbitrary number on the amount of the console.

So if you like gaming, and are willing to pay 2k for a gaming pc to keep gaming, but not willing to pay > 500 for a console to keep gaming, why?

What about the PC offers you so much more percieved value in your opinion that you would be willing to drop the hobby over it, keeping in mind these purchases are only made every several years....

I think PC gamers just don't want to swap back to consoles and would rather quit gaming and it less about the advantages of PC and more about identity. You love your PC identity and don't want to become a console pleb, correct?

No, it's not like I didn't just explain why lol. TLDR, console benefits are irrelevant, I'm not paying to play online, no benefit to going all digital. Its not identity or affordability, I can afford it and I'm not tied to it.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Are you the authority on who is a true gamer and who isn't?

you leave grandpa GAF alone!

 

[lastmessiah]

I don't get all the fuss tbh, seems way overblown. A console is just purchased once and then used for 6+ years. Same with a PC, if not even longer. It's a substantial upfront cost but for a far more substantial time horizon.

Granted, I am a high earner but it seems like you'd have to be broke to be this concerned.

 

[KenaiPhoenix]

There is no need to get the lasted GPU, the hardest CPU to enjoy video games. Ofc companies will try to push for this but just like phones: they are just testing waters. If the GabeCube cost 1k for 64 gb and it solds out, you can bet Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo will do the same. If they put those prices and the hardware just sits there getting dust at that price you will see how they will lower the price. Phones reached 1K on pricing because people payed the price, if they didnt we will still have smartphones but more affordable.

The hobby is not going anywhere. You want to save it? vote with your wallet, skip the lasted eye candy game that just so happens to run great on the GTX45238 - Nvidia CEO yatch edition. There is more than enough to keep you having actual fun (and no being forced with FOMO tactics) with community online games, or small scale games (not necessarily indies) that are on Switch 1 or even PS4.

Let them rise the price, but also let them get all their products get dirt on their warehouses. You will see how the prices go down in a couple of years. Even scalpers will go bankrupt if people is smart enough to just say "No"

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

I know you're joking but did you see that gamers nexus video where they mentioned the best thing you can do is aim towards people like me?

My boyfriend made a joke that "with your salary and interest you're the customer REI is looking for" and yeah, I get it was a joke but I just feel that's where so much of this is headed.



Nigga you're straight tripping.

I mean yeah, but I'm just talking local compute as well. I still have use for computers that aren't gaming.

Half joking, yeah that's the trajectory we're heading. We're already there really. K shaped economy and all that.

 

[Aressa]

If your main hoppy is gaming then invest in a gaming PC. Simple as that.

 

[Idleyes]

Nigga you're straight tripping.

I agree I'm trippin. A 5080 will probably run around $1400, which still leaves enough room out of a $3k budget to build what most people would consider a high-end PC in 2026. I was exaggerating. And there are AMD options too.

 

[Goalus]

Straight into the clouds.

 

[Guilty_AI]

What about the PC offers you so much more percieved value in your opinion that you would be willing to drop the hobby over it, keeping in mind these purchases are only made every several years....

Consoles can't play my years old backlogs

And as for OP, stop being dramatic. At worst you won't be using high end PCs.

 

[Hollywood Hitman]

Are you the authority on who is a true gamer and who isn't?

I'm the authority on what's dramatic and what isn't. This thread belongs right next to all the gaming will crash topics that cropped up since the dawn of time

 

[Wildebeest]

I dunno maybe Asha Sharma, Miyamoto and Gaben need to go out into the desert together and take a large dose psychedelics to see what they come up with. Just don't invite Jenson. That would be a bad trip with all that leather and "edge computing" talk.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Fewer people will be owning multiple platforms. Exlcusives will be truley exclusive. I'll have to watch PS6 exclusives played by streamers rather than play them myself.

 

[PeteBull]

Consoles are approaching cell phone prices.

Even with my salary, let's say my 5080 build I got for around 2K will cost me 3000. I built it when I made around 90K even with my new job and salary of 150K something about 3K for a high end PC just seems gross.

For consoles? I dunno man. Rather go backwards than forwards if 7-800 might be the norm - no way are they subsidizing hundreds per unit anymore and I just don't feel like anything more than 500 for a console is worth it and I was even considering a Pro but 900 dollars is a hell no.

Maybe I'm just accepting I'm watching the death of personal and open (key word, OPEN) computing, affordable gaming and high end home compute.

U and most core gamers in the west will be fine, when there is a will there is a way, believe me things can get 10x worse price wise, i tell u that as a former teenager in the 90s freshly transformed no more communist poland where we(kids and adults) still loved gaming, just most of us were so poor we had to game on pirated NES versions(with pirated cartridges ofc) in the early 90s, myself having sega megadrive(genesis) in 92(or maybe it was only 93) fellt like im literal mesiah of new religion and i did actual "pilgrimages" to my buddies houses with the console showing it off and showing them the way of the future =D

 

[Fermbiz]

As far as gaming, hold on to your physical games, start backing up/collecting for emulation.

 

[jshackles]

I have a gaming PC that's got a 4070Ti in it. I've got a Steam Deck. I've got an AYN Thor for retro stuff. I have a Switch 2, PS5 Pro, and Series X.

I kind of get the impression that I'll still be using these same devices for at least the next 8 years, maybe longer.

 

[Artistic]

Get with the times.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I have a gaming PC that's got a 4070Ti in it. I've got a Steam Deck. I've got an AYN Thor for retro stuff. I have a Switch 2, PS5 Pro, and Series X.

I kind of get the impression that I'll still be using these same devices for at least the next 8 years, maybe longer.

You just have to make sure to keep them away from fire, floods, tornadoes, power spikes, kids.
Because when all that hardware are gone, it's GONE.

 

[jshackles]

You just have to make sure to keep them away from fire, floods, tornadoes, power spikes, kids.
Because when all that hardware are gone, it's GONE.

Nothing in life is certain, but at least my kids are grown, and I've found that's greatly increased the life of my electronics compared with when they were little. I don't live in a part of the world that gets tornados, thankfully, but I do have to worry about earthquakes and floods.

And at least for the moment, all this stuff is commodity hardware - it's just weird that it'd be much more expensive to replace now than it was to purchase originally.

 

[Gamezone]

If your main hoppy is gaming then invest in a gaming PC. Simple as that.

Apple is selling $2000 phones like warm bread, yet people are asking themself how to afford gaming.

 

[Fbh]

Current gen will just be the baseline for a long time, longer than the Ps4 already was. You'll be able to play most games comfortably with your 5080 in 10 years.
The vast majority of games will be designed with current gen in mind, and new consoles and PC hardware are mostly going to be about getting a more premium experience with better framerates, better resolution and upscaling, better ray tracing, etc.

It's not just the consumer electronics pricing that's reaching a limit, it's game budgets too. Devs can't afford to ifinitely grow budgets if sales (or game pricing) don't grow accordingly.
If you are struggling to make a profit on your $250 million game right now, are you going to spend $350 million to sell games only to the people that want/can afford a $1000 console or $1500 PC?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Contraction and correction.

In the case of smartphones. The biggest market is low-mid range. (around 70% of the market) and around 100-600 dollars?

Apple is selling $2000 phones like warm bread, yet people are asking themself how to afford gaming.

Apple only represents like 20% of the smartphone market and they sell them at a profit. A lot of peope "buy" phones with some kind of plan too

 

[Meicyn]

much longer generations

Yeah, and in addition we have a lot more cross-gen titles, and it's going to continue. That understanding is why I had zero hesitation and bought the PS5 Pro at launch. Developers are going to continue working around the PS5 hardware likely 5+ years into the PS6 generation. It wouldn't shock me in the slightest if PS4 compatible titles are still being released at that point. I won't upgrade again until my PS5 Pro breaks, or the PS6 Pro debuts.