The PS4 Slim was released 3 years after the original model and sold for $100/100,-€ less than the original.
The PS3 Slim released ~3 years after the original model and was significantly cheaper (to be fair, it also had a lot of features removed).
The PS5 saw a Slim model release with no price cut at all, and now they’re planning to actually increase the price of over 4 year old tech that is almost certainly a lot cheaper to produce than 4 years ago, especially the Slim model that saw a reduction in cooler size, lower-powered PSU and other cost-reduction measures.
Gaming is becoming less and less accessible and more and more of a luxury.
Gaming is becoming less and less accessible and more and more of a luxury.
The writing has been on the wall for a while that I’m going to have to move away from consoles and game mainly on PC, where there are other options for obtaining games. Walled gardens all having Apple pricing is unacceptable to me.
It’s not like the PC market is in great shape either, though. I mean I’m sure it’s fine if you’re mostly playing indie games that are not too visually demanding and taxing on the hardware, but it is insanely expensive to buy a good computer these days that can play newer games in good quality. Even with the price increases, a GPU alone will run you the cost of a PS5 or more, maybe even double.
Or maybe that’s just it, maybe there won’t be a noticeable gen bump for a long time, since no one can afford it. Time to start focusing on how to make hardware cheaper instead of better.
If you don’t care about bleeding edge 8k visuals at 240fps, the pricing becomes more reasonable. I’m fine with 1080p 60fps, which allows for a cheaper GPU to run games decently. And you can’t deny that as far as game pricing is concerned, PC is far more consumer-friendly than console, even if you don’t take piracy into account.
For me they’re still on par in terms of game pricing because PC still doesn’t have the advantage of physical media that you can buy used or borrow for free. But the console makers seem to be doing everything in their power to kill that advantage, with Nintendo’s “game key card” being the latest move in the all-digital direction.
Not to mention it being a moot point with Nintendo anyways since they’ve figured out the magic formula of keeping their games in a permanent state of high demand and short supply, effectively ensuring they never come down in price.
Gaming is becoming less and less accessible and more and more of a luxury.
Lots of people do their gaming on their phone or PC. And on the subject of phones, look at the top-spec models: they cost thousands, because some people have the disposable income to burn. There are still plenty of affordable options available if you don’t fixate on having the latest best everything.
The PS5 was released more than 4 years ago.
The PS4 Slim was released 3 years after the original model and sold for $100/100,-€ less than the original.
The PS3 Slim released ~3 years after the original model and was significantly cheaper (to be fair, it also had a lot of features removed).
The PS5 saw a Slim model release with no price cut at all, and now they’re planning to actually increase the price of over 4 year old tech that is almost certainly a lot cheaper to produce than 4 years ago, especially the Slim model that saw a reduction in cooler size, lower-powered PSU and other cost-reduction measures.
Gaming is becoming less and less accessible and more and more of a luxury.
The writing has been on the wall for a while that I’m going to have to move away from consoles and game mainly on PC, where there are other options for obtaining games. Walled gardens all having Apple pricing is unacceptable to me.
It’s not like the PC market is in great shape either, though. I mean I’m sure it’s fine if you’re mostly playing indie games that are not too visually demanding and taxing on the hardware, but it is insanely expensive to buy a good computer these days that can play newer games in good quality. Even with the price increases, a GPU alone will run you the cost of a PS5 or more, maybe even double.
Or maybe that’s just it, maybe there won’t be a noticeable gen bump for a long time, since no one can afford it. Time to start focusing on how to make hardware cheaper instead of better.
If you don’t care about bleeding edge 8k visuals at 240fps, the pricing becomes more reasonable. I’m fine with 1080p 60fps, which allows for a cheaper GPU to run games decently. And you can’t deny that as far as game pricing is concerned, PC is far more consumer-friendly than console, even if you don’t take piracy into account.
For me they’re still on par in terms of game pricing because PC still doesn’t have the advantage of physical media that you can buy used or borrow for free. But the console makers seem to be doing everything in their power to kill that advantage, with Nintendo’s “game key card” being the latest move in the all-digital direction.
Not to mention it being a moot point with Nintendo anyways since they’ve figured out the magic formula of keeping their games in a permanent state of high demand and short supply, effectively ensuring they never come down in price.
Lots of people do their gaming on their phone or PC. And on the subject of phones, look at the top-spec models: they cost thousands, because some people have the disposable income to burn. There are still plenty of affordable options available if you don’t fixate on having the latest best everything.