Congratulations on FF16 being a huge success

[DamianFatale]

Considering I wont be playing FF16 for 6months to 2 years thanks to how SE chooses to release their games on PC, I'm not particularly thrilled.

Get a console then. Console master race.

[Stormpeaks]

Get a console then. Console master race.

[Deo14]

Get a console then. Console master race.

I would rather buy a steam deck or even 2nd Switch than some ps5 which is just last gen midrange gaming PC, that you can't use for anything else. PS4/XONE and newer consoles don't do what consoles were meant to do, which is having some advantage over PC. You can use Switch while traveling, same for Steam deck, Switch even has party games with splitscreens and similar. What can PS5 do that a PC can't? Nothing, which is why Sony needs to make exclusives to stay somewhat relevant.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Diablo 4's cash shop is extremely subtle, to the point of it being easily missed if you don't go explicitly looking for it. That being said, it's strange to call out Blizzard for supposedly being 'greedy' when it comes to optional purchases when posting on the official forum of a game that has emotes locked behind statues that cost a good £200 with limited availability.

It's the nature of the industry. Game development is extremely expensive, especially for games that are supported with new content over time. So optional, luxury items are dangled before players with a disposable income in a way that is ultimately no different to how optional, luxury items are available at a supermarket or restaurant.

I think it's fine to criticise such things, though consistency is key. In general, I take complaints from game journalists with a hefty pinch of salt on that front.

I wouldnt neccesarily call "it being one of the main tabs on the main menu screen" being extremely subtle

[Johners]

I would rather buy a steam deck or even 2nd Switch than some ps5 which is just last gen midrange gaming PC, that you can't use for anything else. PS4/XONE and newer consoles don't do what consoles were meant to do, which is having some advantage over PC. You can use Switch while traveling, same for Steam deck, Switch even has party games with splitscreens and similar. What can PS5 do that a PC can't? Nothing, which is why Sony needs to make exclusives to stay somewhat relevant.

The advantage for Sony and Microsoft with their home consoles is being incredibly price competitive. PC hardware prices are still a little insane, especially when the main GPU manufacturer is still gimping cards so you have to upgrade more often. You'll be spending a minimum of twice as much, but more realistically three times as much, to actually get a PC that's worth using instead of a PS5 or Xbox Series X. Not to mention the slew of questionable ports with the bare minimum done to make it a PC experience (boy do I love shader compilation stutter on my first play through).

Plus old GPUs like the 1060, 1650 and 1660 are still really popular in the Steam hardware survey. None of these are on par with the graphics hardware in the PS5 and these users are going to be in for a shock when next-gen only titles aren't playable. Not to mention there's also the 8-Core CPUs in the latest Xbox and PlayStation or the NVMe SSDs. Many areas where many PC gamers simply won't spend the money.

[VelKallor]

I have a PC setup at home, but I have ZERO idea if its even possible to hook up a console..and dont get me started on how to use one...ive never used a controller.

[Deo14]

The advantage for Sony and Microsoft with their home consoles is being incredibly price competitive. PC hardware prices are still a little insane, especially when the main GPU manufacturer is still gimping cards so you have to upgrade more often. You'll be spending a minimum of twice as much, but more realistically three times as much, to actually get a PC that's worth using instead of a PS5 or Xbox Series X. Not to mention the slew of questionable ports with the bare minimum done to make it a PC experience (boy do I love shader compilation stutter on my first play through).

Plus old GPUs like the 1060, 1650 and 1660 are still really popular in the Steam hardware survey. None of these are on par with the graphics hardware in the PS5 and these users are going to be in for a shock when next-gen only titles aren't playable. Not to mention there's also the 8-Core CPUs in the latest Xbox and PlayStation or the NVMe SSDs. Many areas where many PC gamers simply won't spend the money.

3x times more cost effective? Maybe few years ago, when Nvidia was on peak of their bullshitery. Nowadays you can make PS5 equivalent easily under 1K, not even twice the price you suggest. Sure it's still more cost effective, if you only consider short term benefits. No Steam discounts, paying for some dumb online subscription, and having no means to gradually upgrade your console will accumulate and you'll pay same price as for PC in few years, all of that while consoles don't offer any versatility like PC does. If you work in technical field or even just a student, you'll need a PC, so you might as well get a beefy PC than to have bad one + console.

And yes, people will be surprised if 1060 and similar is not enough to handle "next-gen" titles, because those next-gen titles barely look different that those 5+ years old. Differences between Witcher 3(2015), FF15(2016), DMC5(2019) and FF16 are minimal, so why would we need 2x stronger machines?


(it's supposed to be 2015 on the left)

[Vyrerus]

What can PS5 do that a PC can't?

Be cheap, relaxing to play, easier to setup in any location, easier to transport, and not bogged down by things outside of games.

PCs are great multi-tools, but for gaming they all suffer the same fate. The user eventually bogs them down with things that aren't games, whether it's malware, adware, torrents, gigs of porno, excessive amounts of programs that load on boot, or any other thing. Not too mention, the propensity for parts within a PC to break or fail at different rates since not all PCs are streamlined and the same.

Also, if your gaming computer doubles as your work computer, then it'll be bogged down by work related programs, and it'll also be more likely to be in an office setting with an office chair. I don't know about you, but when I really want to relax I don't like to sit at a computer desk. I prefer to be able to lay down on the couch or sit in an easy chair with my feet propped up.

Laptops can solve the portability issue, but using them away from a table or desk is terrible for your wrists, and they also can't improve the experience over a console or desktop, generally.

Basically, if you can afford mid range PC, you could probably shell out for the console. You just don't want too. The reality of the situation is that PC enthusiasts are just stuck in their ways and their PC better mantras which are all pretty much just copes cause they miss out on or get worse versions of exclusives.

[Deo14]

Be cheap, relaxing to play, easier to setup in any location, easier to transport, and not bogged down by things outside of games.

PCs are great multi-tools, but for gaming they all suffer the same fate. The user eventually bogs them down with things that aren't games, whether it's malware, adware, torrents, gigs of porno, excessive amounts of programs that load on boot, or any other thing. Not too mention, the propensity for parts within a PC to break or fail at different rates since not all PCs are streamlined and the same.

Also, if your gaming computer doubles as your work computer, then it'll be bogged down by work related programs, and it'll also be more likely to be in an office setting with an office chair. I don't know about you, but when I really want to relax I don't like to sit at a computer desk. I prefer to be able to lay down on the couch or sit in an easy chair with my feet propped up.

Laptops can solve the portability issue, but using them away from a table or desk is terrible for your wrists, and they also can't improve the experience over a console or desktop, generally.

Basically, if you can afford mid range PC, you could probably shell out for the console. You just don't want too. The reality of the situation is that PC enthusiasts are just stuck in their ways and their PC better mantras which are all pretty much just copes cause they miss out on or get worse versions of exclusives.

Be cheap

In short term, yes, I've already pointed that out. In long term, no chance. Don't forget about having no choice but to buy official $60 controller.

Setup in any location

In every location where you can setup a console and a whole goddamn TV, you can also setup a PC. You know what's even easier to setup though? Gaming laptop. If your wrists hurt, you can always just bring keyboard with you. If you want to be portable, just get a smaller one, or you can even get those funky jelly keyboards.

Easier to transport

I want to see you carry a PS5 in one hand, and 65'' TV on the other.

PCs are great multi-tools, but for gaming they all suffer the same fate. The user eventually bogs them down with things that aren't games, whether it's malware, adware, torrents, gigs of porno, excessive amounts of programs that load on boot, or any other thing. Not too mention, the propensity for parts within a PC to break or fail at different rates since not all PCs are streamlined and the same.

Yes, if user is dumb enough, you can get malware and other viruses. Torrent isn't necessary a bad thing, gigs of porno are not a bad thing either, and you can just disable programs on boot, if you're not completely technically incapable. I'm talking about grandma levels of incapable. Technical failures of components is on par with consoles. Red ring of death? Overheating? Technical failures are not PC/console exclusive.

Relaxing in your couch

You can do that with PCs too, just get an HDMI cable and wireless controller, or wireless M+KB. PCs also not only support console controllers, but a cheaper ones too, so you don't need to throw away a goddamn $60 for a piece of plastic.

bogged down by work related programs

How can PC be "bogged down by work related programs"? Used capacity doesn't affect speed (except in cases where you have <10% of capacity). Just get more storage, SSDs are piss cheap nowadays. Best version of PS5 I could find has just 2TB of storage, on PCs, you can just buy bunch of 2TB drives for $100 each, and you also have a choice of HDD, which trade speed for higher capacity. After quick googling I found 20TB HDD for $320, if you really need some serious capacity.

Basically, if you can afford mid range PC, you could probably shell out for the console.

If you can afford midrange PC, then get midrange PC. For real, if you're tight on budget, why would you go for console? It becomes more expensive in few years. You can sit on couch and play on PC just like you can on console.

Seems to me you haven't touched a PC in 20 years, viruses are not some hardcore problem nowadays, just get some free antivirus, don't go to fishy porn sites and you're most likely gucci. If you feel like there are some sussy things happening on your PC, just backup some necessities and reinstall OS, it takes like <30 minutes nowadays. Your PC is not slowed down by "more work related programs". That might used to be case long time ago, when HDDs were only options. Data which are stored more on the outside of the disc are faster, while data stored closer to the middle are slower, which means that you would get slower speeds, depending where your OS decided to store that data. But that is irrelevant nowadays, SSDs are cheap af.

[Boblawblah]

Discussion of PC costs, snipped for brevity.

As a counter point to just the cost part of your post (i agree with the rest), in my country, any of the 'mid-range' series (say, the 70 series for Nvidia, and 6800 for Radeon) are the same price as an entire console. Just the GPU, so for me, it absolutely is more cost effective to pick up a PS5 and XBOX for less than it would cost me to build a mid-range PC, have a 'guarenteed' decent gaming experience for the next 5 - 7 years, and keep my old mid-range PC (gtx 1070, i5 4670k) for my normal PC usage.