Okey, first of all, don't take this post too seriously. It's bit of an edge of an edge case, but I just wanted to share my musings.
So I got a PC in 2011, a beast of a machine for €2k. Along the way, I've done couple absolutely necessary upgrades, a new GPU for €200 a couple years ago and added some more ram for €100 as well, so all in all my package has cost €2300 over the last 10 years (and it's still going strong, though I've been eyeballing tech news, might go for my next machine when PCIe 5 and DDR5 are both in consumer hands).
This got me thinking. What if I had gone with a Playstation way back when?
Well, first I would've paid €500 for PS3. Then in order to keep playing the latest games, a couple years afterwards I would've paid €400 for PS4. Then lastly €500 for PS5.
Now, in order to play online, I would've had to keep paying subscription, the cheapest you can get it is €5/mo, so for 120 months that's €600.
Now, I don't have a TV, but those PC displays didn't spawn out of thin air either, so lets say those cancel each other out.
Same with peripherals, I've gone through one or two mice, but I probably would've gone through a gamepad or two as well. Same keyboard still though, absolutely love it.
What else... oh yeah, right. Even if I got PS for gaming machine, I would've still absolutely needed a PC of some sort, I might've gotten some very basic PC for €500 or so.
So sticking with Playstation would've been €2500 (of which €500 is the cost of that PC). And that's before considering that the consoles themselves are heavily subsidized by the cost of the games, no steam sales and no humble bundles there.
Now, I didn't go the PC route because I thought it'd be cheaper than consoles, but... well, ain't bad. And sure, you might wish to debate about whether I should put that €500 for the cost of a sort of bare-necessity PC on the PS bill, I see why that might be bit counter intuitive but if I had a PS and not a gaming PC, that is something I would've needed to spend extra money on, so I would argue that it is something that must be taken into account. Another thing is, should PS5 be considered here? It's only been out for half a year now. Well, my current PC is still going strong and I'll likely stick with it for another year or so, so that PS5 will have been out for a reasonable time then. I'd also argue that you're more on the mercy of specific manufacturers with consoles anyhow, since it's only Sony deciding when the next PS will come out. With PC, sure I'm waiting for DDR5 and PCIe 5, but that's because I can. I can still play the latest games with my current machine (yes, even Star Citizen). That is not so with consoles, previous generation can't keep buying the latest games and expect them to work, so you have to upgrade.
Anyhow, hope you enjoyed my musings, again, don't take it too seriously. ;)
So I got a PC in 2011, a beast of a machine for €2k. Along the way, I've done couple absolutely necessary upgrades, a new GPU for €200 a couple years ago and added some more ram for €100 as well, so all in all my package has cost €2300 over the last 10 years (and it's still going strong, though I've been eyeballing tech news, might go for my next machine when PCIe 5 and DDR5 are both in consumer hands).
This got me thinking. What if I had gone with a Playstation way back when?
Well, first I would've paid €500 for PS3. Then in order to keep playing the latest games, a couple years afterwards I would've paid €400 for PS4. Then lastly €500 for PS5.
Now, in order to play online, I would've had to keep paying subscription, the cheapest you can get it is €5/mo, so for 120 months that's €600.
Now, I don't have a TV, but those PC displays didn't spawn out of thin air either, so lets say those cancel each other out.
Same with peripherals, I've gone through one or two mice, but I probably would've gone through a gamepad or two as well. Same keyboard still though, absolutely love it.
What else... oh yeah, right. Even if I got PS for gaming machine, I would've still absolutely needed a PC of some sort, I might've gotten some very basic PC for €500 or so.
So sticking with Playstation would've been €2500 (of which €500 is the cost of that PC). And that's before considering that the consoles themselves are heavily subsidized by the cost of the games, no steam sales and no humble bundles there.
Now, I didn't go the PC route because I thought it'd be cheaper than consoles, but... well, ain't bad. And sure, you might wish to debate about whether I should put that €500 for the cost of a sort of bare-necessity PC on the PS bill, I see why that might be bit counter intuitive but if I had a PS and not a gaming PC, that is something I would've needed to spend extra money on, so I would argue that it is something that must be taken into account. Another thing is, should PS5 be considered here? It's only been out for half a year now. Well, my current PC is still going strong and I'll likely stick with it for another year or so, so that PS5 will have been out for a reasonable time then. I'd also argue that you're more on the mercy of specific manufacturers with consoles anyhow, since it's only Sony deciding when the next PS will come out. With PC, sure I'm waiting for DDR5 and PCIe 5, but that's because I can. I can still play the latest games with my current machine (yes, even Star Citizen). That is not so with consoles, previous generation can't keep buying the latest games and expect them to work, so you have to upgrade.
Anyhow, hope you enjoyed my musings, again, don't take it too seriously. ;)
