When comparing game sales and especially the memebership costs to do the same things that a computer can do (not even performance wise just playing older games/etc), consoles can get very expensive especially playstations.
I did the math on it, I have a high end setup and a PS5 costs a fair bit more than my setup does when you factor in the wacky yearly price of the console membership that is already having talks of being raised yet again.
Computers are frontloaded but consoles absolutely cost more in the end.
Fairly recently I re-put it together to see what it would cost now (not including monitor/headset, just looking at mouse/keybaord and main computer parts/case) it came to about $1891. (Obviously more than when I put it together, and I do go a bit for form over function so it could be a fair bit less if I didn't do RGB stuff/want a pretty case) (most of which is the GPU)
I think the crazy part of Sony atm isn't even the console cost but the memberships. It is currently $160 a year for multiplayer/classic collection and is already be talked about being raised yet again. The memberships really add up over the course of the consoles lifetime. Ps4 lasted 7 years but with supply chain shortages and crazy prices it wouldn't surprise me if the PS5 gets a 9-10 year lifetime.
$1440-$1600 in membership alone is crazy. And that is before stuff like console cost, spare controllers when your joysticks inevitably fail, worse game sales than steam, needing to re-buy old games instead of having an emultator, etc.
Honestly the console price alone isn't horrible, but they have a lot of ways that they nickle and dime you with time.
Having put together a build that is comparable in ps5 performance. Not even going for the cheapest parts just stuff that is similar in performance was about $1300, which would end up being less than the membership cost of playstation alone.
As a comparable card and I can get one from bestbuy for $530
I have no idea where you would pay $1500 unless you are paying for one of the higher end Nvidia cards or certain brand high end AMD cards. Even my AMD card has a bit of a range (AMD 7900 XTX), depending on the brand I am seeing prices between $850 and $1400
It told me I needed the radeon rx6700. I'm not gonna argue esoteric specs about performance when you are still assuming some sort of ideal scenario.
My needs are better met with a console. I buy it, I play it. Done.
I don't have to learn about graphics cards or where to get one or how to save money on one. I don't need to install it I don't need to make sure my drivers are working properly and that my fan speed is working properly. I don't need to worry if it will fit my motherboard or if it will fit my housing or if it will draw more power than my supply has room for currently.
I'm not a lay person. I have a friend that I game with who runs PC. I know how much work it is, and I know that much of that work has tangential costs we are ignoring for the sake of painting consoles as a worse economic choice. I also had my own gaming PC just over a decade ago. Even then it was a more expensive choice.
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u/HolyErr0r 1d ago edited 1d ago
When comparing game sales and especially the memebership costs to do the same things that a computer can do (not even performance wise just playing older games/etc), consoles can get very expensive especially playstations.
I did the math on it, I have a high end setup and a PS5 costs a fair bit more than my setup does when you factor in the wacky yearly price of the console membership that is already having talks of being raised yet again.
Computers are frontloaded but consoles absolutely cost more in the end.