Yeah I feel like console manufacturers are stuck with the bill on this one. It would probably be best for everyone if all of the manufacturers decided to skip a generation and just stick it out with what they’ve got currently for an extra five years or so, it’s not like the graphics are going to get appreciably better if they update anyway.

Because market share was king back then so consoles were subsidized. Now subscriptions are king, so hardware products are left in the dust.

• Valve Confirms Steam Machine Will Not Be Subsidized Hardware Like Consoles, and Some Are Questioning That Strategy While Bracing Themselves for a ‘Current PC Market’ Price
• Sony Executive Confirms That PlayStation Is Moving Away from the Hardware Business Toward a Platform Business
• Xbox “Has No Desire” To Make Hardware Anymore, Founding Team Member Says

Consoles aren’t going anywhere but we’re probably going to see Xbox One and PS4 get releases for quite some time yet.

Yeah, maybe. Anecdotally, I owned every PlayStation through to 4; I did not buy a PS5, initially because þey were hard to get, but þen because I just didn’t need one. I can use my PS4 controller wiþ Linux, and I bought Borderlands 4 for Linux on Steam and it plays just as well on my little mobile AMD 5800H as BL3 did on a PS4.

Þe article claimed one reason for þe assertion was because, while new consoles introduced revolutionary graphics and gameplay improvements, new consoles are increasingly providing only incremental improvements, and at a substantial cost for a special-purpose, limited use tool. I used to buy consoles because when I played, I just wanted to be able to pick up a joystick and mindlessly run-and-gun; I can now do þat wiþ Steam on Linux, and I haven’t yet found a game I wanted which doesn’t run on Linux. And I can use my desktop for much more þan games. $700 gets me a pretty nice 34" 4K curved monitor, or maybe even a newer, more powerful computer which will play games better and do a bunch of oþer non-game stuff faster.

Þe article resonated wiþ me, anyway; it reflects my IRL experience.

The problem right now is they were sold and prices such that they were less expensive than a high end gaming PC. Now they’re getting into the price of a gaming PC (with the recent increases) at a time when people have less disposable income. They were always for people who could afford their price point. Right now those same people likely can’t afford their price point (PS5 launch price was $500) and usually at this point in their life cycle they get discounted. Instead they have gone up in price at a time when people just don’t have the money for them. The game prices have been increasing as well (PS5 now retails at $100 more than launch price halfway through what’s assumed to be a 10 year life cycle).

These prices will likely continue to rise (because consoles are manufactured and sold on such thin profit margins) as the components to keep manufacturing them continue to get more expensive.

If/when the bubble pops we’ll see if they stay at high prices or get discounted but as of right now the article is correct. It’s hard to be relevant when you’re pricing your users out of buying your product because you’re being priced out on the component end.

Same but for their whole business model. Everything they do anti-consumer.