Microsoft shocks with hefty Xbox price hike, games to cost $80

[LimyG]

I've used both the Xbox One X and Series X and I can't help but feel there is very little value left buying an Xbox given that there is no exclusives. What I find on Xbox, I will be able to find on PC or other platforms. Moreover, you can find these games cheaper on platforms such as Steam over some time. So while you save some on buying the console vs PC, you end up paying more for the games. Game Pass helps, but again, its available for Xbox and PC alike.

Your opinion seems shared by quite a few. I loved the 360, and used it as well as PC.
After upgrading my PC, (my last one - not current) I saw how much better games looked on PC.
Skyrim is a stand out example.

Still the games were good, and after they solved the "red ring of death," issue it was a very good platform.

Probably the last. I saw no reason to buy the next xbox iteration, same as the latest.
The reasons are the same as you say. Mostly available on Steam, and bargains can be had.

Consoles have one thing going for them now in 2025. That is as a PC gamer a person needs to know at least the basics of PC maitenaince. Basic trouble shooting, how to use NVCP or AMD equivilent to tune individual games.

Ideally should build their own PC. I built about 10 over the years and it's quite educational. Pretty much the PC is only as good as it's weakest part, strictly speaking.

So if someone with a very old PC that was good in it's day bought an RTX 5090 5080, RTX 4090 etc, you get the picture they might be very disappointed as there other components couldn't support such powerful graphics hardware.

Also things do go wrong on PC. Usually easy to fix unless it's caused by MS windows, in which case have to uninstall the offending update.

But I know a couple of people who bought off the shelf expensive PCs with good GPUs and decent CPUs. Good kit. But the minute something doesn't work properly they are lost.

Such folks are better off with a console. Largly plug in and play, or at least the 360 and earlier were.

BTW: One piece of very basic advice I gave to a friend who can't be bothered to learn anything, but has numerous issues on his off the shelf gaming PC, is first, ReBoot.

It's amazing how many small problems a simple restart will sort out. I told him to stick a post it note under his monitor which simply says "RESTART!" He has less problems now.

For that reason alone, there will always be a big market for consoles, especially the newer powerful hand held devices. I hear the new Nintendo Switch can be plugged into an HD TV and play Ok. That's a lot of power in a small device, probably the same as a full sized console of 2 gens back or better.

But a PC gamer does need to know their hardware and software otherwise they could have a miserable time, unless lucky.

 

[kira setsu]

What you said was total nonsense. It sounds like you picked the wrong games. Who's fault is that? You actually sound like a poster child for the corporate gaming companies.

Who cares if the game isn't a "finished product" as you say, just as long the developer is active in the game development and advancements. So far the early access games I've been playing the developers have been active everyday, updating and refining the game. Even if you initially had to pay $10 for a DLC plus the cost of the game which is about $15, it still comes out cheaper than paying $80 for a game. That's also not including paying for a game pass.

what the hell is a "wrong game"?

what you sound like is a sucker, there are crummy games to varying degrees at every price point, why are you ignoring the fact that alot of early access games get stuck in limbo for years, may never end up finished or are just straight up sneaky cash grabs to sucker some gamers out of their money, there are hundreds of games in ea or whatever it is and if someone sees something interesting, buys it, and its never completed, is that person also playing one of those "wrong games"?

YOU, are picking out games that YOU have personally had the perfect ea experience with, but luckily in my case like alot of gamers, I have cash to blow and buy whatever catches my eye, so I'll buy whatever expensive AAA games I want and I'll trash those if imo they're crappy and broken just as much as I'll trash a indie devs ea game thats been in development forever or has game breaking bugs.

none of these devs are your friends, any one of these little studios can strike it big and end up just as horrible as the big guys, there are plenty of examples.