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45% of enthusiasts 'seriously considering' leaving Sony for PC

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Re: 45% of enthusiasts 'seriously considering' leaving Sony for PC

#61

Post by asdff »

CodingJeebus wrote: post #12
everdrive wrote: post #5

Gaming is getting too expensive. This feels like sort of an accident of complex systems. Budgets for games are skyrocketing, graphics requirements are skyrocketing. But, some of the most fun games in the world were made 30 ago. From a pure "can we have good entertainment?" standpoint there's no reason for this cost creep. In practice, companies are pushing it, and although it probably does not apply to the HN crowd,…

I think it's a function of growth at all costs (or to put more bluntly, capitalism). TVs need to continuously improve to keep selling, as do video game systems, etc. And graphics are the easiest benchmark to advertise progress, but also some of the most taxing systems to build because they're so complex that there are huge markets of commercial game engines to address this. Good gameplay requires taste, nuance, exper…

TVs dont need to continuously improve. They just need to fall apart continuously. Which they now do. Ever own a 4k tv without problems for 5-10 years? Me neither. If you did please list the make and model as I would like to have one that is just as good as my old workhouse 1080p panel. Sony bravia I tried shit the bed and from the forum crawling I did this is not an unexpected issue. Most people seem to expect their TV to fail in about 5 years now it seems.

Re: 45% of enthusiasts 'seriously considering' leaving Sony for PC

#62

Post by asdff »

nubinetwork wrote: post #32
nottorp wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They will drop discs for the ps5 too starting 2028. They don't need a new console.

They tried dropping discs when they launched the ps5, but I don't think many people bought the online only version because North American internet still sucks.

The factory that makes ps5 disks is already being retooled.

Re: 45% of enthusiasts 'seriously considering' leaving Sony for PC

#63

Post by revolvingthrow »

onion2k wrote: post #33
everdrive wrote: post #5

Gaming is getting too expensive. This feels like sort of an accident of complex systems. Budgets for games are skyrocketing, graphics requirements are skyrocketing. But, some of the most fun games in the world were made 30 ago. From a pure "can we have good entertainment?" standpoint there's no reason for this cost creep. In practice, companies are pushing it, and although it probably does not apply to the HN crowd,…

consumers are also demanding better graphics I don't think many consumers (outside of hardcore games) could tell the difference between the graphics of a game from 10 years ago to the graphics from a game of today. Things have hardly moved on at all. As an example to illustrate the point: GTA:V is 13 years old.

> I don't think many consumers (outside of hardcore games) could tell the difference between the graphics of a game from 10 years ago to the graphics from a game of today

My half blind aunt could probably tell the difference between the graphics of a game from 2016 and 2026 if you put them side by side.

Were video game graphics "good enough" for a while now? I’d say yes, with the exception of vr. But to say there has been no noticeable improvement over the last 10 years is silly.

GTA 6 is coming out soon. I’d invite you to actually compare the visuals of gta 6 vs the original gta 5 from 2014 that was released for ps4 (rather than the 2022 enhanced version for consoles or 2015 version for pc which shouldn’t be compared to non-pc gta 6, since 6 for pc will also get a significant facelift).

Re: 45% of enthusiasts 'seriously considering' leaving Sony for PC

#64

Post by emdash »

miiiiiike wrote: post #6

Sure. Until the first FromSoftware PS6 exclusive is released. Child, six, seriously considering running away from home after parents refuse to serve dinner on dinosaur plate. People realize that Steam doesn't use physical media, right? The real issue is the lack of consumer friendly regulation, not the medium.

I've been using Steam for 15 years and in that time they have never done me wrong. I trust Valve to do the right thing.

On the other hand, I know for a fact that sony will do the worst possible thing over and over again every time they have the chance to.

Remember that time Sony took away features from the PS3 that were advertised selling points? Remember when modders added the features back and Sony sent them to prison?

Re: 45% of enthusiasts 'seriously considering' leaving Sony for PC

#65

Post by emdash »

ticulatedspline wrote: post #3

Not sure why. looking at the polls it would seem the primary points are 1) Sony ending physical disks 2) potential high price of next gen. 1 is hilarious, even games that come on physical disks are already mostly useless without internet. I had a ps4 and bought "Last of Us" and the game is literally unbeatable without an internet connection. It has a game breaking bug that isn't patched on disk. Many other games are…

I am fine with not having physical media for games on Steam because I trust Steam to do the right thing.

I already know for a fact that Sony won't do the right thing because they have always done the worst possible thing at every chance.

Re: 45% of enthusiasts 'seriously considering' leaving Sony for PC

#66

Post by GoofGarage »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #37
everdrive wrote: post #5

Gaming is getting too expensive. This feels like sort of an accident of complex systems. Budgets for games are skyrocketing, graphics requirements are skyrocketing. But, some of the most fun games in the world were made 30 ago. From a pure "can we have good entertainment?" standpoint there's no reason for this cost creep. In practice, companies are pushing it, and although it probably does not apply to the HN crowd,…

> Gaming is getting too expensive. Gaming is so much cheaper than when I was growing up that I'm kind of blown away. SNES games went for $60-70. That's like $130-150 in today's money. And they usually had less content than today's games, even if you never do microtransactions today! In contrast, major AAA titles today are half the price, and you can find indie games packed with content for a paltry $20. Hell, with St…

>SNES games went for $60-70.

I don’t believe you were intending to paint with a broad brush, but for others I’d like to explain where SNES game pricing was in more detail, as there was quite the range of prices depending on the game and when it was released.

———-

The plain Jane SNES game was $50 at US launch in late 1991. Normal-ish ROM size (4Mbit). This included later released first-party titles like Super Mario Kart (1992).

Prices went up with ROM size, and as there were higher supply costs starting in late 1993 and into 1994. So something like even LOZ: A Link to the Past was $60 (8Mbit ROM used, game a bit smaller). Mega Man X was $60 for the same reason. Final Fantasy II (IV) in the US was $65 at launch (again, 8Mbit ROM). Street Fighter II (16Mbit) was $70 in 1992.

Then there’s larger games still, with ROM prices going down then up. I believe Final Fantasy III (VI) was $75 USD at launch, but that was a 24Mbit ROM. Secret of Mana (16MBit) and Chrono Trigger (32MBit) were $80 at launch. Then you had Ogre Battle which I believe was $90, despite fitting within 12Mbit (8Mbit + 4Mbit).

Another reason for $70 prices were the SuperFX chip. Stunt Race FX was $70 in the US at launch because of that chip, even though it fit into an 8Mbit ROM. Yet Star Fox was $60 was the same hardware, but launched at $60 in 1993 whereas Stunt Race FX came out in 1994 where ROM prices are higher.

—-

So $50 - 90, with it more in the $50-60 range at launch, and then $60 being more common through the rest of the console’s lifecycle. Special and larger games were trending towards $70 later in the console lifecycle. Then you had the few crazy games (excluding games with accessories like Lethal Enforcers) in the $75 - 90 range.

Re: 45% of enthusiasts 'seriously considering' leaving Sony for PC

#67

Post by karahime »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #37
everdrive wrote: post #5

Gaming is getting too expensive. This feels like sort of an accident of complex systems. Budgets for games are skyrocketing, graphics requirements are skyrocketing. But, some of the most fun games in the world were made 30 ago. From a pure "can we have good entertainment?" standpoint there's no reason for this cost creep. In practice, companies are pushing it, and although it probably does not apply to the HN crowd,…

> Gaming is getting too expensive. Gaming is so much cheaper than when I was growing up that I'm kind of blown away. SNES games went for $60-70. That's like $130-150 in today's money. And they usually had less content than today's games, even if you never do microtransactions today! In contrast, major AAA titles today are half the price, and you can find indie games packed with content for a paltry $20. Hell, with St…

Nobody wants to look at it, but I think this is a lot of it. The original Prince of Persia PC/Amiga version retailed at $39.95, or roughly $100 in today's money. In fact, roughly $100 in 2026 dollars was actually quite a stable price point for a very long time.

A $60 game in 2006 is also roughly $100 in 2026 dollars. I think what happened is that around then, people generally decided that "$60 is the price of a AAA game, and anything more is a sham". If I had to bet, I'd guess that that was around when a lot of the public got into gaming as something that wasn't just "for nerds".

I think that if people were willing to drop $100 up front, base price for a game, you would not find the microtransaction, ultimate edition, day 1 DLC shenanigans that you see. Companies would find it easy to say "But of course all skins are unlockable in game!"

Re: 45% of enthusiasts 'seriously considering' leaving Sony for PC

#69

Post by MYEUHD »

haunter wrote: post #26

I think it's driven more about piracy than anything else. Steam is not an alternative if you hate digital only games. PC as a platform (and that can mean anything from Windows to Linux to Mac) is an alternative as cheaper gaming becasue 1, you can pirate games easier 2, you can emulate older games. It really comes down to the next PS6 exclusive, would people buy a console just to play Dark Souls 4? That's the billion…

> Steam is not an alternative if you hate digital only games.

GOG is the alternative. It sells DRM-free games

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