This is something people should consider when they compare prices between game consoles and PC. A game console might cost, say, 500, which might sound cheap in comparison. But, if you want to play online, you need a subscription. Let’s say 100 per year, and assume 7 year lifetime for console, cost you another 700. If you buy games as digital copies, they’ll be about 60 to 80 each, and they are rarely discounted. And when they are, it’s probably -10%. Assume you buy 10 games for the console, and it’s another 600 or so. Total price for the “cheap” console is thus about 1800.
Steam Machine costs about 1000, but as there are no subscriptions, the remaining 800 can go to games. But, for PC there are numerous places to get games. Also discounts are frequent and can be up to -100%. You can turn that 800 into a game library far larger than 10 games.
And then there’s compatibility. Games and accessories you buy for one console might not be compatible with the next console you buy. Games and (some of the) accessories you purchase for one PC, on the other hand, are compatible with the next PC you purchase, regardless if it’s a desktop, laptop, media PC or handheld.
Yeah except current console gamers have a lot of existing games that will be useless if they sell their current console to go to steam.
Like in the end your math eventually does work out (if you pay for subscriptions, I know those who don’t) but at the current price levels I don’t see steam machine swaying that many console gamers at all, especially if their friends also own consoles that they play with.
For people starting fresh I can see it at least being an option.
That and I also disagree with numbers. You picked peak. PS plus is like 70 a month (7/10 of your original estimate) and a lot of games still are discs and even then there are plenty of sales. Not many are paying 70/80 all the time for games, let alone cost conscious people you’re supposedly targeting.
Are they anywhere near as big as steam sales are? Steam regularly has themed sales for specific genres and then has major sales 4 times a year where nearly every game has some kind of discount.
The days of steam having wild deals on newer stuff are over. IMO. It’s all more measured and regimented now. The sales are part of the whole business plan these days, and likely planned out from the start.
I’m sure there are exceptions, but I don’t get the impression that sales are as exciting these days. Everything has adapted to consumers expecting sales.
It varies by publisher; some have parity, such as Control Ultimate Edition being $4 on both PS5 and Steam. But on average, Steam’s prices are cheaper. Although piracy is where the true value lies…
I’d say mods is where the true value lies, I’ve extended my Bethesda gametime significantly because I can install modpacks and get complete overhauls in various flavors.
I know there are mods on PS/Xbox but it’s much more limited and most require payment on consoles AFAIK.
I wouldn’t know this from personal experience. Nothing compares to a pc for me.
But according to ltt it is comparable and having done a quick search online for current deals.
Fallout 4 anniversary edition has the same full price on both platforms but ps has a discount making it cheaper atm.
One of em Call of duties (cold war) has a much cheaper full price on steam but the current ps discount makes it almost half of steam’s current offer.
I doubt the comparisons are fair because sony is definitely looking at current steam prices to respond with their own deals. But technically steam is not always cheaper.
Of course if you look at little past the steam platform and recognise that it’s a full fledged pc able to obtain games from many different types of sources there is only one clear winner.
My steam library, if you’d count each game at full price, would easily be worth five figures, while in reality I’ll have spent somewhere in the low four digits, spread over 15 years.
This is something people should consider when they compare prices between game consoles and PC. A game console might cost, say, 500, which might sound cheap in comparison. But, if you want to play online, you need a subscription. Let’s say 100 per year, and assume 7 year lifetime for console, cost you another 700. If you buy games as digital copies, they’ll be about 60 to 80 each, and they are rarely discounted. And when they are, it’s probably -10%. Assume you buy 10 games for the console, and it’s another 600 or so. Total price for the “cheap” console is thus about 1800.
Steam Machine costs about 1000, but as there are no subscriptions, the remaining 800 can go to games. But, for PC there are numerous places to get games. Also discounts are frequent and can be up to -100%. You can turn that 800 into a game library far larger than 10 games.
And then there’s compatibility. Games and accessories you buy for one console might not be compatible with the next console you buy. Games and (some of the) accessories you purchase for one PC, on the other hand, are compatible with the next PC you purchase, regardless if it’s a desktop, laptop, media PC or handheld.
Yeah except current console gamers have a lot of existing games that will be useless if they sell their current console to go to steam.
Like in the end your math eventually does work out (if you pay for subscriptions, I know those who don’t) but at the current price levels I don’t see steam machine swaying that many console gamers at all, especially if their friends also own consoles that they play with.
For people starting fresh I can see it at least being an option.
That and I also disagree with numbers. You picked peak. PS plus is like 70 a month (7/10 of your original estimate) and a lot of games still are discs and even then there are plenty of sales. Not many are paying 70/80 all the time for games, let alone cost conscious people you’re supposedly targeting.
There are also open-source games, you can play them for free.
OpenTTD, Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead, Beyond All Reason, 0 A.D., OpenRA… the list is very long, and those games are amazing.
Just one note that i learned on ltt the other day.
Consoles do have discounts on games, apparently there recently was a small internet drama when the ps store had no active discount for a short while.
Personally, i still think consoles suck and not owning your own hardware to do whatever makes no sense, but misinformation is misinformation.
Are they anywhere near as big as steam sales are? Steam regularly has themed sales for specific genres and then has major sales 4 times a year where nearly every game has some kind of discount.
They are. Consoles also have big seasonal and holiday sales, a lot of big games can often be nabbed for $5 like Steam.
The days of steam having wild deals on newer stuff are over. IMO. It’s all more measured and regimented now. The sales are part of the whole business plan these days, and likely planned out from the start.
I’m sure there are exceptions, but I don’t get the impression that sales are as exciting these days. Everything has adapted to consumers expecting sales.
When I last had an Xbox many years ago they had decent sales, but not as frequent. Nintendo is the only one who never does sales.
It varies by publisher; some have parity, such as Control Ultimate Edition being $4 on both PS5 and Steam. But on average, Steam’s prices are cheaper. Although piracy is where the true value lies…
I’d say mods is where the true value lies, I’ve extended my Bethesda gametime significantly because I can install modpacks and get complete overhauls in various flavors.
I know there are mods on PS/Xbox but it’s much more limited and most require payment on consoles AFAIK.
True, mods can also add value, but it varies wildly depending on the game. I get the most use of of mods that just add QOL changes.
If you like Bethesda games, check out some of the wabbajack modlists
I wouldn’t know this from personal experience. Nothing compares to a pc for me.
But according to ltt it is comparable and having done a quick search online for current deals.
Fallout 4 anniversary edition has the same full price on both platforms but ps has a discount making it cheaper atm.
One of em Call of duties (cold war) has a much cheaper full price on steam but the current ps discount makes it almost half of steam’s current offer.
I doubt the comparisons are fair because sony is definitely looking at current steam prices to respond with their own deals. But technically steam is not always cheaper.
Of course if you look at little past the steam platform and recognise that it’s a full fledged pc able to obtain games from many different types of sources there is only one clear winner.
Steam frequently has deals though, look at the price history on fallout 4 (don’t have one for anniversary upgrade unfortunately)
It has dropped to below $10 8 times in the past year alone
My steam library, if you’d count each game at full price, would easily be worth five figures, while in reality I’ll have spent somewhere in the low four digits, spread over 15 years.