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by crazygringo 943 days ago
Much cheaper, much smaller, much easier to set up and use and trust it'll all just work.

If you've already got a basic laptop you use for everything else, and are just looking for a normal gaming experience (not modding or cheating or maxing out graphics), why would you buy a PC instead? It's all downsides.

(If you don't have a laptop and already do all your computing on a PC desktop then using that for gaming makes more sense. But even then, your desktop is often in your home office while you want to do your gaming on your big-screen TV -- so you still get a console.)
2 comments
gjsman-1000 943 days ago
I think the biggest implied benefit is sailing the high seas (cough cough) and the low price of Steam deals.

For me, sure, Steam prices are great; but the fact that it can be taken away from me for any reason and I can never sell/give any item means I’m basically buying… what, exactly? It feels like buying an IOU for a game.

As for piracy, well, I don’t think I need say more.

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crazygringo 943 days ago
Ah, I suppose that would make sense.

On the other hand, for people who can't afford a ton of games but want to play a ton of games, Xbox Game Pass has been huge.

I actually wonder if Game Pass has had any effect in reducing piracy the way Spotify had a gigantic effect on music piracy. Or if Game Pass and pirates are distinct groups without much overlap.

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danuker 943 days ago
If I've got a laptop and am looking for "normal" gaming experiences, rather than the latest AAA games, I'll load up an old or light game on it.

Why would I buy a separate piece of hardware taking up more space in my home and life? More money down the drain.

Sure, it's nice that it "just works", but so does `pacman -Sy xonotic`.

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crazygringo 943 days ago
Nobody's talking exclusively about the "latest AAA games".

But they are generally referring to the graphics-intensive games that have been available on consoles for the past ten years. That's what "normal gaming" is. CoD, GTA, Halo. Mainstream multiplayer stuff and similar single-player.

Not one of which runs on an average laptop.

People buy consoles to run console-type games.

In the conversation around PCs vs consoles, I think you know nobody's talking about Pac-Man here.

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