I was undecided about what to do when the PS5 I own reached the end of its lifespan. Part of me considered building a PC for myself or even getting a Steam Deck, but I was too undecided. However, typical of the modern gaming world, certain events came to pass that pushed me to the conclusion that I just can't do it anymore.
The first was the announcement of the PS5 Pro.
This is something that I feel will shape console releases in the years to come. Announced without a disc drive, the console will cost $700/£700, and sure, it boasts some nice graphical performances. But, is it worth that cost? Not as far as I'm concerned. But that wasn't the worst part. If I wanted one with a disc drive, I'd need to pay an additional $80/£80 for the drive as an add-on. If that wasn't enough, I'd also have to pay another $25/£25 for the vertical stand, something which came as standard with regular PS5s. All that together would cost $805/£805, which is an insane amount. I can only wonder who the hell thought this was a good idea. It reminds me of when Ken Lay was asked a question at an Enron meeting on a question card he read out:
"I would like to know if you're on crack. If you are, it would explain a lot. If not, you might want to start, because it'll be a long time before we trust you again."
Spending that much on a PC would get me a pretty good build, but I simply can't be bothered to do it anymore. Such a move from Sony, I can only describe as greedy, and it's a real shame.
The second instance came with the announcement of the PS5 Anniversary Edition.
This one really pissed me off.
Having been an owner of the original PS1 and having some fond memories of it, I really liked the design of the Anniversary Edition. But, one of the first things I read about the console was that Sony was only making 12,300 of them. As soon as I heard that, I had a feeling they'd all be bought up and put on eBay, going for stupid prices, sold by scalpers. Sure enough, it happened, and I was so disappointed. Again, Sony really screwed up, and it led to some of the consoles going for around $5000-$6000 on eBay. If any of you scalpers are reading this: fuck you. I really hope nobody is stupid enough to pay those prices, but since eBay is the only place one can be found, you never know.
I had forgotten about those two examples until recently, when Nintendo announced the Switch 2. I decided to take a cautious approach to the release, whereas my wife was really excited about it. That was until the prices started to trickle out. There are too many for me to be bothered to list in this blog piece, but this tweet from GameStop showcases most of them. By the end of the week, my wife's excitement for the release had gone, and it got me thinking again about how much longer I was going to keep gaming.
After a while, I decided it just wasn't worth it anymore. The price of games is creeping up, micro transactions are a regular thing, thanks to all the idiots who used them, and the consoles themselves are getting more expensive. And then there's the quality of modern games, something I could go on about forever, but I'll just say almost nothing that's being released is worth the money. My last purchases have been remasters, remakes, and older releases in a sale. See a pattern there?
So, once my PS5 reaches the end of its lifespan, I'm done. I've decided I'm going to go back to retro gaming. I have the money to do such a hobby now, and can afford some of those classic consoles I never got to own when I was younger. A (modded) Sega Saturn is at the top of my list because a lot of the classic, 2D arcade shooters have the best versions on that console, including some Japan-only exclusives. Will they be expensive? Sure, but will they be worth it? Yeah, because I know I'll get much more enjoyment out of them than most modern games.
Will I get a Steam Deck, or one of these rumoured Steam Consoles? Maybe. There are enough old releases out there that I never got to play, I might not. Time will tell, I guess, but given the potential prices, maybe not. But, just thinking about getting a Saturn, or even getting a PS1 again, gets me excited for what games I can play, or play again. I've not felt that level of excitement about any modern console or game release, and that's really telling.
