this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2025
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Modern consoles are locked pre-built PCs. You have to pay for online. Why get a console at this point in time?
Because you can buy a consol3, plig it into the back of your TV, and be confident that it will work. You don't have to worry about system requirements, storefronts, launchers, driver updates fucking you up, etc.
Power Cable, HDMI cable, and connect to wifi - that's it.
I've been PC gaming since the mid-80s, and even I sometimes just want to sit on the couch, push the Xbox button on my controller, and get going. Is it lazy? Yes. But I work 2 jobs and get to be lazy when I get home.
Steam Deck has turned that around somewhat. It's pretty close to an easy console experience, amd you can play on your couch, in bed, or on a plane.
That's because it's a console.
Console updates and game updates are a thing. It will work, true, it just might be downloading and installing updates for a day before it does.
And windows updates are done when you're asleep these days... There are tons of pre-built computers and laptops for people who don't care to get the best value or performance.
Another big thing for me is that I’ve worked on computers as part of my job for the last 15yrs. The last thing I wanted to do was come back home to sit again at a computer chair on another computer. Now that I work remotely, there is even less of a separation of my life since I am in my office a lot. I mentally can’t have my work station also be my gaming station, it’s just not healthy for me, I’d never move from the same place. Maybe one day when one of my laptops is old I’ll finally install steam, but for now having a switch and ps5 works wonders for the separation.
One rebuttal: Steam Deck.
Yes. The Steam Deck.
A dedicated piece of hardware with limited upgradablity designed and sold by the company that runs the marketplace/launcher/operating system that can't run all games because of its OS, but performs beyond its specs because developers are designing products with is exact, known specifications in mind.
How is the deck not a console?
Replying to your original points:
The Steam Deck has a dock that you can plug it into and have it hooked up to your TV via HDMI just like a normal console. Plus, any Bluetooth controller syncs with the SD, which makes plug and play even easier.
No real issue here on the SD either. The main storefront is Steam. You wouldn't be inclined to purchase PlayStation games from an Xbox or Xbox games from a PlayStation. Pretty sure that's not even possible unless you do some bootlegging. Drivers aren't really an issue either.
Same as the Steam Deck - with a dock. Although it does have a USB-C port so you might be able to do this without a dock by using a USB-C to HDMI or DP cable. The dock is probably the best way to go though as this is also how the Switch is marketed to be played while not on the go.
Welcome to the Steam Deck where the only time you don't have to be lazy is buying the "console"/dock, buying your games, setting shit up, and gaming on. None of the your issues here really affect the SD. I just highly recommend you try it, especially after doing PC gaming for years. Opened me up to all of those games I can't find on the Xbox store, being an Xbox native myself, while not needed to pay for Xbox Live. Such a great choice looking back
First off, Steam has LOTS of hands that aren't connotation with the deck. The storefronts on the other consoles don't have that problem.
Secondly, the Steam Deck is a dedicated gaming machine that runs a custom OS designed for gaming, had limited upgradablity, so users will just have to wait for the next generation for anything but a storage upgrade, didn't work with lots of PC games because of its operating system, and is designed and sold by the company that runs its storefront.
How is the Steam Deck not a console?
Not worrying about system requirements just translates into the game not being sold for your generation of the console, and requiring multiple generations of one console to enjoy both new and old titles.
The optimization of console games really is impressive. If you took the best gaming PC possible from 2005 when the 360 launched and tried to run late-gen 360 games like Tomb Raider on it, it simply wasn't possible.
Having set hardware allowed devs to design to limitations and get a lot more performance out of the machines.
Heck - look at anything from Nintendo. I'm pretty sure my watch has more horsepower than a Switch, but Tears of the Kingdom is gorgeous.
Just want to second that. When you have predictable hardware you can do some extremely precise optimizations, timings and scheduling so you know that when a situation comes up it'll be handled and executed the exact same way. On top of that the game will always be preconfigured so that it handles almost all situations at 60fps.
It can eek out some performance even though generally having more powerful hardware always wins.
What does that have to do with now in the age of extremely cheap, large, and fast storage.
It wasn't just storage. A 2005 PC can't handle TR on minimum settings. 360 handled it on what was essentially medium despite being a less powerful machine because the devs were able to optimize for that specific hardware instead of trying to guess.
You know, like they're doing with the Steam Deck, which is absolutely a console.
I haven't worried about a driver update fucking something up since before win XP.
I have however repeatedly encountered crashes of games on my ps5 in the last year, which kind of defeats your point. Consoles had that worry free stability factor to them in the 90s or early 2000s, but that's long gone.
You can get a steam deck then if you are worried about all of this and it would still be cheaper than console as well as portable.
The console argument just doesnt make any kind of logical sense.
A steam deck is a custom gaming device with a custom gaming OS, custom, pre-defined hardware, limited upgradability, and launches into a gaming interface for a specific company's game store and launcher.
How is it not a console?
It is a lot like a console, but there's a huge catalog.
You answered your own question.
Set it to boot to the Linux desktop and boom, laptop with gaming formatted shell for once, with a decent steam-big-picture thing you can choose to use if you want
Or reformat the entire OS and never use that steam mode again
It's a console in the same way a Windows laptop with the Xbox app pre installed is
You can launch custom apps on the Xbox. It's officially supported through Dev Mode. You can even install emulators and third-party app stores.
Is the Xbox not a console now?
That's not even close to the same thing and even you obviously know it
How is it substantially different from an everyday "I just want to play a goddamned game without jumping through hoops" perspective.
Is the person who doesn't want to go through the trouble of activating dev mode and download an emulator or other custom software more likely to install a different operating system on their Deck?
PCs can do all of this and much more.
It's the "and much more" that's the problem. A console is a deli slicer where a PC is a chef's knife.
The knife can do so much more than the deli slicer, but if you just want to slice some meat and don't care about the rest, then the deli slicer is perfect.
Huh? This analogy is wild. Deli slicers are a specialist, commercial-level piece of equipment. It's basically the antithesis of everything a console strives for, other than the fact that it's a unitasker.
Deli slicer aren't all commercial.
I have a $60 deli slicer on the counter. I also have chef's knives that cost way more.
The knives can do everything the slicer can, but the untrained person can slice meat faster and neater with the slicer. They don't need to k ow how to use a knife properly or how to sharpen a blade. It just works.
That's a console. They're cheaper than PCs that can run equivalent games for a lot of their lifespan, and they're specialist devices that just fucking work.
But they can't run cad, use excel, or do anything else but play games and videos just like a deli slicer can't debone a chicken.
I've been PC gaming since 8-bit computers. I eventually bought an Xbox One as my first console and a Switch some years ago. I just couldn't get into either of them after the initial novelty wore off. PC gaming is so much more convenient for me. I'm already at my PC, I just need to start a game. And I can multi-task with other apps in the background or on my second monitor. Going to the living room to play on a console on the TV, or switching inputs if I keep it attached to my PC monitor, both are too much hassle. I only ever use the XBox for Just Dance (nothing beats Kinect for it) and I've played many more hours of Switch games on an emulator on my PC than on the actual Switch.
Lol... You can do same with pc. Just needs configured 1 time.. Using a linux distribution you could boot into same interface like steam deck. You can emulate the consoles too well not newest gen but who cares. You can configure the whole PC for lazy using too...
Just install one of 300 distributions of an unfamiliar operating system not designed specificallyfor you use case along with drivers for all the hardware (that you also have to learn about), learn to use the OS to the point you can actually use it, install custom software so you can install games, then hope the games work or don't get updated with anti-cheat software that keeps you from playing.
Or just buy the "plays games" machine and play the games.
If you put Bazzite on there, it's the "plays games" machine and plays the games. Now we've gotten rid of your choice paralysis. If you've ever used Steam Big Picture mode or a Steam Deck, it behaves exactly like that.
You're asking a lot from the average non- computer person.
Things that are "just do this simple thing" for you are specifically what people don't want to spend time fucking around with.
If you were buying a car with zero knowledge about cars and how they work, and the only purpose of the car was to get you from "a" to "b", would you buy one that required you to install the engine and calibrate the timing yourself, or the one that you could get in and drive?
I think the rise of PC over console is showing that more and more people are finding it to be not that tough of a hill to climb. And reducing some hypothetical 300 distros down to 1 that's easy is why that hill isn't as big as you make it out to be.
The Steam Deck is a huge part of the rise, and it's essentially a console. It's a specific dedicated, known piece of hardware that can't be meaningfully upgraded.
It launches into a custom OS designed for gaming using a launcher and game marketplace under the control of the manufacturer from which the manufacturer takes a 30% cut of all sales.
But that marketplace is also a PC gaming marketplace, so all its sales count as PC gaming growth.
It can, of course, run other software, but the dev mode on the Xbox lets it do the same thing. So if the deck isn't a console, neither is the Xbox.
What nonsense. Yes, there are countless linux distributions, but of course the focus is still only on a few. These can be quickly narrowed down to how much you want to take care of the OS yourself. From arch linux to Bazitte/cachyos etc. At distrowatch.com you can also browse through the top 10. Drivers? out-of-the-box or with Nvidia 1-2 steps... even the biggest laymen can manage the changeover without any problems.
Software? Open the app store and install - done... Anti-cheat would be no problem and what a coincidence that after steamdeck has brought so much growth under Linux, publishers have thought "remove check mark and disable support, leagues that it is due to linux etc pp" which has all been refuted. Well if MS ... known for their market manipulating and criminal methods... didn't let black bags wander... without games Windows would have disappeared on private computers a long time ago...
Console btw is a lie long time now... Preconfigured, extremely neutered and heavily DRM-infested PCs with no possibility of upgrading etc.
So what you're saying is that people who aren't interested in fucking around with Linux shouldn't play games, even if they have absolutely zero interest in fucking around with Linux?
Let periods enjoy hobbies the way they want to. All that setup shit that's easy for you isn't easy for everyone, and learning more computer stuff isn't something their interested in. They want to play a goddamned game, and they can unbox a Nintendo, plug in the game, power cable, and hdmi plug and be playing a game in less than 2 minutes.
That's what they want. Their gaming hobby consists of playing the games. For many of us, all the setup and tinkering is part of the hobby, but we're the outliers.
Again just Check top10 distros. There are distros with so easy GUI installation... with preinstalled packages like steam etc. So with Bazzite you have the console feeling... (Steam deck...) wanna change from desktop e.g. to the TV in the other room... Just stream it... steam link on mobile voilä the solution for people who don't want to configure. Otherwise there is much more and also with automation... Learning more computer stuff... ? so studying for console? Cause account creation enter anything with gamepad etc is way more... Oh your paid internet yea? anyway pls pay again or you can not play online... I don't care what you play with. But as one lie after another comes from you about PC and linux it was clear that you want to put false words in my mouth too.
"Just pick one of the top 10 distros" is in itself greek to most people. You exist in a bubble where everyone knows what a linux distro even is. 90% of people do not. Your simple, overly-simplistic description of how to do Linux gaming can't make it one sentence without losing normal people who just want to play a fucking game without having to learn anything new.
Oh, with consoles you don't have to find out about backwards compatibility? Or whether the performance is sufficient with all the different versions within the same generation? But all you can think of are the same nonsensical statements? The ones with distrowatch are more likely to be people who are interested... the others are more likely to be referred to Bazitte or chachyoa in the steam forums and they use steam to play anyway (before the bullshit statement comes that would be too complicated for people). A friendly community that is willing to help is not a problem either... For consoles, have fun with the non-thinking kiddy's filled with hate Especially since you're just trolling because you've been distorting the facts from the start anyway. Since I basically argued that you can do all that with the PC as well as with a console. In other words, it's just as feasible. With you it immediately became something like I want to tell people what they should play with... No, that's just you You want to tell people what they should use instead of letting them decide for themselves... but your behavior shows wonderfully what you have to be prepared for... The one who is so frustrated by his bad purchase right from the start that he basically wants to goad people against the other options out of frustration without any arguments.
Yes, a PC can do more. That isn't a positive for lots of people.
I have a small tractor with all kinds of implements. I can dig with the backhoe, grade with the box blade, cut grass with the mowing deck, clear brush with the bush hog, do all kinds of crap with the loader bucket, move brush with the forks, and much more.
I also have to know how to attach, maintain, and use all of those tools and the tractor itself if it's going to be useful.
For someone wanting to just mow their lawn on their 1/4 acre of land, a push-mower is all they want or need.
Because you can just plug it in to your TV and play. That's the target demographic.