consoles are walled gardens that consumers pay to be in
Less and less as time goes on, is my point, for the reasons we’ve discussed. Maybe any one or two of those reasons aren’t doing it on their own, but in the aggregate, it appears consumers are slowly deciding not to put up with the downsides anymore.
It also helps that consoles are becoming more and more PC-esque and expensive. Consoles were a good alternative because they were cheaper, had exclusive titles, and had the ability to couch game, and usually were just “pop disc in and play”. They were also pretty stand-alone devices. My biggest issue with PC gaming prior to really this generation was I cannot stand M+KB, I like sitting back in a chair with a controller. But now, peripherals are more able to operate on multiple platforms, games do cross-platform releases, cross play is more prolific (and cross-saves as of late), and it’s easier to switch now and not “lose” your friends. Plus, the cost of consoles anymore are much closer to equivalent PCs now.
Console positives are dwindling, or at least becoming neutral to PC.
Less and less as time goes on, is my point, for the reasons we’ve discussed. Maybe any one or two of those reasons aren’t doing it on their own, but in the aggregate, it appears consumers are slowly deciding not to put up with the downsides anymore.
It also helps that consoles are becoming more and more PC-esque and expensive. Consoles were a good alternative because they were cheaper, had exclusive titles, and had the ability to couch game, and usually were just “pop disc in and play”. They were also pretty stand-alone devices. My biggest issue with PC gaming prior to really this generation was I cannot stand M+KB, I like sitting back in a chair with a controller. But now, peripherals are more able to operate on multiple platforms, games do cross-platform releases, cross play is more prolific (and cross-saves as of late), and it’s easier to switch now and not “lose” your friends. Plus, the cost of consoles anymore are much closer to equivalent PCs now.
Console positives are dwindling, or at least becoming neutral to PC.
Mouse and keyboard hasn’t been so much a requirement for the better part of 20 years on PC, but the rest tracks.