I’ve been playing video games for about as long as I can remember. My parents had both an NES and a Nintendo 64 in the home, so there was never much hope for me not to game. While I haven’t owned every console on the market, I do have multiple examples from Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft in my house. Becoming a husband, and then a parent began to limit my time in front of the TV, but I always manage to get a little bit in here and there. However, things have been changing lately, and it isn’t due to my schedule.
Changing Spaces in the Gaming World
The current generation of consoles is one that started to lose me as a gamer. Microsoft’s naming conventions only served to confuse me, and even today I have difficulty remembering which Xbox is which after the release of the Xbox One. The PS5 released at the height of Covid during the Fall of 2020, and immediately priced me out. These issues were compounded by seriously lackluster rosters, PlayStation being the worst of the bunch. Sure there were half a dozen games that I was interested in, but why would I drop $600 or more on a console that had fewer interesting options than the PS2 did at launch? Exclusives continued to dry up, which was great for gamers, but further hurt any interest in picking up a different console.
Fast forward to 2026, and things have only gotten worse. A few more games have come out, but the quantity and quality have been severely lacking. Maybe I’m just an old man, but there hasn’t been much to catch my attention over the last half-decade. Despite the high prices and lack of libraries, I planned on picking up a PS5 eventually. I’d wait around, hoping for used prices to drop, though that may be wishful thinking at this point. Unfortunately, the clouds on the horizon seem to lack any silver linings.
Gaming Against Gamers
It seems like every week lately one of the Big 3 does something to further turn me off from gaming. Based upon comments I see online, I’m not the only one. Nintendo is banning players and bricking consoles. Sony is moving away completely from physical media, and claims that you don’t own your digital content. Microsoft cut roughly 20% of it’s Xbox workforce, and has lost virtually all of its major exclusives. The moves from Sony and Nintendo are some of the most egregious fouls that I’ve seen to date, and are patently anti-consumer. With friends like these, who needs enemies? Moreover, why would I give them my hard earned, and decreasingly valuable, cash?
Yes, gaming is a luxury. Yes, this is a free market, with companies allowed to make their own choices, and consumers allowed to vote with their wallets. Well that’s exactly what myself and many others will be doing.
The End of the Console Wars
The last time I played a game on PC it was Runescape and Rollercoaster Tycoon (the original). If I want to continue playing modern games, it seems like PC is the best option moving forward. While the Console Wars were largely left in the mid-2000’s, it seems like the end is finally in sight. With a wider variety of methods to access games, to more freedom to truly own your system, the computer is probably the way forward. Maybe it always was. PlayStation, Nintendo, and Xbox have successfully turned me from a loyal customer to someone who almost certainly will never buy from them again. At least I’ve got my pile of physical media to sustain me, like a dragon atop his loot.
Hopefully we can still right the ship, but I’m not hopeful. Maybe a hero will appear on the horizon, giving gamers what they want, and bucking the trends set by the Big 3. Until then, you can find me reveling in yesteryear, free from modern problems and their solutions.
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