So I’m a millennial (35 years old), and I have the following devices that I play games on (in order of most gaming prestige to least):
Xbox Series X
Steam Deck
Lenovo Thinkpad T480
Macbook Pro M1
I can tell you right now I am struggling to find a reason to play games on my XSX. On my Steam Deck/Thinkpad? I have a massive library of games, from old and new.
One of the biggest mistakes that this generation of gaming has done is do lots of remasters of old games - now I have my Steam Deck with all these old titles, I wonder in most cases why I’m paying so much money for such little return (my personal feeling is that the Resident Evil franchise is the only exception to this - the PS1/PS2 games, if they were ported onto PC, had horrible controls and lacklustre saving mechanisms. The remasters solve this as well as enhanced graphics).
Furthermore, the biggest selling point for me with the XSX was the backwards compatibility of old games like GTA IV and RDR. RDR aside, most of these games have made their way onto PC with a controller scheme that is fully compatible with any modern controller, let alone the Steam Deck.
It’s quite funny how my XSX in recent times has been used more as a TV streaming device until I upgraded my TV, which has the smart apps on the TV, so I don’t need the XSX any more.
I have strongly considered selling my XSX, but honestly GTA VI is the only thing that’s keeping the XSX in my living room. I am awfully tempted to pack it up and put it in the loft until GTA VI comes out - that is how little I care about the console. Over the weekend I went to my brother’s and played on his PS5 - apart from the triggers, I couldn’t immediately find the selling point, nor could I convince myself to shell out up to £500 on a console where the only game I would be interested in playing is God of War Ragnarok and/or Uncharted franchise.
This console generation by both companies has been exceptionally weak. It’s kind of funny that I sold my Nintendo Switch for the Steam Deck, but I’ve found owning a Switch to be far more compelling and memorable than owning any of the modern games consoles; Super Mario Oddysey was great, even if it was a little too hard for me, and BOTW was actually a little fun, but I really had to tap out after a few hours in. Donky Kong Tropical Freeze was just absolutely incredible and stellar. I can’t tell you any first party game I’ve enjoyed on XSX outside of Forza Horizon 5, but even then, FH5 was effectively a reskin of FH4).
Oh, and I don’t think it needs to be said, but the Macbook is not very good as a gaming machine. It’s OK for small indie titles, but unless Apple gets its finger out (it never will unless gaming makes them gangbusters for very little money - not very likely in long term), the Macbook/iPhone/iPad/Apple TV will always be a second class citizen to even the crappiest PC.
XSX is good for free gamepass via farming MS rewards points. That’s basically all I use mine for. I don’t think I’d use it much at all if it wasn’t for gamepass. Probably helps that I’ve never had an Xbox before and theres a huge back catalog of games I missed that I now have access to.
I really enjoy the cloud save sharing. I like playing on the XSX to utilize my OLED TV and Atmos home theater, but for more challenging sections I’ll go upstairs and use MKB on my PC.
Probably 10 minutes a day. The microsoftrewards sub on Reddit has a lot of good info. I game the system so they don’t get any personal info on me. Even with the recent nerfs it’s enough to keep gamepass ultimate going for free. I’ve also redeemed a few hundred dollars worth of gift cards for games and MSFS addons.
I’d say I use my xbone and pc equally, however it isn’t my Xbox I’m looking to upgrade this year, since I don’t really see a reason to. Any game I want I can get on my new laptop, or I can play an older version of with backwards compatibility or game pass.
I’m okay with not playing exclusives for Playstation, since I’m not completely changing my gaming ecosystem to one that barely connects to pc gaming. Besides, they’re releasing a ton on pc anyway, so I probably just have to wait slightly longer if I want to play one.
I got a switch for my wife and she plays that thing every day, never really seemed interested in the Xbox though. Even though she’s playing minecraft either way. I think she likes the portability most.
As a fellow millennial, I completely skipped the last two generations. There was nothing compelling that I couldn’t already play on my PC.
I’ve got a Switch, because Nintendo games. But yeah, consoles just seem like weak ass PCs with budget hardware. Why bother with that? I can just just lean back in my gaming space and game on my PC with a controller if I wanted the same experience.
It’s the age old problem of high end gaming for the past 20-30 years … too young to afford the best hardware/consoles … too old to find the time to play on the best hardware/consoles
The demographics always have one or the other … youth or time
- the younger you are, the less money you have but the more time you have
- the older you are, the more money you have but the less time you have
The only common denominator in both groups is investing in smartphones or a general PC … if you don’t have the money as a kid, you always have access to a phone … if you are old and don’t have time and don’t want to invest in expensive hardware or specialty consoles you won’t have time to play with, you just invest in cheaper smartphones or a general PC
I’d love to have a gaming PC, but honestly the price is way too high for what I want, and the PS5 will play all the games shown on the tin with no issue.
I know the PC form factor is better for all sorts of things, and you get better graphics, people say the price is cheaper, etc. But when I keep hearing that game devs aren’t giving any consideration for performance, so it sounds like you need a top build with lots of video ram to actually play modern games anyway.
The price for a mid to high tier PC in Canada seems to be 2.5-5x the price of a PS5, so I just don’t feel like I can justify the cost. Streaming with GForce Now makes the value proposition even worse for me, since it would take many many years for the streaming service to cost more than a gaming rig.
edit: I’m sure I’m wrong on the pricing thing, so if anyone can point me to a good place to buy a PC which doesn’t suck or have shitty parts mixed in with the headline ones, and has a simple way to buy the parts, I’ll happily take a look. I miss strategy games that suck on console or emulating in Wine.
So I’m a millennial (35 years old), and I have the following devices that I play games on (in order of most gaming prestige to least):
I can tell you right now I am struggling to find a reason to play games on my XSX. On my Steam Deck/Thinkpad? I have a massive library of games, from old and new.
One of the biggest mistakes that this generation of gaming has done is do lots of remasters of old games - now I have my Steam Deck with all these old titles, I wonder in most cases why I’m paying so much money for such little return (my personal feeling is that the Resident Evil franchise is the only exception to this - the PS1/PS2 games, if they were ported onto PC, had horrible controls and lacklustre saving mechanisms. The remasters solve this as well as enhanced graphics).
Furthermore, the biggest selling point for me with the XSX was the backwards compatibility of old games like GTA IV and RDR. RDR aside, most of these games have made their way onto PC with a controller scheme that is fully compatible with any modern controller, let alone the Steam Deck.
It’s quite funny how my XSX in recent times has been used more as a TV streaming device until I upgraded my TV, which has the smart apps on the TV, so I don’t need the XSX any more.
I have strongly considered selling my XSX, but honestly GTA VI is the only thing that’s keeping the XSX in my living room. I am awfully tempted to pack it up and put it in the loft until GTA VI comes out - that is how little I care about the console. Over the weekend I went to my brother’s and played on his PS5 - apart from the triggers, I couldn’t immediately find the selling point, nor could I convince myself to shell out up to £500 on a console where the only game I would be interested in playing is God of War Ragnarok and/or Uncharted franchise.
This console generation by both companies has been exceptionally weak. It’s kind of funny that I sold my Nintendo Switch for the Steam Deck, but I’ve found owning a Switch to be far more compelling and memorable than owning any of the modern games consoles; Super Mario Oddysey was great, even if it was a little too hard for me, and BOTW was actually a little fun, but I really had to tap out after a few hours in. Donky Kong Tropical Freeze was just absolutely incredible and stellar. I can’t tell you any first party game I’ve enjoyed on XSX outside of Forza Horizon 5, but even then, FH5 was effectively a reskin of FH4).
Oh, and I don’t think it needs to be said, but the Macbook is not very good as a gaming machine. It’s OK for small indie titles, but unless Apple gets its finger out (it never will unless gaming makes them gangbusters for very little money - not very likely in long term), the Macbook/iPhone/iPad/Apple TV will always be a second class citizen to even the crappiest PC.
XSX is good for free gamepass via farming MS rewards points. That’s basically all I use mine for. I don’t think I’d use it much at all if it wasn’t for gamepass. Probably helps that I’ve never had an Xbox before and theres a huge back catalog of games I missed that I now have access to.
Gamepass is fully usable on PC too, fyi. It’s pretty well done, your saves carry over and everything.
I really enjoy the cloud save sharing. I like playing on the XSX to utilize my OLED TV and Atmos home theater, but for more challenging sections I’ll go upstairs and use MKB on my PC.
How much work do you put in farming MS points?
Probably 10 minutes a day. The microsoftrewards sub on Reddit has a lot of good info. I game the system so they don’t get any personal info on me. Even with the recent nerfs it’s enough to keep gamepass ultimate going for free. I’ve also redeemed a few hundred dollars worth of gift cards for games and MSFS addons.
I’d say I use my xbone and pc equally, however it isn’t my Xbox I’m looking to upgrade this year, since I don’t really see a reason to. Any game I want I can get on my new laptop, or I can play an older version of with backwards compatibility or game pass.
I’m okay with not playing exclusives for Playstation, since I’m not completely changing my gaming ecosystem to one that barely connects to pc gaming. Besides, they’re releasing a ton on pc anyway, so I probably just have to wait slightly longer if I want to play one.
I got a switch for my wife and she plays that thing every day, never really seemed interested in the Xbox though. Even though she’s playing minecraft either way. I think she likes the portability most.
As a fellow millennial, I completely skipped the last two generations. There was nothing compelling that I couldn’t already play on my PC.
I’ve got a Switch, because Nintendo games. But yeah, consoles just seem like weak ass PCs with budget hardware. Why bother with that? I can just just lean back in my gaming space and game on my PC with a controller if I wanted the same experience.
It’s the age old problem of high end gaming for the past 20-30 years … too young to afford the best hardware/consoles … too old to find the time to play on the best hardware/consoles
The demographics always have one or the other … youth or time
- the younger you are, the less money you have but the more time you have
- the older you are, the more money you have but the less time you have
The only common denominator in both groups is investing in smartphones or a general PC … if you don’t have the money as a kid, you always have access to a phone … if you are old and don’t have time and don’t want to invest in expensive hardware or specialty consoles you won’t have time to play with, you just invest in cheaper smartphones or a general PC
I’d love to have a gaming PC, but honestly the price is way too high for what I want, and the PS5 will play all the games shown on the tin with no issue.
I know the PC form factor is better for all sorts of things, and you get better graphics, people say the price is cheaper, etc. But when I keep hearing that game devs aren’t giving any consideration for performance, so it sounds like you need a top build with lots of video ram to actually play modern games anyway.
The price for a mid to high tier PC in Canada seems to be 2.5-5x the price of a PS5, so I just don’t feel like I can justify the cost. Streaming with GForce Now makes the value proposition even worse for me, since it would take many many years for the streaming service to cost more than a gaming rig.
edit: I’m sure I’m wrong on the pricing thing, so if anyone can point me to a good place to buy a PC which doesn’t suck or have shitty parts mixed in with the headline ones, and has a simple way to buy the parts, I’ll happily take a look. I miss strategy games that suck on console or emulating in Wine.
Same. 40. I havent bought a system in 10 years.
I spoke with another millennium who bought a PS2 because he didn’t want to deal with user accounts and the Internet.