My first game console was the SEGA Master System. marvelous. My second game console was the SEGA Mega Drive. marvelous. My third game console was the SEGA Mega CD. This is awesome (for me). My fourth gaming console is a Sony PlayStation. marvelous. My fifth gaming console is a Nintendo 64. My sixth game console is the SEGA Dreamcast. What a great experience. My seventh gaming console is the PlayStation 2. My eighth console is the GameCube. marvelous. My ninth gaming console is an Xbox. marvelous. My 10th gaming console is the Xbox 360. My 11th gaming console is the PlayStation 3. My 12th console is the Wii. marvelous. My 13th gaming console is PS4. marvelous. My 14th gaming console is the Xbox One. marvelous. My 15th gaming console is PS4 Pro. marvelous. My 16th gaming console is the Xbox One X. My 17th gaming console is the Xbox Series X. My 18th gaming console is PS5. marvelous.
Some of them are imported so I’ll be getting them before they’re released in the UK because it’s a really cool thing to do. I didn’t include the consoles I later bought from the launch order (Saturn, Jaguar, SNES), any peripherals, and I didn’t include the handhelds. Does this make me a “hardcore” gamer? Am I also dedicating my work to video games and the world they exist in? Am I annoyed by the price of the PS5 Pro? Yes.
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Obviously, since this is gaming media, we have to capitalize on the latest industry controversy, and I’ve been thinking about the PS5 Pro’s £700/$700 price tag since its launch on Tuesday afternoon.
I’ve seen a lot of discussions and rolled my eyes a lot. “You know, you don’t have to buy it” and “It’ll sell no matter what you think” are two common phrases I’ve read, mostly in the comments under articles and on social media. Yes of course these people are right and yes I wouldn’t buy it, I do think it will sell. But that’s not the point.
For the first time in my life, I had purchased over 20 consoles, most of them at launch, and mainstream devices felt out of reach. Of course, I’m making this choice because you might say I can afford it, but I have limitations and the price of the PS5 Pro crosses a line I didn’t know I set (for the record, I’d pay £550) .
So for the first time in my life, in my lifetime of writing about video games and trying to tell as many people as possible why they are so great, I feel like I’m not part of the gang.
Releasing a console that alienates 90% of its audience is fine and entirely Sony’s choice, but part of what shocks me is that I didn’t expect this to happen – and that I’d be 90% of the audience. This is indeed an arrogant statement, but it is true.
Through some smart saving (I worked two jobs before I was a teenager), selling old hardware, and having few other expensive hobbies/vices, I never really considered giving up a console because of the cost. So, yes, the price of the PS5 Pro is something I didn’t expect in a way. Either the industry I love means I’m no longer a part of it, or I don’t love it enough to be a part of it. Both of these choices bother me a little.
My gaming interests have evolved over the years, and I’ve recently gone down the path of retro handhelds and consoles, but I’m still most interested in what new consoles have to offer. The new console feels like magic and can do things that seem impossible.
In the past, I would obsess over every detail from past magazines, poring over every tiny screenshot for months. The PlayStation provided arcade gaming in my bedroom (which was actually one of the points I made in the document to my parents justifying buying it at the time), the Xbox made online gaming accessible and easy, and the Xbox The 360 really cuts through – with borderline graphics horsepower, the PS5/Xbox Series X has brought us to the point where most things we can imagine seem possible. I’ve been exposed to PS5 Pro almost entirely through YouTube videos.
“It’s just a console with better graphics, stop crying about it”, I’m sure some of you (probably the ones who only read social media posts and not articles) are considering writing this in the comments idea.
If you read the above, you know it means much more than that. Perhaps, this feels like a deeply sad end to an era.
