I have literally never in my life bought the next generation console because I had run out of games that I was planning to play on the current generation, and my first console was a NES. Every upgrade has been a matter of convenience because someone was getting rid of their old (new to me) console, or because I was interested enough to give the new one a try at a reasonable price point. Never “Oh my god, I’ve got to have that new console, I don’t give a fuck what it costs!”
I’m not sure how concerned game companies are with the upgrade demographic as opposed to the “I’d like to buy a new console” demographic, but if everyone bought new consoles the way I do, the industry would have crashed back in the 90s.
Been about the same here as well, I mean to me graphics have been good enough since like PS2 since I started with a Commodore 64, so everything else has just been icing on the cake. I never really got into online gaming either so that was never a draw. I suppose I see gaming as something like a momentary escape, so I prefer games with colorful, fantastic graphics and not necessarily photo realistic renders, so the constant push for more polygons has largely been not so important for me.
Seriously, anything after 2015 has perfect graphics, I don’t need slightly more realistic hair or whatever. Even a lot of 2010 is enjoyable. And this is only about graphics quality. For gameplay, story etc, you know shit actually matters, there already is way more than I can play.
You should play new games for the artistry and quality of gameplay, story, and other elements, same as ever.
But they already knew how to make games with artistry, quality gameplay, story and other elements in decades past. Which is why that person’s point was that you don’t need access to the very latest games for enjoyment and now that graphics have peaked, there’s no real reason to buy a game that runs like shit on what might not be a top of the line PC.
You don’t need brand new hardware for new movies. A movie will provide you with 1.5-3 hours of enjoyment at a time and it’ll get old quickly when you rewatch the same ones over and over again. There’s literally no reason not to watch new ones as they come out.
If it cost me 2 grand (price of a passable gaming rig in 2026) every 5 years to be able to watch the newest movies, damn right I’d be way more into discovering old movies.
Financial concerns are separate from what I was discussing. Every hobby has different gatekeeping elements for involvement or continued involvement, be it camping or gaming. Obviously we need to live our lives within our individual limits.
However that in no way affects my earlier point, which obviously you are free not to follow or heed. It’s just a point that distinguishes the idea that the straw man argument (“there is no need to play the latest games because graphics have peaked in 2015 and old games already contain good things i want from games”) doesn’t address the fact that new games come out with valuable elements that that person themselves demonstrably values.
Financial concerns are separate from what I was discussing.
But they’re really not when we’re discussing the necessity of building a new PC or buying a new console every few years just so you could play the latest games.
If you’ve got the finances to do so, go right ahead and do it. But if you’re broke, like half of Lemmy seems to be, maybe skip on it and play older games that provide just as much entertainment value and look maybe 5% worse… You’ll be able to play the current newest games on mediocre new hardware in 5 years.
But I get the context, and i understand what you’re saying. To note, my PC is 5 years old and still going strong. I predict the hardware will last me another 3-4 years of playing the latest games. (Ryzen 5900X, 3080 ti, 32GB DDR4 RAM)
Two of my favorite games of all time were released in 2018 and 2025: Kingdom Come Deliverance 1 & 2.
As a long time PS customer, the Steam Deck has been probably the smartest/luckiest impulse purchase I’ve made. I used to not have a PC backlog, but now I own a PC port of pretty much all my favorite console games PS4 and backwards, among others, and the majority of those purchases have fallen under the “might-as-well-at-that-price” category of expense. I’ve been playing on Deck nearly every day since I got it and have only scratched the surface of library I’ve built since buying it.
This year I try to stop this. Went 2 months without buying a single game. I have an absurd amount of games and the list of games i actually want to play is so large it would still take years to complete.
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There’s literally enough in my PC backlog for the rest of my life probably, don’t need another new console, game or graphics card, ever.
I have literally never in my life bought the next generation console because I had run out of games that I was planning to play on the current generation, and my first console was a NES. Every upgrade has been a matter of convenience because someone was getting rid of their old (new to me) console, or because I was interested enough to give the new one a try at a reasonable price point. Never “Oh my god, I’ve got to have that new console, I don’t give a fuck what it costs!”
I’m not sure how concerned game companies are with the upgrade demographic as opposed to the “I’d like to buy a new console” demographic, but if everyone bought new consoles the way I do, the industry would have crashed back in the 90s.
Been about the same here as well, I mean to me graphics have been good enough since like PS2 since I started with a Commodore 64, so everything else has just been icing on the cake. I never really got into online gaming either so that was never a draw. I suppose I see gaming as something like a momentary escape, so I prefer games with colorful, fantastic graphics and not necessarily photo realistic renders, so the constant push for more polygons has largely been not so important for me.
take of path of exile, warframe, and/or guild wars and just never buy a ‘new’ game again
I pray for immaculate memtests on us all for all eternity.
🙏
Seriously, anything after 2015 has perfect graphics, I don’t need slightly more realistic hair or whatever. Even a lot of 2010 is enjoyable. And this is only about graphics quality. For gameplay, story etc, you know shit actually matters, there already is way more than I can play.
Playing games in the modern era for better graphics is like watching the latest movie because it used a really cool high tech camera.
You should play new games for the artistry and quality of gameplay, story, and other elements, same as ever.
But that doesnt mean new games have no value. You’re just fighting against a straw man to begin with.
But they already knew how to make games with artistry, quality gameplay, story and other elements in decades past. Which is why that person’s point was that you don’t need access to the very latest games for enjoyment and now that graphics have peaked, there’s no real reason to buy a game that runs like shit on what might not be a top of the line PC.
Same reason could apply to movies and music to say no one “needs” to watch or listen to newer stuff.
Then you become the old man telling kids to get off the lawn. It’s anyone’s right to be like this.
Huh?
You don’t need brand new hardware for new movies. A movie will provide you with 1.5-3 hours of enjoyment at a time and it’ll get old quickly when you rewatch the same ones over and over again. There’s literally no reason not to watch new ones as they come out.
If it cost me 2 grand (price of a passable gaming rig in 2026) every 5 years to be able to watch the newest movies, damn right I’d be way more into discovering old movies.
Financial concerns are separate from what I was discussing. Every hobby has different gatekeeping elements for involvement or continued involvement, be it camping or gaming. Obviously we need to live our lives within our individual limits.
However that in no way affects my earlier point, which obviously you are free not to follow or heed. It’s just a point that distinguishes the idea that the straw man argument (“there is no need to play the latest games because graphics have peaked in 2015 and old games already contain good things i want from games”) doesn’t address the fact that new games come out with valuable elements that that person themselves demonstrably values.
But they’re really not when we’re discussing the necessity of building a new PC or buying a new console every few years just so you could play the latest games.
If you’ve got the finances to do so, go right ahead and do it. But if you’re broke, like half of Lemmy seems to be, maybe skip on it and play older games that provide just as much entertainment value and look maybe 5% worse… You’ll be able to play the current newest games on mediocre new hardware in 5 years.
Buddy… I get to decide what my point is, not you.
But I get the context, and i understand what you’re saying. To note, my PC is 5 years old and still going strong. I predict the hardware will last me another 3-4 years of playing the latest games. (Ryzen 5900X, 3080 ti, 32GB DDR4 RAM)
Two of my favorite games of all time were released in 2018 and 2025: Kingdom Come Deliverance 1 & 2.
As a long time PS customer, the Steam Deck has been probably the smartest/luckiest impulse purchase I’ve made. I used to not have a PC backlog, but now I own a PC port of pretty much all my favorite console games PS4 and backwards, among others, and the majority of those purchases have fallen under the “might-as-well-at-that-price” category of expense. I’ve been playing on Deck nearly every day since I got it and have only scratched the surface of library I’ve built since buying it.
The reason I have 130 games installed on my Steam Deck. My backlog has gotten absurd to the point of comedy. I’m set for years.
This year I try to stop this. Went 2 months without buying a single game. I have an absurd amount of games and the list of games i actually want to play is so large it would still take years to complete.
Between Humble Bundles and Fanatical I’ve got more games than I can play in a year for less than a single new release. It’s amazing.
Famous last words, now your RAM and GPU are going to fail
I’ve got like 30 years worth of PC parts laying around, I’m sure I can cobble something together 😁 sometimes it pays to be a packrat.