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My first console was the SEGA Master System. It was awesome. My second console was the SEGA Mega Drive. It was awesome. My sort-of third console was the SEGA Mega CD. It was awesome (to me). My fourth console was the Sony PlayStation. It was awesome. My fifth console was the Nintendo 64. It was awesome. My sixth console was the SEGA Dreamcast. It was amazingly awesome. My seventh console was the PlayStation 2. It was awesome. My eighth console was the GameCube. It was awesome. My ninth console was the Xbox. It was awesome. My 10th console was the Xbox 360. It was awesome. My 11th console was the PlayStation 3. It was awesome. My 12th console was the Wii. It was awesome. My 13th console was the PS4. It was awesome. My 14th console was the Xbox One. It was awesome. My 15th console was the PS4 Pro. It was awesome. My 16th console was the Xbox One X. It was awesome. My 17th console was the Xbox Series X. It is awesome. My 18th console was the PS5. It is awesome.
Some of those were imported so I’d get them way ahead of the UK launches, because that was a super cool thing to be able to do. I didn’t include consoles I later bought out of release order (Saturn, Jaguar, SNES), all the peripherals, nor the handhelds. Does this make me a “hardcore” gamer? Have I also dedicated my work life to video games and the world they inhabit? Am I miffed about the price of the PS5 Pro? Yes.
Obviously, as this is games media and we must capitalise on the latest industry controversy, I’ve been thinking about the £700/$700 price of the PS5 Pro since its announcement on Tuesday afternoon.
I’ve seen a lot of the discussions and I’ve rolled my eyes an awful lot. “You don’t have to buy it, you know,” and “it’ll sell regardless of what you think,” are two common phrases I’ve read, mostly in comments under articles and on social media. And yeah, of course those people are right, as yes, I’m not buying it and I do think it’ll sell. But that’s not really the point.
For the first time in my life – a life in which I’ve bought over 20 games consoles – the majority at launch, I feel like a mainstream device is out of reach. Sure, I’m making that choice, as you could argue that I could afford it, but I’ve got limits and the PS5 Pro’s price crosses a line I didn’t know I’d set (for the record, I would have paid £550).
So, for the first time in my life, a life in which I’ve written about video games and tried to tell as many people as possible about why they are so great, I feel like I’m not part of the gang.
It’s fine and completely Sony’s choice to release a console that alienates 90% of the audience, but part of my shock is simply that I didn’t think it would happen – and that I’d be in the 90%. That’s an arrogant thing to say, for sure, but it’s the truth.
Through some savvy saving (I had two jobs before I was a teenager), selling old hardware, and having few other expensive hobbies/vices, I’ve never really considered sitting out a console due to cost. So, yeah, the PS5 Pro price feels significant in a way that I didn’t expect. Either part of the industry I love is saying I’m not part of it any more, or I don’t love it enough to be involved. Both options trouble me somewhat.
My gaming interests have changed over the years, most recently leading me down a path of retro handhelds and consoles, but I’m still mostly interested in what new consoles can offer. A new console can feel like magic, doing things that seemed impossible.
In the past I’d obsess over every detail in magazines of days gone by, each tiny screenshot being pored over for months. The PlayStation offered arcade games in my bedroom (this was actually one of the points I made on my document I gave to my parents justifying buying it at the time), the Xbox made online play accessible and easy, the Xbox 360 had truly cutting-edge graphical horsepower, and the PS5/Xbox Series X has taken us to the point where most things we can imagine seem possible. The PS5 Pro I’ll engage with almost entirely via YouTube videos.
“It’s just a games console that offers some better graphics, stop crying about it,” is I’m sure a thought some of you (probably those who only read the social media post and not the article) are considering typing out in the comments.
If you’ve read the words above you’ll know it’s a whole lot more than that. And it feels, maybe, like a desperately sad end of an era.