It’s a budget PC.
That’s it.
That is all you need to know about any console. It’s just a computer with cheap PC components. Sorry, if you think they bring more to the party than that.
There really is nothing special about them. Only a few companies build PC components. And fewer companies build CPUs. I will grant that there are a lot of companies that build motherboards and the one that Sony puts into the Play Stations are good but that doesn’t change the fact that it is just a budget PC. True all of the constituent elements are vertically integrated and the games run on an OS that optimizes the computer as a whole.
Which only means it can really polish those turds.
Beloved Reader: But Cataline, what if I really want to play games that are exclusive to the Sony PS.
Cataline: Like, The Last of Us 2?
Okay, I’m done here.
The Dark Herald 
They have been cheap computers with good graphics cards since the xbox came out. I haven’t bought one since the ps 3 and am unlikely to ever again. They are as restrictive as a desktop without the high end customizability. I much prefer a laptop or a true hand held system for gaming portability.
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***Wall of text warning, this is a subject I’m pretty passionate about***
The PC-ization of consoles started as far back as the original PlayStation. There are a lot more mid to late 90’s PC games with PSX versions than you’d think. Sony might have stuffed Nintendo into the dirt that generation, but they were also successfully co-opting PC gaming up through the launch of the PS2. Microsoft eventually stirred from its monopolistic torpor, recognized an existential threat to Windows, and countered with the DirectXBOX. They’re both even worse now because they want their consoles to be iPhones that you upgrade for fancier graphics every two years. The problem is that graphical advances stopped being impressive two generations ago, and at this point graphics are suffering from the “good enough” problem that plagues all mature computing products. Average Joe will think twice before spending $400 on a new console that’s only marginally better than the one he has already.
The one big benefit is that they all run on x86 now, so PC ports have gotten a lot more common and gone way up in quality from when they all used PowerPC. It should also make backwards compatibility easier to implement, which means we might actually see it offered going forward. Sony will keep dragging their feet on that because 1) they have a game streaming service to push, and 2) selling “remastered” old games that cost nothing to make brings in tons of money, while selling more PS5s because old games work on it actually LOSES them money.
This is why I’ve stuck with Nintendo all these years. They might be infuriatingly stubborn and conservative, and they still to this day are totally incompetent at running or managing any kind of online service, but unlike Sony and Microsoft, their only business is video games. Like Apple, they make integrated products which are profitable from day one (except for the Wii U where they ran with Sony and Microsoft’s idiotic hardware loss leader strategy) and understand that the hardware is just a box you buy to get to the games. The only thing they care about is making software that sells the hardware, which is why their games tend to be so good and beloved. They have no incentive or need to push things unrelated to gaming that other parts of the company might want, like Blu-ray discs, 3D TV, Kinect, Windows integration, or an in-your-face woke political agenda.
***end wall of text***
TL:DR – non-Nintendo consoles have been PCs for a long time and now wish they were iPhones, but won’t be nearly as successful. This is mostly bad but there are some benefits. Nintendo systems aren’t like this because their entire business is video games.
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@MrUNIVAC
You are aware that the Nintendo Switch is an Android PC with a Tegra chipset? don’t you?, and a weak one at specs.
I agree with you in which Nintendo cares about their games, they’re true jewels of software craftsmanship.
They care about their games and they care a lot.
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@Sanders – yup, I’m aware. Nintendo has never blown the doors off with specs. The NES and SNES both used decade-old tech for their CPUs. Older, proven technology is cheaper and therefore more profitable, and because it’s well-known they can make games that get the most out of it. This is also why third parties tend to dismiss them unless they have a huge install base. You can’t make another modren AAA graphics showcase on bad, outdated hardware.
The Switch is different because it’s easy to port PC and mobile games to it, so third parties can re-sell the best games of the past few generations to a hungry audience. I am also sure that Nintendo robbed NVIDIA blind in the Tegra supply contract, because who else was buying Tegra?
The Switch’s specs have more in common with Android phones than PCs, which was probably intentional.
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You’re aware the Nintendo Switch is an ARM PC running a custom version of Android do you?
And I agree with you on how much Nintendo treats games as craftsmanship, they care about their games and it shows.
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My cube is almost 15 years old and still works great, and the games are still fun. Bob-PC games really WERE a thing.
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Sony needs to change the strategy and price the PS5 in the same range as the PS4 Pro, they need to position the PS5 as a more powerful version of the PS4 and make it as backwards compatible as possible.
If they don’t do that they’re toasted. I do not think they are stupid and they understand this and the huge mistake that was the PS3.
Everything these days being a customized PC is a good thing, it means you can run Linux on it 🙂
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