Gotta extract more value from the reduced user base. Think Netflix. Plus, they gotta recoup AI “investment” costs, and the remaining people on Xitter are predominantly mouth breathing rubes.

Add that to foresight only as far as the next quarter and it’s the most logical recipe for success /s

They’re not building PCs but they are buying/using laptops, and, to a lesser extent, prebuilts. I’ve also built a few gaming PCs on request from otherwise “casual” consumers though that’s a smaller portion of the market.

Once upon a time, video game consoles offered the convenience of plug-and-play gaming, and living room comfort.

Not everyone wanted to build a PC and play with keyboard and mouse, and even still playing those PC games can be a hassle to set up on a TV if you’re common-denominator-levels of tech unsavvy. (Read: not the average Lemmy user)

Valve has brought that forward some with Steam Deck and eventually steam machine but by and large most PC gamers are Windows users.

That said, console platforms have gotten so increasingly hostile towards customers between pricing, licensing, download times and walled-garden tactics that they’ve painted themselves out of an increasing chunk of the games market.

People would rather set up a computer and a controller than buy a console, and it’s the corpo’s own fault.

Accelerationism.

This is absolutely going to be a center for mandatory disfigurement of trans people of all ages.

Fucking horrific.

My thoughts exactly. It’s like the TV equivalent of a gym membership.

Depends what you’re looking for.

Adventure/RPGs: Oblivion remaster and Avowed both came out with pretty good ratings overall. Ghost of Tsushima was also a big hit last year, came out in May 2024.

Multiplayer indies had a good year as well - Repo, Peak, and Escape from Duckov have been popular.

Cozy/niche games: Hello Kitty Island Adventure, Deltarune, Slime Rancher 2.

Niche games I’ve personally enjoyed and/or want to get: Mudborne, Cryptmaster, Dungeons of Hinterberg, LAN Party Adventures, The Lonesome Guild, and Little Rocket Lab.

“Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”

Fuck I don’t know, if I’m still alive then hopefully with food on the table and shelter? I could be in a different country or career or anything in 5 whole years, or doing exactly the same thing.

Some people really are more “goal focused” and more power to them but it’s frustrating getting looked at funny for accepting that life is unpredictable and framing accordingly.