Midwits love to bring up 'MUH INFLATION' to argue that actually none of this is
that bad and really we're
lucky prices aren't even higher, but they never consider that nobody gives a fuck about inflation: there's a hard ceiling on what most people are willing to pay for a device they don't actually need that only does one thing other devices they already own don't.
The main selling point of consoles was always they were significantly cheaper and more convenient than a gaming PC: you accepted you were getting weaker hardware that does less in exchange for ease of use, cool exclusives and not having to buy a bunch of extra shit (monitor, keyboard + mouse, speakers etc).
For example, a top-end PC in 1997 cost about
$4,000 just for the tower (
source), a PS1 cost
$149, the N64 and Saturn cost
$199. If you want the best console experience in 2026 a PS5 Pro with disc drive costs
$979, a 2TB Steam Machine costs
$1,400, but you can buy/build a solid gaming PC for between
$1,200-$2,000 (probably much less if you really know your stuff).
TL;DR Unless you desperately need to play the aggressively mid, DEI-ridden console exclusives of the 9th generation or are addicted to trophies/achievements there's no longer any reason to buy a console over a PC.
