Gaming Gone Wild: Are We Losing Control of Our Hobbies & Our Wallets?

The State of Play: Are We Being Spoiled, or Just…Confused?

Folks, let me tell you, keeping up with this gaming world is a full-time job. And frankly, a lot of it feels… unnecessary. Back in my day, you had your Atari, maybe an NES if you were fancy, and that was gaming. Now? It's a constant barrage of new consoles, handhelds, graphics cards with more power than a small city, and software subscriptions for everything under the sun. It's enough to make a man long for a simpler time.

But I digress. Let's break down what's been happening. Sony, predictably, is at it again with the PlayStation. Seems they’re already talking about the PS6, and this one’s got something called “AI-boosted graphics.” AI! What’s wrong with real graphics? Seems like a gimmick to me, but the youngsters are eating it up. And the PS5? Still hard to find at a reasonable price, if you can find it at all. These tariffs are killing us, folks. Killing us! It's a shame, a truly good system being held hostage by… well, let’s just say forces beyond our control.

Then you have Microsoft with their Xbox. They’re changing prices all over the place, moving things around between retailers. It’s enough to give a loyal customer whiplash. And frankly, I don’t understand the need for another console when the last one is perfectly capable.

But the biggest head-scratcher is this handheld craze. Lenovo’s Legion Go and Asus’ ROG Ally are flying off the shelves. Handhelds! I mean, aren’t we supposed to be sitting in our living rooms, enjoying the immersive experience on a television? Now everyone wants to game on a tiny screen while they’re on the bus? And then there’s Valve getting into the mix with their Steam Machine. Honestly, it feels like they’re trying to fragment the market even further.

And don’t even get me started on these graphics cards. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080? More VRAM than I’ve got common sense. And these AMD Ryzen processors – the 7700X, the Z2, the Z2 Extreme – it’s just a string of numbers and letters designed to confuse the average consumer.

Look, I'm not saying innovation is bad. But I worry this constant push for “the next big thing” is leaving a lot of folks behind. It's becoming less about enjoying the game and more about having the latest hardware.

And while we're at it, let's talk about security. Folks are worried about their online privacy, and these VPN services – NordVPN, Surfshark, ProtonVPN, Windscribe – are popping up everywhere. And antivirus software, like Bitdefender, are becoming essential. It's a sad state of affairs when you have to pay extra just to protect yourself from the digital Wild West.

It’s a complicated world, this gaming one. I just hope, for the sake of the hobby, that we don't lose sight of what truly matters: having fun.