It… does feel like a success, though?
It’s because of this:
https://www.vgchartz.com/article/465289/ps5-vs-ps4-sales-comparison-june-2025/
Align PS4 and PS5 sales to their launch date, and you’ll see that the PS5 has been lagging behind. Not by a lot, but it’s noticeable. This is despite the fact that The Xbox Series X/S is doing a bit worse than the Xbox One, and the One did a lot worse than the 360. Nintendo, of course, is in another room doing its own thing.
Sony expected every generation to sell better than the last. The market has clearly hit a saturation point, so that expectation is no longer valid. Combine that with the fact that Moore’s Law (originally defined as the price per integrated component dropping) is completely dead. That means you can no longer expect better hardware to get cheaper. You might be able to find fabs that can give you more performance, but it’ll cost you.
This is why the GabeCube is a good idea from a business persepctive. It will likely have better performance than the Xbox Series X/S, but not as good as the PS5. What it can do is be affordable with good enough hardware. The specs appear to be a bit Frankenstein, which is what you’d expect if Valve grabbed whatever deals on things they could find to put something together.
Nice style, fast lodaing screens, 4k and good graphics. But to me, it is just an upgraded ps4. Graphics didnt leap as far as 8bit-16bit-ps1-ps2-ps3. Big focus on improving visuals lead us to have great visuals barely changing overtime, but gameplay didnt evolve.
gameplay didn’t evolve
Massive understatement. The PS5’s biggest titles were remakes and direct sequels. Coupling it with the “upgraded” versions of PS4 games like Ghost of Tsushima, Last of Us Part 2, and GTA5, even the marketing seemed to boil down to “This is just a really nice PS4.”
I got a PS5 shortly after launch which was a chore; I subscribed to a discord group to get notified about new store drops so I could find one at MSRP to avoid scalpers. The only exclusive I played through was the Demon Souls remaster. Ive played other games on it too but they are all cross-platform and I could’ve played them on my gaming PC.
I don’t think there is really any games and also mod support is basically nonexistent on consoles.
There are games, but few exclusives (just 18 the last time I checked). If you want to play modern games and don’t want a PC, it’s fine for that, without really being special in any way. It is a difficult value proposition for owners of the previous gen, since the jump in visual fidelity is much smaller than between prior generations (an inevitability that isn’t Sony’s fault) and since the previous generation is still being at least partially supported and was strongly supported for a very long time. However, over time, most have clearly made the jump and with the release of GTA VI (timed exclusive for PS), the system will see another significant boost.
Mods are not really a factor on consoles. Very few console gamers care about them. Xbox has slightly better support with fewer restrictions, but there are only a handful of games with support (mainly Bethesda RPGs). It clearly hasn’t helped the competition from Redmond.
My partner got a ps5 at launch to play the new final fantasy game. He played through it and it’s pretty much been collecting dust ever since. We still use the ps4 as a TV box (Netflix plex etc) I seem to remember every time we wanted to attempt using it the ps5 wanted to update for hours, and then the update finishes and the friggin controller wants updating now. Back to the ps4 for TV, back to the pc for gaems
I was going to get a PS5 since Steam Deck is finally running out of steam for games I actually care about. (And after the hassle a friend building his PC had, desktops scare me)
But then Valve announced Gabecube anyway, so the only reason I’d want one is for maybe reselling physical games after beating them. And I already have a Switch 2 to do that with.
Which games are you struggling with on the Deck?
What kind of issues did your friend have building a PC? It’s a rather straightforward process, really. You can make mistakes, of course, but if you prepare your build carefully, maybe get a second or third opinion from people with experience and knowledge, read a tutorial or two, then few things can really go wrong. I’m willing to help with the selection of components and some tips on the building process, if you want (I’ve been building PCs for decades, if that counts).
I get the appeal of the “Gabecube” (I hope this name sticks) for you though, but keep in mind that it is a relatively limited system in terms of power, quite a bit below current-gen consoles by current estimates and especially limited by its relatively small amount of VRAM. It should be able to play every Linux-compatible game for now (the most demanding at low settings only), but sooner or later, the limited GPU (which can not be upgraded, unlike on a normal PC), will result in games just not running well enough or not even booting, similar to certain newer games on the Deck. It is considerably more powerful than the Deck though.
It really depends on the price whether or not it’s a good low-end gaming PC. Hardware prices are not exactly ideal at the moment (RAM is the current sticking point, but GPUs aren’t cheap either), so if the Deck manages to be more affordable than a comparable budget build - kind of like the base-model Steam Deck has been a very impressive value proposition - it might be worth it.
The breaking point was Expedition 33, which even with optimization mods I can’t get to stable 30fps in combat, which breaks at least one skill and seems to mess with parries. PS4 games at 60fps would be nice too though, Elden Ring is ~50 at ok settings.
My friend’s problem was picking out parts, which was harder for him since besides playing STALKER 2 he wanted to potentially render videos in the future. The friends we asked also gave split opinions for things like futureproofing - apparently some Ram setups are harder to upgrade than others, or are related to picking PUs? Same with power supply, etc.
Also, I have a pretty tiny room. I have a TV for consoles that’s there to stay, and shelves 13x13x13 inches below it the SM would fit in, while a desktop would have to be SFF (which, I only learned about now) or a small tower but I’m not sure about ventilation then. Without SteamOS it seems I’d need a keyboard/mouse out for every boot too. The desk always has a budget laptop for work on it, so among other crap there’s little space for a desktop. No space below/besides desk either.
I’m also not knowledgable about specs, but I figured when, say, Borderlands 4 is not playable at 4K 60fps, then I could just deal with Full HD 30-40fps, which would be enough. Or if I decide to stream to Deck, not even Full HD.
Edit: The closest solution is PS5 Pro or PS6 when it comes out (and they fit on shelf, never checked size) but, no Steam library then. Or mods, emulation. All in all, it seems I’m in an extremely specific situation where buying SM seems optimal.
