I wouldn’t call current consoles “enticingly cheap”, but I see where you’re coming from and I agree with the stance that there’s essentially two (three if you want to include cloud and/or subscription-based) models with fairly different standards.
The PC ecosystem isn’t as resistant as we’d like to think imo, with its over-reliance on Steam vs other storefronts (but that’s kind of a moot point if you take into account piracy I guess).

Yep, if that hypothetical gamer doesn’t care about the “latest and greatest”, then they might be better served by a lower spec’d PC.

I’m simply pointing out that your statement might not be absolutely true. Whether or not it makes sense financially speaking is not as cookie-cutter as it tends to be presented. If you aren’t interested in multiplayer, you have access to either libraries and/or a fair used market, consoles certainly can be financially better than PCs, even Steam Deck.

There are many other reasons why consoles don’t make sense - lacklustre modding scene, censorship, content delisting and “ownership” - but imo it’s hard to argue against how cheap they can be compared to a PC.
Piracy is certainly an option, but then why even bring up pricing in the first place, unless any and every game suddenly becomes free on PC?

If you have access to a local library with video games on offer, then you could very well play more popular physical releases for much cheaper on consoles.
Re emulation, Xbox Series consoles do wonders in dev mode (granted, that’s not official, but it works very well).

To be fair, and for all their other woes, Microsoft’s work on back compat with Xbox One / Series is a pretty incredible feat of engineering.
Too bad licensing means they’ve essentially run out of games to port.

The latter is likely to be true for many imo, meaning it will never really “pop”.
I don’t think we’ll see affordable PC HW again, except for really lower end hardware which wouldn’t have any business use otherwise.
I hope I’m wrong, but it feels like the end of the consumer market.

There might be a few different scenarios, but outside of very specific consoles / handhelds, they’ve remained somewhat affordable tbh.

• 3DS line of handhelds, historically emulation has been good but not perfect (eg disruptive shader caching), dual-screen not being ideal on single screen setups and missing 3D effect via emulation make emulation a last resort for a number of people, myself included.
• PSVita, emulation is starting to get into its stride but nowhere near fully playable and supply of good condition OLED models is slowly dwindling.
• PS3, backcompat models have historically been pricey, especially CECHA/Bxx since they have full hw PS2 compat. Despite the usually high price point, it’s still the easiest and cheapest way to play physical PS2 games on a modern screen.

Most other “newly retro” consoles and handhelds really haven’t appreciated as much afaict, although that might be market-dependent.

Is there anything you’re currently missing out on with your Xbox?
Do you have any public libraries around you might borrow physical games from? (Assuming your Xbox has a disc drive)
Depending on what games you want to play, Game Pass might still be a relatively cheap option, especially if you can find it cheaper (Live Gold codes should still work conversion-wise, but who knows how much they go for these days).

A used Steam Deck or equivalent handheld PC might be a great option or addition to tour setup, obviously depending on what games you want to play.

I don’t need any of those, but thanks for doing this! That reminds me, I’ve got a number of duplicates I should try and give away as well.

Great collection! But no love for Majora’s Mask?

RX 9060 XT LP, but it’s not your usual LP in the “Low Profile” sense of the acronym (because why keep it somewhat consistent…). That’s a shame, it would have been perfect for SFF builds.

How was E33 on the Deck? I didn’t play much of it there, I was afraid parries and dodges would be a bit of a nightmare to time perfectly.

There are two games I never would have considered if I hadn’t explored new / different genres from what I usually stick with, 1000xResist and Pentiment.
The latter might be my favourite by a slight margin, but either way I’m so glad I went out of my comfort zone and discovered games which aren’t my typical RPGs, action-adventure or shmups.

I’ll keep experimenting next year, I might even put together a list of genres or games I’d like to try.

TIL about WinGet.

I’ve had very little luck with playing games in French lately, recent dubs I’ve tried all sound like poorly acted téléfilms imo…
That’s a shame, because both Plague Tale games, as well as E33 might (could) sound much better in French, but I can’t get past the way VA is done when compared to their English counterpart.

ITAD allows for wishlist (and collection) imports from both Steam and GOG. You’ll end up with a unified wishlist, where you can set specific rules to get notified when there’s a sale, including which specific stores have a game on sale.
That’s what I use to track any game I wishlist, with specific rules to notify me when said game is on sale at GOG.

I care about HDR (on Linux) way less than I do VRR in general.
Is that the “sketchy” firmware you’re referring to?

I have one of these, but I don’t believe they work with HDMI 2.1 VRR (or at least I’ve never been able to get it to work).
With a LG B9, I have both G-Sync and HDMI 2.1 VRR support, but no FreeSync. I can get most of the HDMI 2.1 feature set working with a DP->HDMI 2.1 adapter, except for any form of VRR. That’s with a RX 9070, but similar situation on a 6800 XT previously.

Was anyone else tripped up by the picture shown in that article? To me it looks as though it’s a miniature version of the device, but I can’t quite put my finger on why that is.

I feel like Sekiro would meet most of your criteria, except for the dungeon aspect.

Yes and yes.
I’ve been mentioning France’s efforts to modernise their postal services, that also includes services aimed at helping older folks with daily/weekly interactions / home visits, and I think that would be a great thing to add to Canada Post rural offerings.