So...consoles. Advice needed, please

My partner is thinking of buying me a console like an Xbox.

I already have my wonderful Razer Blade 15" but there are some games that are exclusively console. Would it be worth it for me to have a console, too? And if so. what kind?

That depends on how much you want to play those particular "exclusive" games.

You'll have to check which games are exclusive to the consoles you're looking at, and decide which of them you want to play the most.

Not only are some games "exclusive" to consoles, they may be "exclusive" to a particular console.
So unless you want to get all of the consoles, you have to pick which one has the best games.

Jenny, do the consoles also require a subscription of some kind? I keep seeing stuff about "get one month of free X-Box."

The subscriptions are generally required if you wish to use online features, but you can pretty much always play the games without the features enabled if you want - unless it's a multiplayer game to begin with, of course.

Ah, I see. My sons both have X-boxes and have them connected to a separate TV.

I'm pretty sure the subscriptions give you access to whatever online games are featured that month.

Here are a couple of links to look at

https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/store/b/xbox

https://www.techradar.com/news/xbox-all-access

Here's the link for the US English site (the one that's listed is the India-English site)

Xbox Gold


Also, you may want to wait for awhile. There is a ton of hype around the major players, XBOX-X and Playstation 5. Scalpers are buying out the stock, so resales for the units are over a thousand dollars if you can find it.

I've been using Xbox for years now, currently run an older Xbox-One and find it adequate to run exclusive games when needed. Sony seems to be more bent on releasing console only games for Playstation, while Microsoft has been converting many of their past exclusives to PC (i.e. the Master Chief edition of Halo).

Subscriptions are worth it if you plan on playing a lot of games, but some special releases aren't always covered under the cost. I did subscribe to Xbox Gold, but haven't used that for awhile as I prefer owning. To top tier subscriptions like Game Pass can be somewhat costly. It depends on how much gaming you want to do on a console.

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

I've often through about getting a console, but never seriously, though there have been a few games I've been interested in over the years and have noted with annoyance that they aren't for PC. Obviously this requires more research on my part before we take a plunge.

I think my guy just wants to buy me something.

An 8K curved monitor might be awfully tasty

Trail, you read my mind! Oh, my the sales out there on tasty monitors!!!

The monitor sounds good.

A great many of the really good console games (like Death Stranding, Assassin's Creed, Red Dead Redemption) also end up on the PC. If you have a beefy computer that will run these games, they actually look better on the computer. Unless there are some console exclusives that you are dying to play, I would say you don't really need one of those systems. The Playstation 5 will have some exclusives, but most of them probably won't be out for another one or two years.

Wouldn't it, though, though I'd rather he got one of those for himself for his photography.

I'm happy with my Razer for now anyway. It runs everything, most of it in ultra-high res, too.

I do plan on having at least a desktop in the future. Once we can travel again the Razer can come with me, something I couldn't do with the Alienware because it weighed so much. It was like carting around a small desktop.