When Xbox did this you paid monthly, subscribed to game pass and at the end of two years you owned the console. It was also less expensive than the separate cost of console and subscription, to the tune of 1p. 😂
It wasn’t a bad deal for me. I was going to be paying for Game Pass anyway, and this was when the consoles weren’t always staying on shelves. Managed to snag one of the lease-to-own versions or whatever and never regretted it.
Back then, my wife wanted to play Halo 5 co-op and without split screen, this was the best way to do it.
People used to rent their televisions because the technology was too expensive to own outright. It’s weird that this business model is becoming viable again, and specifically for hardware that’s been in circulation for a while. I appreciate that Sony are just looking at ways to expand their player base, and i’d presume some of the economic drivers are out of their control, but I don’t think this should be encouraged or tolerated.
It's viable again because well... gestures vaguely at everything
HP just launched a laptop 'subscription' service too. It's a rather disgusting sign of the times. Companies would love for this to become the norm, because renting is a highly profitable game. Get that sweet money coming in month after month. And you are right; we must not encourage them.
I'd rather save up and go to the second-hand marketplace than line a corpo's pocket by renting.
Hell, at least when I did this for my Series X & GP, it was 0% interest and I kept it at the end of the 24 month period! Granted it was $35/mo not $13.50, but that's crazy to lease a console without the option to buy after. 13.5x36=486 so you should buy outright for, say, $150 after?
People are buying takeout on credit. Pushing small recurring fees (and interest) for things consumers can't afford to buy outright has sort of been the name of the game for the consumer economy for the last 20 years or so.
Maybe more interesting that there is enough of an overstock to do this.
Agreed to the author's opinion at the end:
You don't own the games installed in the console. Physical media requires Sony's hardware's validation. Now you start to not even own the hardware anymore. And all that being slowly normalized for decades, drop by drop, and just now the situation seems to be reaching a breaking point.
Also impressive Sony didn't keep pulling a Nintendo after the Bleem Emulator case. Imagine how bad it is to be able to run a game outside of the native hardware. /s
Folks here jest, but this business model is coming to PCs next. Bookmark my words!
(Literally, you can right-click the perma-link to this message and have quick access to it later so you can reply, "Damn, you were right!" And post the link to big PC vendors suddenly offering a similar services because DRAM and GPUs have become so expensive, normal people can't afford to buy PCs anymore)
Sorry, you don't get any points for this prediction, because it already exists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pomC1CfpC0
You're late to the party, GN released this a year ago. They've been doing this already, but because most people who PC game are semi-tech savy, build their own.
To be fair I wouldn't be surprised if there's already a vendor for that. They already kinda do that with Chromebooks at schools, and work computers are sometimes lent out to workers including those with beefy hardware. Doing it strictly for gaming wouldn't be that much of a stretch lol
Can't recall the vendor, but I saw at least one that tried a rent-a-PC things aimed at gamers. But the price was egregious, and I wanna say they didn't even ship the hardware they advertised.
Anyway, point was it's already being tested in the wild...
Pretty common in corporations. In a company I used to work I got a new computer with the latest specs every year. In the one I'm now they own them and I have to fight to get upgrades.
No, because PC is an open platform, not dependent on specific hardware.
recently a friend managed to snag a perfectly fine used ps5 for 200€. i think that's a really nice price. buying used is just pretty epic for a lot of product categories.
sure, but knowing the market for computers and computer parts there's no way sony will offer a better deal in the first few years. also there won't be many exclusive titles for the ps6, if any, especially not in the first few years.
We could also rent our couch! It's only $25/month!
You shall own nothing.
Useful idiots go crazy
I paid $30-something a month for an Xbox Series X and GamePass for 2 years. And I got to keep the Xbox!
(Xbox All Access. It’s no longer offered. And you saved $20 if you did it, at the original price of GamePass Ultimate, $15/month, it’s since doubled in price since they told Congress buying Activision would lower prices for consumers.)
@lemmy.world
Welcome to the largest gaming community on Lemmy! Discussion for all kinds of games. Video games, tabletop games, card games etc.
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1. Submissions have to be related to games
Video games, tabletop, or otherwise. Posts not related to games will be deleted.
This community is focused on games, of all kinds. Any news item or discussion should be related to gaming in some way.
2. No bigotry or harassment, be civil
No bigotry, hardline stance. Try not to get too heated when entering into a discussion or debate.
We are here to talk and discuss about one of our passions, not fight or be exposed to hate. Posts or responses that are hateful will be deleted to keep the atmosphere good. If repeatedly violated, not only will the comment be deleted but a ban will be handed out as well. We judge each case individually.
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Try to keep it to 10% self-promotion / 90% other stuff in your post history.
This is to prevent people from posting for the sole purpose of promoting their own website or social media account.
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This community is mostly for discussion and news. Remember to search for the thing you're submitting before posting to see if it's already been posted.
We want to keep the quality of posts high. Therefore, memes, funny videos, low-effort posts and reposts are not allowed. We prohibit giveaways because we cannot be sure that the person holding the giveaway will actually do what they promise.
5. Mark Spoilers and NSFW
Make sure to mark your stuff or it may be removed.
No one wants to be spoiled. Therefore, always mark spoilers. Similarly mark NSFW, in case anyone is browsing in a public space or at work.
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Don't share it here, there are other places to find it. Discussion of piracy is fine.
We don't want us moderators or the admins of lemmy.world to get in trouble for linking to piracy. Therefore, any link to piracy will be removed. Discussion of it is of course allowed.
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- !gaming@Lemmy.world: Our sister community, focused on PC and console gaming. Meme are allowed.
- !photomode@feddit.uk: For all your screenshots needs, to share your love for games graphics.
- !vgmusic@lemmy.world: A community to share your love for video games music
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- !JeuxVideo@jlai.lu: French
go to feed...
@lemmy.world
Welcome to the largest gaming community on Lemmy! Discussion for all kinds of games. Video games, tabletop games, card games etc.
Rules
1. Submissions have to be related to games
Video games, tabletop, or otherwise. Posts not related to games will be deleted.
This community is focused on games, of all kinds. Any news item or discussion should be related to gaming in some way.
2. No bigotry or harassment, be civil
No bigotry, hardline stance. Try not to get too heated when entering into a discussion or debate.
We are here to talk and discuss about one of our passions, not fight or be exposed to hate. Posts or responses that are hateful will be deleted to keep the atmosphere good. If repeatedly violated, not only will the comment be deleted but a ban will be handed out as well. We judge each case individually.
3. No excessive self-promotion
Try to keep it to 10% self-promotion / 90% other stuff in your post history.
This is to prevent people from posting for the sole purpose of promoting their own website or social media account.
4. Stay on-topic; no memes, funny videos, giveaways, reposts, or low-effort posts
This community is mostly for discussion and news. Remember to search for the thing you're submitting before posting to see if it's already been posted.
We want to keep the quality of posts high. Therefore, memes, funny videos, low-effort posts and reposts are not allowed. We prohibit giveaways because we cannot be sure that the person holding the giveaway will actually do what they promise.
5. Mark Spoilers and NSFW
Make sure to mark your stuff or it may be removed.
No one wants to be spoiled. Therefore, always mark spoilers. Similarly mark NSFW, in case anyone is browsing in a public space or at work.
6. No linking to piracy
Don't share it here, there are other places to find it. Discussion of piracy is fine.
We don't want us moderators or the admins of lemmy.world to get in trouble for linking to piracy. Therefore, any link to piracy will be removed. Discussion of it is of course allowed.
Authorized Regular Threads
Related communities
PM a mod to add your own
Video games
Generic
- !gaming@Lemmy.world: Our sister community, focused on PC and console gaming. Meme are allowed.
- !photomode@feddit.uk: For all your screenshots needs, to share your love for games graphics.
- !vgmusic@lemmy.world: A community to share your love for video games music
- !freegames@feddit.uk: A community sharing free games giveaways.
Help and suggestions
By platform
By type
- !AutomationGames@lemmy.zip
- !Incremental_Games@incremental.social
- !LifeSimulation@lemmy.world
- !CityBuilders@sh.itjust.works
- !CozyGames@Lemmy.world
- !CRPG@lemmy.world
- !horror_games@piefed.world
- !OtomeGames@ani.social
- !Shmups@lemmus.org
- !space_games@piefed.world
- !strategy_games@piefed.world
- !turnbasedstrategy@piefed.world
- !tycoon@lemmy.world
- !VisualNovels@ani.social
By games
- !Baldurs_Gate_3@lemmy.world
- !Cities_Skylines@lemmy.world
- !CassetteBeasts@Lemmy.world
- !Fallout@lemmy.world
- !FinalFantasyXIV@lemmy.world
- !Minecraft@Lemmy.world
- !NoMansSky@lemmy.world
- !Palia@Lemmy.world
- !Pokemon@lemm.ee
- !Silksong@indie-ver.se
- !Skyrim@lemmy.world
- !StardewValley@lemm.ee
- !Subnautica2@Lemmy.world
- !WorkersAndResources@lemmy.world
Language specific
- !JeuxVideo@jlai.lu: French
go to feed...
“You will own nothing and you will be happy”
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