With the Christmas and awards seasons approaching imminently, the time seems nigh to review the year in gaming; the events, the releases, and—most importantly—the controversies.
All eyes were on Nintendo this year, with the release of their much-anticipated successor to the popular Nintendo Switch, the Nintendo Switch 2. While some initially lauded it for its increased power and immediate third-party support, much of the initial attention went to the console’s high pricing.
While this caused an uproar from a lot of Nintendo’s fans, some were equally quick to point out that its power is comparable to the Steam Deck – which runs from $400 to $600 and often runs games worse. However, the counterargument to this is that gaming overall is just becoming overexpensive and commercialized.
But Nintendo isn’t the only one put in the hot seat this year over pricing – many people were livid over Sony’s decision to release their upgrade to the PlayStation 5 – the PS5 Pro – At $700: The highest price for a video game console in the last thirty-odd years (not adjusting for inflation).
Most people, it seemed, did not think $700 was reasonable for a console that, while technically having better graphics and performance, overall had miniscule changes. Consumers also criticized the very nature of the release— after five years of its original release, the PS5 still only has released a few original games, mostly relying on rereleases, remasters, and PS4 upgrades. Over the years, it seems the modern consensus is that the device is a reasonable price for enthusiasts who want to get the most out of their games, but not for the average consumer.
Many are worried the industry is becoming too commercial and too focused on microtransactions and profit rather than the actual content of its games.
In other news, Xbox – the third of the Big Three consoles – has been going in a rather unique direction. Though they’ve been criticized in recent years for massive layoffs of successful subsidiaries like Tango Gameworks, Xbox continues a PR shift from console to spreading their games across various different consoles, including – as recently announced – their last bastion of exclusivity, the Halo series.
It seems that the Xbox strategy, with the decline in console sales in recent years has—instead of trying to increase revenue by making more games—tried to increase their revenue by allowing the games they already have to be accessible on other consoles.
Xbox seems to be shifting away from a console focus—which has consistently lost them money over the years—to a focus on general games. Time will tell if they will go the SEGA route of becoming a games-only publisher, though they have announced they want to make an Xbox handheld console.
Finally, in terms of the future of what’s happening soon in gaming, Steam – the evergreen PC platform for buying and selling PC games – has announced they are making a console: The Steam Machine; claiming to have “more than six times the horsepower of the Steam Deck, the Machine seems to be a cross between a PC – with lightly switchable specs and parts – and a streamlined console.
In other future happenings, Nintendo’s Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Elden Ring: Nightreign DLC are releasing on the 4th of December, The Witcher 4 is releasing at the earliest in 2027, and that Halo remake available on Playstation is releasing in 2026. It’ll be interesting to see what new developments and announcements happen at the upcoming Game Awards celebration, and, as always, if Kojima comes out of the wall again, on December 11th.
