doomscroller

Well ... being soft-locked and forced to pay a subscription fee to play games that I've already paid for is a big no for me. It would probably not be an issue at all with the Steam Deck considering it is Linux based.

This sounds great. I've been looking into it since people starting recommending it here and Steam Deck + dock does seem to suit my needs.

Yeah. I was thinking either the slim comes with significant upgrades in aesthetics, or its release triggers the prices of the original PS5 to drop. Either way waiting to see what happens seems to be the best approach.

Yikes.

...Surely this does not apply to the discs/physical copies of the games? I do agree it is very concerning regardless.

Yeah, thing is even though the Switch has more exclusives the list of games I am definitely buying is shorter (Zelda, Mario, Pikmin) than the list of non-switch games I've been looking forward to playing. The more I think about it, the Steam Deck sounds like a good option. Thank you for your reply, it's been helpful.

I feel you, losing functionality over time even though the hardware is still there is one of my biggest pet peeves >:(

Well, there are a couple of reasons. Cost of the PC itself, cost of peripherals, space limitations, considering game quality/"timelessness" to be more important than high performance/impeccable graphics/frame rates... Also I'm getting a new laptop soon so it just seems like a huge overkill atm

Thanks for the input on the Switch! It confirms that it's reasonable to wait for a little while longer.

I'm not concerned about portability at all -- if I got a Steam Deck (or a Switch) I'd keep it docked at all times. In fact I'm more concerned about battery health and general longevity of portable consoles. It's probably a result of being poor for so long but I would really prefer to buy durable stuff. Like I want it to boot up just like it used to, 20 years from now. For theoretical emulators and piracy I guess I could just theoretically use an actual PC.

Heavily leaning towards getting a PS5. Probably after the slim has been released. I'll definitily get GOW, Spiderman, The Last of Us and Ratchet and Clank. And Outer Wilds. And a bunch of other ones. Probably Elden Ring. Etc. :)