Availability of "proper" consoles??

[Saracen999]

A friend that isn't into technology asked me "where is best to get a "proper" console, and .... which one?

Once I finished guffawing, I realised ... I don't actually know. The last time I bought a console was when XBox 360 launched and I'm just assuming that these days they stand about as much chance of getting either a PS5 or Xbox Series X (which is what it turned out "proper console" meant) as I do of having Loch Ness Monster and chips for dinner tonight, and Blue Moon Cheese and crackers, with a Fairy Dust coating (actual fairy dust, not some confectionery product of like name), served by a Leprechaun riding a Unicorn.

But, I don't know.

Am I correct in thinking that they're as much in demand, with almost zero supply, as Nvidia 30xx cards, i.e. if available at all, it ain't for long, and at eye-watering prices?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Supply has been far better than GPUs. If you don't want a top end console,the XBox Series S has been very easy to find. XBox Series X is also the easier of the two to find when compared to the PS5.

[Ravens Nest]

I got my Series X at RRP by using the Hotstock app on mobile, But as Cat-the-fifth says the PS5 is harder to get.

My cousin has got a PS5 on pre-order from Very, that was a week ago.

[DanceswithUnix]

Argos seem to have the Series X in stock for delivery.

Far easier to get than GPUs.

[Saracen999]

Thanks guys. Will pass those ideas on.

@Cat - He doesn't want the Series S apparently. Was specific about that.

[Ravens Nest]

Thanks guys. Will pass those ideas on.

@Cat - He doesn't want the Series S apparently. Was specific about that.

The Series S is a good machine if you want to game at 1080p (Some games run at 60fps some at 30fps, whereas the X is 60fps minimum on nearly everything and 120fps in some titles)

But because it has no Blu-ray drive everything is bought online digitally or you have to have game pass.

[Saracen999]

The Series S is a good machine if you want to game at 1080p (Some games run at 60fps some at 30fps, whereas the X is 60fps minimum on nearly everything and 120fps in some titles) and don't mind buying everything digitally or have game pass.

I'll pass that on, too. But to be honest, I don't know why he's ruled out the Series S - just that he has, and was pretty adamant. I'm guessing some friend told him "Get a Series X or PS5". But it very much is a guess.

As for game pass, etc, dunno anything about it. I'm an old-fashioned type that wants my games local, doesn't play anything online and detests subscription-type stuff and DRM, which is why I rarely play anything I didn't get via GOG. I'm not qualified to argue Series S v Series X with him.

I'm also not sure why he asked me about where to get them, seeing as I've ignored consoles for about 20 years. But hey, if I don't know, you lot sure do.

[Ravens Nest]

I'll pass that on, too. But to be honest, I don't know why he's ruled out the Series S - just that he has, and was pretty adamant. I'm guessing some friend told him "Get a Series X or PS5". But it very much is a guess.

As for game pass, etc, dunno anything about it. I'm an old-fashioned type that wants my games local, doesn't play anything online and detests subscription-type stuff and DRM, which is why I rarely play anything I didn't get via GOG. I'm not qualified to argue Series S v Series X with him.

I'm also not sure why he asked me about where to get them, seeing as I've ignored consoles for about 20 years. But hey, if I don't know, you lot sure do.

I don't really play anything online myself these days, game pass is online only and is a subscription every month like Netflix so games get rotated and if you stop paying the games will no longer work.

I was lucky I got game pass for just under £70 for 3 years access so for less than £2 a month (its normally £12 a month) I have way too many games to play now and I am loving it!

Series S is great for 1080p and will play nearly everything fine, but I like having the choice to access a physical copies of a game not trapped within a monopoly owned by the console manufacturer. so i got the X

An example for me was Guardians of the galaxy £50 on Microsoft store, £32 in CEX and I have completed it (Brilliant game) and can now sell it for £20-25.

[Saracen999]

I don't really play anything online myself these days, game pass is online only and is a subscription every month like Netflix so games get rotated and if you stop paying the games will no longer work.

I was lucky I got game pass for just under £70 for 3 years access so for less than £2 a month (its normally £12 a month) I have way too many games to play now and I am loving it!

Series S is great for 1080p and will play nearly everything fine, but I like having the choice to access a physical copies of a game not trapped within a monopoly owned by the console manufacturer. so i got the X

An example for me was Guardians of the galaxy £50 on Microsoft store, £32 in CEX and I have completed it (Brilliant game) and can now sell it for £20-25.

Sounds like we're on the same page, by and large. A couple of differences, maybe.

One of them is that I don't like selling games on. Well, don't much like selling anything on, really. It's a pain. So, I've kinda trained myself to not buy stuff if I don't plan on keeping it.

The first computer game I bought was, IIRC, Tigers in the Snow. It's a hex 'grid' WW2 battle game, circa 1978 or '79, and runs on the Apple IIe. I still have it, by which I mean, both TitS (the game) and the Apple IIe.

Then .... Wizardry. The original one (Apple again) where the graphics, which was revolutionary in it's day, was a very simple wireframe drawing on a corridor, corner, dloorway, etc, and then a traditional text description, and was (of course) based on the old D&D / AD&D games .... for which I also still have the original manuals and quite a few game scenarios.

When I think back to those days and how 'advanced' Wizardry felt, compared to sitting around a table with manuals, character sheets and half a dozen types of dice, it makes me realise how far we've come, in such a short (one lifetime) period of time. I was in my 20s before there were really any computer games, outside of things like Battleships and I first played that on an IBM S360 mainframe.

[DanceswithUnix]

One of them is that I don't like selling games on.

It's a different mindset. Seems kind of nice to just dip in and try stuff out of a wide range with no consequences.

Plus, I've got boxes of old games in cupboards, and they are using up space. I'd rather not add to the pile tbh. Like I try and avoid buying stuff on DVD or blue-ray for the same living room clogging reason.

[Saracen999]

It's a different mindset. .....

Yup.

I get the logic of doing it the other way. It just isn't me.

I go through phases. I might be in agaming mood and have a mad couple of months. Then, not feel like it for a year. Same, for instance, for photo editing .... a mad few weeks, then a dry spell for ages.

For that reason, I loathe subscription on almost anything.

Also, on games, I often will just go back and play an old game for nostalgia's sake. Just actually bought the Thief series on GOG, 'cos it was on sale for silly money (£2.17 for Thief 1 Gold, Thief 2 and Thief 3), because I never got around to Thief 3. I go back and replay old stuff, sometimes years later.

Besides, I just can't be bothered to faff about selling things like old games. These days, I rarely buy new. What I do buy is often old classics that I missed (Grim Fandango, for example).

Ditto books. I think last time i added them up, it was about 3500. And yeah, a LOT of space.

And that's my mindset. No to subscriptions, wherever possible. If I want, say, a year's service enough to buy it (Ancestry for example), I will, but a monthly sub? Hell, no.

Oh, and i think I've sold something online maybe ... twice. When someone posted sayi ng "anyone got a old/spare xxx" and I did. But advertise something online for sale? Don't think I EVER have, for anything.

[Dareos]

theres a couple of discord groups

Stock informer UK
PartAlert

both will give fairly up to date announcements of stock being available for either xbox series x or ps5

[Vazza]

Recently there have been multiple deals on HUKD website for PS5 bundles in stock so I think supply issues we had last year have improved now.