Hard disagree. Most trailblazing console ever with one of the strongest lineups of first/second party games we’ve ever seen. Yes there were some shoddy third party ports but you didn’t buy it for those.
People moan about the controller but forget it was the first time a joystick was used and the only real issue was the redundant left prong. Loved the feel of the Z button for shooting games coupled with the Rumble Pak.
Did proper 3D platforming with free camera exist before Mario 64?
Did third person adventure games exist before OoT and has anything drastically changed the formula since?
Not to mention all these games shipped fully built with no updates and amazingly few bugs.
It seems as though OP didn’t actually experience these things at the time so making a post about nostalgia for them is strange. Firing up an emulator and going “These games don’t hold up now.” is entirely missing the point.
Woodwork dweller here, you seem to have forgotten:
Majora’s Mask
Star Fox 64
Jet Force Gemini
Donkey Kong 64
Diddy Kong Racing
Excite Bike 64
Paper Mario
Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door
Pokémon Stadium
Yoshi’s Story
Pokémon Snap
Mario Party
Felt at the time that there was always a high quality “AAA” release on the horizon interspersed with some of the greatest games ever made. Many of the gameplay techniques these games pioneered during the transition from 2D to 3D are still used to this day.
Obviously a lot of them don’t stand the test of time a quarter of a century on but we haven’t had a system with the same consistent quality of games for a long time, if ever, IMO.
That’s why I mentioned those other console exclusive features. Anyway the original point was about cost and I think the Series X was the best value for money at launch this gen…
Half the price of building a similar PC at launch.
Rewards are higher on console so recoup the cost more than PC.
I use Game Pass on both PC and Xbox with a single account to play multiplayer so cheaper on that front.
We’re half way through the generation now though. PC parts have got cheaper, Game Pass Ultimate conversion ratio has dropped and rewards are drying up so probably wouldn’t advocate it anymore. PC likely to be better value next gen.
I always gamed predominantly on PC but this generation I did the maths as PC parts had become over-inflated so decided to give console a try. I still think it was a decent decision for this generation…
Game Pass can be had waaaaaay cheaper than that and you can get it all back and more in rewards points.
I spent £450ish on the console at launch including controller and a game. Equivalent GPU was £500 or more at the time.
Spent £150ish on Game Pass sub from November 2020 to July 2026 which has allowed me to play countless games I never would have bought outright.
I’ve made over £700 back in vouchers with over 2 years left to accumulate more. Spent half of it on games, and controllers, headset, etc. all of which I can use on my PC. Plan on saving the remaining vouchers to put towards my next PC build.
This is without mentioning other console benefits like low maintenance, Quick Resume and the fact I can use one copy of a game to play with two players online.
As always, it’s a trade-off between convenience and ability to tweak.
When it comes to gaming, the convenience slightly edges it for me at the mo. Enjoying Game Pass, play anywhere, Quick Resume and have made all the money back I spent on the Series X through Microsoft Rewards twice over.