I first did a post addressing gaming being a luxury well over a year ago now and I just want to go back to this topic to discuss the up and coming next gen of consoles and how stressful of not owning the latest consoles can be for people. I'm not talking about those who are jealous I'm talking about the abuse people receive when they can't afford to keep up with what's on the market and how it can have a bad impact on your mental health. The price of living has gone up, we live in a world where money quite literally can destroy friendships, I grew up poor, not going to lie it sucked but we appreciated everything we got but when it came to friends people would look down at me and my family because they were better off. Friends soon turned into bullies and those bullies would try and find anything wrong with me to hold against me, so when they saw we couldn't afford school trips it became obvious to them that we weren't well off.
My sisters and I shared everything, we made the most of what we had and would be very grateful for anything my parents got us and one thing people could never make fun of me for was not owning a PS1. Even though we all shared it, my parents made sure we had one and it was very loved by us all. What I realise, was how petty and nasty someone could be based on not owning a console, there were many times I saw people made fun of and I was relieved I wasn't one of the people. Even now, in this day and age, this kind of thing is still happening to kids in school and it makes me feel dreadful for them, not because they don't own the latest console but because bullies base their self worth on this.
When the Nintendo Switch came out there was a big divide in opinions, often people would say someone is a fool for not getting one and that kind of toxicity pushed me away from wanting to get one at first as well as the price of one. James and I checked prices for ages and waited until we couldn't wait any longer and decided to go halves on one. James probably could have afforded to buy it himself but said we may as well go halves and share it as it would only end up getting used on the TV downstairs which is exactly what we do unless I take it upstairs and lay in bed with it. Even then we waited out for a good deal that would include a game bundle as the games for Nintendo Switch hardly ever go down unless there is a sale on the digital store.
I think it would be in my best interest if James and I ended up doing the same with the PS5, we all know that it's going to be expensive and that it's going to take time for more games to be released on it but that doesn't take away the urge to want to own one. I do however think it's a wise move for people to wait it out and not feel as if they need to get the PS5 as soon as it comes out especially because the PS5 will support backwards compatibility which means you won't be missing out on much. The same can be said for the Xbox Project Scarlett which will allow you to play Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One games all on the console which gives it a lot of appeal to Xbox fans.
Personally, I would be going for the PS5 as I grew up with Playstation from the age of 6 but even know I struggle to afford every game for the PS4 and tend to go to CEX and pick up PS3 games as they're very much still worth playing. The PS5 is said to cost around $499 (around £382) which isn't a bad price but considering the PS4 Pro was around a £100 cheaper and a lot of people have only just picked one up this year they may want to hold off buying the PS5. The Xbox Project Scarlett (I still think that's a ridiculously long name) will be around $499 too, I couldn't imagine the stress it will be to be a fan of both Playstation and Xbox and want both consoles which are both being released in 2020.
There are so many things I wish people would take into account when it comes to discussing games and putting gamers down for what they can and can't afford, the main thing is not everyone is as well off as you and just because you're able to buy every single console that is released others aren't able to do this and will try anything to get hold of the latest trend in gaming even if that means paying extortionate prices from places such as bright house who have very high APR %. For those who don't understand what this is let me break it down for you.
APR stands for annual percentage rate which lenders put in place so they can earn interest on whatever you're paying so they can turn over a profit, some places have a very minimal rate but places like Brighthouse have a very high APR rate which is 69.9% of what every you pay annually, that's very high and means you're not saving by buying through them, in fact, you're spending more and putting yourself in a worse off position, just check out one of their own examples below:
The reason a lot of people go down this road and choose places like Bright House is usually because they're either black listed elsewhere or denied a catalogue with a smaller percentage APR. It's easy to call these people fools but at the end of the day it's mostly parents trying to give their children what they want as they don't want them to miss out which is totally understandable. At the same time I think it's important to teach kids that things in life cost money and sometimes you have to wait for what you want, which is what I learnt at a young age but I didn't mind. The risk really isn't worth it in the long run, a hobby is never worth debt. Let's stop all the pettiness in the gaming world and remember how privileged we are to be able to afford games and consoles.
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