I’d recommend just getting a steam deck if you don’t just want to get a PC. The variety of indie titles and the lower cost just beats any of the standard consoles.

A PC is even better, but the cost of the initial hardware is probably higher. But you can’t beat the price of the games or the variety of games available. And the PC won’t expire the way modern online consoles do.

I have a PS3 that won’t play movies from disc anymore because its online service is down or something. Ridiculous.

so already, know that a switch 2 is gonna come out sometime next year (probably gonna be announced Q1 2024, released sometime end Q3 - Q4) plus, its almost certainly gonna have backwards compatibility with current switch games, so zelda wont be going anywhere

i would probably suggest getting a ps5 if possible, but a ps4 works great on it, for ps4 games i would suggest god of war 2018 and GOW Ragnarok, Marvels Spider-Man Remastered, and Miles Morales. There’s also The Witcher 3, The last of us, Ratchet and Clank, and a bunch of other games which i havent tried out but are apparently very fun.

HOWEVER… You should definitely look up what a steam deck is, because it might be the perfect fit for you.

The steam deck is a portable hybrid pc console, created by valve, the guys behind the largest game marketplace. Its pretty much a computer but thats optimized to play games. It runs most games at 60 fps, with more demanding titles only going up to 40, and some rare, very demanding games only going to 30. for context though, Zelda TOTK runs between 20-30 on the switch.

The fact that its a pc means it can run pretty much any game, and is easy to pirate on (theoretically of course haha) another thing, is that the SD is INCREDIBLE at emulation. So you can take your Gamecube and Wii games on the go. But wait… It can also emulate the switch really well. So no need for a switch ;)

It has different models with different amounts of storage, ranging from 400$ for 64gb, to about 600$ for 512, with a cool anti glare screen.

but anyway, if portability is important, Steam deck is probably for you, or if youre a bit patient you can wait for switch 2

if power is important, the ps4-ps5 is better.

if you like piracy, steam deck is better, cause its a pc.

I can’t toot the Steam Deck horn enough! It’s the king of emulation, and handhelds in my opinion.

The emulation station makes it very easy to set up any emulator and game library

All you need for peripherals is a USB-C dock with HDMI etc. And voila! you have a livingroom console, media center and Linux PC all in one

It’s very customizable, easy to set up controllers, rebind inputs and macros. Works great out of the box but is open for tinkering

Easy to upgrade storage and repair, if the need arises. A 2TB nvme upgrade is very easy, even for a trogladyte like me. And if you unlike me, dont need the whole GBA catalog and an ungodly amount of PS2 titles available at all times, the on-board storage and microSD slot will be more then enough for your favorite games

I got a PS5 and I’m getting kinda annoyed that there are basically only 5 true exclusives for it; and one of them is basically a tech demo for the console (albeit, a very good tech demo that is actually bigger than Ratchet & Clank A Rift Apart). A Switch makes more sense because it actually has a ton of stuff you can’t play on anything else (without emulating anyway)… Although I have been finding Nintendo games are getting less and less appealing as time goes on. TOTK was the last thing in like 15 years from Nintendo that I actually really liked. Even the newest Animal Crossing is shit compared to the original.

If PC isn’t off the table, build a desktop or get a Steam Deck. It’s about the same price as a Switch but will have way more games. Better games. And can still emulate Switch games.

Have you thought about getting an XB1? The original model can be found very cheap and has backwards compatibility with 360 games so that is a huge library on offer.

buying a current switch will be a bummer wen the new one comes, but the ps5 slim won’t be an definitive upgrade from the current one so you can buy without remorse.

Any reason you’re not inching toward a gaming pc ? Since most new games are released on it anyway and it can run switch games better than the switch itself ?

PS5 gives you PS5+PS4 games, it’s new and will get further support. Switch gives you access to many of the Nintendo library. If you can entertain modding, many old consoles are good multi-platform machines. PS3 for PS1-3 games, PS Vita for many handheld systems, 3DS for the DS library. Modded Switch is a good system for emulation as well, although I’m not familiar with its scene

I’ve put tons of hours into BotW and TotK.

Admittedly, far fewer people play SSBU and ACNH now compared to ~3 years ago, and playing with people was a big part of the draw of those games.

The other games I’ve enjoyed on Switch are mostly cross-platform.

I’d get the Switch, you have a huge backlog after all.

I’d just get a PS5.

So much stuff on PS+ over two generations, ideal for us cheapskates. A lot of it (except Bloobborne, annoyingly) runs better on PS5 as well. Things like Days Gone are transformed at a solid 60fps with motion aiming.

I’m surprised noone mentioned xbox series S yet. It is really cheap (I got the certified refurbished version for 180€ and it looks and works like a new console). With the game pass you get a huge amount of games, including new games (Starfield, Avowed and Stalker 2 will be included on release in the pass) and also many games from the previous generations you might want to catch up on (Elder scrolls 3 to 5, Yakuza series, GTA5, Star Wars games, Persona series, Minecraft,…). If you’re willing to spend more, you could also get the series X, but personally I think it’s not worth the extra money because the higher performance doesn’t translate to more fun gaming (IMO). Larger memory is nice to have though.

I also have a steam deck and think it’s a great product, but being a handheld, it is a fundamentally different console with different advantages and disadvantages.

Concerning the games you asked about, I recommend Minecraft, Stray (buy on sale, it’s great but really short), Elder scrolls series and Life is strange if you’re looking for a beautiful story. Since you’re getting a steam deck, you might wanna check out Pokémon fan games and rom hacks if you’re a Pokémon fan. I find them to be even better than the originals. Ironic that I can easily play the Pokémon games I want on the steam deck, but would have to put in a lot of work to get them running on a Nintendo console.

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Any PS after the PS3 is a scam. I say this as a PS4 owner, not a pc master race fanatic.

Do not get a Playstation. Other console series? Don’t really have an opinion. We’re very happy with our switch and the wii before that. Even the PS2 sees some action. But do not get a PS4 or PS5.

Why am I so anti modern Playstation? Well, if you’ve made it this far in my rant allow me to really let loose.

You buy a console, you pay 20% more for each game, and then it should end there, right? Wrong! Because the game dev has decided that even single player is online only. And sony requires a playstation network plus subscription to play online. So now you’re stuck with “plants vs zombies garden warfare” that you only got because it had a single player mode, and to play it you need to pay 50 euros a year. But hey at least you get some games each month… If you remember to claim your games, which btw are 50% 8bit lookalike indie games that you wouldn’t have given a second glance in the store.

This goes on for some years, every year you debate renewing the subscription, but there’s those few games that your kids like and if you don’t renew the subscription your lose access, so now sony has your balls in a vise. And they know it. So one day sony announces “we’re greedy fucks who really like money, so the product you have, will now be double the price, but if you don’t want to have the monthly token shitty 8bit games then it’s only a 5% increase instead. So now you get to pay for the privilege of only playing a game you already bought”*

All the while you just wanted to relax with 30min of need for speed every now and then.

*Update: OK it would seem that the token games are back at all price levels… Sure would have been great to now that I could have claimed games. I sure hope I didn’t miss anything good.