Maj. Zero XOF

Xbox are reportedly considering a return to exclusives Jez Cordan said on XB2 that “There are very, very big discussions regarding exclusivity internally at Xbox”

PC gamers, notably Nvidia users, going at console gamers for buying hardware they deem priced too high and "anti-consumer", will never not be funny to me. Don't think there's a more ironically and laughably hypocritical, unselfaware and salty fandom, but let me explain why with actual data. Value is subjective, and anyone can claim any product is anti-consumer based on ignorant subjective takes on pricing, but one of the more objective metrics that let's us appreciate how aggressively consumers are ACTUALLY being price gouged, is profit margins. Prices can go UP, with margins still staying the same or even getting lower, due to cost increases from macro-economic factors like AI chip or memory shortages, tariffs etc. None of us WANT higher prices and would prefer manufacturers eat losses, unfortunately that isn't the reality of business. But the HIGHER a company or products profit margins, in essence the more consumers of that product or brand are being milked or taken advantage of, albeit willingly due to demand. So what are Nvidia's margins vs PlayStation and Nintendo's? FY24/25 results: PlayStation Revenue - $30.8bn Profit - $2.72bn (9% margin) Nintendo Revenue - $8.95bn Profit - $2.17bn (24% margin) Nvidia Revenue - $130.5bn Profit - $81.5bn (62.5% margin) Nvidia's last reported Graphics Sector specific operating income was 43%. ($5.84bn out of $13.5bn, FY23/24). So Nvidia's graphics sector margins were 5x higher than PlayStation and 2x higher than Nintendo. PlayStation's operating income margin was by FAR the lowest, so the notion they're anti-consumer in how much they extract from their consumers, isn't grounded in factual data reality. Nvidia however is a COMPLETELY different story. They're taking advantage of their consumers and dominant position in PC graphics, to a whole different level of margin. For greater context, PlayStation was estimated to make $50-$100 (7%-14% margin) on each PS5 Pro sold at launch based on BoM cost estimates, and Nintendo $50 (11% margin) on each Switch 2, whereas Nvidia is reported to make ~300% or greater margins on some of their GPU. Let that sink in. Nvidia are price gouging their consumers up to 4186% more than PlayStation with PS5 Pro, and 2627% more than Nintendo with Switch 2, and yet PC gamers have the gal to suggest it's console gamers that are facilitating anti-consumer hardware pricing lol. In addition to Nvidia's gross GPU profit margins, in recent times they also; +De-prioritise gaming consumers for AI. +Are trying to usher in a generative AI slop filter future. +Launched hardware rife with hardware defects and issues. +Took advantage of crypto mining demand in pricing too. And despite all the above and Nvidia's eye watering GPU margins, some PC fanboys who bought Nvidia GPU attack console users for buying PS5 Pro's, before AI and other related price increases that've plagued PC gaming FAR worse for half a year now, finally come in to place. It's beyond parody and the lack of self awareness laughable. Based on the numbers and data, it's Nvidia PC gamers facilitating the most "anti-consumer" pricing with orders of magnitude more aggressive profit margins and price increases than the console platforms, vs even Nintendo who are historically very profit savvy. So PC gaming Nvidia users, kindly STFU before you come at console users on hardware pricing. Ya'll are some of the biggest marks there are based on the data and numbers. And those who are happy to pay massive margins on hardware and components, but scoff at paying towards actual games and supporting creators (eg the art we buy these gaming systems for), are even more contemptible.