How Are You Guys Handling This?

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨games@lemmy.world⁩

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/44cbb16a-3bac-44bd-ba08-6f26900ba7a6.jpeg

I upgraded from my 15 year old PC to one of the new Mac Minis at Xmas last year, thinking that I would be fine for gaming with my Xbox / Game Pass, and I would “skip a generation” on PC hardware. I have a small Steam / Epic library, but everything that didn’t work on MacOS, I had a Game Pass version of.

Fast forward a year. Xbox shit itself, RAM and GPU prices / 2026 outlook are dismal, etc etc

What’s my best option going forward for gaming? The only option I see right now is cloud gaming like GeForceNOW, but it seems like such a ripoff.

Any advice?

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any1th3r3@lemmy.ca ⁨13⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago
Is there anything you’re currently missing out on with your Xbox?
Do you have any public libraries around you might borrow physical games from? (Assuming your Xbox has a disc drive)
Depending on what games you want to play, Game Pass might still be a relatively cheap option, especially if you can find it cheaper (Live Gold codes should still work conversion-wise, but who knows how much they go for these days).

A used Steam Deck or equivalent handheld PC might be a great option or addition to tour setup, obviously depending on what games you want to play.

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Brewchin@lemmy.world ⁨26⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago
Game Pass sounds great, but the average game play time is ~2 weeks. You’re paying $240–480/year to skim the surface of multiple games.

That’s a lot for what is essentially a demo experience. There are better ways to approach gaming.

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cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
That’s the old price. GamePass Ultimate went up briefly from $14.99 to $19.99 then doubled (from its original price) to $29.99 per month.

I got locked in at the original price. Better yet, I got the GamePass All Access deal right before it went away. That gets you the $500 Xbox Series X and 2 years of GamePass Ultimate for about 35 bucks a month. If you consider GPU to be $15 a month, that pushes the Xbox down to $480. Not a bad deal at all! You get the Xbox and a 24-month code straight up and make payments (it’s a credit card with 0% interest for that purchase, so you have to qualify for it). That’s why I have an XSX and not a PS5 like I would have liked. I couldn’t come up with $500 straight up for a PS5, but I could make $35 a month for 2 years plus I got GamePass.

I still game on my Xbox (I’m a Mac user on computers — we got Cyberpunk and Blue Prince last year, and I own both on Steam, but they play better on my Xbox). I just buy games on sale. I got the Mass Effect Legendary Edition (remaster of the Shepard trilogy) for $6. That sale is still on. They also have Mass Effect 4 for $3 (or $4 for Deluxe) and the first one (OG 360 version) for $5. Bought all of it. Love those games. I got Hogwarts Legacy for $10. That nasty trans-hating Harry Potter author didn’t have any input in the game and in fact it has a bunch of gay couples and a trans character to spite her. I really don’t like her views and avoided the game for a couple years, but I’m hooked. I love flying around and exploring the castle. I also play Switch games. Those tend to last longer than PC/Xbox games. My wife got Animal Crossing last year and burned out after a couple weeks. I still check in on my island a few times a week. It’s honestly a lovely game.

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Codilingus@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
The moment Game Pass wouldn’t let me cheese the system and get it for like $1-2 a month, I quit bothering with it. I knew they were trying to get people hooked and raise prices. It was only like a year later and then even my friends canceled theirs.

I buy games heavily on sale, or sail the seas.

Luckily my gaming PC is more than good enough to ride out the next 5 years. knocks on wood. 5800X3D + 6800 XT.

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B0NK3RS@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
Have a look at the Heroic Launcher. I remember reading it included a feature to play some Windows games in compatibility mode or something?

Apart from that I guess it’s Geforce Now, Amazon Luna etc…

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jordanlund@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I’ve consistently refused to buy in to Game Pass. I still buy physical games where available. If it’s only digital, I’ll get the Steam version for my Steam Deck.

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msokiovt@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Um… you need to sell that Mac and build a computer with DDR4 and maybe a 40 Series NVIDIA GPU (so as to not pay the high prices on both fronts), slap Linux on it (I’d recommend Mint or Pop_OS!), and learn how to set it up for gaming. That’s stupid otherwise.

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- AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
  Sorry, but the Mac is for art and music. I make money with it, its non-negotiable.
  
  Please point me to a comparable PC build that can be had for a total price tag of $575, since that’s what I shelled out for the Mac.
  
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  - jordanlund@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
    With current pricing, it’s going to be tough and that’s no joke.
    
    Even the new Steam Machine is being predicted to be around $1,000.
    
    indy100.com/…/steam-machine-price-cost-release-da…
    
    The era of $600 gaming PCs is 1-3 years ago now.
    
    (NGL - I still want a Steam Machine. :)
    
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  - cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
    Mac user as well. I have an M2 Pro mini on my desk, and a base M2 MacBook Air.
    
    To be fair, you didn’t specify in the OP why you bought the Mac. Their comment is fair, and this is coming from a guy who doesn’t like Windows. It’s also a bad recommendation: you’re not gonna get a good deal on the Mac that would get you a comparative PC. Your best bet would either be a used Switch or a used Xbox Series S, or maybe a PS4 (Xb1 sucks).
    
    That said, you can get a comparable PC for $575, but you won’t get $575 for a $575 Mac selling it secondhand. The fallacy with that suggestion is you’ll get about 2/3 what you paid at best and that’ll put you in a much worse spot. Now you might be able to get a Chinese PC with everything on the chip like the Mac mini is, with 16GB DDR4 and something like an i3 dual core that will do some of the things the Mac will do, but it won’t have a Windows license, you’ll need to pay for that or get Linux. Still a bad idea if your new Mac works and you’re happy with it.
    
    I made my comment entirely based on the picture, which is kinda my bad but I’m leaving it. I read the text after. I blame my autism.
    
    That being said, you didn’t buy the Mac for gaming. If you did that’s on you. Heroic is good for some Steam games. M2 Pro isn’t great for gaming. I suspect you have an M4 base with 16 or 24GB of RAM (doesn’t matter in most cases). That’s a more capable machine. Still not great. Macs are not gaming machines. GeForce Now is a decent way to go if you have Steam games. You only need to pay the $10/month price to get decent game streaming, but only if the latency is good enough based on your location. If it’s not, the $20/month tier isn’t going to help. It’s just better graphics.
    
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