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Ask HN: What makes consoles so much better than PCs for games at their price?

3 points by notknifescience ↗ HN
A PS4 currently 300 dollars on Amazon. It would be difficult to build a PC for 300 dollars that could play video games at the same quality / performance. So where does the gap come from, or what is so specialized about consoles that allow them to do video games so well? Is it just sheer economies of scale from standardized hardware?

2 comments

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wmf
It's economy of scale, lack of modularity, inflated RAM prices for PCs, overpriced discrete GPUs due to mining, etc.
PaulHoule
Game consoles are frequently subsidized by the manufacturers who make back a certain amount of money in a licensing fee per game.

Because game consoles are all the same (or come in a limited number of configurations, for instance there are three kinds of XBOX One) it is also easier for developers to make the most of the machine.