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[PaintTinJr]

It is an expensive hobby at the GAF level IMO, mostly because of the time commitment, the high day one prices for hardware and digital games, and the rapid devaluation or trojan horse locks of digital games to accounts meaning that it is one of the few hobbies in which every investment you make turns to nothing IMO.

 

[Esca]

It's as expensive as you make it.

You can game on the cheap buying used and sales etc. From there it's up to you how much you end up spending.

You don't need to buy fancy editions and high end hardware to get the experience. Sure the experience will be better in a lot of ways but that is up to you and what you are looking to get out of gaming.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

I sure haven't. I'm not complaining about $70 for good games in 2024 money because I already paid more than that 30 years ago.

Just to put the price of Killer Instinct on the SNES into perspective…

 

[Euler007]

Define expensive. I went to a charity golf tournament that was 8k per foursome.

 

[Wolves hunt in packs]

Who cares how much it was 30 years ago or how other hobbies costs? Rent over here was almost 50% lower maybe 10-15 years ago, so? It all comes to how much you earn, i earn enough to enjoy gaming to some extent, I'm sure if i had better income i would see it differently.

 

[AtomicStarving]

I rarely buy games at launch, so it doesn't matter.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Compared to many hobbies even having the highest end latest and greatest PC this hobby is still very cheap

 

[dmaul1114]

I mean it's expensive compared to say TV and Movie watching which is relatively cheap since things moved to streaming vs having to have cable/satellite or buy/rent movie discs. Or things like hiking that cost little to nothing (just need decent shoes/boots, maybe some parking fees at state/national parks etc.). But is cheap compared to things like golfing or going to a bunch of concerts, plays etc.

Also, gaming can be relatively cheap if one doesn't care about owning/collecting games and takes advantage of subscription services, claiming free games on PC etc. Only gets really pricey if one is the type to need a high-end PC and upgrading the GPU/CPU very often and buying games at full price day one even if they can't play them all etc. IMO.

Of course, "expensive" is pretty relative to one's budget. I make decent money, as does my wife, no kids (living the glorious DINK life) so gaming is a drop in the bucket of our disposable income. To others even a $30 game on sale is a big expense if they struggle to make ends meet.

 

[hemo memo]

How is that? explain.

It depends on how much you want to spend and what level of experience you want. Only a high end GPU costs x2 a PS5 PRO. How is that the opposite?

Because multiple options to buy games. PC games are cheaper.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

It’a bit like asking if reading is cheap or expensive. You can get cheap books for a few dollars, and ebooks go on sale for pennies while a reader is less than $100 and it’s a kind of hardware that at this point can last you for two decades without any defensible reason to upgrade.

Similarly with gaming, you can get a retro handheld for $60 and play literally thousands of games for nothing. Or you can play free / very cheap games on your phone. It’s such a varied, modular hobby

 

[Zacfoldor]

It's cheap as fuck for an adult hobby.

I have a friend who races motorcycles, another that is into boats, and a 3rd one that does classic cars.

Every dime I've ever spend on gaming is less than this dude's one boat. Waaaaaayyyy less. This dude ain't rich either, just has an expensive hobby.

You think stamp collecting is cheap? Well just wait until you stop organically collecting and try to buy some rare ones.

No, gaming is pretty cheap. Cheap as it gets really. That is why it is the mainstream hobby for the entire world, because it is cheap as fuck, even when you go 5090 and super monitor it is still cheap as fuck for an adult hobby.

Go look at how much scuba diving equipment or bike riding gear + bike costs at the mid end and you will be like, WTF!?

 

[skneogaf]

Weird question as its obviously as cheap or expensive as you want it to be.

I make it very expensive as I buy the latest and greatest gpu and some games on day 1.

A work colleague has just bought an xbox one and a bunch of games as he insists on being a generation behind all the time.

How long is a piece of string?

 

[fart town usa]

It's cheap, unless you're a filthy shelf collector.

 

[FrankWza]

I mean it's expensive compared to say TV and Movie watching which is relatively cheap since things moved to streaming vs having to have cable/satellite or buy/rent movie discs

Not if you go to the movies to watch. Gaming gets cheaper when it gets older too. Going to the movies is really expensive on a $ to hour average cost. Especially if you have a family or don't go by yourself.

 

[Melon Husk]

the floor is low and the ceiling is low
biggest price is your time

 

[kubricks]

For me gaming is by far the cheapest form of entertainment, or may be it's because I never chase top end graphics.

1080p at 60fps for pc and 720p 45fps on handheld at mid settings is often enough for me.

 

[Shadowstar39]

Completely depends on what you're trying to play. I think a lot of these F2P or GaaS games are popular purely because the barrier to entry is low enough you can basically play a lot of them on cheap hardware. If you're trying to play games that are ultra realistic however, that's where it can get really expensive.

Sony and xbox would do well to remind themselves of this tbh. Consoles were not about chasing the best of PC. They were a cheaper.

Then you will get the graphic whores on here being like "underpowered junk, no buy". That will spread to X , reddit and everywhere else.

Although I agree, its why I play mostly on switch anymore , for portability. Ps4 level graphics are fine, and I feel like we hardly scratched the surface with that gen and this gen as we barely get new games in relations to ps1/ps2-gc/ps360 eras.

 

[R6Rider]

Gaming is still cheap as fuck.

 

[ReyBrujo]

Down here in Argentina it's expensive collecting physical games, not every game released for Switch, Xbox Series or PS5 even reach here so if you want them you need to buy them from overseas. Same with consoles. And talking about retro, prices are as high as overseas but with a weaker economy. A USD 10k collection is considered big down here. However, in the grand scheme of things it is cheaper than other hobbies like Art, watches, cars, etc which is why I vote that it's cheaper.

 

[AndrewRyan]

Cheap for PCs since your gaming library stays with you for life. Consoles too since you can buy/sell used games. Play portably on-the-go with a steamdeck or go whole-hog on a 4090/OLED/VIVE- either way the number of hours and quality of the experience is off-the-charts spectacular.

 

[touchfuzzy]

I think it's pretty cheap, my wife talks to her friends and their husbands do hunting, golf, car stuff, etc. and she always says she's glad I have gaming as a hobby because other ones are so outrageous (two of those guys also died doing their hobbies, so there's that too...)

 

[FoxMcChief]

It used to be for me, back when I was a PC gamer, constantly updating my rigs. I was never happy and was at Fry’s at least once a week.

 

[dmaul1114]

Not if you go to the movies to watch. Gaming gets cheaper when it gets older too. Going to the movies is really expensive on a $ to hour average cost. Especially if you have a family or don't go by yourself.

Oh definitely. I was just thinking of at home hobbies as if I'm not gaming I'm usually watching TV or movies via streaming.

I barely go to the theaters anymore. People suck. I'd rather just watch them on my TV and surround sound setup.

 

[reinking]

Cheaper than a broken condom.

 

[bundylove]

My gym cost me 800 a year alone.

Gaming is way cheaper than it used to be.
I challenge you to go bakc in time and see how many games you can afford a year vs nowdays

 

[Last Hearth]

It's cheap in terms of money, expensive in terms of time.

 

[Tams]

Whichever you want it to be.

It can be quite expensive for me, but then I pay full price for games and gaming products that I think are worthy of it.

Now, as for value for money? It can hardly be beaten. Reading (not manga, legally, though, lol) is better value for money, but even TV shows and films can end up more expensive for the amount of entertainment you get.

Compare it to cycling, martial arts, climbing (HOW MUCH?! for a fucking hex?!), etc. Yeah, it's fantastic value for money.

 

[Bernardougf]

There are more expensive hobbies like golf, go-karting, art collection, sneaker collection, polo, or classic car restoration. There are less expensive hobbies like most casual team sports, reading, gardening, photography, cooking, cinemagoing and small DIY craft projects. Gaming falls somewhere in between. Where do you class it?

At its most expensive you'd be paying for
- Base hardware
- Controllers/Keyboard+Mouse
- Extra storage
- Headphones and other peripherals
- Games
- Collector's editions
- Microtransactions
Subscriptions for online play(console exclusive)
- Electricity cost of running hardware + display + surround sound system
- Others I can't think of right now

These are all subjective definitions, of course. Expensive is relative to your socioeconomic class. Income level. Per capita gdp. So on.

Another factor would be the floor argument. i.e. the floor of a hobby, or the hobby at its cheapest, should be used t determine whether it's cheap or not. the issues is that the cheapest you can get for games is around the cost of an old gameboy or psp. Overall less than a phone and can still be considered hobby gaming.
To that, I say focus on the typical modern gaming experience. Mobile, Console, or PC only. That already sets a baseline of hardware cost

On the whole though, regardless of your personal wealth level, is gaming an expensive hobby for the average person?

Console gaming is as cheap as its gets if you are not some crazy person that has to play all the games from all the devs that comeout at launch... consoles are cheap and games are cheap if you wait a bit.

 

[Three]

As with most hobbies you can take the cheap route or you can go the expensive route. It's not one or the other in my opinion .

You can buy a $10 dollar tennis racket and play in the park or you can buy a $300+ racket and join a gym with court access. With gaming you can play free games on your phone and not spend much at all or you can spend a lot buying the latest hardware and software. It all depends on what you yourself want to spend or are interested in.

 

[WoJ]

It's both cheap and expensive for me. I don't pay full price for almost anything and wait for deep sales for most games. But I buy a lot with that approach..

 

[Alebrije]

Cheap , besides gaming I like lisening music so getting a decent turntable, AV receiver , cd player , speakers, cables , etc it's miles away from gaming cost.

On Consoles gaming You have access to above mid range quality for just 700 -800 US if You get a PS5 plus online subscription. That alone is the cost of an entry/casual level for a 2 channels receiver like Yamaha RN600.

Reading books is cheap but if You are into collectors /rare editions of books prepare to spend a Lot of money too, maybe Even than gaming. But for digital books and standard editions prices are fine an as a hobby is cheaper than gaming.

But in general Console gaming is cheap , PC is another world and honestly the beneffit You get from the price You pay for high end rigs is not worth it. Talking about PCs above 4000-5000 US

 

[Singular7]

Expensive if you are a pc gamer.

Not really -- my ~3k setup, hour for hour, is ultra-cheap compared to my car habit

 

[Jigsaah]

Compared to other hobbies, I think gaming is relatively cheap.

To be honest, gaming can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. You could be a PC Master Race enthusiast, spending thousands on your setup before purchasing a single game. But you could also be on an Xbox Series S and only play games you can get on Gamepass. Like it really just depends.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Compared to other hobbies, I think gaming is relatively cheap.

To be honest, gaming can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. You could be a PC Master Race enthusiast, spending thousands on your setup before purchasing a single game. But you could also be on an Xbox Series S and only play games you can get on Gamepass. Like it really just depends.

Then divide that by how many hours of entertainment you get

I know people have mentioned going to the movies but try going to sporting events with a family and buy some snacks

Yeah gaming is very cheap in comparison

 

[Arsic]

I put expensive. I usually feel shitty buying a new game instead of a sale since I have kids I could be spending money on instead.

Or just being more responsible with money in general.

Also GAF can’t say it isn’t expensive then get mad the ps5 is $700. It’s expensive. Just because other hobbies can be MORE expensive still doesn’t mean this one isn’t for who the audience is. Broke ass stoner males with shit paying jobs are likely a huge contingent of the consumerbase compared to golf which is wealthier middle aged and old men.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Can be super cheap

Can be as expensive as some other hobbies

>$100k sim rigs come to mind

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Should have been a third option: "as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be."

 

[SportsFan581]

It can be whichever one you want. Buy a 90 series card and all the big games day one, yeah, it's going to be expensive. Buy a lower-end card and purchases games on sale and it can relatively cheap.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

Even when I was broke it was a pretty inexpensive hobby.

 

[neocycle]

It's cheap when you are patient.