I was looking to replace a trash Sony Blu-Ray player and a failing NVIDIA Shield (I'd leave the controller plugged in for a month and then when I tried to use it it wouldn't be charged) for use as a media player with a game console. My motto is overpowered is better than underpowered so I decided to get a game console, I got a used PS4 Pro because I already have an XBOX, the used PS4 Pro was comparably affordable, but the PS5 was much more expensive. The worst of it is that the PS5 has only 15 or so exclusive games

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:PlayStation_5-only_ga...

One of those is from my favorite game studio but it's a remake of a remake. Almost everything gets released on Steam these days, so what's the point of a dedicated console?

There still are people who think playing PC games is like putting your hand in a toilet, but they're wrong. It used to be PC games had terrible keyboard and mouse interfaces that would have you leaning forward for hours and hurting your back but now you can buy an XBOX controller for $50 at Gamestop and install Steam and have a lean-back console gaming experience, play many games from your library on a Mac for no extra cost, play many games from your library on a Steam Deck or other handheld, stream games from a PC to an older generation console, etc. PC gaming is no longer flight simulators with terrible analog controllers that require 15 minutes of calibration for 5 minutes of play, unfun games like SimCity, Civilization, etc. [1]

The PS5 would look too expensive to me if they took $50 or even $100 off the cost, not so much in an absolute sense but in how it fits into the alternatives.

[1] the fact that Steam is not for sale must drive all the failing companies in the industry like GameStop and Microsoft crazy because they can’t buy into success but instead double-down into failure with crypto or acquisitions like Activision will will ultimately end with record-setting writedowns.