Console Gaming On A Budget

Gaming has been an expensive hobby for a number of years at this point. Prices for new consoles are very high and games are not much cheaper. However, there are several ways to game on a console without having to spend a huge amount of money. We’ve taken a look at some of the best ways to boost your gaming options without having to break the bank.

 

Xbox Series X Game Pass

This might be planting a flag with a single company, but Game Pass provides great value in two distinct ways. The first is the obvious way. It provides a massive selection of games to players, including everything from classic titles to new releases, for a low monthly price. This is an absolutely fantastic way to get access to a large number of different games without having to spend big on games constantly.

If you have Game Pass, then unless there is a game you specifically want, you won’t have to spend any extra on other games to play. You might not always have the exact game you want, but you will always have something to play. There are lots of quality games to enjoy here, and the release schedule for the next 18 months looks extremely solid. Forza Horizon 5 is one of the biggest-name releases that’s coming soon.

On top of this, if you get the ultimate version, then you also get EA Play, which offers even more great games for you to enjoy. All of this certainly sounds great, but there’s actually more to it.

Game Pass has the option to include the price of the console with the monthly fee. This means that you can get the new Series X console paid for over two years, interest-free. So, if you have the money to pay for the console in a drip-fed manner, then this will make it easy for you to do so. It makes owning an Xbox much easier for every player out there.

If that wasn’t enough, Game Pass can also be used on PC. So, if you have a PC as well as your console, then you will also be able to enjoy what it has to offer there. Considering that it has a slightly different list of available games, due to some titles being PC only, it is well worth checking it out on there also.
 

Retro Gaming

This is another shout-out to the Xbox Series X, with some added love for the Switch. With the PS5 not supporting backward compatibility, it makes it the worst of the big three consoles in terms of retro gaming. The Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch both really come up to the plate and offer a great retro experience.

First up, the Xbox allows players to enjoy games from all of its previous generations of Xbox. While it doesn’t offer full compatibility, it does offer some good selections, and Xbox One has almost complete compatibility in place. Xbox executives have also hinted at there potentially being more titles added to the backward compatibility list in the near future, which means that the number of games that can be enjoyed by previous generations is set to increase.

The Switch doesn’t have backward compatibility built-in. The main reason for this is that the cards for Switch games are significantly smaller than any other media that Nintendo has used in the past. However, it makes up for this with the frankly incredible Switch online line-up. The online pass currently allows players to enjoy a selection of both NES and SNES games. This is relatively cheap and really gives players an overall good deal. That’s not all though.

The latest news is that the Switch online pass will have an upgraded subscription available. This will cost a little bit more, but in turn, it will offer players the ability to enjoy both Nintendo 64 games and Sega Genesis games, in addition to the NES and SNES games. This provides one of the best collections of retro games for players to enjoy, with some absolute classics offered on the system. Even though the expanded Switch online offering is more expensive than the standard version, it will still cost less than Game Pass each month.

Of course, the Xbox Series X does have one final retro trick up its sleeve. Players have the ability to enjoy retro gaming using emulators on the Series X. This is slightly tricky to carry out, but there are a lot of guides online to make it easier to do. From here, you can enjoy everything that the Switch has to offer, as well as PS1 and PS2 games. It means that with a little bit of work, you can turn your Xbox into the greatest retro gaming console in history.

If you enjoy retro gaming on top of playing modern titles, then the PS5 is definitely the console to avoid. Both the Xbox and Switch offer players the ability to enjoy retro games without having to break the bank. This makes them the console of choice for retro fans.