P40L0 Member Jun 12, 2018 9,588 Italy Here's the summary of latest eXtas1s' direct about verified rumors and leaks from his sources: Steam/Epic Integration into Microsoft Store A new app called "Steam DF Beta" has appeared in the Windows Microsoft Store, allowing users to install Steam directly from the official store. The Epic Games Store is already integrated in the same way. This doesn't mean current Xbox consoles (Series X/S, One) will natively run Steam, but that Windows (and future Windows-based Xboxes) will offer an easier download/install experience. Future "Console-Like" Shell on Windows Microsoft is developing a compatibility layer or "shell" to give Windows a console-like interface (similar to Steam's Big Picture mode), suitable for both PC gaming and next‑gen Xbox systems.Xbox Emulation on PC An Xbox emulator for Windows (x64 architecture) is in development, allowing users to play their Xbox library on PC by emulating the console rather than running native PC ports of the games. Saves and achievements will remain separate between Steam, Microsoft Store/Xbox and will not sync automatically. Backward Compatibility and "Pass‑Through" Titles There are no plans to add new backward‑compatible games beyond what's already available, but the emulator work will let the entire Xbox library run on PC.Evolution of Game Pass Game Pass (including PC Game Pass and Ultimate) will remain a strategic cornerstone and will not be discontinued. New tiers are coming: cloud‑only, ad‑supported, PC‑only, Ultimate, etc. A price restructuring is imminent, likely raising fees—especially for the PC tier. Handling Rumors and Q&A The creator explains their approach: freely discuss rumors ("fun speculation") but clearly flag when something isn't confirmed 100%. They answer questions on topics such as: Transferring Xbox libraries to new consoles ("Phil Spencer confirmed yes") Whether online emulation will require subscriptions (probably not, but unclear) Third‑party titles and new COD at the next showcase (expected to appear) Buying on Steam vs. Microsoft Store (personal preference for Steam) Apparently what I suspected 1 year ago is actually coming true. What do you think? UPDATE: Jez Corden mostly corroborated this  Last edited: Yesterday at 1:42 PM VIPER Member Nov 12, 2023 1,408 Interesting strategy. This is just a PC in a box. In the interest of balance all developers need to have controller only lobbies in their multiplayer games.  Sabin Member Oct 25, 2017 6,097 I highly doubt that. If everyone would just use steam on XBOX Next MS would have to pay 20 to 30% of every transaction made to Valve.   Wrexis Member Nov 4, 2017 29,387 Steam's login count would double overnight with this I guess.   --R Being sued right now, please help me find a lawyer Member Oct 25, 2017 15,548 I don't believe the emulation part would have "the entire Xbox library" running on PC. It's not doable.   Maelstrom Member Apr 22, 2025 138 Sabin said: I highly doubt that. If everyone would just use steam on XBOX Next MS would have to pay 20 to 30% of every transaction made to Valve. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I mean if true, who cares? I can tell you who doesn't, it's Microsoft. Unless Steam titles will be selective, meaning you can buy THPS on Steam or MS store, or EGS. But if it's full Steam (haha) ahead with just being a PC, then fuck it, let them have it a PC.  texhnolyze Shinra Employee Member Oct 25, 2017 26,439 Indonesia No manual app install? GOG, Uplay, and Origin be like:   T0kenAussie Member Jan 15, 2020 6,019 This is the common sense endpoint for Microsoft's gaming venture Just like Nintendo merged handheld and console to make the switch. Microsoft merging the best parts of Pc and console while also allowing your library to live forever on pc is the best outcome for everyone  OP OP P40L0 Member Jun 12, 2018 9,588 Italy --R said: I don't believe the emulation part would have "the entire Xbox library" running on PC. It's not doable. Click to expand... Click to shrink... For the entire Xbox library he means current XSX|XSS library and what's currently emulated/BC   T0kenAussie Member Jan 15, 2020 6,019 Maelstrom said: I mean if true, who cares? I can tell you who doesn't, it's Microsoft. Unless Steam titles will be selective, meaning you can buy THPS on Steam or MS store, or EGS. But if it's full Steam (haha) ahead with just being a PC, then fuck it, let them have it a PC. Click to expand... Click to shrink... If the Xbox is basically a fisher price "babies first gaming pc" i can see that maintaining a market tbh   bob1001 ▲ Legend ▲ Member May 7, 2020 2,107 Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I feel like the end result here is something that is too far away from a console to appeal to the console guys, and too far away from a PC to appeal to the PC guys. Just occupying this awkward middle ground niche.   Santar Member Oct 27, 2017 7,132 Norway --R said: I don't believe the emulation part would have "the entire Xbox library" running on PC. It's not doable. Click to expand... Click to shrink... It's probably just the games that are currently playable on the xbox series.   --R Being sued right now, please help me find a lawyer Member Oct 25, 2017 15,548 P40L0 said: For the entire Xbox library he means current XSX|XSS library and what's currently emulated/BC Click to expand... Click to shrink... I know. You still have to develop official Xbox One and Xbox Series emulators that have 100% compatibility. Not doable, and since extas1s has been way below a 50/50 recently I don't believe it.   T0kenAussie Member Jan 15, 2020 6,019 P40L0 said: For the entire Xbox library he means current XSX|XSS library and what's currently emulated/BC Click to expand... Click to shrink... I wonder if ~~r is talking about licensing because Microsoft would have to make a preeeetty big legal shenanigans to say that PCs are indeed Xbox's if they just allowed anyone to emulate the Xbox environment on pc and endorsed it   Bardeh Member Jun 15, 2018 3,840 If they can get the software down, this has the potential to be something that I would really, really love. That's a HUGE 'if' though.   Dust C H A O S Member Oct 25, 2017 41,030 Sounds about what people expected. A pricey HW with Windows that is mostly there just as an Xbox branded option on the HW marker.   Soap Member Oct 27, 2017 18,924 T0kenAussie said: This is the common sense endpoint for Microsoft's gaming venture Just like Nintendo merged handheld and console to make the switch. Microsoft merging the best parts of Pc and console while also allowing your library to live forever on pc is the best outcome for everyone Click to expand... Click to shrink... Certaily a good thing for me if it happens, but is it really good for MS? It seems like this would kill any xbox console unless the price to power ratio was vastly better than just building/buying a PC.   --R Being sued right now, please help me find a lawyer Member Oct 25, 2017 15,548 T0kenAussie said: I wonder if ~~r is talking about licensing because Microsoft would have to make a preeeetty big legal shenanigans to say that PCs are indeed Xbox's if they just allowed anyone to emulate the Xbox environment on pc and endorsed it Click to expand... Click to shrink... It's one part of my argument, yes. The other one is, simply, performance. I can see a 360 emulator working performance-wise, but this becomes way harder as you go up to One and Series. You require a lot more juice if you try to emulate a Series X.   brenobnfm Member Sep 28, 2019 2,666 Guess they gave up on fighting Steam with the Microsoft Store and will instead prevent any Steam OS takeover over Windows for PC gaming on a broader level, seems reasonable and even late that they're finally leveraging Windows.   Footos22 Member Oct 25, 2017 4,122 Killing their 30% on third party games for the cheaper steam option sure feels like a good way to fuck your whole business up. Don't believe this for a second.   MANTRA Member Feb 21, 2024 1,136 I actually think this is a fantastic path for Microsoft and could be huge if they pull it off.   Dega Member Oct 25, 2017 8,464 I'd be interested   OP OP P40L0 Member Jun 12, 2018 9,588 Italy --R said: It's one part of my argument, yes. The other one is, simply, performance. I can see a 360 emulator working performance-wise, but this becomes way harder as you go up to One and Series. You require a lot more juice if you try to emulate a Series X. Click to expand... Click to shrink... They also talk about the "biggest performance leap" they ever had from gen to gen too (possible switch to NVIDIA? don't know)   Game Fan Member Oct 25, 2017 1,208 Brazil Steam + Xbox + quick resume + Game Pass in a box under the TV. Sign me in.   Mivey Member Oct 25, 2017 20,652 Sabin said: I highly doubt that. If everyone would just use steam on XBOX Next MS would have to pay 20 to 30% of every transaction made to Valve. Click to expand... Click to shrink... This is MS, so they could probably negotiate an even smaller percentage (if they can deliver enough unit sales, and if they can't they have bigger problems anyway)   oni-link tag reference no one gets Member Oct 25, 2017 17,359 UK So I'd be able to get PS exclusives on my new Xbox from Steam, and use Game Pass, and also have Steam on my Xbox as well for indies/other games, vs the PS6 with no Game Pass and no Steam, but with MS first party games? That's interesting  Justsomeguy Member Oct 27, 2017 1,786 UK bob1001 said: Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I feel like the end result here is something that is too far away from a console to appeal to the console guys, and too far away from a PC to appeal to the PC guys. Just occupying this awkward middle ground niche. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Steam machine vibes   Mr Evil 37 Member Mar 7, 2022 27,689 bob1001 said: something that is too far away from a console to appeal to the console guys Click to expand... Click to shrink... I don't see why this would be a concern. It seems like it can still be used as a console if that's what you want (presumably the Xbox layer + emulation will basically just make it into a console and you can ignore the non-console stuff if you want).   BasilZero Member Oct 25, 2017 39,966 Omni I'll get it if b/c is there.   --R Being sued right now, please help me find a lawyer Member Oct 25, 2017 15,548 P40L0 said: They also talk about the "biggest performance leap" they ever had from gen to gen too (possible switch to NVIDIA? don't know) Click to expand... Click to shrink... Unless they've found a way to timetravel and they're pulling hardware years from now into our timeline there is no way they're gonna emulate a Series X. I think extas1s is talking out of his ass again.   Toddhunter Member Feb 22, 2025 509 Sabin said: I highly doubt that. If everyone would just use steam on XBOX Next MS would have to pay 20 to 30% of every transaction made to Valve. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Or just make a better business deal. Anyway owning the box under the tv was always the aim, so I doubt they'd care much about gaming if they could do it. Much better to sell tv show deals.  Mr Evil 37 Member Mar 7, 2022 27,689 T0kenAussie said: I wonder if ~~r is talking about licensing because Microsoft would have to make a preeeetty big legal shenanigans to say that PCs are indeed Xbox's if they just allowed anyone to emulate the Xbox environment on pc and endorsed it Click to expand... Click to shrink... Maybe they wrote this into all of their licensing deals over the last X years if they knew they were heading in this direction.   andymoogle Member Oct 27, 2017 3,307 --R said: It's one part of my argument, yes. The other one is, simply, performance. I can see a 360 emulator working performance-wise, but this becomes way harder as you go up to One and Series. You require a lot more juice if you try to emulate a Series X. Click to expand... Click to shrink... It's all running variants of DirectX. There is no way they would need to bruteforce it as regular software emulation.   Copilot Member Jun 27, 2023 1,336 Sabin said: I highly doubt that. If everyone would just use steam on XBOX Next MS would have to pay 20 to 30% of every transaction made to Valve. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Those machines should be profitable out of box (likely 20% or more profit margins). Steam is already on Windows and Xbox PC still growing (+45% YoY).  Flame Lord Member Oct 26, 2017 3,773 Sabin said: I highly doubt that. If everyone would just use steam on XBOX Next MS would have to pay 20 to 30% of every transaction made to Valve. Click to expand... Click to shrink... They wouldn't pay anymore to Steam than they already do on PC. Presumably this isn't going to be taking a loss like consoles usually do so that won't be as big a deal.  texhnolyze Shinra Employee Member Oct 25, 2017 26,439 Indonesia bob1001 said: Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I feel like the end result here is something that is too far away from a console to appeal to the console guys, and too far away from a PC to appeal to the PC guys. Just occupying this awkward middle ground niche. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Yeah, this doesn't interest me at all. A PC without modding capabilities is not a PC. That's like missing the whole point of PC gaming to me.   brenobnfm Member Sep 28, 2019 2,666 I just hope any of the Xbox BC isn't cloud bullshit like PS3 on PS5, if that's the case better keep a Series X for these purposes. bob1001 said: Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I feel like the end result here is something that is too far away from a console to appeal to the console guys, and too far away from a PC to appeal to the PC guys. Just occupying this awkward middle ground niche. Click to expand... Click to shrink... It'll keep being just a Xbox for those who wants it? Especially if still has a disc drive (even if it's optional).  WhoaIsThatMars Member Oct 25, 2017 2,711 湘南 VIPER said: This is just a PC in a box. Click to expand... Click to shrink... A PC is an Xbox so it's just an Xbox in a box!  OP OP P40L0 Member Jun 12, 2018 9,588 Italy oni-link said: So I'd be able to get PS exclusives on my new Xbox from Steam, and use Game Pass, and also have Steam on my Xbox as well for indies/other games, vs the PS6 with no Game Pass and no Steam, but with MS Exclusives? That's interesting Click to expand... Click to shrink... Basically, yeah. I think the biggest part in all this is nailing down the "console user experience" which currently Windows 11 still do not offer. If they will create a good new shell on boot instead of Desktop and mimic the current Xbox Dashboard experience (also for managing OS/Drivers/Game updates in a centralized way and in the background) as much as possible it could really open a new market of devices (with the portable Xbox directly rivalling Switch 2 and Deck and the bigger, more powerful variant rivaling PS6 or even being a more user friendly and compact alternative to build and put a monster PC under the TV). They could even open for other OEMs doing beefier, more premium or more economical variants of these new "consoles" as well.  OP OP P40L0 Member Jun 12, 2018 9,588 Italy brenobnfm said: I just hope any of the Xbox BC isn't cloud bullshit like PS3 on PS5, if that's the case better keep a Series X for these purposes. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Nope, native offline emulation it seems   Zutroy Member Oct 25, 2017 1,682 It would depend on the limitations of it, and the implementation, however full console experience with being able to get access to cheap game keys for Steam and free giveaways that Epic always does is an attractive proposition.   brenobnfm Member Sep 28, 2019 2,666 P40L0 said: Nope, native offline emulation it seems Click to expand... Click to shrink... Awesome.  OP OP P40L0 Member Jun 12, 2018 9,588 Italy --R said: Unless they've found a way to timetravel and they're pulling hardware years from now into our timeline there is no way they're gonna emulate a Series X. I think extas1s is talking out of his ass again. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Which are the XSX console-exclusive games not natively available on PC anyway? I think the last ones were from Xbox One?  Maelstrom Member Apr 22, 2025 138 T0kenAussie said: If the Xbox is basically a fisher price "babies first gaming pc" i can see that maintaining a market tbh Click to expand... Click to shrink... Well that's their problem not yours. Maybe they don't want to do that and just trying to keep the existing customers on board.  Paper Wario ▲ Legend ▲ Member Oct 27, 2017 3,146 Some other recent eXtas1s rumor threads: eXtas1s sources say one function of the C button on Switch 2 is you can use the Switch 1 as a controller and/or screen for Switch 2 games Gears Of War E-Day scheduled for a 2026 release - Gears Collection to be announced in June for PC/XSX/PS5 Tony Hawk 3+4 will be shadow dropped for PC, Xbox Series SIX and PS5 during the 2025 Xbox Games Showcase Gears of War Trilogy Collection will be announced as multiplatform, day one on PS5, remasters of all 3 games, crossplay between PS5/Xbox/PC Activision's Call of Duty: World at War and Singularity will arrive on Xbox Game Pass in May   T0kenAussie Member Jan 15, 2020 6,019 --R said: It's one part of my argument, yes. The other one is, simply, performance. I can see a 360 emulator working performance-wise, but this becomes way harder as you go up to One and Series. You require a lot more juice if you try to emulate a Series X. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Imo they probably take a middle ground and emulate a series s. The main thing it would be used for is establishing a pathways for bc games to live with your accounts on the Microsoft store Licensing is the real devil in the details I assume the last gen and this gen games would have wording in it about "Xbox devices and platforms" but the 360 and og catalogs wouldn't which makes me go hmmm at the full bc libraries being emulatable on a pc with no issues  Egida Member Oct 27, 2017 4,741 Sounds too good to be true, provided they can get a price and potency similar to the next Playstation, and if it has free online, it could really make me consider abandoning ps ecosystem.   --R Being sued right now, please help me find a lawyer Member Oct 25, 2017 15,548 P40L0 said: Which are the XSX console-exclusive games not natively available on PC anyway? I think the last ones were from Xbox One? Click to expand... Click to shrink... Your post literally says "An Xbox emulator for Windows (x64 architecture) is in development, allowing users to play their Xbox library on PC by emulating the console rather than running native PC ports of the games." T0kenAussie said: Imo they probably take a middle ground and emulate a series s. The main thing it would be used for is establishing a pathways for bc games to live with your accounts on the Microsoft store Licensing is the real devil in the details I assume the last gen and this gen games would have wording in it about "Xbox devices and platforms" but the 360 and og catalogs wouldn't which makes me go hmmm at the full bc libraries being emulatable on a pc with no issues Click to expand... Click to shrink... For real. I don't see how some of the third parties that agreed to bring the games back on BC would like to suddenly be on PC. That, or how would disc-only BC games work, because those still exist and they'd definitely not work. And now that I write this, yeah, how would disc-based games work on this?  Ruu Member Oct 28, 2017 1,310 My prediction before the Series X was announced was pretty much exactly this, guess I was just off by a generation. For real though, I think this is the only way I'd be interested in a new Xbox console. With all their games being everywhere there isn't much a reason I'd need an xbox. But if its basically a consolized PC I could see that being potentially worth it assuming its not like $1000. Though even then... A $1000 gaming pc might not be too bad. Basically I'd rather pay a lot for a pc than a dedicated console.   oni-link tag reference no one gets Member Oct 25, 2017 17,359 UK Paper Wario said: Some other recent eXtas1s rumor threads: eXtas1s sources say one function of the C button on Switch 2 is you can use the Switch 1 as a controller and/or screen for Switch 2 games Gears Of War E-Day scheduled for a 2026 release - Gears Collection to be announced in June for PC/XSX/PS5 Tony Hawk 3+4 will be shadow dropped for PC, Xbox Series SIX and PS5 during the 2025 Xbox Games Showcase Gears of War Trilogy Collection will be announced as multiplatform, day one on PS5, remasters of all 3 games, crossplay between PS5/Xbox/PC Activision's Call of Duty: World at War and Singularity will arrive on Xbox Game Pass in May Click to expand... Click to shrink... Have they gotten anything right? Are they always wrong or just wrong half the time? Lol 

The truth is digital video game downloads are better than physical games – Reader’s Feature GameCentral Published May 17, 2025 9:00am Are physical copies overrated? (Sony) A reader argues that people are overstating the downsides of buying video games digitally and that there’s good reason it’s become so popular. I feel like all the benefits of digital gaming are increasingly dismissed, without acknowledgement that it’s getting to the point where this insistence that it’s solely limited to ‘getting up to change discs’ feels like some sort of deliberate and reductive propaganda. I’m not a champion of digital by any means. The fact that my digital game collection is now far bigger than my physical one went almost unnoticed by me at first. But I think if you want to understand a market, you need to acknowledge the facts and the nuances of the situation instead of relying on emotion driven instinct. Digital stores feel much more present and accessible than physical ones, whether through dedicated apps, comms channels or the console dashboard giving full exposure. The near constant and extremely generous sales means we’re more likely to become aware of good deals and to make spontaneous purchases than if we had to browse separate websites or walk into a shop at our own discretion. It can’t stop with visibility and advertising, though. Digital game sharing is a major feature on all platforms, not only as some sort of loophole but something officially publicised in detail by all the platform holders. If I buy a game digitally, my sharing partner gets it (immediately and permanently) for free and vice versa. If we’re organised, every full priced game we both want is half price on day one. This, and the constant sales have led to a huge inflation of each of our digital backlogs with very little (if any) noticeable impact on our spending. Where does a wider trend like that lead? An onus on platform holders to make backwards compatibility a universal standard. In hindsight it’s almost absurd to think the previous PlayStations and Xboxes had no backwards compatibility, or even that there was much doubt that the Switch 2 would offer it. And yet now we all have big backlogs because we’re buying more games without necessarily spending more, and various aspects of digital creep have contributed to that. In earlier generational transitions I doubt most of us would have cared at all if we could keep access to whatever we were leaving behind but now a failure to offer backwards compatibility would be a huge source of controversy. Ultimately, people who insist they’re ‘priced out of gaming’, because of digital distribution or anything other than escalating hardware costs, are either sorely mistaken or they’re deliberately inaccurate. At worst what they really mean is they’re priced out of buying AAA games on the day of their release, on the basis that they now have to commit to that spending. I appreciate the argument that if everyone waits for sales of digital games because they don’t want to pay full price for something they can’t sell on – or even if half as many people buy games on day one because of game sharing – that could be problematic for the commercial performance of new games. But constant on-selling would equate to much less new money being injected into the market anyway. I don’t see it being any better if a customer can quickly consume three or four (or 10) games on day one for just £60-£80, that was paid months or years ago, compared to if they bought that many games at that cost in total a while after release. Hype and fear of missing out will continue to fuel day one spending on a lot of AAA games but those phenomena on their own don’t entitle us to all games ASAP without us contributing much to the market.  More Trending I’m not going to claim there’s no downside to the physical market being phased out. Aside from the ability for us to recoup some spending, I can imagine how sharply brick and mortar stores have had to pivot in order to survive. But, bottom line, digital gaming wouldn’t have been so successful if the businesses responsible weren’t offering clear benefits. So the idea that it’s just about appealing to our laziness is itself a lazy (not to mention reductive and disingenuous) take. By reader Panda You do get some good digital sales (Sony Interactive Entertainment) The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro. You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Contrary to the White House's assertions, we consumers are indeed footing the bill for all these tariffs. Companies from across industries have been stopping sales or raising prices over the past month or so, and the chaos continues on. It doesn't help that the actual tariff situation is so volatile. President Donald Trump kept escalating the tariffs against China in particular, all the way up to 145%. Then, the administration made a deal with China to suspend most of the tariffs until August, but some tariffs still remain. As such, companies are scrambling to figure out the best way to protect their bottom lines and shareholder values—part of that strategy involves raising costs.Gaming is no exception to this reality. Many gaming companies manufacture their components in China, which means their devices face tariffs if they ship to the U.S. Here's where the situation currently stands with the biggest gaming companies.MicrosoftXboxes are apparently an appreciating asset. On May 1, Microsoft raised the prices on all Xbox consoles, and some Xbox accessories—including controllers and headsets. These price hikes were actually pretty steep: Both the standard and digital Series X models jumped by $100, while the 2TB model jumped a whopping $130. On April 30, Series X with 2TB of internal storage would have set you back $600. Now, you're out $730.Games aren't wholly exempt here, either, but the news is a bit better: Existing titles will keep the same MSRP they did before the price hikes, while select new titles will cost $80 this holiday season.To be fair, Microsoft doesn't directly attribute the tariffs to these raised prices, instead referring to "market conditions and the rising cost of development." However, seeing as tariffs are the driving force of current market conditions, it seems a safe assumption that Microsoft is recouping some increased costs due to these import fees. SonySony, too, raised the prices on its flagship consoles—but only in select markets. The company increased the price of certain PS5 units in Europe, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. The price increases, as well as which console received them, depends on the region: Europe, for example, only saw an increase on the PS5 Digital Edition by €50, while the disc drive PS5 remained the same. Australia and New Zealand, on the other hand, were not so lucky, seeing price increases on both. New Zealand has the highest MSRP for a PS5 on the list at NZD $949.95 (or roughly $560 USD at this time). However, that doesn't mean those of us in the U.S. are safe from PS5 price increases. As reported by The Verge, Sony says that it expects tariffs to cost the company 100 billion yen ($681 million), and is considering both relocating manufacturing to the U.S., as well as raising costs for consumers. Sony is a massive company, so that could involve raising prices on products other than PS5. However, the lack of a definitive answer on which products would be affected means that Sony may raise PS5 prices in the future.NintendoHere's the good news: Nintendo did not raise the MSRP of the Switch 2, nor any of its existing Switch consoles. The Switch 2 will remain $450, or $500 if you buy the Mario Kart World bundle. However, Nintendo has reacted to the tariffs in other ways. First, it paused preorders for the Switch 2 in the U.S. and Canada, "to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions." We already know it ultimately kept the Switch prices the same, but once Nintendo picked a new preorder date, it also announced new price increases for Switch 2 accessories. The Pro Controller is now $15 more than it was, and while the Joy-Con 2 controllers are only $5 more, they now cost an astounding $95. The Switch 2 camera is also $55, when originally it was $50. The rest of the Switch 2 accessories remain the same. PC gamingPC gaming is a more complicated beast than console gaming. Unless you opt for a gaming laptop, you most likely are looking to build your own PC, which requires purchasing a number of parts—many of which are made in China. Luckily computers, phones, and PC cases were exempt from the full 145% tariff, but not other PC components.According to PCMag, most PC parts haven't been hit that hard by tariffs yet—at least when it comes to April prices. The outlet observed that PC cases, processors, and memory kits all had modest increases ($10, $15, and $3, respectively), while a liquid cooler unit actually dropped in price by $60.However, they did find a concerning price increase when it came to one particularly important component: graphics cards. In January, the MSI SHADOW GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card cost $750. In April, it cost $840, a $90 increase. PCMag found a similar trend across other popular graphics cards, with price increases ranging from $250 all the way to $750. Graphics cards had been in hot demand long before Trump was even elected, largely due to their use in processing AI. Increased tariffs are now only putting more pressure on that product category. Gaming laptops largely haven't taken much of a hit yet, but Razer was one of the companies to pause direct sales to the U.S. last month. You can't predict the futureThis is where the market stands now, but there's no telling what will change in the coming days, weeks, and months. Sony could raise PS5 prices in the U.S. tomorrow; Nintendo could decide that the OG Switch needs to cost more now, too. Nothing is certain, but one thing seems reasonable to assume: The prices you see today are the best they're going to be for a while. If you're holding out for the Xbox Series X to drop in cost, or crossing your fingers that Mario Kart World won't actually cost $80 on release, you're probably not going to be happy with the future.Anything's possible, but given where we are with tariffs and global markets, prices only seem to be going up. Remaining the same is perhaps the best we can hope for—unless you're willing to give the secondhand market a try.