So... $800+ for a Switch 2 (just to play Mario Kart), and $4k for a gaming rig that'll need to have its graphics card upgraded again in 2 years to play the next wave of AAA games, huh?

Man... all of a sudden, playing cars and doing track days don't seem that expensive anymore...

no no no. my rig from 2020 can still play AAA games today, just probably a bit of a lower resolution (not 4k, not on my 49 inch monitor at least, probably only 1440). the only reason i wanted to upgrade was the stresses of VR gaming.

It cant push past medium settings on my quest 2 in flight simulator. I tried it with the 5080 and yes i can run ultra high, but then the limitation was the quest 2 itself.

Technically i can play everything modern and its already a 5 year old system.

If you want the most budget friendly AAA gaming device, just grab a xbox or ps5. PC gaming is very niche, either your competitive FPS gaming, or youre doing VR setups that you cannot do on a regular console.

you can get cheaper games on steam since they are always on sale.
console games are usually full price for much longer, and they never practically give them away eventually like they do on steam summer/winter sales

A significant amount of the cost is in the graphics card, I just picked up for a 5070ti and it's easily the most expensive part I've ever bought by a large margin. My previously most expensive part was a 4060 that I paid $400 for. The 5070ti more than doubled it.

Yes 20 years ago motherboards were under $100, but it's been a loooonnnnngg time. Most of the time you don't need a top of the line CPU. Things like PSUs and cases carry over multiple upgrade cycles. I'm still using my Fractal from 2012.

The 4060 would have lasted me much longer if I didn't go and grab an ultrawide.

^do you even game though!? what games do you play that require the 5070? Hello Kitty Adventure only needs like a GTX1080

That is...until you bin your car into the wall. :D

Hardware is more expensive these days but I feel like a lot of games have gotten better at still supporting older hardware pretty well if you're not chasing really high resolutions/frame rates/VR like Hobz. I can run games like Baldurs Gate 3 (2023) on high settings at 1080p60 on an i7-3770 from 2012 and a GTX970 from 2014. Maybe I just don't care about the right games but my "good" gaming computer is from 2019 and just has a 1070 in it but I haven't found any reason to upgrade it yet either.

i dont even really play games anymore but i traded my m4 mac for a gaming pc, straight trade. i like having a computer that you can upgrade, and also i like getting pirated software for free like adobe products lol.

The Ultrawide is basically a 3k screen @ 120fps. I had to turn down the settings with the 4060 and was still seeing dips and jutters. The opportunity came around to get a 5070ti and I took it.

hello kitty adventure doesnt need a ultrawide.... :QQ:

I just came back from Europe and I'm always reminded how much I miss North America.
1Euro to use the washroom
No free water at restaurants
All major european cities are grungy, filled with graffiti and diesel pollution
German food is just salt, potatoes and pork
two terrorist attacks while I was there (Manchester synagogue and attempted bombing of Oktoberfest in Munich)
Starting to adopt American culture of tipping
Fuckton of tourists (myself included)

VANCOUVER BEST PLACE ON EARTH!!!!

where tf did you go!!! that sounds terrible

^germany of course.

Hitler town makes everyone mad. Plus the smoking at the restaurant indoors is nuts.

I seriously don't think I'd ever want to live (fulltime) in any other country. Japan is best for vacay but even then, I could probably only stomach living there for a few months at a time! Canada is best despite people's complaints.

two terrorist attacks is wild

at least no one cares to bomb Canada.. that's how unremarkable we are (no, it's not cause our security is good lol)

noclue got hacked.

He aint hondaracer / westopher

As someone who ingests a ton of fibre in my diet, I would much rather have readily available paid public washrooms that are regularly maintained, than none at all or ones that immediately get destroyed (e.g. Metrotown station bathroom)

I've been fortunate to travel to all continents aside from antarctica and I genuinely believe Vancouver and west coast of North America is the best in the summer. I've done all the touristy things in Japan so I only go now to eat and visit don quiote and the convenience stores. I hate Asian summers + always hate toronto where all you do is go to the mall cause it's too hot + humid outside.

Vancouver is just right for me, I dont mind the rain, we have the best asian food in North America (says the NY Times). Our costs are cheap compared to other parts of the world ($27CAD for big mac combo in zurich lulz, Canadian Golf R is the cheapest in the world if you consider exchange rates) Geographically wise you wanna go somewhere tropical? Hawaii/Cancun is 6hrs direct flights. Asia? All major Asian/European countries are less than 13hrs direct. (Look how long East coast-Asia flights are!)

When I was a young gun like you I thought Canada sucks and America is #1, granted it was during obama mania and that guy had charisma (aura/rizz in gen Z term) But as I grew older and wiser you start seeing the flaws of American society. My friends who all moved to the USA/Singapore/HK/Korea after university now in their thirties and with kids are starting to think about moving back. Granted if you are a high achiever America is #1, and if you have enough money you're insulated from most of their issues but I mellowed out now and like Canada's unremarkable society. Still cringe when I look at my payroll deductions but c'est la vie.



Sure but in north america truck stops, gas stations, rest stops, hotels, restaurants, retail stores all allow even non paying customers to use the washrooms free of charge and most of the time they are clean. Good luck trying that in Europe, the washrooms in the gas station has a turnstile to pay or if you buy something you can use the receipt.

i'd say LA prob comes close to vancouver in terms of asian food, but chinese food and probably japanese food, we're better. they have better viet and korean food.

also i don't like when i walk into an asian restaurant in the states and there isnt an asian employee in sight other than the owner...
getting served by a 20yo white girl who is telling you how good the FO is just irks me

100% I love Japan it's like the only place we go now but holy shit if I had to live there I'd go nuts. Yea sure there are some things that are awesome that I'd love having in my day to day life but the same can be said for many places in the world. Vancouver isn't perfect by any means and in general I don't think there are many things here I'd rate top notch but I think across all the categories i.e. weather, food, culture just to name a few it has a decent average score across the board. Some of these other places like Japan has a bunch of things I'd rate really high but then some big lows as well. Of course I'm also totally biased since I'm born and raised here.

also something people don't talk about here is the population in those countries.. unless you're living in the countryside or something, those countries are insanely overpopulated. if you want to go for a hike or do something away from people, expect like dozens if not hundreds of others to do the same. also if you need to go into the busy core of the city, you're gonna be with a sea of people. its fun when you're travelling but not when its part of everyday life.

If I had to move to Asia, the two major things I would have an extremely hard time giving up would be the living space (i.e. a house) and a car. Yeah, first world problems...

coworker recently got back from japan and he noted 1 thing he noticed was more businesses had signage of either "no foreigners allowed" or "locals only" or 2 sets of pricing (tourist/local). curious if that's always a thing or becoming more of a thing now due to increased tourism or something else.