With Switch Online, Xbox Game Pass and the new PS Plus, gamers can easily play more games than ever before. But the huge subscription selection brings with it a completely new problem.
A comment by Gregor Elsholz
The buffet is open: In the age of subscription services, gamers stand in front of bending tables full of delicacies and a juicy 3-course menu at an all-you-can-eat price: The delicious snacks from Nintendo Switch Online as a starter, the hearty one Offer from Xbox Game Pass for the main course and the new three-tiered PS Plus cake for dessert. It all looks appetizing, but to be honest, I already feel pretty full.
Endless choice: PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass and Switch Online
With the three subscription services PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass and Switch Online I have access to hundreds of games – from the NES to the N64 and the PlayStation 2 to the Xbox 360 and PS4. However, quantity does not equal quality here either. Of course, there are a few classics in this gigantic selection. Many of them may well have passed their sell-by date on closer inspection, but the nostalgic taste drowns out the moldy camera perspectives and hard-to-digest controller assignments, at least for a quick bite in between.
In addition, there are many interesting games on the menu that I’ve always wanted to try. Somewhat more obscure games that I haven’t dared to play yet and from which I realistically maybe 10 percent ever try will. The offer is then filled up with tons of bread – filler material, games that I didn’t feel like playing when they were released and which I’m also leaving behind now.
What do you get for your money with Switch Online, PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass? We tell you in the video:
Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo: How much is too much?
Of course, Game Pass and PS Plus in particular offer a lot on paper for the monthly price of admission. And because tastes are different, the selection is very diverse. In and of themselves, the subscriptions are cheap. However, the offer to play hundreds of games at the same time is a purely hypothetical possibility.
Their all-you-can-play concept is pure sensory overload, a kind of unbridled video game gluttony, which only rarely feels truly healthy. Instead, the massive selection primarily increases the feeling of missing out on whatever I’m playing – and this has a significant impact on gaming enjoyment.
But it is impossible to try everything within the subscriptions, because I simply don’t have that much time and energy – at some point I have to sleep, work and eat non-metaphorical food.
Are gaming subscriptions really a good deal?
The three active subscriptions keep my account in a lean and lean state while I get high on the seemingly limitless gaming opportunities without really taking advantage of them. Instead, I am accompanied by a constant feeling of oversaturation, which has actually only subsided over the past few months, when I consciously choose a game and bought it. Not a single one of these was included in any of the subscription services.
I don’t know why, but it just feels different playing something I ordered myself than playing games just because Microsoft, Nintendo or PlayStation put them in front of me in their subscriptions.
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