The lowest upfront price doesn't necessarily mean the most affordable when you factor in the cost of games.

Gaming has become an even more expensive hobby in the past couple of years due to import tariffs and surging memory prices. For example, the PlayStation 5 Pro debuted in 2024 for $700. Today, the same system has a sticker price of $900, and resellers like GameStop are charging upwards of $1,400. If you want the best way of playing Grand Theft Auto VI at launch, you might need to take out a loan.

But let's say you just want to play good games and don't necessarily need the newest system or latest titles. Relatively affordable new consoles are available, but you may need to make compromises on graphical fidelity or form factor to keep prices within the realm of sanity. Also, as we'll discuss, an initially cheap system can end up being more expensive in the long run if you never get a break on game prices.

For the purposes of this discussion, we're going to skip over niche consoles like the Playdate or Analogue 3D, as well as the multitude of generic Android devices that exist. Some of these might be exactly what you're after, but they're not what most people think of when they want a mainstream gaming console.

You can immediately ignore anything from Sony or Microsoft. Following price hikes, the discless PlayStation 5 Digital Edition is $600, and even the scaled-down all-digital Xbox Series S is $500.

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