主机战争已经失败 (The Console Wars Have Been Lost)

文章背景与核心概要

本文探讨了传统游戏主机市场当前面临的严峻困境，指出微软和索尼由于频繁的自我瓦解、硬件涨价以及反消费者的决策，正在彻底输掉这一代主机战争。与此同时，任天堂凭借独特的独占游戏维持着特定生态，而个人电脑（PC）和 Steam 平台则顺理成章地成为了最终的默认赢家。文章最后表达了对 Valve 未来管理层变动的唯一担忧。

[此前，我曾发表观点认为 Valve 即将赢得这一代的主机之争。然而，我无论如何也无法预料到，微软和索尼竟然会以如此离谱的方式进行自我毁灭，导致它们最终双双彻底出局。]

Previously, I opined that Valve was about to win the console generation. However, I couldn't have possibly predicted that both Microsoft and Sony would just self-sabotage so hard that they’re both going to lose entirely.

[伴随着微软对 Xbox 部门的大规模裁员、对 IdTech 团队的血洗，以及 Xbox 硬件价格的持续上涨，关于 Xbox 已经没有什么真正让人兴奋的东西了。]

Between Microsoft's decimation of the Xbox division, slaughtering off the IdTech team, and continued increases in Xbox hardware prices, there's nothing left to really be excited about regarding Xbox.

[当然，他们最近的发布会展示了一堆独占游戏，但没有一款能让我产生“哇，我得去买台 Xbox 来玩这个”的想法。见鬼，其中绝大多数甚至连“哇，我想去玩一下”都算不上——除了下个月即将推出的《光环》重制版，而说实话，我其实只是想看看那会有多像一场惨烈的车祸现场。]

Sure, their most recent presentation showed off a bunch of exclusives, but none of them made me think, "Wow, I should go get an Xbox to play that." Hell, few of them made me think, "Wow, I should go play that" at all—save for the Halo remake coming out next month, and really, I just want to see how much of a trainwreck that is going to be.

[更糟糕的是，微软再次加倍押注，将他们的内部游戏严格设为 Xbox 独占。这种策略根本无法激励我去游玩它们，因为我绝对拒绝为了运行软件而去购买那套硬件。]

To make matters worse, Microsoft is once again doubling down on making their in-house games strict Xbox exclusives. This strategy fails to incentivize me to play them, because I simply refuse to buy into the hardware just to access the software.

[索尼的情况也没好到哪里去。他们已经停止将游戏移植到 PC 上，因为这些游戏的销量未能达到（可能本就无法实现的）营收目标，无法弥补像《星鸣特攻》这样惨烈失败的损失。]

Sony isn't faring much better. They have discontinued porting their games to PC because they aren't hitting the (probably impossible) revenue targets required to offset massive failures like Concord.

[我的 PS5 大多时候都在吃灰，偶尔在客厅里充当一下 YouTube 和 Twitch 的播放工具。等明年我的 Steam Machine 到货后，它很可能会被彻底取代。任何 PlayStation 独占游戏的发布，都完全没有足够的吸引力让我选择在主机上购买，大不了等它登陆 Steam 后，在我的主力机或家庭影院 PC 上运行。]

My PS5 has mostly been relegated to gathering dust when it isn't pulling YouTube and Twitch duty in the living room. It will likely be replaced in favor of my Steam Machine whenever that arrives next year. Nothing coming out in terms of PlayStation exclusives feels compelling enough to justify buying it on a console rather than just waiting for it on Steam, where I can run it on my main rig or home theater PC.

[雪上加霜的是，索尼一直在涨价，并且最近宣布他们将在下一代彻底取消实体媒介。这让我不得不认真思考：我是否还有必要入手下一代 PlayStation？如果我甚至不能再把一张实体游戏盘当作礼物送给别人，我凭什么还要去买新主机？]

Compounding this, Sony has been raising prices and recently announced that they're killing physical media next generation. It makes me seriously wonder if I should even bother getting the next generation of PlayStation. If I can't even hand someone a physical game as a gift anymore, why should I bother buying the new console at all?

[事实上，我和丈夫都很难记起当初为什么要买 PS5。也许它只是为了在没有刺耳风扇噪音的情况下享受安静的客厅游戏，或者为了让来自 NAS 的视频流媒体体验能够完美支持 HDR。]

In fact, my husband and I both struggle to remember why we even bought a PS5 in the first place. Maybe it was just for quiet couch gaming without aggressive fan noise, or so the video streaming experience from our NAS could properly support HDR.

[我们家里确实有一台 Switch 2，但它几乎完全只用来玩《马力欧卡丁车世界》和《异度神剑》系列这样的任天堂独占游戏。如果这些独占游戏能在 Steam 上玩到，我们也不会在 Switch 2 上购买它们。]

We do have a Switch 2 at home, but it's used almost exclusively for Nintendo exclusives like Mario Kart World and the Xenoblade series. If those exclusives were available on Steam, we wouldn't buy them on the Switch 2 either.

[除此之外，我们玩的基本所有游戏都通过 Steam 或其他 PC 游戏商店运行。]

Otherwise, virtually everything we play runs through Steam or other PC storefronts.

[归根结底，当行业里其他人在自寻短见时，Valve 真的只是靠什么都不做就赢了。]

At the end of the day, Valve really is winning by doing absolutely nothing while the rest of the industry shoots itself in the head.

[我唯一挥之不去的担忧是：当加布·纽维尔（Gabe Newell）退休、MBA 式的官僚毒瘤彻底侵蚀 Valve 时，会发生什么？]

My only lingering fear: What happens when Gabe Newell retires, and the MBA cancer fully infects Valve?