Okay but, so many different machines can run Steam and play a huge chunk of its entire vast library.

I can go to my local college and buy some heavily abused Optiplex from their surplus for like $90, install Steam, and play anything from Half-Life to Stardew Valley lol.

PlayStation will sell you an expensive single-purpose console, then sell you the same single-purpose console with a little GPU and RAM boost as a "PRO" forced upgrade, and then sell you access to back catalogue emulators as a monthly service. Blegh.

...Also Steam's got family sharing, so that's cool.

The biggest advantage I thought consoles with physical media still had: You can check out games from many public libraries.

I bet Sony is champing at the bit to put the kibosh on *THAT. *

I'd say in the end, Steam robs the customer significantly less at every turn.