Tough one - I don’t have a hard cutoff, but I’ve certainly started to slow down on buying retro games. I’ve spent over $200 CAD on a single game in recent memory (2022?), nowadays I wouldn’t really want to go over $100 CAD.
I’ve also been reevaluating and selling off some of my collection whenever I can buy ports / digital versions of some games (eg: Chrono Trigger, bought on Steam and sold my loose SNES cart, Xenogears bought on PS3 and sold my CIB copy, etc).
I only focus on two retro systems - SNES and PS1 - and I don’t really play on OG hardware anyways (Super Nt / Pocket for SNES, PS3 / Vita for PS1), so I don’t mind “owning” digital and ultimately downloading roms if necessary.

I’m still playing Persona 3 Reload and I believe it finally clicked for me.
I still don’t particularly like Tartarus that much, but I’ve been able to complete each section relatively quickly so far (and without grinding) so it’s certainly not too bad. The rest of the game has definitely opened up though (thankfully, I’m about 30-35 hrs in, haha).

Slowly making my way through Jeanne d’Arc on the side - gameplay wise it’s up my alley (minus grinding…), however the story is pretty subpar imo.

I guess the main question is where do you draw the line for “somewhat newer stuff”? 5th gen consoles only (and then which one) or even newer?
And what screen size are you looking for?

This is awesome. Radiant Silvergun isn’t my most played shmup to date but it’s definitely so so unique, I really enjoy it.
I certainly think romhacks/patches are a major benefit to older gen titles and I’m somewhat concerned we’ll lose that with newer gens.

I picked up quite a few games - Deathsmiles, DoDonPachi Resurrection, Mega Man X Legacy Collection, Mushihimesama, ProtoCorgi, Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds Saga, TMNT Shredder’s Revenge and Ultrakill.

I’ve only played ProtoCorgi so far and I kinda love it - I mean, you’re a corgi, barking or shooting lasers at various enemies in space, what’s not to love?
I’ve already played most of the other games before and wanted to own them on Steam, except for Ultrakill (and I’m really looking forward to that one).

Persona 3 Reload - I’m not sure whether I like it or not just yet tbh. I’m about 20 hours in (or 2 months of “in-game time”) and the plot is very slow to unravel.
I don’t like turn-based RPGs usually, so combat is a bit of a chore and the exploration of Tartarus is very samey. Social sim aspects have been fine, but I guess I expected a bit more interactivity? I’m not sure. Its been nice to learn more about side characters, albeit ones not present in the “core” team.
The only somewhat similar game I’ve played before is Fire Emblem: Three Houses and I absolutely loved it, but I was much more interested in the gameplay (T-RPGs are 100% up my alley) and social sim was okay as well.
I think my primary issue with P3R is the setting - which I didn’t think would matter so much - I really don’t relate to high school life / issues anymore and it’s making it hard for me to get into the game…
The OST is absolutely S-tier though (and it has made exploring Tartarus much more bearable!)

I finally started Horizon: Forbidden West - gameplay changes compared to HZD keep trickling in and I couldn’t be happier. I love Aloy’s character so I’m really happy to be in her shoes again.

This past week was pretty disappointing before that:

• Hellblade II was good, but nowhere near as impactful as the first one for me. I’m left with a sour taste overall, although I’ll admit they did a tremendous job with cinematography and character rendering.
• Stellar Blade was insipid. Whatever could save it in my book - its gameplay - turns out stale pretty quickly, so I ended up abandoning the game midway. The story and characters were really uninteresting imo, couple that with how EVE is represented… I couldn’t really find any redeeming qualities.

considering that Sony doesn’t offer PS+ Day 1 Launches, unlike Xbox

They don’t offer them as often as on Game Pass, but there are some day 1 launches on Extra.

As with most subscription models, the value proposition will probably decrease as we move forward (one only has to glance at streaming services to see what awaits us in the gaming space imo…). Bummer, but expected.