Complete setups
Whole builds rather than single products — the answer to “what do I actually need?”
The launch-day minimum
You want to play on day one and nothing else matters.
Xbox Series S
$299.99
Rechargeable Battery + USB-C Cable
The one accessory every Xbox owner ends up buying. Xbox controllers still ship with AA batteries; this is the first-party fix.
A confirmed platform and a controller that does not die mid-mission. Everything else on this site is optional and this is not.
The living-room build
One screen, one console, done properly.
PlayStation 5
$499.99
C4 OLED
The default answer for console gaming on a TV. Four HDMI 2.1 ports, so a PS5 and a Series X can both sit at 4K120 without swapping cables.
Pulse Elite
Sony's wireless headset built around PlayStation Link, with planar drivers and a retractable mic.
WD_BLACK SN850P 2TB
An officially licensed PS5 drive with the heatsink already fitted, so there is no compatibility guesswork.
The TV is the expensive part and the part you keep longest. If the budget only stretches to two of these three, buy the TV and the storage and use the headset you own.
The streaming build
You already stream, or you are about to start.
Xbox Series X
$499.99
Game Capture HD60 X
External USB capture with 4K60 HDR passthrough — the practical choice for clipping console footage.
MV7+
A dynamic broadcast microphone over USB-C. Dynamic is the point: it hears your voice and not the room, the fan or the keyboard.
Stream Deck MK.2
Fifteen physical keys for scene switches, clip markers and mutes. It runs on the streaming PC, not the console.
Assumes you already have a PC to capture to. If you do not, that is the purchase to make first and none of this works without it.