When did gaming become all about spending thousands of dollars on the newest hardware every year?

So I've recently been thinking about upgrading my laptop from a MSI 62q to something that could play games made in the last 5 years.

After many hours going over specs , reading reviews ect I came to the conclusion. My 10 year old MSI still runs all the games in enjoy playing. (Eu4, homm3, stronghold crusader , osrs). Yet every post or article I read is pushing to buy some "next gen" GPU or motherboard or someshit.

I'm just curious , do some of you prefer buying the newest and best laptops , and get more joy over upgrading them over playing the actual games themselves ? How does anyone justify paying 5k for a new laptop these days with the economy turning to shit.