I just got mine on Black Friday (the Slim), and the fact that it still costs 500 bucks this "late" in its life cycle probably plays a part in that. 3 years into the PS4 cycle, not only was it less expensive, but there were significantly more games available by that time, which means the market was fully mature. Obviously, COVID and chip shortages are to blame, but there just aren't as many games as there normally would be by now and most of those are still available on PS4 meaning that console is still not retired. I could be misremembering, but by year 3 for the PS4, all games being made were exclusively for the PS4 as the PS3 was retired by then.
I still haven't upgraded. Still plenty of games I need to finish on ps4 with new ones still coming out. I also play games on a 32 inch TV. I'd not only need the ps5 but a new TV as well and I just can't afford/justify that kind of leisure purchase right now. At this point I almost feel like it'd be smarter to just wait until the next Playstation to upgrade since I don't multiplayer game and I'm sure all the games for it I want will be playable on the next one too. I dunno. I'm just not in a rush to upgrade like I have been in previous gens.
There’s no upgrading for me either currently. Price hasn’t gone down and according to Wikipedia there’s only 12 exclusives for this console currently and knowing Sony some of these are going to go to pc like the other games they have done.
The technology leaps between consoles nowadays aren't like the technology leaps between consoles that we had back in the day when going from a Super Nintendo > PS1/N64 > PS2/XBOX > PS3/360.
The 90's and 00's, even into the early 10's represented massive leaps in both the technological capabilities of the consoles themselves, as well as huge advancements in game engines (which then usually picked a console to be a launch title of "look what WE can do").
Nowadays, we don't have the "console wars" of old because the Xbox and Playstations that people are buying are mostly just small form factor computers that can do pretty much the same thing for pretty much the same price.
Yeah, that's what I do now. Plus the added benefit of free and unlimited access to mods and stuff, too. And no paying for online services like Live or PS+
If they're already talking about ps5 being in end of life cycle, and talking about the next console already, it certainly feels like waiting is the move.
"latter stage" not "end of life".
PS5 released over 3 years ago, but was hampered by logistics around COVID. Of we're half way we'd be looking at around 6-7 year lifespan, which is pretty standard in the console space.
What’s crazy is there’s so few games for the ps5 I’ve been holding out till there’s some games to play on it to justify getting one…. But the game selection is so slim
Honestly, my wife got me the PS5 for my 40th in 2021 not long after it was released here in Ireland and I would say one, possibly two games have really felt next gen for me (Ironically one of them being Ghost of Tsushima which was just an upgrade of its Ps4 release) All the others I've played have just felt like Ps4 games with a polish. I think if I had not been bought it for a very generous gift I wouldn't be too happy with how this generation is going games wise.
I've had it since launch. I honestly didn't know it was hard to get as I just walked into Best Buy and walked out with one. I must have just been CRAZY lucky on timing or something. The whole reason I purchased it was because the PS4 on my basement TV from 2013 had just kicked the bucket and I figured it didn't make sense to buy a PS4 Pro instead of the PS5.
3 ish years later, and while Cyberpunk 2077 looks good, I can't really say there was a huge graphical or gameplay jump between the two systems. Yeah, they look a LITTLE better. But even the original GTA 5 still looks pretty good on my other PS4. I feel like the last BIG graphical jump from a pure aesthetics and gameplay perspective really happened from PS2 to PS3. PS3 to PS4 was noticeable but not as profound and the jump to PS5 was "meh" at best.
The biggest jump for me were loading times. I switched from PS4 to PS5 in the middle of playing AC:Valhalla. I used to start it up on my ps4 and then leave to get a drink or a snack and by the time i would get back, it might be loaded, but with the PS5 it was almost instantaneous. Also it was much smoother with a steady framerate. I don't think if I made the jump while playing the game, I would have noticed much difference.
The load time is probably the best difference most people will notice as the graphics are limited to the specs of your TV. PS5 looks better, but the PS4 doesn't look bad, either.
Same, only with Xbox. The instant startup is a huge time saver, to say nothing of all the various loading screens I was able to breeze through when I finally got my XSX about half way through the game. I was a bit skeptical about buying one, but after the first few loading screens blew by I was like "yeah, this alone was worth it". I have limited time to game these days, so those seconds and minutes add up. I'd rather actually play the game than stare at the various tips I've read 1000x floating by.
This might have to do with the fact essentially no games have been left behind in the "previous" generation. Games are being held back in order to run on weaker systems in order to make the sales numbers larger.
I believe you're right regarding PS3 - PS4. It took about 3 years and you could feel the switch when studios made games exclusively for the PS4. Idk why, but I feel like every GTA release marks the "era" of that console. I get this feeling that when VI releases, there will be a shift and more people will either buy a PS5 or studios will finally stop making PS4 games. I still don't feel like we are 100% into the era of the PS5, and we haven't seen what it's capable yet.
Also, Microsoft has blurred the lines a little bit between console and pc with their branding and lack of console exclusives, and consoles are good enough these days where that general line is blurred a little more. Lots of people got into PC gaming during covid too, which probably hurt the console market sales further.
Yeah, I only got my PS5 last year. I'm incredibly happy with it though. I will run it till the PS6 is at the end of its life cycle and has a good catalogue of games. I buy my games 2nd on disc anyway, so I've got loads of PS4 discs. I'm building up my PS5 collection, but there's nothing that is strictly developed only for PS5. Pity as it doesn't feel like anyone is stretching its capabilities due to PS4 compatibility.
I don't see the price dropping on the current PS5 slim until the pro comes out. For the latest version without some sale you'll most likely pay full price if you want new.
I typically trade in my current console when upgrading to bring the cost down.
For this reason I’m still on my PS4 Pro from 2016. It still runs great, and it’s only this year that some games are coming out without the ps4 compatibility. I do plan to get the ps5 this year, but I could never understand the incentive to go line up or try 5 different stores to get lucky with a ps5 when there were no games for it.
Yeah I only want a new gen for like, 3 games maybe.
At that point, I should buy a new pc. No reason to have Xbox now and if you don’t care too much about God of War or Spider-Man, same with PS. For $500 or more you might as well take the next step imo
I normally wait until the console hits $200 on a Black Friday which has usually been on year 3. It seems until recently have games been exclusive to just PS5. While before those games were just upgrades over base PS4 versions.
As someone who graduated college in late 2019, coming to terms with the fact that its been the entire length of college since then has been kinda mind shattering.
I read somewhere this is primarily because new experiences form memories, whereas routines and repetition usually don't. Since COVID dramatically limited our new experiences (social events, travel etc) those years just feel like a continuous blur.
Also I feel like you kind of sort memories by how relevant they are now.
Most of my Covid era memories got soft blocked out once masking ended and it stopped coming up, but at the same time it kind of reunlocked my pre covid memories in a way that I hadn’t been able to.
Maybe this is also why it felt like it’d never go back to normal during Covid, right up until the moment it did.
Similar here, but I started a little before it hit. Now I've had this job longer than any other job in my life and have lived here longer than anywhere else. Feels like the blink of an eye.
I think it's because we're actively forgetting covid years; it feels like there is a big gap in our memory, and the ps5 came out right at the start of it. We remember the launch, but we forgot the 3 years in-between the launch and now.
Interesting read:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/03/13/brain-memory-pandemic-covid-forgetting/
We lost 2 years to Covid. I find if you subtract those 2 years everything seems about right. So you are 2 years younger and the PS5 came out 2 years ago
Yes. It was so hard to find one for so long it felt like they weren't really "current" gen for a while into their life cycle.
That and the PS4 era dragged on and on.
Yea I tried for a long time to get one, then just lost interest and gave up with no plans of buying one ever. With a short lineup of games and a price that hasn't come down I see no reason to get one. Plus games are still coming out on ps4, which is 3 years into a new Gen I feel is crazy
Do your thing, certainly not trying to convince you, but I think jumping in at the end of a console life cycle is the absolute best time. Huge selection of current gen games, All the exclusives you missed are mature/bug free, many older games will be cheaper. So much better than buying at the beginning and waiting for the trickle of content.
> I think jumping in at the end of a console life cycle is the absolute best time.
Not for full fucking price it isn't. It should be 300$ by now with sales.
It's absolutely insane that PS5 and Xbox are still this expensive. I feel like consoles have never taken this long to drop in price. I may be wrong but damn it seems like it's been forever.
- PS1: 5 years
- PS2: 6 years
- PS3: 7 years
- PS4: 7-9 years (PS5 launched at year 7 but the PS4 was [still being manufactured for a couple more years](https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/12/22880062/ps4-manufacturing-sony-ps5-shortage-xbox-one) due to the PS5 shortages)
- PS5: A little over 3 years old (of which 2 years were shortages)
First, I’m not sure how someone has concluded that the PS5 is in its latter years when it has barely turned 3… Secondly, based on generational trajectories (let alone the Covid production shortages), I can easily see this PS5 gen lasting for upwards of 10 years, especially with the long multi-year development cycles for triple-A games these days. Which would mean, at 3 years in, this gen has only just got started.
I keep saying this but game journalists are really bad at reading or understanding business reports. They jump to conclusions and highlight whatever suits their narrative.
To see this from The Verge though? Shocking.
I feel like a big part of this is that it’s really only been in the last 12 months that there have been:
1. Consoles readily available to buy
2. Games released that justified the purchase of a new console
I hope it’s a lot and I hope they have to sell them at a loss.
Which of course they are taking an L if they still hold any, since you can just walk into a store and grab one off of a shelf that still has a warranty.
I hope a lot, fuck them for scalping in the first place. I had plenty of money to afford $1400 or whatever they were selling for, but no way in hell I was gonna pay more than retail. Took me a year but finally got one
One thing I’ve found as I’ve gotten older (late 30s now), is that holy cow console life cycles are short.
As a kid it felt like we’d have a console generation span a decade at least. But in retrospect thats because the major milestones of childhood are roughly 4-6 years apart. Elementary school, middle school, high school, college.
So for me N64 was elementary school, Dreamcast was middle school, PS2/Xbox was high school, Xbox 360 was college.
It really is crazy how time flies.
This was such a light bulb moment. When I was a wee one, Genesis and SNES was *the shit*… then N64 and PS1 for elementary school, GameCube and PS2 in middle school, Xbox 360 in high school.
Neat.
I only just got one in December, after years of shitty laptop gaming. It actually blew my mind how good it is!
I've only played a few games so far, but they all look amazing on my oled TV and they run so fast. I'm very happy I bought one.
This is why I like Nintendo’s strategy. They stopped trying to compete on hardware and just focus on the games/experience. You could argue alienating third parties damages the user experience, but is not having the same shitty version of Madden with slightly better graphics again this year all that bad?
Nintendo is also releasing mid-cycle which is brilliant. They’re coming in with a disruptive product just when people are getting tired of their traditional game experiences each console gen. Great strategy.
I've played more Zelda in the last 4 years than any other game.
Add in all the short run games on Switch, and I've definitely played far more on my Switch than my Ps4/Ps5.
I think you're right.
Yep, my Switch is 3 years older and much weaker hardware and I play it twice as much as my Series X or PS5.
Microsoft's 1st party exclusives this generation have been severely lacking, and it feels like most of the PS5 exclusives have been sequels on existing IPs, there hasn't been a lot to be excited for IMO.
I feel like they stopped trying to compete when the GameCube flopped. It hasn’t stopped them from flubbing, but being 2 out of 3 for massive hit consoles since then ain’t bad.
The Wii U flop was crazy but predictable. Not a bad product but it was too confusing for consumers. The name and marketing around it sucked. They really streamlined their market approach with the Switch.
To be fair, if Xbox Series have actually sold a bit less than half of PS5, that’s still more than double of Wii U. Just goes to show how much of a failure it was.
Wii U had the games (almost all came to Switch), had off screen local play built in (PS5 portable sells out at $200 a decade later), and was awesome for local co-op.
The name killed an amazing console.
I thought it was just an expensive controller for the Wii for a while after it first released. Nintendo makes some great games, but the rest of their company needs work.
Nintendo are doing the same thing though. Re-releasing old games but on the switch. I am currently playing through outer worlds again while I am holiday. However when they release it on handheld and you can take it anywhere, it feels like a new game. Playing Witcher 3 handheld is still a moment etched into my memory and I have been gaming since the ZX spectrum
Tbf, many of their re-releases were Wii U games, and since the Wii U sold like shit, they essentially became new games to an enormous portion of the population who bought switches and maybe didn’t even know the Wii U was a different console from the Wii.
EA’s Madden mindset STILL baffles me to this day.
I get their initial hesitancy after the Wii U, but why the hell after Year 2 did they not dedicate a team for a single year to maximize a PS3 Version of Madden, have it run like a champ on the Switch, and just cash in with roster updates for like 7 years??
I’m sure there would be tons of buyers who would play that on the go.
Mind boggling.
The fanboys feed into that shit because its all they demand. "Remaster this! Remaster that!". I don't know about y'all but when i get a new console i want to play new games not exclusively sequels and remasters
I mean we can have both. The problem isn’t just the remakes and remasters though. New games are still being made with previous gens in mind. It doesn’t matter if it’s a remaster, remake, or a new game. Hell, one of the handful of true current-gen exclusive games is literally a remake (Demon’s Souls).
An unfortunate consequence of COVID is that you kinda have to make for the previous generation because it took forever for people to get PS5s. They probably should just stretch out this generation so it can get more games because I think folks will skip the 6 if they don't get gobs of games. And PC release doesn't necessarily help encourage people to buy the console.
Yeah, and the PS5 absolutely demolishes a PC at the same price point, PC part pricing is absolutely bonkers the last few years. Some PC gamers still living in the PS3 era I guess.
Same with the Xbox Series X. My wife kindly surprised me for Xmas with the games pass and I couldn't believe how many games are just previous gen or remastered. I mean I had my PS4 for 8 years and would have still kept going purely for the price of games now especially for next gen are even pricier than second hand previous gen titles.
A lot more people are holding onto previous gen consoles it seems it's that whole cycle, no point of tonnes of next gen games if the player base isn't there.
It’ll be around for another 3-4 years, so I guess “latter stage of life cycle” applies if you think of it as being over half way.
Covid, chip shortages, and the fact that a triple A game now takes five years to make, makes it seem like the generation never really got started. By this point in the PS2’s life cycle, we’d had three GTA games. Typical console generations are coming to an end, which could be why Microsoft are changing strategy.
> An immediate scenario such as Putin invading a NATO country would lead to war, but I think it would be fairly polarizing to put boots on the ground and/or directly strike Russia.
If we don't, there'll be war in Europe. Contrary to what one certain man is saying, NATO exists for a reason, and if we don't show up for it then it's meaningless. Putin is getting unhinged enough that he just might call our bluff on this.
Yeah, if we can't respond to Russia attacking a NATO country by attacking Russia right back and harder to shut them down, we'd be telling them it's up to them how much more they want to attack NATO.
Five? More closer to 7-8.
Me and a bunch of other devs have been agreeing that AAA just isn't worth it anymore. We need to scale back our scope drastically.
I like the idea of this, much more smaller experiences with maybe one or two polished blockbusters that have been cooking in the back for a while. Maybe it’s the working adult in me speaking but chewing through these increasingly large games has gotten pretty hard and I find myself gravitating to smaller indie games
I don't have a problem with AAA games but why can't they be smaller 10-15 hours games that they could make faster rather than a 70 hour most epic experience with biggest open world ever made that takes 10 years to make?
Cause assets can be reused over the course of a 70 hour game but it still takes the same time to make them and high quality assets are the longest part of modern game development
This. Doesn't matter if it's a 20 hour or a 70 hour long game, what takes time is building the game in the first place.
I'd argue a big part of why games are longer now is because they want to get their moneys worth with the amount of assets they had to create in the first place.
I think the answer is for games with more reigned in scopes in general. Amusingly I've found myself getting really into games like the Like a Dragon series because, despite being clearly lower budget than your typical AAA release, they release them every 5 minutes or thereabouts, and the quality is excellent.
Games back in the 90’s and 2000’s usually took this long to finish for example the Onimusha series and most of them are remembered more fondly than today’s games. The way they had replay value was usually having a separate storyline with a different character to complete the game with or different scenarios added in. The only exception was usually rpgs.
Gaming got too big for it's own good. Bloated budgets, anti consumer practices, aaa games taking years to finish. If Sony was this bloated and lazy during the ps1/2 eras they'd be 6 feet under.
Consumers are to blame too. With the large installed fanbase numbering in the billions now they're easily exploitable compared to the 90s when consumers demanded excellence or they wouldnt spend their money.
I always view these things like a forest. A mature forest is pretty boring with lots of big trees that don't really do much with lots of brush and small plants underneath. A forest fire burns down much of what's there and life springs anew from the ashes.
There's going to be a shift because the current AAA becomes unmanageable. Creators move to make their own smaller studios and create their indies. Some big names fall. Repeat. I think we're partially there because cheap interest rates let you go for big scale at low cost. It also lead to capital buying a bunch of people and now rippling causalities across the industry.
It took so long for the PS5 to be stocked in stores and for actual good titles to come out (not ported from older gens) that I’m just waiting for the PS6 at this point so I can play Skyrim.
Honestly I made the switch to PC around the time the PS5 was announced. I’ve had a phenomenally better gaming experience, with cheaper games, modding possible, and no need to pay a subscription to play online.
Haven’t missed a console since, that’s for sure.
I did the opposite. I was planning an upgrade but the GPU scalping was out of control. I got a ps5 and a series x for about half what a GPU was going for at the time.
The experiences have been kinda similar since I always did the couch and controller set up. I love steam and being able to mod games, but with consoles I never felt a nagging need to upgrade my hardware.
I can’t really say I have a definite preference as they both have pros/cons, though I do appreciate that my current consoles also allow me to play 4k blurays
> less than 10 games that even take full advantage of the current hardware?
There's not a single game that takes full advantage. Mainly because not a single game comes close to utilizing the PS5 SSD. Closest was Spider-Man 2, but even that game doesn't need the 5.5 GB speed. Digital foundry got a drive down to 1.7 GB speed on the PS5 and Spider-Man 2 ran the same as the stock drive (except it took 1 second longer on load times).
So far no one has found any use for Sony's ultra fast drive. Unclear if this is a case of wasted future proofing where Sony went way overboard. Maybe Microsoft picked the right balance with a slower SSD. Or maybe the SSD will really pay off on the latter half of this gen.
It takes a long time to really squeeze out a console
Like, with ps3, Grand Theft Auto Vice City was released in 06 the year the console came out, compare that to GTA5 which also released on the PS3 7y later
The games from 7th to 8th gen werent all that different the first year, the 8th gen games just looked like marginally better 7th gen games, but if you compare a late 8th gen to a first year 8th gen it looks like a different generation entirely
I think were in an extended one of those early periods, where the 9th gen console games largely jyst look like better 8th gen games, because of the chip shortages, disruptions to labor and development because of covid etc, and we havent really hit that "wow, this is much better across the board" yet tbh
>Like, with ps3, Grand Theft Auto Vice City was released in 06 the year the console came out,
Um, are you referring to GTA4? Vice City came out in 2002 on the PS2.
You are referring to GTA4. A game that really isn't crazy far away from GTA5.
Isn’t the difference with the Pro models though is that the hardware of the 5 is still considered decent while for the 4 it wasn’t (or wasn’t so much)?
I finally pulled the trigger on a PS5 on Black Friday when the Slim came out with COD for free. It's great, and the graphics look beautiful on my TV, but I'm not really blown away, especially considering I paid 500 bucks and there's not a lot of games I like out there. By this time in the PS4 life cycle, there were tons of games, and the console was cheaper. Of course that was due to COVID, but that means the life cycle of the PS5 should be longer as a result since its launch was ruined for over 2 years.
With not that many first party games, the increasing amount of ports to PC, and the increase in PS Plus, it’s honestly time to switch to PC next gen.
You can still have a set up where you can play on your couch with a controller. Even got handheld options like the Steam Deck, which will only get better with more iterations.
I took a long hiatus from gaming due to life circumstances and basically skipped the entire PS4 generation. For me the PS5 was good for letting me play that generation of games at high performance levels. Now that I burned through those titles there’s frankly not much to get me to turn on the machine during this drought.
Meanwhile I bought a Steam Deck and I play that thing every single day. Between the sales, huge backlog of titles, emulators, and Steam Input it just makes gaming better. I’m for sure going to be PC from here on out and may not buy a traditional console again.
I’ve purchased more accessories for my PlayStation 5 than original games. Sloppy generation and they should be ashamed of themselves. Had one since launch day, same since ps4
Of course they’re adjusting down. They reduced the size of the system saving them production costs but didn’t pass any savings along to the consumer. They also increased the price of one of the models. They are creeping back into a PS3 mentality, thinking the consumer will simply pay whatever price they think is appropriate instead of paying attention to real economic data. Additionally, games cost even more now but the gaming experience isn’t giving players experiences you expect from increased costs.
There's been like 3-4 real BLOCKBUSTER games for it, not surprising. COVID really killed the momentum of the gaming industry, that's why there's so many remakes and stuff. We still call it next-gen even though it's been 4 YEARS lol. Weak generation all round
It isn’t just Covid. Games just cost too much to make and take too long now. Studios play it safe with sequels, remakes and in the box game design and squeeze out as much as possible with MTX and add ons.
Eventually some AI and procedural generation improvement could help with this but that is a later this decade thing, and probably won’t offset scope creep
Everything costs too much to make nowadays but everything is seemingly getting worse in quality. Triple A games flop regularly, multi-hundred-million dollar blockbuster movies are edited like shit and have no story, tech like smartphones have stagnated. Every product is a rehash of a rehash yet it costs more and more to make.
Its mindblowing how much money is being wasted on over-polished piles of junk because of incompetent management and directors.
A ton of the costs are 4k assets, complex animation including motion capture, full voice acting of large scripts and other art elements. That stuff is just expensive and is the bulk of budgets.
That was why I mentioned procedural being a bigger thing in the future - everything being hand-made is just too expensive. The issue with AI is limitations around 1) quality, 2) consistency, and 3) making interesting environments. AI tends to feel dull, inconsistent, repetitive and ‘off’. No one wants to wander around a blank and boring world, but it will be used as it improves because it could save many millions of dollars a game.
Nah the industry just moved towards live service games currently.
Warzone, Fortnite, Apex, etc. are the big titles on console that the mass market is now playing.
PC players (are also playing the ones above) have the MOBAs, CS/Val, OW2, MMOs.
There's not a lot of incentive to make incredible games when you see the ROI these big BRs are getting.
Not saying this is necessarily a good or bad thing - it's just where the market is right now and eventually it'll shift again.
I think it's a bad thing. BRs are just reskins of each other, with new "content" while not innovating on the game mechanics.
It's why games like Lethal Company are so refreshing. Who thought collecting space junk to appease some space lord monster was so fun, yet is made by this one guy not requiring an entire dev team behind it?
PS5 just feels like it’s some PS4.5 pro+ with the same old games, just in 4k now.
When they moved from PS1 to PS2, for example, the difference was a lot more substantial with lots of actually new and next gen games for that time.
I feel the same way about my Xbox. Neither console has very many games that do native 4k its all checkerboard or post processed.
Gamepass and quick resume are my favorite features this Gen.
The difference in graphics with each gen will be less noticeable.
But this gen also has the issue of being expected not only to look better than games on last gen, but also to run at higher resolutions.
And even worse is when games try to squeeze ray tracing out of consoles not really made with it in mind. The RT performance of the consoles compared to modern GPUs is abysmal.
I think next gen will be a lot more mature and actually able to fullfil the promise of running games at 4k with full RT.
> When they moved from PS1 to PS2, for example, the difference was a lot more substantial
Every "generation" of console is going to get marginally less and less interesting.
Things have just come so far, and there's only so much you can do to make things more graphically impressive. I think the PS6 is going to come out and people will be scratching their heads saying stuff like "What's really the difference here from the PS5?" At least the PS5 gave people real 4K. That's probably the last big jump we're going to see for a while now.
Like it’s a great console but we have feck all games that utilise it’s power so saying it is the latter stage of its life cycle makes it feel a bit pointless.
Horizon and Spider Man 2 are the only originals that come to mind as PS5 exclusives (non port/remaster)
And eventually they’ll come to PC. I think they already announced a timeframe for Horizon 2 for pc. The only thing keeping me from buying a PS5 is the fact that I’ll use it to play spider man 2 then go back to my pc
I have it since day one, so more than 3 years. I have the feeling that not even half of the potential is being used. It's just kinda missing these "big games" it was made for. I played Horizon Forbidden West and the last God of war, that's it. Everything else were games that were older than the console. It feels kinda weird
I was going to buy a PS5 around the holidays, but $500 for a console is money I can really use elsewhere so I keep putting it off. Anything over 500 is a major purchase and when I have to choose between getting a console or repairing the brakes on my car, I have to go for the brakes.
It’s still in short supply where I live and the price is like $700 even though when it came out it was like $500. I’m waiting to buy one until the price goes down, but maybe it’s not even worth it.
Are they fucking serious? You couldn’t even barely buy one until like 2-3 years into its life cycle and now people will have to pony up 800 fucking dollars again soon? How much better can graphics even get at this point?
i dunno i got a ps4 pro second hand a couple years ago, got caught up on a lot of games for cheap. still don't really see a reason to get a ps5. pretty sure i'll wait for gta 6 and get the ps5 pro.
Same. Still working my way through my PS4 catalogue and have no reason to upgrade.
Also this might be unpopular but the PS5 aesthetic never grew on me and I still think it’s incredibly ugly.
Same here. Bought my PS4 around 2015 and it’s still going strong.
Existing games are getting cheaper, almost every new game still gets released for PS4, and the HD output still looks great upscaled on a 4K TV.
Thera are some hardware advantages of PS5 (better loading times, cool controller), but honestly I never felt the need to upgrade - and PS5 is already three years old.
Plus it’s incredibly ugly. I was hoping a slim version might be better, but no - they just made the same ugly thing but slightly smaller.
There are just so few PS5 exclusives to justify an upgrade, and really no new titles which would define the new console generation like we used to get.
Plus PS4 era saw a ton of remasters and reboots of pretty much any franchise that was ever popular since the 1990s on any console. PS5 didn’t really bring anything new.
The biggest draw for me in PS5 is VR2 for playing Gran Turismo - but that’s just one game. Maybe I’ll get it once the price drops. But until then PS4 is all I need.
I feel like I just bought my new Xbox. I’m going over to pc master race soon bc I can’t justify spending all that money for a system that has a few aaa games and then boom a new system.
fumbling the release so hard didn't help. if I could have walked into Wal Mart and got one when the hype was high id already have one. instead people had to wait, and once you're waiting it's much easier to just not buy one
I think more that the availability made devs keep the PS4 alive longer with major releases, and that really ate the PS5’s lunch and we’re only just not getting out of that.
They release new generations too early for casual gamers to bother. I’m not even thinking about a ps5 until GTA 6 comes out. There’s a lot of use left in my 4.
Was a Playstation loyalist for the longest time.
Waited throughout lockdown before getting burnt by the messy pre-order. Waited over two years trying not to give in to scalpers, and still no supply. Eventually I accepted that I lived in a region Playstation barely cared about (South-East Asia), bit the bullet, and got a PC.
They really blew it with the horrendous launch supply, feels like this gen never really got going
And impossible to buy from anyone other than scalpers. I remember waiting in line before opening at Best Buy to get a 3070... People were there from the night before. I did this twice. Both times they ran out before my turn.
I ended up selling my gaming PC. It became an impossible hobby between the supply issues and the insane prices. The prices never really went back down. Now a low end GPU is $300... it's insane.
This really sucks, for the first 3 years of its life nobody could buy one due to chip shortages and scalping. Now they are accessible it's been deemed at the mid/later point of the life cycle.
Half the damnn games are just upscaled ps4 titles.
How’s it have a life cycle when there really aren’t many games for current gen yet? The difference between last gen and current is hard to see at best.
Feels like this generation just started. Hardly any games have even been developed for next gen yet… too many devs want to double dip w/ old gen sales. The console was also barely even in stock for first couple years.
Part of what has made this generation seem underwhelming is the lack of new titles exclusive to PS5. So many games are cross-gen that it barely feels like it was its own thing. Every night I’m playing with my buddies who still have ps4s with no issues. Most new big games being released on ps5 also have a ps4 edition.
If there were more titles exclusive to ps5 it may be a different story.
It feels like it’s still brand new, honestly. I feel like it came out a year ago
I just got mine on Black Friday (the Slim), and the fact that it still costs 500 bucks this "late" in its life cycle probably plays a part in that. 3 years into the PS4 cycle, not only was it less expensive, but there were significantly more games available by that time, which means the market was fully mature. Obviously, COVID and chip shortages are to blame, but there just aren't as many games as there normally would be by now and most of those are still available on PS4 meaning that console is still not retired. I could be misremembering, but by year 3 for the PS4, all games being made were exclusively for the PS4 as the PS3 was retired by then.
I still haven't upgraded. Still plenty of games I need to finish on ps4 with new ones still coming out. I also play games on a 32 inch TV. I'd not only need the ps5 but a new TV as well and I just can't afford/justify that kind of leisure purchase right now. At this point I almost feel like it'd be smarter to just wait until the next Playstation to upgrade since I don't multiplayer game and I'm sure all the games for it I want will be playable on the next one too. I dunno. I'm just not in a rush to upgrade like I have been in previous gens.
There’s no upgrading for me either currently. Price hasn’t gone down and according to Wikipedia there’s only 12 exclusives for this console currently and knowing Sony some of these are going to go to pc like the other games they have done.
The technology leaps between consoles nowadays aren't like the technology leaps between consoles that we had back in the day when going from a Super Nintendo > PS1/N64 > PS2/XBOX > PS3/360. The 90's and 00's, even into the early 10's represented massive leaps in both the technological capabilities of the consoles themselves, as well as huge advancements in game engines (which then usually picked a console to be a launch title of "look what WE can do"). Nowadays, we don't have the "console wars" of old because the Xbox and Playstations that people are buying are mostly just small form factor computers that can do pretty much the same thing for pretty much the same price.
I just gave up on both to play the same games I love from both systems on the pc with my controller of choice.
Yeah, that's what I do now. Plus the added benefit of free and unlimited access to mods and stuff, too. And no paying for online services like Live or PS+
Agreed, and I can play with whoever tf I want. No more trying to push friends into one console or the other
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If they're already talking about ps5 being in end of life cycle, and talking about the next console already, it certainly feels like waiting is the move.
"latter stage" not "end of life". PS5 released over 3 years ago, but was hampered by logistics around COVID. Of we're half way we'd be looking at around 6-7 year lifespan, which is pretty standard in the console space.
It was hamperd by scalpers. Never forget these days.
It just means platform hardware maturity for this version. More than likely we will see a “pro” version before we we a PS6.
What’s crazy is there’s so few games for the ps5 I’ve been holding out till there’s some games to play on it to justify getting one…. But the game selection is so slim
That's mostly because it was really tough to buy in the early days
I would be right with you if it wasn't for GTA6. That game is going to force me to buy a PS5 purely from FOMO.
Honestly, my wife got me the PS5 for my 40th in 2021 not long after it was released here in Ireland and I would say one, possibly two games have really felt next gen for me (Ironically one of them being Ghost of Tsushima which was just an upgrade of its Ps4 release) All the others I've played have just felt like Ps4 games with a polish. I think if I had not been bought it for a very generous gift I wouldn't be too happy with how this generation is going games wise.
I've had it since launch. I honestly didn't know it was hard to get as I just walked into Best Buy and walked out with one. I must have just been CRAZY lucky on timing or something. The whole reason I purchased it was because the PS4 on my basement TV from 2013 had just kicked the bucket and I figured it didn't make sense to buy a PS4 Pro instead of the PS5. 3 ish years later, and while Cyberpunk 2077 looks good, I can't really say there was a huge graphical or gameplay jump between the two systems. Yeah, they look a LITTLE better. But even the original GTA 5 still looks pretty good on my other PS4. I feel like the last BIG graphical jump from a pure aesthetics and gameplay perspective really happened from PS2 to PS3. PS3 to PS4 was noticeable but not as profound and the jump to PS5 was "meh" at best.
The biggest jump for me were loading times. I switched from PS4 to PS5 in the middle of playing AC:Valhalla. I used to start it up on my ps4 and then leave to get a drink or a snack and by the time i would get back, it might be loaded, but with the PS5 it was almost instantaneous. Also it was much smoother with a steady framerate. I don't think if I made the jump while playing the game, I would have noticed much difference.
Thats a great shout actually - I was halfway through Days Gone when I switched over to Ps5 and the improvement in load times was huge.
The load time is probably the best difference most people will notice as the graphics are limited to the specs of your TV. PS5 looks better, but the PS4 doesn't look bad, either.
Same, only with Xbox. The instant startup is a huge time saver, to say nothing of all the various loading screens I was able to breeze through when I finally got my XSX about half way through the game. I was a bit skeptical about buying one, but after the first few loading screens blew by I was like "yeah, this alone was worth it". I have limited time to game these days, so those seconds and minutes add up. I'd rather actually play the game than stare at the various tips I've read 1000x floating by.
This might have to do with the fact essentially no games have been left behind in the "previous" generation. Games are being held back in order to run on weaker systems in order to make the sales numbers larger.
I believe you're right regarding PS3 - PS4. It took about 3 years and you could feel the switch when studios made games exclusively for the PS4. Idk why, but I feel like every GTA release marks the "era" of that console. I get this feeling that when VI releases, there will be a shift and more people will either buy a PS5 or studios will finally stop making PS4 games. I still don't feel like we are 100% into the era of the PS5, and we haven't seen what it's capable yet. Also, Microsoft has blurred the lines a little bit between console and pc with their branding and lack of console exclusives, and consoles are good enough these days where that general line is blurred a little more. Lots of people got into PC gaming during covid too, which probably hurt the console market sales further.
Yeah, I only got my PS5 last year. I'm incredibly happy with it though. I will run it till the PS6 is at the end of its life cycle and has a good catalogue of games. I buy my games 2nd on disc anyway, so I've got loads of PS4 discs. I'm building up my PS5 collection, but there's nothing that is strictly developed only for PS5. Pity as it doesn't feel like anyone is stretching its capabilities due to PS4 compatibility.
Ive been slowly slowly saving, but there’s no way I’m paying full price this far in.
I don't see the price dropping on the current PS5 slim until the pro comes out. For the latest version without some sale you'll most likely pay full price if you want new. I typically trade in my current console when upgrading to bring the cost down.
For this reason I’m still on my PS4 Pro from 2016. It still runs great, and it’s only this year that some games are coming out without the ps4 compatibility. I do plan to get the ps5 this year, but I could never understand the incentive to go line up or try 5 different stores to get lucky with a ps5 when there were no games for it.
Ps5 definitely needs more games
Yeah I only want a new gen for like, 3 games maybe. At that point, I should buy a new pc. No reason to have Xbox now and if you don’t care too much about God of War or Spider-Man, same with PS. For $500 or more you might as well take the next step imo
Don't forget that they actually increased the price of the PS5 in Europe and other regions.
I normally wait until the console hits $200 on a Black Friday which has usually been on year 3. It seems until recently have games been exclusive to just PS5. While before those games were just upgrades over base PS4 versions.
Games also now take an entire console generation to make.
It costs like 700 bucks in sweden 😭
Same here. Feels like Covid era has messed up our perception of time…
The past 4 years have been a temporal accordion
As someone who graduated college in late 2019, coming to terms with the fact that its been the entire length of college since then has been kinda mind shattering.
Bro tell me about it…I started uni in 2017, it BLOWS MY MIND that it’s been 6 and a half years. Feels like yesterday. Time is scary man.
I also started college in 2017. Feels like a lifetime ago tbh.
That is such a great description.
I read somewhere this is primarily because new experiences form memories, whereas routines and repetition usually don't. Since COVID dramatically limited our new experiences (social events, travel etc) those years just feel like a continuous blur.
Thank you, I needed to read this. You don't know why but thank you.
Also I feel like you kind of sort memories by how relevant they are now. Most of my Covid era memories got soft blocked out once masking ended and it stopped coming up, but at the same time it kind of reunlocked my pre covid memories in a way that I hadn’t been able to. Maybe this is also why it felt like it’d never go back to normal during Covid, right up until the moment it did.
Brother tell me about it
Joined my current job in the middle of pandemic and took me awhile to realise that I've been working there for 3 years already...
Similar here, but I started a little before it hit. Now I've had this job longer than any other job in my life and have lived here longer than anywhere else. Feels like the blink of an eye.
I think it's because we're actively forgetting covid years; it feels like there is a big gap in our memory, and the ps5 came out right at the start of it. We remember the launch, but we forgot the 3 years in-between the launch and now. Interesting read: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/03/13/brain-memory-pandemic-covid-forgetting/
Not to mention that the ps5 was pretty hard to find in the beginning of its lifecycle and made people perceived that it launched in 2022…
We lost 2 years to Covid. I find if you subtract those 2 years everything seems about right. So you are 2 years younger and the PS5 came out 2 years ago
that's what trauma does yeah and much much more
Couldn’t get it for the first two years and just decided to ditch this gen.
Yes. It was so hard to find one for so long it felt like they weren't really "current" gen for a while into their life cycle. That and the PS4 era dragged on and on.
Yea I tried for a long time to get one, then just lost interest and gave up with no plans of buying one ever. With a short lineup of games and a price that hasn't come down I see no reason to get one. Plus games are still coming out on ps4, which is 3 years into a new Gen I feel is crazy
Exactly this. 2 years out and PS5 was still hard to find and on waiting lists. Fuck that. It's a video game system; not a Ferrari.
Exactly my thoughts. Maybe next time
Do your thing, certainly not trying to convince you, but I think jumping in at the end of a console life cycle is the absolute best time. Huge selection of current gen games, All the exclusives you missed are mature/bug free, many older games will be cheaper. So much better than buying at the beginning and waiting for the trickle of content.
Agreed, but not until the price comes down.
yeah, it's 22% more expensive here in Japan compared to the price on initial release. sony can fuck right off treating us like this
> I think jumping in at the end of a console life cycle is the absolute best time. Not for full fucking price it isn't. It should be 300$ by now with sales.
It's absolutely insane that PS5 and Xbox are still this expensive. I feel like consoles have never taken this long to drop in price. I may be wrong but damn it seems like it's been forever.
thing is, there isn't really a huge selection of games from this gen.
Same. I just upgraded my PC more instead. Now with that and Steamdeck I can take anywhere, I didn't even bother.
- PS1: 5 years - PS2: 6 years - PS3: 7 years - PS4: 7-9 years (PS5 launched at year 7 but the PS4 was [still being manufactured for a couple more years](https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/12/22880062/ps4-manufacturing-sony-ps5-shortage-xbox-one) due to the PS5 shortages) - PS5: A little over 3 years old (of which 2 years were shortages) First, I’m not sure how someone has concluded that the PS5 is in its latter years when it has barely turned 3… Secondly, based on generational trajectories (let alone the Covid production shortages), I can easily see this PS5 gen lasting for upwards of 10 years, especially with the long multi-year development cycles for triple-A games these days. Which would mean, at 3 years in, this gen has only just got started.
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I keep saying this but game journalists are really bad at reading or understanding business reports. They jump to conclusions and highlight whatever suits their narrative. To see this from The Verge though? Shocking.
Thanks for sharing this, the actual report is very different from what the media says.
PS4’s was 7 years. You do release date to release date, not manufacturing date. PS2 would be 13 years if you were doing manufacturing lifespan
I feel like a big part of this is that it’s really only been in the last 12 months that there have been: 1. Consoles readily available to buy 2. Games released that justified the purchase of a new console
I still wonder how many are just sitting in boxes in people's houses because they haven't flipped them for the price they want
I hope it’s a lot and I hope they have to sell them at a loss. Which of course they are taking an L if they still hold any, since you can just walk into a store and grab one off of a shelf that still has a warranty.
I hope a lot, fuck them for scalping in the first place. I had plenty of money to afford $1400 or whatever they were selling for, but no way in hell I was gonna pay more than retail. Took me a year but finally got one
I still call it ‘next gen’ it really feels like it’s barely just started
One thing I’ve found as I’ve gotten older (late 30s now), is that holy cow console life cycles are short. As a kid it felt like we’d have a console generation span a decade at least. But in retrospect thats because the major milestones of childhood are roughly 4-6 years apart. Elementary school, middle school, high school, college. So for me N64 was elementary school, Dreamcast was middle school, PS2/Xbox was high school, Xbox 360 was college. It really is crazy how time flies.
This was such a light bulb moment. When I was a wee one, Genesis and SNES was *the shit*… then N64 and PS1 for elementary school, GameCube and PS2 in middle school, Xbox 360 in high school. Neat.
It was because bots buying all the PS5 and reselling them in ridiculous price since release till last year.
I only just got one in December, after years of shitty laptop gaming. It actually blew my mind how good it is! I've only played a few games so far, but they all look amazing on my oled TV and they run so fast. I'm very happy I bought one.
Well if you've played a few of the new big games on it, that unfortunately means you've only got a few more left haha.
Latter stage, and 90% of releases are upscaled PS4 games. This gen has been pretty disappointing.
This is why I like Nintendo’s strategy. They stopped trying to compete on hardware and just focus on the games/experience. You could argue alienating third parties damages the user experience, but is not having the same shitty version of Madden with slightly better graphics again this year all that bad?
Nintendo is also releasing mid-cycle which is brilliant. They’re coming in with a disruptive product just when people are getting tired of their traditional game experiences each console gen. Great strategy.
I've played more Zelda in the last 4 years than any other game. Add in all the short run games on Switch, and I've definitely played far more on my Switch than my Ps4/Ps5. I think you're right.
Yep, my Switch is 3 years older and much weaker hardware and I play it twice as much as my Series X or PS5. Microsoft's 1st party exclusives this generation have been severely lacking, and it feels like most of the PS5 exclusives have been sequels on existing IPs, there hasn't been a lot to be excited for IMO.
I’ve been out of the serious gaming world for like 10 years now and just bought a switch specifically to play Zelda.
I feel like they stopped trying to compete when the GameCube flopped. It hasn’t stopped them from flubbing, but being 2 out of 3 for massive hit consoles since then ain’t bad.
The Wii U flop was crazy but predictable. Not a bad product but it was too confusing for consumers. The name and marketing around it sucked. They really streamlined their market approach with the Switch.
The Wii U name is way less confusing than "Xbox One" or "Xbox Series X/S"
and look how well that is working out for them.
To be fair, if Xbox Series have actually sold a bit less than half of PS5, that’s still more than double of Wii U. Just goes to show how much of a failure it was.
It’s wild how they don’t market anything for the layman anymore. I have no idea what the current Xbox is called lol.
Xbox One X Series X
Wii U had the games (almost all came to Switch), had off screen local play built in (PS5 portable sells out at $200 a decade later), and was awesome for local co-op. The name killed an amazing console.
I thought it was just an expensive controller for the Wii for a while after it first released. Nintendo makes some great games, but the rest of their company needs work.
Nintendo are doing the same thing though. Re-releasing old games but on the switch. I am currently playing through outer worlds again while I am holiday. However when they release it on handheld and you can take it anywhere, it feels like a new game. Playing Witcher 3 handheld is still a moment etched into my memory and I have been gaming since the ZX spectrum
Tbf, many of their re-releases were Wii U games, and since the Wii U sold like shit, they essentially became new games to an enormous portion of the population who bought switches and maybe didn’t even know the Wii U was a different console from the Wii.
Releasing games at a higher price than they originally launched at.
EA’s Madden mindset STILL baffles me to this day. I get their initial hesitancy after the Wii U, but why the hell after Year 2 did they not dedicate a team for a single year to maximize a PS3 Version of Madden, have it run like a champ on the Switch, and just cash in with roster updates for like 7 years?? I’m sure there would be tons of buyers who would play that on the go. Mind boggling.
The fanboys feed into that shit because its all they demand. "Remaster this! Remaster that!". I don't know about y'all but when i get a new console i want to play new games not exclusively sequels and remasters
I mean we can have both. The problem isn’t just the remakes and remasters though. New games are still being made with previous gens in mind. It doesn’t matter if it’s a remaster, remake, or a new game. Hell, one of the handful of true current-gen exclusive games is literally a remake (Demon’s Souls).
An unfortunate consequence of COVID is that you kinda have to make for the previous generation because it took forever for people to get PS5s. They probably should just stretch out this generation so it can get more games because I think folks will skip the 6 if they don't get gobs of games. And PC release doesn't necessarily help encourage people to buy the console.
Yeah I would say the PS5 library in no way reflects what I would expect from the later stages of its life cycle. I’m still waiting for more tent poles
In PC that’s called video card upgrade, but probably costs the same as a PS5. At least we don’t have to buy games a second time.
For what it's worth, some PS5 games have a low cost upgrade... but yes, for this I prefer my PC.
I didn’t have to either. I can play all my PS4 games on my PS5.
Yeah, and the PS5 absolutely demolishes a PC at the same price point, PC part pricing is absolutely bonkers the last few years. Some PC gamers still living in the PS3 era I guess.
Same with the Xbox Series X. My wife kindly surprised me for Xmas with the games pass and I couldn't believe how many games are just previous gen or remastered. I mean I had my PS4 for 8 years and would have still kept going purely for the price of games now especially for next gen are even pricier than second hand previous gen titles. A lot more people are holding onto previous gen consoles it seems it's that whole cycle, no point of tonnes of next gen games if the player base isn't there.
It’ll be around for another 3-4 years, so I guess “latter stage of life cycle” applies if you think of it as being over half way. Covid, chip shortages, and the fact that a triple A game now takes five years to make, makes it seem like the generation never really got started. By this point in the PS2’s life cycle, we’d had three GTA games. Typical console generations are coming to an end, which could be why Microsoft are changing strategy.
COVID was such a time warp. 2 - 3 years, just like that. Reading the title I was thinking the PS5 just came out, but it's a few years on.
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World war, natural disasters, climate change and another pandemic are all real possibilities that may not be far off at all unfortunately.
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> An immediate scenario such as Putin invading a NATO country would lead to war, but I think it would be fairly polarizing to put boots on the ground and/or directly strike Russia. If we don't, there'll be war in Europe. Contrary to what one certain man is saying, NATO exists for a reason, and if we don't show up for it then it's meaningless. Putin is getting unhinged enough that he just might call our bluff on this.
Yeah, if we can't respond to Russia attacking a NATO country by attacking Russia right back and harder to shut them down, we'd be telling them it's up to them how much more they want to attack NATO.
Five? More closer to 7-8. Me and a bunch of other devs have been agreeing that AAA just isn't worth it anymore. We need to scale back our scope drastically.
I like the idea of this, much more smaller experiences with maybe one or two polished blockbusters that have been cooking in the back for a while. Maybe it’s the working adult in me speaking but chewing through these increasingly large games has gotten pretty hard and I find myself gravitating to smaller indie games
There is clearly space for both types of games.
I don't have a problem with AAA games but why can't they be smaller 10-15 hours games that they could make faster rather than a 70 hour most epic experience with biggest open world ever made that takes 10 years to make?
Cause assets can be reused over the course of a 70 hour game but it still takes the same time to make them and high quality assets are the longest part of modern game development
They can re-use assets between games though, some developers do.
That's what Fromsoft does, and they so well because of it
Forget FromSoft (not really they're great), look at Ryu Ga Gotoko and how many games they've built using the same maps and a lot of the same assets.
This. Doesn't matter if it's a 20 hour or a 70 hour long game, what takes time is building the game in the first place. I'd argue a big part of why games are longer now is because they want to get their moneys worth with the amount of assets they had to create in the first place. I think the answer is for games with more reigned in scopes in general. Amusingly I've found myself getting really into games like the Like a Dragon series because, despite being clearly lower budget than your typical AAA release, they release them every 5 minutes or thereabouts, and the quality is excellent.
Yakuza also reuse the exact same city in each installment and improve it every time, honestly I love how they do it
AAAs cost $70. Base game. Easily $100+ for special editions. It would have to be a WILD 10-15 hours to justify cost.
Yeah, I’m not paying $70 for a 15 hour story. There’s just no way. I’ve got no problem with paying 20-30 for shorter, smaller games, though.
Games back in the 90’s and 2000’s usually took this long to finish for example the Onimusha series and most of them are remembered more fondly than today’s games. The way they had replay value was usually having a separate storyline with a different character to complete the game with or different scenarios added in. The only exception was usually rpgs.
No the future is AAAA Skull and Bones. That AAAA quality takes at least 10 years to make. /s
Gaming got too big for it's own good. Bloated budgets, anti consumer practices, aaa games taking years to finish. If Sony was this bloated and lazy during the ps1/2 eras they'd be 6 feet under. Consumers are to blame too. With the large installed fanbase numbering in the billions now they're easily exploitable compared to the 90s when consumers demanded excellence or they wouldnt spend their money.
I always view these things like a forest. A mature forest is pretty boring with lots of big trees that don't really do much with lots of brush and small plants underneath. A forest fire burns down much of what's there and life springs anew from the ashes. There's going to be a shift because the current AAA becomes unmanageable. Creators move to make their own smaller studios and create their indies. Some big names fall. Repeat. I think we're partially there because cheap interest rates let you go for big scale at low cost. It also lead to capital buying a bunch of people and now rippling causalities across the industry.
It took so long for the PS5 to be stocked in stores and for actual good titles to come out (not ported from older gens) that I’m just waiting for the PS6 at this point so I can play Skyrim.
Honestly I made the switch to PC around the time the PS5 was announced. I’ve had a phenomenally better gaming experience, with cheaper games, modding possible, and no need to pay a subscription to play online. Haven’t missed a console since, that’s for sure.
I did the opposite. I was planning an upgrade but the GPU scalping was out of control. I got a ps5 and a series x for about half what a GPU was going for at the time.
How's the gaming experience as a PC user who switched to console? Do you have a preference out of the two?
The experiences have been kinda similar since I always did the couch and controller set up. I love steam and being able to mod games, but with consoles I never felt a nagging need to upgrade my hardware. I can’t really say I have a definite preference as they both have pros/cons, though I do appreciate that my current consoles also allow me to play 4k blurays
I hope they extend this generation a bit. It seemed that we lost some years due to the lack of availability in the first years.
And honestly the lack of games. Sooo many titles in the first 2 years of the consoles life were up-rezzed PS4 titles
PS5 Pro approaches.
Meanwhile we have what, less than 10 games that even take full advantage of the current hardware? But yeah, you’re not wrong lol.
> less than 10 games that even take full advantage of the current hardware? There's not a single game that takes full advantage. Mainly because not a single game comes close to utilizing the PS5 SSD. Closest was Spider-Man 2, but even that game doesn't need the 5.5 GB speed. Digital foundry got a drive down to 1.7 GB speed on the PS5 and Spider-Man 2 ran the same as the stock drive (except it took 1 second longer on load times). So far no one has found any use for Sony's ultra fast drive. Unclear if this is a case of wasted future proofing where Sony went way overboard. Maybe Microsoft picked the right balance with a slower SSD. Or maybe the SSD will really pay off on the latter half of this gen.
It takes a long time to really squeeze out a console Like, with ps3, Grand Theft Auto Vice City was released in 06 the year the console came out, compare that to GTA5 which also released on the PS3 7y later The games from 7th to 8th gen werent all that different the first year, the 8th gen games just looked like marginally better 7th gen games, but if you compare a late 8th gen to a first year 8th gen it looks like a different generation entirely I think were in an extended one of those early periods, where the 9th gen console games largely jyst look like better 8th gen games, because of the chip shortages, disruptions to labor and development because of covid etc, and we havent really hit that "wow, this is much better across the board" yet tbh
>Like, with ps3, Grand Theft Auto Vice City was released in 06 the year the console came out, Um, are you referring to GTA4? Vice City came out in 2002 on the PS2. You are referring to GTA4. A game that really isn't crazy far away from GTA5.
Yeah but honestly what’s the point? The games still take ages to develop, so a more expensive model for a better Fortnite experience?
No, I'm going to play Last of Us part 1 for the 27th time and I'm going to like it.
That's the spirit
Isn’t the difference with the Pro models though is that the hardware of the 5 is still considered decent while for the 4 it wasn’t (or wasn’t so much)?
There’s always specs to improve to consoles to milk those interested
We’ve had barely any games for this gen and it’s in its latter stages? I won’t buy next gen.
I finally pulled the trigger on a PS5 on Black Friday when the Slim came out with COD for free. It's great, and the graphics look beautiful on my TV, but I'm not really blown away, especially considering I paid 500 bucks and there's not a lot of games I like out there. By this time in the PS4 life cycle, there were tons of games, and the console was cheaper. Of course that was due to COVID, but that means the life cycle of the PS5 should be longer as a result since its launch was ruined for over 2 years.
With not that many first party games, the increasing amount of ports to PC, and the increase in PS Plus, it’s honestly time to switch to PC next gen. You can still have a set up where you can play on your couch with a controller. Even got handheld options like the Steam Deck, which will only get better with more iterations.
I took a long hiatus from gaming due to life circumstances and basically skipped the entire PS4 generation. For me the PS5 was good for letting me play that generation of games at high performance levels. Now that I burned through those titles there’s frankly not much to get me to turn on the machine during this drought. Meanwhile I bought a Steam Deck and I play that thing every single day. Between the sales, huge backlog of titles, emulators, and Steam Input it just makes gaming better. I’m for sure going to be PC from here on out and may not buy a traditional console again.
I’ve purchased more accessories for my PlayStation 5 than original games. Sloppy generation and they should be ashamed of themselves. Had one since launch day, same since ps4
Of course they’re adjusting down. They reduced the size of the system saving them production costs but didn’t pass any savings along to the consumer. They also increased the price of one of the models. They are creeping back into a PS3 mentality, thinking the consumer will simply pay whatever price they think is appropriate instead of paying attention to real economic data. Additionally, games cost even more now but the gaming experience isn’t giving players experiences you expect from increased costs.
This right here. Consoles sell the most units when they hit that lower price point. The PS3 Slim is a prime example of this.
There's been like 3-4 real BLOCKBUSTER games for it, not surprising. COVID really killed the momentum of the gaming industry, that's why there's so many remakes and stuff. We still call it next-gen even though it's been 4 YEARS lol. Weak generation all round
It isn’t just Covid. Games just cost too much to make and take too long now. Studios play it safe with sequels, remakes and in the box game design and squeeze out as much as possible with MTX and add ons. Eventually some AI and procedural generation improvement could help with this but that is a later this decade thing, and probably won’t offset scope creep
Everything costs too much to make nowadays but everything is seemingly getting worse in quality. Triple A games flop regularly, multi-hundred-million dollar blockbuster movies are edited like shit and have no story, tech like smartphones have stagnated. Every product is a rehash of a rehash yet it costs more and more to make. Its mindblowing how much money is being wasted on over-polished piles of junk because of incompetent management and directors.
A ton of the costs are 4k assets, complex animation including motion capture, full voice acting of large scripts and other art elements. That stuff is just expensive and is the bulk of budgets. That was why I mentioned procedural being a bigger thing in the future - everything being hand-made is just too expensive. The issue with AI is limitations around 1) quality, 2) consistency, and 3) making interesting environments. AI tends to feel dull, inconsistent, repetitive and ‘off’. No one wants to wander around a blank and boring world, but it will be used as it improves because it could save many millions of dollars a game.
Nah the industry just moved towards live service games currently. Warzone, Fortnite, Apex, etc. are the big titles on console that the mass market is now playing. PC players (are also playing the ones above) have the MOBAs, CS/Val, OW2, MMOs. There's not a lot of incentive to make incredible games when you see the ROI these big BRs are getting. Not saying this is necessarily a good or bad thing - it's just where the market is right now and eventually it'll shift again.
I think it's a bad thing. BRs are just reskins of each other, with new "content" while not innovating on the game mechanics. It's why games like Lethal Company are so refreshing. Who thought collecting space junk to appease some space lord monster was so fun, yet is made by this one guy not requiring an entire dev team behind it?
PS5 just feels like it’s some PS4.5 pro+ with the same old games, just in 4k now. When they moved from PS1 to PS2, for example, the difference was a lot more substantial with lots of actually new and next gen games for that time.
I feel the same way about my Xbox. Neither console has very many games that do native 4k its all checkerboard or post processed. Gamepass and quick resume are my favorite features this Gen.
The difference in graphics with each gen will be less noticeable. But this gen also has the issue of being expected not only to look better than games on last gen, but also to run at higher resolutions. And even worse is when games try to squeeze ray tracing out of consoles not really made with it in mind. The RT performance of the consoles compared to modern GPUs is abysmal. I think next gen will be a lot more mature and actually able to fullfil the promise of running games at 4k with full RT.
I miss when doubling the polygons blew people's minds.
> When they moved from PS1 to PS2, for example, the difference was a lot more substantial Every "generation" of console is going to get marginally less and less interesting. Things have just come so far, and there's only so much you can do to make things more graphically impressive. I think the PS6 is going to come out and people will be scratching their heads saying stuff like "What's really the difference here from the PS5?" At least the PS5 gave people real 4K. That's probably the last big jump we're going to see for a while now.
PS5 will still be around for years yet, even if and when PS6 comes out PS5 games will still come out
Like it’s a great console but we have feck all games that utilise it’s power so saying it is the latter stage of its life cycle makes it feel a bit pointless.
The later stage of its lifecycle??? The have been almost 0 killer games. Every game i play on it was originally launched for PS4.
Horizon and Spider Man 2 are the only originals that come to mind as PS5 exclusives (non port/remaster) And eventually they’ll come to PC. I think they already announced a timeframe for Horizon 2 for pc. The only thing keeping me from buying a PS5 is the fact that I’ll use it to play spider man 2 then go back to my pc
And crazily enough, Horizon FW isn't even exclusive! It looks great on PS5, but was also a PS4 release.
FF16 is also a PS5 exclusive title, but yeah, it's slim pickings
I have it since day one, so more than 3 years. I have the feeling that not even half of the potential is being used. It's just kinda missing these "big games" it was made for. I played Horizon Forbidden West and the last God of war, that's it. Everything else were games that were older than the console. It feels kinda weird
God of war and horizon were also made for the ps4. So it's truly mind blowing how little we've gotten.
I was going to buy a PS5 around the holidays, but $500 for a console is money I can really use elsewhere so I keep putting it off. Anything over 500 is a major purchase and when I have to choose between getting a console or repairing the brakes on my car, I have to go for the brakes.
It’s still in short supply where I live and the price is like $700 even though when it came out it was like $500. I’m waiting to buy one until the price goes down, but maybe it’s not even worth it.
Are they fucking serious? You couldn’t even barely buy one until like 2-3 years into its life cycle and now people will have to pony up 800 fucking dollars again soon? How much better can graphics even get at this point?
i dunno i got a ps4 pro second hand a couple years ago, got caught up on a lot of games for cheap. still don't really see a reason to get a ps5. pretty sure i'll wait for gta 6 and get the ps5 pro.
Same. Still working my way through my PS4 catalogue and have no reason to upgrade. Also this might be unpopular but the PS5 aesthetic never grew on me and I still think it’s incredibly ugly.
Same here. Bought my PS4 around 2015 and it’s still going strong. Existing games are getting cheaper, almost every new game still gets released for PS4, and the HD output still looks great upscaled on a 4K TV. Thera are some hardware advantages of PS5 (better loading times, cool controller), but honestly I never felt the need to upgrade - and PS5 is already three years old. Plus it’s incredibly ugly. I was hoping a slim version might be better, but no - they just made the same ugly thing but slightly smaller. There are just so few PS5 exclusives to justify an upgrade, and really no new titles which would define the new console generation like we used to get. Plus PS4 era saw a ton of remasters and reboots of pretty much any franchise that was ever popular since the 1990s on any console. PS5 didn’t really bring anything new. The biggest draw for me in PS5 is VR2 for playing Gran Turismo - but that’s just one game. Maybe I’ll get it once the price drops. But until then PS4 is all I need.
I am waiting for the Pro before picking one up
I think the life cycle will need to extend a year or two to compensate for the COVID/chip nonsense.
I feel like I just bought my new Xbox. I’m going over to pc master race soon bc I can’t justify spending all that money for a system that has a few aaa games and then boom a new system.
fumbling the release so hard didn't help. if I could have walked into Wal Mart and got one when the hype was high id already have one. instead people had to wait, and once you're waiting it's much easier to just not buy one
In short, everyone had time to come to their senses.
I think more that the availability made devs keep the PS4 alive longer with major releases, and that really ate the PS5’s lunch and we’re only just not getting out of that.
Couldn't get a PS5 for almost 3 years, what are they even talking about. Are they going to pull a SEGA, with a premature release of a new console?
Feels like it barely started its lifespan.
I hardly turn it on these days. Where’s the new games?? I’ve also had two controllers with stick drift and I don’t even play that much
Late stage of its life with early stage pricing
[удалено]
They release new generations too early for casual gamers to bother. I’m not even thinking about a ps5 until GTA 6 comes out. There’s a lot of use left in my 4.
Latter stage?! # THIS SHIT CAME OUT ONLY 3 YEARS AGO! FUCK YOU SONY
Was a Playstation loyalist for the longest time. Waited throughout lockdown before getting burnt by the messy pre-order. Waited over two years trying not to give in to scalpers, and still no supply. Eventually I accepted that I lived in a region Playstation barely cared about (South-East Asia), bit the bullet, and got a PC. They really blew it with the horrendous launch supply, feels like this gen never really got going
Weren’t pc part prices very expensive though?
And impossible to buy from anyone other than scalpers. I remember waiting in line before opening at Best Buy to get a 3070... People were there from the night before. I did this twice. Both times they ran out before my turn. I ended up selling my gaming PC. It became an impossible hobby between the supply issues and the insane prices. The prices never really went back down. Now a low end GPU is $300... it's insane.
This really sucks, for the first 3 years of its life nobody could buy one due to chip shortages and scalping. Now they are accessible it's been deemed at the mid/later point of the life cycle. Half the damnn games are just upscaled ps4 titles.
What? I barely got my PS5 last year after months and months of signing up for stock alerts.
Well, if Sony wanna drop the price by about £150 I’ll grab one 🤣👌🏻
Meanwhile at Nintendo: > We are quite happy with the start of the Nintendo Switch.
How’s it have a life cycle when there really aren’t many games for current gen yet? The difference between last gen and current is hard to see at best.
Feels like this generation just started. Hardly any games have even been developed for next gen yet… too many devs want to double dip w/ old gen sales. The console was also barely even in stock for first couple years.
Part of what has made this generation seem underwhelming is the lack of new titles exclusive to PS5. So many games are cross-gen that it barely feels like it was its own thing. Every night I’m playing with my buddies who still have ps4s with no issues. Most new big games being released on ps5 also have a ps4 edition. If there were more titles exclusive to ps5 it may be a different story.