Pondering on purchasing a Playstation 4.

[Nebulon]

PS4 has a very nice implementation of VR and a rapidly-growing virtual reality library with fun games like Battlezone and Thumper.

[spacecadet]

PS4 has a very nice implementation of VR and a rapidly-growing virtual reality library with fun games like Battlezone and Thumper.

 

Indeed, to be honest, if I was coming in cold this is the reason I'd buy a PS4. Otherwise I'd just buy an Xbox One S at this point for its gameplay but also its UHD Blu-Ray support, which the PS4 (even the PS4 Pro) lacks. But VR is pretty much all I do on my PS4 right now and no other console offers it at the moment. (Scorpio will at some point, but even according to MS, not for some time.)

Edited February 11, 2017 by spacecadet

[juansolo]

I just got my tax refund direct deposited and I am seriously thinking of making the decision of purchasing a console. And after some time of thinking and wasn't heavily interested for some time until now. I am debating and sort of leaning over the fence in purchasing a Playstation 4. Before I get to the debate and comments I searched for older threads in regards to this topic but haven't seen any listed. To any of you that own a Playstation 4. I have some questions about it and please help me out.

 

I am not much of an online gamer and old school in playing solo and someone alongside for multiplayer matches. I know that you can play physical discs without having to go online.

 

I only have internet on my smart phone but have nothing hooked up inside (don't have a notebook/PC/tablet). Do I have to do anything in regards to hooking it up online before I start gaming sessions? If I recall the slim version was just released this past September and I think the price tag is $270-$300. Is there a high failure rate or other hardware issues? Does it need constant updates?

 

Lastly the games. I think most of them are FPS, sports, and obviously 3D based. Is the library good enough to own one? Or shall I pass on it? I am not interested in the PS4 Pro which I guess has finer tuned graphics and capabilities. That is all I need to know. I know I waited nearly 3 and a half years since it's launch. Any insight is much appreciated.

 

 

This is so much me... I held on 3 years before I bought a PS4 (slim). I'm not interested in online gaming, FPS shoot-em-ups or the latest FIFA. So here's my experiences with the console from a similar perspective.

 

Any game you put in it fully installs to the HDD whether you want it to or not (it does it in the background, which is nice I suppose), and they take up a staggering amount of space. The 500GB HDD is woefully inadequate for this. As I type you can't use an external HDD to extend this capacity, though Sony have just announced that they're finally going to switch this on in the next firmware update. Either way, if you plan on having a reasonable amount of games installed, you're gonna want 1TB minimum or just swap the thing out for a 2TB and be done with it. It's not a big job.

 

Though you don't need an online connection to play games, you do need it to patch them, and you're gonna need an internet connection to do that. Sadly we're in an era when games on consoles have become like games on PCs. IE they're released then need patching... These patches can be MASSIVE (again all that HDD space just vanishing...). That said, once they're all installed, there's nothing stopping you pulling the plug on that.

 

The controllers, quite why Sony felt they had to change them is beyond me. The touch pad is totally pointless and is relegated to being just another couple of buttons for most things.

 

The games! Now all the above aside, there are some interesting games on there. As I've mentioned these things are more like PCs than consoles in the way that they would like us to see them (in terms of software and indeed, frequent upgrades...). But in it's favour, it's also the first time in a long time that one of my consoles is actually quicker than my computer. So it's nice to play games that struggle on my PC on it like Skyrim (a magnificent bugfest, but also a magnificent game). There are a few of those ports on there. For more traditional gaming, you've got your Naughty Dog stuff, which is top tier. The latest Tomb Raider is also well up there with those. Also, generally speaking, it's been out long enough now that most games can be had for sensible money (another reason I hung on).

Reliability wise, too soon to say on the slim, it's only been out a short while. Both MS and Sony seem to go a bit above and beyond on the first version of the current gen consoles to avoid the problems/reputation the Fat PS3 and original 360 had. Time will tell.

 

Couch co-op and single player offline games is mainly what I got mine for. I just haven't had chance to really try any two player local stuff of yet as my bro and I are currently addicted to Trials Fusion on it and are working through unlocking it all in pass the controller stylie play. But I have a few to go at and may update at some point.