Why I am hesitant to buy a PS5

[Parker77]

1 hour ago, roots.genoa said:

I don't like Spelunky but I can name hundreds of games Intellimission has probably missed as well... Including a lot of games with couch coop that don't correspond to everything he listed (focus on other things than gameplay, 3D gameplay, realism, online multiplayer, etc.).

I'm very wary of anyone that doesn't like Spelunky ?

Yeah, as you've said though the list is endless. I've more stuff lined up than I think I can play in the next five years, even if I stop buying now.

 

[adamchevy]

I’m hesitant for a few reasons:

No native 1440p support

No Gamepass for Day 1 exclusives

Poorer thermal design Vs Series X

Microsoft owns Bethesda

Console is still impossible to buy at MSRP easily. The same could be said for the Series X. I had to buy a Series S in hopes one of these more powerful consoles would become available. Looks like I’ll be buying a Pro model in 2023 at this point.

[Keatah]

IMHO Bethesda needs a good MS slapdown. But it's the above-MSRP that's a bigger detractor.

[adamchevy]

IMHO Bethesda needs a good MS slapdown. But it's the above-MSRP that's a bigger detractor.

I’m a pretty big fan of Halo(the original). My pocket book is burning watching the new Halo Special edition Series X getting scalped all over the place.

[SegaSnatcher]

Playstation has always been a strong brand for me, but I can totally understand people wanting to wait a year or two when some killer AAA exclusives release.  

Honestly I bought the PS5 at launch because how transformative it can make a lot of PS4 games play via BC improvements.  Going from 30fps to 60fps is such a night and day difference for games.  The better motion and lower input lag really makes these games play so much better.  I can't wait to replay Uncharted 4 when the PS5 enhanced port comes out early next year with 60fps. 

[glazball]

Somewhat random anecdote: a good friend of mine who bought his PS5 at launch (through a direct invite from Sony) told me that he got a "too hot" warning two nights ago.  It recommended that he turn it off until it cooled down, which he did.  It happened close to bedtime so he just shut it down for the night and the next day, opened it up and cleaned it out.  He only saw a tiny amount of dust and it seems to be working fine now, but still worrisome.  (I'll update if something changes.)

 

The funny/not-funny thing is this happened just after his console had turned a year old.  Had it died completely, it would be out of warranty.  He takes care of his stuff, lives alone, no pets and his place is not dusty or dirty.

 

Edit with some fresh info: He says he did not hear the fan running even when getting that "too hot" message, but it is always exceptionally quiet so that may not mean anything.  He also mentioned he was playing R&C in 4K Fidelity Mode - played a bunch more last night and had no problems.  Not sure what happened so I hope it was just a fluke??

Edited December 2, 2021 by glazball

[adamchevy]

Somewhat random anecdote: a good friend of mine who bought his PS5 at launch (through a direct invite from Sony) told me that he got a "too hot" warning two nights ago.  It recommended that he turn it off until it cooled down, which he did.  It happened close to bedtime so he just shut it down for the night and the next day, opened it up and cleaned it out.  He only saw a tiny amount of dust and it seems to be working fine now, but still worrisome.  (I'll update if something changes.)
 
The funny/not-funny thing is this happened just after his console had turned a year old.  Had it died completely, it would be out of warranty.  He takes care of his stuff, lives alone, no pets and his place is not dusty or dirty.
 
Edit with some fresh info: He says he did not hear the fan running even when getting that "too hot" message, but it is always exceptionally quiet so that may not mean anything.  He also mentioned he was playing R&C in 4K Fidelity Mode - played a bunch more last night and had no problems.  Not sure what happened so I hope it was just a fluke??

It’s been said that early adopters of new hardware are really just beta testers. I think that gets more true with every passing day.

[Keatah]

Yup. If it's that new and that well-kept and still has a marginal issue, well, then, it needs a revision. Whether it gets that revision or not seems to always depend on the buying public's tolerance for technical tedia.

[glazball]

PS5 did quietly get a hardware revision a while back.

[+wongojack]

After reading all 3 pages, I wanted to say that I also did not really like Spelunky . . . 

 

But I agree with the point that the console can do sooo many things besides play Halo or God of War.  I just wish the newest ones were actually for sale.

[adamchevy]

I almost pulled the Trigger on Cyber-Monday.  I still haven’t seen that Killer App yet.  I’m starting to think I may skip this Gen and go PC instead. Although the cost for performance per dollar is helping me lean closer to a PS5. Nvidia and AMD aren’t helping make the decision easy by keeping their high end GPUs at $900 or more for the current Gen 4000 and 7900 series. 
 

You can buy a PS5, extra controller, an Oled TV and a few games for the cost of a nice gaming PC these days.

[glazball]

Well at this point the PS5 is 2 years old, and there are tons of games for it.  If you haven't found a "killer app" by now, you aren't ever going to.

[zzip]

2 hours ago, glazball said:

Well at this point the PS5 is 2 years old, and there are tons of games for it.  If you haven't found a "killer app" by now, you aren't ever going to.

Sure but most of them are glorified PS4 games.   There's been very little so far that is truly next-gen

 

11 hours ago, adamchevy said:

I almost pulled the Trigger on Cyber-Monday.  I still haven’t seen that Killer App yet.  I’m starting to think I may skip this Gen and go PC instead. Although the cost for performance per dollar is helping me lean closer to a PS5. Nvidia and AMD aren’t helping make the decision easy by keeping their high end GPUs at $900 or more for the current Gen 4000 and 7900 series. 

The problem is 90% of the games on PS5 are on Steam and vice versa.   Seems like gaming is in a lull-  there isn't much to justify a PS5 or a PC upgrade,

 

One thing though the PS5 SSD is truly fast.   I have a fast NVME SSD in my PC, but loading times are nowhere near what the PS5 can do due to bottlenecks in the PC architecture.

[Keatah]

12 hours ago, adamchevy said:

I still haven’t seen that Killer App yet.

3 hours ago, glazball said:

Well at this point the PS5 is 2 years old, and there are tons of games for it.  If you haven't found a "killer app" by now, you aren't ever going to.

Not necessarily.. It took about that amount of time to get SpaceInvaders on the VCS. The platform's unofficial killer app.

 

I'm sure the hardware is capable and all that. I'd get a next-gen console myself if there were 3 or 4 titles that impressed me AND fit my style of gaming.

[adamchevy]

38 minutes ago, Keatah said:

Not necessarily.. It took about that amount of time to get SpaceInvaders on the VCS. The platform's unofficial killer app.

 

I'm sure the hardware is capable and all that. I'd get a next-gen console myself if there were 3 or 4 titles that impressed me AND fit my style of gaming.

That’s what I’ve run into with this Gen of consoles.  I have Series S with game pass and I still rarely find things I want to play. 
 

The only interesting thing to me about the PS5 at this point is the upcoming PSVR2.  It also lacks a killer app for me but I’ve never had any VR experience of any kind.  It looks like the best way to enjoy VR currently for the price.  
 

There are 4 titles that have piqued my interest over the past 2 years on the PS5. Demon Souls remake(I played it on the PS3), Astros Playroom(I’m a sucker for a good platformer), Returnal( I love Housemarque’s arcade gaming style), and Final Fantasy 7 Intergrade(played the hell out of it on PS1).  
 

I owned a PS4 for a little while just to play Nex Machina. Once it was released for PC I sold off my PS4. 
 

That’s actually what has held me off from buying a PS5. I’m expecting many of its titles to eventually move to the PC.
 

 

[+wongojack]

8 minutes ago, adamchevy said:

That’s what I’ve run into with this Gen of consoles.  I have Series S with game pass and I still rarely find things I want to play. 
 

The only interesting thing to me about the PS5 at this point is the upcoming PSVR2.  It also lacks a killer app for me but I’ve never had any VR experience of any kind.  It looks like the best way to enjoy VR currently for the price.  
 

There are 4 titles that have piqued my interest over the past 2 years on the PS5. Demon Souls remake(I played it on the PS3), Astros Playroom(I’m a sucker for a good platformer), Returnal( I love Housemarque’s arcade gaming style), and Final Fantasy 7 Intergrade(played the hell out of it on PS1).  
 

I owned a PS4 for a little while just to play Nex Machina. Once it was released for PC I sold off my PS4. 
 

That’s actually what has held me off from buying a PS5. I’m expecting many of its titles to eventually move to the PC.
 

 

Replying to the can't find anything on GamePass to play . . .

 

I tend to play the GamePass games that are smaller in scope.  I go back to those a lot and play them on my PC with GP too.  Slay the Spire, Dicey Dungeons, Monster Train.  Stuff like that, but I have occasionally played a bigger budget game through GamePass.  I did that with Star Wars Fallen Order, and both Rise of/Shadow of Tomb Raider for example.  Right now they have "Return the Monkey Island" that I am dying to play.  I can't find enough time to play all the stuff I want on GamePass.

 

Regards to this generation not having killer apps - I agree.  The first game I found that I even remotely wanted to play and couldn't was Gotham Knights, but it is getting bad reviews, so I can hold off on that one.  If the pandemic hadn't happened then Forbidden West, and GoW Ragnarok probably would have been next gen exclusives.  Those would be some pretty killer PS5 apps, but alas, you can play them on PS4.

[Keatah]

7 minutes ago, adamchevy said:

The only interesting thing to me about the PS5 at this point is the upcoming PSVR2.  It also lacks a killer app for me but I’ve never had any VR experience of any kind.  It looks like the best way to enjoy VR currently for the price.  

It would be amusing and interesting to see some sort of over-the-top bullet hell shooter in VR. Something based on DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu Black Level Arrange. Shit coming at you from everywhere. AI assistants to cover your ass. And more!

[Keatah]

  

On 9/27/2021 at 4:15 AM, TheGameCollector said:

You know what I found out that's interesting? It looks to me like in Sept 2005 when Sonic Adventure DX for PC released, a period correct machine would actually struggle to run it at minimum settings unless you had a very high end PC for that year. Windows Vista didn't even come out as RTM until 2006 and most sites recommend Windows 7 or above.

Oftentimes the unfortunately now discontinued Microsoft Flight Simulator would be spec'd for something like a Maximum PC Dream Machine. Read that as a $10,000 setup. You'd get the game. And eventually grow into it when you replaced your PC's hardware some number of years later. 

 

On 9/27/2021 at 4:15 AM, TheGameCollector said:

So it's actually much less of a headache just saving games that required top of the line machines back then for a next gen PC.

I guess upon release maybe getting max settings out of this game wasn't even possible? I guess I was lucky I could just get it for Gamecube and a year earlier.

After around 2010 I stopped fretting over minimum requirements. I figure it's the industry's problem to make software that works on the hardware they so strongly advertised as being state-of-the-art and best of the best. The shit's either gonna work or it ain't.

 

On 9/27/2021 at 4:15 AM, TheGameCollector said:

If you look back at what happened here in the past with struggling to run a game that came out on a console a year earlier, I guess you can understand why plenty of gamers do want a simple console over making incremental upgrades to PCs.

Yes. That is a huge saving grace. And it takes a little discipline to not keep upgrading a PC to match the latest specifications.

On 9/27/2021 at 4:15 AM, TheGameCollector said:

I personally want to save for a new gaming PC because I haven't bought a new computer since a low end one 2014, and a used 2014 laptop bought in 2018 is my most powerful. Nothing I've ever had was branded as a "gaming PC" in any era but I still played games on all of them.

I don't think I ever had a real "gaming" computer.

 

Rightly or wrongly, I associate "gaming" with RGB and funky-looking cases. I suppose "gaming" means powerful GPU. Everything else is meh.

 

On 9/27/2021 at 4:15 AM, TheGameCollector said:

Just ones that were at least a few years old. It would cost a lot less to just buy a PS5 and Xbox One even at scalped pricing than to buy the best PC now because the graphics cards are so expensive.

It's a year later now. Covid is passe' and crypto is in the drink and 40 series is out. Prices should have stopped increasing or have actually come down.

 

On 9/27/2021 at 4:15 AM, TheGameCollector said:

And who knows if this year's best Windows 10 computer can even run next year or the year after's brand new *Windows 11 required* games.

Win10 and Win11 are very similar. So I don't see this being much of a problem. And the way updates are being done (so frequently) it shouldn't be a problem to move forward anyways. I don't see hardware making big leaps right away either.

[Keatah]

3 hours ago, zzip said:

The problem is 90% of the games on PS5 are on Steam and vice versa.   Seems like gaming is in a lull-  there isn't much to justify a PS5 or a PC upgrade,

There isn't. And I would like to see a slowdown in new IP being developed. I would prefer the existing game worlds to be expanded and refined. More levels and DLC and add-ons. And the occasional "wrap-up" where everything-to-date is repackaged into an Anniversary Edition. I seriously miss those level packs for DN3D and Doom back from back then!

 

3 hours ago, zzip said:

One thing though the PS5 SSD is truly fast.   I have a fast NVME SSD in my PC, but loading times are nowhere near what the PS5 can do due to bottlenecks in the PC architecture.

I thought I heard somewhere that that exact bottleneck in PC's SSD subsystem was to be addressed somehow? Doesn't the solution involve the GPU and it itself loading textures directly from the SSD files using dedicated lanes?

[zzip]

8 minutes ago, Keatah said:

I thought I heard somewhere that that exact bottleneck in PC's SSD subsystem was to be addressed somehow? Doesn't the solution involve the GPU and it itself loading textures directly from the SSD files using dedicated lanes?

The bottleneck I believe is PC has to load from SSD to main memory, then copy the graphics data over to GPU memory.   PS5 just has a single memory pool and doesn't require a multi-step process.

 

Yes I'm sure they are working on something on the PC side, but it takes a few years for new PC standards to become mainstream so I'm not sure where that stands at the moment.

[adamchevy]

22 minutes ago, Keatah said:

I thought I heard somewhere that that exact bottleneck in PC's SSD subsystem was to be addressed somehow? Doesn't the solution involve the GPU and it itself loading textures directly from the SSD files using dedicated lanes?

Yes its called Direct Storage.  Nvidia is supposed to be making that a reality with the current 4000 series cards.  I also associate gaming PCs with RGB and blinky lights.  It must be a generational thing.  I tried that with my last 3080 build.  It wasn't for me.  

 

The whole concept of the SSD speed in the PS5 is really the only hardware innovation that intrigues me about the current gen consoles.  Other than that improvement they are much the same as before. The ram and the CPU have also seen wonderful improvements, but with the advent of the new 13th gen intel CPUs and DDR5 ram they aren't that impressive, except for the price point.

 

Two things keep me from building a next gen gaming PC. Obviously, price, but also the idea of having a PC dedicated to a TV in my entertainment center seems like a massive waste.  I think the space and PC would be wasted.  Unless I had a spare $2,500 to just park in my entertainment center.  

[zzip]

1 hour ago, adamchevy said:

There are 4 titles that have piqued my interest over the past 2 years on the PS5. Demon Souls remake(I played it on the PS3), Astros Playroom(I’m a sucker for a good platformer)

Astro's Playroom is the game that's showed off the PS5 capabilities the best.   It's really cool what can be done with the controller haptics.   I've yet to see any other game use them that well.

 

The Demon's Souls tech is next gen on the visual side-  gameplay wise, it's a typical souls games with some added haptics.   But the visuals really pop compared to the other Souls game, including Elden Ring.  Unfortunately it's one of the shortest games in that series.   I would like to see what they could do with that engine,  hopefully a Bloodborne remake is in the works.   This is how remasters should be done..   not the typical way where they add higher res textures, throw in some HDR and it just feels like a slightly updated version of a last gen game.

 

 

[Keatah]

1 minute ago, adamchevy said:

Yes its called Direct Storage.  Nvidia is supposed to be making that a reality with the current 4000 series cards. 

Yes thanks.

 

1 minute ago, adamchevy said:

I also associate gaming PCs with RGB and blinky lights.  It must be a generational thing.  

It's so much bigger than a generational thing. This has been going on since the end of the dotcom era. Think the beginnings of Nvidia vs ATI/AMD rivalry.

 

[adamchevy]

13 minutes ago, zzip said:

Astro's Playroom is the game that's showed off the PS5 capabilities the best.   It's really cool what can be done with the controller haptics.   I've yet to see any other game use them that well.

 

The Demon's Souls tech is next gen on the visual side-  gameplay wise, it's a typical souls games with some added haptics.   But the visuals really pop compared to the other Souls game, including Elden Ring.  Unfortunately it's one of the shortest games in that series.   I would like to see what they could do with that engine,  hopefully a Bloodborne remake is in the works.   This is how remasters should be done..   not the typical way where they add higher res textures, throw in some HDR and it just feels like a slightly updated version of a last gen game.

 

 

I had my finger on the Trigger on Cyber Monday.  Looking back I should have purchased Demon Souls and Bloodborne.  I never played Bloodborne on the PS4.  Thats also one of my reasons to purchase a PS5.  I hope it gets the same remake treatment as you mentioned.  I'm glad to hear the added graphics in Demon Souls look great.  I also have heard the 60fps(Demon Souls) is a game changer.  

 

Astros playroom, amazingly the pack in, is really my most anticipated PS5 game strangely.  I love controller innovation and games that take advantage of it.

[zzip]

10 minutes ago, adamchevy said:

I had my finger on the Trigger on Cyber Monday.  Looking back I should have purchased Demon Souls and Bloodborne.  I never played Bloodborne on the PS4.  Thats also one of my reasons to purchase a PS5.  I hope it gets the same remake treatment as you mentioned.  I'm glad to hear the added graphics look great.  I also have heard the 60fps is a game changer. 

Bloodborne is great,  but it's still stuck at 30fps with frame pacing issues,  it never got a PS5 patch to address that.   Even DS3 runs at 60fps on PS5 and I believe that runs on the same engine as Bloodborne.