Prior to purchasing Sony’s newest console, consider these factors.
ESSENTIAL NOTES
- Think about how much a PS5 will cost in total, including games and accessories, which can run into the hundreds of dollars.
- It might be wiser to finish off your backlog of PS4 games before switching to the PS5, which is backwards compatible and provides a pretty comparable experience for PS4 games.
- Consider how interested you are in the PS5 games that are available, as many of the best games are also accessible on other systems. You can probably wait to upgrade if you’re not excited to play PS5 exclusives.
If you haven’t purchased a PS5 yet but are debating it, you want to think about if this is the best option for you. Before shelling out several hundred dollars for Sony’s newest console, consider the following points.
1. Is the Whole Price of a PS5 Within Your Reach?
Of course, you should think about the cost before making any purchases. Although the price varies depending on the model, the PS5 starts at $400 or $450, which is too expensive to purchase on a whim.
Don’t forget about the additional costs that come with the purchase, even if you can afford the console itself. Astro’s Playroom, the built-in demo that comes with the PS5, isn’t that entertaining. Several titles published by Sony were $60 in the previous generation, but now cost $70 new. Additionally, you must have PlayStation Plus Essential, which costs $80 a year, in order to play online.
Therefore, adding just two games and a year of PlayStation Plus Essential to the initial purchase may add another $220 to the price, or over half of the price of the PS5 alone.
Games aren’t the only additional expense. Perhaps you should obtain better headphones, spend more than $70 on a second DualSense controller for multiplayer, or get the controllers to stand upright while charging. These should also be included in the system budget that you have created.
The initial ~$450 price tag might easily rise to hundreds more, depending on how many extras you choose to buy. You might think about selling your PlayStation 4 and using the money to purchase a PlayStation 5 in order to assist offset this expense. However, first…
2. Have You Completed Your PlayStation 4 Game Play?
There are a tonne of amazing games on the PS4. Most likely, if you started using the system halfway through its release, you haven’t had a chance to play them all. You should thus think about the PS4 games you still wish to play.
Even having a newer system available, older PS4 games can still be played flawlessly. In addition, PS4 games are less expensive when they get older than brand-new PlayStation 5 games.
You’ll be happy to hear that practically all PlayStation 4 games are backwards compatible with the PlayStation 5, should you decide to upgrade. PS4 games can be played using PS4 controllers, while PS5 games can be played via an external HDD. Additionally, there isn’t much of a difference between PS4 and PS5 performance for many games.
You might as well use the PS4 to clear up your backlog of games if you’re not in a rush to play specific PS5 titles. There will be less juggling of installed games if you finish them before upgrading because of the PS5’s limited SSD capacity.
It makes more sense to switch to the PS5 if you’ve finished most of your PS4 games.
3. Do You Find the PS5 Games Available Interesting?
A lot of the best PS5 games, like Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West, are also playable on PS4 or other systems. The games you wish to play will determine if upgrading from a PS4 to a PS5 is worthwhile. You can probably wait if you’re not dying to play PS5 exclusives like Final Fantasy XVI or Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
You ought to purchase the more recent system if the next installment in your beloved series is exclusive to the PS5. Whether you should upgrade to the better PS5 version of cross-generational games is entirely up to you.
4. The PS5 Comes in Two Models Now
Sony revealed a slight update to the PS5 in October 2023; most people refer to it as the PS5 Slim in keeping with previous console naming traditions.
There are two versions of the original PS5 available: the $500 standard version with a disc drive and the $400 digital-only variant. If you purchase the PS5 Slim without a disc drive, it costs $450; if you purchase the drive, it costs $500. In the future, if you purchase the Slim model without a disc, you can purchase the disc reader separately; however, this reader is incompatible with the original digital-only PS5.
The only other noteworthy upgrade over the original Slim PS5, other from its lower size, is that the new model includes 1TB of storage space instead of the 825GB found in the original. Therefore, it’s a smart idea to get the new Slim variant of the PS5 if you decide to go forward with getting one. You may enjoy your console for many years to come with a few enhancements that you receive for about the same price.
Fortunately, as of this writing, the infamous PS5 supply troubles have essentially resolved, so obtaining one shouldn’t be too difficult.
5. You Could Get Better Offers by Waiting
A console’s middle years are ideal for purchases because there are more games available and many more to come, plus any hardware bugs from the first models are typically fixed with updates. Nevertheless, exercising a little more patience could help you obtain a better deal on your buy.
Given that the PS5 is a few years old already, bundles that raise the system’s worth are more likely to be seen. For instance, a $500 combo that included Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and the PS5 Slim was available on shelves during Black Friday in 2023. Given that you get the game for free, you save $70.
Whether it makes sense to play right away or whether you would rather wait for the best opportunity is entirely up to you.
6. Do You Think the PlayStation 5 Is the Best Option?
Remember that there are other gaming systems besides the PlayStation 5. The PS5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and S were released at roughly the same time. If you’re a PlayStation enthusiast, the choice should be simple. Don’t undervalue the other options, though.
Although it is a less powerful console, the Xbox Series S is still affordable at $300 ($350 if you want 1TB of space). That might be a better choice for you if you want next-generation gaming as soon as feasible and at the lowest potential cost.
Many Xbox One, Xbox 360, and original Xbox games are backwards compatible with both of the current Xbox platforms. Consider the new Xbox if you’re interested in older Xbox games. Additionally, Xbox Game Pass is a selling feature for both Xbox systems because it offers hundreds of excellent games for a monthly fee, making it an incredible value.
As an alternative, you could construct a respectable gaming PC for about the price of a PlayStation 5, albeit you could invest much more money in that endeavour. Many advantages come with playing games on a PC, including additional control options, improved graphical performance, and free multiplayer. If you’re not convinced about the PS5, now could be a good time to give PC gaming a try.
Give Purchasing a PlayStation 5 Some Thought
Our intention is not to dissuade you from purchasing a PS5. After a few years, there are enough excellent titles on the system to make it worthwhile to purchase, and it’s a significant advance over the PS4. But before you buy one, think about the aforementioned reasons to determine whether this is the best time to do so.
Perhaps you have chosen not to upgrade at this time. Then, why not give a portable gaming console some thought?
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