Should You Buy a PlayStation 5? Here are Some Important Points

Why You Should Buy a PS5

Putting aside what’s under its hood (which is just pure, hardware engineering bliss), the PS5 would be a great purchase for anyone looking to branch into the world of entertainment. Whether it’s to watch your movies in 4K or to hang out with your social groups, or of course, play some really cool games, it’s still a wonder how we could centralize everything we do in a single system.

But that’s something we’ve seen in the previous consoles. So if you need a good incentive to get a PS5, then maybe the reasons below might help.

The Exclusives are Stellar

It’s a no-brainer, isn’t it? Literally, every listing for a PS5 will show you the recommended games for it, and most of them are its exclusives, meaning they won’t be released for the other platforms. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that going the PS5 way will land you a great number of games that give an equally great experience for you to play through.

Swing around in a snowy NYU in Spider-Man: Miles Morales, traverse through the rifts of time with a mysterious Lombax in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, challenge your skills by passing gruesome boss battles in Demon’s Souls — you name it, the PS5’s got it.

Some have yet to be released — most of them slated for a 2021 release — but here are 10 exclusive games you should keep an eye out for if you plan to go for the PS5:

• Astro’s Playroom
• Demons’s Souls
• Destruction AllStars
• God of War: Ragnarok
• Gran Turismo 7
• Horizon Forbidden West
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Returnal
• Sackboy: A Big Adventure
• Spider-Man: Miles Morales

DualSense is Incredible

Now, I’m not saying you should buy the console just for the controller… but you might as well do!

If the technology that runs it is said to be adaptive (and there are a whole lot of people confirming this!), then it could bring about an interesting dynamic between the player and the game hitherto undreamt of.

I talked about the controller in slight detail here, so I won’t dwell too deep into it. But rest assured, there’s nothing quite like it. It’s also one more reason why the PS5 is a good choice over the other platforms. You won’t see the same type of technology being used elsewhere.

The PS5 is Affordable

Why is the PS5 expensive? In short, it’s not.

For a console that packs technology that can run on native 4K screens, project ray-tracing in real-time, AND give almost zero loading time, $399 (for the Digital Edition) is reasonable.

At the time of its release, the PlayStation 4 was $399, and rumors surrounding the PS5’s pricing at the time of its leaks suggested that the prices would be set at $599 — an understandable number to consider, given that any advancement made in consumer technologies would mean more money for you to dish out. But the projected numbers were still a cause for concern.

The extra $100 that goes into the Standard Edition is all due to the Ultra-HD Blu-Ray technology riding on the disk drive. This means that disk games under 100 GB will fit within a single disk! For context, the disk games for PS4 would have to be divided into two if the game itself was more than 50 GB large.

If anything, these prices help loosen our collars a bit, and gives a whole lot more than the PS4 Pro ever could. The Standard Edition will set you back by $499, and the Digital Edition by $399.

You’re a First Time PlayStation User

Now, I’m a first-time console player, let alone a PlayStation user. It was difficult for me to figure out whether I should first go with the PS4, get some experience playing there, or if I should just go ahead with the PS5 and enter the world of PlayStation cold turkey. But taking a step back got me thinking: The former idea didn’t make much sense.

For one, the PS5 will support backward compatibility; almost any PS4 game that I buy should work on the PS5. What’s better is that these games will be enhanced by the PS5 automatically!

For two, PlayStation provides PlayStation Now, a service with which you could stream all kinds of games released for the previous consoles. For instance, if I ever want to experience the entire God of War saga in one sitting, then I could subscribe for a month to PS Now, and voila! I get all the HD games in a single system; no muss, no fuss.

So, if this is your first time — like it was mine — and if you’re thinking of whether you should buy a PS4 over the PS5, or a refurbished unit of any of the previous era consoles, then I’d advise that you go with the PS5 instead. You’ll get everything you’re looking for there!

The PS4 Will Be Obsolete in 4 Years

This should technically be a third part of the previous point, but I wanted to stress how important it is. How long will the PS4 last for? Well, it’s been confirmed by Sony that after 4 years from the PS5 launch date, the support for PS4 will be discontinued.

Speaking in retrospect, the PS3 was barely given much time before they put an end to it; only running for a total of 7 years. Although it has already surpassed that milestone (8 years so far), the PS4 will reach a 12-year lifetime of supply and production by 2025, making it Sony’s longest-supported console in the market.

Having said all of that, 4 years can go by quickly. It doesn’t factor in what could happen once people embrace the PS5’s backward compatibility feature. There’s also the possibility that your social groups want to move on to the newer platforms.

Given that there’s more support offered to free-to-play titles, multiplayer-only titles, and indie titles by these new-gen platforms, it’s likely that sticking to the old-gen consoles would isolate you from the rest of the growing community, which is always a bummer.

Why You Should Not Buy a PlayStation 5

This may come off as a surprise! But, as with any kind of technology, there’s always a middle ground to be established. While the number of good points outweighs the not-so-great ones, the intensity of those points is something to consider as well.

Even the slightest of inconveniences can be a major turn-off for most folks, so here are some that may be important to keep in mind when you’re planning to get a PS5.

The List of Games is Small

Sure, the PS5 is going to see a lot of games released on it. But as far as PS5 exclusives are concerned, the line-up is pretty small. Most of them won’t release until after the first half of 2021, and considering the delays happening in many AAA game development companies, it’s likely that some of the games will be pushed to 2022 as well.

Since the PS5 has been released, prices for the previous consoles will definitely be at the lowest they’ve ever been. So it’s not a terrible idea to go for a PS4 if you wanted to.

PS5 Games are Expensive

Well, it’s easy to buy a car. But what will really kill your wallet is the road tax. The same logic applies here.

If you’re planning to build a library of PS5 games, chances are you’ll need to spend a lot more than your usual $40 to get even one. Most retail and digital games for the PS5 come to an average of $60 dollars, with the price reductions only happening after a year or so, during peak season sales.

Even so, the slashed prices most likely wouldn’t be enough for you, and you’d be stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The PS5 Has Limitations At Launch

Sony confirmed that there are some technical limitations related to their highly marketed solid-state drive (SSD) and other storage features. Firstly, the NVMe supports that the PS5 promises are actually made unavailable at launch.

Secondly, you could only play PS4 games on the external drives, but to play PS5 games, they would need to be installed in the internal SSD itself.

Thirdly — and this can be a deal-breaker for some — the customized SSD unit is integrated into the PS5’s motherboard. Best-case scenario: You can’t swap the SSD for a new one.

Worst-case scenario: Any heavy damage to the SSD could potentially harm the motherboard as well. That’s a lot of unwanted risks. In a way, this doesn’t make getting a PS5 at launch worth it.

The Scalping Issue is Getting Worse

This isn’t directly the PS5’s fault, but at the rate, this issue is going, you will have to wait a while to buy a PS5. And nobody has much time to wait things out, right?

One of the scalpers on Twitter nonchalantly described that scalping “just keeps getting easier every time” but not before boasting about logging over 2,000 checkouts for PS5 systems initially restocked by GAME, one of the main retailers.

So, does this mean that you should give up on trying to grab a PS5? Of course not! I’m sure the scalping issue will be dealt with in some manner. Until such time can come to pass, however, it’d be best to consider other options.

Maybe look into the Xbox Series X? Nintendo Switch? Or dare I say… ”the glorious master race that is” the PC platform? Go ahead and explore!

Top it up with a Gaming Router

When it comes to gaming, there are a few things you cannot compromise on.

 A gaming router is one of these things.  You need a gaming router to ensure that you have the best possible gaming experience available from your internet connection.

The most important thing about a gaming router is its speed, and also its bandwidth.  Many gaming routers come with a high-speed processor which ensures that you don’t face any lag in between gaming sessions, or while playing a multi-player game online.   

Another reason why gamers prefer using gaming routers instead of regular ones is that they give all connected devices the same priority level when it comes to sharing the bandwidth.

Add the Best PS5 SSD

If you’re looking for the best SSD for your PlayStation 5, you’ll want to check out the WD_Black SN850.

This next-gen PCIe Gen4 SSD is optimized for top-tier gaming, with irrationally fast read/write speeds of up to 7000/5300MB/s (1TB model) and up to 1,000,000 IOPS (1TB and 2TB models).

It also has up to 2TB capacity to hold all your favorite battle-ready games. Plus, the WD_BLACK Dashboard software lets you customize and control your gaming experience (Windows Only).

And now it’s compatible with PlayStation 5 consoles (PS5 system software version 21.02-04.00.00 or higher required). So don’t wait any longer, order your WD_Black SN850 SSD today!

But Don’t Take My Word for It!

In any case, the release of the PS5 brings a lot of opportunities in the gaming world for the casual player. And much like the next person, these are just my opinions. In the end, you’ve got to make your purchase count.

If any of the points I mentioned above ring true to you and help you decide, then all the better for it!

What Do You Think?

Do you think the thoughts put here are justified? What more (or less) do you think should be said about the PS5? Do you like what Xbox Series X has to offer instead? Post your thoughts, and let’s get a conversation going about it.