Hey you very beautiful people - apart from you really ugly guys, please leave instantly. It's been a while. I've moved house, started working in a new area and generally been slobbing around playing games when I've got the chance. I hope you've all been taking care of yourself and others during the pandemic and most importantly missing my posts. So sit down and be full of blood pumping adrenaline when reading this, because I told you to.
Next-gen is upon us. The new additions to the long line of Playstation and XBOX consoles will be in our hands this coming winter, or as they are usually advertised, ‘this holiday season’. For those who don’t know me, my interest is 100% aimed towards the 5th generation Playstation console – but the title probably gave it away, right? I’ve been debating writing this post for a while, but I decided amongst the constant circulating rumours of release dates, prices and Geoff Keighley showcasing the new Dualsense controller that it is about time I dove into my immediate thoughts.
For the Gamers'
Obviously the most important aspect of any console is the games. We can discuss how many teraflops makes the new shiny thing process quicker or how pretty the colours are or how the disc based PS5 looks like it has a hernia, but all that really matters is the standard of the games. The Playstation 4 life cycle completely wiped the floor with Xbox, particularly when it came to exclusive games. God of War, Spiderman, The Last of Us Part 2 and the recently released Ghost of Tsushima just to name a few earned the spotlight during this current generation and all for the right reasons. These AAA spectacles showed the gulf in class between first party titles across the video game console landscape. Sony, in my eyes, knocked it out the park when they unveiled the console, with plenty of exciting games, with new appealing titles and the return of old favourites – find the showcase ‘here’ if you ain’t somehow not seen it yet. With the anticipated return of Horzion, Ratchet and Clank and Spiderman (albeit not officially the 2nd title in the newest series), Playstation have put themselves in a strong position ahead of Xbox’s upcoming showcase this week. Microsoft’s Phil Spencer has recently been quoted in saying they won’t have any exclusives “for a few years” for the new generation of Xbox titles – which I would imagine gives Sony the ‘win’, as expected, with this aspect of the new console generation
Will we see the return of God of War, another Uncharted or even the Order 1886? I’d say it’s not secret that we will be playing as Kratos within the next few years, but it would be great to hear what others think we will see in the coming years – now go straight to the comments section and tell me. Now. Go. I’m watching. Waiting.
*Insert Abba Song Here*
My main gripe is with the utter silence from Sony regarding the price. Silence that is worrying. I don’t think it would take a genius to understand some of the reasons why but I’ll spell them out for you that don’t keep up with the gaming news at the same speed as myself, seeing as you probably have hobbies, a life, happiness. The hardware itself appears to be expensive, I’m not the most tech proficient guy, don’t tell me my assessment of the hardware is inaccurate because I know it will be – just be polite thanks. We are also still dealing with the current pandemic, albeit it seems to be coming to an end (fingers crossed). Some people will be out of jobs, working less hours and a it kind of fucking the whole economy. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to save quite a lot of money, and I’m sure there will be others like myself who weren’t spending £3 on a cup of coffee every day for work and seeing it build up. So this situation puts all manufacturers (not just Sony and Microsoft) in an awkward position when it comes to pricing the console. During a different time the most obvious reason on this list would be that Sony are waiting for Microsoft to make the first move. They have a lot of work to do to build upon the fractured community of this generation and I think they could be try to be the ‘cheap’ console to bring in more of an audience – and with the current climate this would be a wise move, initially.
This then begs the question of what ‘cheap’ would be? Are the consoles worth close to £650 or are they able to be sold at a value of around £450, the £200 difference is considerable, and would surely reduce sales if it is the former. I myself have money set aside (due to my fortunate saving) which I hope will be enough for me to secure a console, possibly accessories and a game or two at the best. It will also be the first console I have ever purchased on release so there’s an extra sense of excitement about it from my perspective. If I had to guess, I would suggest that the console with the disc tray will cost £550 and the all-digital version will range between £450-£500. It could be more, but I imagine this will be the so-called sweet spot. As a person who likes physical copies and has a tonne of blu-ray films, the all-digital consoles doesn’t quite appeal to me yet, especially as my most played PS4 games are all physical too! Once again, let me know what you reckon the prices of the consoles could be and are you swayed by an all-digital console? Don’t make me beg, again.
CREATE
Amongst pricing, games, teraflip-flops and the console memes, I'm intrigued by one small, but potentially console selling (ambitious) aspect - 'Create'. This feature is located on the new Dualsense controller, replacing the 'Share' option on the Dualshock 4. I use the 'Share' button quite frequently as a streamer and someone who likes to clip gameplay and take screenshots and in short it is pretty dreadful. It's slow, sometimes crashes my game and/or stream and isn't very groundbreaking. I'd really like Sony to grab the ball and run with this, possibly teaming up with Streamlabs/StreamElements or the like and allowing streamers to have the same razzle dazzle as their PC/Capture Card friends do when streaming. Currently you can have the PS4 camera placed in one of the 4 corners of the screen and have comments appear on screen - it is highly unremarkable. With streaming getting more and more popular this could be a golden opportunity going forward but I ain't holding my breath!
As always, take care guys.