My husband has always wanted a playstation. He's 70 so we are older than a lot in this group I'm sure. I've read a bit about them and I thought I'd ask for a recommendation between the Playstation Pro 4 4K. I'd like to make it as simple as possible and keep the game costs at their lowest.
I read that downloading them is more money than purchasing the disk? Not sure if that's correct.
Are there any other costs once we set it up?
can I buy a 1 TB if we plan on buying discs rather than the 2TB? I read that the 2TB is necessary if we download games rather than purchasing the discs. Keeping in mind we want it simple, is there a preference?
Whether the game is digital or disk based does not alter the hard drive space needed. the games are loaded onto the hard drive. If you want to keep costs down then its best to buy 2nd hand games and then sell them on after you have finished with them. Through somewhere like Ebay. There are also constant sales on digital games and often games can be pcked up cheaply depending on the game.
Some games will require PS Plus if your partner wants to play online with other people. You also get free games every month the cost is £50 per year but often you can get it discounted through different outlets. Also you can get Playstation credit (the currency used on the digital store) at lower rates than the actual value, ie £50 for £42 from various website like shopto.
Are you asking whether you should buy a PS5 or a PS4 pro? If you want to keep costs down then choose a PS4 pro there are many games to play and you should be able to get a very good deal on them around black friday as retailers will want to get rid of stock before the launch of the new console.
Wow thanks everyone for such great info! We have a 4K TV so I think I'll get the PS4 pro. I doubt he will want to play online...he can play me right? I mean if I get another controller (with the thumb grips caps - thanks for that). I do wonder if we will be disappointed with the PS4 Pro if some games require plus. I suppose he can always join online if he wants. Yeah, I leave that to him.
TheldeCritic, we are in the SF Bay Area so I'm going to purchase one here but thanks for the offer.
One more thing....what game would you recommend for me to get him on disc so he can play right away? I don't know if Spiderman requires plus or not, but he'd probably enjoy that one. Is it good?
@LauraM I still remember the days of sitting on the same couch with friends and playing one another. There aren't many games like that anymore unfortunately. BUT sitting with him while he plays can be just as fun. I sat with my wife as she played The Witcher 3 - a massive and very long game - I've seen the entirety of that game (hundreds of hours) and I haven't touched the controller once! But it ended up being one of my favourites.
He won't need Plus to play Spider-Man, it's fantastic too. It can get a bit frantic though, especially during combat.
You only need Plus in order to play online multiplayer modes in games. I don't know if that's what he wants. I have Plus but I exclusively play offline.
Ghost of Tsushima is great.
Assassin's Creed Syndicate (it's an older one but it's before the games in the series began to grow in scale, which might be a bit overwhelming. Besides, it most definitely still holds up).
Uncharted 4.
He might enjoy Hitman 1 or 2 (The remakes, 2016 and 2018). They're silly games, but very satisfying.
@LauraM This is so nice of you to do this for him and to even register with a forum and ask questions! What a lucky man to have a such a thoughtful spouse. 😄
I think the PS4 Pro 1TB is a solid choice to take advantage of your 4K TV.
Definitely get a second controller also. It will allow you to play couch multiplayer or co-op games too (it sounds like you might be interested too) and the battery life of the controller is not great and so he could have a backup for recharging.
Spider-Man is a fantastic game and would be likely to appeal to him if he has any interest at all in the comics or action type gaming. I highly recommend it.
However, the controls do require at least some basic familiarity with navigation of a 3D game environment and dual analog stick maneuvering. I assume he has at least some experience with gaming in the past? If this is his first ever console then Spider-Man might be a steep learning curve to be able to pick up and play. Don’t get me wrong — it’s not hard and it has difficulty setting to make combat easier, but there is a certain level of controller muscle memory he will need to have (or develop). Assuming he is as motivated as it sounds, he should do fine.
Spider-Man has no online portion, so it makes no difference if you have PS Plus for that game.
It should be stated too that you really should have a decent internet connection to connect online to download update patches for most games even if you buy them on disc. Often game will not run as smoothly without the patch or added content is involved with a patch.
If you are in San Fran, then it would probably be easy to utilize a Best Buy or a GameStop to pick up the discs. I think discs are easier to get going. You pop in the disc and then the system (if it’s connected to the internet and the system is set up correctly) knows whether a patch is out there to download. To buy digitally you need to browse the PSN store, put credit card info into the account, purchase, and then wait several hours for the download. Don’t get me wrong, the big games now even have a delay when you put the disc in the first time while the system downloads the info from the disc, but it’s quicker, even with super fast internet speeds. However subsequent gaming sessions are easier with digital games because you don’t have to get up off the couch and switch discs out. A physical game requires the disc to be in the machine every time you play (even though most of the game data is downloaded onto the hard drive). It acts as a sort of “key” to allow the system to access the game on the PS4’s hard drive. Physical games can be sold and bought second hand too, which often saves money. Obviously digital ones cannot be transferred to anyone else. I often save a few dollars by buying used.
I have about 50% physical discs and 50% digital games in my large library. I just choose which is cheaper.
@LauraM Also, as an aside — since you mentioned it, if you do want to get him a game you can play together either co-operatively or competitively you might look at these articles here:
@LauraM My dad is 73 and has been playing video games for about 20 years or so. I have not recommended Spider-man to him yet as he might find the combat too fast paced, as he didn't like God of War. Plus he is not really into the whole super hero thing. He has liked the following games:
Uncharted Remastered Trilogy (you can buy these separately but only digitally, the trilogy is available on disk)
Uncharted 4
Uncharted The Lost Legacy
Metro Exodus
Days Gone
The Bioshock Collection
Assassin's Creed Origins (he didn't get along with the next game, Odyssey)
Tomb Raider
Resident Evil 2 Remake
Resident Evil 7
Far Cry 5
Sniper Elite 5
Fallout 4
Horizon Zero Dawn
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Shadow of The Tomb Raider
There are a few more but I'll leave it there for now. Hope this helps.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
Thank you so much everyone for even more great info! I love the list of games and sort of chuckled when JohnnyShoulder mentioned the "slower paced" games haha! OMG I'm getting old although I'm "only" 61.
I think I might start him off with a disc and he can decide whether he wants to do the online thing. I try to be a good wifey and do nice things for him.
@LauraM To be fair to him, he has never been into kinds of games when combat is geared towards pulling off combos or fast reactions are required. He has dabbled with some of the Call of Duty and Battlefield games, but usually at the lower difficulty levels. But those are usually more multiplayer focused these days with a short,single player campaign. He doesn't have PS plus and has never played anything online. All his games are on disk and he usually trades the games once he has finished with them at a local independent game shop.
His fave game of recent times is Bioshock and he must have played it through a dozen or so times since it came out on the last generation of consoles.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
I understand what you're saying @JohnnyShoulder. I'm sure he'll do lots of research once he gets the system and I'll pass these comments along to him as well. This forum is great!
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