Topic: PlayStation 5 --OT--

@Ravix 😂 … Sorry about your Celtics. Don’t worry. Just like Sony will rise again, I’m sure they will too. 📈

Stumbled upon this this morning while scrolling through the store. It released last week without any fanfare whatsoever but looks pretty incredible tbh - The Reward of Cherishment and Eternity:

One of my DualSense controllers was hardly holding its charge, so I decided to try and replace the battery. I got one from Amazon for about 15 quid which also contains a couple of tools that you need.

It is quite straightforward but I did need to follow a guide. I'm not really someone that does a lot of this stuff, but went for it after looking into it and and finding out how simple it was.

So I've replaced it now and need to charge it up fully, then see how long it lasts. From the reviews I read it will either be not all or substantially longer than a new OG battery. I've got two other controllers, so not bothered if it ends up being junk.

@JohnnyShoulder yeah my original two DualSenses charge drains very quickly rn… deffo let us know how you get on with this, as I’d be looking to do the same if it’s successful.

@JohnnyShoulder Yeah, I’m also curious to know how it goes. So far all to three of my DualSense controllers work fine and the battery life seems ok. I’ve not timed them, but I can go two or three long gaming sessions without recharging, so maybe 8 hours or so…? It also depends greatly on how much haptics and adaptive trigger use the game has. I have all the extra tactile functionality cranked up to the full experience.

I worry more about my Portal’s battery life. A DualSense is easier to replace, as opposed to the $200 Portal. It’s definitely got a shorter playtime. Maybe 3-4 hours or so. If the battery replacement for the DualSense works out then it might bode well for the eventual Portal battery replacement I might need.

It is kind of ridiculous that having a second dualsense is almost essential with how often they need charging. But it’s also kind of silly how bad the battery gauge is on it; I used to charge mine whenever it showed only one bar left but you can still get loads of play out of it. Even when “empty” it still goes on for a fair bit.

It also seemed to never actually charge if I plugged it into my laptop and carried on playing. So now I’ve probably ruined the battery further by always having one constantly plugged into the console and ready to go.

@Th3solution @graymamba I used the controller for the first time yesterday and it seems to OK. My main concerns were that it would get too hot or maybe even explode, which hasn't happened yet. It has also kept its charge so far and still on three bars after a couple of hours play.

@Thrillho This controller is about 4 years old at this point, so on par for lasting as long as other wireless controllers from previous generations.

@JohnnyShoulder Thanks for the update. Sounds like it’s a successful experiment so far. If it heats up or explodes during gameplay that would definitely be the ultimate in haptic feedback! Talk about immersion —Tossing a grenade in Uncharted never felt so authentic!

@Thrillho I have definitely played for a good hour or two even after the warning message pops up that the battery is spent. I think the controller has shut off on me from a dead battery only once during gameplay. Fortunately, if memory serves, the game pauses when that happens. I guess it’s not good for the battery to be completely discharged like that so I try not to push it that far.

I also try not to leave the DualSense (or any of my electronics) plugged in longer than overnight due to the supposed adverse effect of staying 100% charged for a long time either. So for my DualSenses I’m trying to rotate them so one particular unit doesn’t sit too long in a full charge.

I shudder to think how long my PS3 controllers would keep a charge. They’ve been sitting there completely discharged for years. Even my DualShock 4’s aren’t maintained anymore since my PS4 hasn’t been turned on in at least a year.

@JohnnyShoulder nice, sounds like it’s worked a treat. So you just searched DualSense battery replacement on amazon I take it?

@graymamba It was this one https://amzn.eu/d/bdVJYTQ

@JohnnyShoulder cheers bud

@graymamba I think someone from reddit recommended it and had been using it for a few months with no bad effects.

@graymamba And here is the guide I followed.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Sony+DualSense+Controller+Batter...

@JohnnyShoulder awesome 🤙

The market for physical games is indeed drying up. I went to GameStop today and the stock is so limited and the prices are staying high, even for pre-owned games. I used to enjoy going and finding some good deals, but it’s becoming rarer and rarer to even find physical copies out in the stores. Even older games and critical failures are still selling for full price.

@Th3solution yeah I’m finding that in the UK too… with the vast majority of our GAME stores (the equivalent of your GameStop) having closed or moved into department stores as a far smaller entity. The stock they do hold seems to be far more game-themed paraphernalia like models and the like now too.

What we do have in the UK is a purely second-hand game store called CeX (or Computer Exchange) where people trade-in and buy like the old days. Now they can vary in the quality and amount of games that each store tends to have but I love a trip to town to root about in CeX for a bargain. I always make it a point of visiting the local CeX whenever I travel to various locations around the UK (it’s like my first port-of-call 😅) I’d imagine that there must be something similar in the US right?

@graymamba Nothing like a bit of CEX whilst you are in town.

@graymamba Yes, there’s some local outlets that deal exclusively in the second hand market, but GameStop has both new and used games so it dominates both markets. I think Best Buy also dabbles in the second hand market but I haven’t been there lately and it always seemed sparse. So we’ve ended up with a few ‘mom-and-pop’ used game and movie stores that can survive sporadically. Usually they focus on retro games because GameStop mainly just deals in the modern gens (PS5 and PS4, although yesterday I noticed about 20 PS3 games they had on the shelf). But when I’ve been to some smaller locally operated stores they have PS2, PS1, and all the old Nintendo games, as well as usually movies, etc as well as maybe comics, collectibles like figures, retro posters, etc.

But I’m like you, in that when I’m in town or traveling about I’ll just browse a GameStop if I’m in the area. In fact that’s what I was doing yesterday. But yes, GameStop has also turned into game and nerd-culture themed junk stores with models, T-shirts, action figures, etc. But there still used to be a solid selection of new and used games and now it’s such a crapshoot. And the low supply has caused prices to be so high. For example, new copies of Dragon Age Veilguard were $70, and used were still $40, even though I got it “for free” digitally last week. Rise of the Ronin (a title I’ve kept my eye on) was still $70 a year later and I’ve yet to see a single used copy. But every now and then I find a steal, so I keep looking. It’s also the thrill of the hunt. I’m kicking myself for not picking up the copy of Sekiro they had, which was pre-owned for $50. It’s a rare find. I had a hard time paying that because it was just on sale on PSN digitally for $30 last month, but I have all the other From Souls games on disc and it would be nice for my obsessive tendencies to not have just one of them digitally. 😅 I think we’ve discussed this odd issue before. 😂

@JohnnyShoulder town-CeX is all I get these days 😅

@Th3solution talking of our particular issues with physical vs digital and how it impacts certain games in different ways… well the Portal is really changing my perspective. Sony those crafty devils have delivered a peripheral that has turned my need for physical media on its head! 🙃

@Hapless funnily enough, the only Game I’m still aware of in South Wales is a department within Sports Direct… wtf!

@graymamba Yeah, I made this comment over on a couple of the Portal articles, but you’re right — the ability to cloud stream on the go with basically a handheld PS5 has made me rethink things as well. We’ll have to see how you get along with the Portal and if you even like using it, but if you do think you’ll use it a lot then you’ll have to consider having a decent digital library and/or subscribing to PS+ Premium for the digital catalogue.

I still own physical discs for a number of the titles that are on the PS+ Extra/Premium catalogue, often because I bought them when I found them cheap or because I was a day 1 purchaser at launch and either the resell value was low so I kept the disc, or I wanted the disc for a collection (like the FromSoft games).

So as an example, right now I’ve been gradually playing FF7 Crisis Core on the Portal and even though I have the disc, I am playing it through the PS+ cloud streaming. It’s just easier that way. And I don’t want to sell back the disc just yet because that was a really hard one to find so I might end up keeping it. Also, stuff falls off PS+ sometimes and I need a backup way to finish it. There’s several games I have like that — Witcher 3, AC Odyssey, Returnal, GoW Ragnarok… I own the discs but if/when I play the games I’ll probably just download or stream the digital copy from the PS+ service.

It’s redundant to own a disc for a game and also have access to it through a service, but welp… it is what it is. 🤷🏻‍♂️

But yes, having a digital library would be much more convenient for a long trip with the Portal. If you’re out for a couple weeks then you probably don’t want to limit yourself to the one disc you left in the PS5. With digital you can flip between whatever games you downloaded onto your console. And then, once they inevitably let us cloud stream our digital purchases with the Portal, then you can flip between your whole digital library regardless of even having it downloaded to your console. Once they enable that function, I’m going to be really tempted to shift away from discs for most of my purchases.