Topic: Your Latest PlayStation 5 Purchase

Pre-ordered GTA VI (the hopefully including a map / code in a box edition) because why not. I was going to get the digital version anyway so a code is fine. And also decided to pre-order The Blood of Dawnwalker (i've been calling it Blood of the Dawnwalker, I think 🤦‍♂️) physically as I also wanted the map and steelbook, and to support that studio making a game i'm interested in (and trust they will make something good) Whether I get a disk drive just for that game, or end up getting it digitally, as well, who knows. Reviews will help me decide that. Also, pre-oders can be cancelled if the game turns out to be not worth it or if there's no map in GTA VI for some crazy reason 💀

For anyone interested: this version is under £60 at amazon right now. I think the collector's edition dropped in price too, but at Very.

@Ravix The disc drive is a nice addition to have, imo. Join the physical media club! It won’t cost you much more than purchasing the game again; I don’t think the drive’s price has been affected by RAMageddon. It will open up the option to save a few shekels on future purchases also if you buy pre-owned and sale prices, so it will pay for itself, both in the short term and over time. Just think how nice that Fable and Witcher 4 disc cases will look on your shelf.

@Th3solution oh, i'm already well in with the physical media club, don't you worry about that, sonny jim 🧐 just not with games now for many boring reasons. But regardless i'd be pre-ordering a physical witcher 4 CE whether disc or digital is in the box, same as I did with KCD2. Sony was selling CE's without discs for a while, but aren't even making a CE for Wolverine so no temptations there.

I feel like I get 60/70 quids worth of value out of games I don't even finish most of the time, so that's fine, anyway. Just having one disc isn't going to start me on that path again (Silent game consoles are bliss) but maybe as a backup 4k player it might see some use.

How do you find your pro with disc attachment? I've watched a few movies on the old fat disc ps5 and it sounds atrocious in a cabinet when it starts to get a little spinny so that puts me off wanting to game with it. It's been so long I don't even remember if I ever played a disc game in that console or not for reference, but I think I got tired of that experience during the PS4 era 😬 maybe you can convince me it's not like that now? You gave all valid reasons though, just some aren't that important to me. Overall it'd still feel like a bad buy, but I am not averse to making bad buys 😳

I think all I miss about physical gaming is booklets, manuals and maps. Don't tell anyone but 'code-in-the-box' is a perfect situation for me, and I kind of wish The Blood of Dawnwalker was a code in a steelbook 💀

@Ravix I knew that you were a big fan of the steelbook collecting with movies and so it makes sense you’d want something tangible for your favorite gaming possessions.

As far as gaming from a disc, it’s not too bad really, but the caveat is that I usually game with a headset on, so perhaps I’m not hearing things because of that. But in my experience the disc spins at the beginning of launching the game for about 15-30 seconds. By the time the opening menu is up and you’re hitting the start button, it’s usually done spinning and it very rarely spins again during gameplay (… I think 🎧). It may vary based on title, but I’m fairly certain that these discs are basically only a key to validate your ownership of the game, but that all the data to play the game is downloaded on your console when you install the game. In fact, I’m pretty sure they have a function now that it you have the disc and also own the digital version that you can install with the disc and then take the disc out and still play the game via a digital handshake upon launch. Otherwise when I try to boot up a game I only own physically it prompts me to insert the disc (or buy the game digitally from PS store)

So problem #1 of disc noise during gameplay should be minimal to non-existent.

As for how loud and annoying is the disc drive attachment on the Pro — honestly if seems the same or even a touch quieter than my OG fat PS5 with the native disc drive. Pretty sure that model was louder, for some reason. You’d think a modular installed piece would be rickety or noisy but that’s not my experience. (Perhaps due to the better stability of the little plastic feet versus the older weird black hover stand that it used for horizontal use— which is the way I have my unit by the way). At the very least I would say it’s no worse than the same level of noise as the base PS5.

So that’s issue #2 solved — detachable disc drive quality is great and no worse (probably better actually) than what you’ve had on PS5.

In full disclosure— does the disc drive make noise? Yes, obviously it does. But it only spins when a disc is in there so the Pro is still quiet when not using a disc. I do get slightly annoyed at the fact that upon booting up the Pro if a disc was left in there it will spin the drive by default. So if you have a game disc in there from the previous session, when you turn on the console you’ll have to listen to the drive spin for 15 seconds, and then when you click the game to launch it you’ll have to listen to the drive drive spin again for 15-30 seconds. But then it’s over.

When installing a game, obviously it spins and makes some noise off and on during instal too.

There other minor disadvantages to playing from disc, like you have two gaming setups like I do with your Pro and your base PS5 and if you want to hop back and forth you’ll have to take the disc with you, which is annoying when digital it’s immediate and easy if the game is installed on both. Also, you can’t be installing a game from disc and also simultaneously playing a game you only own on disc. I ran into that problem recently so I had to play a game that I owned digitally while I was waiting for the install to complete. Another very mild annoyance, but a real one, so thought I’d mention.

Of course you know from your PS4 days most of these issues, the main thing is to know that games now on PS5 install the whole game on the drive so it’s not necessary to engage the disc after the game is launched.

Oh, and as far as movies, I can’t say. I’ve never used either of my PS5’s to play a movie from disc. I assume it will indeed spin and make a little noise while watching. But I don’t know.

$80 is the going rate. It takes 5-10 minutes to install the drive. It’s easier than I thought it would be. So it’s worth considering.

Does the UK have a good second hand market for games? We have GameStop and also a few other random mom and pop shops that sell used games. One of my favorite pastimes is going to these shops and rummaging through and finding deals, and selling old games that I know I never will launch again. It’s my version of thrifting or bargain hunting. I get a little dopamine hit when I save a couple dollars. 😅

Wrath Aeon of ruin PSVR2. A doom/quake clone which is also available flat.
It is too hot for VR but it is currently on sale (a small discount).
Unfortunately it appears to have a broken trophy which normally knocks it well down on the tobuy list but I wanted to show a bit of support for Flat2vr studios which is doing a great job propping up the vr industry (excited for Flatout 4 whenever that releases).
Let’s hope they fix the trophy and don’t leave it like the flat version which was developed by another studio and they appear to have left it to rot, so no I won’t be buying that version.

@Th3solution that is so detailed a response that I almost feel obliged to get one, now 😅 i'll see. I'm kind of reorganising/lightly renovating the media/gaming set-up at the moment and when in Rome, as they say. It may be that I want the console horizontal in future, depending on how I move things around and arrangement, and it may work better with the drive that way. It looks kind of weird hotizontal without it, tbh 😅

Yeah the disc as the installer and key more than game disc is familiar, I guess. I haven't regretted going digital for gaming at all, though. But if I can justify it with other reasons it would mean at least one or two games could still be on disc as a bonus, I suppose.

I think the second hand market is fine, I just have no real interest in it, myself. I'm happy for the developer to get my cut over someone who just buys, plays and sells to get their money back. Plus these sellers might have sticky fingers because of their unabated love of eating jam butties while gaming. It's probably better if you play more games and want to try more games and discover new things with less risk, or for kids on a budget, so I don't think physical should go away completely. Some people definitly milk it a little, but it is what it is.

Like I said, ideally the code-in-a-box but with physicsl manual, map or collectibles is my ideal scenario (i'm an outlier) as this way I get to play the game without a disc, but get that tactile sensation and that nostalgia of opening a box and reading about the game as it installs without the need to buy the damn thing twice 😅 it is fine for a one-off like KCD2, but if I just want a map or something it isn't really worth getting it twice. I'm putting my trust in Rebel Wolves, I suppose. But if there are a few games that still have phsycial maps and booklets with discs then a drive isn't a bad thing to have.

I remember when I got a few games and they came with a single smelly piece of shiny paper with legal info, a website link and an advert on them. At that point physical already felt more lifeless to me as manuals had gone out of fashion.