sanderson72

First Xbox is basically a 'DellPCInABox' with a beefed up graphics card and a few extra ports.
Perhaps Microsoft are on to something here - why don't they just produce a line of PCs which are 'Xbox spec' and allow you to up the CPU & GPU if you want to (a Pro if you like) and make it all plug 'n' play?

And for those who aren't thinking about it, PS4, PS5 and no doubt PS6 will basically be a Unix-PC in a box. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but does make me lament the days of custom chips.

Nintendo live in their own space bubble ever since Sony ditched the PSP and stabbed the Vita in the back.

As for XBox, I've never been a fan but this plan of theirs just seems mad. I must assume that someone high up at M$ has ordered them to recoup some of the money they spent on Activision/Blizzard/Bethesda which wasn't selling consoles. With titles like Indiana Jones they might have stood a chance of people buying the consoles to play an exclusive but porting to PS5 means there is no point to buying M$ hardware.

Why? Just.....why? What's next - Manic Miner with ray-tracing?

My 2nd PS5 with disc-drive (son kidnapped the first one) was £344 from Music Magpie in 'Very Good' condition. Actually turned out to be in mint condition and even had an extra 1TB of extra storage (Seagate Firecuda) that someone had forgot or couldn't be bothered to remove!

There are plenty of 2nd hand PS5s out there for much cheaper than this rental lark; PS5s from people who a) used to cosset it before abandoning it for a Pro or b) sold it on because it was a unnecessary alleged upgrade over their PS4. Our local CEX is awash with them.

I'll update my 25xx series Slim tonight then - still gets used for all those games stuck on the old stager. Still think the XMB was one of Sony's finest UI efforts.

Haven't got PS+ any more (not since Dec last year) but I also couldn't play any non-disc games either. What do we get for that Sony? Nowt.

@tangyzesty To me, Veilguard was very 'Dragon Age 2'. Not anywhere near Origins or Inquisition levels but enjoyable enough.
Also, very polished with barely a bug or glitch in sight - though I'm still trying to work out what accent my female elf has in the game - sometimes I think it's definitely West Country...?

Weirdest place I went to was Rare's HQ near Twycross/Atherstone in the Nintendo days.
The walls were plastered with all the original artwork for the Ultimate: Play The Game Spectrum titles; Jet Pac, Sabre Wulf, Knight Lore, Underworld, the lot!

Hope they haven't added any recent Peugeots into the roster 'cos they are butt-ugly vans. Voitures terribles....

Thought the Vita sold about 15-16 million units, didn't it? So Steamdeck has only sold 1/4 of the Vita totals.

Perhaps we'll see another portable option with the PS6 generations (as has already been mooted) because the Vita was a class piece of kit but ended up with a Sony shaped knife in its back.

@Czar_Khastik No, it failed because they were trying to bring something new to the PS5, rather than pointlessly rehashing a PS4 game from a few years earlier. What were they thinking...?

In all seriousness, shame to see another good studio go down for no apparent reason other than the almighty dollar. Off to join the celestial studio choir, alongside Evolution and Studio Liverpool...

If the tariff hike is £30 in the USA, then that will be at least on a par with the rest of the world after PlayStation’s despicable price increase everywhere else apart from their homeland.

That's why it's advisable to always have a disc drive. 47% difference? That's just daylight robbery.

Bought my base PS4 during a Black Friday deal in 2014 for £300.
Upgraded to the Pro a few years later as the base unit was getting a bit rattly and noisy and the Pro cost me £300 in a Black Friday sale.
Bunged a 6GB/s SSD in it's internal SATA port for £40 and, due to its super-sampling, the image on our old Sony 1080p TV never looked better.

We have a PS5 upstairs that cost £480 (thanks for your £30 price hike, Fony, which I still think I bought due to a fomo) and we now have a 2nd hand PS5 downstairs that cost £344, including disc drive and an extra 1TB storage that someone had forgotten to remove (nice) from Music Magpie in a Black Friday sale (you can see when I generally shop!)
Our 4K TV is only a standard 60Hz and it absolutely fine for watching TV on and using the PS4 Pro or the PS5.
The amount of upgrading required to see any benefit of the PS5 Pro (if any) would be colossal and I've certainly got better things to spend £1500 on (console + disc drive + 120Hz TV)

Sony. unless it includes themes and folders, don't bother. I hope they're working on a decent UI for the PS6...

Suppose it depends on the definition of AA? Did that include Everybody's Golf or was that AAA? Was something like Control AA or AAA?

One of the best games I've played in years is the hilarious pixelated madness that is Broforce which was probably an A. Gameplay is key - nice visuals are welcome but they don't necessarily make or break a game.

Death of Japan Studio effectively killed off Everybody's Golf - causing Clap Hanz to look elsewhere and guess what, it ended up (via Apple Arcade) on the Switch, the definitive home of indies these days.

I don't think Shu is quite right - the AA market disappeared because PS didn't support it, certainly post-PS5 release and after that it was too late.

From the "WOW!" experiences of Tomb Raider on the PS1 to Uncharted on the PS3, the upgrades in graphics have definitely been slowing down over the past decade.
To be honest, telling the difference between PS4 to PS5 is difficult - just that the PS5 can chuck a few more pixels around a bit quicker but the design of games haven't really improved.

"PS5 Has Narrowed the Gap on Switch's Indie Game Sales"
I don't see any mention of the PS5 in that article - PS4 yes, but not the 5.

Stopped caring ever since they canned the sequel to Fenyx.

Another remaster which looks worse than the original with 'plastic' character models.
New accessibility features are always welcome but surely that's just a patch not an upgrade?

@AK4tywill DS4 > DS5. Sony really peaked with the DS4. Shame Sony won't allow us to use them on every PS5 game.

@Oram77 https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2025/01/ps-plus-subscriptions-on-sale-up-to-35percent-off

Can't say I'm missing PS+ (the games have been very poor recently) and the only aspect I'd like is PS5 save backups. I might resub to Essential when the next ESO expansion is available but until then, not fussed.

@Oram77 We had one, at least in the UK. There was no discount on Essential (still £60) whereas Extra and Premium were about £75 with a couple of quid difference in a years subscription.

Probably the only game I'm looking forwards to, with a possible exception of the new Sonic racer.
Strange that both these games are being released on the PS4 too? Still, if the old stager can run it then why not? That seems to be Sega's standpoint on it anyway.

PS4 = 4 the players
PS5 = for the payers

Had PS+ since the PS3 days and after Extra expired last December, I couldn't be bothered to renew, even on Essential.

My PS4 Pro has a small USB stick in the front for backing up game saves but the PS5 is just going to have to take its chances as New Sony are too tight to enable this feature for the PS5 save data. Might renew to Essential when the next ESO expansion comes out but, in the meantime, it's just not needed.

So, in summary, "meh". The PS5 lumbers on with no points of interest...

Most game adaptations are terrible but this is brilliant. Looking forward to season 2.

Technically Team Sonic Racing was OK-ish but nowhere near as much fun as Sonic and Sega All-Stars, both the original and Transformed. Great track designs, fun weapons (not forgetting some memorable All-Star specials) and it looked like an arcade game, even on the PS3.

Nice to see Sega are keeping to their promise of keeping the old stager going on appropriate games too

"Operational issue" = someone unplugged a critical server to plug the vacuum cleaner in...

Unfortunately, this does appear to be New Sony's stance on everything - don't tell the users anything. Perhaps a server caught fire, perhaps someone tripped over a LAN cable, perhaps they were hacked by Muskrats, who knows?
Just a simple statement would go a l-o-n-g way. I miss the days of Layden et al - at least they'd give a quick statement about what had happened..

I just went to playing games from disc so no biggie. The only one I wanted a few hours on was Fallout 4 that I've got into recently which I picked up with Skyrim on some bargain bin PSN deal years ago which was totally mullered by the network being down.
Definitely staying with physical discs for as long as possible.

@DennisReynolds No, the original PS5 upstairs is the primary and the cheapo 2nd hand one downstairs is the one I've been using. Some examples:
Fallout 4 - PS Store purchase - doesn't work
Dragon Age Veilguard - disc - works fine (apart from an EA server connection warning, probably because the PSN is dead)
Just Die Already - PS Store - doesn't work
Just Die Already - disc - works fine.
Bubble Shooter FX - PS Store purchase - seems fine??

I suspect it's anything digital that requires a network connection is currently toast. Oddly, Fallout 4 DID work earlier on (probably about midday-1pm GMT) but now it's not working again.

@XxGlitchxX Looks to be unless you have a disc in which case, you're fine.

Still down in the UK. Can't play anything bought from the PS Store apart from Bubble Shooter FX which works fine???

Anything with a disc works fine but the online 'did you buy this?' authentication looks completely stuffed. And they say we should all embrace digital only...

It's fine, just use your physical media to verify your game....what, you bought digital for an OTT price? Oh....
Those shiny silver platters win again!

Control only 18? What madness is this?

Still rate PS3's Tools of Destruction as being the best one.

@Max_the_German Same thing was said about "Immortals: Fenyx Rising" and that was an absolute corker.

Big question though - can you create your own character?

Been playing Elder Scrolls Online since about 2016 and some days I just wander about, looking at the scenery, completing daily quests and following treasure maps. Thing with ESO is it keeps getting bigger so you never really finish it.

I've started Baldur's Gate 3 but I've got so far in and drifted off from it - dunno why, as I loved Divinity. Weirdly, I've actually been enjoying Dragon Age Veilguard and I've even reinstalled Fallout 4 on the PS5 and am getting much more into it this time.

@Gamer83 The PS5 Pro seems quite plentiful in all the major retailers here in the UK so very much not sold out and often discounted as if they're trying to shift stock (e.g. Argos = £659.99, GameCollection = £674.95)

Apart from the "must have it" early adopters, most of us don't really care or can't justify paying £700 (£800 with disc drive) for a marginal upgrade. PS4 Pro was a much bigger step up over the base console.

I suspect Sony will go for a digital PS6 with a blu-ray drive attachment, similar to the PS5 Pro/slim for those of us who want it.
I have a substantial PS4 disc collection and it would make me very hesitant to buy a digital only console with a requirement to re-buy all the disc games I have, and that's assuming that they exist on the store (Driveclub).

PS+ sub finished in December last year.
Only thing I'm (sort of) missing is the PS5 game save backup utility. PS4 is fine and can back up to USB of course.
The games seem to have taken a downturns in quality.

Main difference I see here is that by the end of March 2019, the PS4 had almost cleared 100 million units sold (about 10 million clear of final PS3 units sold) and there are still some 50 million PS4 users out there who will suddenly get no more games or benefits apart from online play.

Seems a bit off, given the PS5 backwards compatibility, but then again Sony do need to try and flog a few more PS5s if it's going to catch it's forebear.

@HonestHick I wish Sony would remove the restriction to play PS5 games with a DualShock 4 (Sony's finest design to date)
However, they won't do that as then people won't have to buy replacement controllers when the inevitable stick drift rears its ugly head.

PS3 and PS4 UI superiority over the dreary PS5 UI just keeps getting bigger and bigger...

Dropped PS+ at the end of last year after being a member all the way back to the PS3 days. Looks like I'm not missing anything.

I still find it baffling that a game that's capable of running on the Switch doesn't get a (fairly easy to port) PS4 version.
That said, I don't get the fascination with virtual rounders either.

PS4 did have competition - not much admittedly - but at least it had some.
PS5 is the only choice for a next gen console now that Microsoft keep shooting themselves in the foot unless Switch 2 sells even faster than its predecessor.

If PS want to sell more in Europe, maybe they should reverse their £30 price hike that they loaded on everywhere apart from their home country of the USA?

@PushDiagonal I think 99% is somewhat over the top. I suspect anyone who's grown up with a PS3 or PS4 would welcome themes back (just see the response to the Welcome screen) along with folders and various other PS4 concepts.

I think all it proves is that the PS3 and PS4 UIs still kick the PS5's miserable dashboard into touch but New Sony aren't listening.