I would like a PS5. Not just because it will make my current games run faster, and because I’m tired of waiting, but because it will be useful for my work on technology.
But somewhere between the console launch in November 2020 and today, I stopped buying it, even if there were flashes of available stock appearing on social media.
I knew I was changing my mind when a friend swung a screenshot of their successful purchase into a Discord chat. They did it. They beat the PS5 Scarcity Monster, the toughest boss out there Demon’s Souls.
But I felt nothing, not even jealousy. That was when I realized I stopped caring about the PS5.
1. Waste too much time
I say this not just because my bosses will read it, but it’s true. One of the biggest reasons I missed the PS5 was because I was too busy working, watching TV or doing anything else. To stay up to date with the news about ‘Buy PS5’, which appears as random as a spam throughout the day, you need to call a lot.
You need to check specific Twitter accounts like Wario64, of PS5stockalerts regularly. If you’ve really dedicated, you can enable notifications for all the tweets posted in those accounts. Or, as I did at one point, make a TweetDeck column for them. But then you soon realize that even these specialized accounts do not have enough returns.
And even if you are lucky enough to see a notice at the right time? Quantities are so scarce that your chances of success are still slim.
Wario64 announces much more than just announcing whether PlayStation Direct has new PS5s for sale, and I do not have to use my phone to call every time there is news in the wild world of games. And even PS5 stock alerts bring out more tweets than I found valuable, because I do not need to know about the availability of PS5 in Canada or at the Sam’s Club members. And when I see PS5 related items for sale, it’s usually just the controller’s headphones, remote, or charging station.
Eventually I realized I would rather do something else.
Durable bundles are not worth it
Then I started seeing more bundles than stand-alone consoles. The Atlanta-based Antonline, whom I have never heard before, is one of the biggest offenders when it comes to taking consoles that people want, and wrapping them in unnecessary things.
Take for example the Xbox Series X bundle at Antonline, which has an extra Elite Series 2 controller, Forza Horizon 4 and three months of Game Pass Ultimate. No offense to people who prefer the controller, like racing games or sign up for Game Pass, but the Xbox Series X is expensive at $ 500.
Xbox Series X Bundle by Antonline https://t.co/naVVAVco6j pic.twitter.com/ImNsSEl6Bc19 January 2021
Now would you tell me that I have to spend more than 150% of the original price – this bundle costs $ 759 – to get an Xbox Series X?
No thank you. It’s hard to make a compelling bundle.
3. PS5 exclusive still does not excite me
Astro’s Playroom and Demon’s Souls, the two games you can only play on PS5 (and not for example the PS4 I already own) don’t really do it for me. Astro’s Playroom, which shows off the PS5 DualSense controller in some cool and meta ways, sounds like a hollow version of a game I’m already hooked on: Ring Fit Adventure.
Nintendo’s fitness-oriented game is also obsessed with its own control panels, as it uses the two Joy-Con controllers to push you up to your training limits. Astro’s Playroom, a showcase for how DualSense has many tricks up its sleeve, sounds worse. There is not much for me to learn by learning about the DualSense’s power feedback.
I will wait until the benefits of DualSense show themselves in games. Like how my colleague Marshall Honorof enjoyed the benefits of DualSense while playing Demon’s Souls.
I’m also not the kind who’s ever enjoyed the hyper-difficult dungeon crawling game in titles like Demon’s Souls. So I will wait. Can be God of War 2: Ragnarok will be the game for me – except that the game can still be played on the PS4.
4. I’m OK with early mistakes
Although the PS5 should not yet see a serious issue with the Red Ring of Death issue, the potential for such an error is one of the reasons why I have never had the need to have a PS5 in my infancy not. These issues, when they arise, tend to punish early adopters.
In fact, we found news of a Xbox Series X Controller Turns Off Error it only started making headlines in January, months after the console’s release.
Although many of these potential bugs can be fixed with a firmware update, I would fear the consequences of finishing a hardware issue.
5. By working my backlog
To define it a meme, “there are already PlayStation games at home.” Final Fantasy VII Remake was a game that did not get my claws the first time. But when I popped it in again just before the new year, I realized that it now has my number – so much so, that I’m annoyed that I did not work harder for it. Games of the Year 2020 debate.
The PS4 is also not dead for people caught up with their games. New PS4 games are still appearing. From the modern Hitman 3 to the remastered Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, the PS4 is still treated like a family member you have not yet denied. It still gets seating at the table.
While many gamers see the PS4 as yesterday’s news, I can not see it as a “last generation console”, as the CD Project Red co-founders done when they tried to save face after the Cyberpunk 2077 debacle. If the PS5 is so hard to get, and the PS4 is still kicking, I feel like Homer Simpson is chasing that flying pig and saying, ‘it’s still good; it’s still good! ‘
(I just need to make sure my PS4 does not fall into a pond. I’m pretty sure a lot of water would kill it.)