As we roll ever closer to November and the release of the next generation of console gaming i am still at a crossroads: Do i want to buy a console?
Now that may already be abit of a moot point (Only the Xbox Series S is still available for preorder) but let's talk about it anyway. I initially preordered a Digital PS5 but after the announcement of a price hike for next gen games and, to be honest, a realisation of how many PS4 games i buy on disc i decided to cancel that for now. So what should i do?
For context, i have bought just about every console since 2000 (even an Ouya!) so i will 100% end up with an Xbox Series and a PS5 eventually. This Gen i mainly gamed on Wii U until it became apparent that my beloved Nintendo machine wouldn't be getting most 3rd party titles. I then played a Titanfall beta in 2013 at a friends house and i got him to drive me back to work so i could buy an Xbox One - That game rocked. A few years later i picked up a PS4 for Uncharted 4 and i've been jumping between them ever since. Overall i tend to play more single player games to completion on PS4 but my community of friends mostly play on Xbox (sort of, we'll get to that). So my crossroads seems justified right?
I think the older i get i'm finding gaming to be even more of an essential escape then when i was younger. Playing games now is what i do to relax, to chat to friends, to escape the frankly shitty world we live in. And as such in the last 2 years i have moved back to Single player games far more than i have previously. Horizon Zero Dawn, Days Gone, Mafia and Breath of the Wild are all examples of games that i lost myself in, long gone are the days of me playing Call of Duty to prestige or grinding out progression in games like Titanfall. A possible exemption to this rule is games as a service. The community nature of these games is sort of a happy medium and i do occasionally really enjoy the teamwork and grind of Destiny.
Sony is very much doubling down on this single player focus, With Horizon 2, God of war:Ragnarok and Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart already announced for the next 12 months. These games alone could easily sway me to Playstation this time. Throw in Sackboy (Which im buying on PS4 for now), Kena and Gran Turismo and i may already be sold.
But Xbox...has Value. Gamepass is the single best value that gaming has ever seen. Every first party title (including bethesda now), Ea play and a host of great indies launching first into the service is frankly hard to ignore. But there's a canary in the coal mine - I just bought a new PC. For the first time in my 30 year life i have the ability to play PC games that aren't just Football Manager. I still use a controller sure but as Gamepass is on PC... i can still get almost all the benefits of Xbox without rushing out and buying a new console right now.
I think really this answers my question, if i want to buy one i should probably get a PS5. I've just got a promotion at work to so for once if i want to buy a console i don't need to buy the cheapest one, this is a big change for me! Whatever i end up doing i think its a good problem to have, this Gen neither console is BAD, they both offer something exciting and different and with Amazon Luna, Stadia and Switch there is a ton of options for every circumstance. It's a great time to game!
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