What gaming system to buy

[ozgod]

My kids are getting older and to the age when they can play real video game systems.  I only have old systems from well before my kids. I am trying to decide between a refurbished PS4 Pro or a PS5.  The 5 is more than twice as expensive, but is obviously new and better.  The 4 pro does have 4k graphics and a solid processing speed (especially for the types of games my kids would play). There are a lot more games for the 4 and they are a lot cheaper.  I'd rather go the cheaper option and if I need to upgrade down the line just wait for the 6, but I don't want to "waste" money on an inferior system.  I'd play as well, but mostly offline games.

Any thoughts?

I have both. I got my PS4 in 2014 and my PS5 last year. It really depends on how discerning your kids are. If they're below the age of 15 you can get away with a PS4, they won't be able to tell the difference. Especially if you're playing mainly sports games (which I do too, and yes offline in franchise or GM mode because playing NBA2k and FIFA (now FC) are basically pay to win these days and you will get hammered if you don't do all the microtransactions).

But if you want to play Assassin's Creed, Baldurs Gate 3 (that might be a bit too much for younger kids with all the nudity  ), Cyberpunk 2077 (which is terrible on the PS4), Elden Ring, Ragnarok, you'll want a PS5. And yes the majority of PS4 games are backwards compatible on PS5. If you did buy one I suspect you will get many years value out of it, no matter when the PS6 is coming out.

My kids are both in early elementary school and are girls and don't show much interest in that type of game.  Even if they did, they are years away from being allowed to play them anyway.  I suppose since the PS5 plays PS4 games, it is probably ok, but I've been burned by that on prior system upgrades where I couldn't play the game or the functionality wasn't right, and didn't want that to happen.  Also, saving a couple of hundred bucks on the system leads to more games out of the gate (since I will pick up a couple sports games for me and then some for the girls).

In that case a PS5 will be overkill for them. PS4 should be fine or a Switch or XBox One if you prefer to play Halo on console as opposed to PC. It's really going to be what type of games you will be playing. Like the rest of the guys here I tend to use my PS5/console to play sports games because I like sitting on my couch playing those with a controller. And I don't see a big difference playing NBA2k or FIFA or Madden on PS4 vs PS5, the PS5 is smoother but it's not a dealbreaker. I do like playing Diablo 4 on console too, even though you can hook up a PS5 or XBox controller to a PC now and a lot of games will support it. With FPS I have to play that with a mouse  and I have a PC with an Nvidia RTX 4090 so that's where I do my serious gaming...but there's a lot to be said for just flopping on the couch after a Celtics loss and playing the exact same game in 2K and thrashing the other team 

[scaryjerry]

If you want the best gaming experience, just build a PC. You can literally play almost everything nowadays as consoles rarely have exclusives outside Nintendo platforms. PS5 is already halfway on its life cycle and I have yet to see a "must-have" title exclusively on the platform.

All the best exclusives come out on PlayStation, and considering he never had the ps4, sounds like he can go back and play all those exclusives but to be fair it sounds like his kids are pretty young and the Nintendo switch would actually be the best bet.

[scaryjerry]

If you want the best gaming experience, just build a PC. You can literally play almost everything nowadays as consoles rarely have exclusives outside Nintendo platforms. PS5 is already halfway on its life cycle and I have yet to see a "must-have" title exclusively on the platform.

This is why I use Xbox.

What good exclusives has the Xbox had?
I have all 3 big name newer consoles and the Xbox never gets turned on and I regret buying it

[Goldstar88]

If you want the best gaming experience, just build a PC. You can literally play almost everything nowadays as consoles rarely have exclusives outside Nintendo platforms. PS5 is already halfway on its life cycle and I have yet to see a "must-have" title exclusively on the platform.

This is why I use Xbox.

What good exclusives has the Xbox had?
I have all 3 big name newer consoles and the Xbox never gets turned on and I regret buying it

Not sure what type of games you are into, but the Halo and Forza series for example. Sounds like Bethesda games like Fallout will be Microsoft only going forward as well.

[Roy H.]

If you want the best gaming experience, just build a PC. You can literally play almost everything nowadays as consoles rarely have exclusives outside Nintendo platforms. PS5 is already halfway on its life cycle and I have yet to see a "must-have" title exclusively on the platform.

This is why I use Xbox.

What good exclusives has the Xbox had?
I have all 3 big name newer consoles and the Xbox never gets turned on and I regret buying it

Not sure what type of games you are into, but the Halo and Forza series for example. Sounds like Bethesda games like Fallout will be Microsoft only going forward as well.

I thought as part of the merger Bethesda had to agree to make cross-platform games?  I could be misremembering.

Both systems have traditionally had some decent exclusives.  I like the God of War games for PlayStation.

Here are the PS5 exclusives:

https://www.gamesradar.com/ps5-exclusives/

[LilRip]

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found myself buying the previous years sports games. It’s significantly cheaper and the rosters and player ratings get updated anyway.

On the original question of OP, I’d recommend PS5. You get to play the PS4 games on it and it will be usable for years to come (even if PS6 comes out)

[Goldstar88]

If you want the best gaming experience, just build a PC. You can literally play almost everything nowadays as consoles rarely have exclusives outside Nintendo platforms. PS5 is already halfway on its life cycle and I have yet to see a "must-have" title exclusively on the platform.

This is why I use Xbox.

What good exclusives has the Xbox had?
I have all 3 big name newer consoles and the Xbox never gets turned on and I regret buying it

Not sure what type of games you are into, but the Halo and Forza series for example. Sounds like Bethesda games like Fallout will be Microsoft only going forward as well.

I thought as part of the merger Bethesda had to agree to make cross-platform games?  I could be misremembering.

Both systems have traditionally had some decent exclusives.  I like the God of War games for PlayStation.

Here are the PS5 exclusives:

https://www.gamesradar.com/ps5-exclusives/

Doesn’t sound like that’s the plan now that Microsoft owns them. Believe God of War is on PC as well now.


Microsoft’s Xbox chief has revealed one of the key reasons behind the acquisition of Bethesda parent company ZeniMax: potential Starfield PlayStation exclusivity. Speaking at the FTC v. Microsoft hearing today, Phil Spencer revealed that Sony regularly pays competitors to “skip our platform” and Microsoft felt it needed to own Bethesda to compete.

“When we acquired ZeniMax one of the impetus for that is that Sony had done a deal for Deathloop and Ghostwire... to pay Bethesda to not ship those games on Xbox,” said Spencer. “So the discussion about Starfield when we heard that Starfield was potentially also going to end up skipping Xbox, we can’t be in a position as a third-place console where we fall further behind on our content ownership so we’ve had to secure content to remain viable in the business.”

Microsoft spent $7.5 billion to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Elder Scrolls and Fallout studio Bethesda Softworks. At the close of the deal, Microsoft promised Xbox and PC exclusives and it has so far shipped Redfall with Starfield set for a September 6th debut. Bethesda’s upcoming Indiana Jones game is also an exclusive for Xbox

Later in his testimony, Spencer refused to confirm whether Elder Scrolls VI is an Xbox exclusive or not. “I think we’ve been a little unclear on what platforms it’s launching on, given how far out the game is,” said Spencer. “It’s difficult for us right now to nail down.” Spencer did previously hint that Elder Scrolls VI would be an Xbox exclusive, but the game is still years away.

[kraidstar]

I highly recommend PC.  Over the last couple decades they have gotten vastly more user-friendly.  I have multiple nephews and nieces who won't touch consoles anymore once they started using Steam, the best PC games storefront. "Big Picture Mode" on Steam looks just like a console user interface and is designed to be controller-friendly. Good for kids.

 The problem with consoles is that while they're cheaper and easier to use at first, they cost you so much more down the road.  You get locked into a console's crappy ecosystem and pay higher prices for the games with nonguaranteed backwards compatibility going forwards.

 And nowadays on console they don't even allow most third party peripherals anymore.  When your kids break that $90 controller that's going to get old fast.

 Microsoft releases all of their games on pc now. And Sony has been releasing most of the games on pc after a couple years. PC also has tons of its own exclusives.  And there are constant sales and bargain prices. There are multiple storefronts where you can hunt for deals.

 You can upgrade your system down the road so that it's always able to play the newest games. Installing extra storage space or a better graphics card is super easy.

And honestly using a PC is a great way for kids to learn about them.  An alarming number of children today have no idea how to use a computer or how the file system and components work.

 There are some downsides to PCs of course.  Occasionally there will be problems with a particular game and you'll need to Google search a fix. Or check the Steam forums (the community us very helpful). But this is usually pretty simple, and usually happens with older games. There is also a higher upfront cost.  Although this is heavily off set by the cheaper long-term upgradability, backwards compatibility, cheaper peripherals, and cheaper games.  It's worth it to just bite the bullet and get a decent system. Something with an AMD Am5 CPU socket for potential future upgradeability.

 I've been a pc gamer for 20 years and I would never go back. Also have an Xbox One X.  I use it once in a while for a couple specific games or to use the blue-ray player.  But it's honestly very frustrating and slow to use after pc.