Hello everyone. Long-time luker here. I will try to keep this short, but after some years of depression and unemployment I recently got my first ever full salary. I have been looking forward to getting a new console for years – my most recent one is a Wii I got as a present as a kid – I have A LOT to catch up on and I have been looking forward to this for a very, very long time.
I’ve tried to read up on which console will get me the most bang for the bucks but I have only gotten more conflicted. Right now it’s a 33% split between getting a PS4 because it’s really cheap on the second-hand market and its game list is long, a PS5 because the PS5+PS4 compatibility will be a better investment in the long run (Wii+Gamecube has kept me entertained for almost a decade so far lol), and a Switch because of some Nintendo exclusive games, notably Zelda. I’m leaning towards maybe getting a PlayStation now and a Switch in a couple of years.
Thing is, there are some rumors that the PS5 slim will release soon. It is better to wait until winter to make the purchase?
Also what (modern and semi-modern) games are an absolute must to play? I like the adventure/platform/puzzle/strategic/survival genres and dislike FPS/bullet hell/beat 'em ups.
EDIT: I will get a Steam Deck. Thanks for the recommendations everyone. :)
I’d recommend just getting a steam deck if you don’t just want to get a PC. The variety of indie titles and the lower cost just beats any of the standard consoles.
A PC is even better, but the cost of the initial hardware is probably higher. But you can’t beat the price of the games or the variety of games available. And the PC won’t expire the way modern online consoles do.
I have a PS3 that won’t play movies from disc anymore because its online service is down or something. Ridiculous.
I feel you, losing functionality over time even though the hardware is still there is one of my biggest pet peeves >:(
A Steam Deck allows you to play all titles you missed out on. All without requiring a monthly fee. The track pads also makes for a good experience if you wanna try an fps game. You can’t get more bang for your buck with anything else.
If you tell what functionality are you worry about we might be able to iron that out as well.
Well … being soft-locked and forced to pay a subscription fee to play games that I’ve already paid for is a big no for me. It would probably not be an issue at all with the Steam Deck considering it is Linux based.
Go with the Deck. It’s a lovely piece of hardware. Either her the cheapest one or the middle one.
Yeah with the steam deck being as amazing as it is, I don’t see the point of consoles. I can play anything from Pajama Sam to Red Dead 2 on that thing.
The point of consoles is exclusives. I can’t legally play Zelda without a Switch, for example. If that’s not important to you (it’s not to me), the Steam Deck is fantastic.
I knew I’d like the Steam Deck from the start, but I didn’t know I’d like it as much as I do. A few weeks ago I was at a cottage and woke up early for no damn reason. Made some coffee, sat on the deck, watched the sun rise while playing Blasphemous on my Deck.
The freedom and emulation options take an already great device and turn it into one of the best purchases I’ve made since the Gamecube. Speaking of which, Custom Robo is pretty good on the Deck :)
And all ps5 games seem to be getting ported, and the Xbox app has all Xbox exclusives. It’s the console that gets all the games. And emulates everything else!
so already, know that a switch 2 is gonna come out sometime next year (probably gonna be announced Q1 2024, released sometime end Q3 - Q4) plus, its almost certainly gonna have backwards compatibility with current switch games, so zelda wont be going anywhere
i would probably suggest getting a ps5 if possible, but a ps4 works great on it, for ps4 games i would suggest god of war 2018 and GOW Ragnarok, Marvels Spider-Man Remastered, and Miles Morales. There’s also The Witcher 3, The last of us, Ratchet and Clank, and a bunch of other games which i havent tried out but are apparently very fun.
HOWEVER… You should definitely look up what a steam deck is, because it might be the perfect fit for you.
The steam deck is a portable hybrid pc console, created by valve, the guys behind the largest game marketplace. Its pretty much a computer but thats optimized to play games. It runs most games at 60 fps, with more demanding titles only going up to 40, and some rare, very demanding games only going to 30. for context though, Zelda TOTK runs between 20-30 on the switch.
The fact that its a pc means it can run pretty much any game, and is easy to pirate on (theoretically of course haha) another thing, is that the SD is INCREDIBLE at emulation. So you can take your Gamecube and Wii games on the go. But wait… It can also emulate the switch really well. So no need for a switch ;)
It has different models with different amounts of storage, ranging from 400$ for 64gb, to about 600$ for 512, with a cool anti glare screen.
but anyway, if portability is important, Steam deck is probably for you, or if youre a bit patient you can wait for switch 2
if power is important, the ps4-ps5 is better.
if you like piracy, steam deck is better, cause its a pc.
Thanks for the input on the Switch! It confirms that it’s reasonable to wait for a little while longer.
I’m not concerned about portability at all – if I got a Steam Deck (or a Switch) I’d keep it docked at all times. In fact I’m more concerned about battery health and general longevity of portable consoles. It’s probably a result of being poor for so long but I would really prefer to buy durable stuff. Like I want it to boot up just like it used to, 20 years from now. For theoretical emulators and piracy I guess I could just theoretically use an actual PC.
Heavily leaning towards getting a PS5. Probably after the slim has been released. I’ll definitily get GOW, Spiderman, The Last of Us and Ratchet and Clank. And Outer Wilds. And a bunch of other ones. Probably Elden Ring. Etc. :)
Definitely a pc then, it’ll outlast any console and play games from every platform. You can’t just upgrade the GPU in a ps5 when you save up and a new game is out 😅
If durability is a concern with the switch I’d definitely recommend you play docked with a pro controller or 8bitdo controller as your joycons will start to drift - happened to me about 1.5 to 2 years into owning mine.
I haven’t owned a PlayStation since PS3 but it sounds like PS5 is a solid choice for you
I can’t toot the Steam Deck horn enough! It’s the king of emulation, and handhelds in my opinion.
The emulation station makes it very easy to set up any emulator and game library
All you need for peripherals is a USB-C dock with HDMI etc. And voila! you have a livingroom console, media center and Linux PC all in one
It’s very customizable, easy to set up controllers, rebind inputs and macros. Works great out of the box but is open for tinkering
Easy to upgrade storage and repair, if the need arises. A 2TB nvme upgrade is very easy, even for a trogladyte like me. And if you unlike me, dont need the whole GBA catalog and an ungodly amount of PS2 titles available at all times, the on-board storage and microSD slot will be more then enough for your favorite games
This sounds great. I’ve been looking into it since people starting recommending it here and Steam Deck + dock does seem to suit my needs.
Steam Deck not available in my country. Tragically.
I got a PS5 and I’m getting kinda annoyed that there are basically only 5 true exclusives for it; and one of them is basically a tech demo for the console (albeit, a very good tech demo that is actually bigger than Ratchet & Clank A Rift Apart). A Switch makes more sense because it actually has a ton of stuff you can’t play on anything else (without emulating anyway)… Although I have been finding Nintendo games are getting less and less appealing as time goes on. TOTK was the last thing in like 15 years from Nintendo that I actually really liked. Even the newest Animal Crossing is shit compared to the original.
If PC isn’t off the table, build a desktop or get a Steam Deck. It’s about the same price as a Switch but will have way more games. Better games. And can still emulate Switch games.
Yeah, thing is even though the Switch has more exclusives the list of games I am definitely buying is shorter (Zelda, Mario, Pikmin) than the list of non-switch games I’ve been looking forward to playing. The more I think about it, the Steam Deck sounds like a good option. Thank you for your reply, it’s been helpful.
I’m going to add my vote here as well for the Steam Deck. And with the Steam Dock you can also hook it up to a TV as well.
I don’t hate my PS5.
But it’s basically a “PS4 Pro”-Pro.
Have you thought about getting an XB1? The original model can be found very cheap and has backwards compatibility with 360 games so that is a huge library on offer.
Big note for anyone who doesn’t know: the Xbox 360 backwards compatibility is only for a portion of the 360 library. There is a list of games that are compatible, including original Xbox games.
Also, if you have the disc, you will have to install games just like all other Xbox one games. But the games do not install from the disc. The disc is just the license key, and you will need an internet connection so it can download the game.
How it works is that it’s not exactly the same game, but a modified version for the Xbox one console. But this can come with performance enhancements and sometimes upscaling to make them look way better than they would on their respective system.
Very cool thing that Microsoft did, but do not expect any more games to be added on the list. Last I saw, they were done expanding the list.
I’m still sad that Blur never made it on to the list…
If found for cheap, an Xbox One X would be a good option.
buying a current switch will be a bummer wen the new one comes, but the ps5 slim won’t be an definitive upgrade from the current one so you can buy without remorse.
Any reason you’re not inching toward a gaming pc ? Since most new games are released on it anyway and it can run switch games better than the switch itself ?
Well, there are a couple of reasons. Cost of the PC itself, cost of peripherals, space limitations, considering game quality/“timelessness” to be more important than high performance/impeccable graphics/frame rates… Also I’m getting a new laptop soon so it just seems like a huge overkill atm
Switch for all the Nintendo games
I’d get the Switch, you have a huge backlog after all.
I’m surprised noone mentioned xbox series S yet. It is really cheap (I got the certified refurbished version for 180€ and it looks and works like a new console). With the game pass you get a huge amount of games, including new games (Starfield, Avowed and Stalker 2 will be included on release in the pass) and also many games from the previous generations you might want to catch up on (Elder scrolls 3 to 5, Yakuza series, GTA5, Star Wars games, Persona series, Minecraft,…). If you’re willing to spend more, you could also get the series X, but personally I think it’s not worth the extra money because the higher performance doesn’t translate to more fun gaming (IMO). Larger memory is nice to have though.
I also have a steam deck and think it’s a great product, but being a handheld, it is a fundamentally different console with different advantages and disadvantages.
Concerning the games you asked about, I recommend Minecraft, Stray (buy on sale, it’s great but really short), Elder scrolls series and Life is strange if you’re looking for a beautiful story. Since you’re getting a steam deck, you might wanna check out Pokémon fan games and rom hacks if you’re a Pokémon fan. I find them to be even better than the originals. Ironic that I can easily play the Pokémon games I want on the steam deck, but would have to put in a lot of work to get them running on a Nintendo console.
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That makes sense. If I had a proper gaming PC (not Steam deck), I also wouldn’t have bought an xbox. But if you don’t have a gaming PC, then xbox series s + game pass is IMO the best deal.
Love claire de lune btw 👍
I’d just get a PS5.
So much stuff on PS+ over two generations, ideal for us cheapskates. A lot of it (except Bloobborne, annoyingly) runs better on PS5 as well. Things like Days Gone are transformed at a solid 60fps with motion aiming.
Any PS after the PS3 is a scam. I say this as a PS4 owner, not a pc master race fanatic.
Do not get a Playstation. Other console series? Don’t really have an opinion. We’re very happy with our switch and the wii before that. Even the PS2 sees some action. But do not get a PS4 or PS5.
Why am I so anti modern Playstation? Well, if you’ve made it this far in my rant allow me to really let loose.
You buy a console, you pay 20% more for each game, and then it should end there, right? Wrong! Because the game dev has decided that even single player is online only. And sony requires a playstation network plus subscription to play online. So now you’re stuck with “plants vs zombies garden warfare” that you only got because it had a single player mode, and to play it you need to pay 50 euros a year. But hey at least you get some games each month… If you remember to claim your games, which btw are 50% 8bit lookalike indie games that you wouldn’t have given a second glance in the store.
This goes on for some years, every year you debate renewing the subscription, but there’s those few games that your kids like and if you don’t renew the subscription your lose access, so now sony has your balls in a vise. And they know it. So one day sony announces “we’re greedy fucks who really like money, so the product you have, will now be double the price, but if you don’t want to have the monthly token shitty 8bit games then it’s only a 5% increase instead. So now you get to pay for the privilege of only playing a game you already bought”*
All the while you just wanted to relax with 30min of need for speed every now and then.
*Update: OK it would seem that the token games are back at all price levels… Sure would have been great to now that I could have claimed games. I sure hope I didn’t miss anything good.
I own a PS4 and a bunch of single player games (Horizon, RDR2, Bloodborne (digital), Elden Ring, Shadow of Colossus…) and while some of them have an online component that I don’t get because I don’t pay for PS+ (or whatever its name is), I never had any issue playing those games.
…Surely this does not apply to the discs/physical copies of the games? I do agree it is very concerning regardless.
I got the ps4 and a disc with plants vs zombies garden warfare for Christmas about 8 or 9 years ago. When we tried playing a map in single player we were met with the need to connect to EA’s servers. That meant a ps+ subscription.
Should have sold it right then, but I had so fun memories of playing gran turismo in the late 90s so I wanted that again.
Yikes.
Ps5 plus the subscription. Its all I need, shed loads of games and if your patient then the good games to turn up as well. I won’t buy any titles for £50 etc, I just wait for them to turn up on the subscription.
I’m happy with the Netflix like experience and have enjoyed trying out games and then abandoning them if it’s not working for me. Just try the next one.
I’ve put tons of hours into BotW and TotK.
Admittedly, far fewer people play SSBU and ACNH now compared to ~3 years ago, and playing with people was a big part of the draw of those games.
The other games I’ve enjoyed on Switch are mostly cross-platform.
PS5 gives you PS5+PS4 games, it’s new and will get further support. Switch gives you access to many of the Nintendo library. If you can entertain modding, many old consoles are good multi-platform machines. PS3 for PS1-3 games, PS Vita for many handheld systems, 3DS for the DS library. Modded Switch is a good system for emulation as well, although I’m not familiar with its scene
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Yeah. I was thinking either the slim comes with significant upgrades in aesthetics, or its release triggers the prices of the original PS5 to drop. Either way waiting to see what happens seems to be the best approach.
