Topic: The PlayStation Fan Thread

@Grumblevolcano Anecdotally, I've had several opportunities to buy a PS5 this week, but the Switch OLED is just... nowhere.

Series Ss are actually easier to find than normal Switches for me. I've been to a few stores this week, and all they had on their shelves were a few Switch Lites and big stacks of Series S consoles sadly gathering dust.

Do you really think digital PS5s are harder to find then normal ones?

@Ralizah I do think digital PS5s are harder to find than normal ones but because of a lot less stock sent by Sony (I remember a Push Square article about it). Honestly I think Series S would've sold better if it was $50 more with a disc drive but obviously the decision for it to be digital only was to bring in more Game Pass subscribers.

@Grumblevolcano Can confirm I probably would have bought a $350 Series S with a disc drive.

Also would have subbed to GP down the line.

But I don't want something that can't play my physical 360 games, and I have no need for a $500+ 4K console that's impossible to find, so... meh. No money for them.

So, eventually, you'll probably get a Series X, @Ralizah ....? They're bound to be available at some point & you might even get 1 in a better deal once things do settle down a bit I'm glad I prefer PC, tbh, so I don't have to hunt for either console but I know quite a few still looking around forums

@BruceCM Hard to say. I like the design of the console, the robust backwards-compatibility, and GP could end up becoming VERY compelling in a few years. On the other hand, I don't like the price, the total lack of gyro (although Sony is arguably almost as bad, and it's even worse with them since they could have gyro-enabled aiming in all of their games), and I have no need for a 4K console.

I won't rule out a Series X purchase down the line. Hell, I won't rule out a PS5 purchase. But, atm, it's all very up in the air for me.

@Grumblevolcano Interesting. Also surprising when you hear how PS5 centric the UK is. Makes me wonder if PS would be dominating quite as severely if XSX was more available. Though I wonder how much that pertains to the US where Xbox has its #1 market and no doubt tries to keep supplies highest.

@Ralizah I get paranoid that any of my consoles break while they're still not replaceable. I really didn't expect OLED switch was going to be hard to find (I did get mine at launch), I figured demand would be fairly low since it's literally the same console with a new screen. And I thought for sure PS5 would remain the impossible one to get. I might try to focus on using the PS5 most for a while, simply because it sounds like it's the easier one to remedy something going wrong with it. Still not dropping in an SSD though.... I truly thought Series X would be the easiest to replace, by far.

I'm surprised the Series S is selling so slowly. Maybe a lot of people are still married to physical media in the budget market it's placed in more than we (or the publishers) realized. But I think it's also possible with the economy where it is, the budget consumer just isn't buying $300 electronics at all, really, especially if they already have a console. Sure, Switch sells, but is that to a budget consumer, or premium consumers that just like Nintendo? I think if the economy were to reset to 2019, Series S would be impossible to get.

Fair enough, @Ralizah .... I definitely won't need any XBox with the way they release all their games on PC, lol

@BruceCM That's a distinct possibility as well, since, in general, I prefer to get my games on PC. Although that might change depending on how long in continues to be impossible to find a new GPU for a decent price.

EDIT:

@NEStalgia Well, with Switch OLED, a lot of fans were always going to buy the new model anyway, but word of mouth has been very positive. Apparently it's a much more premium feeling product.

I wouldn't worry too much about the console breaking. How often do consoles break on you, realistically? And even if it does, you can send it in for repairs.

Microsoft expected Series S to sell slowly at first. Enthusiasts obviously aren't as interested in a digital-only device, in addition to the thing being substantially weaker than its bigger brother.

I think the logic is that, over time, as Bethesda games and other must-have exclusives start releasing, you're going to see wider adoption of the platform, and people who just want to play a few games on Game Pass are going to be more drawn to the cheaper SKU.

Series S is basically Microsoft's Switch Lite at the moment. Less popular, but it's important to have a product in budget range, as that'll still target certain sections of the market.

Ah, well, I'm hoping mine will last a few years at least, @Ralizah .... Hopefully, things will improve by then

@BruceCM I've been running the same GTX 970 since 2015, lol. I really hope mine lasts until this crunch is over.

GTX 980 Ti over here... I feel the same, since I'm waiting until the next elder scrolls game drops (you know that isn't skyrim).

On topic, went to Best Buy today and was surprised at how they seem to have gutted their PS4 section. Lots of PS5 games, very few PS4. Which would make sense if the PS5 kept good stock but right now...why not keep both sections?

@Ryu_Niiyama You're another one who updates to cards based on new Bethesda games, eh? My 2011 rig was built to run Skyrim smoothly, and, in 2015, my rig was built to run Fallout 4 well. If the supply crunch lets up soon, I'll probably grab whatever card plays well with Starfield, since I upgraded the rest of my components last year (modest upgrades, but my rig now has 16GB of Ram, a Ryzen 5 3600, and a 1TB SSD; more than good enough for next-gen games at 1080p if paired with a decent GPU).

At this point, I might be waiting to grab a cheaper RTX 40XX card at launch, whenever those come out.

@Ralizah looks around Other people do that too? Cool! I just figured it was a practical but still personality quirk of mine. I mod my TES games to death so after I got sick of blowing up GPUs that run the base game fine but not the base game and 80-100 texture mods, I started getting the top of the line that was out at the time that I bought the game (this card was a mid life upgrade though because I blew up the last one. So it handles FO4 just fine). Has served me well so far as otherwise my GPU smokes everything else. I'm not getting starfield (absolutely no interest in it) but just using it as a count down to when Bethesda will start releasing TES info. I will likely do a significant overhaul to this machine (or essentially build a new one) as I want a machine dedicated to RTS games and I find them hard to play on a TV.

Heh, I couldn't say just what graphics card I have, @Ralizah .... But as I have a 21" monitor, which obviously outputs in full HD, rather than 4k or anything like that, it isn't anywhere near the TOP end, lol
But I have the same Ryzen processor, so that should be good for years, especially since I therefore play the demanding games on low/medium settings They still look great on the monitor to me & I'm not playing the sorts of things that need 120 FPS & suchlike

So, I've been waiting for a NEW TWEWY sale, and here it is. Not an amazing sale, but better than Returnal Souls, at any rate.... BUT, I still haven't figure out if I want it on PS or Switch. Any of you try both of them and think it's worth it, visually on PS? I like the series on handheld largely, however I regretted buying TCS3 and Ys9 on Switch, it's just not a satisfactory performance (Ys9) or text (TCS3 docked) on Switch and ended up rebuying on PS.

@Ralizah Technically I've never had a console die on me other than 2 3DSXLs (those things were hot garbage) and a Sega Game Gear that ended up with a dead screen, just a line across the center. BUT, I still worry about them. Well, actually I had several PS3's fail, but it was the disc drive that failed in all of them, not the console.

@NEStalgia

Image quality seems broadly similar. Framerate is unlocked, and seems to vary between 30 - 45fps on Switch when docked, whereas you should get locked 60fps on your PS5.

As always, if you're mostly going to play on the TV, the PS4 version will be smoother. If you're going to be playing a significant chunk of it away from the TV, Switch is a serviceable (and your only) option.

@Ralizah Might go Switch on this one, then. It feels like a handheld series.....because.....it's a handheld series....

I think I'm dubious of anything Switch vs PS after the Falcom ports. Ys9 is terrible on Switch. TCS3 is very good on Switch and actually looks amazing for what it is docked, but they stupidly picked a 720p font and scaled it and it looks terrible for a game that is mostly text.

@NEStalgia Sorry, 'TCS3' has me beat. Qué?

@gcunit Trails of Cold Steel III

I just curious, why does PS4 games have larger GB for installation before playing than PS3 games even both of them using Blu Ray disc ? 🤔
I remembered almost every PS3 games can be played straightly without waiting the prompt of installation process, something similar happened with Wii U games too.