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Was The PS4 A Wise Purchase At Launch?

Home » Was The PS4 A Wise Purchase At Launch?

20 Jan Posted by in Features | 8 comments
Was The PS4 A Wise Purchase At Launch?
 

It’s hard to believe we’re already a couple weeks into 2014 and with that we leave behind Christmas, our drunken New Year’s Eve shenanigans and the debut of two next generation consoles – the PS4 and Xbox One. Now we’ve had a good month or so to digest each system’s launch and its offering of games, I figured what better time than to reflect on the pair and just how successful their respective launches were. I’m not talking sales figures here because let’s face it, both have had an excellent start. I’m talking the games, the systems themselves, the features - the things that gamers care about. So let’s kick off with Sony’s PlayStation 4.

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Recent consoles I’d invested in such as Nintendo’s 3DS and Wii U had left me burnt after lacking title line ups and systems that suffered from missing features and extras (that would later be patched in). It had me wondering whether new consoles needed time to prove their worth. Time to work out the kinks. Time for developers to adjust.  With the PlayStation 4 though, I couldn’t help myself especially with all the hype and momentum Sony was gaining beforehand. Would things be different this time?

When it comes to the exclusives the PlayStation 4 doesn’t really have a lot going for it. Yes Resogun is a fun little arcade shooter, but is it really the game I spent over £400 on a new system for? Of course not. Meanwhile Killzone is your standard (albeit prettier) futuristic shooter experience with a campaign that at best is forgettable, and a surprisingly fun online option that I’ve found myself enjoying with a mate on a frequent basis. Then of course there’s Knack. While it’s certainly great to see a game in a similar style to that of old favourites Crash Bandicoot and Spyro, that’s about as close to a compliment this game deserves. Dull and repetitive, this isn’t exactly the epic return we were hoping for from Mark Cerny.

Then we have the third parties. While the variety is certainly there with big names like Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty, Battlefield and a number of sports titles on offer, none of them feel like true next generation experiences (none too surprising given they all exist on the Xbox 360 and PS3). What is stopping a gamer from simply sticking with a current generation version he or she has which more of less offers the same experience if slightly less visually impressive. That being said Black Flag is a still an awesome game and NBA 2K14 offers a good idea of just how realistic sports titles could and probably will get so it’s not all bad.

In terms of the console, I personally couldn’t be happier. The device itself is super sleek, the controller far more sturdy and comfortable than its PS3 older brother and the noise of the system is almost nonexistent – something I’ve been hoping for since my last Xbox 360 would wake the whole house. The quality matches when it comes to the system’s interface too. Menus are simple and modern in look, the online store decent enough to use and streaming directly to the web is surprisingly easy. Sure there are little things that will likely be altered and added a little down the road, but as it stands the console itself delivers in most regards.

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As for the horizon? Well a couple of upgraded games from last year (Rayman and Tomb Raider) kick things off with exclusives in the form of Infamous: Second Son following in March and DriveClub at an unspecified date as well. Other than that it looks like we’re playing the waiting game as far as big releases go in the near future. While we know we have a new Uncharted and The Order 1886 among others for what we assume will be late in 2014, concrete details are rare right now and if you own a PS4 at the moment be prepared for a bit of a dry spell not too unlike what we saw with the Wii U and 3DS. Fingers crossed E3 brings with it plenty of surprises.

So how has the PS4 fared since its launch? The way I see it the system itself impresses at almost every turn. The games meanwhile will have many questioning the console’s worth so soon in it’s lifespan. Perhaps the coming months will paint a better picture for the PS4 and as we all know, all it takes is that one big AAA release to kick start a gamer’s interest. Here’s hoping we get it sooner rather than later.

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  • Ryumoau

    i personally feel that i should have waited till Infamous releases before i got mine. I literally haven’t plugged in my ps4 since two weeks after it launched in november. I just have nothing on it that i feel i need to play. I’ve been more on my ps3 and Vita.

    • http://thegameinquirer.com/ MrChump

      Well I keep being tempted to buy one, tbh I should just buy due to running this blog. But I’m thinking the same there are some great titles coming out as you say Infamous being one of them, but even that is a couple of months away. Shame the old PS3 titles don’t work on it otherwise I would happily play them on it and get good new games as they are released.

  • Escopablobar

    This is what occurs every generation change. Early adopters lament always kicks in once the novelty wears off. I experienced the same lack of interest with the PS360 launches. Of course the lineups will get better and we will forget about these dark, dark times.

    • http://thegameinquirer.com/ MrChump

      Well with the hardware issue the last generations early launch suffered I am more inclined to see if any issues come up over the next few months.

      • Escopablobar

        Yeah. We are extremely lucky this time around that most of the issues are software and not hardware based. I’ve had my PS4 since launch day and the only problems that have arisen were in game crashes (BF4 main culprit). I was somewhat wary but each day of operation alleviates my anxiety.

  • Rikus

    Yes. Yes it was.

  • johnnyappleseed69

    the way ps4 is selling don’t expect a price drop for 3+ years so i don’t know why this article was even written.

  • Axe99

    There’s never enough content on a new OS at launch to support a heavy gamer - the question is, is there enough content to justify the expense of the console? In this case, I doubt we’ll see a price drop until 2015 at the earliest, and interest rates are pretty low in most places (so the benefit from investing the money spent on a PS4 elsewhere would be limited), so why not get it early and play BF4/ACIV/KZ:SF/Resogun in their full glory, and then know you’ve got a machine ready to roll for the excellent games out this year - don’t forget Thief is just around the corner as well, and The Witcher 3 looks the goods later in the year.