11 years after launch, 49M people still use their PS4s, matching the PS5 | Hacker News Reader

11 years after launch, 49M people still use their PS4s, matching the PS5

arstechnica.com

29 pointsalexrustic24 comments

The idea that Sony is already going to launch a mid-cycle “Pro” refresh of the PS5 seems like madness. Do they really want to further divide their customer base?

There are so few exclusive games to play on a PS5 it’s hardly worth it. I say this as somebody that owns “everything.” My Xbox and PS5 collect dust most of the year.

Likely going to stop buying consoles after doing so for 30 years. The PC and portable space is far more interesting and has better priced software.

Yeah a mid-cycle refresh does seem a bit early. Maybe Sony's focusing on building more standard PS5s to meet demand first? a PS5 Pro could enhance the gaming experience for those seeking better performance. While exclusives are currently limited, more are in development. Plus, the PS5's unique features like the DualSense controller and rapid load times offer experiences that PC and portable gaming can't fully replicate.

They are seeing that Apple, Samsung etc. are releasing yearly upgrades and they want to do the same.

I don't know if it's the case any more, but historically consoles themselves were often loss leaders for video game companies and they turned a profit on accessories and games.

If that's still the case, doesn't make sense for them to want to sell upgrades every year.

PS4 is my last console. I’ve had many of them since the Sega Megadrive (Genesis). Sony injecting adverts into my home screen was the writing on the wall, as well as transcribing voice chat. I’ve been gaming on Linux for 2 years now and couldn’t be happier.

Same. Had an Xbox One last generation and I'm not fully gaming on the Steam Deck. The "good enough" performance at the huge benefit of open platform and portability is just what I need.

wait, transcribing voice chat sounds cool. I hadn't heard about that. Whats your objection to it?

the usual data mining and privacy concerns - ads, LLM training, etc

Steam has proved time and again that gaming on Linux is viable and provides a better experience unless the developers shoot it down.

Why doesn't EA officially launch on Linux to compete against steam ? Bring first party wine compatibility ?

I think we're going to see a console cycle slowdown. It just takes too long to make a AAA game thst pushes the the PS5 to its limits. Who's going to buy a PS6 if they've only played a handful of PS5 games?

With Sony and Microsoft’s current strategy there is no good reason to buy either an Xbox or PlayStation if you have a decent PC. In the past I was compelled to buy an Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo console and maintain a decent gaming PC if I wanted to play all of the latest games. I can’t justify doing so anymore. Every game I want to play that is not published by Nintendo will come to PC either at launch or within a year.

I think sooner or later Sony pivots to PlayStation as a service / App. Despite their struggles, I think Xbox is eventually right. Both will go to a service model. You can buy their box or you can buy games through their app on PC or you can stream the game with their cloud services on lower power devices they don’t care. You will subscribe or buy games through their apps. The box will exist as a vestigial and for those who want a simple set top box.

It's almost as if games still being 30fps is discouraging upgrades.

I hear a lot of people saying that. I can see the appeal of 60fps for many types of games, but for me, a gamer who likes narrative-heavy games, 60fps has an unnatural look that I don't like. You can hear a similar criticism for 60fps movies. I always play my games at 30fps with increased detail whenever this option is offered.

I would have bought a PS5 on release, I had the money and was ready to buy, but I wasn’t able to while I watched scalpers get dozens of consoles. By the time I would have been able to buy one, over a year later, I had lost interest. My hype had died down and I didn’t see enough games released for it that I wanted to play. I’ve since bought a steam deck and couldn’t be happier. I’d consider buying a PS5 Pro if I can get one on release, but at this stage I’d be much more interested in a steam deck 2.

I play 90% of my games on steam deck, and a few games like crusader kings 3 in my laptop (also on Linux). Thanks to valve, Linux gaming works great!

Also, I’m put off the higher price tag of PS5 games.

The timing of the PS5 (pandemic release) and the near impossibility of getting your hands on one probably killed the hype cycle for many.

Nearly 4 years into it's life cycle there are still only like a dozen PS5 exclusive games. Until recently there was very little reason to own one.

Scalpers and other COVID-related supply shortages handicapped an entire generation of video game consoles. Will be very interesting to see where things go from here. In general gaming feels very different now than it did a decade ago.

Especially with many in the new generation of gamers essentially spending all of their time in just one game (eg Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnight, etc) that is available cross-platform and cross-generation.

We've also reached a phase of huge diminishing returns on graphical improvements. AAA games take longer and more money than ever to make, but they don't look or perform much better than games a decade ago. And just pushing for more doesn't seem to be the answer...it's slowly killing video game studios.

I love my PS5.

I can game, not do ANY sysadmin, play most* backwards compatible games, and generally treat it like furniture Rather than a delicate hardware Device.

* - Sony psvr 1 games cannot be played on a PSVR2, And developers are required to patch them, or simply abandon them. No automatic adaptation is available. Psvr1 is a hassle to use compared to psvr 2. It's a disappointing choice.

I haven't came across the PS5 only title that'll make me upgrade. GTA6 may change that

I’m still going through the ps4 library. The ps5 is nice but its library is small and I can’t justify the price at the moment. I might pick one up used but it’s not like they’re coming out with great games.

Can you get ps4 games a lot cheaper now?

Yes mostly used but new sometimes. Just picked up god of war ragnarok new for $20.

Yet there is no point to buy a second hand one because of the PS5 backwards compatibility. You can play the PS4 games and they run better and ofc all the new games as well.

It would be interesting to see the distribution across different countries.

My guess is that Europe and US have a lot more PS5s and peripheral economies have a larger PS4 base.

Dude I'm still using my PS3. Plays Skyrim, GTA5, and all the CODs I care about. Why upgrade?

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