A reader has some very specific demands for the PlayStation 6, as he feels Sony has been stripping beloved features from its consoles since the days of the PlayStation 3.
I have been a long-time PlayStation fan since the days of the first PlayStation. The PS1 offered music CD support, as well as memory card storage, and gave birth to classic franchises like Grand Theft Auto, Tekken, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, and Gran Turismo. But I will now explain why I will be holding off from buying a PlayStation 6 and how Sony’s mistakes are the main reasons.
Sony divided the memory on the PlayStation 3, which was a huge problem for developers, as well as then deciding to forcibly strip features from the console, such as backwards compatibility (the ability to play disc-based PlayStation 2 games and removing PSN access that customers paid for, if they did not apply the update). This, along with the forced removal of Linux, did not help Sony at all.
The result of these bad choices was Sony unfortunately having to deal with a PSN hack which lost them billions. The PlayStation 4 does have good games and features, such as Live from PlayStation and an internet browser, as well as The Playroom which is great software for using the camera to broadcast your gameplay if you want to.
The PlayStation 5 has proven Sony does not learn from its mistakes. The Live from PlayStation tab from the PlayStation 4 is missing, as well as it not having a working internet browser, unless you use a trick to load it up. Sony’s rival, the Xbox Series X has an internet browser, which isn’t a great look for Sony and does not help me consider upgrading to a PlayStation 6.
Sony’s greatest success was with the PlayStation 2. Its amazing library of games, new sequels to the biggest games series, combined with its hardware being way ahead of its time ensured it sold over 160 million units.
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Sony, with its PlayStation 6, needs to bring back popular features from the PlayStation 4, as well as making sure its latest Gran Turismo title is ready to play at launch. We gamers have been left waiting many years for a new Gran Turismo game and feel let down by the missing features in Gran Turismo 7, such as B-spec AI in races, which was useful in Gran Turismo 4, especially for long endurance races.
Sony should by now, in 2026, allow disc-based backwards compatibility for PlayStation 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 discs, as having to rebuy games you already own on disc is not fair to the consumer. There are emulators that have been released for the PC, that have been able to do this for years, even upscaled into 1080p, which does show Sony has some catching up to do.
If Sony does not bring these features and ensure a good line-up of games is ready then I will not be purchasing a PlayStation 6, as by that point it will just feel to me like an expensive paperweight and a waste of hard-earned money.
Sony should learn from its PlayStation 2 success and give us a real PlayStation to all be proud of and give gamers who are still on the PlayStation 4 a reason to jump ship. Am I alone in feeling this way?
By reader gaz be rotten (gamertag)
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