With the PlayStation 6 looming, a reader argues that Sony should instead re-release the PlayStation 4, as a more cost effective console for both gamers and the games industry.
With constant stories about rising hardware prices and the PlayStation 5 already going up a massive amount this year, I am not the first to complain that gaming is getting out of reach for normal people. There might be lots of free to play games but there are no free consoles and, like so many others, I’m dreading what the PlayStation 6 is going to cost.
Although maybe that’s not quite right, because I don’t care what it costs because I already know I’m not going to buy it. It’s obviously going to be the same or more as the PlayStation 5 and there’s no way it’s going to much more powerful without using AI slop like that disgusting DLSS 5 thing.
Who knows what the portable is going to cost but it’s obviously not going to be less than the Switch 2, so another hugely expensive chunk of hardware that not only can people not afford but nobody was asking for anyway. It’s getting out of control – it probably is already out of control – but I have a simple solution: bring back the PlayStation 4.
Along with a lot of people, I view the PlayStation 4 as the best Sony console – maybe the best console of all time. It was powerful, it had a great exclusive games line-up, and while nothing about it was cheap, the hardware and game prices had not yet got completely out of control.
There was very little need to bring out the PlayStation 5 and, as we’ve seen, its games are barely any better and most exclusives are cross-gen anyway. You look at things like Uncharted 4 on the PlayStation 4, which is coming up to 10 years old, and it still looks better than a lot of current gen games.
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The PlayStation 4 was plenty powerful and while I want good graphics as much as anyone we’ve seen what that means in terms of rising prices, developer layoffs, and games themselves taking forever to make and only ever being sequels.
Apart from that small improvement in graphics there is literally no advantage to the PlayStation 5, except maybe the DualSense controller. But that’s why my idea would be to re-release the PlayStation 4, give it a new DualSense, and make that a low cost option for everyone (and by everyone, I mean including the developers).
I would much rather have Sony re-release the PlayStation 4 next year than launch the PlayStation 6, as the positives seem far larger. They’re still going to make money from it, and I’d say probably more people would buy a cheaper PlayStation 4 than would buy a much more expensive PlayStation 6, so the profit would be equal, if not more, with my option.
It’s not just about the PlayStation 4 though. I feel we have got to get out of this idea that we need a console every six years or so. We used to, when graphics were more basic and games were being held back by their technology. But that stopped with the PlayStation 4. Games looking very slightly better is completely different to being held back and at that point Sony and the others should have realised that things had gone as far as made sense.
It’s not even as if they’d lose any money. Consoles used to be sold at a loss until very recently, so just keep selling the same console and make your money from the games. Games that will now be a quicker and easier to make and which you won’t have to charge the earth for, so they can afford to be a bit more original.
I really don’t see any downside to the idea at all. I also have no delusion that it would ever happen but if you ask me, it makes a lot more sense than the PlayStation 6.
By reader Andy
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