Question about what console to get

SuperBowserWorld

Have a Switch + various other Nintendo stuff and XSX. Never had PS.

My opinion ...

XSX has seamless upgrades/cloud saves/brilliant 3 year cheap xbox ultimate deal/cloud gaming/pretty good exclusives so far. XSX is super cool looking. It is excellent hardware.

PS5 has some super exclusives and games that really make better use of its hardware (vs XSX). Will get one one day when the price drops, they are readily available and a less ugly model comes out.

Switch has some truly brilliant (but expensive and never really on much of a sale ) first party games; is portable. Family friendly.

I too turn off rumble after a while as it annoys me and I also think it'll reduce the lifespan of the controller.

What I do miss from Switch on XBox is gyro assisted fine grain aiming. I believe that's on DuelSense; but still not many games use it.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118457736#Comment_118457736

If you really think a massive corporation like Sony is interested in 'innovation and progress' and don't just want to make money you really need a lesson is economics and capitalism. Sony are as bad as MS.

Serbian

I think it's possible to make a decision here without getting too deep into either companies philosophy or business plan. Realistically, both consoles are very good with advantages over each other. I happen to have both a PS5 and an Xbox Series X, I use them both pretty regularly and they solve different problems for me.

The way I see it, you won't be disappointed with either console, but Sony's main advantage is that PlayStation exclusives are way beyond anything you will get on the Xbox. If you have not played games like The Last of Us, The Last of Us 2, Uncharted 4, God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Spider-Man (surprisingly good game) and maybe Deathloop (coming to Xbox at the end of the year), then I think a PlayStation 5 would be a better buy for you right now. They are among the best games ever made in my opinion, and you have hundreds, maybe thousands of hours to get through them, with sequels of at least God of War and Horizon: Zero Dawn to come.

If you have played through most / all of those games, then the Xbox will be a better value buy for you. There are less exclusives (e.g. Forza racing games, Gears of War, Halo, Microsoft Flight Simulator), and are of lesser quality than PlayStation, but Game Pass will open you up to a very large library of games for a relatively modest investment. There are loads of 10 - 20 hour games on there, so that's especially good if you like to dip in and out of games rather than follow 40+ hour long story narratives.

I have traditionally been an Xbox gamer myself, and for me there are two personally subjective benefits that keep the Xbox as my primary console.

The first factor is that games that are released on both consoles are far cheaper on Xbox than on PlayStation. Now, you may look at the stores for each console and think that they're actually around the same price, but you can very easily buy any game for Xbox in the store for cheaper countries such as Brazil and Turkey using gift cards for that store, and you don't have to mess around with a VPN. Take a look at this site and compare the prices if that's something that might interest you. Using a current example of a popular game, you can get FIFA 22 for €46 on Xbox Brazil, or €70 on PlayStation. The savings are significant. If you want more details on how to purchase games using this method, PM me, it's not difficult.

The other benefit is the Xbox Elite controller. It's very pricey for what it is, but I love it. Obviously this is subjective, but for me the PlayStation 5 controller is awful, I hate it with a passion, but I've also been spoiled with many years of the Elite controller. This almost certainly doesn't make sense for you based on your situation, but thought I'd mention it anyway.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118460391#Comment_118460391

I think if you like "movie games" like The Last of Us, which are basically games where the objective is to reach each cutscene and where your actions in game have no impact on the narrative, then I would recommend Sony.

But here's the thing, I can't stand games like that. I prefer games where your choices matter, such as Bethesda and Obsidian. And those games are on Xbox from here on.

So it really does depend on your taste.

But if the op is just a casual gamer, then the Series S and Game Pass is just a no brainer, which also includes EA Play (op likes Mass Effect) and soon Ubisoft is coming.

TitianGerm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118460443#Comment_118460443

The Last of Us was good but I really felt that I was only working towards my next QTE and cut scene as you say.

Now over the last few years I'd class the following as Sony's big games for PS4 and the ones you often see mentioned as worth playing.

Horizon Zero Dawn

God of War

Spiderman

Ghost of Tsuhima

Days Gone

Death Standing

What do they all have in common? Open world games. Sony have definitely been focused on this area and I feel a lot of them are very samey.

Arcadeheroes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118457736#Comment_118457736

The Raging Bile Duct

While I can understand Potential Monke's point that Gamepass in its current format doesn't look like it could be sustainable in the long term, at present it is fantastic value and it does wipe the floor with what Sony are offering at the moment. I have a PS5 and a library of nearly 500 games sitting there so I'll stick with the PS for now but if I was buying a new console now and had no real games library in any format to speak of, I think you'd be mad not to go with Xbox and Gamepass at the moment.

Hopefully Sony do try and do something interesting with this new 'Spartacus' service they are developing.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118460391#Comment_118460391

That's some great info, much appreciated. Have to agree about the PlayStation controllers, I always disliked them.

Someone else mentioned Google Stadia which I'd forgotten about completely however after being burned in the past where Google shut down various services I don't think I can safely rely on them for something I'm planning to use for the next decade

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118460616#Comment_118460616

The PS1 and Dualshock controllers were awful but the Dualshock 4 and onwards have been pretty great.

The Raging Bile Duct

The new Dualsense is a fantastic controller, especially when you play something like Astro's Playroom that takes full advantage of it.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118460956#Comment_118460956

Yeah that's really impressive.

recyclops

It really was the best experience I had with the ps5, shame it was on the first day I got the console.

Potential-Monke

People still take my opinion too seriously. Yes, Sony want to make money, every company does, but at least they're trying to innovate, that's what I'm getting at. That's why I prefer them. Christ...

radius345

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118436607#Comment_118436607

If you are a casual gamer then you should definitely consider Google Stadia (cloud gaming service). You can literally play it anywhere (phone, tablet, iPad, TV, laptop etc) and you won't find cheaper.

You only need a Gmail account to get started and they have a subscription service (which you don't need to sign up for) for a tenner a month that currently gives you over 40+ games. You can cancel the sub at any time but if you resub you will get access to all the games you've played.

Obviously you can buy any games you want in addition to the sub service.

Also has Ubisoft+ so all their games are available for an additional fee.

I am very similar to yourself, casual gamer that just wants to pick and play when I get a chance, this suits me perfectly and is so so cheap.

A few caveats - it obviously does not have the PS or Xbox exclusives and is lacking a bit in AAA games but still has 250+ games to choose from including AC games, Resident Evil Village, Dirt 5, Hitman games etc

Also need a minimum of 20Mbps broadband for it to work properly (or 4G coverage if playing on phone)

https://stadia.google.com

[Deleted User]

Xbox GamePass also has a cloud service with hundreds of games on offer and with the recent acquisitions of Bethesda and Activision Blizzard (and probably more to come) it's a no brainer. Stadia doesn't even come close to this.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118494466#Comment_118494466

For a tenner it's worth giving it a go, I'll try it so, cheers

[Deleted User]

I doubt you'd be disappointed with PS5 or Series X but I'd lean toward Series X and get the Game Pass stacked up. Ton of games on it and more being added to Cloud Play so can just jump right in. Series S I thought looked a decent option but seeing some of the games released on it, the visuals are pretty poor and it's only going to get slower. I can see MS getting a lot of flak within a few years if/when they pull the plug on it.(For new games, MS are better than most for maintaining legacy stuff)

[Deleted User]

Has anybody here accustomed to Xbox controllers gone over to PS5 and if so - how do you find the controller?

While I'm tempted to go over to Playstation for this generation of consoles, I'm still a bit hesitant about the PS controller with its symmetrical analog sticks. That said, I'm hearing some good reviews about the Dualsense, though I haven't actually tried it yet. Is the DualSense comfortable for people accustomed to Xbox controllers?

recyclops

Ah you get used to it fairly quickly I bounce between the two frequently enough.

The DS is quite good, giant map button is excellent and haptics are fine but you get used to them quickly enough. My biggest gripe is only one battery and having to have the thing plugged in during a big session can be quite annoying and it's actually stopped me playing a game a few times.

Potential-Monke

I was PS before Xbox, but the 350 was the choice during that era. Didn't get the One so the Series X controller (which I believe is basically the same as the One) is my first experience of Xbox since the 360. It's grand. That's about all I can say about it. Nothing special, but it does what it does well. Buttons, both face and shoulder, are harder on the Xbox, so I prefer the DualSense to that, especially after long sessions. My middle finger starts to get sore after a couple of hours of Horizon, but never on the DualSense, due to the flatter triggers.

But i'm coming from DualSense to Xbox, so I'm already biased. I think the DualSense is amazing, and with games that really utilise the features, it's night and day to me. Some people don't like it, but feeling the rain in Returnal, the different feedback from the guns in Ratchet, every single second of Astro... It's a game changer to me, and a true next-gen feature in my book. There's no competition between the 2 controllers, DualSense has won hands down, and we still haven't experienced the best of it yet, with Sony saying DualSense software updates will make it even better, and changed to suit developer needs.

And yes, definitely miss the touchpad on the Xbox controller, find myself thumbing at empty space looking for the map/menu. I also prefer the symmetrical sticks, feels more natural to me, but I'm PS since the first one so I'm more used to that arrangement. Battery hasn't really been an issue for me, I get 8 solid hours usually, and with the features on the DS I'm happy with that. Can always pick up a second if it gets to be an issue, but hasn't yet, I'm usually finished just before it dies. Have the official charging dock, so it sits there charging in between sessions, so no longer a problem at all. I think you'll get used to it quickly, and might even prefer it.

[Deleted User]

Well folks, after all the talk I eventually took the plunge and signed up for Google Stadia.

Ordered the controller and the chromecast ultra and rooted out a spare ethernet cable that I could stick into the plug so I wouldn't have any lag issues.

But...

The feckin ultra plug doesn't come with a ethernet socket despite everything I'd read so my experience has been, well, sh1te to say the least.

For context I'm on Virgin fiber.

Do any stadia users have similar issues with lag or is there some trick I'm missing to resolve it as I'm force3d to use WiFi.

Grumpypants

The black Chrome cast ultra has the internet port on the power socket rather than the device so might be easy to miss it. The white Chromecast with Google TV doesn't.

But WiFi works great with it. Just make sure you are on the 5G. I'm not sure how virgin's router works but most let you set 2.4 and 5g.

If you have any other device you can try? You can play stadia in any chrome browser so if there is a pc plugged in, or even on your phone.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119568014#Comment_119568014

Yeah the lads on the stadia thread told me to switch to the 5ghz from the 2.4,a massive difference since with virtually no dropped frames or lag.

It does suffer when the other folks in the house hop on the wifi though so there is an ethernet adapter that I'm going to probably pick up