Summary
Most people would say that the best video game console ever was the one they were playing when they were 12 years old. Case in point, I consider it to be the PS2, which I got for my tenth birthday. But leaving aside nostalgia and bias wherever we can, it seems clear to me that thePS4has a far bigger legacy right now than thePS5. In fact, I’m still not really sure what the PS5’s identity is, and aside from faster loading times and better graphics (both of which come with the flipside of longer development times and higher costs), I’m not even sure of the point of it. So what does it mean thatSonyconsiders it a roaring success?
This comes viaan investor presentation spotted by Eurogamer, wherein Sony claimed the PS5 has generated $106 billion for the company in its four years of life, just shy of the $107 billion the PS4 made in its seven. This has led to an operating income of $10 billion, compared to the $9 billion the PS4 made (the PS1 made $3b, the PS2 $2b, and the PS3 lost $4b). The presentation also revealed that of the 3.8b hours played on PlayStation consoles since the PS5 launched, 2.4b of those hours happened on PS5. Spending on buying actual games is down 12 percent from data of the PS4 in the four years since it launched, but in a damning indictment of gaming’s current direction, money spent on add-ons like DLC, skins, or other microtransactions is up 176 percent.
What Is The PS5’s Identity?
On the one hand, Sony isn’t going to say “Yeah the PS5 sucks, we haven’t even remasteredBloodbornefor it yet”. On the other, these are cold, hard numbers presented to a business-facing audience, not the player-targeted messaging of adverts and State of Plays. you’re able to lean on favourable statistics with what you present, but the data is the data, and that shows the PS5 has been an excellent console for Sony. But would any players agree?
I use my PS5 a lot, and as previously stated, its speed and graphical capabilities are excellent. It’s a good console in that it’s very good at running video games. But it’s hard to see what it represents. The PS1 was a bold step into 3D, the PS2 had edge and scope,the PS3 was highly experimental, the PS4 solidified Sony’s focus on cinematic storytelling and new online experiences. And the PS5? It just sorta is.
There are 11 games you can play on your PS5 and nowhere else. One is the free and much maligned ‘game’Silent Hill: The Short Message. That leaves just ten bona fide titles through which the PS5 is meant to carve out its legacy, and two of these are VR exclusives (SwitchbackandCall of the Mountain). These are the eight that remain:
The PS6 Cannot Be Like The PS5
In some ways, this list is not accurate to the spirit of what I’m saying.ReturnalandRatchet & Clank: Rift Apartare both thought of as PS5 exclusives, but have since been ported to PC. But even adding those in, and the handful of games likeGod of War RagnarokandHorizon Forbidden Westthat were released cross-gen, there’s still not much sense of identity. Taking those exceptions out, plus the likes of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth that we know is coming to PC eventually, and you’re not left with much reason to even own a PS5.
Of course, I understand that by that logic, I shouldn’t have bothered with that PS2 as a kid as I could have picked up the games for much cheaper now. You know, apart from the ones inexplicably now being sold for triple figures as collectors items. People have a PS5 because they want the newest console. That makes perfect sense and I’m one of those people. My PS5 gets a lot of use.
But there’s a difference between players wanting it just because it’s the newest thing and Sony considering it to be a major success. It feels like the PS5 is a success in spite of itself. The momentum of the PS4 and the goodwill Sony gained in the last generation whileXbox, like Sony now, struggled for identity - that’s the reason the PS5 has sold well. I hope Sony understands that fact behind what the numbers say, because whatever lessons it might be taking from the PS5, I hope there are more ‘do not dos’ than there are ‘dos’.
