There’s an argument to be made that this past week, Google were the first to make a meaningful step into the next generation of gaming with their Stadia announcement.
I’ve already talked about my thoughts on Stadia, which you can read here. As always though, when the talk of next-gen comes up, I cant help but think of my beloved Sony and their plans for the PlayStation 5. So with that being said, here are three things that I want from the PS5 as well as three things I don’t want and three things that should stay the same…
Things I want:
With all this Google Stadia talk and heavy rumours of Microsoft releasing a discless Xbox One, it’s nice that I keep hearing news of Sony looking into backwards compatibility. You would assume that means they are sticking with a classic disc tray for now, or at least releasing a version of the PS5 with that option! Playing my old games was never really a big interest until more recently. I’m not really one for going back and playing retro games so you won’t be seeing many PS1 discs going into my PS5 but some of my favourite games of all time have been released over the last two generations of consoles and I often find myself wanting to replay the likes of The Last of Us, Arkham Asylum and God of War. Given how well games such as these hold up, I would much rather just keep my original copy than shell out for near identical digital remasters!
The future is so uncertain right now but one thing we do know is that competition will be high! Assuming Microsoft want to stay in the business of making consoles then we can expect a four-way dance between PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo and now Stadia… So how do Sony convince consumers to stick to the blue side? You give them an exclusive game they can’t resist. With the recently shot-down talks of Sony buying Take-Two, I wondered if something as massive as GTA could possibly be this title, but that’s definitely not happening now! So what of the exclusives they already own? For me it has to be something as big and undeniable as a God of War sequel, a Spider-Man sequel or maybe a new Uncharted… A Killzone revival won’t cut it here..
This may be a big ask but once again, look at the competition. With the Nintendo Switch allowing players to take their games wherever they like on a portable device and Google promising the ability to play their games wherever there is a Chrome browser, it would suck for PlayStation owners to only have the option to play in their living rooms. Whether this be through some kind of streaming technology or a portable device much like the Vita would remain to be seen, though I feel it needs to be something Sony are looking at to be able to keep up with everyone else.
Things that I don’t want:
This very much plays into what I said earlier about wanting a disc tray. I truly feel that we are not too far away from an all digital future where discs for all media become obsolete. Though that doesn’t mean we need to dive in head first, there’s noting wrong with having the option to have both for a while. I wouldn’t be against Sony releasing two versions of the PS5, one with a backwards compatible disc tray and a slightly cheaper all digital model for those that longer care for physical media. Just please give us the choice for now.
Given that the PS VR has had barely any support from big developers since Capcom’s Resident Evil 7, mostly due to the user base not being there, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to imagine Sony wanting to ship PS5 consoles with a VR included to bring that user base right up. The obvious problem with this would be the massive price tag that would come with doing something like this. It would put a lot of people off and in my opinion would be a stupid move. Just let the PS5 and VR have its own separate bundle and give buyers the choice. Though to be honest, I really can’t see Sony being clueless enough to do this.
The thing I have been most proud of being a PlayStation owner over the last few years has been the big single player experiences we can boast about. “For the players” has been more than a marketing ploy for PS4 owners. Though recently with the promotion of Jim Ryan to CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment and his quotes about wanting to focus more on the online side of things – It does make me worry. Will Sony want to focus on exclusives that cash in on battle royale fever? Maybe. I just hope it doesn’t effect the quality of their single player exclusives. This brings me nicely onto the first thing I want to stay the same…
Things I want to stay the same:
As I mentioned above, the giant single player exclusives that Sony have released over recent years has been the thing I am most proud of as a PlayStation owner and this is something that they need to continue. It’s sometimes easy to forget us single player-loving lone wolves when games such as Fortnite, Apex and COD seem to rule the world. Sony just need to remember that not every player wants to play online with others and as long as they continue their current level of output on this front then you can count on players like myself sticking to the side of PlayStation.
One thing that has always pushed me away from rival consoles is that I just love the PlayStation DualShock controller! Always have and always will. Now I am not saying that the DualShock 5 should be identical to the 4, especially when you consider the upgrade from 3 to 4 included a touch pad and a share button, but as long as they keep the size and feel to it as it always has been then you will keep a lot of players who like their analog sticks side by side very happy.
As you would have already guessed by this point, I am not the sort of gamer who plays many online games, so if you were to say to me 5 or 6 years ago that I would be taking out a PS Plus subscription every year without fail then I would have probably slapped you. But that is exactly what I do, sure I occasionally play online with friends and I’ll take advantage of some of those sweet PS Plus discounts but for the most part I’m in it for the free games. Sony have given me a real reason to be a PS Plus subscriber with monthly free games that often includes a decent AAA title! These are often games that I might have missed or even games that I wouldn’t usually try, leading me to discover many hidden gems. Long may these free games continue onto the next-gen of PlayStation and long may my PS Plus subscription continue with it!
So there you have it, three things I want from the PS5, three things I don’t and three things that should stay exactly as they are. Do you agree with me? Or did I miss something glaringly obvious? Let me know in the comments below..