Is PlayStation 5 Sony’s Worst Console to Date?

What gaming system should I get? That is the question every serious gamer has to ask themselves at one point or another. It is a rudimentary inquiry that, on a surface level, seems to be one that has a simple answer. In this day and age, there are essentially three tech giants that dominate this market, with those being Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, who make the Playstation, Xbox, and Nintendo consoles, respectively. At least, those are the options unless you want to go with a gaming PC. I have only very recently stumbled across a revelation. It has only now dawned on me that there is another question that everyone who prides themselves as a gamer should be asking themselves. When did the quality of gaming systems begin to decline?

If my shaky recollection of a memory is correct, then this downward spiral began with the infamous ring of death with Microsoft’s Xbox 360. I can vividly recall how devastated I was when my power icon first flashed red, indicating that my console was dead. Looking back, I can now see that that was a watershed moment for me. In twenty-nine years of gaming, I have owned every PlayStation system and every Xbox system, with the exception of the most recent console. I know now that it was a watershed moment, because it was not long after I processed the fact that this meant that Microsoft was consciously and deliberately designing their products so that they would become defective after a certain period of time, that I decided that I would change over to Team PlayStation. I am a traitor. What can I say? The ring of death was as much of a watershed moment as the launch of Halo was to turning me on to Xbox in the first place (I was also influenced by the fact that my best friend at the time had a father who worked for Microsoft). But let’s face it, they don’t make video game consoles like they used to, especially Sony, with their PlayStation models. In this article, I will be sharing my opinion and highlighting why the PlayStation 5 has been the worst console that Sony has produced to date.

There is a common piece of advice that, in writing, you should write about what you know. I have been gaming since I was four years old -a timespan of over twenty-nine years — so I think it’s fair to say that I’m knowledgeable as far as this industry is concerned. I can speak from experience. In my experience, I can say that my very first gaming system was the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and my first games were a combination of switching between Super Mario Bros. and Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Now there is a field of study in philosophy known as epistemology, which is the study of how we come to know what we know. There are two sides to epistemology: rationalists who say that we come to understanding through the operations of the mind, and, conversely, the empiriscists who argue that we learn through experience. I am an empiricist. I am writing from my experience. They built things differently in the nineties. I received one for Christmas nearly twenty-nine years ago, and it still works to this day. It is hooked up to my gaming center in the living room, and every so often, I indulge in the guilty pleasure of getting lost in those retro games of late.

At the very heart of what we are discussing is a business practice called, ‘planned obsolescence.” Planned Obsolescence- What’s that, you might ask. Essentially, planned obsolescence is a better business practice where companies intentionally design their products and technologies so that they become obsolete the second you leave the store, so that you feel obligated to purchase the latest models. It’s a vicious cycle that keeps the gears of consumerism turning. When you scrutinize the PlayStation 5 as if you were examining an organism under a microscope, you will see that this is the model greedy Sony is leveraging with this latest generation of gaming systems. If I were Peter Griffin from Family Guy, I would be saying that this is the very thing that really grinds my gears. There is a glaring problem when a gaming system has stood the test of time and has lasted nearly three decades, while the latest technology is designed to fall apart. It is a huge problem that I have had my PlayStation 5 for just about two years now, and it is already falling apart. I mean that quite literally, and now I am rage writing about it here. I am not afraid to say that Sony is making crap products when you have a good and the faceplate is falling off, you have the feed to the television cutting in and out, and the HDMI port is all shot to s**t, which is made an even worse reality when you consider that it has remained in the same spot for the duration of that two year span. Companies used to pride themselves on the way they built quality items that were built to last. It was part of the item's value and worth. It would be wise if these companies returned to those business practices of old. There is no doubt in my mind that I will have to replace my system very soon, and I’m not going to lie; that upsets me greatly.

If I had to describe Sony in a word, it would have to be lackadaisical. It is a sad fact that the only thing that the PlayStation 5 has going for it is its aesthetics. Its curved, sleek, elegant white design is appealing to the eye. But if we were to make a juxtaposition, or an analogy, we could compare the PlayStation 5 to a sleek and sexy luxury European car that has no engine. I will be that harsh and critical of Sony. They have been weighed and found to be lacking. Aside from the design of the thing, the PlayStation 5 offers little to nothing to its loyal fanbase, and we are going to further analyze the reasons for that.

What seemed to be the most alluring aspect behind the PS5, in all actuality, turned out to be the very thing leading to its downfall, at least that is my biased opinion. I am, of course, speaking of the way that the PS5 was advertised as being backward compatible with the PlayStation 4. This seemed to be the answer to all of our prayers. Backward compatibility has been in high demand in the gaming community for quite a while. Is it backwards compatible? It is the question that we’ve been asking for years. I know this because it is something that I’ve always wanted in the gaming system that I’ve purchased for myself. As part of this demographic, I have to admit that we didn’t fully think out the consequences of such an event. What we are left with is an awkward generation of gaming where over four thousand titles can be played on both the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 consoles. The real problem is that you are paying an extra five hundred plus dollars for the latest gaming system that Sony has to offer when the vast majority of the games can be played on the old PS4. The idea looked good on paper, but then again, our expectations hardly match up with the reality of the thing. The problem for fans of Sony is whether they really want to fork the money over to have the latest console, or if they are content playing the same games on an outdated system.

I am not alone: there are many people online expressing their frustration via articles, discussions, threads, and various videos, all detailing the way they feel disappointed and let down by Sony. One of the main problems the majority of users point to is the noticeable trend in the gaming industry, which primarily consists of slow game development. Not only does it take a considerable amount of time for the games to develop, but the games that do make it to the market are mid-level games, as opposed to AAA hits. The ramification of this is that when a game does come out, users are left saying that these games are just kind of okay, as opposed to being a great game. I know from my collegiate experience that the bandwagon effect is an illogical appeal used in propaganda, but this is an idea that I can get behind, and it is one that I wholeheartedly agree with. Not only does PlayStation offer hardly any PlayStation exclusive games, but this was so much of an issue for me that I was thinking of writing an entirely separate article on how horrible the game selection has been for the last two years now. I mean, in what reality does Astro Bot win an award over Black Myth Wukong? I’m just as upset with this year's award for Expedition 33. For one, I think it says a lot when Battlefield 6 is the number one selling game in the fourth quarter, especially when Battlefield 2042 was received so negatively. An example that best illustrates this issue is found in how they announced GTA VI in 2020, and it is anticipated to launch in 2026, although sources say that there is talk of pushing the launch even further back.

PlayStation is falling behind, in my opinion, because it is lacking in innovation. There are many other reasons why I feel that this has been the worst console Sony has made to date, but Sony isn’t fully to blame. They are simply following the trends of the other giants in the industry. Whether we like it or not, we live in a day and age where companies seem to be attempting to take the tangible product away from the consumer. This trend is seen in many different fields and industries. Newspapers are becoming a thing of the past because people can get their information online. Books are being replaced by Kindle services. Movies are being streamed across any number of platforms, and the same can be said for the gaming industry. With the PlayStation Store, we buy our products online as opposed to having the physical product, and there are a plethora of problems found inherent in this strategy that companies are employing. Some of my happiest memories are going to stores like Blockbuster, Hollywood, or Tower Records, and spending hours looking at the cover artwork in order to decide what purchases I was going to make. Taking the tangible product away from the consumer almost takes the humanity out of the process, but that is not the only thing to be said about this marketing strategy. Not only that, but I can confidently say as an avid gamer that, personally, I want to have a gaming room where there are shelves upon shelves of different gaming consoles and all the games that go with them. Speaking for myself, I don’t want all of my games stored in the cloud.

I think many gamers would agree with me that it is a problem that these units sell so much because of the storage capacities that come with them. For instance, the 1 TB console costs more than the 500 GB console, and these companies know what they are doing. The real issue is that the storage does absolutely nothing for the user. Most AAA games are around 100 GB. In most cases, you are lucky if you can save five games to your storage. It is also a hassle to consider that, even if you do buy the physical copy from your local GameStop, you still have to download the data to the console. I remember when a fifty-dollar 8 MB memory card would save three games for you. I’m nostalgic for the days when you could stick a disc in the tray and not have to worry about downloading any content to play the game. It is an inconvenience to the user.

Another problem users are reporting is one that has to do with hardware. There was a noticeable difference between the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation 3. We could tell the difference when we could start playing in 4K, so much so that we said, “Look at those graphics,” as most people say whenever a new gaming system comes out. There just isn’t enough of a difference to justify the high cost of buying this new console when you can get the same quality with the previous model. People feel skeptical about buying the latest PlayStation when the graphics for Witcher 3 surpass any of the games that Sony is pushing now, and Witcher 3 was released in mid 2015. Just as a gamer can’t help but notice the way most open-world exploration games seem, so, well, empty.

I’m writing this article as a call toaction to Sony. I challenge this very large organization to go against the grain of the status quo. Let’s see if they can find the courage to go against the trend of what everyone else is doing. Can they be more creative? More innovative? What I want to see is a revolutionary system that redefines the industry. Give us another PlayStation 2, which came equipped with a DVD player for the first time. Give us another PlayStation 3 with its improved graphics. Make another system that comes with online multiplayer for the first time, and until that time, don’t make any more generations of PlayStation. Don’t make the Playstation 6 until you do it right, because I can tell you this: if the next console is as bad as this one, then that will act as another watershed moment for me where I decided to consider what other options I have besides the Playstation, and seriously start contemplating whether I should switch to the PC or back to the Xbox.

Writing and Research: Aaron Weis

I create chill, educational trophy hunting streams. I break down platinum runs, missables, collectibles, and optimal paths — live. Horror, FPS, and completionist pain. Currently: Silent Hill 2 Remake 40/44 Trophies achieved. Follow me on Twitch @ https://www.twitch.tv/lilweisy222