Key Takeaways
- PS5 leads in sales, slim model released.
- No current-gen console price cuts, time to buy.
- 2024 has a wealth of PS5 exclusives, no Pro needed.
Knowing when the right time to buy any new piece of tech is always tricky. You don’t want to jump in too early when it’s at its most expensive and likely to have the most problems, but if you wait too long then you might end up regretting the purchase when a new system is announced just a few years later. It’s a tightrope walk we all need to manage, but when it comes to the PlayStation 5, we’ve hit that sweet spot where I can easily say there’s no reason to wait any longer .
The PS5 is currently dominating in sales and has already sold more than double what Xbox has managed in the same time frame. The Switch is leaving both of them in the dust, of course, but Nintendo is playing its own game and the Switch 2 is so close that anyone who doesn’t have a Switch knows it’s better to wait. For anyone looking for the best home console experience, there are no more excuses. These are the top reasons why you need to grab a PS5 today.
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1 Revised model
Easy to find
Sony
The original PS5 models didn’t have any glaring technical or hardware issues, unless you count being ugly as a hardware issue. These original units are massive, heavy, and weird-looking if you want to be generous. PlayStation has finally offered up a smaller, slightly more visually appealing set of slim models that don’t give you any performance boosts, but no doubt will smooth out any irregular issues the original set had. The best part, this new model can be taken as a clear sign that the PS5 shortage that plagued the system for the first few years is officially over.
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2 No price cuts
Might as well bite the bullet
Sony
If you were holding out for a price cut before snagging a PS5, I hate to say it, but I don’t think we’re going to see one anytime soon. No current-gen console, not even the Switch, has seen a baseline price cut. Typically price cuts would come at this mid-generation point with the release of a slim model, but PlayStation is sticking to its guns and holding that price steady. There’s a very small chance we see a price cut when the Pro model comes out, but that’s not worth banking on. I’d say your best bet is to just find a bundle that includes a game and take it.
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3 The games are here
Don’t fall behind
2024 is a slower year for first-party games from PlayStation, but not for PS5 exclusives. In fact, diving into the PS5 now and only playing exclusive games will still take months of your time. If you’re waiting for that one exclusive game to push you over the edge, you might be shooting yourself in the foot by missing out on all the games already on the platform waiting for you. Between third-party smashes like GTA 6 and Assassin’s Creed Shadows, plus whatever PlayStation first-party is cooking, you won’t be lacking games to play.
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4 No need to go Pro
Only for the enthusiasts
Sony
Technically PlayStation hasn’t officially stated that a PS5 Pro even exists, let alone what specs it has. That said, many credible leakers have shared what this mid-generation refresh will and won’t do. Based on everything we’ve seen, the Pro isn’t going to be something the average PS5 player will need to enjoy their games. The main selling point will be better ray-tracing, perhaps 8K support, and faster loading. Now, the rumored special DLSS it could have might be something you’d be interested in since it could boost frame rates, but it all depends on how it’s implemented. Essentially, unless you have an 8K display with 120Hz refresh rate or more, and care about ray-tracing, the Pro probably wouldn’t offer much you couldn’t get out of a current PS5.
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Do you prefer to buy your games physically or digitally?
Buying games used to be an event. You’d need to save up or wait for your parents to agree to buy one, and then get dragged along on five other errands before you could get back home to start playing. Thankfully we had those awesome game manuals to read in the car to tide us over until we could slap that game in our console and play. We’ve already gone from cartridges to discs, but now games are primarily sold digitally. PC gamers have been primarily downloading games for decades, but it’s only been since the 360 and PS3 days that downloading full games on a console was even possible. What started as a novelty has now turned into the primary way games are sold and bought. The upsides to digital games are obvious—you can download and play them without having to leave your home, they don’t take up space, and you can’t lose or damage them. However, there has been a big pushback against this all-digital future for games. Preservation and ownership issues are chief
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