Team Talk | Should you pre-order a PlayStation 5?

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It’s finally happened. The PlayStation 5’s standard and digital editions now have not only a release date, but a price point. The disc-friendly version will set you back £450 (the same as an Xbox Series X), while the digital-leaning iteration is £360. You can get your hands on one from 19 November, should you be able to snag a pre-order.

Now that we have all the prices and release dates for the next generation of consoles, are you tempted by the shiny new boxes? Are you going to hold off until the prices drop and more games come out? We asked the team where they stand on the PS5 after Sony’s latest showcase event.

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by James Michael Parry

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@James_Parry

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by Team PTC

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@pass_controller

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Liam

Obviously, the biggest reveal from the showcase was price. £449 for the full-fat version was not entirely unexpected since Microsoft already set the bar with the Series X price tag, but £359 for the digital-only edition did come as a bit of a surprise.

While it’s not as cheap as the Xbox Series S at £249, the digital edition’s lower cost is certainly appealing, as I’d mostly be using it as a second console to catch up on missed exclusives and leverage PS VR.

However, being tied to a digital store where prices for new, premium games could be as high as £70, along with the pre-order chaos that followed the event (they seem to be selling out just as quickly as stores can list them) has somewhat cooled my interest for now.

Confirmation that some of the PS5’s upcoming titles, such as Horizon Forbidden West and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, will be coming to PS4 has also got me thinking that it might be better to grab a discounted Pro for the time being and look to upgrade later when the optical drive PS5 is more widely available and possibly a bit cheaper.

The PS4 still has some impressive looking games coming its way.

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James

The price gap between the two cheaper consoles – £110 between the Xbox Series S and the PS5 Digital Edition – could make all the difference for a lot of people. The added benefit of Game Pass for Xbox, plus the flexible pricing options mean it’s a sensible choice for most people this Christmas.

Like Liam, I’m yet to play many of the PS4’s best exclusives, and with new games still getting PS4 releases you could be better off picking up a cheaper PS4 Pro. You'd get plenty of graphical performance from cross-gen games like Forbidden West and Miles Morales, while also saving money at a time that’s tight for many.

The backpedaling, highlighted by Eurogamer, shouldn’t be missed either. Sony was clear that these new game experiences would be a generational leap, making them out of reach of the previous generation, but now they suddenly seem more achievable on the PS4. Add to that the sketchy presentation of some “exclusives” which will actually be coming to other platforms later and it represents a serious cause for concern.

If you’re dying to play the new God of War though, you can be sure that the PS5 is the fastest and highest-fidelity way to do so, which may just be enough to make it a no-brainer for you. For everyone else, a bit of patience might go a long way.

Was the PC announcement really "human error," or will the Demon's Souls remake eventually make its way to other platforms?

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Sam

While paling in comparison to Xbox Game Pass, I’d argue that the PlayStation Plus Collection makes a compelling argument for upgrading to PS5 if you still need to catch up on all things PS4. Both James and Liam recommend a PS4 Pro for the time being, but you could put that money towards the PlayStation 5 instead and gain access to a library of the biggest and best PlayStation 4 games almost by default.

Exclusive games have always been what draws me towards one console or another. Opinions on games are subjective, of course, but if you’re in it for the big launch titles then PS5 is worth a pre-order for Demon’s Souls and Spider-Man: Miles Morales alone. Learning that both of those would be available from day one convinced me to pre-order, anyway.

I still plan to buy an Xbox Series X, but I’m not looking forward to playing anything in particular on Microsoft’s next-gen console come launch day. Xbox is a far greater value proposition with Game Pass Ultimate and backwards compatibility for both software and hardware peripherals, but it just doesn’t have those big-budget titles to really draw me in from the get go.

From where I stand, whether you should purchase a PS5 depends on what appeals to you more. Is it the sizzle of exclusive games you can’t play anywhere except PlayStation? Or is it the consumer friendliness that Xbox brings to the table, albeit without much excitement.

A PlayStation Plus subscription could be an alternative way to experience classic PS4 exclusives on the latest tech.

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Will you be pre-ordering a PlayStation 5? If so, which one? Let us know below or in the forums.