Feature: PS5’s Not Perfect, But Here Are 5 Ways It’s More Consumer Friendly Than Switch 2
Image: Push SquareThe phrase âconsumer friendlyâ gets tossed around a lot and is rarely ever true. All companies want to extract money from your wallet at the end of the day.
But there are scales to this sort of stuff, and some organisations tend to be fairer than others.
PlayStation is often criticised as being the most anti-consumer gaming company of all; this is a sentiment that dates all the way back to the PS3 era, when the consoleâs $599 price instantly became a meme.
Before we dig deeper into this article, weâd like to underline that Sony still makes a lot of questionable decisions, and there are no shortage of things to criticise.
However, as the Internet explodes over the Switch 2âs high software prices, we figured it was worth rounding up some of the ways the PS5 is a touch more tolerable than its newest rival right now.
For Starters, Party Chat Is Free
When the Internet started speculating about the Switch 2âs mysterious C button, many wondered what kind of functionality it would offer.
It turns out, itâs just party chart.
Hereâs the kicker, though: in order to take full advantage of the C button, youâll need an active Nintendo Switch Online membership. There will be a free trial available for first-time purchasers, but beyond that, youâll have to cough up.
To be fair, Sony does lock some of its community features behind PS Plus: the oft-overlooked Share Play, for example, which lets your friend take control of your console and play âlocalâ multiplayer games over the Internet is a paid feature.
But the core, basic social functionality of party chat â itâs free on the PS5, and has been for over a generation now.
Honestly, Upgrades Seem Fairer
Sony has attracted enormous criticism from all corners of the Internet for its emphasis on remasters, but its approach â while not perfect â is much fairer than what Nintendoâs announced thus far.
Ever since launch, backwards compatibility has ensured many games play better on the PS5 than on the PS4. Some, like Days Gone and Horizon Zero Dawn, got free updates unlocking their frame rates and boosting their resolutions.
This is similar to what Nintendoâs offering with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, although itâs bundling in some superfluous mobile app features and charging $10 for the privilege. To be fair, in the case of the Zelda games specifically, an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription will get you the upgrades for free.
But when Sonyâs charged $10 for upgrades, itâs offered full-blown remasters. We still havenât seen enough of Days Gone Remastered to know if itâll be worth the upgrade, but past attempts like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered and The Last of Us 2 Remastered have delivered seriously impressive overhauls. The former in particular completely transforms the presentation with more than just a mere resolution bump.
It should also be added that many of these $10 upgrades on Sonyâs side include new content, like the roguelike mode in The Last of Us 2 Remastered. Comparably, Nintendo will charge you $20 for the new content in Super Mario Party Jamboree and Kirby and the Forgotten Land.
PlayStationâs not completely perfect, of course. The Last of Us: Part 1 and Until Dawn, both full-blown remakes, were flogged without any upgrade option. While the platform holder would justify that by saying it completely rebuilt these games, for the purposes of fairness, we figured it was worth pointing out.
Full Games Tend to Be Included on Discs
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Letâs get the obvious caveat out of the way: almost all games in this era have day one patches. We donât love it, but due to the lag between a game going gold and landing in your hands, developers will often spend additional time refining their games while theyâre being manufactured. That means you will often have to download patches for your latest physical games.
However, itâs extremely rare for a game to ship on the PS5 and not be playable out of the box. Are there examples where itâs happened? Yes, but itâs not common in the slightest.
Nintendo is introducing a new model with the Switch 2 named Game Key Cards, which allows developers to offer a physical product, but itâs one youâll need to download.
While it does still allow for resale and trading, you simply wonât be able to play your game if you havenât connected to the Internet and downloaded it first.
This raises all kinds of preservation issues: what will happen to your software in the future if Nintendo ever shuts down its servers? What if it ceases supporting the Switch 2 eShop like it already has with the Wii U and 3DS stores?
Itâs not something you should be worrying about as an early adopter, we suppose, but in the case of physical PS5 games, at least you know your disc will pretty much always be available to install in some capacity.
First-Party Software Is Cheaper (For Now)
$69.99 is a lot of money for a first-party PS5 game, but itâs cheaper than the new standard Nintendoâs trying to introduce. Mario Kart World costs $79.99 new, and in Europe, youâre looking at âŹ89.99 (~$99) for a physical edition, which is frankly absurd.
To be fair, it seems like Nintendoâs adopting flexible pricing, and the new Donkey Kong Bananza game will match Sonyâs first-party offerings at $69.99. But if youâre not upgrading the likes of Super Mario Party Jamboree and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, youâll once again be spending $79.99 for the Switch 2 Editions outright.
Itâs also worth mentioning that Sony tends to discount faster and deeper than its Japanese rival.
While its sales have certainly gotten less compelling over time, Tears of the Kingdom has never gone lower than $49.99 on the Nintendo eShop â and that was just once. A comparable exclusive, like, say, Marvelâs Spider-Man 2 has reached lows of $39.99 on the PS Store on at least three occasions now.
In defence of Nintendoâs approach, its reluctance to reduce prices does keep resale values higher, which some may appreciate.
And to be fair, Sonyâs no angel here. Most recently, itâs jumped on the trend of charging extra for early access. If you want Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, for instance, itâll cost you $69.99 â but in order to play it as early as possible, youâll need to cough up $79.99.
Yes, itâs better than Nintendoâs recent announcements, but we still must admit itâs all trending in the wrong direction.
Retro Games Can Be Purchased Outside of Subscription
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This is a minor one, but it does also matter: if you want to play The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker on the Switch 2, youâll need to be subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online. But credit where creditâs due, if you want to play Ape Escape or Dino Crisis on the PS5, you can purchase a digital copy outright.
Some would argue Nintendo has a stronger back catalogue than Sony, with more desirable retro software than you can obtain through PS Plus Premium. Itâs also cheaper to sign up to the Switchâs membership than PlayStationâs top tier (although Sony offers a lot more for the price).
But this doesnât change the fact that the likes of Resident Evil: Directorâs Cut, Sly Cooper, and Everybodyâs Golf can all be purchased separately. Many of these games feature full Trophy lists, too, which makes revisiting them from a modern perspective much more compelling.
Sonyâs far from perfect, and thereâs plenty of poor moves itâs made over the course of the generation. We suspect commenters will be eager to point to the PS5 Proâs $699 price point, and the frequent price increases the platform holder has implemented.
Weâll continue to hold the company accountable for its more questionable moves, make no mistake of that. But sometimes itâs worth acknowledging the good things, and to that end, PS5 does have some more agreeable elements that are worth celebrating in comparison to the Switch 2 at this moment in time.
