The Perils of the Early Adopter
Decisions to factor in before buying your next console
Its official! An announcement that we all knew was bound to happen but were hoping wasn’t true. Sony has confirmed that it has no official release date for the PS5 in India. The often-discussed November 19 was always unlikely owing to Sony’s track record; no pre-orders being taken and the vague late 2020 date on its website.
While Xbox shipped its first batch of Series X and S on the 10th of November in the country; uncertainty now rules the roost for both the consoles as there is no new information on when more devices will arrive (for the series X).
The situation is same globally too as the demand for new consoles has been staggering and neither of the two firms were prepared for it with 2020 posing it own unique problems. As logistics, shipping and manufacturing process may take time to ramp up, it will be a while before pre-orders can be fulfilled and thus the India launch seems likely to be later rather than sooner for the PS5.
At this juncture, it is prudent to “stay patient;” words easier said then done for a community which prides itself on incredibly fast action. Hardcore gamers are known for wanting to play on the latest and greatest and thus scalpers are beginning to re-sell early devices at ridiculously high prices (Some over a 1000 USD!). However, no console no matter how great the experience it offers is worth more than its retail price and thus the smart thing is to wait.
The benefits of waiting far outweigh early acquisitions as hiccups in software and hardware will need time to be ironed out. There is news of consoles facing trouble with cooling issues and the PS5 facing trouble when going into the rest mode.
Though most importantly there are still no noteworthy games to play at launch. Cyberpunk 2077 is delayed again and Halo isn’t coming out till 2021. Valhalla and Legion are both upgradeable to next gen and thus there is simply not enough reason to get a console early.
The benefits of ray-tracing, faster SSDs and the incredible experience promised by Sony’s DualSense controller all need worthy games to test but there are simply none so far. Demon Souls is a remaster, Miles Morales while wonderful lasts a little over 6 hours and Godfall is too much glow and brightness with little substance (almost like Killzone: Shadowfall).
On the Xbox front, Bright Memory is a 40 min. technical demo for the upcoming 2021 game amidst a lineup filled with a host of remasters and 3rd party titles. As developers begin to find new ways to use the hardware at their disposal, it might be 2021 before we truly feel what next gen offers and the threadbare lineup begins to grow.
At this moment there is not much reason to pay a scalper an obnoxious sum but for bragging rights. In a variation of Avicii and Rita Ora, “Let’s stay patient together”.
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