Slightly Disheartened

[Smudgeyjoe]

I have been a gamer literally forever. 66 years old, and played nearly every system besides
the Atari Jaguar. I originally had an X-Box One, but gave it to my grand kids and bought
A PS4 for myself. I am a first time poster, and know that sometimes leads to dissing,
but I am really just lamenting and want someone to lament with. I was well aware of
the lack of backward compatibility for both systems, but I ended up choosing the PS4
because the games I have liked the most, and look forward to the most are on the PS4.
What has happened, though, is the reality and awareness of how much I am missing the
opportunity to play Last of Us, Bioshock, Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, and an endless
number of games I am truly missing. Unless you are an unusual gamer, you are likely
similar to me and finding yourself with a very small number of games to play. In my case, three.
While the majority of players are online multiplayer types, at least a percentage are
like me, guys who go home, sit down, and want to escape into a single player campaign.
Playstation Now "promises" to solve that problem, but the number of articles expecting that
not to happen greatly outnumber those who think it will. Among those who
think it will happen, most are concerned about latency and speed, that those two elements
may destroy the fun of playing last year's games. Beginning to wonder if I'm glad I
upgraded or not. How are you feeling???

 

[KMJ_84]

No no, you won't get flamed for your first post here, we're not like that (Welcome aboard by the way)

You're right that online gaming isn't for everyone, so who can blame you for just wanting to play single player campaigns. Besides, the amount of trash talk that goes on in some lobbies, you're better off staying away from it all

I'm excited by the sound of PS Now, however there are some areas that are making me.. not so excited. Such as the 5mbps internet speed that is the minimum to run this. I don't have fibre, and I don't plan on upgrading in the next couple of years or so as the cost is still stupidly high. But, some nights by internet speed reaches 12mbps, other nights it struggles to get 5mbps.

Also, there is the unannounced cost/subscription for PS Now, and we don't know exactly what games would be available. After previously owning the Xbox 360, I've missed out on PS exclusives that I'm dying to play such as Heavy Rain, The Last of Us, Unchartered etc. But whether this will be available on PS Now from the off is anyone's guess. Another thing that's annoyed me slightly is that PS Now won't be available in EU until next year.

But despite all the negatives I've just listed, I'm also very hopeful that this console is going to last me a very long time, and with more and more features being added to it's lifespan I don't regret my purchase decision one bit

 

[Titan]

Welcome aboard. I do see what you're saying. I personally am 27 and not really into online gaming myself. I usually prefer to sit down, play and enjoy a campaign more than anything. Though I don't mind playing online either. I personally prefer co op online play. PS Now is still too much in its infancy to tell how effective this will be. It sounds like it will suit exactly what you're looking for to get games you didn't play. What is rumored the price structure will be to my understanding is that there will be a subscription or a fee for each individual game. You can buy a game if you don't want the subscription. As for the internet speed, I'm actually not surprised you need 5 mbps. These are big games and takes a lot of bandwidth to stream them.

 

[BBGold]

Welcome, I also dislike the lack of backwards compatibility on both systems. Besides the PS Now service, they're rumors floating around of PS2 Emulation for the PS4 as well. If this is just for games downloaded from the catalog remains to be seen.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-ps1-ps2-games-heading-to-ps4

 

[KMJ_84]

Welcome, I also dislike the lack of backwards compatibility on both systems. Besides the PS Now service, they're rumors floating around of PS2 Emulation for the PS4 as well. If this is just for games downloaded from the catalog remains to be seen.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-ps1-ps2-games-heading-to-ps4

I was under the impression that PS Now would include PS1/PS2/PS3 games anyway

 

[TheDarkDefender]

It really comes down to your internet. If you have basic internet, you might have problems (as most people have). But I'm confident that Sony knows what they're doing.

Also, welcome aboard!

 

[EyeballPaul]

Hey,I'm new too,Also new to PSN.Been on Xbox since my PS2.Gotta say,Xbox One does'nt have many games,Plenty of Xbone user complaining about that.So far my experience with PS4 and PSN has been awesome,It is like a breath of fresh air.PS4 is defo the best option.Loving that they give you free games to play.I missed out on the PS3 exclusives too but i think PS4 will have some epic games.

 

[Obsidian]

I'm glad I upgraded, sure there are not many games to play yet, but look at the future. With so many great games on the PS3 it's impossible not to imagine a lot of great games in the future. I like a good campaign game too, so I definitely feel your pain there. I'm really missing GTA and Far Cry 3 in particular but there are rumours about Far Cry 4 so I can be patient.

 

[FrostWinds]

I'm a third your age but feel exactly the same way about everything, especially single-player and multiplayer games. All I can say is I'm glad I kept my 360 and it doesn't look like much is happening in the near future for the PS4(please correct me if I'm wrong). I've only bought new consoles on launch a couple times before but they've always released solid games along with them with good replay value(they were probably Nintendo consoles). There's no doubt that the games available are weak. PS+ is the only thing makes me bother turning the console on right now, and any of those games are better than any of the retail ones in my opinion.

 

[Nackles]

I know your pain. I am stuck between the single player and online play side of things. I find myself more and more drawn to online gaming, but for the most part I would still rather have a great single player experience. Don't forget about the new Infamous game coming in March! It should be a good one. Even if the PS Now doesn't work out, in a few years there will be all the "HD" (or whatever they choose to call them 2 years from now) remakes. I am sure that blockbuster games at the end of the PS3 lifespan will make their way into collections on the PS4 eventually.
My first gaming consoles were the Atari and Intellivision, so we are probably cut from the same gaming "mold". The way kids are always connected at younger and younger ages these days makes the surge towards online experiences almost inevitable. It has been a little bit weaker launch than I remember other generations having also. Don't be a victim of early adopters regret! Games like The Last of Us proved that strong single player games are still highly marketable and they will show up on the PS4 and XBone eventually.
on a side note, does Sega Channel come to mind for anyone else while talking about PS Now??

 

[SpaceTiger]

Welcome Joe, awesome to have a new member (especially one who has enjoyed those earlier consoles during the period they came out). As far as that bad taste about having a PS4 because of the lack of games, the main thing to remember is that every console released has had a lack of games worth playing. That's not to say there's a lack of games period, 20+ is usually a good number for launch, but when getting a new console in a generation it's also good to remember that you're buying with the launch window in mind, those games that are coming out in the first year.

Those launch games are just to give you something sate you while waiting for the next batch of games to come out and a steady flow of consistently released games usually don't pick up until that second year. The general rule of thumb around here is to hold on to your previous generation's console at least until more games come in.

As far as PS Now I also figured it would have PS games from all generations. I can understand speed being an issue since it really depends on your connection.

 

[Tomba]

Pretty much what Space Tiger, KHJ, and Titan said. You just have to wait for it to pick up. Had to wait for PS2 and had to wait for PS3 if you got them at launch. If you got them a couple of months to a year in you were pretty much set though. Launch has always had a drought and launch window has always been pretty slow since developers are still getting the hang of making games efficiently on new technology. Like they can make the game with this new technology, but it's a process of picking up how to manage time, resources, and performance whereas 6-9 years experience with the last generation depending on when the console came out.

That said, when the next generation is announced: hold on to your PS4s, Wii Us, and Xbox Ones.

 

[Haymansafc]

Welcome Joe! You share exactly the same issues as I have and it remains one of the main sticking points why I haven't upgraded as of yet.

Firstly, I'm five weeks short of my 29th birthday and I'm already fast loosing pace with technology. The whole 'online' and 'multiplayer' business has so far bypassed myself entirely. In all the years I've had my PS3, it's yet to be connected to the internet. Quite frankly, I haven't a clue how to go about it. To me, 'multiplayer' is still getting a friend to come wrong and hooking up two controllers on a two player game. What on earth has happened to these!? It was so simple! Now you need headphones with microphones, top of the range internet connections and presumably witchcraft to somehow make it all work in conjunction together just to do effectively the same thing. Albeit with a few more people if you so wish to. I'm sorry but I just don't get it or know where it all spawned from…

I have few friends to speak of and as such, single player games have predominantly been my source of gaming for close to ten years. I'm perfectly happy with them. The worrying thing for me is that the increasing dominance of multiplayers and being online means people like ourselves are now, quite frankly, being ignored. Single player games don't seem to be anywhere near as long as they used to be in my opinion. However, we still pay the same price for the initial disc to get less benefit from it!

As a result of this, I'm holding back on purchasing a PS4 until I can either get hold of more Amazon vouchers (got some at Christmas and my birthday is in early April) to get money off that way or alternatively, simply hold off even further until there's some decent value bundles or a proper price reduction. As things stand, I just can't see me getting full use out of the console when, as a traditional gamer, all I want to do is plug it in, slot in a disc and play. It's not just the PS4 - I just find all modern/new consoles are simply to complicated for their own good.

Don't take this the wrong way. I don't want to sound overly negative about online gaming. I'm more than willing to give it a try to see what the fuss is all about as and when I do get a PS4. However my own fears are down to not only a lack of friends, but also a complete lack of technical ability to do so. I don't have one of these PSN accounts, I don't know how to go about it and unless there's some sort of 'pay as you go' option simply because I know wouldn't get even close to my money's worth with a subscription, then I can be counted out of it altogether. I have recently upgraded to Fibre Optic with unlimited usage – partly in preparation for the PS4 (just to prove that I do want to give the online business a shot!). Unfortunately this is currently proving to be barely any quicker than our previous Broadband and that in itself was only about a 10% improvement over the Dial Up I had in the late nineties… I just think the reliance on using the internet for gaming and the 'presumption' everyone has super-fast connections is just too over the top now… They really are alienating a good number of gamers - especially when it comes to DLC releases.

 

[NuclearDragon]

That said, when the next generation is announced: hold on to your PS4s, Wii Us, and Xbox Ones.

Great advice. It should be stickied...six to seven years from now

 

[KN1GHTMARE]

Well since you have played all the previous consoles I'm sure you are well aware it's merely a matter of time before a overflow of new games are amde available. By this time next year we will have an abundance of choices. Sadly the current dry spell is jus the price of being an early adopter. On the bright side, since you enjoy single player, you have Infamous and Metal Gear both out this month.