By Jeffrey Swindoll
The Play Station 4 launches today, and the Xbox One will come out in a week, but that doesn’t mean you should rush out and buy those video-gaming consoles. As a gamer, I get it. You want to try the newest tech for your games and the newest games.
Here are the four reasons I think you should wait at least a year before you start playing next-gen: 1. Prices will expectedly drop. 2. Your friends are probably still going to be on Xbox 360 and PS3. The systems are bound to have bugs at launch. 4. There aren’t that many games at launch.
Whether they use a bundle to bulk the value of your purchase, or simply cut $50 off the price, you can expect to see better deals in terms of price for both systems as the lifetime of the system goes on.
On a side note, PS4 and Xbox One preorders are both sold out everywhere. Unless you’re planning on buying your system on Craigslist for double the price of retail, you probably won’t be able to get one in the near future for a reasonable price.
Second, the initial batch of new consoles always has bugs. Always. Whether it’s with the online features being down or the systems themselves have hardware defects like overheating, you can expect to see a few hiccups in the launch for both systems.
Microsoft and Sony are giving very complicated and innovative tech to millions of people all over the world. Do you think with all those people basically testing the product that there won’t be any issues?
A launch of this magnitude is sure to have problems in some way, shape or form.
That’s not just a guess or prediction based solely on probability. It’s based on the fact that Xbox 360 and PS3 each had their issues right out the gate at launch, and some were not fixed until way after release, if ever.
Third, the majority of your friends will still be playing your favorite online games like Call of Duty and Battlefield on the current generation of consoles. If you base your gaming experience around being able to get online and play with your friends, then you should absolutely wait a year before upgrading to next-gen.
If you do get next-gen consoles, there will be plenty of people playing those games, but they will probably be people you don’t know.
Social interaction is such a big part of playing game online now with voice chat, friend notifications and competitive/cooperative play. Therefore, you’ll be missing out on that experience if you’re playing on the new consoles while your friends are playing the 360.
Lastly, the games should be the most important thing to gamers. A new system could have the best graphics and the best controller, but if there are no high-quality games for the system, do you really want to play it?
Just ask any longtime Indiana Jones fan what they thought of the 2008 sequel to the classic series. The movie clearly has more advanced special effects, better sound experience and all that good stuff. Did they like the movie as much as the old ones?
The answers may vary, but you’re probably going to get a negative or disappointed reaction from them.
At the end of the day, what matters most is the content. That goes for any experience — sports, video games, movies and music.
For video games, that means the games themselves need to be compelling. Looking at the titles that will be available at launch, there aren’t that many, and few look play-worthy.
All the games that seem promising to me are set to release after launch, and some will launch in the distant future.
Jeffrey Swindoll is a sophomore journalism major from Miami. He is a reporter for The Lariat.
