Is the ps4 the most bang for your buck in gaming history?

I can't get over how much value my launch ps4 has. It has me wondering if any console in history has had this much relevance on the market... Think about it!

November of 2013... 8 years ago. For the first year, admittedly it had Resogun and nothing else worth playing (to me) but then the hits came rolling in. Not just exclusive titles but nearly all of the most exciting games in the medium. As the years have passed Sony has kept the console vibrant and fed with great games... Still, it's just another generation right? Good games come out every gen, but what separates the ps4?

The future! Sony's going back on its word and doing a complete 180 on its stance on generations has filled a vacuum that I believe elevates ps4 to God tier status in the history of games. Officially, I'll be able to play almost every future Playstation top tier game on my ps4 and it has extended the relevancy of the device.

It is conceivable that ps4 is still seeing new releases for the next few years especially given sonys inability to get ps5 consoles in customers hands. This will cement ps4 as a legend for generations to come...

The only other console I can think of that offered this much value over such a long period of time is the Xbox 360. It survived from nov05 to its end of production in 2016. 11 years. Considering Sony moving games to ps4 for the next few years we could see the ps4 surpass it.

System wars! Are you still rocking the ps4? How are you handling next gen when last gen is still the best value in games for a while longer?

The system annoyed me from year one. Way underpowered from the get go. Sold it last summer and good riddance. Everything running at 30fps and below was a mess.

I donno man, seems like it's always gonna be PC.

PS4 has been my favorite game system of all time for a while now. Almost every favorite series is on it. Many people hated the remaster age we entered but it's made PS4 even better with favorite titles finally making their way into a Playstation with the likes of Resident Evil Remake and Shenmue. Then all the new IPs and reimaginings. It was a truly great gen.

If my PS5 didn't play my PS4 library, it would be a dust collector. Sure, Sony has released quite a few games so far but none are up my alley. I wouldn't mind trying Returnal but not at $70.

I was kinda excluding pc, given its an ever present device. Kinda touches on that thread I made about steam decks launch library... The "biggest launch lineup ever...." but is it? Lol

PS2, IMO. But PS4 isn't far behind. People on here bitch about the DVD player thing being bullshit because you could get a standalone cheaper (well f*cking 'duh') but that was a lot of added value at the time. And it was on the market and kept getting games forever. Just a cheap work-horse system that had full backwards compatibility and kept going. My original Phat PS2 is still running (not that I really use it much any more except for an odd revisit to a rare PS1 classic here or there)

@xantufrog: I don’t remember getting a DVD player cheaper. I remember at the time PS2 was cheapest DVD player one could buy. It’s a bug reason it sold so many copies.

*shrug* my memory was you could get standalones for a bit cheaper - but I generally agree about the selling point. We've had people on here call bullshit because supposedly you could get them for "much" cheaper, but even if that was true it added a lot of value. You mean it's a console that does all that stuff AND it plays The Matrix? I bought one and played the shit out of games and also gorged on DVDs.

*edit* yeah you are not right - a web search suggests 150-200 was totally do-able for a DVD player when the PS2 launched. That being said, I think that still makes my point - crazy value in the PS2

I have lots of fun and have played lots of good games on my PS4 since 2014. A brilliant console which is probably the best I have played on.

Get where you're coming from, but personally, nah.

It's by far my least used PS console. Was my least used console of all time until I bought a XBX for BC last year.

I would say PS2 was, they were cheap, the game market was saturated so many games could be had cheap, and publishers back then used to make sure that new physical copies were at retailers, that all ended 7th gen when the used game market blew up bigger than ever and publisher retail strategies changed. Publishing started getting more limited as used game sales would take over, depending how a game launched might dictate the used game inventory would look onward, and how new/used prices would reflect that. That was the gen if I wanted to find a new sealed copy of something that had been out a while I had to order half of what I wanted on Amazon.

The PS2 had a lot of gems and much of my disappointment with Sony with PS4 had to do with the efforts they made on PS3 regarding BC. I had the phat launch PS3 with full hardware BC and loved it because I could still enjoy all my PS2 games. But Sony had to cut costs on PS3 to bring price down and eventually PS1 and PS2 BC became digital downloads from PSN, but they built a huge catalog of PS1 and PS2 games that could be had cheap, it was great. Going to PS4, two things I think kept them from keeping that same catalog accessible to users, one was new drive for enhanced emulation with trophies and a higher mark-up, and the other was a drive to force people to use their new streaming BC subscription service. They totally passed on a tremendous opportunity to keep some of the best games of their past accessible to new hardware.

PS4 is a great console and I put lots of hours into it. I got more than my money’s worth out of it.

PS5 : while I like it (especially since it has PS4 backwards compatibility) I feel It is off to a weak start.

I’m seeing more people getting tired of the third person movie game trend. They are also losing ground with Japanese publisher to the Switch which rules in Japan. After Monster Hunter Rise and Stories I wouldn’t be surprised if Capcom makes an exclusive RE for Switch.

MS buying Bethesda and other big western publishers isn’t doing them any favors. If they buy EA, Ubisoft or CD Projekt Red at some point this will be bad news.

I like Uncharted and God of war, Ghost of Tsushima etc. but these games are a one and done type of deal and get old fast. PlayStation needs more mechanically rich games with lots of content. Them not having a big multiplayer game like Halo doesn’t help either.

I've probably gotten thousands of hours logged into my PS4, it's definitely been one of the best bang for the buck consoles I've ever owned.

I’d have to go with the PS2. We used the DVD player a lot.

ps2 library and you could get one for like 50bucks

If it had full BC it would be

Xbox 360 for me. PS4 is up there though, and is my favorite playstation.

probably not, for me i can only name a handful of "great" games, but was still better than the PS3.

The PS4 IS a great console, or rather it has many great games. Like hardwenzen I feel that the hardware was underpowered from day one, which is disappointing. I prefer the xbox 360 over the PS4, since the hardware didn't feel underpowered at its time and the games were just about as good.

I consider Atari 2600 and NES the greatest consoles of all time. They revitalised the video game market back in their time. They have accomplished things that the PS4 never has.

Definitely my most favorite PlayStation console of all, so far. Originally bought the PS4 with price drop in 2015, but gave that away. Bought the PS4 Pro around 2017 and couldn’t be happier! Best bang for my buck! Also eventually bought the Days of Play Gun Metal Limited Edition PS4 in 2019 because why not? I wanted one for my bedroom so my wife and I can watch apps and play. As far as 3rd party games and the few exclusives I enjoyed, I feel the system is a very well rounded console!

And because of cross platform games coming to PS4, it seems I’m sticking with the Pro for awhile. I’m in no rush at all to jump into this current generation.

Yeah I'm very happy with my PS4 to this day. Sure, two games have hit PC. But there are still loads of exclusives I can play on it.

Will be enjoying Ghost of Tsushima expansion this month!

Xbox One X is the best in history for bang for my buck.

Could have been a lot more bang in terms of hardware.

If you want to ignore the 360 and PS2 then maybe.

@Ghost120x: lmao at the concern trolling reply.

First Steam Deck having the largest launch lineup and now this? 😂 This kind of misinformation reminds me of politics. 😎

I would argue the 360/PS3 era had a higher quantity of high quality games; the first three years of the PS4/Xbox One gen was mostly (read: mostly) ports of last gen games up-res'd.

I played far more games on my 360 than I did on my PS4.

@Pedro: not spreading misinformation, asking your thoughts on it... Go ahead and look at the OP... I'm asking for your reaction to the idea that Steam decks library is massive. Does it matter to the consumer? Is its library what makes it a system seller?

Same here... Do you believe there is another console with great value over the years? I mentioned x360 being one... Do you have another?

For me it was Xbox 360.

Among the Playstation Console Line, PS2/PS3 Fat Original comes to mind.

What is the benchmark for best bang for you buck? If it is the shear number of games and cost PC always wins. If it based on number of games on a particular console, then whichever has the most amount of games at the cheapest price. Is the Series S the most bang for you buck because it is $300 and support previous and next gen games?

Just about. Nothing beats the PS1-PS3 when it had backwards compatibility. Can't see it happening now with the rise of PS Now and remasters of old games.

Started out great for the first few years, then almost nothing from Sony. With the help of Nintendo and Microsoft flubbing the start of last gen, Sony was able to pull away with the sales. They got lucky.

Great console, plenty of great games. Though if I'm being honest naughty dog literally carried the ps4. Uncharted 4, and tlou were the flagship. Then of course you had the persona games, final fantasy 7. It's wierd because alot of those games were from 3rd party devs that refused to make ports for the xbox. I mean do they not like money?

I just relocated my PS4 to my gaming room and started to put a little more time into it with the new TV. I probably played it a half dozen times in the last two years, so hoping to improve upon that.

Nowadays it definitely is. Amazing lineup of games for really cheap on top of various services that enhance the console. Greatest Hits lineup means some great games is permanently $20. On consoles, no other console can boast that. Switch only games is expensive, Xbox one only games is eh some section probably like them.

Definitely a good time to pick up the console.

Completely agree. It is undeniable that the PS4 shall go down in history as one of the greatest Consoles of all time. Quantity AND quality, it provided a surplus of both, including some of the greatest games of all time that can't currently be played elsewhere (besides PS5, of course!).

its not as good as ps2 and psx but its way better than ps3.

Ah, well, in that context ignore my original post below haha.

Yeah PS4 just might be the best value (and perhaps best console?) in recent memory.

I didn't really play my PS4 because Sony exclusives are boring as shit and were super disappointing and not good enough to pull me away from my 20-dollar early-access indie games I play on my 20,000-dollar PC in my mom's basement. But I know people liked their PS4's and the build quality seemed pretty great.

The free games with PS+ always seemed decent, too, so even that seemed worthwhile as a service.

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Nah, super limited for what you get. Any console is a ripoff because you're just half-assing it.

Of course, it really depends on what you want out of it. If you're just a casual that only buys something to play a couple choice games per year, then sure...a console might be all you need.

PC is the only platform of any value. And yes, I am saying that in the full context of knowing that a mid-range desktop will cost about 3x what a PS4 did at launch.

With PC, I have:

• near-infinite backwards compatibility
• near-infinite future-proofing, provided my hardware is at least somewhat current. And by current I mean made in like the last 8 years.
• access to the larges library in gaming history, with the most diverse amount of genres and sub-genres.
• open platform nature, which means multiple storefronts competing for my money, which means sales and good deals all over the place.
• free online.
• Lots of free to play games. And good ones, too!
• PC is super multipurpose as well, allowing me to game and listen to music and research all at the same time with a simple alt-tab.
• Customization options; build to my needs, my wants.

Nah, PS5 is. Has bc with PS4 and has incredible value at $500. Try building a PC that has the specs of a PS5 at $500. You will fail 😎

I don't know what was but going forward Xbox series X will be

Thank you gamepass and thank you MS for a console that can't be beat for price

1. PS1

2. GameCube

3. Dreamcast

Got them for cheap. Great value-for-money.

No!

I liked my PS4, but no. Honestly, my PS1 probably takes that crown.

Meh. No backwards compatibility. Don't care for most of the exclusives, most of the best games are available elsewhere.

I'd say PS3 and XB1 both have better cases.

The PS3 had backwards compatibility for awhile and then got remasters of a lot of the best PS2 stuff. Also enjoyed the PS3's exclusives more. Devs were able to put out more games in those days too .

The XB1 has some pretty great backwards compatibility and most of the stuff worth playing on PS4 is available on it and I mean ... if we're talking bang for buck, hard to beat gamepass

Ah no Alex, that would be; what is GamePass. :P

I would say in terms of quality 1st party yes there's so much quality on the console.