Our living room TV died on December 23, 2018. My husband was NOT going to live a few days without a main TV, so he ran out to Best Buy almost immediately to get a new one. He picked up a 4K model, and holy crap, this thing is amazing. I never knew what garbage I was subjecting my precious eyes to until I saw this puppy.
Now that the new member in the family has spoiled me, I’m disgusted with my office TV. It’s only 1080 HD. I’ve only seen Minecraft played on the living room TV, but you’d be amazed at how sharp those blocks look in 4K. I can’t imagine what it would be like playing Horizon Zero Dawn or Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in 4K. My TV isn’t broken, however, so it’s hard for me to justify the purchase at this time. But if I did buy a shiny new 4K TV, shouldn’t I upgrade my PS4 while I’m at it?
I’m sure my PS4 games will look amazing on a 4K TV regardless of whether I have the Pro or not, but if I already have the TV, why not get a console to take advantage of all it has to offer?
To Buy or Not to Buy?
One big detriment to investing in another PS4 is the fact that the PS4 Pro hasn’t dropped in price that much. It’s still $399 on Amazon, which would make my total 4K investment close to $1K. In the end, I’m paving the way for the future of both TV and gaming, but that’s still an expensive pill to swallow right out of the gate. My Christmas money will only get me so far.
Plus there’s the fact that I’ll never invest in PSVR. The PS4 Pro reportedly is the best way to experience PSVR, which would be great if I cared about playing games in VR. Unfortunately, I’ve had two very bad experiences with VR (I have vertigo), which has killed all desire for any VR ownership. So, that eliminates that possible bullet point of reasons to buy.
However, there’s also the fact that quite a few games, especially remastered titles, come with special features for 4K TV owners. When I reviewed Star Ocean: The Last Hope, there were a whole host of graphics options that I never once saw. Having access to these graphical improvements wouldn’t have changed how I felt about the game, but I can’t help but wonder how much I’m missing with other titles. Not to mention many games receive HDR support after release. THINK OF THE PHOTO MODE SCREENSHOTS.
Then there’s the issue of storage space. I’ve already upgraded my current PS4 to a 2 TB SSD. I know that I can’t simply swap out my original drive with the PS4 Pro drive without requiring a format. I’d have to copy the entire hard drive somewhere else first, make the swap, and then copy the games, saves, photos, videos, etc. over to the new console. It’s not a hard process by any means, but it’s also not one I’m super keen on doing. It will be, without a doubt, a giant pain in the ass.
To be honest, this is the biggest reason why I’ve dragged my feet on pulling the PS4 Pro upgrade trigger. Yes, I am that lazy.
PlayStation 5 Coming Soon—ish?
We know a PlayStation 5 is coming. We’re fairly certain that’s the reason why Sony will not be at E3 2019. The question is not if a new console is releasing; it’s a matter of when it will release. Regardless of what Michael Pachter thinks, 2020 is a very early release estimate. I could see a very late 2020 release, like the same window the PS4 had in 2013. For whatever reason, my gut says the PS5 won’t be here before 2021.
For the sake of argument, let’s say it will release in late 2020. Is 20-22 months (roughly) enough time between consoles to warrant a PS4 upgrade? Even if it’s not until 2021, is two-and-a-half years (roughly) enough time?
Honestly, I don’t know. It’s even harder to say whether it’s worth it because we don’t know if the PS5 will offer backwards compatibility. If it does, then it makes complete sense to wait. But if not, why wouldn’t I take advantage of this new and improved console?
The gadget junkie in me says, “Buy it now, you fool!” My wallet and brain say, “But do you really need it now? Do you?”
Of course I don’t, but when it comes to video games, is it ever a matter of need or practicality? Is anyone else having a similar debate? Just me? Cool, cool.
