I few weeks ago, I spent some time talking about the PS5, specifically the somewhat irrational desire to buy one. As always, new consoles are exciting, so many of us can’t help but want to get our hands on the newest tech as soon as possible. I managed to keep my excitement controlled enough to not go running to a scumbag scalper (I don’t have an extra $1500 lying around anyway), but I definitely would’ve immediately snapped up a PS5 if I’d seen it out in the wild. Things have changed though, and now I’m pretty sure I won’t be touching the system until next year at the earliest.

I think there’s a few reasons for this. The first is probably the fact that these things are still rare to the point of absurdity. The thing’s been out for three months now, and it’s still just as hard to get on day 90-something as it was on day 1. One issue is that they’re just plain not able to make enough of the things. Demand is so much greater for this system (and the Xbox Series X) than any past console generation that Sony just plain can’t keep up. On top of this, everybody and their grandma is trying to scalp these systems.

Nothing is going to physical stores thanks to this overlong situation we’re currently dealing with (you know the one), so everything is being handled online…where botters can get them. Heck, even HSN and QVC (who knew they were still around!) are getting in on the action with overpriced bundles stuff with worthless extras. Long story short, the amount of time and energy required to get a PS5 is just not worth it.

Another reason is that that there’s still no real reason to run out and buy the system. The only game I really want to play on it is Demon’s Souls, and, honestly, I can wait on that one. It looks amazing, but I’m not about to go out and buy a whole system just for one game. I know there’s plenty coming out for PS5 this year, but there’s also A TON of good stuff still coming for PS4 and Switch too. There’s plenty of older stuff I’ve yet to play too. I mean, I’ve only just now started playing Resident Evil 7, and I’m also giving Disgaea 5 a shot on the recommendation of a friend. So yeah, there’s no real reason to run out and pick up a PS5 when it comes to games.

Then there’s the system’s general instability to consider. A system’s UI and games can look all kinds of awesome, but it’s no good if those games can’t be easily and reliably played. I’ve heard about so many technical problems with this system that I honestly don’t want to risk my money on it anymore. Internal storage still can’t be expanded, controller battery life is lacking, many of the controllers are already breaking (apparently), and even more are suffering from some sort of controller drift (like the Switch Joy-Cons). What’s more, you apparently cannot put the system into rest mode without corrupting external storage! In short, it’s become very obvious that the PS5 was released half-baked and probably needs another six months to a year of updates until it’s actually in a good state. To me, it just doesn’t sound like it’s worth the money right now.

Now, this could all just be me trying to find reasons to be okay with not having a PS5. I’m sure that’s part of it, but not the whole story. There are still plenty of games to play out there, and there are enough issues with the system for me to seriously second-guess buying one right now. Honestly, even if the PlayStation 5 does finally make it onto store shelves later this year, I don’t think I’ll buy one. It needs a lot more games available and a lot more bugs fixed before I’ll spend my money on it.

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What’s your stance on PS5? Do you have one? If yes, are you happy with it? If no, are you still planning on buying one the first chance you get?

Image by Flickr user: outcast104 (cc)