PS5 launch jumble: who the hell is buying their games in front of the console?
On Fridays, I am usually in the city center and take this opportunity to make a detour to various electrical shops - exactly like that November day. I secretly suspected what to expect: the first games for the PlayStation 5 (buy now). After all, it was no secret that all the new hits like Demon's Souls, Marvel's Spiderman: Miles Morales or Assassin's Creed Valhalla could already be bought at the time of the US release and thus before the console was released in Germany.
Still, I felt overwhelmed by the sight. One of the shops hadn't just cleaned a few rows on the shelf and reserved them for the new generation of consoles - no, I came across several stands in different places, which is why all the new next-gen hits were present twice or even three times! Immediately I started pondering: Who should buy this now?
The greatest irony: The Xbox Series X from Microsoft was officially available, although I didn't see a single copy in the store due to the limited number of units available . So it looked all the more sad with the available games: they had been content with setting up about five copies of Gears Tactics and The Falconeer on the already half-empty shelf for the Xbox One. These are also multiplatform titles that run on both the old One and the new Series X.
Cyberpunk 2077 is also already available, but for many it is not really playable because the console versions resemble a technical debacle.
Source: CD Projekt RED Never been there?
I have been playing on the computer since 1983, the first console came into my house in 1992 and in 2003 I turned my hobby into a job. Since Nintendo's Gamecube, it has been the rule rather than the exception that I get a new console on the release date. And of course a couple of launch titles go into the bag at the same time; it was for example with Ridge Racer 7 for the PlayStation 3, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved (as a digital download) for the Xbox 360 or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the Nintendo Switch. However, with the best will in the world, I can't remember such a situation in which I was able to buy the software before the associated hardware.
I only know of one thanks to a colleague who used to work in a video game store An individual case from the distant past: According to him, 14 years ago Call of Duty 3 for the Wii could already be bought several days before the console. But this phenomenon was apparently really limited to this one game and probably grew to Activision instead of Nintendo's crap.
Now I've become a bit dulled over the years and am a little less happy with each new generation. On the one hand one has somehow got used to such console launches, on the other hand the technical quantum leaps are just not as big as they were back then from Super Nintendo to PlayStation or from Xbox to Xbox 360.
Finally everyone can do Demon's Souls play even without a PlayStation 3 - if you have already got your hands on a PlayStation 5 ...
Source: Bluepoint Games / media agency plassma) Nonetheless, my euphoria increases noticeably as soon as a new device is finally unpacked and connected. This time, however, it was somehow different: For the first time, I held a game for a console that I couldn't even own (unless, of course, I would have somehow got hold of a US import). Don't ask me why, but it felt wrong. After all, I don't buy a new console because of the hardware, but because of the games. But instead of being happy about my brand new Demon's Souls, it annoyed me because I couldn't play it due to the lack of a console!
Furthermore, I have the feeling that there is a strong imbalance between the availability of the games and the PlayStation 5 there. After all, in the middle of December, a month later, I was still able to buy all titles without any problems, regardless of which store I visited in my area.
On the other hand, many PlayStation fans are still looking down the tube, and the numerous pre-orders are only supplied in drops. Sure: The current situation around the corona pandemic may have played a role here, which is why Sony was certainly not able to produce the quantities that were desired. But again: Who then needs the games and why are they available in such high numbers? So that I can build a house out of the boxes?
While there are already a surprising number of games to buy for the PlayStation 5 (regardless of whether they are physical or digital), owners of an Xbox Series X have to do their bit too Xbox One titles like Gears Tactics are content.
Source: Xbox Game Studios The next trend?
When software and hardware were finally combined with me, there was still no unbroken joy. Rather, I was annoyed by unusual teething problems: I had ugly freezes during my first Demon's Souls session, the preinstalled Astro's Playroom suddenly disappeared on the hard drive and had to be downloaded again from the Internet, and the installation of some physical titles took place only after an inexplicable delay .
At least here, buying games in front of the console reminded me of one of the biggest problems that I personally have with this industry: In my eyes, it has been training us for decades that we prefer to focus on the upcoming titles should be happy and not enjoy those we are already allowed to play. For this reason we are collecting an ever larger backlog of games that hardly anyone can "work through" during their lifetime.
Even the madness behind pre-orders, be it physical or digital, is not good for us in my opinion. He made the Day-One-Patch a sad matter of course, because most manufacturers can calculate enough sales in the first week anyway. The motivation to ensure that a faultless product is on the shelf right from the start dwindles from generation to generation. Cyberpunk 2077 fans, who paid for their pre-ordered game years ago and are now confronted with a bug-dripping masterpiece.
And today I experience a new level of this problem: Me hold physical games in hand that are actually finished - and still not play them! Which still doesn't answer my question: What does Sony expect from this promotion?
Simple packaging, strong console: The PS5 is in great demand for good reason, but many potential buyers are likely to miss out on Christmas too.
Source: Sony For the particularly impatient
The cynic in me says: One or the other undecided should be spontaneously encouraged to purchase a Demon's Soul or Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, with it he then feels compelled to buy the right console - whenever he can. At least this is what the various stalls in the said electrical retailer suggest to me, which make you think, no later than the third time you walk past, similar to the candy shelf at the supermarket checkout: "Oh God, what the heck, I'll take this with me now!" With the difference that the spontaneous video game purchase costs 80 euros instead of 80 cents for a chocolate bar.
Certainly, one or the other parents will inadvertently put the PlayStation 5 version of Sackboy: A Big Adventure under the Christmas tree , although the little one only has a PS4. The difference in the packaging design is very limited and is limited to a white banner with a dark PlayStation logo, while the opposite is the case with the old version. Yes, of course: You can exchange the bad buy afterwards - or you give in to your / your blaring over the holidays and promises to buy the new PS5 in the long term.
It could also be just an exclamation mark on the part of Sony, to be clear to ask: The new console is really here! After all, you can buy a lot of games everywhere and so it looks to the layman as if the launch was completely successful.
Just tell the sad characters who are at home with their brand new PlayStation 5 game and don't know when they can finally play it ...
