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should sony have released a cheaper PS5?

i know we got the PS5 Digital but the only difference is there isn't a disc drive. i'm thinking of something like what the Series S is to the Series X. in addition to no disc drive: smaller ssd, less processing power acrossing CPU/GPU, lower resolution/fps.

we're well over a year into this generation and getting hold of a PS5 is still difficult. same goes for the Series X but the Series S is easy to get hold of. I know there will people coming in with "but xbox has no games hur duur" but if you put that aside the fact is that Microsoft has a next gen console that is easily available to access Gamepass and games like Forza Horizon 5, Flight Simulator, and Halo Infinite.

i'm holding off for a Series X but as time goes on i'm more and more tempted to just grab the Series S. if I were a PS fan and were struggling to get a PS5 then right now I'd love if there was a £250 playstation console.
 
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Get the S, you won't regret it.

Right now X and PS5 are flying off the shelves, but when the crossgen games end and all the Fifa/Cod/BF/2K etc. casuals have to switch, the cheapest console will have an advantage, because casual mostly go by price. I guess in 2023 X and PS5 are still near fullprice while S will be 200 bucks or even below. Sony will definately lose some casuals to Microsoft.
 

reksveks

Member
The fewer specs to optimize for, the shorter dev time/better the games.
Got any data around the average time to develop a game on pc vs console? using internal and external game engines? i wonder how you would remove pre-production work.

No, one system and one set of specs unless it's a Pro model. No reason for lower tier hardware and the proof will be in few years when Series X has to make games for Series S, Series X and Series X Pro potentially down the road.
It's kinda like developing for PC, no?
 

Fbh

Member
Is there something special about the Series S that makes it much easier or faster to make? Or is it simply easier to find because there's not as much interest in it?

Dont know about console, but game prices are impossible for south america, we have regional prices for xbox and for pc, a playstation game cost 5 to 10 times more that the same game on pc or xbox.

Yup. Them and Nintendo.
Not only is Ps5 more expensive than Series X for some reason here, but Xbox also offers regional pricing on games.
And stuff is even cheaper on PC, it's one of the main reasons I wanted to go with PC before the prices of GPU went crazy.
 
No Way Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
 

RCU005

Member
Microsoft is going to have a big issue with Series S in the future. They just did it to undercut Sony and say they have the cheaper next-gen console. It sucks that they didn't care about the games. You'll see that by the end of the generation, Sony's exclusives are going to be better in many ways ONLY because the Series S is going to get in the way.

With that said, why would Sony do that? The PS5 will sell-out for many years. The PS4 never got a real price cut and the PS5 sure will be the same. Why would Sony want to deal with specs segregation and limit the capacity of the games they are doing?
 

onQ123

Member
i know we got the PS5 Digital but the only difference is there isn't a disc drive. i'm thinking of something like what the Series S is to the Series X. in addition to no disc drive: smaller ssd, less processing power acrossing CPU/GPU, lower resolution/fps.

we're well over a year into this generation and getting hold of a PS5 is still difficult. same goes for the Series X but the Series S is easy to get hold of. I know there will people coming in with "but xbox has no games hur duur" but if you put that aside the fact is that Microsoft has a next gen console that is easily available to access Gamepass and games like Forza Horizon 5, Flight Simulator, and Halo Infinite.

i'm holding off for a Series X but as time goes on i'm more and more tempted to just grab the Series S. if I were a PS fan and were struggling to get a PS5 then right now I'd love if there was a £250 playstation console.
No why take these devs through hell with another setup to deal with ?
 

kyliethicc

Member
No.

1 - The PS5 digital exists. $400 is low enough.
2 - It drags down base spec. Less ambitious.
3 - It pisses off devs. They want fewer console SKUs to build for.
4 - There is no price point for it currently. (PS4 is $300, PS5 DE is $400.)
5 - Would eat into parts to produce regular PS5, hurting supply.
6 - Its much easier to lower cost over time. PS4 launched at $400, PS4 was on sale for $200 in 2019.
 
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mrBandoza

Neo Member
No because the whole point of going digital is to get rid of plastic discs and make life easier not to get a lower price. If you think it is lower price you get when buying a PS5 digital edition take a look at store vs digital game-prices.

I would have been really disappointed if I once again was stuck with a discdrive I never use.
 

DragonNCM

Member
i know we got the PS5 Digital but the only difference is there isn't a disc drive. i'm thinking of something like what the Series S is to the Series X. in addition to no disc drive: smaller ssd, less processing power acrossing CPU/GPU, lower resolution/fps.

we're well over a year into this generation and getting hold of a PS5 is still difficult. same goes for the Series X but the Series S is easy to get hold of. I know there will people coming in with "but xbox has no games hur duur" but if you put that aside the fact is that Microsoft has a next gen console that is easily available to access Gamepass and games like Forza Horizon 5, Flight Simulator, and Halo Infinite.

i'm holding off for a Series X but as time goes on i'm more and more tempted to just grab the Series S. if I were a PS fan and were struggling to get a PS5 then right now I'd love if there was a £250 playstation console.
I think Microsoft lower cost console make sense with their gaming direction, gamepass, cloud streaming service etc. Sony in that department are still behind & they still need better (second console ) to stay in the lead in long term. Or maybe they didn't have information on time for xss spec so they just made digital edition on hurry at lower cost but same power. Still I think Sony did a good choice here. It will be a lot easyer for developers focus on one spec console then two different consoles.
We will see how that bold move from MS with 300$ console will be next 5-7 years.
 
The early adopters aren't very interested in the Series S and they wouldn't be very interested in a PS5 S either. And Sony are producing many more consoles than MS either way.

I think it's too early to say what the best strategy will be. But if MS can eventually get the S to $199 that will be serious impulse buy territory.
 

wolffy71

Banned
The longer this shortage lasts the more a cheaper, easier to produce system makes sense.

We may be over half to the next generation before its widely available.
 
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