Towards the end of 2020, the Playstation 5 (PS5) console was launched in South Africa, and gamers from all over made it a mission to get their hands on the next-generation console from Sony, despite it costing R 5 000 more than the PS4.
Unfortunately, I wasn't keen to fork out in excess of R10 000 for a gaming console at the time. Though being a PS fanboy since I owned the first one more than 20 years ago, I knew I'd eventually own the new one at some point. In the meantime, I went the Xbox route and went for a more affordable option in the form of the Series S. I also didn't want to go for the launch consoles as some of them usually have issues.
While there is nothing wrong with the Series S, the yearning was always there to own a (digital or disc) PS5 and play exclusive titles like Spiderman, The Last of Us, Gran Turismo, and God of War. Also, the Series S couldn't play games in native 4k, which was the deal-breaker for me as I had a 4k TV that wasn't being used to its full potential.
My wife understood me wanting a PS5, and together we came across the last console in stock, and there was no hesitation in taking it - even though it set me back a cool R16 000. I already made peace with the fact that I was having Salticrax for lunch for the month. It was a bundle and came with some nifty extras like the Pulse 3D headset (priced at R1 800), controller charging dock (priced at R700), extra controller (priced at R1 500), and two games - Gran Turismo 7 (priced at R1 300) and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (priced at R1 250). Score!
Powering my dreams
I've also added Assassin's Creed Valhalla, The Last of Us Part 2, Spiderman: Miles Morales, and God of War to the list of titles.
Like unboxing anything new, everything was done with the utmost care, and the owner's manual was read with each step. Once the familiar beep sound was heard, my PS5 journey started. The graphics on the 4k TV was crisp, and the setup was straightforward. And I immediately got to purchasing a Playstation Plus subscription where I had free access to a certain amount of games to download anytime.
Unfortunately, I wasn't keen to fork out in excess of R10 000 for a gaming console at the time. Though being a PS fanboy since I owned the first one more than 20 years ago, I knew I'd eventually own the new one at some point. In the meantime, I went the Xbox route and went for a more affordable option in the form of the Series S. I also didn't want to go for the launch consoles as some of them usually have issues.
While there is nothing wrong with the Series S, the yearning was always there to own a (digital or disc) PS5 and play exclusive titles like Spiderman, The Last of Us, Gran Turismo, and God of War. Also, the Series S couldn't play games in native 4k, which was the deal-breaker for me as I had a 4k TV that wasn't being used to its full potential.
My wife understood me wanting a PS5, and together we came across the last console in stock, and there was no hesitation in taking it - even though it set me back a cool R16 000. I already made peace with the fact that I was having Salticrax for lunch for the month. It was a bundle and came with some nifty extras like the Pulse 3D headset (priced at R1 800), controller charging dock (priced at R700), extra controller (priced at R1 500), and two games - Gran Turismo 7 (priced at R1 300) and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (priced at R1 250). Score!
Powering my dreams
I've also added Assassin's Creed Valhalla, The Last of Us Part 2, Spiderman: Miles Morales, and God of War to the list of titles.
Like unboxing anything new, everything was done with the utmost care, and the owner's manual was read with each step. Once the familiar beep sound was heard, my PS5 journey started. The graphics on the 4k TV was crisp, and the setup was straightforward. And I immediately got to purchasing a Playstation Plus subscription where I had free access to a certain amount of games to download anytime.
With most being PS5 games costing more than R1 000, because of the backward compatibility with PS4, I could just buy (or download) those that were much cheaper. Even though the PS5 is advertised as having an 825GB internal drive, only 660GB or so of that is usable, and Gran Turismo 7 already is more than 100GB. To create more space, I bought a Western Digital 1TB external hard drive to store PS5 games and play PS4 ones off of it. PS5 games cannot be played off the external hard drive, only PS4 ones.
Having had the PS5 console for over two months, it's been a joy to own. The picture quality is sublime and serves as the ultimate boredom buster. My wife only asked that I download Tekken 7 and AO Tennis for us to enjoy. I intend to use my console just for gaming. I own a Smart TV, so all the streaming (Netflix, DSTv, Showmax) is done directly from there.
Unfortunately, due to the chip shortage, the prices of PS5 consoles are set to go up, making it also out of reach for the average Joe. Due to the global economic environment and high inflation rates, the price of the PS5 will increase in several markets worldwide- including South Africa. To compare pricing, the PS5 standard edition with disc support carries a recommended retail price of R11 999 in South Africa, while the digital edition is priced at R9 999.
The PS2 remains the best-selling video game console of all time, selling more than 157-million consoles worldwide since its launch in March 2000. Only time will tell to see whether the PS5 will rise to the top.
Now that you’ve got the knowledge, it’s time to shop! Head to gumtree.co.za or your Gumtree app (click for Apple & Android) and don’t forget to use your location settings to find local service information close to home.
