Playstation 5 Catch-All

So I just checked the Argos website, and they (still) have no PS5s, but Xbox Series Xs are freely available. My faith is being sorely tested... particularly when I see the Cornucopia that is Xbox Game Pass.

One of the last threads tying me to the Playstation ecosystem is the controller. Put simply, the Xbox controller appears to have the d-pad and the left analogue stick in the wrong places. Has anyone on here made the switch? If so, was it an issue?

I use both and after a few seconds of adjustment they are equally good.

Really if you are not very excited for God of War 2: Dad's day out, Horizon: Alloy's new hairdo, or Spiderman: I can't think of a funny subtitle - then the Xbox is great.

And if you like Bethesda games. I've never owned an Xbox, but I expect that's going to change when the next Elder Scrolls or Dishonored game comes out.

Quick question for PS5 owners - I was able to order a PS5 a few weeks ago direct from Sony, along with an extra controller, and they are now safely ensconced away in our house awaiting Christmas morning. It'll be a gift for my sons. Is it worth opening and setting up ahead of time to make sure everything works, install any system updates, etc.? Basically streamlining things so they can go straight to playing on Christmas day. I'm not looking for an excuse to play it myself, I'm really just wanting to make sure there are no hiccups the day of. It's been long enough since I bought a new console (PS4 years ago) that I honestly don't remember how convoluted this can be. It would also suck to encounter the 0.0001% possibility they sent us a dud console.

I assume that everyone with an account on the PS5 can still share games? So if I add my PSN account and tie it to the PS5, they'll still be able to log into their accounts and we can all play any games purchased by one of us? Sony's DRM scheme continues to baffle me at times.

I also want to make sure there wouldn't be any inadvertent messaging on our PS4 in the meantime, like "HEY THERE, WHY AREN'T YOU PLAYING YOUR NEW PS5??!!" I seriously doubt that but you never know.

Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

Yeah there's definitely been some system updates. And controller updates too. You'll have to plug it back into the USB on the system to get it updated.

I'm not sure about accounts, still just running one here until the kids are older.

There is a PS4 to PS5 transfer process to keep your current games installed without redownload. Of course you may not want to fill up the hard drive immediately.

But if you have an external PS4 drive, you could just move that later and play them from it on PS5. Although some games have PS5 version upgrades or just free patches, so they might need to be on the PS5 internal drive to play.

As long as the account is set to have the PS5 set as its main PS5, you can play any of the games from that account with any other account (with only one PS5 this isn't a problem).

If you want them to be able to plug it in and start playing, it is probably worth it to get the software set up before hand. Get those pesky system, game, and, believe it or not, controller firmware updates out of the way.

I would definitely open it up a few days before to update the operating system at the very least. Depending on your internet speed those can take a while to download.

Mantid wrote:

As long as the account is set to have the PS5 set as its main PS5, you can play any of the games from that account with any other account (with only one PS5 this isn't a problem).

If you want them to be able to plug it in and start playing, it is probably worth it to get the software set up before hand. Get those pesky system, game, and, believe it or not, controller firmware updates out of the way.

charlemagne wrote:

I would definitely open it up a few days before to update the operating system at the very least. Depending on your internet speed those can take a while to download.

Thirded! Even when installing from disc it can take awhile depending on the game, because they can be like 50GB in size and then there are patches.

So it'll probably be a lot more exciting if you could just plug it in and get started rather than wait 40 minutes staring at the download queue.

I only have one PlayStation account and I don't remember there being any sort of automated popup between the consoles. I had to lookup the transer process:

https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/transfer-games-saved-data-ps4-ps5/

Because it's not something you'd trigger accidentally, IMO. But it might be worth checking the notification area on the PS4 once you're done. I'd check mine as an example but I already wiped the PS4 so I could sell it.

Mine took quite awhile for about 8-9 games to transfer. As in long enough that I just went to bed and left it running overnight.

Some games didn't seem to transfer at all (I even tried running the process twice) and I ultimately just installed them from the discs instead. Maybe that's because those games had PS5 version updates or just the usual hiccups of these types of processes, but overall it was a pretty smooth experience.

Oh I just thought of something though. Once you login to the PS5, the PlayStation Plus collection will be added to your account. So the kids might notice they have 20 new PS4 games, if they haven't played some of those already.

Maybe wait until a week or so before so the surprise doesn't get spoiled too early.

Or just let them play the PS4 games as a bonus until Christmas, and to heck with surprises.

Stele wrote:

Oh I just thought of something though. Once you login to the PS5, the PlayStation Plus collection will be added to your account. So the kids might notice they have 20 new PS4 games, if they haven't played some of those already.

Maybe wait until a week or so before so the surprise doesn't get spoiled too early.

Or just let them play the PS4 games as a bonus until Christmas, and to heck with surprises. ;)

Well, I'd add to this advice that you might want to do the system update close to Christmas anyway, so they have the latest.

But I definitely second (or third or whatever) doing it before Christmas. Historically, servers get slammed on Christmas day because of all the gifted consoles, so getting it done beforehand could save you an especially long wait. That, the controller firmware updates, and getting a few games installed to disc and patched.

Sounds good, thanks all. Luckily I can do some work from home days while they're at school, so plenty of time between now and then to get things more set up and ready to go.

I assume I can have my PS Plus account "active" on both consoles at the same time?

Sam's Club.

Probably gone by the time you read this though

Boudreaux wrote:

Sounds good, thanks all. Luckily I can do some work from home days while they're at school, so plenty of time between now and then to get things more set up and ready to go.

I assume I can have my PS Plus account "active" on both consoles at the same time?

Yup!

1 PS5 and 1 PS4, interestingly.

State of Play announced for Oct 27, 2pm Pacific.

Note that it's twenty minutes of primarily glimpses at already announced third-party games, as well as some new announcements, but also from third-parties. So, don't expect much in regards to new first party game footage or announcements.

Wow, there's literally no information there about why it's a "Pro" controller.

Because it will cost over $100.

That's what? $30's worth of improvements over Sony's?

Light strips eh

And back buttons.

Nothing particularly exciting for me besides the deeper look at Little Devil Inside. That game continues to look great, but there's still no release date for it.

Little Devil inside looking great and Death’s Door coming to Playstation will do me.

I think Star Ocean: The Divine Force looks pretty cool. Didn't even know it was a series until I looked up more information about it.

Cross posting from deals thread:

Western Digital WD BLACK SN850 1TB is lowest price ever, $150, at Newegg for 4 more hours. Missed the email this morning but just saw it.

This is the most highly recommended PS5 expansion drive so far, beating the Sony internal drive in speeds even. So time to double up my storage.

Stele wrote:

Cross posting from deals thread:

Western Digital WD BLACK SN850 1TB is lowest price ever, $150, at Newegg for 4 more hours. Missed the email this morning but just saw it.

This is the most highly recommended PS5 expansion drive so far, beating the Sony internal drive in speeds even. So time to double up my storage.

Steele, do we need to get a separate heatsink for this?

Yes there's lots of good ones on Amazon for $15 or so. Most reviews mention the PS5 and/or the hard drive.

I got this one.

I just popped in here to express my frustration with Sony. I received an email yesterday, alerting me to the fact that Sony are now selling PS5s directly to Playstation account holders. So I go to the website (admittedly, I only saw the email 10 hours after it was sent)... and discover that the console is 'Out of Stock' with Sony too.

I am now resigned to the fact that I will not own this console until next year... sometime.

@Higgledy - Have you managed to snag one yet?

If you haven't tried it yet, I have always had great success using www.nowinstock.net which includes getting a PS5 back in March. It's still luck of the draw that you get the notification at a time you can easily go to the website, but I find it way more reliable than news stories and twitter accounts which are always two steps behind.