My Review of the "PlayStation 5"

The PlayStation 5 came out February 12, 2020. The thing is that the hype of this machine started way back in 2019. A lot of people had highly anticipated this machine and it was a no brainer that it was going to be sold out the minute it was put on the shelves. Of course with the pandemic it wouldn't even be put on the shelves, the only way to get it is if you order it online.

So back in September 16, 2020 I had pre-ordered the machine by accident. It was the huge debacle. Sony had made their announcement that the pre-orders of PlayStation 5 machines would start September 17, 2020. People watching their show naturally assumed that they were telling the truth. A friend of mine had told me that Walmart seemed to be pre-selling the system the day off the announcement September 16.

Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to test it out. To my surprise I had no problems pre-ordering the system. It seemed really odd because usually when these events happen it crashes websites. I doubted that I'd really get one on the day of but come February they assured me that I was going to get one.

It did take them a few days to get to me but they did give me a $20 eVoucher as a way to apologize for not getting my system on time. That was nice and unexpected.

So I set up my system and fire away. Luckily it doesn't have too many updates because it's brand new. Then I thought to myself oh man there's not enough updates. This system isn't quite ready yet. The worse thing is that products on sale that are supposed to support the system aren't set up yet either.

I bought a brand new Sony 65 inch x900h TV. The TV that is supposed to be made specifically for the PlayStation 5. In addition to this, I bought the Yamaha RX V6A to compliment the graphics with amazing sound. Unfortunately the firmware for both of these boxes aren't quite up to date with the full potential of HDMI 2.1. I called Yamaha to see what's up with this and they told me that I was lucky to even get the receiver. It's going to be updated in April 2021. This goes the same for the TV.

The only other TV's and receivers that are compliant with HDMI 2.1 are way outside my price range in the few thousands category. So if you're an everyday consumer don't expect to see full potential of your PS5 anytime soon.

Next I tried out some Blu-ray. Surely, 4K UHD Blu-Rays will look great from this system. It does look great but there was some sort of scrambled signal on the top right corner of the TV whenever it played 4K UHD Blu-Rays. I thought to myself, "oh, no..." This system needs software updates bad. Fortunately Sony is fixing things as we speak. They were able to get an update to fix this problem. The thing is you don't know how many other issues might be lingering.

The day I was playing some of my games the system even crashed. I couldn't believe it. It obviously sent a ticket to Sony to fix. I even got an email messaging me about how they're aware that I had an issue with my PS5 and they were asking if it was okay. How would I know? I'm just a mild mannered casual gamer. Or am I? I'm starting to realize more and more that I've just paid Sony to allow me to test their new device for them.

Sure Spider-Man Miles Morales looks absolutely stunning on the system but there are even glitches with this game that they have to fix. You'll see things just hanging waiting for the character to fill spots. Some framerate issues and other weird idiosyncrasies.

The PS4 games oddly enough are the true winners with this system. Some of the games that were kind of an annoyance because of their framerates or load times are now fixed. I've gone back to some of these games and they are much better with the new fixes.

Even better, you don't have to buy new accessories and peripherals to play your PlayStation 4 games. You can sync the old controllers to the PS5 system and get them to work on old games. This includes the PlayStation VR headset. The only thing is you'll have to go to Sony's website and order a free dongle that will allow the PS4 camera to work on the PS5. For PSVR fans the PS5 is an amazing improvement to PSVR.

I think Sony has also done an admirable job in promoting their PS Plus subscription. Subscribers are privy to 23 free games in the month of November. Many of them are triple A PS4 greatest hits games. So if you still haven't played some of them then this is worth the price of admission. I'm not sure if this promotion lasts past the month of November but for early adopters of the PlayStation 5 this is a huge bonus.

Overall, would I recommend the PlayStation 5 to the general public? You know the hardcore players will buy this system no matter what I say. Those that are on the fence I would say hold your purchase until next year. Wait until all of these glitches and firmware updates are updated. Make sure that the equipment to fully take advantage of the system are affordable and readily available. Only then should you purchase this system. As hardware's concerned it's a marvel but for regular consumers it's just a 7 out of 10. Next year there will be a slew of PS5 games to choose from. There simply not enough now to warrant a purchase.