Cliff Notes – Games Inbox: How long will the PS5 console last
- The PlayStation 5 is expected to have a lifespan of eight to nine years, with continued support and new game releases until at least 2027, when the PlayStation 6 is rumoured to launch.
- Upcoming titles such as Saros, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, and Wolverine are anticipated to enhance the PS5’s library, contributing to its positive legacy despite some frustrations with Sony’s communication.
- There are ongoing discussions about the potential for a new portable console from Sony, which may face challenges in compatibility with next-gen games, raising concerns about its market positioning.
Games Inbox: How long will the PS5 console last?
How much more has the PS5 got left in it?
The Wednesday letters page is confused about rumours for a portable PS6, as a reader thinks physical Switch 2 games will be the new target for scalpers.
Death date
Now that the PlayStation 6 rumours are starting to gain pace I have to ask how long will the PlayStation 5 last as a console with good support? The latest rumour says the PlayStation 6 is coming out in 2027, but we know that with most machines you still get plenty of new games for at least two years after.
That means the PlayStation 5 could potentially have a useful life of eight to nine years, which I think is very good and perfectly in line with the Switch.
There are still plenty of big name games to come for the PlayStation 5 with Saros, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, Fairgame$, Physint, and Wolverine all lined up. I know it’s easy to get frustrated with Sony and the lack of information but all these have a very good chance of being good games (okay, maybe not Fairgame$) and I feel that at the end of it all PlayStation 5 will be regarded as a good console.
Maybe not an all-timer, and not as good as the PlayStation 4, but I don’t think it’s been any kind of failure, like the PlayStation 3. So, I’m going to think positive and hang on to the big giant plastic box for a good few years yet.
Sasquatch
Switching targets
I agree that people are not giving Nintendo enough credit for having different prices for physical and digital games. We’ve been complaining about that since the Xbox 360 era and yet only now has it been done. It’s not like either are cheap, when it comes to Mario Kart World, but at least it’s finally happened.
If you were cynical though you could wonder whether Nintendo has purposefully tried to make the physical versions more expensive, so the digital ones seem better value by comparison, but I don’t know about that. They definitely aren’t interested in pushing physical though and I expect the stories of not having many in stock, to buy online or in shops, will prove to be true everywhere.
Scalpers might be being locked out with the console, to a degree, but I bet all those physical copies of games are going to go for a fortune on eBay.
Korbie
Happy memories
As sick as I am at hearing rumours about the Oblivion remaster I have to say that I would buy it. I played it back in the day but in all honesty I don’t really remember much specific about it, except the Hell portal things, and that it was a lot greener and more colourful than Skyrim.
I’m sure more will come to mind as I play the remaster but this feels like a good time to do one, where I’ve completely forgotten the details of the original and it’s going to seem very fresh as a result. There’s probably not many other games like that, that haven’t been remastered or re-released a hundred time, so I’m really looking forward to it.
I am puzzled about the failed attempts at secrecy though. We’ve all seen enough bad remasters in our time, even from big companies like Rockstar Games, that I’m not going to buy it without seeing a review first. So, I hope that’s not what they’re trying to avoid.
Loft
Sister act
The documentary makers of the PlayStation Revolution and From Bedrooms to Billions documentaries. which I first heard about in an interview on GameCentral over 10 years ago(!), have got a new project about the C64 which includes making ofs on classic games like Impossible Mission and Maniac Mansion.
I played Impossible Mission on the Amstrad CPC 464 and it was one of my favourite games on there and it always made me think of the Mission: Impossible TV series and films because of the very similar names. The project is a new Blu-ray with documentaries about C64 games including said games, as well as others such as the Great Giana Sisters game, which does GameCentral know if this was the game that had copyright issues because of it being very similar to a certain red-hatted plumber game? Or have I got that wrong?
With this new project they are trying to gauge whether there is enough interest for them to make a documentary on Kickstarter, like they did for the PlayStation, Spectrum, and Amiga. The Blu-ray is fully funded and is available to buy for the next seven days. It is £35 for the Blu-ray plus postage. It is a niche product so I presume it has to be this price to cover costs. Here’s the link if you are interested in supporting this project.
Andrew J.
Currently playing: The Mummy Demastered (PlayStation 4 version on PlayStation 5)
GC: Well, it’s 124% funded as we write this, so we guess it’s going ahead. As you imply, Great Giana Sisters was a very blatant Super Mario Bros. clone that Nintendo forced the publisher to withdraw from sale after a short time.
Insider knowledge
I’m not sure why Shuhei Yoshida is giving Nintendo such a hard time at the moment, it’s not as if all of their consoles are weird leaps of faith. In fact, you could argue that only the Wii and Switch were really. Everything else it’s really just the controllers (and the games, obviously) where all the innovation lies, otherwise they’re just fairly normal consoles.
Not that I’m saying Nintendo is getting everything right at the moment, clearly they’re not, but I’d be much more interested in what Yoshida thinks about Sony right now, given their weird lack of inertia for most of this generation.
If he hasn’t got some sort of gag order hanging over him, I think it’s a bit rich to have a go at Nintendo for a lack of innovation when the biggest decision Sony ever makes with its new consoles is whether the next PlayStation should be black or white.
Paulie
Forced innovation
Looking back, I wonder why Nintendo ever went through with the Wii U. It all seemed horribly rushed, with no marketing, and yet they weren’t in any kind of hurry at that time. It was a weird idea, which is fine, but they didn’t seem to have any clue what to do with it.
Usually when they come up with something, like motion controls or analogue controls or whatever, they have the games they want to use with it, but the Wii U had virtually nothing that used the GamePad sensibly except Nintendo Land.
I get the arguments about the Switch 2 not really doing much new, but Nintendo seemed very keen on all the video chat stuff and there’s no doubting that having two mice with every system is very weird and unusual.
I’m not sure Nintendo should be in a position where they’re just making up crazy stuff to try and pretend they’re being innovative. If there’s not new tech to take advantage or they haven’t got any wild game ideas that needs new peripherals than I’m fine with just a more powerful Switch.
It’s not like Zelda: Breath Of The Wild – one of the most innovative games they’ve ever made – made any special use of either the Wii U or the Switch. It just was what it was and the hardware was mostly irrelevant. Sometimes that happens and I think that’s fine. The wheel doesn’t need reinventing every generation.
Cookie
Remake the remake
It would great if Capcom could do a remake the original Resident Evil games (PS1, but in 3D, no static backgrounds).
A reimagined trilogy with a new layout, add in some new enemies (monkeys from Resident Evil 0) and environments, such as the gardens outside the mansion in Resident Evil 1.
Kevin
GC: A new remake of Resident Evil 1 seems inevitable at some point but why a trilogy? Resident Evil 2 was only six years ago, what would you change about it?
Vita means life
It really does sound like Sony is going to bring back the ghost of the PS Vita with a brand new portable console. I wouldn’t have imagined it myself but there’s a lot of smoke around the rumour and this leaker guy seems to have been right about the PS5 Pro.
It doesn’t really make sense to me though, as the portable is not even as powerful as a PlayStation 5 and yet the new console, the actual PlayStation 6, will be more powerful. So it’s probably not going to be possible to have PlayStation 6 games on the portable.
That seems like it’d be sending out some very mixed messages. So you’d have a very expensive portable that only plays last gen games, if it’s lucky, and a brand new console that makes last gen games look like yesterday’s news.
That sounds like a weird set up to me. Especially if you assume it’s going to be at least a grand to get both bits of hardware.
I’m not going to talk it down anymore, until we get some official facts, but it’s not like Sony doesn’t have a track record of releasing lots of new hardware at once, half of which they don’t support properly.
Fido
Inbox also-rans
Does anyone else get the feeling that Sony is purposefully letting Bungie tank Marathon, just so they have an excuse to shut them down? The whole situation seems very off to me.
Kosok
Just to add another perspective to a previous reader’s comment. Apparently EA themselves always preferred Mass Effect to Dragon Age, even when Dragon Age sold more. So maybe Mass Effect 4 isn’t in so much danger after all.
Cap’n Jack
