Is the PS4 worth buying?

Is it worth buying a PlayStation 4?

What an insightful and interesting question – let’s try and answer it. But, before we do, we would like to ask console and PC gamers to put aside their differences and discuss the subject like civilised… who are we kidding, that won’t happen. Argue away!

PS4 – Yes or no?

There is no doubt that Sony has a winner in the PS4, with over 8 million units sold to date. The console has also helped put the Japanese company at the top of the console charts for the first time in 8 years. So, it is popular, has a vast player base less than a year after its release, and is making the company which will ultimately decide its fate lots of money. That’s a yes then, so far.

Besides the console’s popularity, which means plenty of gamers to play against, the PS4 also has a very healthy list of games that you can play right now. Combine this with the titles we have been promised before the end of 2014 and in early 2015, and you will be torn over which titles you should spend your life’s savings on.

Far Cry 4, Batman: Arkham Knight, Project Cars, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, Uncharted 4, Oddworld New ‘n Tasty, The Witcher 3, it goes on and on. On the games front, it is a definite yes.

And what hardware will you be playing these games on? Well, the black box of awesomeness is packing an x86-64 AMD 8-core CPU, an AMD Radeon GPU with 8GB of GDDR5 RAM, and a 500GB hard drive to install all your titles on.

It comes with a Blu-ray player, Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity, Bluetooth, USB ports, and the other usual specs. As we saw from the PS4 vs PC article, the PS4 compares favourably against an entry level gaming PC, which is decent for a console.

Lastly, when looking at whether you should buy any item, factors which cannot be ignored are the price and value offering. The PS4 is retailing for a discounted R6,299 on Kalahari at the moment, which is well priced for a device that can deliver 1080p and 60fps on a 40-inch LED.

For an additional R489 a year, you can sign up to PlayStation Plus, which entitles you to free games every month.

In conclusion, I reckon you should buy a PS4, it is a no-brainer. Overall, it is a package that is hard to match, and Microsoft will have its work cut out for it when the Xbox One launches in SA in September 2014.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!