The new console generation has begun but that doesn’t mean you should buy a PS4 or an Xbox One. Not yet.
This holiday season, you will likely be bombarded with advertisements from both Sony and Microsoft trying to sell you their new gaming systems. Sales reps at Walmart and Best Buy will try and sell you on how much better they are compared to current consoles, and honestly, they are. There is one area where they will fall short though, and that is in games.
The launch of new consoles always brings an awkward transition. It is the point where companies are caught in the middle of supporting an old console generation along with a new one. The way these companies achieve this support is by releasing their games on both the old and the new, which is why you will see no less than four different versions of Battlefield 4 this holiday season.
The primary issue with this type of a release is that these games are fundamentally the same title on either console generation, just as they will be for the foreseeable future. These games will have the same mechanics, gameplay styles, and structuring on old hardware as they will the new.
That is not to say there will not be an entire set of games only for the new consoles as well. There will be. The question is whether or not the small selection of games available only for new consoles is worth a $400+ purchase.
My recommendation? Wait a year. Historically, consoles have received a significant price-drop during the first 6-12 months of their release. The PS One, the PS2, and the PS3 all received $100 price cuts during this time period while the Wii, GameCube, and Nintendo 64 received a $50 price cut during this period as well.
Waiting for this price drop will have other benefits as well. A year from now the PS4 and the Xbox One will have a much better selection of games and a greater length of time for the consoles’ software to be refined. You will not experience day-one game-breaking bugs like early adopters will either. This, combined with the likely price drop and a Black Friday sale makes waiting a year almost a no-brainer.
Do yourself a favor then. When Black Friday rolls around and you feel your money burning a hole in your pocket, you should save it.
Put it in a safe place and perhaps add a little extra to it in the next year. You’ll save money, have a better experience, and have a better selection of content for your patience.
