It seems like just yesterday that a lot of us brought home our shiny new PS4 consoles—yet that was around four years ago, and in all likelihood, we are coming up on the end of the PS4’s lifecycle. Sony has a new console under development, and already we are starting to see rumors about the features, specs, release date and more.
This is a great time to reflect back on the era of PS4. Was it the best era of PlayStation history ever—or the worst? Arguments can be made either way.
Most of the arguments against the PS4 era concern Sony’s policies and the way they have negatively impacted access and ease of use for the console. PS3 was backwards compatible (to an extent), but PS4 was not. We have not been able to play with our friends who are on Xbox One, because there is no cross-platform compatibility.
Other issues have involved the absence of a 4K Blu-Ray drive, problems with user name changes, and issues with PS Plus lineups. And let’s not get started on network stability woes.
Still, there is a lot to love about the PS4. In terms of graphics and power, it obviously has blown PS3 out of the water. And then there is the slew of incredible PS4 exclusives we’ve been able to enjoy. These have included Uncharted 4, Persona 5, Bloodborne, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Yakuzo 0, Gravity Rush 2, Nex Machina, and others.
On top of that, there have been lots of great third-party games to add to the mix. We’ve been able to enjoy titles like Rocket League, The Witcher 3, Overwatch, and others.
Of course, the downside has been that we’ve been seeing even AAA titles incorporating more and more freemium-style pricing schemes, providing only minimal content as part of the main package, and then moving everything else under paid DLC—so not cool. So that is something to complain about.
In any case, it’s been a mixed bag, but there have been plenty of gems in terms of games, and a lot of great memories over the years since PS4 was released. Here’s to hoping that PS5 will be even better!