Three Reasons You Should Wait To Buy a Next-gen Console

By: Vinícius Posted on: 1:30 AM

At the beginning of January, Sony announced they had sold over 4.2 million PlayStation 4's worldwide since the console was released in November. Around the same time Microsoft revealed they had sold over 3 million Xbox One's.

Buying a next-gen console right now could end up being a mistake, though. Here are the top three reasons you should wait to buy a next-gen console:


Reason 1 - Price

Right now the PlayStation 4 retails for $399 while an Xbox One will cost you $499. This is pretty much a swap of current generations launch pricing where the PlayStation 3 originally sold for $499 out of the gate while the Xbox 360 20GB model had a price tag of $399 at launch.

Let's be honest, most people just aren't financially comfortable enough to drop half a grand on a video game system at the drop of a hat (not to mention the money spent on games, an online subscription, and additional accessories like extra controllers). The price barrier is probably the biggest reason that many gamers will end up waiting on a next-gen console. If you are patient enough, prices will eventually be cut into a much more affordable range.

So how long exactly are you going to have to wait? Let's take a look at the current generation consoles to determine that. Less than six months after launch, the PlayStation 3 got its first price cut, making it $100 cheaper. The Xbox 360 received a price cut (between $20 and $50 depending on the model) around the same time which ended up being roughly one and a half years after its launch. Once again, this was actually a role reversal from the previous generation. The original Xbox cost $299 when it launched in November 2001 and then got a $100 price cut six months later in May 2002. The PlayStation 2, on the other hand, launched in October 2000 and did not get a price reduction (also $100 off) for about a year and a half. It seems Microsoft and Sony keep swapping pricing strategies each generation.

Prices kept falling as years went by. When the PlayStation 3 launched in 2006, the 60GB model cost consumers $599. You can currently get a 500GB PS3 bundle for literally half that price at $299. The same can be said of the Xbox 360. When the 360 was released in 2005, it cost gamers $399 for a system with a measly 20GB of hard drive space. Now you can purchase a 250GB model for around $249 (without Kinect).

If the trend set by the previous two generations of gaming holds true for this one, the price of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles should be cut anywhere from six to 18 months from launch and could be as much as $100 cheaper than current cost. In the case of video game consoles, waiting literally pays off.  


Reason 2 - Games

A video game console that doesn't have any fun games you want to play is obviously useless to gamers so the library of games available for each console is very important. At the time of this writing, neither next-gen console has very many exclusive games to draw you in.

Xbox One only has three exclusive games with Metacritic scores over 75: Dead Rising 3, Peggle 2, and Forza Motorsport 5. Ryse: Son of Rome (MetaScore: 60) and Killer Instinct (MetaScore: 73) may also be worth mentioning.

The list of noteworthy PS4 exclusives is even less impressive. There is currently just one exclusive with a Metacritic score over 75; Resogun. If you count “console” exclusives, that number jumps to three with Don't Starve: Console Edition and War Thunder. The most high profile PS4 exclusive game available right now would probably be Killzone: Shadow Fall. It wasn't very well received by critics, however, and has a 73 aggregate review score on Metacritic.

In other words, you are only getting access to around two or three genuinely good exclusive games depending on which next-gen console you buy. Is that really worth dropping between $400 and $500 for?

Most of the upcoming blockbuster titles such as Destiny, Titanfall, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, and Watch Dogs will also be available on Xbox 360 and/or PlayStation 3. You don't need an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 to play the best games scheduled to be released in the next year so why not just wait that six to 18 months to let the price fall first? It might be better to wait until there are more interesting next-gen exclusives available. 

With very few exclusive titles on both Xbox One and PlayStation 4, perhaps the biggest reason gamers want to pull the trigger on buying a next-gen console right away is the perceived benefit of enhanced graphics. Let's take a look at some screenshots comparing the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition on PS4 and Xbox One compared to the Xbox 360/PS3 Tomb Raider game:

Can you tell which screens are from which versions? All but the most hardcore of gamers probably can't (the ones with the Tomb Raider logo in the corner are from the PS3/360 version). Maybe you can see a bit more detail in the Definition Edition's screens, but the difference is negligible. Is spending $400 - $500 on a new console really worth an increase in graphics that you probably won't even be able to discern without scrutinizing a side-by-side comparison?

Perhaps the most impressive example of next-gen graphics thus far is Battlefield 4. It can't really be argued that Battlefield 4 looks completely different on next-gen consoles (this video from IGN will make that point glaringly clear). Obviously next-gen consoles are more powerful and games are only going to look better and better as developers get used to creating games for them but the leap in graphical capabilities isn't quite as large as it was from PlayStation 2 to PlayStation 3 for example. Unless you only play video games for graphics, then this just isn't going to be enough for most people to justify buying a console for. Waiting until the gap in graphics grows more noticeable might be a good idea.

Conclusion:

 
Waiting on an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 will allow you to get it for cheaper, ultimately give you access to a wider library of exclusive games making your purchase worth it, and allow you to play games with even better graphics than what you can see today as developers grow accustomed to creating on each console. There are some other benefits not mentioned in the list above such as being able to get newer models with updated internals and the correction of launch design flaws if you just wait. Gamers might be eager to obtain the latest and greatest in technology but there are clearly many benefits to waiting when it comes to next-gen gaming consoles.