25 Things We Wish We Knew Before Buying A PlayStation 4

The PlayStation 4 has grown to become one of the top consoles you can buy today. What started out with an interesting lineup and a competitive edge over the Xbox One has grown into a powerhouse that boasts several must-play exclusive games and a vast network of extra services and online memberships. While PC seems to be taking the gaming community by storm, there’s a lot 🌳of support and love for the PS4 and what it brings to the table.

Now that the console has been out for several years, reasonabl🧔e price drops and a massive library have made it a worthy purchase for anyone wanting to get into the gaming world. We’re not goin꧑g to spend time arguing over it or the Xbox One, but it’s worth noting that the PS4 is a simply worthy purchase at this point.

However, there’s more to a PS4 than just playing games on it. There are 🌳all sorts of tricks and nuances that other consoles don’t have. There are features that aren’t available that may even surprise you. It’s important when trying to make a decision on which console to buy that you have all your facts straight. That way, your purchase is much more educated.

Tons of people have PS4s but are figuring out all the neat little tric💦ks and frustrating little quirks long after the initial purchase. If you’re thinking about ge🔴tting one for your home, then you may want to consider these 25 things we wish we knew before buying a PS4.

25 Disc Downloads Can Be Really Annoying♉ 𝕴

A lot of current-gen games are massive. Some can easily clock in at over 40 GB a piece. Because of this, the PS4 requires that players install games on their console even if they have the disc version. This is done so that the gameplay experience can be smoother, but it also means that you’re going to have to be more conscious of your storage and how much you’re using. Discs don’t save ღspace either way, so it might even be better to go completely digital.

24 PS Plus Isn't Just A Suggestion Anymore 💟

During the PS3 days, it was free to play games o🌟nline. That changed with the launch of the PS4 though. PlayStation Plꦑus is now a service that you have to pay for if you want to play certain games online.

It is priced at the same level as Xbox Live, but it also gives you some free games and discounts along the way.

If you’re into consi♛stently getting new games to try out, the service almost pays for itself at some poin🤡t.

23 No Backward Compatibility... At All 📖

The PS3 was impressive with how many other games it could play༺. There were even versions that could load up classic PS1 discs. However, new hardware on the PS4 led Sony to not add any bac💞kward compatibility into the system. This means that your old games will only be playable on older Sony consoles. The only discs that go into the PS4 are Blu-Rays, DVDs, and PS4 games. Strangely, this is one area where Microsoft seems to have the upper hand, with expansive backward compatibility on the Xbox One.

For people used to cleaner and more succinct menus for their game consoles, the adjustment to a PS4 might prove a bit problematic at first. The menu is fairly straightforward, but everything of interest is lump🦹ed together on a single row with seemingly no r𝓀hyme or reason. The settings and communities are then segmented to a higher row, but there’s also an option for quick settings with a menu that pops in from the left. It can be a bit disjointed.

21 Classic Games Are There, But At A Price 🌌

While the PS4 offers no backward compatibility, that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to play all sorts of older games on the system. The PlayStation Store has a respectable backlog of beloved PS2 games for players to download. They include both popular and more obscure titles, and each﷽ is at a fair price of around $14.99 on average. The sad p♋art is that older PS1 and PS3 games didn’t get the same treatment, leaving some of those games seemingly lost to time.

20 Price Drops Make Waiting Worth It

There are a lot of big games that come out every year for the PS4. Before rushing to pre-order them to play on day one, it’s worth noting that a lot of those games don’t stay at $59.9🃏9 for long.

Wait about a year and those games drastically go down in price.

For example, Horizon Zero Dawn was꧒ a $60 game when it first released in 2017. Now, players can get it with the Frozen Wilds DLC for a total of $20.

19 Hard Dr☂ive Space Runs Out Pretty Quickly

Because the PS4 insists on making players completely download their games whether it b🌜e through digital sales or on disc, knowing hard drive space is more important than ever. Getting a PS4 with less hard drive space might prove a bit more cost effective, but you’ll likely have to go through and manage the games you have much more frequently. You can upgrade your PS4 storage with external memory, but do you want an extra block on top of your sleek console?

18 ✅ There Are Many Absent Franchises

If you’re getting a PS4 because you’re expecting a new Sly Cooper or possibly a remake of Jak and Daxter down the line, you’d be sorely disappointed. There are several popular PlayStation franchises that haven’t quite made their proper return on the PS4. Ratchet and Clank only had one major release on the PS4. If you’re looking into series like God of War and Uncharted, though, you won’t be disappointed. 🐼It’s just a bit sad to see thཧat some franchises haven’t made the leap to current-gen hardware.

17 The Touchpad🌄 Is Useful, But Not Intuitive

The Dualshock 4🎃 controllers are interesting pieces of tech. While they retain the design and shape of older Dualshock controllers, they have two notable additions, the first being the touchpad. It doesn’t offer much in terms of new gameplay experiences, but it does lead to some innovative ways of playing games. Some games have you drawing with the touchpad. Others hide menus and maps behind a single click of it. It may not be for you, so it’s important to keep that in mi🔴nd.

16 ▨ Using Ethernet Is Essential

While a lot of online gaming comes from the PC side of the industr🥂y, there are plenty of online games available for the PS4. If you’re planning on doing any heavy online gaming, though, it might be advisable to get an Ethernet cable to have a wired connection. That way you won’t experience as much lag or interruptions. We all know that a game can go sour if everyone is using wireless connections for their internet access. It just makes things easie🅷r to use a cable.