REVIEWS / GAMING CONSOLES / OWNER INSIGHTS
🦉 WE READ 173 OWNER COMMENTS
Confirm PS5: what owners actually say
The loudest signal in this sample is anger at PS5 pricing — $650 and $899.99 figures have commenters declaring consoles are no longer the cheap option — while the remaining defensible reasons to own one are exclusives and zero-fuss simplicity.
What owners complain about
- Prices rise instead of fall COMMON
Multiple commenters react to a $650 price for a regular PS5 and an $899.99 figure, with one noting the console is 'five years old at this point.' Several contrast this with history: the PS2 launched at £299 and finished around £79, whereas consoles now 'get more expensive over time.'
- Value gap vs PC shrinking SOME
Commenters argue the price difference with PC is closing — one says it's 'great news for the steam machine' as the gap closes, another asks 'So that's $899.99. How is console gaming cheaper then PC again?', and others point to ~$1200/€1000 premade desktops plus Steam/GoG sale savings offsetting the difference.
- Blamed on lack of competition FEW
One commenter attributes the pricing to 'thanks xbox for leaving the market to allow this,' while another describes Xbox as 'slowly sleepwalking down a pier' — suggesting some see Sony's pricing as enabled by a weakening rival.
- Fewer reasons to stay on console over time FEW
A commenter concedes 'there are fewer and fewer reasons as time goes on' to prefer console, leaving mainly lower up-front cost (which they note only 'still is' in a lot of cases) and ease of use as PCs have gotten easier.
What owners love
- Exclusives still sell the hardware
One commenter states plainly that 'Nintendo and Sony have proven that console exclusives still drive sales' — the sole non-price reason offered for buying in this sample.
- It just works
A commenter defends console ownership on simplicity: it 'just works without any fuss' and the fuss 'approaches 0' compared to PC, even as they admit PCs have gotten easier.
- Historically lower up-front cost
A commenter notes the 'big one' reason for consoles is that it's 'usually a lower up-front cost (in a lot of cases, still is),' with another pointing out an equivalent graphics card alone is about $450 before CPU, storage, RAM, PSU and case.
- Blu-ray playback tricks
One owner confirms the PS5 plays Blu-ray movies at 1.5x speed by holding the R2 trigger, stepping up to 10x speed — a media feature marketing never mentions.
Surprising patterns
- The Japanese PS5 swapped the X and circle buttons: Sony shifted Japan toward the Western convention of X to confirm and circle to cancel, reversing the original Japanese layout (per a Famitsu interview cited on Stack Exchange).
- Commenters are seriously cross-shopping a Steam Machine / PC against the PS5 at these prices — the console-vs-PC debate now treats a $650–$900 PS5 and a ~$1200 premade desktop as close substitutes.
- The highest-upvoted comments in the sample are pure Seinfeld 'shrinkage' jokes about the console's size in a photo, showing the community's mood is mockery and gallows humour about Sony rather than enthusiasm.
WHO SHOULD SKIP IT
Buyers counting on the console being the budget-friendly option — this sample's commenters say $650–$900 pricing, closed ecosystems and closing PC gaps make it a poor pick for value-first shoppers who don't need Sony exclusives.
Synthesised from 173 real owner comments across 4 platforms. Every point is grounded in the comments — no marketing, no AI guessing. How we do it →