A reader is shocked to find he’s not getting a PS5 for Christmas but has already accepted the Xbox Series S as a worthy alternative.
I read the Reader’s Feature a couple of weeks, about buying a PlayStation 5 and immediately regretting it, with not much sympathy. I’ve been trying to get one for a year now and while I couldn’t really afford it at first (so didn’t really try that hard most of the time) I made a deal with my girlfriend to get one for Christmas, if she chipped in some money, and so was looking forward to finally sitting down to play on Sony’s newest console this month.
But then she hit me with the bombshell. Not wanting to cause any upset at Christmas itself she told me that since we’d still not been able to get hold of a PlayStation 5 she’d taken it upon herself to use part of the money to buy an Xbox Series S. Her logic being that at least that way we’d have a new next gen console for Christmas and, according to the GAME staff that seem to have suggested the idea, Xbox was having a better year than Sony anyway.
You can imagine how happy I was to hear this. But, because I’m a good guy and I love my girlfriend, I gritted my teeth and pretended to go along with the plan. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to do as just turning around and selling it seemed not only rude but pointless since, to be fair, there was little chance of getting a PlayStation 5 at this point in the year anyway.
Sensing my distress, she suggested that we make it an early Christmas present and I’ve been using it all week. Since Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite really are two of the biggest releases of the season (I still can’t work out if the GAME guy was genuinely trying to be helpful or just trying to make a sale) I admit I did get that new toy thrill as I downloaded them and got to play them for the first time and… really enjoyed them.
What became immediately obvious to me is that these are not the sort of exclusives that I would’ve been playing on the PlayStation 5, which has no exclusive arcade racers (Gran Turismo is absolutely not an arcade racer) or first person shooters. I’ve not played much of Halo’s campaign yet, but while I’m not that impressed so far the online action has been great.
The problem is, and this is something I don’t think my girlfriend really appreciated at the time, is that while she’s not a gamer she does enjoy watching me play story-based games. We’ve had a great time (comparatively speaking) with the likes of The Last Of Us, God Of War, and even Bloodborne, because she gets into the story and the strategy, shouting out suggestions and keeping an eye out for things while I’m playing.
She can’t really do that with any of the Xbox exclusives though. Forza just isn’t that sort of game and she’s already got bored of Halo, since there’s not much of a story and it’s no help to just shout ‘get that one’.
For me these aren’t faults in the games themselves, but they do spoil how our gaming sessions usually work, which means I’m going to have to pick up a third party game for Christmas. Maybe Far Cry 6 or the Mass Effect remasters, which we’ve been meaning to get into.
Or, actually, probably Psychonauts 2. Neither of us like the look of the characters but given the good reviews, and the fact that it’s an Xbox exclusive that’s also a single-player story game, it seems worth a go.
However that turns out, what I’ve realised is that in an ideal world everyone would have access to every game. The Xbox Series S console is great value for money and so is Game Pass, but while I do miss the PlayStation 5 games I was looking forward to playing, I also appreciate that what Xbox is offering is something different. Which wasn’t the case last gen.
So while I would’ve preferred a PlayStation 5 I’m actually okay with its rival. I’m also beginning to realise that most of the console rivalries are just born out of people having to make a choice out of the two and then justifying that decision to themselves later. Assuming I can get a PlayStation 5 next year though that at least won’t be an issue for me.
By reader Jimmy
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
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