I just did the math and...I have more games on my PS5 than I have ever had on any console. sure, most of them are PS4 games, but that's not the point. Everywhere I go hear people bitching about how the Ps5 has no games, and I just can't help but shake my head at it. I do not understand why people keep pushing that narrative.
Do people not understand that, like, a console isn't gonna have its full library within its first year?
Do people not understand that a new console just coming onto the market isn't going to be as robust and refined as the previous generation, which had 5-7 years to grow?
Do people not understand that buying ANY new console is an investment in the future and not an immediate 'now I have 100 things to play'?
Do people not understand that virtually every console generation starts with a tonne of cross-generational games?
Like, all this bitching seems to be coming from people who are just eager to be cynical or are too shortsighted to see any sort of emerging pattern in the market. IT's like they collectively don't understand how economics or game development works. It's like they have no idea how things work or what strengths and weaknesses different mediums have. It annoys me so much because it doesn't matter where I go see the same accusations coming around and I can't help but think that these people are either unfathomably stupid or have some sort of agenda behind their cries. Like dude, lots of people are having a hard time getting PS5s, that doesn't mean you gotta downplay its success just so you don't personally feel as upset that you can't afford it. Then there's the console wars, which I don't even wanna get into here.
I just don't understand it at all. I do not understand how so many people can be so brazenly ignorant to how any of this works. I can't go on facebook or reddit or twitter or any forums of any kind to discuss games without at least a half dozen different posters all bitching and whining and saying new consoles suck (All new consoles, not just Ps5) because they have no games, or more specifically PS5's launch lineup sucks because it only had two exclusive titles (Demon's Souls and Astro). Like, do these people genuinely not understand that consoles rarely have great lineups and that they usually gain momentum in their mid to late life cycle? All they see is a launch with a handful of games and immediately go to 'it sucks, it's not worth it, you're all too stupid and you're consumer sheep' not realizing that....any game console is an investment.
Nobody buys a console in its first year because it has a tonne of games you can ONLY get on that console. They get it because they are investing in the future. I didn't get a Ps5 at launch because I absolutely HAD to play Demon's Souls (Though that was nice), I got it because I know that franchises like God of War and Horizon and Ratchet and Clank are coming out on it. I buy it because Sony has had a great track record of delivering on plenty of variety, quality, and quantity when it comes to gaming options both first party and third party. I get Sony consoles because it's a great all-rounder system that appeals to basically everyone. I buy Nintendo because even if they don't do well, their core franchises (Mario, Smash, Zelda, Metroid, kirby, Mario kart, etc) are always a great time and among my favourites in any given generation.
No console comes out fully baked immediately...yet historically the two most recent systems in my collection (Switch and Ps5) have had the best first years ever. Both had a bunch of remasters and rereleases, both had a bunch of cross generational games, both had a handful of true exclusives, and both had a lovely number of multiplatform games. That's a great release strategy, because the wider your net the more fish you can catch. You can't just focus on shooters or racers or what-have-you. You can't only do pure exclusives and you can't forego exclusives entirely. You gotta have a console that mixes the old with the new, the exclusive with the multiplatform, the established franchises with the new IP, the tried-and-true genres with the more niche stuff. Nintendo and Sony have both done a remarkably good job with balancing this, and as a result both have done remarkably well in their first years.
I do not understand how anyone can look at these numbers or analyze even the smallest bit of data on modern consoles and say 'the new generation sucks' without looking like an absolute fool.
I get if some people don't wanna take a risk on that investment, or don't want to buy a console if it doesn't already have, say, 5-10 games they want that they can ONLY get on that console. that's a perfectly valid personal choice. I get it. I understand. What I don't get is this overzealous nonsense about how these companies are doing poorly or that anyone's a fool for making that investment early. Especially when I look back and realize I have nearly 250 games on my PS5 right now between the PS4 and PS5 library. All playable with maxed-out potential and the best controller ever.
Oh, and by the end of the year I'll own 25+ PS5 games. Not many of them will be true exclusives (Demon's Souls, returnal, Ratchet & Clank, and AStro's Playroom are the only ones I know of at this time), but being able to play games like Witcher III, Doom Eternal, FFVII Remake, and so, SO many others that are their best on PS5/XSX is amazing. I don't know how anyone can look at this generation and declare it a bad start. I just do not see the logic in it at all and it comes across as so aggressively ignorant that it actually makes my very angry. Like, irrational levels of frustrated. I wanna rant every time I See someone making this claim because it's so far removed from reality yet it spreads and is weirdly pervasive and people don't care. It upsets me.
My Console Library:
PS5, Switch, XSX
PS4, PS3, PS2, PS1, WiiU, Wii, GCN, N64 SNES, XBO, 360
3DS, DS, GBA, Vita, PSP, Android