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Has the PS5 already cemented itself as the worst Playstation generation in history?
- Thread starter analog_future
- Start date
ChuckeRearmed
Member
It is certainly wasn't impressive. PS3 which was the worst between PS1, PS2, PS4 had much more impressive lineup of games.
Now that I think about it, PS4 feels like comparable to PS3. PS1 and PS2 were much more better. So many games that has turned into legendary IPs over the years.
Now that I think about it, PS4 feels like comparable to PS3. PS1 and PS2 were much more better. So many games that has turned into legendary IPs over the years.
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FalconPunch
Member
It's completely insane. Most of the best ps4 games are sequels to games released on ps3. Ps3 is the best gen in terms of exclusives. Better than ps2, ps1, ps4. Due to the poor sales start, Sony threw everything at the wall to recover. They experimented with games in a way we haven't seen since. We got such diverse exclusives as a result.
Ps4 was just a benefactor of the hard work and experimentation that happend during the ps3 gen.
Orbital2060
Member
PS5 games?
They gonna need some new IPs, but I cant see any sign of that. Or it will be one more generation of the same boring shit. And GAAS + F2P.
The agent game from Kojima will be great Im sure but thats not a launch title in 2 years.
J Required
Banned
Calling the PS5 the worst PlayStation console in history doesn't hold up once you separate frustration from reality.
Hardware-wise, PS5 is arguably Sony's best platform ever: a fast SSD that actually changes game design, strong CPU/GPU balance, excellent dev tools, and consistently solid multiplatform performance. Add the DualSense and you have real innovation—not regression. A "worst console" doesn't come with top-tier, developer-friendly hardware.
PlayStation's identity was never about nonstop first-party releases. It was about being the default place to play most games, and PS5 absolutely delivers there better than both Switch and Xbox. Third-party support is massive, indies thrive, and the library will end up in the thousands. That matters more to a platform's health than release-calendar impatience.
The "no games" narrative is mostly emotional. PS1, PS2, and even PS4 built their legendary libraries over time. PS5 already has major titles (God of War Ragnarök, Spider-Man 2, GT7, Returnal, FF16, FF7 Rebirth), and first-party slowdowns are an industry-wide reality driven by ballooning AAA budgets and longer dev cycles—not a PS5-specific failure.
What people also ignore is how open this generation is. On PS5 you now play games that used to be locked behind Xbox hardware—something that simply didn't happen in the PS3 or early PS4 eras. Platform walls matter less than ever, which makes PS5 a stronger value proposition than past PlayStations, not a weaker one.
And from a pure gameplay standpoint, PS5 wipes the floor with older generations: 60fps is now the norm, not a luxury. Compare that to PS3's unstable 20–30fps or PS4's 30fps default. Faster loads, better responsiveness, and smoother performance fundamentally improve how games feel moment to moment.
Sales, engagement, and publisher priority all reinforce the same conclusion: PS5 is not a failing platform. At worst, it's a slower-burn generation emotionally. In reality, it's the most complete, accessible, and technically polished PlayStation ever. Calling it the "worst" says more about expectations and nostalgia than about the console itself.
Hardware-wise, PS5 is arguably Sony's best platform ever: a fast SSD that actually changes game design, strong CPU/GPU balance, excellent dev tools, and consistently solid multiplatform performance. Add the DualSense and you have real innovation—not regression. A "worst console" doesn't come with top-tier, developer-friendly hardware.
PlayStation's identity was never about nonstop first-party releases. It was about being the default place to play most games, and PS5 absolutely delivers there better than both Switch and Xbox. Third-party support is massive, indies thrive, and the library will end up in the thousands. That matters more to a platform's health than release-calendar impatience.
The "no games" narrative is mostly emotional. PS1, PS2, and even PS4 built their legendary libraries over time. PS5 already has major titles (God of War Ragnarök, Spider-Man 2, GT7, Returnal, FF16, FF7 Rebirth), and first-party slowdowns are an industry-wide reality driven by ballooning AAA budgets and longer dev cycles—not a PS5-specific failure.
What people also ignore is how open this generation is. On PS5 you now play games that used to be locked behind Xbox hardware—something that simply didn't happen in the PS3 or early PS4 eras. Platform walls matter less than ever, which makes PS5 a stronger value proposition than past PlayStations, not a weaker one.
And from a pure gameplay standpoint, PS5 wipes the floor with older generations: 60fps is now the norm, not a luxury. Compare that to PS3's unstable 20–30fps or PS4's 30fps default. Faster loads, better responsiveness, and smoother performance fundamentally improve how games feel moment to moment.
Sales, engagement, and publisher priority all reinforce the same conclusion: PS5 is not a failing platform. At worst, it's a slower-burn generation emotionally. In reality, it's the most complete, accessible, and technically polished PlayStation ever. Calling it the "worst" says more about expectations and nostalgia than about the console itself.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
asdasdasdbb
Member
If I could vote for PS6, I would do that.
squallbr
Member
PS6 has PS4 remasters cause PS5 theres nothing to remaster
ultrazilla
Gold Member
PS5 has been a terrible let down. I use it more to play my 4k/blu ray movies and watch a couple premium streaming services.
No new Uncharted, Killzone, Resistance, Warhawk, Syphon Filter...I mean it blows my mind we still haven't gotten any of those for the
PS5!
No new Uncharted, Killzone, Resistance, Warhawk, Syphon Filter...I mean it blows my mind we still haven't gotten any of those for the
PS5!
Hyper_hyper
Member
PS5 the best. It will be remembered as Xbox bend the knee and PS5 got all Xbox games. Love to see how Halo community director indirectly showed 
to Xbox community. He surely was happy.
to Xbox community. He surely was happy.
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Rocco Schiavone
Member
They released more different dualsense colours than exklusives. Pathetic.
J Required
Banned
They surely released more exclusives than Valve! And getting Xbox exclusives now..not a bad deal
Pedro Motta
Gold Member
If they win anything, it's the Sony awards. When they don't, they suck. You guys have no chill.
Bojji
Member
But it didn't have record profits and sales!!!111
J Required
Banned
-Bad performing games (sub 30fps)
-Lackluster online functionality compared to 360 (no party chat)
-Controller was light like a toy (six axes)
-Less reliable device (although better than 360)
-Expensive launch price
- 2011 online outage for almost a month
Edit:
-hell to develop for!
I don't know what you meant by felt truly like a console.
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Bojji
Member
1. True. But great performing exclusives
2. FREE ONLINE
3. Not great but ok, almost 1:1 with PS2 controller
4. True for original model especially
5. Yes
6. Yep, but users got free games for that
PS3 had amazing lineup of true exclusive games, that's why people think that it was better console than PS5 (maybe even PS4).
Topher
Identifies as young
He's clearly referring to the games. Opinions and all, but I had a hell of a lot more fun with the first party games from PS3 than I'm having on PS5. Not even close. The third party games took a bit to get up to speed but they eventually got there.
Sticks
Al Pachinko, Konami President
Yeah when UC2 launched the system really was great
PS5 is the worst simply because it is completely irrelevant in comparison with other formats. PS5 is just a low end x86 PC with a low end PC graphics card and a PC NVME drive. Sure it is relative cheap but you really do not need it to play most games on the system. If you have a PC you can play pretty much all PS5 games - and you get better versions + modding. And LOTS of PC exclsusives - thousands. Even the controllers are usable on PC.
PS1, PS2 and PS3 were true consoles - you HAD do have one to play hundreds of games that simply did not exist anywhere else. A PC would not help at the time - PS2 was even more powerful that most PC:s at launch.
PS4, while having many games, started down the path of most games also being on PC and to a lesser extent Xbox.
So the rakning is clear for last place: it just cannot be any other system than PS5. Sony has made themselves irrelevant by not doing anything really different from PC, just simpler and way slower
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TheMule1983
Member
PS2
PSX
PS3
PS4
PS5
PlayStation has been getting progressively worse for like a decade now.
PSX
PS3
PS4
PS5
PlayStation has been getting progressively worse for like a decade now.
J Required
Banned
The claim that the PS5 is the worst PlayStation rests almost entirely on one assumption: that a console's value is defined by how many exclusive games it had is a flawed one. Once that assumption is removed, the argument collapses.
When people call PS1–PS3 "true consoles," what they really mean is that you had no alternative. That wasn't a design virtue; it was the result of proprietary hardware, closed ecosystems, weak or expensive PCs, and a pre-digital market. Those conditions no longer exist. Judging PS5 for not recreating them is logically flawed.
Exclusivity erosion is not a Sony failure. It is an industry-wide reality. AAA budgets demand multi-platform releases, engines are PC-first, Xbox abandoned console exclusivity entirely, and cross-play is now expected. No modern platform can operate like the PS3 era anymore.
Calling the PS5 a "low-end PC" is also factually wrong. Steam's own hardware surveys show most PC users running GPUs far weaker than PS5-class hardware. Even the upcoming Steam Deck—significantly weaker than a PS5—is still more powerful than roughly 75% of active Steam PCs. A system stronger than most gaming PCs is not low-end by any meaningful definition.
Yes, the PS3 had an exceptional first-party lineup. But that era operated under completely different economics: smaller teams, lower budgets, properitery hardware, and less risk. Expecting PS5 to replicate that output ignores how modern game development actually works.
Forced exclusivity is not relevance. PS5 leads third-party sales, remains the primary optimization target, and has the largest active console user base. A platform cannot be irrelevant while being the industry default.
What changed is the role of consoles. PS1–PS3 were content gatekeepers. PS5 is a standardized access point. That is not regression—it is evolution.
Most importantly, this argument ignores everything else that actually defines a console: far more reliable hardware than PS3/PS4, dramatically improved online infrastructure, near-universal 60fps support, fast load times, backward compatibility (PS4), and the most advanced PlayStation controller ever made. All of that is dismissed so the entire case can hinge on a single shrinking pillar—exclusivity.
In the end, this does not prove PS5 is the worst PlayStation. It proves the argument reduces a complex platform to one outdated metric. That's nostalgia-driven framing, not serious evaluation.
And while all of this "PS5 is irrelevant" discourse keeps recycling the same exclusivity nostalgia, the market is doing the opposite. PS5 is steadily marching toward the 100 million units milestone, leading third-party sales, remaining the primary optimization target, and serving as the default console platform worldwide. You can call that coping, but the reality is simple: a platform does not reach that scale, that engagement, and that relevance by being "the worst PlayStation." The argument collapses not just analytically, but empirically.
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The_Mike
I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
Whoa whoa cowboy, I ain't following you that far!
In terms of gameplay mechanics they are better because they are more modern, less tanky.
But PS1 and PS2 just had so many experimental gameplay that is unmatched
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Nothing exists in a vacum. Sony could have created an amazing unique platform that used orginal hardware and had lots of exclusives. See Nintendo Switch 1/2 - it is a way more original machine than PS5. I need to have one even if i have a PC.
No matter if you "think" PS5 is like a mid end gaming PC - it is still a irrelevant machine. I can play its most popular games on my phone (Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite etc) or PC (the rest of the games)
Playstation used to be like Apple. Premium, unqiue and a 100% walled garden. Now it is just another shitty "PC light" (EXACTLY like what Xbox became before the end). It lacks most of what makes PC good too - the massive amount of content and modding/custom content.
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J Required
Banned
Yeah Playstation is so "irrelevant" it will sell more than 100m units.
No point in arguing with you here really.
Bojji
Member
It's pretty much the only relevant console for "dudebro" COD, BF, FC/Madden crowd (and they contribute to majority of sales).
Console market as a whole is much smaller than in previous gens:
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J Required
Banned
It's pretty much the only relevant console for "dudebro" COD, BF, FC/Madden crowd (and they contribute to majority of sales).
Console market as a whole is much smaller than in previous gens:
Xbox has practically vanished, Nintendo abandoned dual console releases. Playstation has basically grew after PS3.
gamerEMdoc
Member
How does Herman Hulst even have a job at Sony? I get he got demoted, but his decision to push nearly every studio towards live service when the entire brand was known for single player exclusives driving their console success has to be the dumbest corporate decision in gaming.
Topher
Identifies as young
I'm not going through all that, but people have their own criteria for judging a console's value. Nothing "flawed" about what I or others said. You just don't agree with it and that's fine.
Bojji
Member
PlayStation keeps up with PS4 sales more or less, but many millions of console players vanished with Xbox. They didn't migrate to PS for some reason.
dcx4610
Member
I think I might have 10 hours max played on my PS5. There's just zero reason for me to turn it on. I say it every generation, but I truly think this will be my last console generation. I'll just stick with PC and have a Steam Machine for the living room if I want to play something on the TV. There just isn't anything unique being developed anymore that justifies it for me at least. Nintendo still does unique stuff and has their 1st party content, but honestly, I'm not that attracted to that stuff as an adult even though I acknowledge it's very well made.
lol whole thread is basically circle jerk of broken xbox veterans and insecure pc peasants. who'll have to celebrate 8gb3060 relaunch and 1k$ steam potato in 2026.
get over it ps is the lead platform for every game worth a damn going forward, probably first time in its history.
it doesn't get more of "win" than that
get over it ps is the lead platform for every game worth a damn going forward, probably first time in its history.
it doesn't get more of "win" than that
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ShadowkillXNA
Member
To YOU its irrelevant. It's subjective, values of platforms are all subjective, always has been, always will be.
ShadowkillXNA
Member
This includes literally all hardware though. Controllers, wii motion plus, wii fit balance boards, memory cards, DS, 3DS, guitar Hero fad, etc. Don't be fooled by that shit Circana peddles.It's pretty much the only relevant console for "dudebro" COD, BF, FC/Madden crowd (and they contribute to majority of sales).
Console market as a whole is much smaller than in previous gens:
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Bernardougf
Member
No its not.. several long time PS fans voting for the ps5 ... just like me ... but keep coping.
Gp1
Member
Psx / PS2 at the top (undeniable, which one is on top depends exclusively on what's your criteria. But both are leagues ahead of the rest. In any criteria.)
PS3 (it's a unique console, besides the weak multiplatform, it still has exclusive that are worth the console alone)
PS4 (Weak hardware + a mid PC at the time runs laps around it and eventually recieved most of the games.. But it still has exclusive experiences that I haven't seen anywhere else. Aka Bloodborne, Drive Club, Colossus remake, Last Guardian etc.)
PS5 (Even though the hardware is much more balanced than the PS4. 5 years into this gen and i still cant see neither the generational leap in game scope of the other gens nor exclusives that justify this console on its own.)
PS3 (it's a unique console, besides the weak multiplatform, it still has exclusive that are worth the console alone)
PS4 (Weak hardware + a mid PC at the time runs laps around it and eventually recieved most of the games.. But it still has exclusive experiences that I haven't seen anywhere else. Aka Bloodborne, Drive Club, Colossus remake, Last Guardian etc.)
PS5 (Even though the hardware is much more balanced than the PS4. 5 years into this gen and i still cant see neither the generational leap in game scope of the other gens nor exclusives that justify this console on its own.)
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It got bumped by orbital2060, a known MS/xbox fanboy because he was seething about the "Why did you leave xbox" thread. There are a bunch of jaded people who jump on the bandwagon though.
Kokoro2020
Member
Well, I've had a bit of a change in opinion since last year. I said the PS5 is the best. I no longer feel this way. I'm going to say:
PS2 > PS5 > PS4 > PS1 > PS3
The only reason I prefer the PS5 over PS4 is because the PS5 can play 99% of PS4 games, plus it's own games.
And again, I'm not saying the PS3 is a bad console. It's just my least favorite of the Sony consoles.
PS2 > PS5 > PS4 > PS1 > PS3
The only reason I prefer the PS5 over PS4 is because the PS5 can play 99% of PS4 games, plus it's own games.
And again, I'm not saying the PS3 is a bad console. It's just my least favorite of the Sony consoles.
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Hypno Funk
Member
PS2 > PS1 > PS4 > PS3 = PS5
If you weren't around for the PS1 or PS2 days, it's really hard to retroactively understand how significant they were. PS2 era will likely never be topped. PS4 was a return to form after PS3. PS5 era is just lacking games.
If you weren't around for the PS1 or PS2 days, it's really hard to retroactively understand how significant they were. PS2 era will likely never be topped. PS4 was a return to form after PS3. PS5 era is just lacking games.
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Hyper_hyper
Member
Comparing any console with X360 regarding reliability is a stretch. First PS3 models were nowhere near close to general hardware failures like X360 was. X360 general hardware failure was surely a widespread issue. That wasn't the case with first PS3 models.
HeisenbergFX4
Gold Member
Its not for anyone else to tell me how I determine value in a product
Bernardougf
Member
Ftfy
Bernardougf
Member
We should do a poll about all the great consoles in history without exclusives.
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S0ULZB0URNE
Member
Easily the best PlayStation generation going by what Sony put into it vs the other PlayStation generations.
Crayon
Member
I voted ps3 because the slow start and the advent of the aaa approach for mediocre games being the zeitgeist. I'd feel a little differently now but I feel like we are obviously comparing the systems in the context of their time. Comparing the generation and not just the console. Price of persia sands of time (back on ps2) disgusted me lol. That was a start of what would become 7th-gen aaa autogame schlock. Still found plenty of good games but I would say it was an exciting generation.
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