Trouble deciding on which console to buy. Please Help.

[starkiller411]

Hey Guys, so here’s my dilemma. I bought my PS4 in 2017 because all of my friends from high school and just about everyone I grew up with (coincidentally I guess) had playstations.( I’m currently 21.) I’ve never been a serious gamer. Didn’t grow up with video games in my household and never had a huge interest in vide games. But I fell in love with one game: GTA 5. To this day, I don’t really play other games. So leveling up my GTA character and grinding up to buy all the cool DLC content and vehicles didn’t take as long as others. I knew that xbox existed, but I wanted to be able to instantly game with friends as soon as I hooked up the console to my TV, which is why I chose the PS4. After visiting one of the very few people that had an Xbox One at his house and seeing the smoother UI, the user friendliness, and the seamless compatibility with Windows due to the console being made by Microsoft, I instantly wanted an Xbox, but never got the chance to get one. Now that its been around 2 years since these new-gen consoles have been released, I think it’s time to make the upgrade. After seeing the typical Sony entertainment network cluster-mess layout of the PS5’s home screen and comparing it to the organized, aesthetic layout of the Xbox Series X/S, my feelings towards the superiority of Xbox grew. I just wanted to reiterate that this is all opinionated, so the “facts” and “specs” about these consoles may not precisely coincide with my claims and I understand that. Here’s the problem: As much as I’m DYING to purchase the cost-efficient, and most importantly AVAILABLE *ahem* (ATTENTION Sony people are starting to boycott) Xbox Series S due to my minimal gaming needs and impatience to move on to the next gen console and GTA Online “Expanded and Enhanced”, I really have no idea who the heck I would play with. After high school, almost all of my friends stopped gaming. Luckily, since so many people were on playstation in my circles, there are still ONE TO THREE PEOPLE LEFT I CAN PLAY WITH. Considering how much more uncommon it was for me to go to another kid’s house growing up and seeing an Xbox I couldn’t imagine how much of a ghost town my friends list would be on my Series S. In my eyes, thats a relevant & proportionate example/comparison. I also have ONE loyal friend I grind GTA Online with and in a way he’s my only key to a reliable source of income because while gaming with randoms can work totally fine and actually be fun at times, it’s just not the same. If I get the Series S, I won’t be able to play with him because he’s on PS4. Even if I got the PS5, I still wouldn’t be able to play with him because the whole point of me wanting to buy a new-gen console is so that I can migrate my character to GTA Online “Expanded and Enhanced” and enjoy the remastered edition of GTA online. In the year of 2022 with all the innovative gaming technology that exists Rockstar is very petty and greedy for not only restricting players from having cross-play between Xbox/Playstation, but EVEN BETWEEN CONSOLE GENERATIONS OF THE SAME FAMILY! This means that “Expanded and Enhanced” is literally a SEPARATE GAME AND SEPARATE PURCHASE. Which means I’d have to say goodbye to playing with my friend until he decided to make the upgrade AND switch console families (which he wont because hes a loyal Sony customer). There is another issue, and probably the BIGGEST ISSUE OF ALL. I’d have NO problem with keeping my PS4 and continuing to grind with my friend for as long as possible before I make the switch to the Series X and say goodbye to our grinding days. Yet, Rockstar HAS NOT CONFIRMED IF OR WHEN CHARACTER MIGRATION (Old-Gen to New-Gen) WILL BE PERMANENTLY HALTED. Knowing how money-hungry Rockstar is, I wouldn’t be surprised if they removed this feature without a warning, forcing poor grinders and players like me who have put years of work into their accounts into having to start fresh on the New-Gen consoles in order to create more incentives for people to buy Shark Cards to kickstart their criminal empire again; leaving them to play with their “outdated” GTA character on an outdated, unsupported, and inferior console and never having the opportunity to migrate their character to the next-gen consoles ever again. This is my biggest fear, which is exactly what Rockstar wants. That fear and speculation will keep our wallets out. I didn’t think it would ever be so hard to decide on a console but with Rockstar’s user-UNfriendly interface, supply-chain issues, scalpers, and people not really having enough time for gaming these days, I have really gotten myself into a pickle. Does anybody have info about Rockstar’s character migration deadline or have any suggestions on what I should do about this situation in general?? Thanks guys and sorry for the tedious rant.

[ambi3nt]

Good luck getting someone to read this.

[Mexicola9302]

Here i made it readable, but i won't read that text.

 

Edit: Removed the text, because now the original post can be read.

Edited June 14 by Mexicola9302

[starkiller411]

.

21 minutes ago, ambi3nt said:

Good luck getting someone to read this.

 

1 minute ago, Mexicola9302 said:

Here i made it readable, but i won't read that text.

 

Hey Guys, so here’s my dilemma. I bought my PS4 in 2017 because all of my friends from high school and just about everyone I grew up with (coincidentally I guess) had playstations.( I’m currently 21.) I’ve never been a serious gamer. Didn’t grow up with video games in my household and never had a huge interest in vide games. But I fell in love with one game: GTA 5. To this day, I don’t really play other games. So leveling up my GTA character and grinding up to buy all the cool DLC content and vehicles didn’t take as long as others. I knew that xbox existed, but I wanted to be able to instantly game with friends as soon as I hooked up the console to my TV, which is why I chose the PS4. After visiting one of the very few people that had an Xbox One at his house and seeing the smoother UI, the user friendliness, and the seamless compatibility with Windows due to the console being made by Microsoft, I instantly wanted an Xbox, but never got the chance to get one. Now that its been around 2 years since these new-gen consoles have been released, I think it’s time to make the upgrade. After seeing the typical Sony entertainment network cluster-mess layout of the PS5’s home screen and comparing it to the organized, aesthetic layout of the Xbox Series X/S, my feelings towards the superiority of Xbox grew. I just wanted to reiterate that this is all opinionated, so the “facts” and “specs” about these consoles may not precisely coincide with my claims and I understand that. Here’s the problem: As much as I’m DYING to purchase the cost-efficient, and most importantly AVAILABLE *ahem* (ATTENTION Sony people are starting to boycott) Xbox Series S due to my minimal gaming needs and impatience to move on to the next gen console and GTA Online “Expanded and Enhanced”, I really have no idea who the heck I would play with. After high school, almost all of my friends stopped gaming. Luckily, since so many people were on playstation in my circles, there are still ONE TO THREE PEOPLE LEFT I CAN PLAY WITH. Considering how much more uncommon it was for me to go to another kid’s house growing up and seeing an Xbox I couldn’t imagine how much of a ghost town my friends list would be on my Series S. In my eyes, thats a relevant & proportionate example/comparison. I also have ONE loyal friend I grind GTA Online with and in a way he’s my only key to a reliable source of income because while gaming with randoms can work totally fine and actually be fun at times, it’s just not the same. If I get the Series S, I won’t be able to play with him because he’s on PS4. Even if I got the PS5, I still wouldn’t be able to play with him because the whole point of me wanting to buy a new-gen console is so that I can migrate my character to GTA Online “Expanded and Enhanced” and enjoy the remastered edition of GTA online. In the year of 2022 with all the innovative gaming technology that exists Rockstar is very petty and greedy for not only restricting players from having cross-play between Xbox/Playstation, but EVEN BETWEEN CONSOLE GENERATIONS OF THE SAME FAMILY! This means that “Expanded and Enhanced” is literally a SEPARATE GAME AND SEPARATE PURCHASE. Which means I’d have to say goodbye to playing with my friend until he decided to make the upgrade AND switch console families (which he wont because hes a loyal Sony customer). There is another issue, and probably the BIGGEST ISSUE OF ALL. I’d have NO problem with keeping my PS4 and continuing to grind with my friend for as long as possible before I make the switch to the Series X and say goodbye to our grinding days. Yet, Rockstar HAS NOT CONFIRMED IF OR WHEN CHARACTER MIGRATION (Old-Gen to New-Gen) WILL BE PERMANENTLY HALTED. Knowing how money-hungry Rockstar is, I wouldn’t be surprised if they removed this feature without a warning, forcing poor grinders and players like me who have put years of work into their accounts into having to start fresh on the New-Gen consoles in order to create more incentives for people to buy Shark Cards to kickstart their criminal empire again; leaving them to play with their “outdated” GTA character on an outdated, unsupported, and inferior console and never having the opportunity to migrate their character to the next-gen consoles ever again. This is my biggest fear, which is exactly what Rockstar wants. That fear and speculation will keep our wallets out. I didn’t think it would ever be so hard to decide on a console but with Rockstar’s user-UNfriendly interface, supply-chain issues, scalpers, and people not really having enough time for gaming these days, I have really gotten myself into a pickle. Does anybody have info about Rockstar’s character migration deadline or have any suggestions on what I should do about this situation in general?? Thanks guys and sorry for the tedious rant.

Thanks for the warm welcome to introduce me to gtaforums.com!!!

Edited June 14 by starkiller411
Forgot to quote

[theguy1998]

Okay so, to summarize:

 

"I don't want to spend in a console that is expensive and I can't even find it [due to shortages]"

 

Also:

 

"I'm not a serious gamer so anything is enough for me"

 

And:

 

"But my friends are all in X console!"

 

Here's my answer for you, short answer.

 

Join your friends. If they're on PS4, and you have a PS4, stay on PS4. If they're on PS5, go to PS5.

 

If they're on Xbox, go to Xbox.

 

Besides, there's nothing 'wow' on E&E, besides 60fps, there's nothing worth transferring from old gen.

 

Remember, everything's better with friends.

Edited June 14 by theguy1998

[Jenkiiii]

Your life starts right now!

 

You will meet thousands of new people and new friends, so do what you feel is right for you and be the frontrunner and let them follow you. It sounds as though you have already reached this threshold and are caught between moving on or holding back for sentimental reasons.

 

In terms of what console to buy? Only you can decide, and although you don't need a new one to enjoy GTA online right now, you will in the short-term future, so perhaps the Xbox Series S is the ideal solution for you? Microsoft invented it for a reason, to cut out the high-end dilemma nonsense that holds millions of people back that simply want to plug in and play games. This sounds like you.

 

Most importantly, stop worrying about what other people think. Your existing friends will also have to upgrade, so maybe you can lead the way?

 

Edited June 14 by Jenkiiii

[Aquamaniac]

Haven't read all the text. If you're used to PS controls and you play only GTAO, so I'd say stick with PS, I think it has the larger GTAO community but at this point the community should be much larger on PS4 than on next gen. If it is about your friends and they are real-life friends then stay with them if it makes sense, I wouldn't be suprised if a lot of people sooner or later become tired of GTAO, so maybe choose the console that fits you best unless your friends are as commited as you are.

 

Some franchises are exclusive to PS, others to XBox, so if there are franchises that might interest you, have a thought about that.

 

I don't know which console is technically better and offers better services with other apps like Netflix or whatever, have a thought about that too if it might be relevant for you.

[Mexicola9302]

If i were a console gamer, i would buy a PS5, simply because most games that are exclusive to X-Box are also available on PC. With a PC and PS5 most games can be played then.

 

Owning a X-Box Series X and a High End PC doesn't make much sense i think.

[Spider-Vice]

Fixed the text colour. Some of y'all are certainly charming.

[dieseltech20]

If you only play one game you really don’t need to buy any console. If all your friends are on PS4 you will regret moving on while they don’t.  I made that mistake and when coupled with a much smaller player base my interest in the game quickly died. 
 

There is NOTHING on the new version of GTAO that makes it worth the cost of a new console. Especially if it will be the only game you ever play on it. 

[Jenkiiii]

34 minutes ago, dieseltech20 said:

There is NOTHING on the new version of GTAO that makes it worth the cost of a new console. Especially if it will be the only game you ever play on it. 

With all the nonsense around GTA+ and Rockstar's over-hyped transition to "next-gen", some of us feel duped into rushing to new consoles just to play the same old game, with some slightly faster vehicles and better draw distances. Seriously, whoopee!

 

But that's my moans out of the way.

 

Come the summer update, the divide between new and last gen will divide further, so the OP will need to upgrade at some point or get left behind with all his friends, just as they will have to update too. That is life.

 

 

[Rotorhead359]

Still a giant wall of text, try it like this:

Quote

 

Hey Guys, so here’s my dilemma.

 

I bought my PS4 in 2017 because all of my friends from high school and just about everyone I grew up with (coincidentally I guess) had playstations.( I’m currently 21.)

I’ve never been a serious gamer. Didn’t grow up with video games in my household and never had a huge interest in vide games.

But I fell in love with one game: GTA 5. To this day, I don’t really play other games. So leveling up my GTA character and grinding up to buy all the cool DLC content and vehicles didn’t take as long as others.

 

I knew that xbox existed, but I wanted to be able to instantly game with friends as soon as I hooked up the console to my TV, which is why I chose the PS4. After visiting one of the very few people that had an Xbox One at his house and seeing the smoother UI, the user friendliness, and the seamless compatibility with Windows due to the console being made by Microsoft, I instantly wanted an Xbox, but never got the chance to get one. Now that its been around 2 years since these new-gen consoles have been released, I think it’s time to make the upgrade.

 

After seeing the typical Sony entertainment network cluster-mess layout of the PS5’s home screen and comparing it to the organized, aesthetic layout of the Xbox Series X/S, my feelings towards the superiority of Xbox grew. I just wanted to reiterate that this is all opinionated, so the “facts” and “specs” about these consoles may not precisely coincide with my claims and I understand that.

 

Here’s the problem: As much as I’m DYING to purchase the cost-efficient, and most importantly AVAILABLE *ahem* (ATTENTION Sony people are starting to boycott) Xbox Series S due to my minimal gaming needs and impatience to move on to the next gen console and GTA Online “Expanded and Enhanced”, I really have no idea who the heck I would play with.

 

After high school, almost all of my friends stopped gaming. Luckily, since so many people were on playstation in my circles, there are still ONE TO THREE PEOPLE LEFT I CAN PLAY WITH.

Considering how much more uncommon it was for me to go to another kid’s house growing up and seeing an Xbox I couldn’t imagine how much of a ghost town my friends list would be on my Series S.

In my eyes, thats a relevant & proportionate example/comparison.

 

I also have ONE loyal friend I grind GTA Online with and in a way he’s my only key to a reliable source of income because while gaming with randoms can work totally fine and actually be fun at times, it’s just not the same.

If I get the Series S, I won’t be able to play with him because he’s on PS4.

 

Even if I got the PS5, I still wouldn’t be able to play with him because the whole point of me wanting to buy a new-gen console is so that I can migrate my character to GTA Online “Expanded and Enhanced” and enjoy the remastered edition of GTA online. In the year of 2022 with all the innovative gaming technology that exists Rockstar is very petty and greedy for not only restricting players from having cross-play between Xbox/Playstation, but EVEN BETWEEN CONSOLE GENERATIONS OF THE SAME FAMILY!

 

This means that “Expanded and Enhanced” is literally a SEPARATE GAME AND SEPARATE PURCHASE. Which means I’d have to say goodbye to playing with my friend until he decided to make the upgrade AND switch console families (which he wont because hes a loyal Sony customer).

 

There is another issue, and probably the BIGGEST ISSUE OF ALL. I’d have NO problem with keeping my PS4 and continuing to grind with my friend for as long as possible before I make the switch to the Series X and say goodbye to our grinding days. Yet, Rockstar HAS NOT CONFIRMED IF OR WHEN CHARACTER MIGRATION (Old-Gen to New-Gen) WILL BE PERMANENTLY HALTED.

 

Knowing how money-hungry Rockstar is, I wouldn’t be surprised if they removed this feature without a warning, forcing poor grinders and players like me who have put years of work into their accounts into having to start fresh on the New-Gen consoles in order to create more incentives for people to buy Shark Cards to kickstart their criminal empire again; leaving them to play with their “outdated” GTA character on an outdated, unsupported, and inferior console and never having the opportunity to migrate their character to the next-gen consoles ever again.

This is my biggest fear, which is exactly what Rockstar wants. That fear and speculation will keep our wallets out.

 

I didn’t think it would ever be so hard to decide on a console but with Rockstar’s user-UNfriendly interface, supply-chain issues, scalpers, and people not really having enough time for gaming these days, I have really gotten myself into a pickle.

Does anybody have info about Rockstar’s character migration deadline or have any suggestions on what I should do about this situation in general??

 

Thanks guys and sorry for the tedious rant.

 

I'm not sure I'm qualified to comment on this as a PC-only player, but I'd stay on PS4 as long as you can.

Expanded and Enhanced the way it is now is just the same game, and most changes were done under the hood (60fps, raytracing, all that technobabble, but very little actual content)

Sure, at some point in the future Rockstar will end character transfers and content updates on PS4, and that is when you should transfer, but not before you have to.

 

Edited June 14 by AirWolf359

[starkiller411]

2 hours ago, dieseltech20 said:

If you only play one game you really don’t need to buy any console. If all your friends are on PS4 you will regret moving on while they don’t.  I made that mistake and when coupled with a much smaller player base my interest in the game quickly died. 
 

There is NOTHING on the new version of GTAO that makes it worth the cost of a new console. Especially if it will be the only game you ever play on it. 

 

1 hour ago, Jenkiiii said:

With all the nonsense around GTA+ and Rockstar's over-hyped transition to "next-gen", some of us feel duped into rushing to new consoles just to play the same old game, with some slightly faster vehicles and better draw distances. Seriously, whoopee!

 

But that's my moans out of the way.

 

Come the summer update, the divide between new and last gen will divide further, so the OP will need to upgrade at some point or get left behind with all his friends, just as they will have to update too. That is life.

 

 

Thanks for the input guys! In reality, the only factor that would rush me into buying a new console at this point is the character migration deadline. I don’t want my character to be stuck playing on PS4 forever, and without knowing when the deadline really is, it’s keeping me on my toes. Especially when its the only game i’ve ever really grinded for.

Edited June 14 by starkiller411
misspell

[starkiller411]

16 minutes ago, AirWolf359 said:

Still a giant wall of text, try it like this:

I'm not sure I'm qualified to comment on this as a PC-only player, but I'd stay on PS4 as long as you can.

Expanded and Enhanced the way it is now is just the same game, and most changes were done under the hood (60fps, raytracing, all that technobabble, but very little actual content)

Sure, at some point in the future Rockstar will end character transfers and content updates on PS4, and that is when you should transfer, but not before you have to.

 

Hopefully we will get a warning before they decide to end character transfers. 

[Jenkiiii]

31 minutes ago, AirWolf359 said:

Still a giant wall of text, try it like this:

I'm not sure I'm qualified to comment on this as a PC-only player, but I'd stay on PS4 as long as you can.

Expanded and Enhanced the way it is now is just the same game, and most changes were done under the hood (60fps, raytracing, all that technobabble, but very little actual content)

Sure, at some point in the future Rockstar will end character transfers and content updates on PS4, and that is when you should transfer, but not before you have to.

 

I totally get you on this, but I've noticed some significant benefits moving to Xbox Series, and not just better draw distances.

 

The new front-end menu screen is innovative. You don't just load into GTA online and then find things to do, but get a range of interesting activities up front. It feels fresh (although it is the same game).

The loading times are significantly better now. The car meet is much better and the game draws in much better (although this is hardware orientated, not because of improvements to the game itself).

 

Overall, I would keep with your current hardware for a while yet. I am in the comfortable position of knowing that whatever Rockstar throws at us this summer, I can handle it; and you will have to upgrade in the next year or so, maybe at Christmas if prices stabilize and more consoles become available?

[SHOKKERZ91]

Not a console player, but i would jump ship asap from piss station4/shltbox one to the newer ones. The increase from dogshlt average 15 fps to 60 is like night and day.

[Aquamaniac]

16 hours ago, starkiller411 said:

Hopefully we will get a warning before they decide to end character transfers. 

 

Technically shouldn't you be able, to buy the game but not the console and transfer your character by social club?

[dieseltech20]

3 hours ago, Aquamaniac said:

 

Technically shouldn't you be able, to buy the game but not the console and transfer your character by social club?

Only the story mode save is done that way.
 

First time you play the PS5 version of the game it asks if you want to transfer your character. 

[roggek]

I'm currently playing the E&E version on a XBox Series S, and the transfer from a XBox One S to Series S is that a fully populated lobby of 30, the game runs like varm butter.

No stuttering, betetr drawe distance, smoother car/bike handling.
I don't regret my transfer... 

 

So to OP, buy a new 9th gen console.
And the XBox Series S is right now a affordable choice with GTAO E&E version.

[Haribokart]

PS5 has the best version of the game currently available.

[Quinn_flower]

PC everything is coming to pc there no such thing as exclusives anymore

Edited June 18 by Quinn_flower

[SM Grunge]

[OG Fringe]

Can I get a TL/DR on the OP?

[Commander S]

Honestly, OP, if you're fine playing the older version on PS4, you've got friends still on PS4, and you're not in any rush to upgrade, then ...don't sweat it too much. Buy a new console as and when, and maybe just keep your PS4 character on PS4 - after all, there's the career builder on the "Expanded & Enhanced" version, so it's arguably easier to start a new character on "E&E" and keep your old character on PS4, than it is to migrate your old character to "E&E", and start a new character for playing on PS4 (without all the fast-track benefits of the "E&E" career builder).

 

That, and we're quite possibly only a few years away from GTA VI (and a new Online with it), so maybe think more about that when it comes to getting a new console, rather than the current iteration of GTAO.

[Big Molio]

Could somebody please summarise, in less than ten words?

[SHOKKERZ91]

4 hours ago, Big Molio said:

Could somebody please summarise, in less than ten words?

PS4/cockbox one bad. PS5/new cockbox/PC gud. Transfer.

[Big Molio]

Gotcha. Thanks @SHOKKERZ91

[DrEeveell]

On 6/17/2022 at 5:42 PM, Quinn_flower said:

PC everything is coming to pc there no such thing as exclusives anymore

 

I'm mainly a PC gamer. Since 90% of the stuff on PS or Xbox also comes to PC, I haven't bought one of the consoles since PS2 (and that mainly for the DVD player).

I do have a Switch though, since there are a lot of Switch exclusive games that never come to PC or other consoles.