Why shouldn't my son buy a PS3?

[deadken]

My sons 18th birthday is coming up soon. He wants money to buy a new PS3. I suggested that he wait until the PS4 comes out. He explained that PS's aren't really backwards compatible and the game he wants to play is made for the PS3. Now, realize that I'm a PC guy and never really got into console gaming. He is big into PC gaming and has played console games in the past.

I'm figuring that when the PS4 comes out, the prices on a PS3 will drop. He feels that everyone knows that PS3's are at the end of their product cycle and they won't drop much lower than they are at right now.

I'm here to ask for opinions so I can make an educated suggestion. He is turning 18, so there is only so much influence I have, but I'd like to make a helpful suggestion if I can.

FWIW: IIRC, he wants a new console and was thinking of getting the one bundled with GTA5 since the pricing was favorable (when compared to buying them separately) and he said that he enjoyed playing multi player GTA4 on PC with his friends. When I asked if he enjoyed single player GTA4, he said that he didn't care for it, but he had fun playing the multi player.

 

[purbeast0]

if there are ps3 games he wants to play i don't see why buying him a ps3 would be a bad idea.

 

[JeffMD]

PS3 prices wont drop really... we see the 20gb flash based PS3 was just released at the $199 point which is a huge deal for sony, although when you consider big games like gta5 that need lots of storage space, 20gb is pretty cramped.

The thing is ps3 has lots of games out now, will have some new games in the future, and old games can be had on the cheap used. PS4 MIGHT have a game or 2 he is interested in, but it will cost twice as much and he will be waiting to build any kind of library.

 

[Arkaign]

PS3s will be available for less than $100 on CL the day of PS4 release.

Supply / Demand

When the supply drastically increases on a used item, the prices tumble. Right now there is still demand for PS3s, and relatively low supply of used ones, so people ask a lot.

That's going to change soon.

They're already commonly at $150-$175 for good ones like this :

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/vgm/4072850884.html

Come December those will be $75-90 commonly.

Imho it would be crazy to buy a new PS3 at the moment. But that's just me.

Already a handful at $100 or less if you scour :

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ele/4063327468.html

 

[Bman123]

I think it's worth buying a ps3. I got mine when the last of us came out but I got mine used at a pawn shop for $80. There are plenty of games still
Madden 25, nba 2k14, battlefield 4, cod ghosts, gta 5, assassins creed black flag, watch dogs, the last of us.

 

[JeffMD]

Arkaign, can't really say if you are wrong or right. Since PS3 games dont play on PS4, many people may hang on to them. On the other hand in todays economy, there are probably many who just have to have the ps4 and need the money from selling their ps3. Only thing I don't like about used consoles is its hard to tell how abused they have been, and you get no warranty.

Also and this is just speculation, but PSN+ owners who will be PSN+ because of the ps4 may find PS3 downloads heavily discounted, kind of like how steam sells older triple A games for less than $5. This would also be a good reason NOT to get that silly 20 gig version.

 

[Arkaign]

Hehehe We'll know soon enough won't we

I'm just going by past experience with every console gen since ever. There were people who kept their Xbox's when 360 came out, kept their NES when SNES came out, etc, but by and large, enough people dump them to crash the used value of the previous-gen stuff. I've never seen an exception.

About the only true oddity I've seen is PS2 fat values. I have never seen a rational explanation as to why people can sell BROKEN PS2 fats for $40-50 on Ebay. It defies any reasoning I can conceive of. I bought a PS2 fat after PS3 launch with a giant duffel of games, and it was all $25. There were nearly 200 games in there.

As for warranty, that's true. PS3 slims and 360 slims seem to be really reliable overall, though nothing is guaranteed. I do know though, that if what I expect happens : common bundles of 5-10 games + PS3 for $75-$100ish, then it's still a smart move vs. paying $200 for a new one with no games and a tiny drive.

 

[Arkaign]

And for the lulz : http://www.ebay.com/itm/PS2-Black-s...0994436763?pt=Video_Games&hash=item1e7fe07a9b

What the hell? There are literally thousands and thousands of those that get sold on a continual basis. Actual working PS2s don't sell for any more than that. It's like people are melting them down to get precious metals out or something.

 

[JeffMD]

Ark, because they stopped making them last year. PS2's were still sold in third world countries and maybe japan still until 2012 when all production stopped.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jan/04/playstation-2-manufacture-ends-years

 

[Arkaign]

That doesn't add up though. There are plenty of working PS2s out there to buy at the same price or even less. Why buy a broken one for $45?

If you want one that works, why not this one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-PlaySt...1287019396?pt=Video_Games&hash=item3385bbf384

Tons of them out there. It's like being broken makes them worth MORE. Crazy land.

 

[DaveSimmons]

A PS3 is a better deal than a PS4 in many ways. Instead a of just a few $60 launch titles, there are stacks and stacks of good games for $10 and up, including the HD ports of some classic PS2 games, and also many PS1 - PS2 games as downloads from the Playstation store.

For the $460 price of a PS4 with 1 game you can get a PS3 and 10-15 good games.

He feels that everyone knows that PS3's are at the end of their product cycle and they won't drop much lower than they are at right now.

The only reason to wait is to see if there are some good Thanksgiving or Xmas deals. There were still holiday deals on the PS2 after the PS3 came out,

One reason not to wait is to make sure you can get a hard drive PS3 instead of one with just the tiny flash drive.

 

[JeffMD]

it looks like its pretty easy to stick any sata laptop drive in the ps3. so you can upgrade the flash based one if you want.

 

[exdeath]

Some of the best games this entire generation are PS3 exclusives that have either just come out this year or have yet to be released.

 

[Jules]

Go for it. Id get the GTA5 PS3 bundle. its a good deal.

 

[Doppel]

If you want used, ps3s are already very cheap and will drop further when ps4 comes out. I predict the retail price of new will drop a little, but nothing too major.

I get his point about exclusives but if you are offering a PS4 vs a PS3, that's a huge price diff and I am sad he wouldn't take advantage of it, even if there is damn near nothing to play on a new ps4

 

[Anteaus]

Buy him the PS3. It's his 18th birthday. You get away with buying the cheaper system and he's on the hook to buy his own PS4 whenever he's ready to move up.

 

[gorcorps]

They're pretty cheap as it is, but I also think they'll see a drop. The thing is I don't think it'll be right at PS4 release so you're asking him to wait for something we don't even know is coming. PS3 just had some good games come out so it's not a bad time to get one.

 

[bearxor]

I want a PS3 to play a lot of the exclusive games.

But I'm counting on just about everything i want to play to come out on the PS4 streaming play service.

Maybe not at launch, but within the first year or so. I hope Last of Us makes it on pretty quick.

 

[smackababy]

I want a PS3 to play a lot of the exclusive games.

But I'm counting on just about everything i want to play to come out on the PS4 streaming play service.

Maybe not at launch, but within the first year or so. I hope Last of Us makes it on pretty quick.

If streaming on the PS3 is any indication, you're going to wait longer than a year. >_>

 

[bearxor]

I'm hoping since the PS4 doesn't have any backwards compatibility and the the PS4 being designed for the feature from the get go, that the functionality will be pretty much in place and I'll just be waiting on releases. The only thing I'm really itching to play is Last of Us. But it's not worth me spending $300 on a console for.

 

[JeffMD]

The internet has lag, sometimes lots of it. I don't think your going to find streaming game services to be satisfactory. Its a great way to test out games but I could never stand through playing the whole thing on it.

 

[smackababy]

The internet has lag, sometimes lots of it. I don't think your going to find streaming game services to be satisfactory. Its a great way to test out games but I could never stand through playing the whole thing on it.

That was one of the problems OnLive faced. They had to lower the quality significantly in order to stream is half way decent. They never quite got it right though.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Yeah unlike the PS3 at launch, the PS4 won't be backwards compatible with the PS3. The PS3 has a massive library of good games, so in this case if he hasn't owned a PS3 (or Xbox 360) before and wants to play a bunch of those games, a PS3 @ $199 isn't such a bad idea after all.

 

[defy]

Yeah unlike the PS3 at launch, the PS4 won't be backwards compatible with the PS3. The PS3 has a massive library of good games, so in this case if he hasn't owned a PS3 (or Xbox 360) before and wants to play a bunch of those games, a PS3 @ $199 isn't such a bad idea after all.

I didn't realize there was no BC for PS3 games, that's disappointing. Was hoping to sell off my 60gb fatty PS3 in preparation for the PS4

 

[Dumac]

I'd bet on some good PS3 sales come Black Friday/Cyber Monday. PS4 will be out by then.

It'd be advisable to wait IMO, but it wouldn't be a huge deal to just buy it now. The GTAV bundle isn't that expensive.

Getting a PS3 is totally worth it either way. It has a great library and the PS3 won't be able to access it.