Feature: PS5's Not Perfect, But Here Are 5 Ways It's More Consumer Friendly Than Switch 2 1
Image: Push Square

The phrase “consumer friendly” gets tossed around a lot and is rarely ever true. All companies want to extract money from your wallet at the end of the day.

But there are scales to this sort of stuff, and some organisations tend to be fairer than others.

PlayStation is often criticised as being the most anti-consumer gaming company of all; this is a sentiment that dates all the way back to the PS3 era, when the console’s $599 price instantly became a meme.

Before we dig deeper into this article, we’d like to underline that Sony still makes a lot of questionable decisions, and there are no shortage of things to criticise.

However, as the Internet explodes over the Switch 2’s high software prices, we figured it was worth rounding up some of the ways the PS5 is a touch more tolerable than its newest rival right now.

For Starters, Party Chat Is Free

Feature: PS5's Not Perfect, But Here Are 5 Ways It's More Consumer Friendly Than Switch 2 2

When the Internet started speculating about the Switch 2’s mysterious C button, many wondered what kind of functionality it would offer.

It turns out, it’s just party chart.

Here’s the kicker, though: in order to take full advantage of the C button, you’ll need an active Nintendo Switch Online membership. There will be a free trial available for first-time purchasers, but beyond that, you’ll have to cough up.

To be fair, Sony does lock some of its community features behind PS Plus: the oft-overlooked Share Play, for example, which lets your friend take control of your console and play “local” multiplayer games over the Internet is a paid feature.

But the core, basic social functionality of party chat – it’s free on the PS5, and has been for over a generation now.

Honestly, Upgrades Seem Fairer

Sony has attracted enormous criticism from all corners of the Internet for its emphasis on remasters, but its approach – while not perfect – is much fairer than what Nintendo’s announced thus far.

Ever since launch, backwards compatibility has ensured many games play better on the PS5 than on the PS4. Some, like Days Gone and Horizon Zero Dawn, got free updates unlocking their frame rates and boosting their resolutions.

This is similar to what Nintendo’s offering with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, although it’s bundling in some superfluous mobile app features and charging $10 for the privilege. To be fair, in the case of the Zelda games specifically, an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription will get you the upgrades for free.

But when Sony’s charged $10 for upgrades, it’s offered full-blown remasters. We still haven’t seen enough of Days Gone Remastered to know if it’ll be worth the upgrade, but past attempts like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered and The Last of Us 2 Remastered have delivered seriously impressive overhauls. The former in particular completely transforms the presentation with more than just a mere resolution bump.

It should also be added that many of these $10 upgrades on Sony’s side include new content, like the roguelike mode in The Last of Us 2 Remastered. Comparably, Nintendo will charge you $20 for the new content in Super Mario Party Jamboree and Kirby and the Forgotten Land.

PlayStation’s not completely perfect, of course. The Last of Us: Part 1 and Until Dawn, both full-blown remakes, were flogged without any upgrade option. While the platform holder would justify that by saying it completely rebuilt these games, for the purposes of fairness, we figured it was worth pointing out.

Full Games Tend to Be Included on Discs

Feature: PS5's Not Perfect, But Here Are 5 Ways It's More Consumer Friendly Than Switch 2 3
Image: Push Square

Let’s get the obvious caveat out of the way: almost all games in this era have day one patches. We don’t love it, but due to the lag between a game going gold and landing in your hands, developers will often spend additional time refining their games while they’re being manufactured. That means you will often have to download patches for your latest physical games.

However, it’s extremely rare for a game to ship on the PS5 and not be playable out of the box. Are there examples where it’s happened? Yes, but it’s not common in the slightest.

Nintendo is introducing a new model with the Switch 2 named Game Key Cards, which allows developers to offer a physical product, but it’s one you’ll need to download.

While it does still allow for resale and trading, you simply won’t be able to play your game if you haven’t connected to the Internet and downloaded it first.

This raises all kinds of preservation issues: what will happen to your software in the future if Nintendo ever shuts down its servers? What if it ceases supporting the Switch 2 eShop like it already has with the Wii U and 3DS stores?

It’s not something you should be worrying about as an early adopter, we suppose, but in the case of physical PS5 games, at least you know your disc will pretty much always be available to install in some capacity.

First-Party Software Is Cheaper (For Now)

Feature: PS5's Not Perfect, But Here Are 5 Ways It's More Consumer Friendly Than Switch 2 4

$69.99 is a lot of money for a first-party PS5 game, but it’s cheaper than the new standard Nintendo’s trying to introduce. Mario Kart World costs $79.99 new, and in Europe, you’re looking at €89.99 (~$99) for a physical edition, which is frankly absurd.

To be fair, it seems like Nintendo’s adopting flexible pricing, and the new Donkey Kong Bananza game will match Sony’s first-party offerings at $69.99. But if you’re not upgrading the likes of Super Mario Party Jamboree and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, you’ll once again be spending $79.99 for the Switch 2 Editions outright.

It’s also worth mentioning that Sony tends to discount faster and deeper than its Japanese rival.

While its sales have certainly gotten less compelling over time, Tears of the Kingdom has never gone lower than $49.99 on the Nintendo eShop – and that was just once. A comparable exclusive, like, say, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has reached lows of $39.99 on the PS Store on at least three occasions now.

In defence of Nintendo’s approach, its reluctance to reduce prices does keep resale values higher, which some may appreciate.

And to be fair, Sony’s no angel here. Most recently, it’s jumped on the trend of charging extra for early access. If you want Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, for instance, it’ll cost you $69.99 – but in order to play it as early as possible, you’ll need to cough up $79.99.

Yes, it’s better than Nintendo’s recent announcements, but we still must admit it’s all trending in the wrong direction.

Retro Games Can Be Purchased Outside of Subscription

Feature: PS5's Not Perfect, But Here Are 5 Ways It's More Consumer Friendly Than Switch 2 5
Image: Push Square

This is a minor one, but it does also matter: if you want to play The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker on the Switch 2, you’ll need to be subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online. But credit where credit’s due, if you want to play Ape Escape or Dino Crisis on the PS5, you can purchase a digital copy outright.

Some would argue Nintendo has a stronger back catalogue than Sony, with more desirable retro software than you can obtain through PS Plus Premium. It’s also cheaper to sign up to the Switch’s membership than PlayStation’s top tier (although Sony offers a lot more for the price).

But this doesn’t change the fact that the likes of Resident Evil: Director’s Cut, Sly Cooper, and Everybody’s Golf can all be purchased separately. Many of these games feature full Trophy lists, too, which makes revisiting them from a modern perspective much more compelling.

Sony’s far from perfect, and there’s plenty of poor moves it’s made over the course of the generation. We suspect commenters will be eager to point to the PS5 Pro’s $699 price point, and the frequent price increases the platform holder has implemented.

We’ll continue to hold the company accountable for its more questionable moves, make no mistake of that. But sometimes it’s worth acknowledging the good things, and to that end, PS5 does have some more agreeable elements that are worth celebrating in comparison to the Switch 2 at this moment in time.