I haven't been AAA gaming since the year 2016, which has been a decade now. Back then, I did most of my gaming on the Nintendo Wii U and the PlayStation 4. I still played my PSP from time to time, and I had a lot of emulation going on my PC. I didn't like mobile gaming back then, and I still don't. The only game that I played consistently throughout that time has been Splinterlands so I must have missed a bunch of stuff right?
Why PlayStation?
There’s no doubt about it. The best gaming platform in this generation is the PlayStation 5, and I have zero regrets buying mine so far. Microsoft is a putrid and disgusting company so I won’t even waste time talking about them any further, so anything Xbox was definitely not an option.
I know, I know, I know..."PC gaming is where it’s at!", But I don’t have lots of money, so for someone who’s not rich... PlayStation is the best way to go. But what about Nintendo? Well, I’ve always been a Nintendo fanboy, but the only game I saw that I truly wanted on the Nintendo Switch 2 was Mario Kart World, and it didn’t seem right to spend $500 on a new Nintendo when I can pick up a PlayStation for under $300.
I've had every generation of the PlayStation and even the PSP so not only am I most used to its controller, it is the best one in my opinion too. I just like the way it feels and I see my friends with Xboxes messing around with double a batteries which is something that I'm not interested in doing.
Another wonderful thing about the PlayStation controller is it can connect to four Bluetooth devices. I assigned the X button to my phone, the circle to my computer, the square to my tablet, and the triangle to the PlayStation. I think it was a hassle before as you could only connect one thing at a time and needed a cable to do it, but Sony has made it super easy with its latest update.
Spider-Man
The PlayStation Slim digital version I purchased came with a free copy of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, so of course I had to play it. I didn’t realize until later on that they’ve been trying to make this same game over and over for years (just like Madden), so that’s why it’s so smooth and flows so well between cutscenes and gameplay and is just a blast to play.
As a lifetime gamer, this was one of the highlights of my gaming life, and I’m happy that the PlayStation made it so easy to share on YouTube. All you have to do is push a button, and the last gameplay (up to 30 minutes) can be saved.
DOOM
Isn’t it crazy that with a PlayStation Premium subscription I can play literally thousands of games, but I spend a ridiculous amount of time playing old-school DOOM?
One of the best things about playing on the PlayStation is using the DualSense motion sensor. You can turn left and right when you shoot just by moving the controller. It really helps you avoid getting shot or eaten by monsters in the hell realm of DOOM.
PSP
Before everyone became antisocial and had their heads down in their phones, I was one of the dorks on my PSP getting accused of that. Wasn't the PSP awesome? It was basically a PlayStation 2 in the palm of your hand, and one of the best games they made was Ridge Racer 2. I don’t know how Sony upscales the gameplay to 4K and 60 frames per second while keeping the game true to its original form, but it plays like a dream.
Kratos
This new God of War game looks great, but come on, man...I’ve been playing God of War games since the PSP days. Everything looks great, but fundamentally it’s still the same game it was 20 years ago, so I don’t feel like I’ve missed anything here.
Ghost Recon
I don’t know what you call these games. First-person shooter-army-CIA-wannabe games? They were never interesting to me. This game might have been fun, but it felt too PlayStation 4ish for me so I never came back to it.
Well, thanks for reading about my 10-year gap in AAA gaming. It’s time to get back to my PlayStation 5, which feels like a glorified PlayStation 4 or what the PlayStation 4 should have been. But really? What did I miss in those 10 years? I didn’t notice any new gaming genres. I seem to be playing the same games I was before.