Why the Playstation 5 is the Best Playstation Yet

 

The Playstation 2 will always be my favorite version of the Playstation, as it is deeply rooted in personal nostalgia. After waiting over a year to get my hands on a Playstation 5, and after owning one for only a few months, I am ready to proclaim that this is the best version of the Playstation to date. It has nothing to do with the graphics or performance of the games. Advancements in these categories are expected with each new version of a console. In the past, huge jumps in graphics and gameplay came with each console upgrade. I'm thinking about the differences between the SNES and Nintendo 64, or the Playstation 1 and Playstation 2, for instance. Newer consoles have less advancement in graphics and gameplay compared to the previous version, though I will say the Playstation 5's ability to feature background and lighting details clearly outshine the PS 4. Most of what I think makes the Playstation 5 so great isn't even new or unique to the PS5. But the sum of these features is higher than the expected outcome when put together. Let me explain, and the below topics are in no particular order.

• Backwards compatibility. I have always found this to be a much discussed console feature that was completely overrated. Why would I want to play games that were SNES quality when I can now play games in 3D on my 64? As I said above, graphics and gameplay change less and less with each new console version. This means that games from the PS4 era still have meaning, even on the PS5. Case in point. I was in the middle of my career mode on F1 2020 when I got my PS5. I didn't want to quit, but I also didn't want to delay playing the PS5. I was able to load the game onto the PS5 and continue playing without missing a beat. This backwards compatibility also means the PS5 has a huge gaming library out of the box. Additionally, some games from the PS4 era have been remade for the PS5. When I put the disc for Jedi: Fallen Order into my PS5, it asked if I wanted to upgrade to the PS5 version of the game for free. That is pretty awesome.
• Digital downloads. This is a feature on both the PS4 and Switch, but I admittedly was a late adopter to digital games. Up until 2020 I still bought the discs. What makes digital games so great is that you can jump between games very quickly without having to get up and swap discs. The PS5 is powerful enough that most games have no or minimal load times. I frequently pop into Gran Turismo 7 after playing another game just to check my wishlist to see what car is next for my time trials. It would be much more cumbersome with discs and load times. Of course, to do this you need a big hard drive. The PS5 comes with a decent sized drive, but I was able to add an internal 2 TB SSD to allow for more games to be stored on the system.
• Playstation Plus isn't new, but it is newly released. I've already posted on my thoughts on the new Playstation Plus, but in summary, I like it a lot. It gives you access to 100s of games. Of course, I will download and play games that I am really interested in. But bigger than that, it allows for game experimentation. For instance, I am currently playing Horizon Zero Dawn, a game that I have heard of and knew it got good ratings, but likely would have never played it otherwise. Since it comes with Playstation Plus, however, there is no risk at all to download the game and try it out. This opens an entire realm of possibilities, as the system seems to overflow with gaming options. I don't know how to adequately explain this in words, but when I turn the system on I literally get the sense that I am entering the world of Playstation, where one minute I am racing cars, the next I am swinging on buildings through New York City as Spider-Man, and the next I am hunting machines in the fantastic open-world environment that is Horizon. It is fantastic how quickly you can jump from game to game.
• Playing games with surround sound is awesome. I recently became interested in surround sound when I started watching all of these Marvel movies. Previously I wasn't as interested because I don't think it adds much to the experience with TV. I never thought about using it for video games. Now that I use it for the PS5, however, it adds a lot to the experience. Cars in your blind spot on Gran Turismo are heard in the appropriate speaker. Crowd conversation in games can be heard behind you and off to the side based on their location. I will have a dedicated post on Horizon Zero Dawn, but the sound in that game is downright eerie, and it adds a lot to the experience. I never used surround for the PS4, so it could be a similar experience, but on the PS5, it definitely adds to the Playstation experience I was describing above.

The Chosen 12

 

In this book, a group of 20 or so "kids" are stranded on a post-apocalyptic planet, competing for a chance to escape to a new planet and allow the human race to survive. I say kids in quotes, because they are actually adults in terms of age, but are stuck in a kids body due to a serum that keeps them young. The book doesn't give any details about how they got into this situation, but they live in the ruins of a former base with machines/robots of various types. Apparently this group of people are the only known humans to survive the unexplained event, and thus the human race surviving relies on them getting to this new planet. The kicker is that the ship taking the kids to the new planet only holds 12 people. Oh, and the robots are in charge.

The group practices their strategy for survival on the new planet by running simulations programed by the lead robot. The simulations also serve as a type of tryout, with presumably the top 12 performing students being the ones chosen to land on the new planet. Naturally, this creates a division within the group of people, as some believe the robots are misleading them and want to break free from their control, while others want to stick with the robots. Additionally, the competition makes some of the participants enemies. This creates an interesting and complex sociologic situation. 

Overall the book is enjoyable and is an easy read. My only complaint is that there isn't much character development, leaving the reader somewhat disconnected to the consequences of the difficult choices they have to make. Otherwise, it is a fun read and leaves you guessing up to the final chapters.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales

 

When I first heard of this game I had no idea who Miles Morales was. I have since seen Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and am now familiar with the alternate Spider-Man character. This game had been on my radar as it was applauded for showcasing the PS5's visual abilities (ray tracing, high 4K frame rate, etc.). After learning about the Miles Morales character and watching the MCU Spider-Man movies, I was motivated even more to play the game.

I have nothing but good things to say about this game. All aspects of the game are excellent. Visually, snowy New York in the winter looks amazing, and it is super fun to fly through the city like Spider-Man can. My only small complaint is that you seem to skip over a lot of the city when traveling by web, but I suppose that is what the side quests are for. 

The game sounds amazing too. I set up my surround sound for movies, but the PS5 really takes advantage of it as well. The subwoofer booms with explosions, and you can hear enemies from all directions based on their location relative to yours. It actually helps you find enemies at times. 

Despite the difficulty of quickly traveling through a complex city by web, the controls are spot-on, only rarely getting clunky as you unexpectedly slam into a building. For the most part, they just work, and make movements seem quite natural. Some of the combat sequences can be complex, but luckily the game flashes the button combo on screen when things like your Venom punch are ready to deploy. I rely on that a lot, and it makes me feel old.

The story is vintage Spider-Man, with villains and main characters being people who are close to Miles. Rhino is in the game, but otherwise the main antagonist The Tinkerer is new to me. Roxxon and Osbourne corporations are in the game, and there is even a Norman Osbourne appearance in the credits, so I'm hoping for an appearance by him in a subsequent game. The gameplay is a mix of combat, puzzle-solving, platforming, and story progression side quests. This mix makes gameplay move along at a fast pace and not feel stale, although at times the combat can feel repetitive when numerous Underground thugs are attacking you. On a side note, the Iron Man-like Spider suit is awesome. I especially like how podcasts from The Bugle and J. Jonah Jameson are utilized.

This game is excellent and is worth the play, even if you're not a Spider-Man fan (who isn't?). The visuals, sound, and story telling in the game are excellent, especially in the final scene against The Tinkerer. This game has one of my favorite endings in recent memory. It makes me excited to play the earlier released Spider-Man game, which is in my queue.

Daredevil: Season 2

 

Season 2 of Daredevil improved on Season 1 in numerous ways. Instead of having one main antagonist in Wilson Fisk, this season starts with the Punisher as the main antagonist and transitions to the ancient ninja group the Hand as Elektra shows up in Matt's life again. In season 1 there was a general sense of what was going to happen to Fisk - he was going to be imprisoned, killed, etc. In season 2, there was the same sense with the Punisher. He is an ex-military vigilante who goes on a mass killing spree to get revenge for the murder of his family. The audience pretty much knows this is going to end poorly for the Punisher. However, this time there is a bit of a curveball thrown in that the Punisher meets Fisk in prison, who orchestrates his escape. There may be more to come on that relationship in season 3, who knows? All of this occurred in the first 4-5 episodes, then out of nowhere Matt's former girlfriend Elektra shows up. I had no idea her character was going to be in this season, and I am glad she was, because she is a major character in the Marvel universe and I was hoping I wasn't going to have to watch the movie to learn about her.

Daredevil was trained by the blind sensei Stick, which was revealed in season 1. It is revealed in season 2 that Elektra was also trained by Stick, who is creating an army to fight the ancient and mystical ninja group the Hand. The Hand thinks Elektra is a powerful Black Sky and wants her to join their group. This shifts the focus from the Punisher to Elektra and the new antagonist the Hand and Nobu. Both the Punisher and Elektra are strong anti-heroes, and learning about them was the best part of season 2 for me. This is especially true for Elektra, who has a complicated relationship with Daredevil given their mutual relationship with Stick and the fact that she is willing to kill whereas Daredevil is not. The Punisher has the same philosophy as Elektra in terms of killing, and there are scenes where Daredevil questions his methods and seems almost depressed by his lack of ability to stop violence in Hell's Kitchen.

I've already discussed how dark and violent this show is, and season 2 continues that trend. I don't want to spend any more time discussing this, beyond saying this: On the one hand, the martial arts fighting choreography is really cool in this show. On the other hand, there were several fighting scenes where I felt like pressing the fast forward button, and a couple of times I actually did so. I can only watch Daredevil and Elektra fight the Hand ninjas so many times before I get bored.

Foggy and Karen remain great supporting cast members, although I sometimes struggle to understand Karen's motivation to put herself continuously in dangerous situations. Despite this struggle, I find myself caring for their characters which means they are doing a good job. Foggy seems to be the only person on this show who has any common sense. The scenes with Karen and her new boss at the newspaper, though short, are always good and entertaining. As the season ends, Elektra is killed and her body is retrieved by the Hand. I hope she survives to be included in future Marvel content.

Indycar on Peacock

 

When NBC shut down NBC Sports at the end of 2021, they shifted qualifying for IndyCar races on to Peacock, requiring a paid subscription. I typically watched qualifying and so was a bit bummed by this decision. I decided not to get the $5 subscription initially. This decision was less about the money and more about the principal of having to pay for something that used to come with my YouTube TV subscription.  I thought I might pick it up for the month of May, as there is a lot of Indy 500 content that is broadcast on the channel, but I didn't. Turns out I was too busy to watch it anyway. The season prior to the 500 is pretty sparse, commonly going 2-3 weeks in between races. Once the 500 hits, however, the rest of the season throughout the summer is pretty busy with weekly races. All of the races except one are on NBC or USA, which I get through YouTube TV. The race in Toronto, however, was exclusively on Peacock. That weekend I didn't have much going on, so I decided to go ahead and subscribe to the service to see what it was like. I must say that I enjoyed the experience more than I expected.

One of my buddies who went through this experience last year complained a lot about the app. He said you couldn't pause/rewind live TV, it took a long time for recordings to reappear on the app, etc. I think they've improved their app since last year. You can pause and rewind live TV, recordings appear on the app as soon (or shortly after) they finish live. The headlines do not contain spoilers. It is overall a nice presentation and app experience. One of the fears of removing content from a more traditional provider is that you loose DVR functionality, and I'll say that for the most part this app does a good job of replacing what you would get on a DVR. My only small complaint is that if you watch the race on Peacock, you don't get side-by-side coverage for commercials like you do on NBC. This is at least true for the $5 tier, I'm not sure if this is true for the $10 tier. Overall, the app experience is nice.

There is no question that racing is a niche sport. The obvious negative to this whole setup is that you have to pay $5 a month. There are positives, however, and if you are a big fan (which let's be honest, if you're looking into getting this for racing, you're a big fan), I think the positives easily outweigh the $5 per month fee. In addition to qualifying, you also get the practice sessions and Indy Lights content, none of which was previously available on NBC Sports. Keep in mind, too, that Peacock isn't a racing app. In addition to the racing content, you get other sports content, including English Premiere League soccer, as well as a lot of NBC content as well.

Despite the annoyance of having to pay for what was previously "free" on my main TV service, I think the amount of content and delivery through the Peacock app is worth the price of admission. We were reluctant to cut the cord from our satellite initially because of fear of losing live sports content. YouTube TV has been an excellent substitute for cable/satellite TV. However, at this point in time I feel as if we are very close to being able to eliminate the traditional cable service. Most of the sports we watch we can access through individual apps, and most shows we watch are the same way. More to come on this topic, but I wouldn't be surprised if at some point in the future we migrate to a more individual app experience. 

New Sound System - Part 5: New Sound Bar

When we moved into our house in 2013, I wanted an option to listen to music and enhance sound from the television. I also wanted to keep the setup simple, which meant no large speakers and receiver. Our living room is somewhat small, and doesn't have a lot of extra room for large speakers. I ended up buying a Sony sound bar. At the time, the sound bar I purchased was advertised as one of the better entry level sound bars with a price of $350. For the first several years the sound bar was mostly used to stream music from the adjacent Alexa device. However, in the past few years when I started watching more movies and streaming shows, I would use it for television and movie sound. The majority of the time when watching TV it sat unused, blocking the remote censor and requiring awkward arm angulation to adjust the volume. Additionally, the Sony did not have HDMI connections, meaning I was limited by lack of HDMI linking and what type of audio I could send to the sound bar from the TV. Because of these reasons, I decided to upgrade to a newer sound bar. It wasn't that the sound from the Sony bar was bad. It was more that it was limited in its daily functionality due to its lack of modern connections. My new sound bar fixed these concerns, kind of.

I didn't do a ton of research on what sound bar I wanted. I knew I wanted to spend around $500, so that was my starting point. It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Klipsch, and my brother has a Klipsch sound bar that he likes quite a bit, so the Klipsch Cinema 600 became the top candidate. I looked at some other sound bars in the price range on Crutchfield, but nothing really jumped out at me, and the Cinema 600 had decent ratings, so I went ahead and got it when it went on sale on Prime Days for $400 (usually $550). The only thing I considered doing was getting a bar with Atmos. The Cinema 800 has Atmos, and there was a JBL bar that got good ratings with Atmos too. Both cost around $1,000, however, and neither was on sale. These bars don't go on sale often, so I decided to skip Atmos and get the 600 on sale. We mostly watch sports (and QVC) and stream music from Alexa on this bar, so I think I'm fine skipping Atmos. I'll reserve it for the basement theater.

I was able to get the sound bar to integrate with my TV so that when the TV turns on, the bar does as well, and the remote controls sound through the bar. This allows for improved sound on a daily basis while getting rid of the arm angulation previously required to adjust volume. The TV I am using in this setup is from 2008, and I learned that while it supports HDMI linking (to allow the bar to turn on when the TV turns on), it does not support HDMI ARC. This means I don't get any sound from the TV using HDMI. I have to use HDMI linking to get the bar to turn on, but audio comes from an optical audio cable. Probably a good thing I didn't get the Atmos bar, as I would need HDMI to support that format. My TV needs to be upgraded in this equation to get everything to work seamlessly, but otherwise it works fine and the picture still looks good, so I'm having a harder time justifying that upgrade at the moment. At some point that will be needed as the technology leaves it behind.

As for the sound quality, it is good as expected from Klipsch. The volume levels are kind of weird. It seems to go from 0 to 4-5 on TV, making it difficult to listen to shows on quiet levels. It is easier to hear dialogue which is nice. Streaming from bluetooth has the opposite problem. You have to have the bar turned up halfway to get good volume levels. Neither is a big deal, just kind of strange. I will say that for as much as I like Klipsch speakers, I have had some interesting interactions with their products that involve electronics. My biggest complaint with this bar is that the sub seems to be overactive for certain programs, specifically live broadcasts. I don't know if it is wind on the mic or background crowd noises, but it commonly lightly thumps in the background. It's as if the crossover frequency needs to be lowered. Sadly I don't think this can be done. I have kind of gotten used to it, and you can turn the sub off if it becomes too annoying, but I find it odd that it does this and was surprised when I didn't see anyone in the comments mentioning this.

Overall I think this sound bar upgrade was a success, though not a home run. It allowed for easy integration of the bar for daily use, as well as volume adjustment without throwing out your rotator cuff. I wish the sub was a little less frantic, but otherwise it sounds good and is definitely an upgrade from TV speakers. 

Grand Theft Auto V Online

 

When I finally got a PS5, one of the goals was to do some online gaming. Generally I prefer single player games, but my buddies now have a console for the first time since the PS3 era, and there was lots of talk about playing racing games together online. They've had their console for a little over a year, and I've had mine for a few months. Thus far there has been no online racing. We have played together online several times, however, and from an unlikely source: Grand Theft Auto V.

I say an unlikely source because GTA V is a PS3-era game from 2013, and the online version was released shortly afterwards. I actually posted about the game way back in 2015. The Playstation store was offering the online version of the game as a free download (I think it is normally $20) so it was a no-brainer to pick it up to revisit Los Santos once again. Despite not playing the game since 2015, I had loosely followed it on social media and knew that it remained popular and received consistent updates. As someone who is essentially new to the game, I must say it was a bit overwhelming when I started playing it again. There is a lot going on, and a lot of opportunities. 

Not surprisingly, coordinating the schedules of 5 guys in their mid-to-upper 30s with families to be able to play online together is quite a challenge. Typically only 2-3 of the 5 of us are ever on at the same time to play together. With that being the case, I have tried to play the game by myself to build up my character but with minimal success. Rockstar was generous to give new PS5 players of the game $4 million to start a career and not have to start from scratch. While this is helpful, I have still struggled to find a way to consistently make money. My nightclub was a bust. I had enough money left over to buy a "clubhouse", which is basically an abandoned gas station in the middle of nowhere. From there you can start a motorcycle club and subsequently run illegal businesses like weed farms or money laundering services. Should be great sources of money. The trouble is, you have to have additional money to purchase the businesses first, which I don't have. And after watching a few YouTube videos about the process, there is quite a lot of grinding and time commitment that must occur after starting your business before you start to make money and recover from your initial investment. I'm not sure that I'm interested enough to go through the process, and even if I was, I haven't really found a good way to consistently make money to purchase the business in the first place. Most of the smaller missions available to make a little money either require 2-3 people, or are pretty difficult unless you have 2-3 people on your team. Completing the mission alone is pretty tough, which gets back to the scheduling issue discussed above.

Despite this aspect of the game, it is an absolute riot when playing together with your friends. The environment remains fun as ever, and it is a game where you can be serious and accomplish some missions and get some cash, or have a few beers and screw around at the casino or just driving around listening to the radio. I've pretty much given up on trying to accomplish much with this game on my own. I have too many other games I want to play to dedicate a ton of time investing millions into business opportunities. With that being said, I still hop online once a week or so when my friends are available. It's tons of fun. I just didn't think my first reason to get Playstation Plus on the PS5 would be to play a nearly decade-old game.