Switch, PS4 or Oculus Quest

[peanutbutter]

Almost certainly gonna buy one of these in the next few weeks. I tend to prefer shorter games but I'd fucking love something with a social element I could actually engage with right now too.

The Quest is definitely the most appealing, but it's really entirely for Tetris Effect and Beat Saber. How much would it cost to build a PC that could handle most VR games (really just talking Rez and the Half Life one here tbh), I assume I could do that in a couple of months if the quest gets boring.
Is VR Chat fun? or Rec Room? or whatever other social stuff they have?


PS4 is probably the one I'm least excited about but also the one I'm most likely to spend quite a bit of time on, if only for FF7, the Last Guardian and Dreams. There's a few other games I'd like to try out but I know I wouldn't bother with too long (Death Stranding and Nier Automata immediately spring to mind). Not sure there's much value at all for me here on a social level, beyond messing with people's shit in Dreams. And maybe at this stage it just makes sense to wait and pay mad money for a PS5 that'll still be useful in 5 years.


Switch is somewhat spoiled by having a Wii U, I've already played the games I'd most want to play (BotW and MK8 specifically). However, I actually have a few friends with ones so there's the potential for a good social element, seems a bit too late to get onto the Animal Crossing bandwagon this time around though and nothing else seems to stand out unless I just buy everyone a copy of Burnout Paradise...
So outta games I haven't already played it's only really Golf Story and Ring Fit Adventure that seem especially appealing and I don't have much of an idea as to what's on the horizon

[buntyman]

Get a Switch. Especially if you like Tetris as Tetris 99 is the best game ever. There are quite a few decent multiplayer games for it (Rocket League, Fifa, Mario Kart, 51 Worldwide Games) although it does lack a serviceable means of voice chat - not something i'm interested in doing with strangers, personally. There loads of other great downloadable indie-type games in the eshop that are regularly on sale once you get through the 4 or 5 essential big budget Switch releases.

The Quest is brilliant but more of a novelty. I find it too uncomfortable to play for more than half an hour at a time although the games are all quite short so designed for short bursts. My PC isn't good enough to play the Half Life game and I think you'd probably need at least a 500 quid PC to do it justice.

PS4 is probably the best value option with a big library of cheap games but I can't be bothered with long story-based games with loads of text on screen and endless missions and side-missions.

[Mister Six]

I have a PS4 and a Switch. Having to pay a subscription to access online multiplayer and a lack of interest in longer games initially made me think the PS4 wasn't for you. But then I saw you weren't that hyped by the Switch's offerings, since you have a Wii U.

So I dunno, basically. Get a second-hand PS4 to tide you over while the PS5 comes out?

[Jerzy Bondov]

Get a football. Much healthier and will get you out of the house.

[Sin Agog]

PS4 has most of the same indie games as the Switch, except they don't succumb to the Switch Tax and go on sale more often.

[Consignia]

Yeah, if you're not after the Nintendo exclusives and you aren't using it as portable device, the PS4 would seem a better bet. The games will be a bit cheaper and usually run a bit better. I don't know what Xbox is like for indies, but it does have that very nice subscription service which gets you loads of games. Probably worth putting that into consideration.

Don't know about Oculus, I get motion sick whenever I use VR. I guess the really cool stuff is where you need a proper PC behind it, so the Rift and stuff like that. The Quest sounds impressive but does have limitations, and it may end up being left in a drawer after a few weeks of use. But again, I'm probably the worst person to have an opinion about VR :).

Disclosure: I'm Switch and PS4 owner, and pretty much only use the Switch. But you have to recognise each system has it's advantages.

[MikkiDisco]

Have PS4, Xbox and Switch and they all have their benefits.

PS4 have the best exclusives by a distance, while game pass on Xbox is a great service.

I play the Switch far more than both combined now though, but that's mainly because I'm a fan of indie games and it's worth paying the Switch tax to play them handheld. Be warned though that the joy con controllers are a fucking disaster.

[Chedney Honks]

It's hard to say because the games you say you're interested in on PS4 and Switch are so far from the best games on those systems. To get a Switch for Golf Story or Burnout Remastered is a complete waste of money. The latter costs £45 on Switch and runs like shit compared to the version you can get for a fiver on any other format.

I can hardly believe I'm saying this given that I'm not on a list but why not save up and invest in a properly good PC and VR set-up. That way, you'll be able to run your VR stuff and in much better quality, as well as HL Alyx, but also have access to the top tier versions of a number of the XB/PS4 'console exclusives' which are becoming available on PC, as well as the big third party stuff.

Death Stranding
Nier: Automata
Horizon Zero Dawn
Forza Horizon 4
Sea of Thieves

There are also rumours of Bloodborne coming to PC, as well as FFVII Remake.

You also have PC Game Pass which is very similar to the Xbox Game Pass service and you get all first party Xbox games day one through that, plus loads of other third party and indie stuff.

Beyond that, you have the best version of the biggest third party stuff like RDR2, Witcher 3, Battlefield, Destiny, whatever. There's comparatively very little you can't get on PC these days outside of first party Nintendo but if more interested in Golf Story and Burnout Remastered than the first party stuff, it's not worth buying a Switch. Golf Story is actually very very shit, for info.

[Cloud]

VRchat can be a lot of fun once you find a good conversation in one of the pub type places or such like, and it's definitely filled a social void for me.  Even go clubbing sometimes. But without a PC and the PC link mode thing, you'd be stuck with the Quest client and since like 90% of people use poly heavy PC avatars, most of the time you'd just be talking to grey robots.

Though depending whether you hate furries and anime style avatars, that might not necessarily be a bad thing.

[ImmaculateClump]

Haha, they'll all be on some sort of list.

Honks, you need to grab a cheapo second hand toaster for shmups and emulation. So many games on there that'd be right up your street.
You'll have to do it one day.

[Sheffield Wednesday]

Scary thing is that I actually am thinking about it now...It seems mad to get PS5 and XSX when I could spend all that on a PC. I've convinced myself, now just need to convince my wife that the massive box with rainbow lights is 'a spare hard drive' or something.

And sorry for the confusion, I'm signed in on different accounts on different devices, can't remember any of the passwords just whatever is saved in the browser.

[peanutbutter]

It's hard to say because the games you say you're interested in on PS4 and Switch are so far from the best games on those systems. To get a Switch for Golf Story or Burnout Remastered is a complete waste of money. The latter costs £45 on Switch and runs like shit compared to the version you can get for a fiver on any other format.

I can hardly believe I'm saying this given that I'm not on a list but why not save up and invest in a properly good PC and VR set-up. That way, you'll be able to run your VR stuff and in much better quality, as well as HL Alyx, but also have access to the top tier versions of a number of the XB/PS4 'console exclusives' which are becoming available on PC, as well as the big third party stuff.

Death Stranding
Nier: Automata
Horizon Zero Dawn
Forza Horizon 4
Sea of Thieves

There are also rumours of Bloodborne coming to PC, as well as FFVII Remake.

You also have PC Game Pass which is very similar to the Xbox Game Pass service and you get all first party Xbox games day one through that, plus loads of other third party and indie stuff.

Beyond that, you have the best version of the biggest third party stuff like RDR2, Witcher 3, Battlefield, Destiny, whatever. There's comparatively very little you can't get on PC these days outside of first party Nintendo but if more interested in Golf Story and Burnout Remastered than the first party stuff, it's not worth buying a Switch. Golf Story is actually very very shit, for info.

See, here's the thing


There's very little on the Switch I care for right now, but I'll check out new releases a bit more, and I'll get 2-3 years of owning a console during its active life for the first time since I was about 15. Just at the moment those three (did I omit Ring Fit?) are the only things I know I'll wind up buying. Prolly should've gotten one back in march for animal crossing but my income was cut 40% after tax so I couldn't justify it, now seems too late for it.


Re: the Quest. I _will_ be building a PC in the next year or two, it's very likely just because my projects outside of work are increasingly in need of some serious GPU power that I'm always lacking. With that in mind part of the appeal of the Quest is how it'd add value to the PC for me via the link deal. As itself I feel like even if it's a dud I can see it's portability meaning it'd have some novel value with friends and stuff too.
That info RE VR Chat is really good to know too, thanks!


PS4 seems a bad idea right now, yeah, either blow a bit more on a PS5 to get a full console lifecycle of new releases and social engagement or just build a PC a bit sooner.



Would a £1000 PC be able to play high requirement new games 5-7 years from now?

[Chedney Honks]

Even as a massive fan of the Switch, and I have probably five hundred games for it, it's definitely now in decline. The big online games do still have a pretty healthy player base, Splatoon, Smash, Mario Kart, even ARMS, but they're not actually truly social because of the restrictive infrastructure. More of an issue is that they don't seem to have much in the pipeline.

This year has been seriously affected by Covid, of course, and they've tended to announce games closer and closer to release but so little has been announced and relatively little is expected. There's a new Paper Mario this month.  That's it for this year, as far as we know. There will be another big Zelda based on the BotW engine, nobody knows when. Bayonetta 3 is in production. Metroid Prime 4 is in production but years away.

It's a brilliant system and a perfect way to catch up on ports of stuff you missed elsewhere or indie games, but if you're not taken by the first party stuff, it seems completely pointless.

PS5 will have backwards compatibility for the majority of PS4 games, maybe with some performance enhancements, so I'd get one of them if that were a decision to be made.

I don't know enough about PC longevity but I think a grand wouldn't give you so long on high settings. I may be wrong.

[Kelvin]

Even as a massive fan of the Switch, and I have probably five hundred games for it, it's definitely now in decline. The big online games do still have a pretty healthy player base, Splatoon, Smash, Mario Kart, even ARMS, but they're not actually truly social because of the restrictive infrastructure. More of an issue is that they don't seem to have much in the pipeline.

This year has been seriously affected by Covid, of course, and they've tended to announce games closer and closer to release but so little has been announced and relatively little is expected. There's a new Paper Mario this month.  That's it for this year, as far as we know. There will be another big Zelda based on the BotW engine, nobody knows when. Bayonetta 3 is in production. Metroid Prime 4 is in production but years away.

It's a brilliant system and a perfect way to catch up on ports of stuff you missed elsewhere or indie games, but if you're not taken by the first party stuff, it seems completely pointless.

PS5 will have backwards compatibility for the majority of PS4 games, maybe with some performance enhancements, so I'd get one of them if that were a decision to be made.

I don't know enough about PC longevity but I think a grand wouldn't give you so long on high settings. I may be wrong.

I don't really think you can judge this year's first party Nintendo output against previous year's, when it's clearly been so heavily impacted by Covid. Last year they had a very slow first half of the year, too, but from June onwards they had a big title every single month - I literally cannot think of a time in Nintendo's history when they've had so many quality titles in a six month period. We might well have had a similar situation this year, but things got delayed, Directs got cancelled, they haven't been able to build up excitement for a schedule. I think there's a good chance they planned to release the 3D Mario collection this summer, with Zelda as their big holiday game, but it all got delayed and left them with big gaps. I certainly don't see it as a console in decline yet. Maybe once the new consoles come out, and the tech gap gets bigger.       

[Bazooka]

When is the Wii U 2 coming out?

[Sheffield Wednesday]

I don't really think you can judge this year's first party Nintendo output against previous...

I hope that's spot on. I may have been a bit unfair. You're right that the second half of 2019 was awesome.

[peanutbutter]

but they're not actually truly social because of the restrictive infrastructure. More of an issue is that they don't seem to have much in the pipeline.

Yeah, that's a big part of why it isn't the obvious choice for me. It doesn't really seem to be in major decline to me, def in the second half of its life though, more just the first half of its life was so heavily supported by Wii U re-releases

I don't know enough about PC longevity but I think a grand wouldn't give you so long on high settings. I may be wrong.

Nah high settings isn't too important, just runs them reasonable okay for an extended period. I'm usually pretty good at continually lowering my expectations with tech as it ages out. Currently got a 2015 laptop, like; which was okay enough until I got a 4k monitor tbh


What came out in the second half of 2019 on Switch?

[Sheffield Wednesday]

What games do you generally like?

That's probably the most important factor.

PS has the best AAA big budget stuff by a mile but if you're not interested in FF7R, Horizon, TLOU, etc, it'd be a waste of money.

Have you tried much VR before? I personally had high hopes but it didn't do much for me in the end. I certainly don't look forward to playing HL Alyx at all. Literally no interest. I can't remember the last time I even had my PSVR plugged in nor the last time I tried it when it was on offer on a high end setup. It's a big gamble for something with very few top tier games and which may not end up doing much for you. Obviously, if you've already tried it and like it, that's irrelevant.

[Bazooka]

The PS has tons of indy games too, so I wouldn't dismiss it entirely if AAA games aren't of interest, also the Sony store has really good sales constantly if you like digital.

[MojoJojo]

I think instead of thinking about what games are available and are coming up it might be better thinking about about how much attention you're going to be putting into your gaming, and the 3 devices fit quite neatly on this scale.

<---Most attention    Least attention---->
Quest                  PS4                     Switch

With the Quest, you really do have to put 100% attention to it. You have to clear a space first, then while you're doing it you can't sip a drink, or make any comments or check your phone. Just pausing becomes a bit of an arse, and going to the loo really break it up.

PS4 is somewhere in the middle, it's your main focus but it's not totally absorbing, you can drink a cup of tea or have a conversation while playing.

Switch - you can use it like the PS4 of course, but I find my main use is to play something simple in front of the TV while I have some youtube dross on.

I have used the Switch the most by far, but to be honest a lot of that time could have been spent on the phone and it wouldn't have been much different. I got enough out of BOTW and Ring Fit that it's not been a waste, but that's I've found the Switch excels as a second screen instead of a main screen.

I wouldn't recommend the Quest as your only gaming device. It's cool and fun in short bursts but there's nothing hugely compelling on it. Also, you need a lot of space.

[ImmaculateClump]

Would a £1000 PC be able to play high requirement new games 5-7 years from now?

Oh yeah, definitely. My advice would be to stick to a 1080p monitor. You should be future proof for a long time to come if you stick to that.
Higher resolutions are overkill and such a waste of power, don't buy into that bollocks. 1080p is more than plenty.

What sort of games do you mostly play? Do you play everything with a pad or do you use mouse and keyboard too?
Would you choose all the bells and whistles over a higher framerate and lower input lag?

I'd always recommend a high refresh rate monitor, but if you're gonna be using your pc as a console, mostly playing the big AAA stuff and be playing on a pad all the time, it might make more sense to just go with 60hz, it'd be an easier life for you to just be able to crank up all the settings, whack on vsync and sit back and know that you're gonna be hitting 60 all the time.

I wouldn't bother with VR. It'll be a 5 minute wonder and you'll end up selling it on.

[peanutbutter]

I think instead of thinking about what games are available and are coming up it might be better thinking about about how much attention you're going to be putting into your gaming, and the 3 devices fit quite neatly on this scale.

<---Most attention    Least attention---->
Quest                  PS4                     Switch

This is a good metric but game length is usually a bigger deal for me, I could do 2 hours in a highly involved thing if I knew there wasn't another 40 to do. If it's something with a social element

Oh yeah, definitely. My advice would be to stick to a 1080p monitor. You should be future proof for a long time to come if you stick to that.
Higher resolutions are overkill and such a waste of power, don't buy into that bollocks. 1080p is more than plenty.

4K monitor is for work reasons, when I'm living in a larger place I'll prolly piss away dumb money on an OLED tv, that'll probably be 4K and games won't be a factor.

What sort of games do you mostly play? Do you play everything with a pad or do you use mouse and keyboard too?
Would you choose all the bells and whistles over a higher framerate and lower input lag?

See... for absolutely ages I've almost exclusively played indieish things cos (1) they'll generally run and (2) playing from a computer I haven't set up to use for gaming much is just a bit of a fucking chore. Been gradually playing more proper games (from ages ago) and using a gamepad though, which is a welcome break from being at the keyboard and mouse at work and after.
I'm totally okay with 30fps, input lag usually isn't an issue either, if something's gonna require the level of precision that 3ms input lag is gonna piss me off then a lot more about the game is gonna piss me off regardless.

I wouldn't bother with VR. It'll be a 5 minute wonder and you'll end up selling it on.

Def only considering used ones cos of this. Seems like there's a bit of a lag in the price of used ones dropping due to the v high demand a few months ago, I'd be looking at <£300 for sure.