Lo and behold, the majestic wall of text from ancient times! Let us see how many people will survive this first post.
Somewhat topic related based on self experience (opinion):
I used to have a base ps4, gave it to a friend and bought a pro. I have to admit that i had plenty more issues with the pro than i had with the original ps4.
For starters, the controller and headphone that came with the original ps4 both worked for like 5 years minimum. I gave those away when i bought the pro, my previous ps4 went to a friend of mine who still used the controller untill summer this year, which he ended up breaking the controller somehow (i assume rage due to him playing PES games). The lifespan of that controller was a long one but had a sad fate. Now, when i bought the pro edition, it came with the new dualshock controller aswell, this controller 1 year after using it started having analog issues, basically at times the controller likes to move the left analog stick slowly to the left which can be annoying when you want to remain still for a few seconds to do a specific action in a game. Not only this but, i bought a red controller when the controller that came with the pro was acting weird and not "working" with any of my headphones, i assumed the connector in the controller to be broken or something (and it wasn't, for some reason the issue went away the next day), so i ended up buying a 2nd controller for nothing, this 2nd controller started having major issues with the right analog stick 3 months after purchase and i rarelly used it (i don't really like the red colour, i only bought it since it was the only basic unit on sale at the store), basically feels like i got scammed multiple times since i bought the pro. This is not to mention the dead headphone that came with the pro, it worked for less than a month when the previous one worked for around 5 years at least. Or the issues with HDR and LG TVs, the early days of the pro had me constantly reset the system when the console itself stopped displaying image but the sound was working.
*takes a deep breath*
The only issue i had with the original ps4 was the lack of memory to keep some games stabilised at the time and this was the main reason why i bought the pro, this same issue happens now with the pro in very specific games right now which kinda beats the purpose of the upgrade at all. My experience with the pro is the main reason why i never upgraded my xbox one fat either, i could have bought the xonex a couple of times for 250€ but nah, i'll wait for next gen and invest on those instead.
If i had to recommend anyone to buy any of the current gen consoles to get into "console" gaming, i would recommend a xbox one s if you want the cheapest deal and easy access to alot of games (gamepass). The only purpose to buy a ps4 is for the exclusive games, which could be good or not, depending on your tastes. Skip the mid gen refreshes since next gen is close and dishing out the extra money is not worth it at this point (despite this, i still see alot of people buying mid gen upgrades this late on facebook it makes me cringe a little), unless you want to collect gaming systems like me and some others (still i'm not dishing out money on xbox one x when i have the fat version and it works perfectly since it launched, buying the upgrade would likely jinx my luck again).
My opinion about mid gen refreshes, future mid gen refreshes and shorter generations:
They are optional but i think they are also a steal to people that buy them. For example, xbox one x is more than capable of keeping up with next gen games. PS4 Pro could very likely keep up for a while too, despite already facing some perfomance issues right now with some games, i do think that both of these systems diserve to be compatible with next gen for a longer period of time. Instead of the casual 1-2 years of multi platform launching, these mid gen refreshes should last at least double the amount of time.
I know the new consoles are going to be much faster, this issue could be somewhat fixed if people use SSDs to speed up thing a little. Not that a console being much faster is going to take a huge impact on how each console handles the game at the end.
Shorter generations while it seems to be the reality of things (hardware tech is advancing much faster than before), it doesn't make any sense to me. This is basically the same problem as the mid gen refreshes. 4k gaming still isn't mainstream and it will take a while to reach that point, and by the time we reach that point we might have hardware capable of 8k gaming and 60fps (and beyond) and these new systems will focus towards that stuff, which in return will make little sense to buy the new systems since a very small portion of the user base is going to play at 8k (or beyond). To me it makes more sense for each new generation to last longer based on this alone, instead of new generations, make mid gen refreshes for the people wanting to experience the full quality experience. Of course these aren't really "mid gen refreshes" since they are to replace the new generation systems.
*almost passes out for not inhaling enough oxygen*
This is where i think Microsoft will take the crown (if Sony and nintendo do not adapt), they already stated that the next gen system is going to be "future proof" for what is to come down the road. Highly hinting at the idea of using the system as a streaming solution when the hardware becomes obsolete. Keeping these systems alive for a longer period of time is the logical approach here while giving the option to buy beefy hardware systems to those that want to have a new system instead. This is one of the main reasons why i always state in these topics that generations are going to die off sometime next generation, we will instead see hardware upgrades every once in a while to keep the physical hardware aspect alive for a little longer. There is really no purpose to keep repeating the same old tradition when technology is going to reach a point where digital/streaming is going to be the base of everything. I think it would make sense to only release a new system that supports resolutions or some new type of technology that is beyond 8k(hence the reason it is stated to be future proof, i do not associate it to be a permanent thing but the lifespan is definetly going to be much larger than it normally is for a console system).
tl;dr
There is no tl;dr. Sorry! But kudos to you if you made it this far without cheating the legendary punishment... err i mean test.
