PlayStation 5 advice please!

[Ozgirl75]

My kids have told me they want to save up for a PS5 with money they got for birthdays and Christmas but I’m looking at all the options and (not knowing anything about gaming systems) I need some advice on what set up would be best for them so I can figure out how much more of their pocket money they might need to save.

I see there is a Slim system and a digital system - what is the difference?
They want the best console, two hand hold thingys, and any extras to make it work well for multi player games.
Also, how many hand hold things can you use at once? Ie when their friends come round, how many can play together?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Sorry I can't help, I'd like this info too!

Not an expert but my kids are! Basically the digital one is cheaper as you can only use games you buy online and download, we opted for the one with a disc as the kids get loads of cheaper games from CEX so what we spent extra on disc versions We saved three times over easily.

You can play all the ps4 games on it as well. Kids are teens so not gonna be up for a while but I'll ask them for more info when they are

Oh I see! Yes that makes perfect sense, thank you.

If they want to play games online then you will need to pay for this. Make sure you look at a YouTube video on how to set up parental controls. Though some games are cross play with other systems make sure if they want to play with friends their friends are on PlayStation and not Xbox.

Sounds good - I think they mainly like racing games. I’m so behind on all this - some of their friends have gaming set ups, VR headsets etc and mine have……an iPad. I want them to be able to “keep up” (so to speak) with their friends as it seems like this is how boys play these days.

You definitely don’t want the digital only system you’ll spend a fortune buying games. The controllers are around £60 but the console should come with at least one.

how many of them can play together will depend on the game - generally for most games though it’s probably 2. Heres an article that might help. If their friends have ps5 they can bring their own controllers with them to save you buying 4

https://www.playstation.com/en-us/editorial/this-month-on-playstation/local-multiplayer-couch-co-op-games-for-ps5/#:~:text=Dirt%205,over%2070%20incredible%20global%20tracks.

If you have already been "looking into it" and still call the controllers "hand hold thingys" I think there is no hope for you 🤣

It is a minefield (an expensive one).

For ds we bought

PS5 with the biggest disk size (we went for the digital one as it is a better experience instead of changing disks, but it does mean you can't sell games)
2 controllers and a docking station for charging
Headphone compatible with PS5 (Turtle beach cheap ones are reasonable to start with, ds prefers wired to wireless)
Annual PlayStation Plus subscription to get them online

That is the basics to get them going - VR headsets can come in later Christmas and birthdays (ds wasn't interested in them).

Carefully read and learn about parental controls so they don't end up in games talking to adult wierdos.

Make sure they cannot spend money on your credit card without you knowing.

Personally I would get the disc version, as often the discs are cheaper than the downloads.
Controllers about £60 if need an extra one.
For the playstation plus, its about £60 a year, but they tend to have sales every summer and its usually half price , so I buy then and it starts when my current subscription stops.
Not many games can have 2 players, its more of a single player system, so need to decide how you will manage this ie time slots for each child.
You will need to set up a Playstation account and attach a credit/debit card, so make sure you set it so that permission is needed every time something is bought.
Make sure you enforce rules about who they can be friends with online. We had a rule that they could only talk to someone they knew in real life, and regularly checked this.

You definitely want the disc version, not the digital.

2 Controllers (with a dual docking station to charge.

PS Plus for online play (you also get 3 free games per month you can add to your library and download whenever you want).

PS Plus Basic is £50 per year, Extra is £100 but you get access to hundreds of games you can download included (worth it when you consider the cost of games)

@Ozgirl75 I would also recommend you look at the parental controls you can introduce to the console, and then set them up from the first day. Things like who they can be friends with, how much money they can spend (if any) and how long they can use the console each day.

https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/support/account/ps5-parental-controls-spending-limits/

I would also suggest not getting the digital only version as it does limit quite a lot. One of the benefits of the disk editions is that once you've played them you can always trade them in and get some money back. You can also buy second hand games from somewhere like cex and they are usually a lot cheaper than buying the digital downloads

We made the mistake of buying digital only and soon got rid of it

Buy PS Network from CDKeys website, often works out cheaper to buy gift cards from them on deals too

Thanks everyone, that’s all really helpful.

I have a digital version and it’s fab. No need to try to store lots of games boxes everywhere. I never trade games in I always keep them mind.

Whenever I have looked games are not cheaper as a disc when you buy them new. They will be second hand but you often get deals and discounts on the PS store so digital games can be cheap too.

Both versions of the PS5 have the same tech specs so they play the same.