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00:11As the years have waned on, it's become clear that the PlayStation 5 might be the
00:16most disappointing generation in the platform's history. Between the slow
00:20churn of first-party games and the constant price hikes across PlayStation
00:24products and services, it's almost hard to see why anybody would want this
00:29machine. So with the new price hikes in effect as of April 2026, is it worth telling new users to
00:36finally buy this new console? Welcome to Mojo Plays. My name is Ty, and today I want to figure out
00:43whether it truly is worth getting a PlayStation 5 in 2026. Before we begin, we publish new videos
00:56all week long. So be sure to subscribe to Mojo Plays, and ring the bell to be notified about
01:01our latest videos.
01:02In order to answer the question of whether a PS5 is worth getting now or not, we should address the
01:08talking point that most people seem to gravitate towards, the exclusive games. Exclusive games are
01:14important to consoles, as such titles can be the deciding factor for many people when buying a
01:20console. Trust me, I have been in the situation where I wanted a console because it had games that
01:25were only available on that console. And the last time I had that feeling was with the Wii U. I
01:31wanted
01:31a Wii U to play certain games that were only on Wii U. Well, my dad and my brother got
01:37me a PlayStation 4
01:38instead.
01:43I know they made the better decision for me in the long run though, but if I was able to
01:48afford it at
01:48the time, Nintendo Land, Super Mario Maker, and Super Smash Brothers were the reasons why I wanted a
01:55Wii U badly. That and of course Captain Toad, because I thought Captain Toad looked kind of neat. If I
02:01didn't
02:01get a PS4, I definitely would have tried buying one in 2018, just so that I could play God of
02:07War
02:07that year, the medieval remake the year after, and then Ghost of Tsushima after that. So if I didn't get
02:13one, I was going to get the other eventually. That said, what exclusives do we have to try and
02:24entice people to get a PlayStation 5? Well, since the console launched in November 2020, Sony has
02:30published a total of eight exclusives for the console between first-party and second-party
02:35projects. Two of those exclusives are Astro's Playroom and Astro Bot, developed by Tima Sobi,
02:42and both are really great games. Highly recommend Astro Bot especially.
02:51Then we have the remake of Demon's Souls, developed by Bluepoint Games, also a great game. There's also
02:57the Shadow Drop spinoff God of War Sons of Sparta, which most folks were pretty mixed on, especially
03:03yours truly. I was really hyped to play that game, and then I got bored. Two of those exclusives are
03:09failed live service games. Destruction All-Stars has been dead in the water since 2021 and is still
03:14online somehow, while Concord perished in internet hellfire two weeks after launching in 2024. The big
03:22exclusive in 2025 was Ghost of Yotei, developed by Sucker Punch Productions. And then finally, back in
03:30April, weeks after the price hikes, Housemarque puts out Saros, which is also an amazing game.
03:45Now, somebody may say, but TIE, what about Gran Turismo 7, God of War Ragnarok, Returnal,
03:52Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, or even Sackboy A Big Adventure? What about the Spider-Man games and
03:57Horizon Forbidden West? Well, all of those titles either went to PC months after release or were
04:04developed in tandem with their respective PS4 versions. So if you have a PC or a PS4, you don't
04:10have much reason to buy a PS5 just to play those games. So where has Sony's first party been? Why
04:21has
04:21the library of PS5 exclusives been so barren? Well, if you've been following Sony-related news over the
04:28last few years, you'll recall a bit of whistleblowing occurred in 2023. According to anonymous sources,
04:34almost every studio under the PlayStation name was working on live service projects, and almost every
04:41one of them wound up getting canceled after Concord's disastrous launch. Even a Spider-Man live
04:47service got axed. So every developer Sony owns has essentially had to start from scratch.
04:59But here's the thing, if exclusives were a big deal for Sony, why is the PS5 continuing to sell more
05:06and more units than Nintendo every single month, with a very rare exception? Why is it seemingly making
05:14more of a push into hardware and accessories more than the company has ever done before? In all honesty,
05:22I don't think the PS5 was planned to be a revolution in technology in the first place.
05:27We all spent this time asking ourselves, what's different about this, what's different about
05:32this? When in reality, there wasn't really a focus on being different.
05:45After spending the last few years purchasing the different PlayStation products and trying out new
05:50features as they roll in, I believe the plan for PlayStation 5 was never about the graphics,
05:56the audio, or even just the faster loading for seamless gameplay. The entire point of PlayStation 5 is
06:04the ecosystem itself.
06:13The constant selling of new controllers, new face plates, new headsets, earbuds, service plans,
06:19even the intense focus on live service games, it was all to sell an ecosystem. An ecosystem featuring
06:27games and accessories you could only enjoy through PlayStation 5.
06:31With the PlayStation portal in your hands, play finds a way.
06:35So under that lens, we need to approach the question differently. Under the current conditions of the
06:41global economy, with all of the physical products PlayStation is currently offering for users to
06:46potentially improve their experience, is the PlayStation 5 and the PlayStation ecosystem worth
06:53buying into? We can look into a couple of accessories that will take little time for me to get through.
06:58The Pulse Explore wireless earbuds, and the Pulse 3D wireless headset.
07:07For the Pulse earbuds, I'm going to be honest with you all and tell you that I ain't about to
07:12drop
07:13$200 on freaking earbuds. You know how hard it is keeping track of those things, and how easy it is
07:19for earbuds to get lost or ruined? It happened to me with a pair that cost me $20. I ain't
07:24about to
07:25tack on another zero to that. So instead, I went with a headset. The Pulse 3D wireless headset
07:32specifically. This costs less than half of the earbuds, and even for a little under $100. I feel like I
07:40did not get much use out of these. Yeah, the audio quality was really good, about as good as the
07:48PS4
07:49headset, but after barely a year, the cushioning for this headset wore off, and it wore off quickly.
07:56Wearing this now just feels like having two tiny, uncomfortable couch cushions crammed over my ears.
08:02Just for comparison, I've been using the HyperX Cloud Alpha headset for the same amount of time,
08:07and just as frequently as I used the Pulse 3D. The HyperX Cloud Alpha still looks brand spanking new.
08:15The Pulse 3D? Well, how does this look as if I found it in the back of an abandoned Kmart?
08:20I don't get it, man.
08:24I've seen a similar dip in quality when it came to the DualSense controllers.
08:29I got my first two DualSense controllers back when I got my PlayStation 5 in March 2021. I got them
08:36in
08:36a bundle. It wasn't until January 2023, when Powerwatch Simulator launched on PS5, that I started
08:43noticing problems with them. One DualSense controller was having some serious stick drift issues, while the
08:53other suddenly had a flimsy and loose left trigger. For the record, I play a lot of RPGs, turn-based
09:00RPGs to be exact. I play platformers, horror games, puzzle games, and boomer shooters, and a lot of the
09:07games I play rarely ever use the adaptive triggers, let alone the DualSense's vibrators to evoke
09:12immersion. I barely play games with other people in my own apartment, so there's not exactly a ton of
09:19force being inflicted on these controllers. I've only dropped my controllers once or twice, but if
09:25that ever happens, it's only ever been a foot or two from my couch to my carpeted floor. So why
09:33was
09:33Powerwatch Simulator the breaking point is beyond me?
09:43I bought a red DualSense, and sure enough, two years later, I'm having similar problems again. Got a
09:51purple DualSense for Christmas in 2025, and I am just now having those same exact issues, but it's now in
09:59a shorter time frame. Sony, I understand that you get a lot of features crammed into these controllers,
10:05but how come a hefty and durable controller like the DualSense seems to break as easily as those
10:12flimsy Joy-Cons that Nintendo is always having to fix? Yes, two years is still a fairly long time,
10:18but it's short enough to make the $80 purchase annoying. I have GameCube controllers that are
10:24still working, like they just came out of the factory yesterday, and that system is 20 plus years old!
10:31Almost 30!
10:36Speaking of recurring transactions, PlayStation Plus has gone through a substantial revamp in its services.
10:42For $80 a year or $10 a month, you can get PlayStation Plus Essential, which is the same old plan
10:48that's
10:49been offered since June 2010. Access to online play, exclusive discounts, cloud saving, and monthly
10:56free games that can either be super fun, super awful, or just meh.
11:04For $135 a year, or $15 a month, you can become a member of PlayStation Plus Extra, which gets you
11:12access to a multitude of games ranging from a wide spectrum of genres, developers, and publishers.
11:17Ah, but if you want the ultimate PlayStation experience, then you may consider the PlayStation
11:24Plus Premium Membership, which includes everything the other two plans have, along with access to
11:30timed trials to try out new games, instant access to classics added to the PlayStation Store every month,
11:36and the ability to stream PlayStation 3 games, in addition to games from your library,
11:40and a select handful of other games on the platform.
11:49Well, I am not a rich person by any means, but I have been paying for PlayStation Plus Premium
11:56ever since this multi-tiered model was introduced back in June 2022.
12:01I jumped on it the second Sony said that they were bringing PS1, PS2, and PSP games forward to PlayStation
12:085.
12:08At first, we saw two games getting added every single month.
12:12As of Spring 2026, Wii Premium Members have been getting just one classic game every single month
12:20for well over two years now, and the selections have been extremely questionable.
12:26Prepare for the height and air control diagnostics checkup level 2.
12:30Use the ramp to gain speed and reach higher platforms.
12:34Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see Disney interactive games like Toy Story 2 and WALL-E come back,
12:41and I'm glad that the first four Twisted Metals, the Sly Cooper Trilogy, and both Medievals are now preserved in
12:47the modern era.
12:48But when Sony announces yet another siphon filter game getting added,
12:53or some unremarkably random title like Battle Engine Aquila,
12:57I have to ask, who the hell is choosing the games here?
13:06Where is God of War?
13:08Where is Ape Escape 3?
13:10Since you have Microsoft's number,
13:13why haven't you worked with them to bring Crash and Spyro back here?
13:16It's not even the selections I'm upset about,
13:19it's the drip feed that makes me question what I'm paying for
13:23when so many other actual PlayStation Classics are still missing.
13:28That sounds kind of fun.
13:29Oh, but Ty, you fool.
13:31You don't subscribe to PlayStation Plus Premium to play old games,
13:35you subscribe for the streaming part of it.
13:37That's the point of it.
13:39You know what?
13:40You're right.
13:41I should go out and get a PlayStation Portal right before this price hike happens.
13:45That is absolutely something I said to myself one fateful day,
13:48and despite my expectations of them being sold out in my city,
13:52I nabbed a PlayStation Portal.
13:54And for the past month,
13:55I've been trying a variety of games available for streaming.
14:03Before I continue,
14:04I do want to point out that I have been a somewhat vocal hater
14:08towards the idea of streaming a video game.
14:11First off, I find it to be a silly excuse for publishers to eventually use
14:15when they once again claim that,
14:17oh, printing physical copies of games is so expensive.
14:20Now it's only available digitally and for streaming.
14:23That's how instruction manuals were killed off, okay?
14:26They said those were too expensive to print.
14:28Yeah, okay.
14:30I keep on coming back for more.
14:32I also simply despise the idea of letting my dodgy ISP
14:37be the deciding factor in whether or not I can play video games today.
14:41That's just dumb.
14:42I'm still waiting for the day I'm told how my ISP supposedly ran out of internet for the day.
14:47Nevertheless,
14:48I figured buying the PlayStation Portal gives me the perfect excuse to finally give
14:53streaming my games a shot.
14:55I won't say I'm a firm believer in this kind of service,
14:59but I am surprised at the quality of service being provided.
15:03For reference,
15:04my internet plan gives me 1GB download speed and 100MB upload speed,
15:08and I do pay extra for unlimited data as I work on other videos outside of Mojo Plays.
15:13So it's a plan that I kind of need.
15:15I need the extra bandwidth.
15:16Under my own plan,
15:18I've been able to stream games at a shockingly smooth rate,
15:22both on the Portal and the PlayStation 5 itself.
15:25Workmanship looks solid enough.
15:31I've been playing God of War 2's HD remaster,
15:34and it plays as if I have the game installed on the console itself.
15:37I've been streaming Dragon Quest VII Reimagined to my Portal,
15:41and its heavy focus on story and turn-based combat,
15:43it gives me a good excuse to finally lay down and get ready for bed.
15:56What makes me truly satisfied with my purchase here
15:59is how I can use the Portal to play all of those ginormous online games.
16:04No longer do I have to worry about reserving 70 to 100GB
16:08for Forza Horizon 5, Marvel Rivals, or Dead by Daylight.
16:12I can now stream them all to my Portal,
16:15and it still feels as if I'm playing them on my PlayStation 5.
16:19Really, I am surprised with just how stable and responsive games are.
16:24I actually took a break from writing this video
16:26to go play some Marvel Rivals, some Dead by Daylight, and Rallycross on the couch
16:31just to make sure I wasn't overly enthusiastic.
16:38And sure enough, I was able to play freely at a high resolution
16:42and a smooth framerate while my roommate watched YouTube videos in our living room TV.
16:48Best $200 I have ever spent.
16:51Alas, it's time to face reality.
16:54After 5 plus years of 8 exclusive games,
16:57overpriced earbuds, shoddy headsets and controllers,
17:00and a DualSense sawed in half with a screen glued in the middle,
17:03is it worth jumping into the PlayStation 5 ecosystem at this very moment?
17:09Is it worth doing so after the new price hikes?
17:13Honestly, I don't think so.
17:16Your anger.
17:17You can get lost in it.
17:20The battle ahead is difficult.
17:22I know I just spent the last few minutes gushing about the PlayStation Portal.
17:26It truly is a really cool machine,
17:28but it's not one that I recommend to just anybody.
17:31The thing is, is that I've been playing PlayStation since I was a little kid,
17:35and in the case of PlayStation 5, I was a somewhat mildly early adopter.
17:40I got my console again in 2021, when it was still brand new.
17:45I've had the time to buy the games as they launch.
17:47I've had the time to play what I want, and mess around with Sony's different products.
17:57If I was someone who hasn't had the experience or the time right now,
18:01I don't think I would buy a PS5, let alone any of the accessories at this point.
18:05At the time of this video, the PlayStation 6 is supposedly scheduled to come out in 2027,
18:11and there are only three more PS5 exclusives on the horizon.
18:15Those being Marvel's Wolverine, Intergalactic the Heretic Prophet,
18:20and the remake or remakes of the original God of War trilogy.
18:24Considering a base PS5 now costs about half a month of rent here in the United States,
18:30I can't in good conscience tell anybody to get a PS5 right now.
18:35Not when it's going for $600 to $1,000.
18:37I would have maybe a year ago, but now?
18:42Hard no.
18:43I'm Wolverine.
18:46If you love games, be sure to check out WatchMojo's new game, Terrible Influence.
18:51Just launched for purchase at TerribleInfluence.com.
18:54Terrible Influence is a satirical board game about the dark side of fame
18:57from the writer of the most popular girls in school and us, WatchMojo.
19:01Boom.
19:02I can make an apology video.
19:04Oh, you so would.
19:05Click on the link in the description to check out the game
19:07and be the first to play Terrible Influence.
19:10That is an absurd price range.
19:13I love the trophy system.
19:15I love the option of streaming games with the portal.
19:17I like playing on PlayStation in general.
19:21But my borked controllers and the tattered remains of my short-lived Pulse 3D headset
19:26tell me this is not a good enough ecosystem right now.
19:30And I don't know if it can get any better before PS6 is out.
19:33I didn't even mention the years of shovelware flooding the PlayStation Store,
19:38nor the fact that Sony seemingly abandoned the PlayStation VR 2
19:42before the system was barely a year old.
19:52So what good is there jumping in now
19:54when the next box of plastic is launching within a year from now?
19:58Personally, I've actually been considering skipping the next generation of consoles.
20:03This recent price hike, the drip feed of PS1 and PS2 games,
20:07and the new 30-day DRM check Sony's imposed on us all
20:10has me in a somewhat foul and suspicious mood.
20:14Unless Mark Cerny utters some unholy spell
20:17that magically makes PlayStation 6 backwards compatible with every generation before it
20:22and can read my copy of 3D Dot Game Heroes,
20:25unless that happens,
20:27I think I'm staying on PlayStation 5 for the foreseeable future.
20:38I'll be like those people who are still playing MLB The Show on PlayStation 4.
20:43Or, I will just simply wait until Sony sends out a system update
20:47that kills my box,
20:49just like it did with my PS3.
20:51Thanks, guys.
20:58Were you able to get a PlayStation 5 or a PlayStation Portal before the price hike?
21:02Let us know down in the comments,
21:03and don't forget to subscribe to Mojo Plays.
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