I Have a Spare PS5

Last week I received an e-mail from PlayStation letting me know I would be given the opportunity to purchase a PlayStation 5 at the manufacturer's suggested retail price. On Wednesday, I was told to log into the PlayStation Direct site on Thursday at noon using a special link to purchase the PS5. At 12:01pm on Thursday, I logged in and found myself in a virtual queue waiting to purchase the coveted console. I was told the line was about an hour long. 10 minutes later, I was let in and purchased the device. It then arrived at my house on Saturday at 1:25pm.

This is my second PS5 and so I didn't purchase it for myself as I already have one. I got it for any of my family or friends that want one and didn't want to pay the scalpers for it. So far, nobody has taken me up on my offer to sell it to them for what I paid, $536.24. I used to work for Sony Interactive Entertainment and am contractually not allowed to sell it for a higher price than I paid. While I no longer work for PlayStation, I do work for Sony and am honoring the agreement just to be sure. I would hate to have Sony cut off my account, which is something they could easily do.

I sent out messages to all of my family members on Saturday and everyone declined my offer. Next I talked to a few people that have expressed interest in the past about getting a PS5. They are still thinking about it. I am reluctant to advertise too widely about my device as I don't want someone buying it only to turn around and resell it for a profit. I looked at the usual retail sites like Walmart, Gamestop, Best Buy, Target, and a few others only to confirm the console is still hard to find. It is.

If you can convince me you will keep the PS5 for your own use and not resell it for a profit, you are welcome to buy it from me for the price I paid.

Helping Christmas Gift Giving

One of the perks to working in the video game industry is that I get certain discounts on games and hardware. Once I walked into GameStop and mentioned the company where I am employed. The salesperson gave me a professional discount right on the spot. I didn't even ask for one. The discounts I get through my company can be even nicer, especially during this time of year.

Last Friday night I attended a Christmas party for the law firm where my wife used to work. I think we got invited this year simply so several of the attorneys could take advantage of my discounts. Actually that is not true, we got invited because it is a close-knit law firm and my wife left on good terms with everyone. I did have fun though playing a joke on one of the paralegals and her husband.

Several weeks ago the paralegal reached out to my wife and asked if I could pick up a game from a company that I don't even work for. I have a contact that can get me games there for a huge discount and so I picked up the game. When my wife delivered it to the paralegal, she was told that I should not mention the game to the husband at the Christmas party as it is a gift for him. Naturally I had to have a little fun with that.

I arrived at the venue and started talking with all of my wife's former associates. When I got to the paralegal and her husband, I said, "I'm not supposed to mention the next generation console your wife had me pick up for you."

The husband's face lit up and he asked, "Really?" excitedly.

I had to come clean and let him know I was joking. I then explained that none of the consoles will be ready until next year and we all had a good laugh. The paralegal then covered things up by asking me to pick her up a few more things for her boys. We all laughed about the exchange throughout the rest of the evening and it made for an enjoyable party.

Learning to Play Guitar

Several years ago I recommended RockSmith as a Christmas gift. This year I finally got tired of waiting to receive it and went to get it after Christmas. First I had to acquire a pickup or microphone for my acoustic guitar. Then I purchased the game from the local Gamestop. The key part of the game is the cable that interfaces between the guitar and video game console. Unfortunately both connections were one-quarter inch male headphone plugs and so I had to return to the guitar store to buy a coupler. I searched for it at 3 different Radio Shacks but they have stopped stocking useful items like that in favor of cheap electronic toys. After such an experience, I vowed never to return to that chain again.

I got everything home and set it all up on my PlayStation 4. The first thing to do is calibrate the guitar which I did painlessly. Then I used RockSmith to tune my guitar. I have an electronic tuner, but RockSmith does a much better job and is infinitely easier to use. Then I ran through a few lessons.

In my lifetime I have taken several sets of guitar lessons but never really learned much. While I enjoyed going to the lessons, I never really got into the practicing part. RockSmith has a number of games to play to make practice fun and interesting. Furthermore the game is very patient. When I couldn't quite hit the right notes during one lesson, it never got upset. When I finally figured it out, it provided some encouragement. A human instructor would have been incredibly frustrated and less than supportive by the time I got it right.

Naturally the first day I played the game, I worked at the guitar until my fingers could no longer touch the guitar strings without hurting. I made sure to try again the next day and went as long as I could again. It was important to make sure to tune the guitar again before playing. The sensitivity is such that if your guitar is out of tune, it is difficult to play the correct notes. A simple tune fixes the problem and doesn't take very long.

I have always wanted to learn to play the guitar well and RockSmith from Ubisoft is the perfect way to do that. I paid full price for the game at around $60 and think it is well worth the money. While I work in the video game industry and probably could have gotten a discount, this was one game I felt like paying for and recommend it for anyone looking to increase their guitar playing abilities.

PS4 First Impressions

The new PlayStation 4 has some impressive features. It also has some problems. Most of the problems I have encountered are software related and so I know they can be fixed with an update. The biggest problem is that there is an update to begin with. I got wind that the update was going to be huge and so I downloaded it to a memory stick yesterday. Then when I turned on my PS4, I held the on button for 7 seconds and listened for a beep. This put the console in safe mode and allowed me to install the update. Then I could begin playing games. Unfortunately the PlayStation Network is so overwhelmed with people logging in and trying to install the almost 1 GB update that I couldn't download any of the new PS4 games and am stuck playing the only game I purchased on disk so far: Killzone Shadow Fall. Don't worry, I ordered a couple of more games this afternoon.

The first thing I noticed was how superior the graphics are over the PS3. Don't get me wrong, the graphics on the PS3 are incredible. The PS4 is just that much better. We are playing both PS4 and PS3 games this evening and so it is easy to notice how much better the PS4 really is. The PS4 games have intricate detail while the PS3 ones looks plastic and fake.

We also tried to watch some movies on the PS4 today with mixed results. DVD's played just fine. Some Blu-ray disks worked without any problems on the PS4 while others didn't. Speed Racer played flawlessly and I felt it looked better on the PS4. Neither Chasing Mavericks nor Avatar would play. As for 3D Blu-rays, I don't think they are supported yet. The only 3D disk I own is Avatar and I was not even given the option of 2D or 3D, just 2D and that didn't work. No worries though as I still have my 2 PS3 units that play them just fine. I have also not been able to get to the PlayStation Store because of connections problems.

I'm sure it will take a bit to get the kinks worked out of the PS4 and so don't feel bad if you have to wait a bit before you can pick one up. I also talked with the folks at my local Gamestop and Best Buy stores this evening. They are both getting more shipments soon and so you should be able to get one before Christmas if that is what your family wants. The trick to finding one will be to ask the store when the next shipment comes in and being their that day. Otherwise you run the risk of someone else getting your console.