So, you are interested in a buying a PS5, or are wondering why you should buy a PS5? This article will help you know how to increase your chances.

Why should I buy a PS5

If you want amazing 4k and want 60fps gaming, and have a tv/monitor to support it, you might benefit from getting a PS5. If you already have a PS4 and do not have a 4k display, you probably don’t need to get a PS5,… yet. Of course, you didn’t need a PS4 pro yet if you didn’t have a 4k display, so you do you.

I am going to be honest and say that my 4k Samsung has never looked as good as it does when the PS5 is on it. It is breathtaking. I have a few games, but I loaded up Skyrim last night and played through the first tutorial part until you get to Riverwood. I was blown away by the buttery-smooth 60fps and 4k graphics that were about 6 feet away from me on a 60” screen. Just absolutely stunning. I was using a 4k mod, but it is unreal how a now 10 year old game can look that amazing. Check out how to make it 4k in this video for an example. Just remember to go the the settings and select 2160p as the video resolution.

How to set YouTube to display 4k resolution (aka 2160p)

And watch this in 4k on YouTube to see the video that made me realized I wanted to trade my Switch version of Skyrim for the PS4 version as quickly as possible. Nothing bad to say about the Switch, as I can’t play my PS5 in the bathroom. I can play my Switch anywhere I want, and that is the beauty of the Switch in addition to their first-party games. But, if you want a next-generation experience, you aren’t going to get it on the current Switch hardware.

You really need to see it to believe it. If you have a 4k tv, YouTube has a ton of content from the PS5 in 4k. I also have Demon’s Souls, and it is just unbelievable detailed. The ray-tracing looks incredible and really does make a huge difference. It isn’t just smoke and mirrors, it is amazing. But, you really need to see it and play it to really get blown away. Just seeing someone else play it doesn’t do it justice, but it might make you drool a bit.

Using the right joystick and watching the background of a game just be so clear as you scan around an environment. Look at the lighting coming down an opening in a wall and it looks fantastic. Just make sure to adjust the visual quality of the video to have 2160p resolution, and you are good to go. And then watch something like the Demon’s Souls gameplay and you are viewing the beginning of next-generation gaming. Anyways, you probably want to know how you can get a PS5.

Follow this advice to increase your chances of actually getting a PS5 shipped to your house.

**YOU NEED TO DO THIS!**

Follow a Twitter feed to get live updates on when and where the next drop is happening

PS5 In Stock Alerts

This is a great one to follow that focuses strictly (at least up until now) on PS5 drops. Turn on notifications and be ready because it could happen at almost any time of day.

@Wario64

You could follow this to get a ton more gaming deals in addition to the PS5 drops, but there are a ton. Be prepared to get notifications for these tweets many times a day. If you are just waiting for the PS5 deals, this can be a bit much, but the researched deals are fantastic and include the drops if you have the attention span for it. You also don’t have to wonder if the notifications are on between drops if you follow this channel, as you will get them often and know they are on.

Whatever eases you anxiety, do that. But this is the most important thing to do in getting a new PS5 sooner rather than later. If you don’t have Twitter, or don’t want to sign up, good luck. I don’t know another way to know. Leave a comment if you do to help anyone else who might be looking but Twitter isn’t an option for them.

Follow either (or both) on Twitter and turn on notifications

Sign up for accounts and have payment information already saved at a number of retailers

You need to prepare accounts for at least some of the following stores (In the US) to be ready to buy one at any moment. It is like a game that can be exhilarating to play. The hunt. Not getting one will make you want to give up, but getting one feels amazing. I never thought it would be so hard to spend $500, but you will be trying to throw money at any of these retailers to get one.

WalMart

A tip from my experience: If you actually get it into your cart, which has always been the hardest part for me, don’t take it out after the drop ends. Leave it in your cart and don’t add anything else to your cart and don’t save it for later. All of these actions will remove it from your cart. If you get it into the cart during a drop, and you have your payment information saved and ready to go but can’t checkout yet, the next drop it will already be in your cart, so you can just checkout. If you get to checkout, buy, buy, buy!

Target

I didn’t have a lot of luck from target and had a hard time adding at PS5 to my cart, which is a common experience in all of the retailers. If you get it in you cart, be ready to checkout ASAP.

Best Buy

Best buy was a frustrating experience for me. From Best Buy, you will pick it up from a local store, so the stock comes in waves for each store, getting maybe only 1-2 per store, so it is a lot harder to know what store to pick if you have multiple locations, or if you only have one close enough to choose from and it gets snatched up immediately. Every 10 minutes new stock comes through. I got a PS5 into my cart during one particular drop several times, but Best Buy’s application kept asking me to verify through SMS, and upon entering the code, it would say I need to log in again. Hurriedly doing that would only lead me to an incorrect password prompt and I would get stuck in that loop just trying to spend $500 at your store. “WHY are you making it so hard!?” Very frustrating and this experience alone almost made me give up on trying to get a PS5 altogether until they were widely available. But I didn’t give up. I didn’t get my hopes up for getting one from Best Buy, but I didn’t give up. 😄

Sony

Sony will have a direct often (maybe 2-3 times per week) and put all the shoppers in a queue. When the time comes to start allowing people to buy PS5 and PS5 Digital Editions and accessories, the queue will get randomly ordered (which is what takes a minute at the beginning of the time slot). Their server is taking the list of shoppers and sending out messages back to each client about their order along with an estimated wait time until the client is at the beginning of the queue. One way to try to have a higher chance of having a higher place in the queue is to have many devices open and enter the queue on each. You can exponentially increase it by using a different browser on each device as well (like Chrome, FireFox, and Edge). They will all get different places in the queue. Mostly you will get more than an hour which means you probably won’t be getting one on that particular browser on that device. I had my phone, and iPad, and 2 Macs open and got as close as missing it by being just 8 minutes from the front of the queue when they were sold out. The drops averaged around 20-25 minutes until they were sold out, so if you have more than that, don’t give up, but the chances are slim. If you have less, get ready to buy, buy, buy!

Amazon

As much as I love shopping on Amazon, I don’t think I attempted trying to get one from Amazon, but rumor has it that there is going to be a big drop this Thursday, March 18, 2021, so get ready to buy, buy, buy!

GameStop

I actually managed to get my PS5 from GameStop. They typically offer both bundles with things like an extra controller, a game, and a gift card. Most people (myself included) just want to buy the console. I didn’t need anything else. But, if you are going to someday buy another controller, and the game is appealing, this is a great way to nearly guarantee that you get one from GameStop. But again, you do you. I got a bundle with an extra controller, Spider-man, and a $20 GameStop gift card. Yeah, it was more than I want (and needed), but I plan to have this console for like 10 years or so. I am willing to pay a bit more to have that extra controller now. And Spider-man (Marvel is not really my thing but Spider-man is a really, really fun game) is just a lot of fun and looks brilliant. I have 2 sons that love Spider-man, so I knew that at least they would play it. But, as a good father should, I needed to know how to play so that I could help them in tough parts or give advice to them when they get stuck. 😉 But I am pleasantly surprised how good the story and gameplay actually are. And really, who doesn’t want to swing around NYC and run up buildings. Amazing!

Have a way to pay for it

I am not your parent, and you do you in this modern society, but take this advice liberally. If you don’t have the dough for a PS5 yet, as attractive as it is, don’t get one in place of food, clothes for your children, or even that 6-pack that might cap off you long day from work. I am not encouraging anyone to be reckless with their finances, but if you are ready to buy a PS5, besides knowing someone who is good at buying them (not a scalper, but a friend who just wants to help because it is a nice thing to do), this advice should be a great foundation for developing your method and chances of actually getting one delived to you residence!

If you do get a PS5 based on this advice

Please leave a comment below if this helped you get a new PS5. I will pour one out for you. Cheers 🍻

One Last thing,

🍀 Happy St. Patrick’s Day 🍀