Now Is A Good Time To Buy A Playstation 4 Despite Being In The Final Stage Of Its Life Cycle

If you've resisted forking out the cash for a PS4 till now, it may be a good time to finally give in. The fourth generation PlayStation may be six years old now – we are nearing the launch of a PS5 in a few years – but there's plenty of shelf life left before it bids gamers farewell. Sony has well and truly dominated console gaming this generation, with countless of exclusive household titles that have cemented their place in the gaming hall of fame. You won't want to miss these.

And the best part, the PS4 is more affordable than ever. Hear us out.

PS4s are almost half of the price they were at launch. That's especially thanks to the trend of "slim" consoles. With just a few compromises, these PS4 variants bring the price way down – to $250 brand-new on Amazon. And if you're looking for 4K-compatibility with the kitted-out PS4 Pro, it'll set you back just over $100 more at $367. For a console that brings you the latest and greatest in gaming, this is a good deal.

And we haven't even started on the used market. Standard PS4s go from $100 on eBay, coupled with controllers and games. The way we see it, there's really no need to own a mint PS4 since it's nearing the final few years of its product life. $100 is a painless way to get in on its fantastic library of games.

Gamers have meme-d endlessly about how their collection of games have reduced greatly since the good old days of the PlayStation 2. Shelves and shelves of games have reduced to just a handful of titles. Sadly, prices of games have gone up, incentivizing gamers to sell off games quickly after playing through them.

The good news: second-hand games are cheap. As a late-comer to the PS4 party, chances are you'll be looking for critically-acclaimed titles that have been out for awhile now. Buying these games off the shelves is expensive. You'll want to look for them on used marketplaces where you can get them at least a third of the price – and then resell them.

Sell them at a profit and it's as if you're being paid to play.

There's no denying it; Sony has owned this generation of consoles. They've not only nailed it with the hardware, but with household titles you simply cannot miss.

Unless you're a Halo fanboy, most games you'd want to catch up on the Xbox One are also available on the PS4. Unmissable titles like Red Dead Redemption 2, The Witcher 3 and customary games like Assassin's Creed, FIFA and Call of Duty are all available on both platforms.

The real difference is the exclusives on the PS4 that have made Xbox owners look across the pond in agony. Naughty Dog games alone are reason enough to pick up a PS4 on the cheap. Games like Uncharted 4, The Last of Us and its upcoming sequel mean there is plenty to sink into. Xbox owners have also tragically had to sit out the superb God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn exclusives, both of which were generation-defining titles etched into video-game history. Oh, and we almost left out Insomniac's Spider-Man. Sorry, Xbox.

And despite fifth generation consoles rumored to be around the corner, it's wiser to wait. Games available on new platforms are woefully thin. It takes a few years for any consoles' library of games to get bustling.

In the meantime, there are plenty of games available of current generation consoles to dig into. Many yearly titles like NBA 2K, FIFA and Call of Duty continue developing for past generation consoles despite the launch of a new generation. There are several years more left for the PS4.

We also won't know how well the consoles perform. Issues with processing and heating could surface over time. Xbox may also have made a comeback, launching with a far superior console with its own exclusives you may be drawn to. Few things are as painful as being stuck with a console that doesn't have much longevity, so our advice is to wait and see.

There'll come a time when developers stop making games for the PS4 and it just rots there, retired thanks to the PS5 moving in. The practical-minded amongst us will want to make a sale, cashing in on what's left of the PS4.

You'll have to move quickly; PS4 owners will be listing their used consoles shortly after the unveiling of next-gen consoles. It's worth keeping tabs on prices of old PS4 and put it up before it gets unprofitably low for you.

In the meantime, though, dig in into Sony's immense collection of fantastic games while its cheap.