Playstation 4 Pro or Nintendo Switch?

[DesertFly]

To make a long story short, I'm finally moving on with my life. At 32 I've returned to college (Washington State) to finish that undergraduate degree I started back in the early 2000s. My first semester back has been going great! far better than any previous college experience, and I'm on track to get As in all 5 classes. As a reward for myself, I am seriously considering getting my first new gaming system since an Xbox 360 S back in 2011 or 2012.

I'm looking at either a Playstation 4 Pro, or a Nintendo Switch. I've been an Xbox fan since the first iteration, but I'm seriously considering switching this time, since I have a PC that can play Xbox One level games (I have Ryse and Rise of the Tomb Raider on Steam), and there aren't as many exclusives that are released on Xbox that aren't also released for Windows. I enjoy big long third-person open-world action games, so I'm leaning toward the PS4, especially because of titles like Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last of Us, the new God of War, and Uncharted, but I also think that Mario Odyssey and Zelda BoW look fun, plus of course the Switch will have new Mario Kart and Smash Bros titles, plus virtual console for older Nintendo games.

I'm honestly leaning more toward the PS4. Does anyone with experience with either (preferably both) have any insight? Should I change my mind and go for the Switch, or is the PS4 going to be the better option?

[Iroscato]

As it stands right now for open-world RPG's, I'd err on the side of PS4 as it's the current market leader and has easily the widest choice available. H:ZD and several others mentioned are indeed heavy hitters that are gradually bringing even this Sony-phobic Nintendo fan around to the idea of picking one up.
As this generation pans out however, I get the distinct feeling the Switch will be a juggernaut all of its own - it already has the aforementioned BOTW, plus Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and of course Skyrim. Add to that the portability and actual "switching" (which I find quite superb) and you've got a very versatile little console. So it really depends on how you would want to use them and if you're willing to wait a little longer IMO.

EDIT: Also, good on your for returning to college, and I wish you all the best in your studies

[Vendetta]

If you enjoy big long third person open world action games, there's roughly one of those released every six minutes on the PS4. Horizon and Nier Automata are must haves.

It's actually a really hard call though. There's very little overlap in software between the PS4 and Switch, and both have extremely strong libraries. I wouldn't give up either of them.

Also of note on the Switch side though is the indie library. Nintendo have thrown a lot of support behind indie developers who are increasingly jumping ship from Steam due to the infinite tide of asset flips and shit where actual executables are considered optional. That means there's a hell of a lot of top quality relatively cheap titles in the eshop.

[TheFeniX]

Super Mario Odyssey is supposed to be incredibly good. I've played a bit on my Nephews Switch and it almost made me go out and buy one until I realized I just wouldn't play it under different circumstances. Basically, just a text book on how to make a perfect (or near perfect) game.
BotW is no slouch either.
A Metroid Prime 4 is slated for release sometimes as well, though it's highly unlikely to be in 2018 nor do I have a have a whole lot of faith it's going to be all that good.
I love that a 30FPS Skyrim is a selling point. It's funny, but I fully understand it. It's just.... are open world games just generally so shitty we constantly look back to Skyrim?

Either way, Horizon Dawn is one of those games that looks fantastic, especially with all the physics. Then you watch the cutscenes and the absurdly poor facial expressions, combined with a clear lack of emoting and tons of uncanny valley and I ask "this was a selling point?" Don't get me wrong, Beth showed much worse while "showcasing" Fallout 4, but we all knew what we were buying going in. The original Gears of War was leagues ahead of this.

Really though, out of all my friends (and even family) none of them have regretted buying either a PS4 or a Switch. Those who bought an Xbone.....eh.. different story. You have your work cut out for you making this decision. The one thing that tends to slide people to Nintendo is you aren't getting their 1st party stuff on anything but Nintendo. The same can be said for PS4. However, is Sony's new Killzone worth making that choice for?

[Mr Bean]

This is a hard choice because things like Breath of the Wild Xenoblade other Nintendo stuff coming down the pipe are amazing. On the flip side the PS4 pro has an entire chest of exclusives that will never be on the Switch plus more to come.

So I say this, the Switch will have games you can play no where else plus many which (like Skyrim) will be better just because of how damn portable they are on the switch. But a PS4 prop has an entire suite of great games with more to come.

So for now? Buy the PS4 Pro enjoy the back catalog and then if the switch has some amazing exclusives by then? Trade them it in and use the money.

[TheFeniX]

So I say this, the Switch will have games you can play no where else plus many which (like Skyrim) will be better just because of how damn portable they are on the switch. But a PS4 prop has an entire suite of great games with more to come.

Yea, I hadn't thought about that. In games with some kind of "downtime," The Switch has to come in very handy. The ability to craft, enchant, vendor, whatever while you mess with other things or just on the move. I would have loved something like this with the crafting system of FFXIV which was.... a bit more involved than most modern MMO crafting. Basically, I WOULD like something like the NVidia Shield without the $300 price tag ON TOP of my rig itself.

[Ziggy Stardust]

As everyone has said, it's a really tough decision.

My view of it is that, at least for the short-term, PlayStation 4 would be a better investment for you, in terms of having the best selection of titles in the genres that attract you (I myself have played The Last of Us and the entire Uncharted series multiple times, and am eagerly awaiting both The Last of Us 2 and Red Dead Redemption 2). In addition, even outside of gaming my PS4 is essentially the entertainment center of my home, since I can also use it for Netflix, HBO, Amazon, Spotify/YouTube, and even basic cable (PlayStation Vue is a good alternative to traditional cable). If you still have DVDs, you can play those on there as well. You can also plug external hard drives into them and play content that you may have saved elsewhere.

The Switch is wonderful in a lot of ways, but isn't quite as versatile as the PS4 in this respect. And the Switch isn't going anywhere, and in a few years time there may be even better alternatives available. That said, I wouldn't blame you for getting the Switch, because that Breath of the Wild is everything.

[DesertFly]

Yeah, such a hard decision. The portability of the Switch is something I laughed at when it was announced, but the idea has really grown on me. I do like the idea of being able to throw it into my bag with my schoolbooks/laptop and play it during downtime. The PS4 being able to do media center stuff isn't that important to me: I already have a computer hooked up to my tv so I can stream literally anything. Honestly with how torn I am I will probably get the other system sometime down the road, maybe in 6-months or a year, so maybe the PS4 is the best bet now, as it has the larger library of titles I'm interested in currently.

Honestly it's too bad Microsoft dropped the ball so badly this generation. Although I would rather they just opened up all of their titles to run on PC, Halo 5 is the only exclusive I'm missing from this generation and I'd probably like it better on PC.

[DesertFly]

The die is cast:

[DesertFly]

Well it was displaying. Anyway I got the God of War Playstation 4 bundle. Just beat the first boss too.