PlayStation Portal has destroyed my backlog and I love it

Despite not being able to find the time to squeeze in a few hours of gaming here and there I buy, buy, and buy again. I neglected to buy Ghost Of Tsushima for my PlayStation 4, so let’s buy it now. I’ve clearly not got 100+ hours to spare but let’s buy Cyberpunk 2077 anyway. I’ve only played an hour of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order but hey, that’s a good price for Survivor so why not dive in and buy it. God Of War Ragnarök is £20 ‘cos of Asda’s fire sale. Kerching, here’s my cash.

I’m firmly in the physical purchase team, so am glad I’ve got 11 game boxes sat on my bookcase. It makes me feel warm inside and secure that even if I somehow lose the 200+ games I’ve added to my library through PS Plus then I’ll be OK. Even if there’s an apocalyptic event, so long as I have my precious discs I might be able to fit in a few hours on a bug-ridden game. Surely an apocalypse would afford me more screen time, right?

But wait… Is that a saviour heading over the hills towards me? Yes, yes it is.

The PlayStation Portal. Since having received it as a gift for Christmas I’ve been able to fully complete three games from my backlog and have made a dent in a few others. Being a one screen household I’m smack bang in the middle of the demographic for this product and can wholeheartedly recommend it.

I used to snatch some game time once everyone had gone to bed. However, even with the TV free I find myself turning to the Portal and playing for longer in bed. It’s reinvigorated my playing of games and means I’m not just buying games ‘cos I want them but actually for the reason of playing them.

There’s been precious few reasons to own a PlayStation 5. Spider-Man: Miles Morales was a good reason. Seeing it on my brother-in-law’s day one purchase of a PlayStation 5 hooked me in. But ray-tracing and refresh rates have now taken a back seat. My 8-inch HD screen provides enough for me graphically and what’s the use of cutting edge graphics if you are not playing the games?

The Portal and its limitations have set me free (and I tell you what, it far outstrips general remote play usage, if even just ergonomically). I will finish more games this year than I have done in the past five.

Will it stop me buying games that I don’t actually need? No, of course not. The thrill of ordering online and waiting for the postman far outweighs the clicking of a ‘confirm order’ button on an online purchase. As much as I like buying a Metro game, that I don’t need, for £1.99 it’s just not the same as peeling back the tear line on a physical game.

I love gaming. Have done since the NES and still do now. The difference the Portal has made is that I’m now actually playing the games that I read about and purchase.

By reader Kevin (kev_j_stewart – PSN ID)