One of the few good things happening this year is the launch of the next generation of gaming consoles. While each console is loaded with many new features and some drawbacks, the most important thing to remember is get the one that your friends are getting, get the one that can play your favorite games, and if possible, avoid spending unnecessary money.
Xbox
Why should you buy an Xbox?
The new generation of Xbox is loaded with some really nice features. Some of the most exciting features and benefits are support for up to 120 fps (frames per second), support or variable refresh rate, quick resume, a high speed SSD, backwards compatibility all the way back to original Xbox games, Game pass, the widely loved Xbox controller and intriguing finance options. With twice to four times the amount of visual data per second compared to traditional console refresh rates of 30 and 60hz high refresh rates like 120 fps, make the game you're playing feel smoother. Variable refresh rate is another very cool and interesting technology. Put simply V.R.R. will help keep your console and supported TV or monitor in sync with each other, eliminating distracting visual artifacts like stutters and tearing. One of the most interesting new features is “quick resume,” which allows players to quickly switch between games without having to close their current game and completely reload in the game that they are trying to play. The addition of an SSD for storage which is much faster than the hard drive that was in the Xbox last generation will make loading games take not nearly as long as it has in the past. One of the biggest advantages of buying an Xbox is the ability to play games all the way back to original Xbox games. This backwards compatibility makes it so that on Xbox you can always play your favorite old games. One of the biggest benefits of purchasing an Xbox is Game pass. For just 9.99 a month Game Pass entitles you to over 300 games that you can play whenever you want. One of the many advantages of choosing Xbox is the almost universally loved controller. Plus in an effort to eliminate e-waste last generation Xbox One controllers are also compatible with the series X and series S. Microsoft is also offering very compelling finance options for those looking to pay for their Xbox in 24 monthly instalments. The series X is 34.99/mo and the series S is 24.99/mo both options include 2 years of Game Pass making them an incredibly intriguing value proposition. Not everything about this generation of Xbox is totally awesome, as games are getting every larger the storage capacity of the new Xbox’s may not be able to keep up. You can expand the storage with a proprietary store expansion card, however these cards cost over $200 for just 1TB of additional storage
Which one should you buy?
So if you decide that Xbox is the way to go, the next question is which one should I buy? Perhaps the most important distinction between the Series S and X is the price. The Series X is $499 or $34.99/mo for 2 years. The Series S on the other hand is the cheapest of the new generation of consoles at $299 or $24.99/mo. The Series X comes out of the box with 1TB of storage whereas the Series S only comes with around half the capacity at 512GB. The Series S is also significantly smaller compared to the Series X. The dimensions of the Series S are 15.1cm by 6.5cm by 27.5cm. The Series X on the other hand is 15.1cm by 15.1cm by 30.1cm. The Series X’s biggest advantage is its power. The Series X is capable of running next generation games at a true 4K resolution whereas the Series S renders games at 1440p (less than half the number of pixels). The Series S is also an all digital console meaning that you cannot play physical games (games on disks) or watch blu-rays on your console. The Series X has a built-in 4K UHD blu-ray player and disk drive for physical games.
Playstation 5
Why should you buy a playstation 5?
The Playstation 5 has many exciting features and just like the New Xboxs some negatives as well. Just like the Xbox the playstation has support for up to 120fps for incredibly smooth and fluid feeling gameplay. In the last generation (Xbox One and PS4) the Playstation had more exciting exclusives such as God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted, Spider-man, Detroit Become Human, Ghost of Tsushima, and Gran Turismo. This domination of exclusives shows no signs of stopping with games like Bugsnax, and Spiderman Miles Morales already available only on Playstation. Unlike Xbox whose controller changed very little from last generation to this, Sony radically redesigned their controller. The dual sense, as it's now called, is bigger and more ergonomic than that outgoing dual-shock 4. The dual sense also has a new and very striking almost stormtrooper like two-tone design. In fact it's not just the controller that got released in this new style the entire console did. Sony, like Xbox, also has an incredibly fast advanced SSD which coupled with some under the hood technical advancements that should help drastically cut down on game load times. Those are the good features of the Playstation 5, what about the bad? The striking white and black design may prove difficult to fit into some living rooms. This problem is compounded by the fact that the PS5 is massive. It is in fact the biggest home console ever coming in at 39.1cm by 26cm by 10.4cm. The PS5 only has 825GB of storage out of the box, and while storage expansions for the Playstation five are not proprietary like they are on Xbox currently, Sony has not whitelisted any drives as compatible.
Which one should you buy?
You have decided that the Playstation Five is the one for you, now the tricky question, which one should you spend your hard earned money on? Thankfully the differentiation between the PS5 and the PS5 digitation edition is quite simple, and it's all right in the name. Both consoles are fundamentally the same and should have the exact same performance, however if you want to play physical games (on a disk) or play blu-rays through your console then the regular PS5 is for you. If you don't care about game disks or blu-rays then you can save $100 and get the PS5 digital edition. The regular PS5 costs $499 and the PS5 digital edition costs $399. It is also worth mentioning that the regular PS5 has a “bulge” for the disk drive that many have found aesthetically displeasing.
No matter which console or which variant you buy you will more than likely not regret your decision. All the new consoles have significantly better performance compared to last gen while still offering many new and exciting features that will improve the user experience. So as stated previously, the most important thing to remember is get the one that your friends are getting, get the one that can play your favorite games, and if possible, avoid spending money unnecessarily.
By: Joseph Shull