Let’s Talk About Next Gen Console Gaming and What It Has to Offer
A look at what Sony and Microsoft are doing with their new consoles.
We are about to enter the next generation of gaming. It is one of the best things happening this year, and I couldn’t be more excited.
As we gear up for the imminent release of both Sony and Microsoft’s next round of consoles, the conversation has centered around two major topics:
- The prices of consoles
- Arguing over who is going to win the “console war”
Don’t get me wrong, people have platform loyalty and they are entitled to it. But this new generation of consoles have more to offer.
Sony and Microsoft will be looking to sell as many consoles as possible. But clearly, selling hardware does not guarantee a profit.
Selling hardware is not the real deal in the gaming industry.
It is about the options customers are going to have after buying the hardware. These options can be exclusive games, backwards compatibility, multiplayer games, games for family, cloud gaming, etc.
Both of the major players in this space take different approaches to each of these areas, so let’s take a look at what Sony and Microsoft are introducing for their new consoles.
Sony’s Plan
Sony has been very successfully with PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro, and it looks as though they will be following a similar approach with the PlayStation 5.
They are going to develop highest quality games.
PlayStation 5 will (probably) not be very expensive compared to its previous predecessors. They want people to buy the hardware.
But before selling hardware, it has to be good and it looks like Sony has done a fantastic job on it.
Sony is going to continue their plan of attracting people with exclusive games. They have confirmed game titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Horizon Forbidden West, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Gran Turismo 7, and more.
At the end of the day, It is all about the games and Sony is doing a amazing job on that front year in, year out.
Consumers pay for a video game because it should have hours and hours of entertainment and we have seen Sony delivering that with their first-party exclusives and we will definitely see that continue with PlayStation 5.
PlayStation has been delivering amazing exclusive titles which offers great experiences. This has been most recently seen with the critically acclaimed The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima.
The Console
Personally, I loved how it is going to look and it’s clear that Sony is going for a very high-tech, futuristic vibe with their next console.
The Controller
PlayStation revealed the PlayStation 5 controller, officially called the DualSense, to the world earlier this year.
This DualSense controller will have a haptic feedback, adding a variety of powerful sensations you will feel when you play, such as the slow grittiness of driving a car through mud.
It also has adaptive triggers into the L2 and R2 buttons so you can truly feel the tension of your actions, like when drawing a bow to shoot an arrow.
The Audio
Simply put, 3D sound technique makes sound appear coming from all around you. Sony has developed its own proprietary 3D audio technique for PlayStation 5, allowing developers to take their games to new heights.
This surely will affect our whole gaming experience. Indeed, Sony says the effect is so powerful that you’ll be able to hear where individual rain drops are landing in a game’s environment.
This is going to be a welcome addition to our gaming experience and we have Sony to thank for.
Microsoft‘s Plan
New Xbox Series X Console
Lets have a dream which isn’t under control. I loved this statement from the video.
It looks like a very compact and subtle design from Microsoft as always.
Xbox’s New Audio Chip
“It’s extremely exciting,” senior sound designer Daniele Galante said of the new console. “We’re going to have a dedicated chip to work with audio, which means we finally won’t have to fight with programmers and artists for memory and CPU power.”
The studio’s audio lead David Garcia added: “We take for granted that graphics are powered by their own video cards. But in audio, we haven’t had anything like that. Now we have some power dedicated to us.”
I think it will be interesting to see the comparison that we are going to have between PS5’s new audio technique and Xbox’s. A new war awaits 😛.
Xbox’s New Exclusives
In latest Xbox Games Showcase, they showcased a lot of new games. It must have got Xbox fans excited. This generation looks promising for Xbox and this showcase definitely makes that claim even more convincing.
We even got a 8 minute demo of Halo Infinite. People had mixed feelings after watching the demo. But, if you will watch the demo in 4K resolution again, may be you will like it more. It will be available for both Xbox One and Xbox Series X.
Other than Halo, showcased games were As Dusk Falls, Avowed, Everwild, Fable, Forza Motorsport, The Gunk, The Medium, Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis, Scorn, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, STALKER 2, State of Decay 3, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. All of these will be available for Xbox Series X only.
Other than these, there were many more titles which will be available on both Xbox one and Xbox Series X.
Xbox Game Pass
In Xbox Games Showcase, last week, Xbox announced that every first-party title will be available on Xbox Game pass.
It is pretty incredible and no one is talking about it!
Every single first-party title will be available on Xbox Game pass! Don’t tell me that this is a not exciting thing.
That means you can play every single first-party title on your Xbox console and/or PC for $15 a month. $10 for console and $5 for PC. For first month, I think it is just a dollar.
If you love video games you should definitely check the offer out .
Gaming is a expensive hobby and not everyone is able to afford more than 2 or 3 games a year. How can you not care about money 💁?.
Or do you just like buying a $60 game?
There will be about 10 to 15 good studios involved in this. Why this is not a talking point is beyond me!
Microsoft is building a ecosystem with addition of Smart Delivery, Game Pass and xCloud. Microsoft is not necessarily selling you a hardware.
Microsoft is definitely taking a different step with this. And you should acknowledge it.
Has console war got this insane that we can not acknowledge any other thing than who is a console war winner?
I am not telling to buy Xbox or Game Pass but you should at least acknowledge this so that more people will know it.
People should at least talk about this because if this turns out to be a good thing everyone in the gaming industry will try to implement it.
Final thought: We should talk more about this new additions rather than be involved in console wars.
Ultimately, consumer should be the winner.
I hope people will talk about this and consumers will have more options in the future.
Thanks for reading. Have a nice one!
