6/3
It seems we're on the precipice of the next gen console news dam breaking. Though it's been pushed back, Sony's PlayStation 5 reveal is imminent. We already received a thorough overview of the hardware architecture, have seen the controller, and been teased with Unreal Engine 5 running on it. On the other side of the divide, Microsoft has lead the media cycle—long since unveiling its hardware package and giving hands-on time to select outlets. They followed that up a few weeks later with a series of cinematic and rendered-in-engine trailers to promote some of the Xbox Series X's notable games.
In general, we know a lot about what these consoles can do; the specs have been written about and analyzed from all angles. We know the themes of this generation are going to be super fast loading, more realistic lighting, and higher resolutions. We even know what one of the consoles looks like in its entirety. We still don't know what in-game launch title gameplay will actually look like, though. And how much are these things going to cost, anyway?
The first is a bit easier if you've been exposed to enough PC gaming over the last three or four years. Raytracing and higher resolutions are more prevalent and offer strong indicators for what we'll see from new consoles. There could be further improvements depending on what the faster loading capabilities offer developers. That's a little harder to find an analog for—it seems like the consoles could be forging new ground here—but SSDs, M2, NVMe storage, and even Intel's Optane have made it clear that faster storage is objectively better.
The cost question is harder to answer. There's clearly a bit of a cold war going on between Microsoft and Sony around it. I expect both consoles to launch at the same price regardless of what that number is but if anyone is going to undercut the competition this time around my money is on Microsoft. Personally, I think the sweet spot is $499 but I wouldn't be surprised to see a $549 or even a $599 price point. Considering the current state of the global economy, it's hard to say where consumer spending power will be when the consoles are ready to launch. Pricing them to match will be more important this year than its ever been for a console launch. Plus, it's not uncommon for a console to be sold at a loss.
It's best to keep expectations in check for the launch titles, though. It seems we'll get a decent amount of cross-gen games, which historically tend not to push new hardware as much. While they will undoubtedly look better, they won't be built with just the new hardware in mind. I'm hoping some of the new IPs surprise and delight here. Either way, the floor will suddenly rise across the board, just like it does every generation. I wouldn't underestimate the benefits those faster load times will bring as well. If the marketing-speak is to be believed, the way players can interact with game worlds will be noticeably broadened. Industry standard tricks and techniques gamers have grown used to that hide loading will suddenly disappear, contributing to a "next-gen feel" that will be hard to describe for gamers who haven't yet experienced it.
Perhaps most fascinating is the clear difference in approach to what next-gen means to Sony and Microsoft. Sony has drawn a line in the sand that says "this is the new console and it's better than the old one. For that reason, it will have games you can only play on it from day one." Microsoft has taken an opposite stance, treating the Series X as a more capable system that can do more with the same games its siblings are running. They're leaning so hard into it that Microsoft has confirmed the Series X won't have any console exclusive titles for at least its first year. That's simply unheard of; it's a reminder that the console landscape changed when iterative improvement—something so inherent in PC gaming hardware—reached consoles with the mid-generation PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X updates.
With such different approaches I'd recommend keeping an eye on both for at least the first year. Sony will have its army of strong exclusives and last gen's success to bolster the PS5. Microsoft will have more powerful hardware and access to their broad range of cloud services and integrations. It's got a little bit of an old school vs new school flavor to it. Battles aside, I'm looking forward to what they both bring to gaming. With graphical improvements maybe showing the first signs of diminishing returns, what else will become the hallmark(s) of next-gen gaming? Fortunately, the wait won't be too much longer.