Riley Reviews
By Riley Fink
By Riley Fink
The time has finally come for the next generation of video game consoles, and though previous cycles felt like a war brewing between the tech giants of Microsoft and Sony, this year is different. Xbox hasn't fully committed a full generational leap, at least in concept. Their powerful new Xbox Series X won’t get any true exclusive games until several years down the line. When Halo Infinite comes out next year, you’ll also be able to play it on The Xbox One series of consoles alongside their new, super cheap Xbox Series S. This is all to put a focus on Xbox Game Pass, their $10 a month subscription service granting access to hundreds of digital games.
Playstation, on the other hand, is committing wholeheartedly to exactly what made the PS4 so successful- big, expensive new games exclusive to the new PS5. Their main titles for launch include FromSoftware’s Demon’s Souls, beautifully remade from the ground up by Bluepoint games, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the latter of which is also launching on PS4. Down the line we also have the confirmed PS5 exclusives of Horizon: Forbidden West, Final Fantasy XVI, and God of War: Ragnarok.
Talking about the consoles themselves, the Xbox Series X is slightly more powerful than the PS5, both have an extremely effective cooling solution, both have complete backwards compatibility with games of the previous generation, and the PS5 boasts a much faster solid state drive than the Series S or X. Speaking of which, if you’re out of the loop, that’s the main difference between last generation and next. The insane speeds of SSDs compared to the hard disk drives of the past, alongside extreme upgrades in horsepower, lets any game boot up lighting fast with near top of the line performance.
The price points are also quite nice given how much power is in these consoles, with The Series X and PS5 launching at $499. Both consoles have a cheaper version, with the underpowered Series S launching at only $299 and the discless PS5 Digital Edition launching at $399. If you’re on a budget or don’t need much more than your Call of Dutys and Maddens to run well, the Series S will probably be the right pick, but for those more interested in large single player experiences, the PS5 is a no brainer.
Playstation, on the other hand, is committing wholeheartedly to exactly what made the PS4 so successful- big, expensive new games exclusive to the new PS5. Their main titles for launch include FromSoftware’s Demon’s Souls, beautifully remade from the ground up by Bluepoint games, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the latter of which is also launching on PS4. Down the line we also have the confirmed PS5 exclusives of Horizon: Forbidden West, Final Fantasy XVI, and God of War: Ragnarok.
Talking about the consoles themselves, the Xbox Series X is slightly more powerful than the PS5, both have an extremely effective cooling solution, both have complete backwards compatibility with games of the previous generation, and the PS5 boasts a much faster solid state drive than the Series S or X. Speaking of which, if you’re out of the loop, that’s the main difference between last generation and next. The insane speeds of SSDs compared to the hard disk drives of the past, alongside extreme upgrades in horsepower, lets any game boot up lighting fast with near top of the line performance.
The price points are also quite nice given how much power is in these consoles, with The Series X and PS5 launching at $499. Both consoles have a cheaper version, with the underpowered Series S launching at only $299 and the discless PS5 Digital Edition launching at $399. If you’re on a budget or don’t need much more than your Call of Dutys and Maddens to run well, the Series S will probably be the right pick, but for those more interested in large single player experiences, the PS5 is a no brainer.