PlayStation 5 / Xbox Series X mega-thread!

[Darren Stephens]

Now that both consoles have been revealed, it's safe to say the next gen is looking pretty darn cool. For me, it's going to be the PS5 rather than the Xbox. Anyone else looking to pick up a new console? If so which one and what games are you camping at the bit to play?

[WhizzBang]

I have heard about the XBox Series X for a while now and have only just realised from this thread that it is a new console - I had assumed it was yet another iteration of the XBox One. I think there could be a danger here that MS are are going to fall into the same problem Nintendo had with the Wii U where it wasn't obvious that it was a new and better machine than the Wii.

[MumboJimbo]

It’s early days, but I agree - the PS5 looks the more interesting proposition with what we know so far. I think the fast SSD and custom SSD controller have the potential to be a real game changer. The Ratchet and Clank game seems to show this off very well, as it appears to instantly transport you to entirely new game areas without any discernible pause for loading the new data. As we’re very much in the realm of diminishing returns with graphics improvements, it’s something like this that gives you a “this wasn’t possible before” feeling, which is what’s needed when a new generation arrives.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Honestly? I will probably buy a PC.

[JamesC]

I'm not really buying the hype yet.
Last generation they were saying loading times would be a thing of the past. That was a load of rubbish. They also launched with hard drives which weren't really big enough.
For this generation all I really wanted was controllers with decent DPads (the PS5 still has the crappy segmented design) and a simple console design that would fit nicely under the telly.
It doesn't look like either will deliver on that score.

[Professor Bear]

A lot of what they promised last time was dependent on being introduced alongside dystopian DRM measures, always-on internet, and various other money-squeezing tactics like one-use discs, but for there was a lot of pushback against a mandatory front-facing camera and microphone that constantly monitors your use of the console to ensure that only one person is playing a game or watching a movie.
My main memory of why I resisted shifting to PS4 will be that Sony took two years to implement media playback - which could then only be done from an external hard drive - despite capturing and storing video not only being built into the machine from day one, but there was even a dedicated button on the fucking controller for just that purpose.  It was just a tactic to get you using subscription-based apps on the console, and the media player they did eventually implement on PS4 is legendarily awful.

[I, Cosh]

Will probably get a PS5 in about three or four years once there's a few decent exclusive games to get.

[shaolin_monkey]

Will probably get a PS5 in about three or four years once there's a few decent exclusive games to get.

Seconded.  Besides loading times, there's not really much else to attract me.  Plus my existing console works fine, and I have a ton of unfinished games for it.  It plays my DVDs and Blurays to a good standard, and already accommodates 3D for a 3D-ready TV or through PSVR.  4K streaming/disc play?  Not massively interested.


If it is retailing at £500 it is going to take a large drop in price and superb quality games to make my PS4 obsolete.

[Ghost MacRoth]

Pretty much what them 2 said.  No reason to upgrade yet.

[Rately]

I'm thinking of purchasing a machine after about a decade in the wilderness, but I'd be more likely to wait till the new generations are released, then just purchase a reduced PS4 and grab a pile of games, hopefully at reduced prices.

[wedgeski]

Consoles rarely hold my attention for more than 2 or 3 of the release games, but I'm okay with that! For Xbox One, it was Tomb Raider, the new version of Rock Band (1000's of hours into that series), and one of the Lego games that my wife really took an interest in. Now, years later, I've bought the follow-up Tomb Raider, and that's it. Once again, my interest swerved aside, in this instance to PC and Switch, although we still regularly play Rock Band Rivals.

That said I always enjoy the excitement of a new console release, even though these days it's really about what ecosystem and exclusives you prefer, not a mind-blowing step-up in fidelity like it was in the early days. I stuck with Microsoft last time, and have regretted not being able to play Last of Us and a few other really good looking exclusives. This time around, I'm not sure which way I'll go.

I will say this though: a stripped-down console, with no BluRay and a nice big SSD, is exactly what I'm looking for.

[repoman]

Tricky one for me this.  It all comes down to complacency.  Sony were killing it with the PS2 but got a bit cocky and handed the next gen to Microsoft and the Xbox 360 (at least in Europe).

But the disasterous Xbox One launch was M$ at their most complacent worst and so the PS4 absolutely killed it this gen.

However, M$ learned from it and actually the Xbox One X is a great bit of kit and the Game Pass thing is very clever.  Also, the backwards compatibility with the 360 is great for someone like me as I had like 500 digital games on the 360.  BUT I never bought any kind of Xbox One because of how badly they cocked it up.

Conversely, Sony have really rested on their laurels with the PS4.  The insistence on pushing PS Now rather than adding any backwards compatibility is one example.  PS+ is often useless in terms of the games it gives.

But I do run a PS4 only review site and so I'm probably going to get a PS5 to keep it going.  And I'll have to do it day one.  But I can't help thinking that Xbox might have the better ideas this gen.

[Professor Bear]

It all comes down to complacency.  Sony were killing it with the PS2 but got a bit cocky and handed the next gen to Microsoft and the Xbox 360 (at least in Europe).

I'd argue it was the other way around, and that Microsoft were so cocky they lost not just their monopoly on the 7th gen market and a year's head start over what was clearly a janky machine*, but also their chance to win the format wars.  Sony weren't complacent but using the PS3 in a long game with the development of Blu-ray - kind of like they were with the PS4 when they released a pretty underwhelming console onto the market but had the sense not to tell the world Sony were planning on using it to film their consumers sleeping, a strategy which sadly escaped Microsoft with the XB1 but which they at least learned in time for the release of the last few versions of Windows.



* which doubled as a heater in the winter if you lived in a small flat like I did

[repoman]

With the PS3 it was the fact that they stripped out existing features like backwards compatibility and thought that they could justify the high asking price.

You're right about the 360 hardware though.  I must have gone through five of them!

[Professor Bear]

Yeah, losing PS2 compatibility boiled my piss at the time, but it did allow the price of units to go down, and like I say, Sony were about the long game for blu-ray more than they were retaining brand loyalists or people with large PS2 libraries - both of whom would arguably have had one of the first-wave PS2-compatible machines already.

You're right about the 360 hardware though.  I must have gone through five of them!

I was talking about the PS3!  I know the 360 rightly gets stick for its high failure rate and Microsoft's bizarre official stance that it wasn't happening, but the PS3 also had many under-reported problems of its own, like the Red Screen Of Death, wonky disc loaders, power-down bugs, and suddenly turning into a jet engine if the rear vents were covered for a short amount of time (or if dust built up on the mesh inside the vent, as it was likely to do with any PS3s left near the floor).