The console wars are upon us.
Every five years or so, two of the most outspoken groups of people alive take to social media to collectively proclaim dominance over the other. It’s PlayStation versus Xbox, Halo vs God of War, a white controller over a black one.
As trivial as this rivalry may seem, the console you choose is more important than ever – locking you into exclusive games (that you might not be able to play with your mates, if they choose differently) and providing a different set of features. And while both consoles are good (like, really good) they are different in a few key ways.
Sony PlayStation 5
Design: The PS5 has a radical design change and it’s absolutely massive (so big that if you plan on keeping it under the television, you might need to pull out the tape measure first.
Power: Sony’s next-gen console only has 10.3 teraflops of power (15 per cent than its rival). That won’t be apparent early-on, but a few years down the line and that oomph will certainly add up.
Storage: The PS5 has a speedy hard drive, which translates to quicker loading times (if you have to wait at all). That will make for smoother in-game experiences, and the ability to go from power-on to gaming in less than 60 seconds.
Games: Sony’s focus on exclusive games continues to pay off. The PS5 has a slew of exclusive titles including the new Spider-Man: Miles Morales game as well as Sackboy: A Big Adventure. It will also play previous exclusives now with upgraded visuals, included The Last of Us and Uncharted.
Microsoft Xbox Series X
Design: The Xbox is a hulking black block of gaming hardware. Gone is the flatter (and fatter) design, replaced with a large rectangular console that looks more like a mini desktop over anything else.
Power: The Series has 12 teraflops of raw graphics-processing power. What that means in real-world talk is Microsoft’s next-gen console is blazingly fast, which translates to 4K gaming at 120 frames per second (and 8K gaming is on the way in a future update).
Storage: There is a 1 terabyte driver under the hood, which will be enough to keep a decent number of games installed at all time. But while Microsoft says it benefits from ‘Velocity Architecture’ which will reduce load times, it’s nowhere near as quick as the Sony competitor.
Games: This will be the first Xbox console that will not have a next-generation Halo game at launch (due to developer delays). That’s a real shame, because despite backwards compatibility for a hundred plus games at launch (including first-party titles like Gears of War) it has no real exclusives to speak of.
The verdict
Good news, everyone. Based on some time testing the PS5 and the Xbox Series X we can report both are great.
Aside for the few differences mentioned above, both are faster, better (and bigger) than ever before. And both are out right now.
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