There’s already a console war brewing over the next generation of consoles, and the big names in the industry haven’t even shown off said new consoles. Sony skipped E3 2019 entirely, opting to run their own direct stream event instead, which included very little PS5 news. And Microsoft didn’t have much to say about their new console, which still bears its codename moniker, Xbox Scarlett.
The anemic amount of news for these new gaming consoles means that gamers are likely going to be waiting until 2020 to even see them again, and possibly not in a playable state.
And while the Xbox Scarlett has the claim of an expansive backwards compatibility library, the PS5 does as well. The tech driving Scarlett is still very vague. Sony has also refused to reveal more details about the specs of their newest hardware, although it’s reasonable to assume it will be in line with the GDDR6 memory, custom AMD processor and SSD storage system of the Scarlett.
It may well come down to overall technical power as a deciding factor, and with some sources claiming PS5 is better than Scarlett in this area, there’s definite tension building.
It’s very important to keep in mind that power isn’t everything. Though the inclusion of 8K resolution and much higher average frame rates is great for closing the performance gap between consoles and PCs, it doesn’t mean games will automatically sell better, or that the consoles themselves will be profitable.
We know that exclusives will be a major selling point for both platforms. PS5 will have the option of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and likely several other launch titles. While the Scarlett has Halo Infinite, and possibly more. Other big names in this gaming generation remain up in the air. Capcom could bring some pretty big names with both Resident Evil and Monster Hunter, and if Sony or Microsoft manage to nail even a timed exclusive for one of these franchises, that would be huge.
Other major AAA franchises like Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto and Need for Speed could tilt the market share in one way or another.
The pricing strategy for both consoles has yet to be revealed, and we don’t know if games will depart from their $60 price point in this next generation. The economic factors of a console’s success cannot be ignored, and we’ll have to wait until we see a more concrete pricing structure, technical specs and game library before we can make a serious judgement call about which console is better.
