PS5 -vs- X-Box: Let Them Fight

We’re approaching the release of the next generation of consoles – the PlayStation 5 and the X-Box Series X (and S) so I figured I’d put up a post outlining my own thoughts on each platform. PC has been my primary gaming platform for going on 20 years now, but I’ve always had one console or another to play alongside it. Most recently, that console is the Switch, but am I tempted to pick up a PS5 and /or an X-Box series console too?

Before we really knew anything about these new platforms, I was much more interested in the PS5. Given that the PC is my preferred platform, that shouldn’t really come as a surprise, not when pretty much everything available on the X-Box ‘ecosystem’ is also available on PC either through Steam or via Game Pass. The Series X console, in terms of hardware, is pretty great value, and I do like the compact design, but as a platform, it doesn’t really offer me anything I can’t or won’t get on the PC.

But I don’t think Microsoft really care about that. They’re really focusing on their Game Pass subscription model and they don’t really care where you play. And if I didn’t own or couldn’t afford a decent PC, then the combination of a Series X or S console plus a Game Pass subscription would be an easy choice to make – the value that offers is pretty insane.

But I do have a decent PC and so I don’t really need either of the new X-Box models. And that’s why I was more interested in the PS5. I didn’t pick up a PS4 but there are several games on that platform I’d like to play and I was waiting to see if those games would be backwards compatible with the PS5 and / or offer free ‘enhanced’ versions at a higher frame rate or even paid remastered versions that take advantage of the upgraded hardware.

Sony were really knocking it out of the park towards the end of the PS4 cycle with one big exclusive hit after another. And it appears that strategy of exclusive first party games and exclusive third party content is something they intend to continue with the PS5. But the question is, will that strategy continue to work in a market that is evolving more towards subscription based services?

And it does kind of feel like Sony shot their entire load towards the end of the PS4 cycle, leaving them a little short on the release of the PS5. And the more I’ve heard and seen of the PS5, the less inclined I am to pick one up, at least in the short term. The console, in terms of design, isn’t really to my taste. And the pricing of the games – £70 – is pretty damn steep.

Then you have the cost of online play to consider, the fact that (at the time of writing) we still don’t know exactly how backwards compatibility will work for PS4 games and hell, we still haven’t really seen the console ‘in the flesh’ so to speak. It’s almost like Sony are trying to hide how big and bulky it looks outside of flattering renders.

The digital version, despite the reduced price, feels like a trap when you’re relying on online sales that might never come or be as generous as physical reductions. Sony, with the PS4 library behind it, certainly has the games to interest me, even though the platform looks, frankly, inferior to the new X-Box Series models. If I was picking a platform based purely on design, hardware and value, the X-Box Series would win quite comfortably.

But I don’t need an X-Box because I already have a PC. I was looking to get a PS5 in order to play all those tasty PS4 exclusives I’ve missed out on, but I’m not going to do that until I know exactly what I’m getting. It feels like Sony have been pretty shy at revealing details – I don’t know if it’s a marketing strategy (if it is, it’s not a very good one) or just plain incompetence. They should be making me want to buy their platform, but I can’t say they’ve succeeded. At all. Microsoft’s strategy is clear, but Sony seems to be all over the place and unable to give straight answers on anything. They really need to get their act together.

Between the two platforms, I’m obviously still more interested in the PS5, but that’s purely for the games I hope to be able to play on it, not for the platform itself. The platform, based on design and value, just isn’t an attractive purchase right now. So I guess I’ll take a wait and see approach, and maybe wait for a ‘slim’ model redesign that might come out in the future.