What we know about the next generation of consoles

The current generation of video games is coming to an end. The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will soon be replaced by their more advanced children, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

The Nintendo Switch will keep being the Switch. Nintendo usually doesn’t follow the other two when it comes to releasing new consoles. Instead, they do their own thing and release weird and revolutionary consoles when they feel like it.

The Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are both set for a holiday 2020 release date. That could be delayed due to production delays because of the Coronavirus, but so far they look to be on track.

Now gamers all around the world will have to choose which console to buy this holiday season—unless they are fortunate enough to be able to buy both.

Each console has its pros and cons. While we know a lot more about the Xbox Series X than we do the PlayStation 5, it may be time for a nice little feature rundown of the two.

The holidays are a ways off, but E3 is approaching and it will come with more news about the two consoles. So it only seems right to talk about them now.

Xbox Series X

A surprise reveal at The Game Awards 2019, the Xbox Series X looks and will most likely feel like a PC. Instead of the classic horizontal black box, the Series X will be a large, bulky, vertical black box.

This direction makes sense for Microsoft as they seem to be bridging the gap between their Xbox brand and Windows. Bringing exclusives to PC and allowing crossplay between the two, as well as having Xbox Game Pass exist on both.

Its bulky nature will make it harder for current living room setups, as it won’t look very good underneath a TV. You can still place it horizontally, but it will look a lot better vertically.

The Xbox Series X will have 12 teraflops of power, which is twice the power of the Xbox One X. It will throw away the classic hard drive for an SSD which will allow for larger games to load a lot faster.

It will also support the hotly anticipated technology known as ray tracing. It is all the rage on the PC market and makes your games look virtually lifelike.

It will also be backward compatible with Xbox One, Xbox 360 and the Original Xbox. That is four consoles in one and it will make sure none of your games are left behind.

On top of that, it will have a feature known as Smart Delivery. If you buy a game on Xbox One you will automatically get the Xbox Series X version for free, if the game supports it.

The controller will pretty much be the same as the Xbox One controller and your controllers from previous Xbox variants will be able to be used on the Series X. If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

The Xbox Series X is really setting out to change the game and bridge the gap between generations. Along with it comes Project xCloud which will allow you to stream your Xbox games to any devices, including your cellphone.

The price has not been revealed yet, but the console is set for a holiday 2020 release. If everything goes right, Microsoft could have a big winner on their hands.

PlayStation 5

News about the PlayStation 5 is virtually nonexistent. Sony executives have mentioned it and there is a talk about the specs, but we have no idea what it looks like. We really have no official news about the next-generation console.

It is currently also set for a holiday 2020 release date if everything goes as planned. However, not having any official specs or news about the console puts Microsoft in the lead.

The news we have out there is sparse, but it does paint a picture of a similar console to the Xbox Series X.

Apparently, it will be backward compatible with PlayStation 4 and will have a disc drive and many games for it are already in the works. The PlayStation 4 did not support backward compatibility, so this is a nice change of pace.

It will apparently support 8K graphics and ray tracing, much like the Series X. It will also support virtually no loading times due to an SSD.

The controller will be similar to every other PlayStation controller with a few little tweaks.

Sony also has an impressive lineup of developers that will no doubt make exclusives for the PlayStation 5. Expect some stellar titles.

Yet, other than that, we really do not know much about the PlayStation 5. Hopefully, we will learn more soon.

The two consoles are going to be going head to head this holiday if production is not stalled. So far, Microsoft definitely has the advantage because we actually know way more information about the Series X than we do the PS5.

Why Sony is keeping it a secret is anyone’s guess. Hopefully, we will learn more about it in June around E3.