PS5 isn’t guaranteed victory in the 9th gen, but neither is the Series X

So we’re now well into the hype phase going into a new console generation, and to be honest, I’m not seeing the excitement this time around. Either from myself or the gaming community at large. I think most people have resigned to the fact that consoles will be incremental upgrades from now on, rather than the huge generational leaps.

We’ve had the specs for both the Series X and the PS5 for a little while now, and have even gotten some game demos. Admittedly, both consoles look fairly similar, with Microsoft going for raw power, and Sony opting for I/O optimization. Both of which will certainly be put to good use in upcoming titles. However, we still have no word on pricing or release dates. Which, if you’ll remember how things played out with the 8th gen unveiling, we definitely had by now. Which clearly tells me that neither company feels like they’re holding a royal flush.

Last generation, the PS4 won straight out of the gate, largely because the Xbox One’s unveiling was so poorly handled. Perhaps even exceeding the disastrous launch of the Sega Saturn nearly 20 years earlier in terms of sheer tone deafness. This allowed Sony to hit them with a major coup after they had struggled themselves for the prior eight years. PS4 was the gamer friendly system. It was the consumer friendly system. More importantly, it was the more affordable system. Making for a hat trick that eventually made it the second best selling TV top console of all time, just behind the PS2.

However, a lot has changed since 2013. Sony has been making some controversial decisions lately, as the company transitions its base from Japan to California. Plus while they did have some very good exclusives this generation, I don’t think they did quite enough to establish solid brand loyalty. Especially now as once loyal Japanese third parties are starting to branch out to the PC and Xbox. Something which was unthinkable just a few short years ago.

In addition, the competition hasn’t been making mistakes this time around. Microsoft has been careful not to wade into any controversies. They’ve also been working hard building up the platform as a service, broadening the Xbox audience through things such as Game Pass. Their dedication towards maintaining backwards compatibility for all their consoles is also nothing short of incredible in an era where it’s no longer a guarantee. Xbox is now arguably the most pro-consumer of the two. Definitely a complete 180 from seven years ago.

However, the Xbox’s biggest weakness is still a lack of compelling exclusives. Yes they’ve shown off some cool stuff. However, there’s nothing really there that would compel me to choose the Series X over the PS5. Now that online play has reached a parity across both platforms, it feels like the brand is undergoing a bit of an identity crisis. Xbox is still struggling to distinguish itself from competitors. Now, Microsoft has been buying up well known game studios left and right, so perhaps things will evolve over time, to something better than what we’re seeing right now. That is if they don’t squander that opportunity like they did with buying Rare.

I do think the PS5 has a slight edge going into the 9th generation, simply because they have a large number of people heavily invested in that ecosystem. Though I don’t expect there to be anywhere near as big a gap between it and the Series X as we saw last time around. Unless one really cocks up between now and November, it’s going to be a close battle.

Photo by dalvenjah via Flickr