Expanded Impressions and Ranking Next-Gen Console Gaming Hardware

I wanted to toss out my expanded thoughts on the Next-Gen hardware coming out in November and how I believe it’ll rank out in importance. 

So far I believe that the Xbox Series X and Seris S have a great showing for accessibility. With the Series S, new players and budget-oriented players will be able to get into the next-gen space early and easier with this option. The Series S does have a major downfall in the fact that it is seriously reduced in power compared to the full price counterpart. It also looks like an old Sony speaker, but that’s just funny; that doesn’t help or hurt it either way.

With the Xbox Series X, I think the system will be a great option for those chasing a higher fidelity image and the capabilities for devs will be great too. To touch on the not so shiny parts of the machine, both the Series S and Series X will be forcing players back into buying “Memory Cards” to maintain their load times within the new Xbox Velocity architecture. There is still the option of using an external but not to keep faster load times and “more immersive gameplay”. The new memory cards are considered an internal expansion rather than external. With a whopping $219.00 USD price tag I am inclined to be much more upset about it.

The Series X and Series S having such different specs cause me to worry.

Honestly, the Xbox All Access option to pay per month directly through Microsoft and Xbox is fantastic. This gives people who can come up with either $25 (series S) or 35$ (Series X) per month a way to affordably get the console. Additionally, this financing option ALSO includes Game Pass Ultimate which is the big daddy version of Game Pass that works with PC, Xbox, and mobile in the future for the ENTIRE time you are paying off the console or 24 months in case it is paid off early. This is the easiest and most affordable way to get into next-gen gaming once early November hits. 

With Playstation I would easily say that it looks like they have a leg up in the options for their buyers. The consoles are identical aside from a disk drive. Playstation will not be limiting players to a lower power machine for going without the disk drive. Anyone who wants to expand memory can do so via USB just like previous generations without proprietary hardware. 

The cheaper model of the PlayStation 5 is $100 more expensive than the Xbox Series S. Sony also do not currently offer a pay per month financing option directly through their website like Microsoft does so it is full price upfront and more expensive. PlayStation also has less SSD space, but as mentioned you can easily expand that. 

So thoughts on the game library of both? I would say that they both look….weird? I can’t put my finger on why, but they feel off for a next-gen release. They both have the standard Madden, NBA, FIFA, COD, etc, and they both have some exclusives/timed exclusives but I’m not feeling these launch titles. 

Honestly, I think that both systems come to a draw when considering that both will bring next-gen power to expansive libraries of games. Both systems have elements of backward compatibility, though the exact scope may not be fully understood until players have an opportunity to put these systems to the test. The Xbox Series S I would’ve like to see with more power than it has but I am happy to see Xbox pulling in players with a super appealing price tag. The Series S seems like more of an entry point but maybe the experience will be comparable to the more expensive system.

In summary, from top to bottom, here are my personal rankings of the Next-Gen systems

1. Playstation 5 Digital Edition - You do not need a disk drive in this day and age unless you are collecting hardware and physical copies of games. Of course, those with a built-up library of physical games will likely want the standard PS5

2. A more powerful Nintendo Switch "Pro" if one comes out.

3. Xbox Series X - The Series X will likely be extremely capable but probably not as much as the PS5. With the Xbox All Access program I would say that this makes up for anything weird that could happen with the launch and gives players such a good way to get into the next-gen space AND have one of the best cloud gaming services ever.

4. Xbox Series S - It’s cheap, you don’t need disks, the Series S is a great entryway into next-gen gaming. Again, with the Xbox All Access program, players can potentially get into these games in a more affordable manner.

5. Playstation 5 Disk Drive Edition - With fewer financing options and with Xbox Game Pass being a really good deal it makes the standard PS5 a hard sell for me.

If you didn’t get to catch our talk about these new systems, be sure to look for our latest podcast episode on Twitch, Youtube, and soon to be podcast catchers as well. We went over some main points and had a surface-level conversation about which options we feel were the best. Due to time constraints, I wanted to get my extended thoughts down here.