The Playstation 4 and Xbox One released back in November 2013, and as we move forward with greater graphics and more demanding gameplay, the old console generation is having trouble with keeping up with performance and efficiency. With that being said, just like every console before them, the consoles are forced to upgrade once again. This November, the new Playstation and Xbox consoles will be coming soon with Sony releasing their Playstation 5 on Nov. 15 and Microsoft releasing their Xbox Series X and Series S on Nov. 10. 

Last generation, the Xbox One flopped hard in terms of sales and the Playstation 4 destroyed the competition. However, both companies seem to have something that can overtake the other this year.

“The biggest pull for me has always been the ability to play with my friends,” senior Xander Belvin, who’s looking forward to getting a Series X, said. “Most of my friends play on Xbox or PC, and with Series X you can do cross-platform and cross-gen.”

Last generation, playing between different consoles with others had become a huge revolution in the gaming industry with cross-platform. However, despite the other companies welcoming it, Sony has kept trying to dive away from it and it is still unsure how much they will try to enforce this leading into the next consoles.

“One of the leading factors for me so far is the console’s exclusive games,” senior Gavin Rivera, who is keen on getting a Playstation 5, said. “The exclusive games that look the most appealing to me so far is probably Spider-Man: Miles Morales.”

Sony has always been a big hitter in the gaming industry each generation and one of the biggest reasons is not only because of their console’s power, but also the games they’ve released that were only available on their consoles, such as God of War, Uncharted, Persona, and even recently, the Spider-Man series.

“When it comes to other strengths for the Series X, I mainly like how powerful it is, how much cheaper than a PC it is, the controllers, and some exclusivity games like Sea of Thieves are,” Belvin said.

Earlier this year it was revealed that Series X is more powerful than the PS5 and although the console will cost $500, along with the PS5, most PCs end up costing way more. As for games for the Series X, it does seem to have a pretty big selection of titles, such as the previously stated Sea of Thieves, Halo, Gears of War, Ori, and possibly some even new ones with the new studios they are acquiring, such as Bethesda.

“Some of the other strengths I think the PS5 has is how strong the console is compared to the last generation,” Rivera said.  “It’s not as powerful as the Series X, but it’s pretty close.”

The PS5 and Series X both have things that outdo each other in terms of power, with the PS5 having a stronger SSD, which makes games and the system run quickly, and the Series X having just more basic power to make the games run at their maximum capacity.

“Playstation is a strong competitor, especially with their all-digital PS5 that is just as powerful as the regular version of the PS5,” Belvin said. “The Xbox equivalent, the Series S, is almost as powerful as an Xbox One X with a big price cut. I think as digital downloads and online purchases become more commonplace, it will reflect negatively with Xbox due to them not giving Series S enough power.”

The Series S was announced several months after the Series X and is going to launch alongside the Series X. However, it will be released with a $200 price cut in return for less power and the lack of the ability to use disks. The Playstation 5 equivalent, the digital edition, is going to be $100 less and the only thing it will be trading is just the disk drive as well.

“I currently have an Xbox One and the main thing that makes me want to stick with Xbox is being able to stick with my friends on there,” Rivera said. “One of the PS5’s biggest weaknesses, in my opinion, is the lack of cross-play between other consoles.”

Xbox and Playstation both have various features to communicate with friends and with the new consoles coming out once again, so people are having to decide what they want to switch to as a group to stay connected. This is why there is a lot of frustration with Playstation not caring about cross-play.

“The only real pull factor for me switching to PS5 is that some of my friends are getting the PS5 and some of the exclusives like God of War,” Belvin said.

The main thing that these consoles boil down to is the ability to play games with friends, and it seems like both consoles are struggling to deliver. The PS5 is not that great when it comes to playing with friends and Series X is failing to deliver some heavy-hitting games that Sony has.

“I think it will be really close this year, but I think Xbox is going to do best overall in terms of sales,” Belvin said. “The only thing PlayStation seems to have to go for them is their exclusives and even though the series S is not as powerful, it is still cheaper than the digital PS5, Series X, and the regular PS5 and so I think it will have a huge impact on sales. I also think how powerful the console is will help a lot too.”

Microsoft is way more prepared this year compared to the last and this can be seen with their multiple console plan along with other factors, such as Game Pass, which is basically a subscription service that offers hundreds of games for free in exchange for a cheap yearly or monthly price.

“I personally think the PS5 will do better in sales this year because the number of exclusives are mostly way better compared to Xbox’s exclusives,” Rivera said.

While Xbox has had many amazing exclusives, when it comes to how many games they actually released that are only available through Xbox One, it’s only about 30, while Sony has released about 230 games only available on the Playstation 4 with even more being added. However, the lack of exclusive games on Xbox One is mostly due to them being more accepting of moving their games to other platforms, such as PC, Nintendo, and even Playstation.

“I certainly think that the games this generation will be better than the ones we got the last generation,” Belvin said. “That’s mainly because of how much more power and capabilities these new consoles have.”

Despite the pros and cons of each of the new consoles, it is almost certain that the new generation leading up will have many new groundbreaking games and ideas.