Blood Pressure Blog

Next generation consoles have historically been surrounded by great fanfare and speculation as gaggles of people circle Best Buys and Hobby Lobbies for their next game system. From older consoles, such as the sales-record breaking PlayStation 2, or the vastly ahead-of-its-time PlayStation Portable – which pretty much evolved into the watered down but still great Nintendo Switch – gaming is an excellent method to show off new innovations in software and hardware capabilities of large, multinational companies. Likewise, the new flagship generation-nine consoles from Sony and Microsoft were recently announced. As information continues to trickle out about the respective PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, the main battle will not be taking place between the two tech giants, but between consumers jockeying to get their fat and sweaty gamer hands on one of these consoles. As self-professed tech gurus having a buzzword-level understanding of significant engineering concepts reveal their extremely biased and sponsored takes on the console wars, I believe that buying the next-gen console can be simplified to only three main features, appearance, tech specs, and available games.  

Appearance of a console can make or break how consumers buy a product. In this new-age of sleek industrial design, our icons of consumer related electronic/software goods have fallen to the lows of AirPods, Bitmojis, and Instagram Reels. The PlayStation 5 follows in this similar vein of thought, pandering to our lizard brains that curved, white, shiny plastic objects convey a sense of futuristic appeal. I for one think this is horseshit. The PlayStation 5 looks like the attractive, biracial lovechild of a router and a Nintendo Wii, that lands somewhere around a 6/10 on a scale of hotness. If someone built a skyscraper than looked like the PS5, it would be trending on r/EvilBuildings, only requiring the famous “red-ring of death” (wrong console but you get the idea) to look like HAL 9000 got strapped to a ski-slope. Furthermore, since we know that officially “black is back” (though it never went anywhere), a black variant of the console has not been announced. However, as much as I’m still on the fence about the design, I concede that the greatest selling factor of the PS5’s design is its uniqueness. There has never been a curved, sleek looking non-portable game console, allowing it to stand out in a grimy 5^th-grader’s bedroom, to being right at home in a custom-built art-deco mansion. 

If the PlayStation 5 is an example of futuristic design, the Xbox Series X is an example of modern design. Microsoft prides itself over building consoles that look like they could survive a drop from a 5-story building, but don’t let design meant to combat angry parents fool you. For the first time since the Xbox 360, Microsoft has gone back to the vertical tower like design fitting in exceptionally well into the “young adult with Ikea furniture” vibe. However, I still believe that the Xbox is not pushing the boundaries on their grandfathered physical design retaining very cubic design from the Xbox One. In fact, hypebeasts should start making Supreme skins for the Xbox Series X as a DIY Supreme brick (it’s probably cheaper anyways). I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Beast somehow got involved and made a video about constructing a full-blown house from Xbox Series X’s and then living in it (get to work bro). I personally think this device looks better and wins in the aesthetic category, while opening the floor for more personalization options and advancing the modern design school of thought with respect to how consumer electronics are currently designed. 

Technical specifications of both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X are nearly identical, both having 8K resolution, optimization for up to 120 frames-per-second, and backwards compatibility with the respective older-generation consoles. The Xbox doeshave some slight advantages, sporting a slightly faster CPU and GPU, as well as having greater memory, but frankly these only matter to if you’re a top of the line twitch streamer making your primary income calling some random guy on online play that you just headshot “fake and gay”. Another aspect that always strikes me is that both consoles have Blu-Ray compatibility. Personally, I think this is going against the grain with respect to current trends of electronics, since the only use for DVDs in 2020 is for children’s homemade Christmas ornaments or blinding your old and slightly crotchety neighbor by blinding him with the sun.

Games are a polarizing topic of buying a gaming console, and are the single most important factor for several consumers while buying new system. Sony is the king of version exclusives, with a strong lineup featuring Spider-Man Miles Morales, Demon Souls, Ratchet and Clank, and Gran Tourismo 7. Though these may not be the streaming juggernauts comparable to Call of Duty and Fortnite, linear-ish, story driven games are, in my opinion, better than blockbuster multiplayer titles where people run around a shrinking map like a chicken with its head cut off. However, more and more game development studios build games, games are now becoming equally likely to be released on the respective Sony and Microsoft consoles. 

With Sony boasting an impressive lineup of games and version exclusives, a quick look would imply that the Xbox Series X will lack in this category. But don’t be fooled, Microsoft CEO, and 4 horsemen of the NASDAQ member Satya Nutella has a few tricks up his sleeve to keep the gaming future of his flagship system relevant. With the recent $7.5 billion acquisition of the Bethesda it seems that several games developed by the successful studio, notably the Elder Scrollsand FalloutSeries may become version exclusives on the Xbox. Other than that, the Xbox holds several rinse-and-repeat types of nostalgia pandering games such as the HaloSeries and Forza. 

As long as corporations continue to develop newer generations of gaming consoles, consumers will always have polarizing views on each of the several emerging sides of the consoles wars. However, with the increasing decentralization of power within the gaming industry with the emergence of cloud gaming, mobile platforms, the “PC Master Race”, and Nintendo Fanboys, every gamer seems to have their own hot take on which gaming systems are the best, and which systems are meant for 25-year olds trapped in their mom’s basement. However, if we simplify all game systems to their most basic aspects instead of squabbling outside of Costcos at 5 AM waiting to snag a $50 deal on the new AMD Ryzen whatchamacallit, I believe that buying a gaming console will be a less blood-pressure inducing event.