PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X: everything we know so far

Both Microsoft and Sony have announced their next-gen consoles and pre-orders have already been opened.

The PlayStation 5 was so popular that Exhausted in just four minutes at some local online stores.

Many South Africans may still be deciding which console to buy when both consoles are available for pre-order again.

So we have compared both consoles on a variety of considerations including performance, features, exclusives, game subscription services, and pricing.

specs

Both consoles use eight-core AMD Zen 2 processors, RDNA 2 GPUs, and 16GB of GDDR6 memory.

Both will also offer support for ray tracing.

However, where they differ is that the Xbox Series X claims to offer 12TFLOPS of performance compared to the PlayStation 5’s 10.3 TFLOPS.

The PlayStation 5 offers 5.5GB / s I / O performance compared to 2.4GB / s on the Xbox Series X.

The Verge reviewed the Xbox Series X and noted that load times have been significantly reduced, to the point where they are comparable to a custom gaming PC with a fast NVMe SSD.

Sony has also detailed that load times will change from 1GB in 20 seconds with the PlayStation 4, to 2GB in 0.27 seconds with the PlayStation 5.

See full specifications for each console below.

Drivers and key features

Sony has touted its immersive Tempest Engine 3D audio, which will deliver particularly impressive performance when PlayStation gamers wear headphones while playing their favorite games.

Your DualSense controller will offer haptic feedback, which is an improvement on the rumble technology of the previous generation of the console.

Additionally, the L2 and R2 buttons have been improved so that game developers can program their resistance to more accurately simulate actions.

For example, if you are playing a racing game, using these triggers will make it easier to simulate how much you want to push your figurative foot on the gas or how hard you want to brake.

Microsoft has highlighted its new Quick Resume feature, which will allow users to leave multiple games open at the same time.

This means that players will be able to switch between games incredibly fast and won’t have to restart the game from the beginning every time they switch games.

Microsoft offered a quick resume feature with its Xbox One, but according to critics, Quick Resume puts this to shame.

Additionally, the Xbox Series X controller will have a new dedicated share button, as well as new textured bumpers and triggers.

Also, unlike the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X will allow owners to use their Xbox Series One controllers to play all of their games.

Exclusive

One of the biggest considerations when buying a new console is the exclusive games that you will have access to.

This is an area where the PlayStation has historically beaten the Xbox, and the upcoming consoles are no exception.

The PlayStation exclusives coming to PlayStation 5 are as follows:

• New god of war
• West horizon forbidden
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
• Gran Turismo 7
• Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
• The souls of the devil
• Return
• Sackboy: a great adventure
• Astro Game Room
• Destruction AllStars

Additionally, the following games will be available on PlayStation 5 and PC, but not on Xbox Series X

• Final Fantasy XVI
• Deathloop
• Ghostwire: Tokyo
• Godfall
• Athia project

The Xbox Series X has no true exclusives, as they are all exclusive to Microsoft’s two gaming platforms: the Xbox Series X and the Windows PC.

These games are as follows:

• As dusk falls
• Declared
• Call of the sea
• Crossfire X
• Echo generation
• Everwild
• Exo one
• Exomecha
• Fable
• Forza Horizon 4
• Forza Motorsport
• Gears 5
• Gears Tactics
• Infinite Halo
• Psychonauts 2
• Sea of ​​Thieves
• State of decay 3
• The Senua Saga: Hellblade 2
• Disdain
• Tell me why
• The ascent
• The medium

Game subscription service

While Sony has dominated Microsoft in terms of true console exclusives, Microsoft has historically offered the superior game subscription service.

Xbox Game Pass costs R99 per month in South Africa and offers over 100 games from Xbox studios and other publishers.

Current popular titles include Flight Simulator 2020, Outer Worlds, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Resident Evil 7, and various games from the Gears, Halo, and Age of Empires franchises.

Sony has a competing service, PlayStation Now, which offers more than 800 games that can be downloaded to your PlayStation 4’s hard drive.

However, PlayStation Now, which is priced at the same $ 9.99 as Xbox Game Pass in the US, is not available in South Africa.

Locally, Sony only offers PlayStation Plus, which costs R119 per month and offers only two games to download per month, as well as special offers when purchasing other games.

Additionally, PlayStation Plus is required to play online, making it in direct competition to Xbox Live Gold, which is also required to play online and offers a limited number of free games per month, as well as offers on other games.

This basically means that Sony does not have a true competitor for Xbox Game Pass in South Africa, which means that users of this console cannot access this fantastic service with an excellent value for money.

Prices

Microsoft and Sony have matched each other’s prices for their leading next-gen consoles, and both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X cost R11,999 in the zone.

However, the cheaper versions of each of these consoles are priced differently.

The Sony PlayStation 5 comes in a digital edition, which does not have a CD tray, which means that all games must be downloaded.

This version of the console costs R9,999.

Microsoft has released a lower-powered console called the Xbox Series S, which offers 4TFLOPS of performance compared to 12TFLOPS of the X Series.

This means that you will not be able to play the latest games in 4K, although all new generation games will be playable on this console.

This console will also offer just 7.5GB of usable memory compared to the X Series’ 13.5GB.

Xbox Series S costs R6,999.

Now Read: Epic Games Faces An Uphill Battle In The Fight With Apple