Popular Mechanics - USA (2020-11 & 2020-12)

GAME & TOY AWARDS

Playstation 5 $399

No gaming system matches Sony’s library of exclusive games.
The Playstation’s hardware is as good as any, and we especially
like that the PS5 has a trick proprietary system to efficiently
pull data from its 825GB drive. But PS5-only titles like Ratchet
& Clank: Rift Apart, Gran Turismo 7, and franchises like
Uncharted and God of War alone can justify choosing Sony.

Nintendo Switch Lite

$200

If you play—or plan to play—

almost exclusively in handheld

mode, alone, without much

multiplayer, then get the Switch

Lite, which is more portable and

costs less than the standard

Switch. This is a Game Boy for

the 2020s, with its hard-button

controls that phone games just

can’t replicate.

Xbox Series X $499

The Series X wins on certain
specs: 12 teraflops of computa-
tional capacity and a 1TB SSD.
But while non-exclusive essen-
tials like Call of Duty and NBA 2K
look excellent on both this and
Playstation, the Series X’s value
is versatility. The system can
play titles going back to the early
2000s, upgrading the graphics
when possible. We’d budget for
Microsoft’s Netflix-for-games
program Game Pass Ultimate
($15 per month).

BY ALEX GEORGE

66 November/December 2020

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