November/December 2021 77A S A L I F E L O N G G A M E R , I ’ v e b e e n
lucky enough to own nearly
every gaming console from
the original Xbox onward.
And Sony has created a clear
gap between this genera-
tion and its predecessor.
Take the PlayStation 5’s
futuristic white tower and a
refreshed operating system
that uses 4K and HDR. Sony
even revamped elements
of the DualShock controller
into the newly refined Dual-
Sense. It allows for unrivaled
immersion through its built-in
microphone, 3D audio, and
adaptive triggers.
Speaking of exclusives, PS5
was the only place to play some
of the biggest releases of the
year. Sony’s virtual worlds are
optimized to push the system’s
hardware to the limit, but even
third party in-game perfor-
mance edges out the Series X.
Cyberpunk 2077 and Devil May
Cry 5 experience frame ratedips, occasionally down to the
low 40s. Meanwhile the PS5
locks to the targeted fps.
That’s not to say the Play-
Station 5 is without its flaws.
Expanding the SSD is a difficult
task that starkly contrasts
with Xbox’s simplified SSD
expansion card. Downloading
the PS5 version of a PS4 game
requires navigating confusing
submenus. And PlayStation
Now has relatively few titles
compared to GamePass. Lastly,
the app switcher makes it easy
to jump between your past
three games, but there are no
save states to pick up where
you left off, like Xbox’s excep-
tional Quick Resume provides.
Without a clear line drawn
between the One and Series
X, if you owned the previous
Xbox, it’s worth it to invest in
the PS5 instead. And if you’re
new to consoles, a better
controller and access to Play-
Station makes it a no-brainer.SINCE I STARTED playing video
games decades ago, I’ve fol-
lowed a pattern of swapping
back and forth between con-
soles with every subsequent
generation. Not deliberately,
but often because, if I had
an Xbox previously, I saw an
enticing PlayStation-exclu-
s i v e t i t l e t h a t p u l l e d m e t o
Sony’s platform when I was
buying my next console.
So, as my colleague acknowl-
edges, Sony has Microsoft beat
in the exclusive-titles realm.
And yes, the Xbox interface is
reminiscent of the Xbox One
and even my old PS4. Also,
no, the Series X doesn’t have
hardware as impressive as the
PS5’s, save for its hard drive.
But as someone who uses a
console strictly for gaming (not
streaming or other web-based
activities—I have a Fire TV for
those), I appreciate just how
damn easy it makes actually
playing games.That may elicit a “Duh, it’s a
video game console,” but hear
me out. The Quick Resume
function makes it incredibly
easy to swap between games; I
can go from heated 20-on-20
command base–capturing
grinds in Star Wars Battlefront
2 to exploring the vast open
world of ninth-century England
in Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
in seconds, picking up right
where I left off. It also works
when I start up the console and
can quickly click through to the
game to seamlessly jump back
in as if I’d just left it paused. It’s
reformed me of my compulsive
and paranoid manual save
habit, better integrating playing
video games into my life. I can
pick up and drop the controller
when I want to.
Much of the Series X’s appeal
comes down to that. Plus the
extensive log of back titles
through Xbox Game Pass, for
days when I’m feeling nostalgic.AFTER A YEAR
O F P L A Y I N G O N
THE NEWEST
GENERATION,
TWO EDITORS
P I C K S I D E S I N
THE LATEST
B AT T L E I N T H E
C O N S O L E S W A R.TESTER:
Hunter Fenollol,
Test Editor
H A R D DRIVE:
Cus tom
825 GB SSD
CPU:
AMD Zen 2-based
CPU with 8 cores
at 3.5 GHz (variable
frequency)
GPU:
10.28 TFLOPs,
36 CUs at 2.23 GHz
(variable frequency)
PORTS:
HDMI 2.1, USB-C,
USB 3.2 Gen 2,
Gigabit EthernetTESTER:
Will Egensteiner,
Associate Test
Director
HARD DRIVE:
1 TB SSD
CPU:
Custom Zen 2
CPU with 8 cores
at 3.8 GHz
GPU:
12 TFLOPs,
52 CUs at 1.8 GHz
PORTS:
HDMI 2.1, three USB
3.1 Gen 1, Gigabit
EthernetXbox Series X $500 PlayStation 5 $500GAME AND TOY AWARDSTREVOR RAAB