A reader explains why he he’s getting an Xbox Series X but why it and the PlayStation 5 don’t really feel like next gen consoles.
With all the news of new consoles, I find myself at a bit of a dilemma. No, not which am I going to buy, PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. No debate there, it’s going to be Xbox. So what’s the dilemma, you may ask? It’s the name. Not Xbox Series X (although that’s not going to win any awards at the Console Naming Awards ceremony). No, my issue is with the term ‘next generation’.
Let’s start at the beginning. Xmas 1996 I wake up to the PlayStation I had wanted for so long under my tree and when that bad boy was fired up on the 10-inch CRT TV with Formula 1 97, I was completely blown away. I even had my dad come in when I was playing and he said, ‘I didn’t know the Grand Prix was on?’ This new 3D world looked so lifelike to my 12-year-old self, especially compared to the 2D graphics of the 8 and 16-bit generation.
Fast forward a few years to the PlayStation 2 and GTA 3. Such a leap forward graphics-wise and the fact it could now play these new things called DVDs as well, what a machine! Onto original Xbox next (and the start of my Xbox fandom) and then onto Xbox 360. Although original Xbox wasn’t a huge upgrade on the PlayStation 2, it still felt a significant upgrade and then the jump from there to Xbox 360 felt like a proper new generation was ushered in.
HD graphics and increased frame rates allowed developers to fully utilise this new hardware and they made good use of it too. Project Gotham Racing, Gears Of War, Forza Motorsport to name a few. Games like these would have been impossible before and that console stood the test of time for 11 years! How could things get better?
Cut to the announcement of the Xbox One and in went my pre-order. The specs they were quoting for it seemed too good to be true, together with games being showcased like Watch Dogs (who remembers the developer demonstration videos for that game and how gorgeous it looked?). We won’t mention Watch Dogs again, anyone who played that will know how that turned out! 7 November 2013 comes and it’s finally here and with great excitement and anticipation, I load up Call Of Duty: Ghosts. Ummm… this is weird, I’m not ‘blown away’.
No, Ghosts isn’t a fantastic game, granted, but this isn’t the reason. I’m struggling to see differences between this and the Xbox 360. What’s happened to the promise of next gen gaming? With a large amount of hindsight, you can quite clearly see the difference between the two consoles (I turned my Xbox 360 on last year and let’s just say a Samsung OLED 60-inch HDR TV is not a 360’s best friend!). Obviously, the Xbox One did move things on (same situation with PlayStation 3 and 4) but it seemed weird how, at the time, I couldn’t tell the difference compared with all my previous consoles. Doesn’t bode well.
So, in a longwinded way, we finally arrive to my dilemma. I’ve seen the specs for the new consoles and whilst impressive (8K, ray-tracing, four times as powerful, 120fps… yeah, OK) they sound more like marketing buzzwords to me. Both Sony and Microsoft have stated their respective consoles should run native 4K 60 fps (sorry, but shouldn’t the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X do that already?!) Where’s the leap to the next generation?
Sorry, I forgot we will be getting faster loading times too, my bad. Putting my sarcasm to one side, but all previous consoles felt like a big leap forward each time. Gaming PCs can do all those things mentioned already and have had this ability for a while. Maybe it’s my fault for expecting something more. Not sure what I would class as ‘next gen’, something akin to the film Ready Player One?!
OK, that is nowhere near to happening, so I’ll let them off. Maybe it’s just the law of diminishing returns. Maybe it’s just cynicism in my old age… perhaps it’s a mixture of all those things? Who knows, I just don’t feel we can call them next gen that’s all. Improvement obviously, but a new era of consoles? Nah, I don’t buy that.
By reader Rob S
PS: I will be pre-ordering the Xbox Series X though!
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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