Next Gen Consoles, Digital Foundry's First Year Retrospective

[Juxtapose]

Digital Foundry recently did a year one retrospective of the next gen consoles, and you can watch it here:

The general highlights:

• Cross-generation is really limiting the new hardware.
• Fast load times and ray tracing are the biggest benefits so far.
• Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is the best game currently to showcase the PlayStation 5. Microsoft Flight Simulator is currently the best game to showcase the Xbox Series.
• Halo Infinite is an absolutely excellent game, but it's not next gen and appears it was really designed to target the Xbox One X, the last gen mid-gen upgrade.
• The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X target native 4K at 60-120 fps, and the Xbox Series S targets 1440p at 60-120 fps. After a year of practice though, they're actually getting 1440p at 60 fps on average for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and 1080p at 30 to 60 fps for the Xbox Series S.

The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience is a tech demo that actually shows off the power and abilities of the next gen consoles better than any actual game to-date. If you haven't watched it yet, you can view it here:

This looks absolutely fantastic, and at many points, I truly could not tell it wasn't real people. This has really blown Digital Foundry away! The concern, however, is that it's at 30 FPS, and they are concerned that over time, 30 FPS will once again become the gaming standard to get visuals as rich as this.

On PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, it was either 4K or 1440p at 30 fps. On Xbox Series S, this runs at 1080p at 30 fps.

Digital Foundry's breakdown can be found here:

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Definitely like both systems a lot and I think overall they are pretty close to equal.

If you like single player games the best, then PS5 is the clear choice due to their insane first party lineup. Without even trying to, I ended up with both Spiderman games, God of War, TLOU 2, Uncharted 4, Rift Apart, and Ghost of Tsushima as the only games on my PS5. All exclusive. And with Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War Ragnarok coming next year, it's really exciting to own a PS5. I wish those games were PS5 exclusive. Looks like we have to wait until Spiderman 2 and Wolverine for true next gen experiences. Rift Apart is awesome btw, and Ghost of Tsushima is one of my favorite last gen games.

If you want the more powerful console, prefer multiplayer games, and want the best value possible, XSX is the obvious choice then. Game pass is so fucking good. The library is huge, and full of top tier AAA games, recent and older. Halo Infinite day 1 is crazy, plus the huge library of games. MS bought a shit ton of studious recently, so I don't see them getting blown out on exclusives this time. Overall much more consumer friendly, and the smart deliver feature helps get the most out of old games. Meanwhile on PS5, if you just wanna play Spider-Man remastered - fuck you, buy Miles Morales Ultimate Edition. Only sony first party games are like that. Halo Infinite is my GOTY by far and it is only getting bigger and better.

Basically PS5 wins in faster load times, better exclusives for single player, and a "cooler" controller.

XSX wins in marginally better graphics and better multiplayer exclusives, as well as game pass.

Both controllers are very good though, PS5 controller has cooler technology, but the Xbox controller was already basically perfect, still my preference. Can't go wrong etiher way.

 

[Juxtapose]

@Dankster Morgan A very cool first hand assessment!

My only critique would be that both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles specifically have next to no console exclusives, mostly platform exclusives. By that I mean cross-gen, so all the PlayStation 5 games you mentioned save, I believe, Ratchet and Clank, you can get on PlayStation 4.

I do think Digital Foundry did a solid retrospective, where the new consoles, we have yet to be able to really see what they can do, and right now, all you really get from them is faster load times, prettier graphics (not next gen either, just most high/ultra settings and higher stable resolutions), and staple 60 FPS.

While these things are not bad, they're honestly not "next gen."

I am excited to see what the machines can do when availablility ramps up and cross-gen can indeed be left behind.

 

[Revy]

If you like single player games the best, then PS5 is the clear choice due to their insane first party lineup.

Basically PS5 wins in faster load times, better exclusives for single player, and a "cooler" controller.

I don’t think PlayStation wins with Single-Player exclusives at all it’s pretty much equal now. Xbox is getting Starfield, The Outer Worlds 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Avowed, Fable & Senua’s Sega: Hellblade II.

Starfield being dubbed “Skyrim in space” & “The next Mass Effect” is going to huge especially since it’s Bethesda’s first original title, now that they’re with Microsoft it’s probably not going to be a fuck up like Fallout 76 was.

The Outer Worlds is an established & an award winning RPG series now. It’s the spiritual sequel to Fallout New Vegas with a AA game budget & the first major game Obsidian made by themselves. With Microsoft support, the sequel is going to be a AAA game.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is arguably the biggest survival horror series next to Metro with a massive following & S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has been long awaited for over a decade & it’s first game to make it to console.

Avowed is dubbed “Oblivion’s Skyrim Killer” & they are advertising it as the “next world class RPG” with connections to Pillars of Eternity series (which is a spiritual successor to Buldur’s Gate).

Fable is probably going to be the over-hyped game like all the others Fable games were but still probably pretty decent at worst but Fable 2 is considered to be one of the best RPGs of all-time & it’s been 12 years since the last real Fable game was released.

I’ll be honest & say I don’t know anything about Senua’s Sega: Hellblade except it’s was developed by Ninja Theory

 

[Dankster Morgan]

I don’t think PlayStation wins with Single-Player exclusives at all it’s pretty much equal now. Xbox is getting Starfield, The Outer Worlds 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Avowed, Fable & Senua’s Sega: Hellblade II.

Starfield being dubbed “Skyrim in space” & “The next Mass Effect” is going to huge especially since it’s Bethesda’s first original title, now that they’re with Microsoft it’s probably not going to be a fuck up like Fallout 76 was.

The Outer Worlds is an established & an award winning RPG series now. It’s the spiritual sequel to Fallout New Vegas with a AA game budget & the first major game Obsidian made by themselves. With Microsoft support, the sequel is going to be a AAA game.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is arguably the biggest survival horror series next to Metro with a massive following & S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has been long awaited for over a decade & it’s first game to make it to console.

Avowed is dubbed “Oblivion’s Skyrim Killer” & they are advertising it as the “next world class RPG” with connections to Pillars of Eternity series (which is a spiritual successor to Buldur’s Gate).

Fable is probably going to be the over-hyped game like all the others Fable games were but still probably pretty decent at worst but Fable 2 is considered to be one of the best RPGs of all-time & it’s been 12 years since the last real Fable game was released.

I’ll be honest & say I don’t know anything about Senua’s Sega: Hellblade except it’s was developed by Ninja Theory

They’re definitely stepping it up! I hope these games are all awesome and they look pretty sick. Halo Infinite’s campaign was no slouch either. Still more excited for Wolverine, Spider-Man, God of War, whatever Naughty Dog is doing, Ghost of Tsushima 2, Ratchet and Clank, etc. Regardless of preference, both are good options this time.

 

[Juxtapose]

Interestingly, yesterday Digital Foundry did a comparison of the last gen Xbox One X (but upgraded with a SDD) and the Xbox Series S. It's an interesting look:

Basically, my assessment a month ago was overall correct: The Xbox One X generally has cleaner, better visuals with native or closer-to-native 4K support and enhanced visuals for pre-optimised Xbox Series titles. The Xbox Series S has smoother performance with more stable frame rates, faster load times, and sometimes higher quality textures.

Generally speaking one is not an upgrade over the other thus far, they're a lateral shift. For now.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Honestly if someone is looking to not spend 500 bucks, the PS5 digital is the best budget option. Sure it’s 400 over the 300 of XSS but they’re both all digital and PS5 digital doesn’t have the gimped performance. Worth the extra 100 bucks easily

 

[Juxtapose]

Honestly if someone is looking to not spend 500 bucks, the PS5 digital is the best budget option. Sure it’s 400 over the 300 of XSS but they’re both all digital and PS5 digital doesn’t have the gimped performance. Worth the extra 100 bucks easily

That depends though. Keep in mind, the pricing gap is larger in many regions outside of the US, thanks to Sony. Here in Canada, for example:

• PlayStation 5 costs $629.99 + Tax
• PlayStation 5 All-Digital costs $499.99 + Tax.

In contrast:

• Xbox Series X costs $599.99 + Tax
• Xbox Series S costs #379.99 + Tax.

Current generation games at launch cost $89.99 here.

So if you're already invested in the Xbox ecosystem, or if you happen to be a PC gamer looking to get a console and already have some Xbox Play Anywhere titles, then that's actually a much larger price gap than the already $120.00 base console price! Factor in the lack of Game Pass, and it's not as cut and dry as you make it.

There's also the fact that both PlayStation 5 models are next to impossible to find, and Xbox Series S is quite available.

 

[Revy]

Honestly if someone is looking to not spend 500 bucks, the PS5 digital is the best budget option. Sure it’s 400 over the 300 of XSS but they’re both all digital and PS5 digital doesn’t have the gimped performance. Worth the extra 100 bucks easily

For $20 you can Developer permissions & install RetroArch emulator to the XSS/XSX & play most games even PlayStation & Nintendo games which is pretty much illegal if you take ROMs from online but it still doesn’t void the warranty.

Unlimited Games via emulation vs “gimped performance”? I’ll take Unlimited Games any day even though it’s not perfect.

 

[Juxtapose]

@Revy Did you pick up an Xbox Series?

 

[Gooberking]

I've pretty much decided to throw in on the Xbox side this time around. I like their position and where I think they are headed better; at least for now. Exclusives can be cool games, but I don't like to [be] influenced by them.

Even though I don't really like their PC versions, MS has gamepass, buy once, and cross progression which is useful as a PC player. Sony seems to be thinking about some stuff, but there isn't much going on to work with. I'm happy to support any PC versions that come down the line. I bought two versions of HZD on PC, and GOW which drops later this week. I'm happy to keep doing that, but the console doesn't have a lot of draw outside of getting to play PS4 exclusives I deliberatly passed on because I just didn't want to play something at 30fps; regardless of how good the rest of it was.

After giving up waiting on consoles to show up, I just picked up a Series S and it's good for playing simple living room games and last gen stuff. It's small and easy to move around, and it has like 4 games in quick resume ready to go which is super cool. It largely covers what I want out of a console for the moment.

I am very glad and excited over all to see Framerates and Load times see first class treatment this gen. Those are really important things that have rarely been prioritized in the past in the space

 

[Revy]

@Revy Did you pick up an Xbox Series?

Not yet. I’ve decided to wait until a newer version comes out like I did with the Xbox One (I got the first 1TB Xbox One that came out) & wait for Xbox Series exclusives to be released because there’s no reason to have a new generation console right now as there’s no true exclusives.

 

[Juxtapose]

Not yet. I’ve decided to wait until a newer version comes out like I did with the Xbox One (I got the first 1TB Xbox One that came out) & wait for Xbox Series exclusives to be released because there’s no reason to have a new generation console right now as there’s no true exclusives.

Yeah, that's what I'm doing to. When I do get a secondary room furnished later this year, the living room, I plan on getting an Xbox Series S for it to serve as a streaming machine and a lite-gaming device.

At some point down the line, I'll end up replacing my Xbox One X with an Xbox Series X, but I don't expect that for at least another year.