The Sony PlayStation 5, left, and Xbox Series X, right, have been in high demand since they launched.
Dreamstime.comBetween the global chip shortage and big demand from people stuck at home because of Covid-19, the new videogame consoles from Microsoft and Sony are nearly impossible to buy, some seven months after they launched.
Staying home with little else in the way of entertainment gave Barron’s plenty of opportunity to perform exhaustive testing on both Sony’s (ticker: SNE) PlayStation 5 and Microsoft (MSFT) Xbox Series X. And test we did. Over seven months, we put the consoles through their paces, which included a rigorous playthrough of Hitman 3, testing the backward compatibility and multiplayer features in A Way Out, and much more.
After the testing dust settled, a clear winner emerged in Sony’s (ticker: SNE) PlayStation 5. Because the two consoles have similar technical guts, choosing a winner, for us, came down to the available catalog of games, and what was in store for the future. Compared the Microsoft (MSFT) Xbox Series X, the PlayStation’s past and promised future games make a compelling case for owning the machine.
It is worth stressing that both systems are excellent. As much as Sony or Microsoft might want to claim the units are vastly different technological achievements, they aren’t so much, for most people. Both display stunning 4K graphics, have real-time ray tracing that makes games look more realistic, solid-state storage, and so on. The biggest difference is in Sony’s controller, which has haptic feedback built into its triggers; the function creates a feeling of resistance that coincides with the game’s action. It’s certainly neat if a game uses the feature, but many of the games Barron’s tried didn’t offer it. Sony’s PS5, however, lacks the smart delivery feature in the Xbox that ensures players always get the right version of the game. It sounds kind of simple, but it is surprisingly important.
The top-of-the-line versions of the two consoles also match on price, coming in at $499. Meanwhile, The PS5’s so-called “digital edition”—it has no Blu-Ray player—costs $399. The XBox Series S, which is less powerful than the Series X, is $299.
The success of PlayStation 5’s launch was a harbinger of the system’s ultimate edge. Right away, the lucky few people that got their hands on a PS5 had several next-generation-optimized titles exclusive to the system, including Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and the remastered version of Demon’s Souls.
Ahead of the Series X launch, Microsoft delayed its forthcoming big new Halo Infinite release, in part because Covid-19 hampered development. That meant no big flashy exclusive game with the release of the system. Microsoft appears to have recognized its overall perceived weakness around exclusive games and made an effort to fix it, buying ZeniMax last year, which owns Wolfenstein and Fallout developer Bethesda.
What ultimaely tipped the scales for Barron’s was PlayStation’s high-quality back catalog of exclusive games built for the PlayStation 4, many of which have been updated for the PS5. Such a strong record of success suggests the promise of another batch of games over the PlayStation 5’s lifetime.
The Last of Us Part II, for example, launched about a year ago, and the action-adventure game is one of the most powerful, memorable narrative videogames I have played in years. It was similar to reading a good novel in its impact and emotional force. The game gets its power, in part, from forcing players to interact with the decisive moments in a story that asks more ethical questions than it answers. In Barron’s view, Last of Us set a new high bar for interactive, narrative entertainment.
Other PlayStation games, such as Ghost of Tsushima, also offered compelling experiences. Both Ghost and Last of Us are made by Sony-owned studios, and illustrate the future potential. It is just potential, so far, however. Since the batch of PlayStation exclusive titles at launch, developers haven’t released anything as strong as Last of Us. One of the best games Barron’s has played since launch, Hitman 3, was published for both systems. Returnal, for PlayStation 5 which launched several weeks ago, received positive reviews, though Barron’s wasn’t able to test it. Another much anticipated exclusive game for PlayStation, God of War: Ragnarok has been delayed until next year.
For many current PlayStation 4 owners, an upgrade to the PS5 is likely a question of when, not if. For people willing to spend lots of money, buying a high-powered videogame personal computer and a PlayStation 5 will unlock access to most games available for either system, including the Xbox exclusives which usually appear on PC too. But for anyone buying one console, or buying a system for the first time, the PlayStation 5 is the best choice. It’s a call option on Sony’s future games. That is, if you can find one.
Write to Max A. Cherney at max.cherney@barrons.com
June 06, 2021 at 08:00PM
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After Testing the New PlayStation and Xbox Consoles for Months, We Have a Winner - Barron's
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