The Xbox Series X, left, has a disc drive. The Xbox Series S does not. The Series X’s ability to play physical media is worth the extra cost, Widescreen columnist Sean Stangland says.
We are one year into the next generation of Sony and Microsoft video game consoles, which means we should be calling it the current generation — except that most fans of both companies are still using a PlayStation 4 or an Xbox One.
The biggest reason is a global microchip shortage that is likely to extend into next year or beyond. Bloomberg quoted these foreboding words from a Toshiba executive in September: “In some cases, we may find some customers not being fully served until 2023.”
Despite that, Sony has managed to sell more than 13 million PlayStation 5 consoles, according to a report last week from Eurogamer, though I don’t know a single person other than myself who owns one. How did I pull it off? By following the right Twitter accounts (start with @GameStop and @Wario64) and being on that infernal platform constantly, watching for restock posts. That was easier to do early this year, when many of us were still staying home, bored and unvaccinated.
I struck virtual gold in February and settled for Sony’s cheaper (but still ludicrously expensive) all-digital version of the PS5, which means it has no disc drive — and that I couldn’t play my PS4 physical copies of “Death Stranding” or “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” on my new $400 toy. Yes, my PS4 still works, but it also has interminably long loading times when compared to the PS5.
So far, that reduction in down time is the No. 1 reason to get the new system. The best example is “Spider-Man: Miles Morales,” which goes almost instantly from title screen to gameplay with one press of the X button.
But there’s another glaring problem with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S: Games, not faster loading times, should be the main draw. That so far is not the case for this PlayStation owner, who has yet to buy a game exclusive to the new console generation.
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The holiday season’s biggest releases will all be cross-generational: Microsoft has “Forza Horizon 5” (Tuesday) and “Halo Infinite” (Dec. 8); Sony has “Solar Ash” (Dec. 2); and both have “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy” (out now), “Far Cry 6” (out now), “Call of Duty: Vanguard” (Friday, Nov. 5), the remastered “Grand Theft Auto” trilogy (Nov. 11) and “Among Us” (finally on consoles Dec. 14).
So, what are the main take-aways one year into this new era for Sony and Microsoft? Stick with what you’ve got until at least next Christmas. If you must upgrade, buy a console with a disc drive.
And perhaps most importantly, get a Nintendo Switch instead — you can’t play “Metroid Dread” anywhere else, after all.
• Sean Stangland is an assistant news editor who wishes he had kept all his “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” stuff from the Xbox 360 era.
