XBOX AND PS5 NEXT HOLIDAY

Both pick AMD innards

THE NEXT ROUND of console wars is shaping up. Both sides are circling each other, letting out teasers while we wait for the fight to start. In the red corner we have Microsoft’s Project Scarlet (still no idea of the final name). At E3, Microsoft released a few details, along with a slick promotional video. It’ll arrive for holiday 2020—that’ll be November, something of a tradition for console launches. Hardware includes SSD storage (said to be up to 40 times faster than HDD), coupled to an eightcore Ryzen 3000 Zen 2 processor and Navi GPU. It’ll support ray tracing, and will stretch to running at 120fps and 8K. Whilst technically possible, this is an ambitious target for practical use. We don’t expect it to do both at once, or to run top-tier titles at anything like this big or fast; 60fps and 4K is more realistic. Project Scarlet is going to be a powerful box, and it has to be—there’s no replacement planned for three years at least. The launch of the Xbox One famously fell flat, with much talk about everything except gaming. Lesson learned, the E3 video put enthusiastic games developers front and center. The cost? Rumors only: Smart money is on $499, with an outside chance of $449, although this has to be near break-even on the production costs.

In the blue corner we have Sony’s PS5, and the specs sound similar: SSD storage, AMD silicon, ray tracing, and 8K support. Launch and price to be confirmed, but both are going to be close to the Xbox. Sony has traditionally been the more affordable option; the high cost was seen as a barrier for the Xbox One, which was $100 more than the PS4. Given the expensive innards, it looks unlikely that Sony can repeat that trick. Spec-wise, the machines look similar, but it’s games that sell consoles, not teraflops. Like previous console wars, it looks likely to be about which has the best games, which could mean you need both if you want play every top title.