Sony’s new console is an entertaining behemoth
This holiday season, we are faced with a tough quandary: The new PlayStation and Xbox consoles are arriving. Which should we gift to our loved ones — or to ourselves?
Beginning Thursday, Sony was shipping two versions of the PlayStation 5: a $ 500 model that includes a disk drive and a smaller $ 400 disk- free version that runs downloaded games.
This review — from Brian X. Chen, a longtime PlayStation fan, and Mike Isaac, who grew up playing the Xbox — will focus on the PlayStation 5.
MIKE: This is the ultimate test for companies such as Sony and Microsoft. Sony spent the past seven years on top with a slate of killer games for the PS4 and largely overshadowed the Xbox.
After a few weeks with the new PS5, what do you think? Is this another winner?
BRIAN: I’ll start with some disclosures. I’ve owned PlayStations since the first generation and never had an Xbox. But in 2006, I felt burned by the PlayStation 3, which had mostly lame games compared with Xbox 360, so I’ve kept an open mind for this new generation.
With that all said, I think PlayStation 5 is going to win my vote with my wallet this round.
What about you?
MIKE: I was reluctant to come out strong and stump for Sony, but you’re right. If I were to plunk down 500 bucks on a piece of hardware right now, it would be the PS5. I want to hear what won you over.
BRIAN: Let’s start with hardware.
First things first: The PS5 is a behemoth. It’s more than 15 inches tall — that’s roughly 4 inches taller than the Xbox Series X. So you’ll need to figure out where you’re going to place it.
BRIAN: Basically what the PS5 is: a powerful computer devoted to gaming. Similar to the new Xbox, it has a graphics processor that supports ray tracing, a complex rendering process that makes lighting and shadows look more realistic in graphics.
MIKE: The graphics are very good. In the launch game we played, “Spider- Man: Miles Morales,” I could immediately tell how sharp the characters’ faces and landscapes were while playing. Colors popped, like the brilliant neon purples, reds and greens. Each one of SpiderMan’s various suits looked fantastic!
There is one thing I want to call out, though. I had a strange moment with the PS5 controller that struck me as potentially sensitive. It has a microphone built into it. That’s convenient, since you won’t immediately have to buy a separate headset to chat with friends.
But I wasn’t used to it. I had a moment where I was voice- chatting a friend on my iPhone while playing “Call of Duty” multiplayer, and my partner in the game reminded me that he could hear me! It freaked me out.
BRIAN: The controller is pretty nice otherwise. It’s larger and heavier than the previous PlayStation controllers but feels comfortable to hold for long sessions.
MIKE: So Sony ( and Microsoft) include what’s called a solidstate drive for storing all of your games and apps on the system. It loads games faster than traditional spinning hard- disk drives. It makes an enormous difference. I can’t tell you how much of my life has been whittled away by PS4 loading screens in the past.
BRIAN: With Spider- Man, it took about three seconds for the game to launch, and that is remarkable.
MIKE: Yes, 100%. I’ve been really into “Call of Duty: Warzone” for the past few months — it has been my way to hang out with friends online during the pandemic — and the difference between playing it on PS5 compared with the PS4 was enormous.
For one, the solid- state drive meant that loading each session was so fast that often, I was one of the first people present in the level of every new game. And things just felt smoother.
Did you play any other games?
BRIAN: I spent lots of time replaying recent PlayStation 4 titles, like “Final Fantasy VII
Remake” and “The Last of Us Part II.” I also immediately noticed how much smoother those games ran. The frame rates were higher thanks to the beefier graphics processor.
Also very important: The PlayStation 5 was very quiet compared with the PlayStation 4, which had such a loud fan that I always feared that it was going to explode.
This is a good time to bring up backward compatibility a major selling point for both consoles.
MIKE: Yes! So I’m curious about your thoughts on this.
BRIAN: Overall, Microsoft wins here. The PlayStation is backward- compatible with only PlayStation 4 games. The new Xboxes are backward- compatible with games for Xbox One, Xbox 360 and even some games for the original Xbox.
MIKE: Totally fair. And Microsoft really doesn’t seem to have that much new for us quite yet, right?
BRIAN: The software interface of Xbox also feels inferior. It looks like a cluttered Windows app store. In contrast, the PlayStation interface looks elegant and streamlined.
MIKE: Fair. But as far as I’m concerned, it’s still wide- open territory for both Sony and Microsoft to dominate the next- gen system wars. The next year will tell us what games are musthaves and what systems host them.
But the PS5 has won me over early on in the race.
BRIAN: Me, too. There are different audiences for each console. Here’s what I think it boils down to: For game enthusiasts who choose only one console, the PlayStation 5 is a safer bet for now. The hardware and software are solid, and the system looks poised to get strong games in Year 1. ( If you rarely buy disks, save 100 bucks and get the digital edition, which lacks a disk drive.) Budget- conscious people and casual gamers will probably gravitate toward the $ 300 Xbox Series S, which runs games at a lower resolution and can play a plethora of older Xbox titles available for a low cost.