For as long as I can remember, any and all discussion involving video game consoles have been split into three groups: Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo. There are some who enjoy all of these, but for the most part, there is a heated debate as to which is the best of these platforms, so I thought I’d delve into my own opinions about each console in this generation, as next year we’ll be seeing a new generation of consoles introduced.
Firstly, I’d like to talk about Xbox. Xbox has been an incredibly successful company when bringing out consoles, games and many other things; this console generation, being the Xbox One, started out rough and it took Microsoft a while to recuperate. In the last few years though, the Xbox One has been a standout console with many great updates and games to show for it. We got the Xbox One X, which is currently the world’s most powerful console with true native 4K resolution complete with High Dynamic Range and 60fps support on many games, as well as a hefty 12 gigabytes of GDDR5 RAM which gives out roughly 6 teraflops of computing power (essentially, the Xbox One X is powerful). Xbox also introduced the Xbox Game Pass, a subscription service giving you access to over 260 games. Most first-party exclusive games have also been incredibly solid since the launch of the Xbox One, such as the Forza, Halo and Gears of War franchises. With all the information about Xbox’s next generation console, Project Scarlett, coming to light, it seems that Xbox will be aiming for another powerful console release, and hopefully with a great suite of launch titles to go with it.
Playstation has also been a choice console for me for the last few years; the Playstation 4 houses some of the best games I’ve ever played, such as The Last of Us, God of War, etc. I played on my PSP way back when. It was my portable console of choice and I loved playing games like RocoLoco and LittleBigPlanet while travelling about. PS4 was a console I only picked up a few years back, and even then, I only picked it up for the games. However, the first-party exclusives on PS4 are much better than the Xbox exclusive titles: Persona 5 has quickly become one of my favourite games of all time, with games like The Last Of Us, Spider-Man, Infamous: Second Son and Until Dawn blowing me away in terms of how much I enjoyed the story. I also really like the Dualshock-4 in terms of how it feels to use, and it really does improve over the Dualshock-3. I enjoyed the incorporation of the motion controls and touchpad in some of the exclusives I played, which was very unique, specifically in Until Dawn and how you had to stay still in certain sections. Overall, if you’re looking for solid single-player experiences then the PlayStation 4 is easily the best choice.
The Nintendo Switch is one of the consoles I’ve had the most fun with, and playing it on the go makes it even more so. Playing Mario Kart, using the joycons on a small screen with friends, really does have its own novelty. I like the way you can buy multiple sets of joycons and then mix and match them to create your own colour combinations, bringing a layer of customisation to the console. The games are fun too, which is expected of Nintendo games at this point. The Switch introduced me to so many new game franchises that I never knew I’d have this much fun playing, like Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda, or Super Smash Brothers. Having a console I can take around with me is incredibly handy, and I love how I can link to others’ Nintendo Switches and play Mario Kart and other games via local play. I also do like playing the console in Docked mode, where it connects to the TV, allowing you to play games either in handheld or docked modes. The versatility of this console is truly a benefit, and if you enjoy Nintendo in general, or if you’re looking for a console you can take with you in your bag, I couldn’t recommend this console enough.
Each console has its own strengths and weaknesses, and with only a year before the new generation of consoles releases it’s exciting to think what each big company can deliver in terms of hardware, as well as their game lineups. I feel that Microsoft will have the best console in terms of sheer power, Sony will have a much better lineup of exclusives to unveil, and I’m interested to see if Nintendo will even bother with a new console considering the Switch hasn’t been out that long, as well as how popular it is.
