For Those That Have a PS5/XSX/XSS - How Has Next-Gen Gaming Been for You?

TwentyTwoCarats on 05/06/2021 - 17:18
Last edited 05/06/2021 - 17:19

If you have been using a PS5 or Xbox Series X|S - how has your experience been?

Is it a breath of fresh air, or is it more like a continuation of existing gaming with better resolution (up to 4K) and better frame rates (60-120 fps)?

I bought an Xbox Series X at the start of the year. I'm someone who was a huge gamer during my PS2/PSP/PS3/PS4 phase. Then I took a break from gaming for about 3 years. Got the Xbox Series X as I thought it'd be a fun way to get back into gaming and get a huge upgrade and experience. But what I found was that with GamePass and Live Gold, 97% of the options are older generation games that have been remastered for 4K/60Hz/120Hz gaming. Which is cool, but it just didn't feel like a completely new experience. Sure, I had the high resolution and refresh rate monitor, and a cool speaker setup, but it just wasn't that captivating. So I sold my XSX.

The biggest problem obviously is that there are barely any exclusives for both XSX and PS5. COVID probably impacted this a lot, not sure on the details.

Perhaps it's just a good continuation of gaming for those already into console gaming, but nothing amazing. PC gamers will stick to PC too, of course.

What are your thoughts?

Gaming Game Console Microsoft Sony

Comments

  • Noire on 05/06/2021 - 17:33
    +6

    Ps5 here, Astro playroom is the only thing that amazed me the most so far. I'm just glad for this generation the loading times are just as fast as PC

  • ChillBro on 05/06/2021 - 17:39

    It's been awesome. Sure I prefer my PC for the superior graphics but I only really play my consoles for exclusives anyway so it's been great.

  • theory on 05/06/2021 - 17:51
    +5

    Really good question.

    This is the first generation of console upgrades that I personally find not necessary. Let me explain.

    First console I played was the Atari, just so you know my age range. The jump to 8-bit graphics on the NES was huge. The jump to 16-bit graphics even bigger. Then came 3D, which was a huge leap forward. And on it went.

    When HD became a thing and I got my first HD screen and an XBOX 360… wow, man. Biggest leap yet. Because that's the first time we got both technical console improvements AND a whole new type of screen to play games on. To me, this is the feeling we'll forever chase.

    1080p to 4K is gonna be pretty cool, I'm sure, and I finally have a Series X on the way. I'll also be begrudgingly updating my incredible 11 year old plasma screen for a 4K screen later this year. But I come from Atari days, so I'm also very happy with 1080p and my day one XBONE.

    My justification for upgrading is that the bigger games yet, the longer I have to wait for games to load. Games have started to crash a bit for me, and my external HDD on my XBONE has started failing. The Series X will fix these issues.

    Also, hey, I'm not a kid anymore and have the money to splash. I deserve it!

  • plmko on 05/06/2021 - 17:53
    +4

    The biggest leap is the consistency of HDR in all games. If you have a proper panel that can provide 1000nits+ you will know. Resident Evil 8 for instance is a pleasure to play.

  • sinn3r on 05/06/2021 - 18:00

    Ps5 owner here

    Unfortunately I don’t have a TV to fully utilise the ps5 but the fact I’ve technically got an ultra quiet PS4 was enough to be satisfied

    Only thing that hurts me is the SSD upgrade not being available yet

    • Hybroid on 05/06/2021 - 18:11

      Note with the latest patch, you can store (but not play) PS5 games onto an external drive (as well as play/store PS4 games). Hopefully the internal M.2 SSD expansion is enabled soon…

  • tallkid123 on 05/06/2021 - 18:21

    As soon as a limited edition PS5 console gets announced, I'll finally get one.

  • Belsesame on 05/06/2021 - 18:35
    +2

    I bought the ps5 at launch and think it's a fairly massive upgrade from ps4. I skipped the ps4 pro. I love the improved graphics, speed, and smoothness. Had a ball with wrekfest, and find gt sport pretty good, but wish it had a ps5 upgrade to include ray tracing. I liked control with the ray tracing but got a bit bored of the game. I really loved cyberpunk and Valhalla, both have amazing graphics imho! For me, the graphics and smoothness are great, but the best thing is load times - was really getting annoyed at ps4! I'm really looking forward to when sekiro and demon souls will be cheaper, and when hzd2 comes out!

    I prefer ps5 over PC due to couch gaming and the large tv experience with hdr, plus cheaper than upgrading pc and great exclusives. I also played Atari first, then master system, mega drive, and all playstations (except ps4 pro).

  • Stoibs on 05/06/2021 - 19:01
    +1

    Coming from a primarily PC gaming background with somewhat harsh and high standards, it's pretty great to finally have halfway decent fps in couch gaming again.

    Time was I only ever owned my consoles for exclusives, and anything cross-gen I would get on PC because they are better performing 99% of the time. So far however I've opted and picked up a few on the PS5 instead (P5Strikers, Yakuza Like a Dragon) because the difference gap is so much smaller and so one platform isn't my immediate go-to anymore.

    Granted I'll still opt for PC for any shooter or anything that would benefit from higher 120+ frames, but for the most part it's a huge breath of fresh air to play (or replay at the moment, considering the limited library) things like God of War, TLoU2, Until Dawn, Ghosts of Tsushima etc. running like smooth silk.

    Honestly I don't really care about graphics and am still in the stone age when it comes to owning 4k/higher res displays, so no comment on that.
    I guess this is another reason too why I'm pretty happy with the leap since the last gen's 'Ps4Pro' stop-gap only really focused on graphical fidelity and gave mere lip service to performance, which was improved in very few titles.. :/

    Funnily enough I haven't really bought any true PS5 games yet and am still on the fence in deciding about Ratchet and Clank at the moment, but as long as these 60fps boosts keep coming (fingers crossed for Uncharted 4/Lost Legacy next!) then I'll still have dozens of yesteryear's backlog to keep me busy until they do start to come with more frequency.

  • BuyOrNot on 05/06/2021 - 19:26

    Upgraded from PS4Pro to PS5, I am very happy with the huge reduction in load times and smooth gameplay.

    I have a backlog of games so I dont really mind that there few PS5 exclusive games.

  • AustriaBargain on 05/06/2021 - 19:58
    +2

    I have both. I think life's too short to go without the latest and greatest in gaming. It's a relatively inexpensive hobby. So far there are no next games I liked, but I'd still recommend getting these ASAP because you get more value out of them when the hype is high. I do like the fast loading and fast switching times on xbox. And I think I'll like the new Ratchet and Clank game and Final Fantasy upgrade a lot.

  • nomoneynoproblems on 05/06/2021 - 20:06

    I’ve been spoiled with demon souls and returnal on ps5. I really can’t go back…the dual sense controller and near instant loading is a game changer for me.

    • snooksy on 07/06/2021 - 08:28

      I’ve been running dual SSDs in a Raid configuration for years on PC so the loading times are now catching up on console. One thing I notice with the PS5 is the thing runs really hot. It fits in my entertainment unit because it’s the same width as an amplifier etc. however I can’t close it off because it gets really hot. The PS5 is good but not much use of the new controller as yet. Honestly I was expecting a bit more performance. It can’t run 4k with ray tracing on at 60fps but I expect next years PC graphics cards from AMD to be able to do so. I don’t care about 8K. We don’t even have mostly HD Free to air broadcasting let alone 4k or 8k. I run the PS5 on a projector at 4k. I will get ratchet and clank rift apart but probably wait till it reduces in price a bit. It only took me about 10 hours to complete the PS4 ratch and clank included with ps plus on the PS5. I skipped PS4 but had every other PlayStation and before those I had NES and SNES. I hardly used my PS3 but I’ve used PS5 every day since owning it.

  • DingoBilly on 05/06/2021 - 20:40

    Super happy, I'd probably buy one just for ps4 games for improved load times alone.

    Games like Returnal though have been amazing. Really fun. A few more titles coming this yesr I'm super keen for like Ratchet and Clank.

    Will be slow but again, happy with performance/load time improvements alone.

  • GrueHunter on 05/06/2021 - 21:52

    PS5 here. Just enjoying older PS4 titles at higher res and/or frame rates - eg Division 2, HZD, Sniper Elite 4, Helldivers, RDR2, Final Fantasy VII. Haven't played any PS5 games, except briefly firing up freebies like Astro Bot and Bugsnax. Son got Sackboy, played it for all of five minutes. Final Fantasy Online looks pretty.

  • bananhana on 05/06/2021 - 22:16

    Only complaint so far is the prices of games being $125 (or $109 release). I'm so use to buying on release for $70. I haven't bought any PS5 games yet (besides included PS+ ones).

    I don't know enough to debate the economics of prices and I get on simple terms its that cost of development has gone up but the ozbargainer in me can't justify paying current prices, I think i'd start buying games on release if it was around $95, I don't think its impossible since Amazon just reduced R&C preorder prices to $98 which is close enough for me.

  • pegaxs on 05/06/2021 - 22:53
    +3

    Xbox Series X… And meh. Was it worth the 3 month wait? Not really. It's nice and some of the games "look" better (not that it is easy to notice them over the One X). The quicker load times in some games is nice to have. The HDR seems to work better on this unit as well. The One X always seemed way too dark even after playing with the setting. I have not tweaked any HDR settings on the Series X and it looks so much better.

    Pro: Faster loads, better HDR, quieter, still cheaper than a graphics card.
    Cons: All my games needed an "S/X" graphic updates, not worth the 3 month wait, over hyped.

  • Kangal on 05/06/2021 - 22:53
    +1

    First of all, this is the first console upgrade that allows (mostly) full-backwards compatibility with the old gen titles from all competitors. So its less of a "Definitive/Revolution Update" and more of a "Transitioning/Evolution Upgrade". This is good news for consumers, it means the new consoles ARE direct competitors to the old consoles, and that means: more competition, lower prices, more games.

    Both consoles are VERY rough around the edges. And in terms of exclusive content, just forget about it. However, none of this is surprising, it happens every generation-jump. It usually takes 2-full years for the new consoles to ramp up in availability, come down in price, and start getting worthy games… and that's around the point they start making the previous console obsolete. Not to mention the various firmware updates, and updated hardware revisions (eg Slim Version).

    With that being said, the jump in Graphics Fidelity is getting smaller and smaller as time passes. While I am very impressed by the amount of hardware you get for the dollaroos… it still was the smallest leap so far. This leap is even smaller, or non-existent, if you consider the mid-gen consoles. I haven't included the mid-gen consoles, or some other niche consoles (MagnaVox, Atari XE, Sega Saturn, NeoGeo, Amiga, Apple PIPpin, Nintendo Wii, PS4 Pro, Xbox One X etc etc) in my recap list.

    Gen 1: Atari Pong/Nintendo CTG/Coleco Telstar
    Gen 2: Phillips Odyssey2/Mattel IntelliVision/ColecoVision
    Gen 3: Atari 2600/NES/Sega Master
    Gen 4: NEC TG16/Sega Genesis/SNES
    Gen 5: N64/PS1/DreamCast
    Gen 6: PS2/GameCube/Xbox
    Gen 7: Xbox 360/PS3/WiiU
    Gen 8: Switch/Xbox One/PS4
    Gen 9: Xbox SS/PS5/Xbox SX

    ….and though an oversimplification, there is basically three competitors during each generation and you can group them into Three Teams.
    A: Atari, Mattel, Nintendo
    B: Phillips, NEC, Sony
    C: Coleco, Sega, Microsoft

  • YoursTruly on 06/06/2021 - 01:19
    +1

    Looking forward to a game experience that’s new, innovative and not a rehash/ reimagining.

    Something to blow my mind like Mario 64, wipeout 2097/ 3, mgs2, mgs4, virtua fighter 2, last of us 2, resident evil 2, sonic 1/ 2/ 3 & knuckles smash bros, wind waker, twilight princess, shenmue 1, sonic adventure 2, panzer dragoon, final fantasy vii, grandia, splatoon, Luigi mansion Metroid prime, bayonetta, gradius …etc…etc…

    You get the idea…

    IMO - None of that has happened yet with PS5/ XSX

  • jhaley3180 on 06/06/2021 - 09:23
    +1

    XSX here, have had it since release day. Had to return to Microsoft after four weeks for a warranty issue (compete failure). They had a replacement to me within the week so I was happy. I have a fully compatible TV so I appreciate the HDR compatibility. But, in my opinion, the key difference between the One X and the XSX is really in the load times and instant resume rather than gameplay. There are incremental improvements is graphics but the gameplay 'experience' is worth the upgrade in my opinion.

  • Kyrie on 06/06/2021 - 18:59

    Mind blowing experience for me. Upgraded my 2015 Xbox last year to a XSX, upgraded my 1080P TV to OLED start of the year and world of difference. Bought the series 2 elite controller and the paddles give you an edge on games like call of duty.

    Also have had a ps5 for 2 weeks now and that's taken me away from xbox because I haven't had a playstation since ps2 so games like God of war, the last of us are amazing.

    For a subscription fee of 15.95 for gamepass and psplus at $59.95 for year on sale there's more than enough games for me to play without buying a game outright whilst enjoying it on my couch.

  • snooksy on 07/06/2021 - 11:07

    I don’t think the new games are worth the price at $98+. Majority of games titles available for the PS5 are cheap PS4 games. I think $50 is fair for a quality game released in the last 12 months. The AUD$ to USD$ Exchange rate never makes sense to me. I think the PS5 GPU is a bit underpowered compared to Xbox X. If you get both then I’d consider getting Digital Edition PS5 to play the PS exclusives and get a disc XBX for it’s better GPU. I own PS5 and I don’t have any issues with it and don’t find it rough. It’s stable, games work and no issues at all. I have an external NVME in a USB3.2 enclosure for PS4 games and the loading time is much the same as PS5 SSD load times. Waiting for Sony to certify some PCIe4 NVMe drives for internal storage. Only a few seconds difference with USB 3.2 10gbps enclosure. Sleep functionality works fine for me as you use it as it’s intended which is to allow game installs and updates while not using the system. Some people try to freeze games and put the PS5 to sleep and I don’t think that was the intended use for it. One thing missing a bit with PS5 is some form of social experience. The system feels isolated to all other PS5 systems in the world. I think Sony needs to improve the OS so show other users information more - such as medal tallys, best times for levels / laps etc.

  • spazattack91 on 22/06/2021 - 07:17
    +1

    Have a series S. Not super impressed atm, I figured that they would have one game to blow my socks off but it doesn't look like it! Ps4 is getting much more love! Getting a ps5 though and the s will be a gamepass machine in the basement.

  • altiarlio on 23/06/2021 - 14:31

    I have a series s I got free from Telstra but it just feels weaker than my Xbox one X I’ve gone back to using.

    Idk some games just struggle, cp2077 plays better in one x than series s lol.

    I have a 2060 based pc that I can use but I’ve always preferred buying console and just buying all the games there

  • SirFlibbled on 24/06/2021 - 14:28

    I have both an XSX and PS5.

    In both cases, it's nice and they are super fast loading but not really a massive change. For example my wife played Biomutant on the XB1 and I played it on XSX. It would occasionally freeze on her and took ages to load where as on the XSX is was just much smoother, and not a huge difference in graphics.

    However, the PS5 controller is well thought out. I didn't care to much about the haptic feedback, but it's great and I really like having a microphone in the speaker so you don't need to wear a headset.

    • TwentyTwoCarats on 24/06/2021 - 15:00

      From most of these responses and yours too, I'm gathering that at the moment next-gen gaming is really for the gaming enthusiasts/regulars but not really casual gamers. Because it's an enhanced experience but not really a totally new thing with lots of new games. I guess I might wait until there is a wider range of games and stuff.

      • SirFlibbled on 25/06/2021 - 14:43

        If you have a X1 or PS4 then there's no need to rush out IMO.

  • narcoleptic-haze on 25/06/2021 - 10:00

    Essentially, "Next-Gen" games still haven't really started rolling out yet. Sure there have been a couple, mainly for PS5, but in general I think it'll be the end of 2021/22 where we start to see the real "Next-Gen" titles.

    I have a series X and have been loving it so far after leaving the OG XB1, then moving on to Switch for a few years. Series X is a breath of fresh air for me personally - even on a 1080p TV. Everything just runs so much smoother and generally looks better already. I'm actually playing through Fallout 4 again and the recent 60Hz update really does make it so much more enjoyable.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join