Last month, Sony released the PlayStation5 and Microsoft released the Xbox Series X, both within a couple days of each other. Consumers had to decide which one to purchase in the heart of the holiday buying season. 

Which console is better? What’s the difference between the new console compared to their current console, and what new features do these systems bring? 

One of the most important parts of a console is what makes it different from another console. The PS5, compared to the previous version PS4, has some major improvements. The system storage has made major improvements, which allows you to store many more games; the resolution of the games has improved; and the frame rate of the games has also increased, which allows for a smooth gaming experience.

According to Digitaltrends, “Sony has improved the capabilities of its platform in every way, adding more efficient storage, faster compute parts, support for larger capacity disks, and support for higher resolutions.” While the default PS4 only came with 500 gigabytes of internal storage, the PS5 has increased storage with a whopping 825 gigabytes.

Besides storage space in a console, another key part is how the games look – their graphics. Video games in this generation are so much different than the ones before. Gamers now expect great graphics and are wanting more improvements. The PS5 satisfies that need and is able to bring amazing games with amazing graphics.

Digitaltrends goes on to say, “In short, the graphical capabilities of the PS5 are massively more impressive than the PS4. The PS5’s GPU will have more cores, and those cores will be faster and more efficient.” GPUs are used to accelerate the creation of images that appear on the screen. So the better the GPU, the better the frame rate will be. The default PS4 was able to produce a resolution of 1080p while the PS5 is able to produce 4k resolution. 

Sophomore Nico Milano, a PS 4 player, likes this feature, as he says the main reason to upgrade from the PS4 to the PS5 is the better connection speed and better graphics. 

Band Director Michael Sliwinski is an avid video game player. He is not planning on getting the new system just yet but is impressed by where PlayStation is going. “One of my buddies actually works at Best Buy and we were just talking the other day; he got the PS5 and just talked about how Madden literally takes less than 30 seconds to load from the time you start the game to actually getting online compared to the PS4 where it takes minutes.”

On top of the resolution and graphics the PS5 brings, it also shows amazing color. Sliwinski’s friend, Best Buy employee Matt Johnson points out the detail and color shown in games, “The feature I like the most is definitely the visual display…the detail and contrast makes it seem like you are there in person watching the game.”

The Xbox Series X also makes major upgrades compared to its older version, The Xbox One. Unfortunately, both Xboxes come with the same amount of storage at 1 terabyte each, but the Xbox Series X has some major graphic improvements. 

TechRadar states, “When it comes to specs, this is where the Xbox Series X really differentiates itself. The console is packed with some seriously impressive hardware, many of which allow for technological advancements that you simply won’t find on Xbox One X, such as graphically intensive ray tracing support and frame rates up to 120fps (frames per second).” The resolution of the Xbox Series X doubles the Xbox One with a resolution of 8k. The fps on the Xbox Series X also doubles the Xbox One with 120fps.

A big reason why teenagers play video games, either the Xbox and the PlayStation, is to play with their friends. Sophomore Matthew Uphues says, “The fact that I get to play with my friends is probably the reason why I’ll get the PS5.” 

Sophomore James Mercurio, who is also a PS4 player says, “I’d go with the PS5 because I’ve always liked PlayStation better and it always seemed better than Xbox.” However some people are conflicted on which console to get. 

Sophomore Joey Hawkins, an Xbox One S player says “The PS5 stats are better than the Xbox Series X right now, but in the past the Xbox One S was better than the PS4, so I’m kinda in between.” The “console wars” have taken over the internet between Xbox and PlayStation players, but even some Xbox players are thinking about switching sides due to the PS5’s huge improvements.

The PS5 is the superior system because of the reliability that each PlayStation system has produced. PlayStation as a company has always been able to make the best running system that can give the player the best gaming experience. It shows in the statistics that the PS5 is the superior console. The Xbox Series X released two days earlier than the PS5 but yet the PS5 is currently outselling the new Xbox. 

The Notebook Check states how dominant the PS5 is over the Xbox Series X, “Unsurprisingly, the PlayStation 5 defeated the Xbox Series X and S when it came to launch day sales, at least according to estimates put together by a VGChartz analyst. Apparently, 2.1 million to 2.5 million units of the PS5 were sold in total on its two launch days, but the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S also did very well with an estimated 1.2 million to 1.4 million units sold.”