We’ve had relative silence when it comes to the new models of each of the main three consoles, but details are slowly trickling through. Here’s what we know about each console so far.
What’s New for the Nintendo Switch?
The Nintendo Switch is still a new entry on the block, at least compared to the PS4 and Xbox One. As such, we will not see a “Switch 2” for a while. What we will see, however, are “remixes” on the original console in order to better fit user demand. If you think about what Nintendo has done with their past portable consoles, it’s easy to see that that the Switch will get a luxury and budget-friendly variant. The 3DS, for instance, had both the larger XL version and the cheaper 2DS without the 3D vision. Rumors have stated that both a luxury and economy version are currently being developed, with a release date of late 2019. The luxury version will be aimed at “avid gamers,” which could tackle some issues people have with the console, such as low processing power and no native ethernet support. The budget version may strip off some of the unneeded features of the console to lower the price, such as controller vibration.
What’s New for the PlayStation 4?
The PS4, however, already has its luxury and economy versions: the PS4 Pro and PS4 Slim, respectively. As such, Sony’s sights are less on remixing the PS4 and more pushing ahead with their new console, presumably called the PlayStation 5. There has been confirmation that Sony is working on a successor to the PS4, and some of the details coming out sound very good. For one, Sony has learned from the awful PS4’s backward compatibility issues, which left a foul taste in the mouths of gamers who adopted the console early and wanted to play their PS3 games. Not only will the PS5 be fully compatible with PS4 games, but PS5 players can still play online games with PS4 owners. Sony has also confirmed that PlayStation VR owners need not fear – their kit will work on the PS4. PSVR is the best option for anyone who wants to get into virtual reality console gaming, so this will be a breath of relief for people who invested in the unit. The PS5 won’t slack off in the specifications department. It uses a bespoke 8-core AMD processor, a GPU that borrows from the Radeon Navi line, and support for 8K televisions. As such, this is not simply another rehashing of the PS4; this is a deliberate and significant jump ahead of the previous unit, ready for the future of gaming. If this sounds exciting, it’s best to start saving for it now. While a price point hasn’t been confirmed yet, the console won’t be released until mid-2020 at the earliest.
What’s New for the Xbox One?
With Microsoft’s odd naming pattern for their consoles, we have no clue what their next console will be called. At the moment we know it’s under its codename “Project Scarlett,” and it boasts a range of features that will please any Xbox fan. One of its most impressive features is its full backward compatibility with every Xbox console. That’s right, it can go as far back as the original Xbox! If you’ve been a loyal Xbox gamer until now, this will be a great time to dust off that collection. It will also carry over all your previous achievements to your new console. Project Scarlett’s specs are somewhat similar to the PS5’s, with a processor using the Navi architecture and support up to 8K resolution. The new console has boasted an impressive 120FPS limit, which will be a good selling point if the games manage to achieve such levels with the hardware. Project Scarlett’s main focus is to get rid of the loading screen. If it can’t achieve that with a game, it will instead focus on making it load as fast as possible.
The Next Generation
In the console wars, each company has to bring their best to prevent themselves from being left behind. Whether it’s a brand new console or a new version of an existing one, the rumors of these new consoles show that the gaming world will be an exciting place in the coming year or two. Which are you looking forward to the most? Let us know below.
