The holiday season features a clash between Microsoft and Sony Consoles.
The Xbox X Series comes out on 10th November at $499 and Sony PS5 comes out on 12th November at $499.
CNN Business is analyzing and comparing these two consoles in terms of their designs, business strategies, and technical specifications.
Technical Specifications
The Xbox’s processor can clock at 3.8 Gigahertz speed in comparison to Sony PS5’s speed of 3.5 Gigahertz, but the difference has a marginal impact on the gaming experience.
Gpu of Xbox is slightly a better with 1.7 teraflops units more than Sony PS5. But Sony PS5 has a different GPU architecture which gives better graphical performance. But its impact on visual experience is unclear.
Xbox has 1 TB of storage in comparison to Sony PS5’s 825 GB. But both consoles have cloud solutions – Project xCloud and Playstation Now so this advantage of Xbox is not a big deal.
Sony PS5 has a faster loading speed of 5.5 GB/second in comparison to Xbox’s 2.4 GB/second loading speed.
Both consoles have 4K gaming resolutions and 16 GB memory. In terms of the latest technology, both have incorporated ray-tracing and showcases 3D audio.
Both Microsoft and Sony PS5 support 8K resolution for future gaming. They have designed the console keeping 7-10 years ahead, Jason Ronald, Director, Program Management, Xbox X Series explained to CNN Business.
In Terms Of Business Strategy
Ampere Analysis stated that earlier Xbox One sold around 49M units compared to Sony PS4’s 109M units.
Nintendo’s Switch console has overtaken Xbox one by selling 53M units by 2020. Nintendo franchises rarely visit other platforms but Sony cheers up fans every time with a colorful set of PS exclusives.
Many Xbox games are however launched on other platforms so PS5 fans don’t have to migrate from their systems. According to NPD group, Xbox exclusives don’t feature in the top 10 best-selling games.
Piers Harding-Rolls, Research Director, Ampere Analysis has estimated that Sony PS5 will sell 67M consoles in comparison to 44M consoles by Series X by 2024 in terms of marketing strategies and previous sales record.
Sony PS5 is trying to push exclusives and has a traditional approach. Through PlayStation it is attempting to gain an audience but is less aggressive than Microsoft’s Game Pass. Microsoft has provided all its games through a subscription of Game Pass at $9.99/month.
It is also making the new games compatible with previous generations and Project xCloud also supports mobile gaming. It is not forcing users to upgrade their devices for upcoming games. Xbox has tried focusing more on the users and less on the device after Phil Spencer took control. Sony PS5 on the other hand has a different approach to it.
David Cole, Analyst, DFC Intelligence stated that Microsoft has problems with marketing products of entertainment and are comfortable with marketing technical specifications to a small portion of console owners. The pandemic’s impact on player’s incomes could affect whether they decide to upgrade.
Most gamers will be content to play on their present consoles until pushed to upgrade for playing the newest launched series or games, mentioned Historian and assistant professor of games of N.Y. University, Laine Nooney.
