Today we will look at the age-old holivar between the monsters of the console market - Sony and Microsoft, as well as a niche competitor - Nintendo. After debriefing, let's talk about the cloud gaming service, its prospects and the current state of affairs. It will be in the context of the current generations of consoles with a slight touch of history and the future.
Since, at various sites and forums, there are fierce battles and PC boyars, I will not interfere with them here. This, most likely, requires a separate topic, where we will bump into PCs and console players.
Introduction
For the first time I took a joystick in my hands back in 1995. Since then I have become very addicted to gaming. Yes, over the years and growing up, more serious things came to the fore. Time for games became less and less. With the advent of a family, a child and the age of 30+, interest in the gameplay itself began to subside. Despite all this, I keep my eyes on all the news, I follow the main market players. Yes, I don’t miss serious AAA projects (my weakness is FPS and slashers), but I play a few games a year, and I watch reviews more and more often. Fortunately, the son motivates him to hack into something. Damn mobile phones and tablets, I'm getting more and more addicted, probably getting old.
So that's it. I can’t count myself as a fan of consoles, because there is parity here. FPS is a PC theme, no matter what they tell me, and slashers are a console one. Yes, you can connect joysticks, etc., but I am for organic.
From consoles, I have / have Dendy, PS1, PS2, PSP, Xbox360, PS3, PS4, Wii U. As you can see from the list, I am drawn to Sony. I'll explain why next.
It's a SONY
My first acquaintance with Sony products began with the PS1. I bought it not at the start of sales, but somewhere in 2002. After Dendy and Sega, it was a new level of gaming experience. At that time, the graphics (not about the PC this time) and the library of games were striking in their abundance.
Since I was a student in the early 2000s, I could not afford to buy consoles at the start and took them with a delay of 2-3 years. By that time, the price was falling, and the library of games was filling up. I bought myself a PS2 in 2004. After the first curling iron I didn't even look towards the Xbox from the T-shirts.
PS2 didn't disappoint me for a minute. All the same favorite games, only with improved graphics. Irritated only these memory cards to save progress. Fortunately, there was backward compatibility.
And so, due to the fact that the new version of the console from Sony from the planned 2005 was moved to 2007, I decided to taste the brainchild of "T-shirts" - Xbox360. In 2008 I took their console.
The first impression was twofold. A long stay at Sony, their exclusives, interface, controllers - all this took a while to get used to. Delving into and getting used to, I did not take my eyes off the PS3 and waited for it to fully release in Europe and collect a library of games.
I'm used to "Juan", his exclusives Gears of War, Alan Wake and many arcades from Xbox live I really liked. But no matter how much you feed the wolf, he looks into the forest. Where am I without God of War. And in 2010 I could not stand it and "moved" again to Sony! It was so nice to be back home. More and more familiar, old and favorite games in a new guise. Beauty!
I took PS4 from friends for AAA projects. I no longer saw the expediency of buying for a couple of games and, as I wrote earlier, began to "cool down" by the process itself.
In between I had a PSP, one of the first revisions, but somehow at that time this kind of gaming did not come to me. I sold it six months later. Although now, sometimes, I go through hits on emulators.
I will not describe separately about the deep use of the Xbox, as well as about the Nintendo Wii U. The consoles were with me for a short time, and I sold them. Wii U borrowed exclusively from a friend for the sake of Donkey Kong (I still think the best platformer).
In total, I have an old PS3 in my arms, on which my son and I occasionally run into unplayed games or 2 on 2
What should you choose?
Perhaps I will seem to you a sonboy because the overwhelming number of models were from Sony, or maybe this is not without reason?
- PS ;
- ;
- Sony FHD, «» , ;
- Microsoft 1 Xbox, Sony PS2;
- 3 Xbox360 – . Sony ;
- Sony , – PSP (, Vita , );
- PlayStation Move Kinect – , 2010 ;
- PS3 Xbox360, Sony ( 360, , 3-4 … ).
This is about the big market players.
The consoles from Nintendo are not suitable for serious rivals of Sony and Microsoft, but they have their army of fans, as well as market share. Although the sales schedules sometimes go off scale, in real life, in the vastness of the former CIS countries for 10 gamers, I meet one with a device from Nintendo. Apparently China, Japan and Korea are making the Nintendo cashier.
Consoles (portable and large) are casual gaming. The library of games is much scarier than that of the giants of the market. A very niche product for a lot of money. Again, the only Nintendo game that "comes in" for me is Donkey Kong. All these Mario in different interpretations, Zelda ... .so, for an amateur.
Although, I have acquaintances, quite old, who love to play on devices from Nintendo. So, the console is like Lego, from 0-90.
When Nintendo Switch came out, I began to look at the company differently. Porting PC games significantly expands the library and interest, but it's all in 720 and even on a 6 ”screen ... Yes, you can connect to a TV and output the signal in FHD, but that's not it. I didn't want to offend the fans. Choice is good.
What we got with the advent of PS4 and Xbox One
The move to x86-64-based AMD architecture is a huge leap forward for porting and game development. It's now much easier to release something simultaneously for PC and consoles than before.
What did the gamers get? Nothing special. There was no graphical breakthrough at the start. Out of the box, FHD was no longer surprising to anyone in 2013. Support for 4K Sony was brought even later, in the PS4 Pro version, and "T-shirts" in the updated Xbox One S. The frame rate is a sore spot. Both companies promised, but in the end, you can forget about 4k 60 frames for now. If two consoles produce such a frequency, then either in 720 or 1080 resolution.
A console gamer has become nervous lately, because it used to be like this: you buy a console and forget about upgrades for 4-5 years. With the advent of the PS4 and Xbox One, in-generation modifications began. Here it somehow comes out unfair in relation to the players. When buying a console, a person does not want to bother with settings, upgrades, and so on. He wants the maximum out of the box.
Ninth Generation Consoles (PS5, Xbox Series X)
Already this year we are promised a new generation from the main two game monsters. There were presentations and a cut of the insides. AMD processors, 16 GB of RAM each. Sony will have twice the speed of an SSD, which will speed up game loading. Sony will also pay attention to sound output, according to them, it will reach a new level of quality.
The appearance, personally to me, is more pleasant to Sony. The Xbox Series X looks like a regular mini-ATX system unit.
There is not much difference in price tags. Rumor has it that Microsoft plans to sell budget versions and almost at a loss.
Also, Sony always has a larger library of games at the start. With a sore subject 4k and 60 frames - while they are silent. Rumors, and nothing more. We will see.
To summarize between Sony and Microsoft considering the past and the 9th generation, T-shirts still swallow dust from Sony.
Cloud gaming. Will he replace the box under the TV or not?
Imagine yourself lying on the couch, sitting in an armchair, on the street or anywhere, and playing any of your favorite games from any device. Finish playing on them not passed levels. Yes, this is the concept of cloud gaming. You can remotely join even from a toothbrush, if only there is a screen, to powerful remote servers and play! Fiction? In 2010 it was, now it is much more real, because serious companies have taken up this niche.
There are disadvantages, but every year the increase in Internet speed and unlimited tariffs - they are leveled. We need a good channel, ping. All.
More detailsBack in 2010, the OnLive pioneer was defeated. A scrap price tag at that time, frail management and everything died out.
A monster for the production of video cards, Nvidia with its GeForce Now, entered the market after him . You can play on "any" devices, including Windows, macOS.
PlayStation Now - Sony bought out Gaikai and launched their own streaming service. True, in Russia it is not yet possible to play without crutches. And yes, you can only play from a PC.
Now beta services, but from the seasoned guys
Project xCloud - streaming service from Microsoft. They promise a "hairpin" on any device. While being tested and not available in Russia. Let's see if there will be suitability.
Google StadiaAre my favorites. Google is Google. We went in loudly. They made a funky presentation, but how the testing went, the nuances fell down. Plus, not everything is so simple to use their service, you need to buy additional equipment. I don’t know yet they look funny, but I believe in Google.
There are also a lot of streaming services, incl. and Russian, but they are not worth your attention.
What can be said in conclusion. Everything is damp, ambitious, but quite real. Taking into account how we all now hang out online for days and "pass" games on YouTube, it is quite an alternative. How do you think?
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