If you are like me and spend a portion of your week reading around the internet about gaming then you’ve probably not been able to avoid the oncoming sense of dread of the ongoing and upcoming arguments about which console will win the “console wars.” This argument has been around for as long as there have been multiple options for consumers when it comes to home entertainment, specifically in videogames. Options on the market mean that most of the time consumers are forced to decide which brand that they will buy into and be attached to until they make their next purchase. What’s funny is that the technology has gotten better, the value of the dollar and average incomes have changed, but the price of expensive home consoles has more or less stayed at the same price point. This means that consumers might have the ability to purchase more than one, but most of the time, things won’t add up for them to buy more than one.
Sony’s big announcement on February 20th has sparked a good deal of discussion, especially with the details about the upcoming PlayStation 4 that have been made public. There is a lot to say about the PS4, everything from the processing power to the architecture and the thing that most people seem interested in; the powerful RAM that they have selected. The reality is, until we start seeing some more software in motion and hear from more developers, we aren’t going to be all-that certain as to how well it functions and what it is really capable of. The same can be said for the upcoming Microsoft Xbox 720 (or Durango), which has yet to be formally announced, but we have seen the specs leak out and they do appear to at least be similar, numerically, to the PS4’s. Of course, there are already people speculating on this right now.
There will be squabbles over the next few months over which console is more powerful, which one will provide the best visuals, audio and which one will provide the best performance for longer, but the truth of the truth of the matter is that most of that will just be speculation. As much as we’d love to be able to definitively say that one product is better than the other, much will lay in the eye of the beholder. Software has always been what has made for consoles to be something special, to sink or swim and taste in software will always be rather subjective to the individual and their own wants and needs. If you are a diehard fan of the Halo and Gears of Wars games of course you are going to lean towards Microsoft’s next console, but if you find yourself more of a fan of stuff like Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain, thatgamecompany’s artistic endeavors or Japanese RPGs it would be more logical to pick up a PS4.
I feel like this is an argument that I’ve personally made dozens of times in the past, but we are really going to see this issue come to light more and more in the coming months, so consider it a friendly reminder that everyone is going to have their own opinions that align with their views and if that doesn’t jive with you it won’t be the end of the world.
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