Nowadays, gaming has become a huge part of our lifestyle.  Streamers make millions a year just from sitting in front of a screen and pushing buttons, thousands watch them play games, and friends play with each other every night.  In the gaming world, two clear frontrunners run the gaming console scene: Playstation and Xbox.  Both have their respected audiences who spend money boosting their console with different games and apps to use.  However, a huge debate has struck the gaming world as to which console one should choose and if a switch from one gaming system to another would be reasonable.

On November 10, 2020, the Xbox Series X released worldwide.  Two days later, the PS5 was released in North America, Australia, Japan,  New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea.  On November 19, a week later, the PS5 was released worldwide.  Both revolutionary consoles come at the hefty price of $499.  Despite only just being launched, both consoles already have memes against them.  The PS5 is huge, measuring in at almost 15.5 inches.  The Xbox Series X’s shape has been compared to a fridge; however, Microsoft took this joke lightheartedly and made an Xbox themed fridge mirroring their new console.  One exclusive perk that accompanies the PS5 is the haptic mechanics in the controllers.  Vibration in a controller has been around for years; however, tension that is synced with the gameplay can be felt in the triggers while the player is pushing them.

According to Microsoft, the creator of the Xbox, the Xbox Series X is “the world’s most powerful console.”  But, the Xbox does have some framerate drops (slower moving pictures) that are slightly noticeable; they are nothing major but according to reports it is noticeable.  Both the PS5 and the Xbox introduced a new concept to the gaming world: ray-tracing.  When enabled, ray-tracing provides an accurate depiction of a reflection in the game.  For example, while swinging around as Spider-Man in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, a Playstation exclusive game, one can see reflections of the character flying around slinging webs, cars zooming past, and other various events.  This may sound like nothing special, but this is what makes these consoles “revolutionary.”

Both systems have games that are exclusive to that console company.  For example, as stated above, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is exclusive to the Playstation; you won’t be able to play this on an Xbox.  Xbox’s most popular exclusive gaming series is the Halo series, one of the most iconic and popular video game series of all time.  So, if you are looking to play one of the exclusive games, then you would be required to buy the gaming system that offers that specific game.

Both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X have their advantages and disadvantages.  Both come with a hefty price tag, but the systems comes with a revolutionary gaming experience.  The systems both have software that is worth the price, according to many reviews.  However, it will take up a lot of saving to attain that $499 level.  These systems will definitely be hot items around this holiday season.