Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Feature
Six Reasons To Get Excited For PlayStation 5 And Xbox Series X
We don't have a price or release date for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, but they're both believed to be just months away, and they both deliver exciting prospects in their own unique ways. I always adopt hardware early, and love seeing how my favorite entertainment medium is lifted to new heights. It happens with almost every new machine that hits the market, and both Sony and Microsoft are touting significant change with their respective machines.
I put together a quick rundown of six things that excite me about PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and would love to hear your thoughts these next-gen consoles in the comments section below. Console launches are an absolute blast, and I can't wait to put next-gen gaming to the test in the months ahead. Here's what stands out to me so far:
Faster Load Times
Take a second and think about how much of our gaming consists of loading screens. Answer: It’s a lot. I wonder how much of my 100-plus hours in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim involved watching a load screen as I entered a house. Faster load times may sound trivial, but if PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X can greatly reduce them, almost to the point of being nonexistent, this will be a huge selling point and feature that truly defines this new era of gaming.
The PlayStation 5 Controller
I believe Xbox One’s controller is the best one ever made, and have no issues with Microsoft carrying that core design forward to Xbox Series X. While I still don’t like the analog placement on the DualSense controller, I’m fascinated by the new technology inside of it. Developers are raving about the adaptive triggers that you can feel tighten, and also the haptic feedback that can send a feeling from one side of the controller to the other. I just hope the battery life is considerably longer than the DualShock 4’s.
New Worlds To Explore
Yes, I want to play Horizon Forbidden West, Halo Infinite, Resident Evil Village, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales more than any other announced games for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, but I also want to kick off a new generation with experiences that I haven’t had before, and both systems’ lineups are filled with new intellectual properties that I can’t wait to check out. From the beautiful-looking Kena: Bridge of Spirits to the sheer wildness of Bugsnax, we have plenty of new worlds to enter from a wide variety of developers. Some of it is even slated to release this holiday.
Old Games Are New Again
A good number of current-gen games are getting upgrades on the new machines, and while I don’t think we’ll see huge changes along the lines of remastered editions, it will be fun to go back to some of my favorite games to see how they look on the more powerful hardware.
Creating Content
The controllers for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X feature a new button. On PlayStation 5, this button is called ‘Create,’ and Sony says it will pioneer “new ways for players to create epic gameplay content to share with the world, or just to enjoy for themselves.” This could mean players are creating game clips or save states or who knows what else. Xbox Series X’s button is called “Share,” which is believed to deliver similar functionality. Being able to quickly and easily generate content for social media could be a big part of these new machines.
We Can Probably Disconnect Our Old Machines
When a new console hits, the precursor hardware remains hooked up for a good year or two, as I may want to play something on last gen. Given how this generation is carrying forward onto PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, we may be able to disconnect our old machines and retire them on day one.
On
On
Off
Off
Products In This Article
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
