Tips for choosing your next-generation gaming consoles

Gaming consoles are portals that transport gamers to fantasy worlds. Be an assassin in the colonial era, fight an alien being a space marine, or drive an F1 race car, gaming consoles make everything come true.

When it comes to buying gaming consoles, there are numerous popular brands offering unique features at various price points. While popular websites such as www.thegruelingtruth.com, have been listing the top differentiators to be considered, we have consolidated certain tips which could come in handy before investing in a next-gen gaming console.

Console manufacturers like Microsoft and Sony mostly sell gaming consoles of different versions. However, finding huge price differences between each successive generation is rare. The best method to compare prices between consoles is to look at the variants on popular technology news websites.

Gaming Specifications

Specs are mainly what developers do with the software and hardware of the devices. That being said, if consoles have flaws in their specifications, it would totally dampen the gaming experience.

A gamer does not want the CPU to be underpowered or lacking in storage space. Important specs to look at include GPU, RAM, CPU, expandable storage, system storage, audio output, and networking features. Nintendo is the king of consoles when it comes to using specs efficiently and smartly.

Compatible Games

One of the most important aspects of choosing a console is the gaming library. This determined whether the console stands out to offer the best gaming system. All next-generation consoles offer launch libraries to help gamers understand their uniqueness.

Also, each console is showcased at presentations or events like E3. Nintendo and Sony offer stronger exclusives than Microsoft. Always look out for gaming news, publishings by Sony Interactive Entertainment, etc.

When PlayStation 2 was released in 2000, it became the best selling video gaming console of the time. As per 2022 records, it sold over 158 million units globally. The latest version PlayStation 5 sold 20.65 units during Q2, 2022.

Designs

The first thing that stands out when choosing the next-gen console is its aesthetic. A cool, unique console is a plus. Dimensions of consoles also play a significant role.

Earlier, during the ninth generation of video games, we could see bulky designs from the PS5. Valve and Nintendo have smaller consoles than Microsoft and Sony but do face different design objectives due to their hybrid and handheld nature.

Features

Gaming consoles have grown tremendously to become an in-one entertainment solution. Thus, gamers look for interesting features that are associated with it both gaming and non-gaming wise. Gaming features mainly include things like customisations on system settings and UI.

Consoles offer unique features such as the docked and handheld models of Nintendo Switch. Another important feature of next-gen consoles is backward compatibility.

When Microsoft and Sony launched their ninth gen consoles, gamers rejoiced since the Xbox Series X/S, and PS5 came with backward compatibility along with enhanced gaming versions.

Backward compatibility also boosts newer console’s launch libraries which in turn gives a range of last generation games to play.

Conclusion

The PlayStation 2 is still the consistent bestseller with over 157.68 million units sold.

The best selling game for consoles is Wii Sports with 82.65 million units sold. Globally, the console gaming market was estimated to stand at $45.2 billion during 2020 which showed an impressive YoY growth of around 6.8%.

The three major players in this industry are Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. They compete against each other and bring out impressive consoles, and games every year.

The current generation has observed Sony’s PS4 to take the lead with around 46.7% of the market share whereas Nintendo Switch stood at 36.9% followed by Microsoft Xbox One at 16.4%.