The new generation of consoles is now here, and many have already sold on their previous console and bought the newest option on their respective platform. Upgrading is always an exciting time as people are eager to play new games built for a platform with excellent hardware and see some of the newest innovations in gaming for themselves. The new generation of consoles has indeed ushered in a new era of next-gen gaming by allowing more impressive visuals and faster frame rates. However, it is important to take a look back at the previous generation of gaming that spanned seven years.

The PS4 and Xbox One were both highly anticipated following the successful era of the PS3 and Xbox 360. When they first releases, they simply flew off shelves, but it became evident that a console war soon ensured between the two brands, and each had its dedicated community who would die before admitting the other console is better. This kind of rivalry has not yet been observed with the newest generation of consoles, but this is probably because only a select percentage of gamers have been able to acquire one. This is because the pandemic affected the production of semiconductors greatly, whereas gambling sites, you can find some more here, were easily able to keep on going due to their online platform. Looking back at this generation of gaming though, it becomes clear that Xbox lost it in terms of popularity.

This assessment will no doubt be received with anger by many Xbox fans, but it is hard to disagree with the evidence that the previous generation provides. When deciding upon a console to game on, there are likely two things that will come to most people’s minds, games and price. When it comes to the price of the two consoles at launch, the PS4 was notably cheaper than the Xbox One. This was because the Xbox bundled the Kinect in with the console and did not offer users an option to buy the console without it. This turned off many who did not want to be forced to pay extra for something that they did not want, and the PS4 simply seemed like a better option because of this.

Next is the matter of exclusive games. It is not a stretch to say that games make a console, and they define generations, but when people think of the Xbox, only a handful of games comes to mind. Generally, the games associated with Xbox are Halo, Gears of War, Fable, and few others. When games on PlayStation are considered, then a host of names come to mind including God of War, Uncharted, The Last of Us, Ratchet and Clank, Infamous, and Grand Turismo to name a few. Xbox did not focus on exclusive games last generation, and the result of that decision were made clear.

This is not to say that this is a failure on Microsoft’s part though. It seems they are intentionally removing the focus on exclusives to create a more inclusive gaming community, something that is far more admirable than Sony’s focus on profits. While it is clear that Xbox lost the last generation, it remains to be seen how it will fare during the current one.