The current generation of consoles landed in roughly the same week in November 2020. At launch, the PS5 had seven new exclusive games to the Xbox Series’ two. Sony had a better showing too, with the likes of Demon Souls (sure, a remake) and Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
Four years on, the difference between the two consoles remains. We returned to the PlayStation 5 (in its slim iteration) and the Xbox Series X to see how the two approaches have fared. If you’ve been paying attention, you know the conclusion: estimates put PS5 console sales around double the latest Xboxes’.
Microsoft had two consoles, the entry-level Series S and the powerful Series X, while Sony went for largely the same power PS5, but with a disc-less iteration.
The Xbox Series X is a solid way to play Microsoft titles, popular third-party games and everything Microsoft has available on Game Pass. But if you had to choose between buying the Series X or PlayStation 5, the latter has better exclusive games, a bigger base of gamers and a better controller. (Editor: Mat’s opinion, there.)
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, God of War Ragnarok, Spider-Man 2, and Astro Bot have all been platform exclusives, while long-running series like Final Fantasy appear first on Sony consoles.
The strongest weapon in Xbox’s arsenal, Game Pass, has been neutered over time too. The Game Pass Ultimate plan also feels less, well, ultimate. The company increased the monthly price of its top plan to $20, including day-one access to new titles and a large library of games for Xbox and PC. The new $15 a month Standard plan doesn’t give day-one access but does include a library of hundreds of games.
Things could change, however. Sony is now drip-feeding its games to PC, diminishing the draw of console exclusives, while Microsoft’s game developer spending spree has to bear fruit eventually. Right? Right?!
That might be a discussion for the next wave of consoles.
— Mat Smith
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The biggest tech stories you missed
HDMI 2.2 could make its debut at CES next month
Look out for an announcement January 6.
Just in time to make your mid-cycle console seem under-specced, we may see the next HDMI standard, HDMI 2.2, in a matter of weeks. According to an email from the HDMI Forum, a new HDMI specification will be announced on Monday, January 6, in Las Vegas. (Ready for all those huge expensive TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony and the rest.) It’s been seven years since HDMI 2.1 arrived. The new specs will bring higher bandwidth, according to the email. But that’s all we know, for now.
A US Congressman tried (and failed) to fake his Spotify Wrapped for political gain
You can’t fake your love for the Boss!
A curious-looking post on X from US Rep. Josh Gottheimer got the New Jersey congressman in some mild trouble. Spotted by 9to5Mac, he shared what appeared to be his Spotify Wrapped playlist for the year, with one list consisting of Springsteen’s classic tracks. However, it was filled with formatting mistakes. He’d faked it.
He admitted to NJ Advance Media that he made a fake Spotify Wrapped list but says the tracks on each list are accurate. Gottheimer has since taken the post down and replaced it with a list of his most listened-to Springsteen tracks. He’s trying to save face because he’s in a heated race for New Jersey governor — and you know where Springsteen is a big deal? New Jersey.
How to use Genmoji to make your own custom emojis
You need an iPhone or iPad with Apple Intelligence.
Genmoji are custom emojis you can create if you’ve installed the iOS 18.2 or iPadOS 18.2 update. They are the emojis of your imagination, made real with help from Apple Intelligence — you describe what emoji you want to see, like a sad cowboy or an octopus DJ. You’ll need a device compatible with Apple Intelligence. That includes every iPhone 16 model, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, as well as iPad models with the M1 chip or later, and iPad mini (A17 Pro). Then, well, read on for a confusion-free guide.
