OK. Yeah. Alright. If you are like me and you’ve been excited about the next generation of consoles since last year’s (2019s) teasers during E3–for those who don’t know, it’s like if Nairobi Trade Fair and Naiccon had a baby who only cares about gaming–then you’ve been patiently waiting to get your hands on, if not at the very least get to play, a next-generation console gaming.
But be you an Xbox fanatic or a PS5 die hard, we can all agree we clearly are not on Santa’s nice list since our wishes are well…. Microsoft and Sony, the creators of the Xbox and PlayStation respectively botched their supply-demand chain in the most spectacular way. It almost makes you wonder if they actually made any consoles for sale.
So, I’ve spent the better part of my life since the launch of the console (I know better than to polarise my audience) trying to buy it and bring it to Kenya. I am pleased to announce that it is not possible. We should all just abandon all hope and shift to gaming on a PC. They (our lord and master NVIDIA) released their newest graphics cards (the part that does the heavy-lifting when you play games or do any intensive graphics stuff), the RTX 3000 series and they’re about as powerful as any graphics card can get.
But 2020 is consistent, if for nothing else, and NVIDIA also fell into the same hole of poor management on their inventory and ordering systems.
Yes, I know. Sad news. But I think that we have a golden opportunity here… the chance for all of us to sit at the round table and discuss which factors should influence your gaming console decision and why. I’ll try to give what I think are the most important things to look at when choosing your next gaming rig.
Console Exclusives
I’ll just up and say it. It’s console exclusives. These are games that are released for a particular game console only. A commonly known example is “The Last of Us” storyline by “Naughty Dog”. A game that can only be played on a P.S. Or the “Halo” by “Bungie/Xbox One Game Studio” on Xbox.
The reason exclusives carry the most weight on my scale is simple. It is because we’ve reached a place where the tech is so close and high-end that the only thing that separates them is the question “Which games can I play on this console?” And it makes a difference between playing for yourself and watching your YouTube BFFs upload gameplay live streams while you agonize over the item glowing softly in the background that you would pick if it were you playing. You play the games, not the console.
Price
Yes. The price matters and anyone who says otherwise is yet to do the math of what a game in today’s times costs. It matters and you should pick what makes you comfortable paying for. Here, PCs are notoriously known to be much more expensive but offer far better performance over the two consoles with the added benefit of being used for any other computer-related task.
The Xbox and PS5 are currently playing in the ballpark of $299 (Xbox Series S), $399 (PS5 Digital Edition), and $499 (PS5 Standard and Xbox Series X) while the graphics card for a gaming PC at the same degree of cutting-edge specs would be about $699 for the NVIDIA RTX 3080.
Now I must at least attempt to defend getting a PC by saying they are highly customizable and you don’t have to get the most expensive parts all at once, or even at all. So, do what makes you comfortable. PCs offer the best gaming experience overall but also cost more to build.
What Are Your Friends Playing?
If most of your friends are on Xbox… then get an Xbox. You’ll be courting death from FOMO when they send you screenshots of their last gaming session without you for the nth time.
What Do You Like?
Finally, after all is said and done, if you want a PS5 more than anything – maybe you missed out on having a PS3 and/or PS4 – this is your chance to finally play God of War 5 when it comes out instead of going over for a sleepover at just the right time. Get what you want!.
So, there you have it! With this new wave of gaming, it would not be a bad idea to consider getting a fresh console and entertaining yourself and your friends.