Scorpio, Scorpio, Scorpio. Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft. If you haven’t seen much else in video game news lately, it’s apparent why. I’ve talked about the new Microsoft console, Xbox Scorpio a few times myself , so I’m admittedly a part of the problem. The next-gen console is promising to make a huge difference in the near feature, and the internet hive mind is shitting itself trying to get all the opinions out for judgement. Equally so, the Sony fan boys and girls are out to play and holding their opinion flags high too.
I’m gonna wave the latter flag for a while today. Xbox Scorpio is getting a ton of news about its technology, but there’s one other crucial thing to consoles that is obviously equally important. That is the games. The Nintendo Switch doesn’t have much by way of stellar improvements to video game technology. It’s got a quirky gimmick with the mix of console and mobile gaming. To its detriment, it only has one game that’s really selling it at the moment. That is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild . I briefly thought about buying the console just to play that game in particular, but then realized I needed a lot more than just that to shell out $299.99.
The fact of the matter still remains though. No matter how briefly, I did consider buying a brand new console for one single game purchase. This shows the importance of good games on consoles. It’s the same with anything really. I never would have bought a 2DS if not for the games available on it. I love Pokemon games, it’s a guilty pleasure that started in my childhood and will continue on into my 30’s. Any Pokemon game that releases, I want to buy. Even if it’s practically the same thing I’ve played over and over again, I will still buy it for that rush of nostalgia and to see what minor things have changed. Because of this, I will always have a Nintendo handheld system.
As far as games on consoles are concerned, there’s always been a clear winner that still survives above the rest of the pack. It probably goes without saying, but that winner is Sony and its PlayStation consoles. Microsoft tries time and again to have exclusives that everybody wants, but they’ve canceled an equal number of these exclusives as well. Sony releases a far larger number of PlayStation exclusives than Microsoft ever has. These two companies have competed to be at the top of the console pack for as long as PlayStation and Xboxes have existed. They come out with new technology in an attempt to best their rival, and they release games in the hopes of selling more consoles.
It’s debatable that Microsoft might have the lead on the technology front at the moment with Xbox Scorpio. But in my opinion, Sony is still untouchable when it comes to the actual games that we’ll be playing on the systems. At the least, Horizon: Zero Dawn has sold over 2.6 million copies worldwide, and analysts are predicting that it might even sell 6 million copies by the end of 2017. Over two and half million copies of a game is already nothing to shake a stick at, but Horizon: Zero Dawn is still on the up and up. This is just one game people! Sony and the PlayStation have so many others. From the small games, like Drawn to Death or Don’t Starve, all the way up to big releases like Uncharted, Bloodborne, Persona 5, or Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed .
There are so many different games from so many different types of genres to play on PlayStation consoles! So many of them are absolutely fantastic. I still want to go back and play some PlayStation 2 games that I never got to finish. Will you hear me say the same thing about the Xbox? Not really. I mean, there are some Xbox 360 games that I’d love to go back and finish, but you know what? I can also play them on my PC. As far as strictly console playing going, PlayStation and Sony are still the clear winners.
Do I want to see the epicness that is Xbox Scorpio succeed and revolutionize the video game industry? Yes. Healthy competition is what continues to further technology into the future. When Scorpio does well, Sony will come up with something better. When that reinvents the wheel of video game technology, Microsoft will want to beat them. And so on and so forth into the future where we’re all riding real hoverboards, not that bi-wheel plastic crap that kids have nowadays.
But for now, you’ll find me on my PlayStation 4 enjoying the best quality games that life has to offer at the moment. Scorpio is a distant dream that has no effect on my current reality.