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Ninth Generation: Playstation 5, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch 2

 
 
 
lpetrich

lpetrich

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The ninth generation of video-game consoles is almost here.

Sony's Playstation 5 will be coming out on November 12, and Microsoft's Xbox Series X and S on November 10.

These three consoles all have very similar specifications. They have the same CPU, an AMD Zen 2 at 3.5 to 3.8 GHz. They have the same GPU, an AMD RDNA 2 with speeds around 2 GHz and 20 to 52 Compute Units. Their memory is 10 to 16 GB. They both have Solid State Drive storage, 512 GB to 1 TB.

Their graphics supports ray tracing. I'll quote from the consoles' blurbs:
PS5:
Immerse yourself in worlds with a new level of realism as rays of light are individually simulated, creating true-to-life shadows and reflections in supported PS5 games.

Xbox-X&S:
Equipped with AMD’s Zen 2 and RDNA 2 architectures, DirectX ray tracing delivers true-to-life lighting, shadows, and accurate reflections to create dynamic, living worlds.
Click to expand...

Nintendo is working on a Switch 2, and it will likely come out early next year. Much less has been released on it.
TFT = here
 
The PS5 and the Xbox Series X&S both have specs that are respectable for present-day desktop computers, but they will be costing significantly less, and they will likely be partially financed from game and media licensing.

Both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X&S will have full-scale system software, and if their predecessors are any guide, access to movies, TV shows, and music -- and even a web browser. One will be able to see if one's friends are online, and one will likely be able to buy games online and download them, in the fashion of Steam, Apple's App Store, and Google Play.

The Playstation series is straightforwardly numbered, with the original Playstation originally being called Playstation X. Thus: PSX, PS2, PS3, PS4, PS5.

The Xbox series has a more complicated series of names, with Xbox being short for DirectXbox, after MS's game-graphics API. It's plain Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One (X&S), Xbox Series X&S.


If their predecessors are any guide, the PS5 and the Xbox Series X&S will have complete operating systems, complete with filesystems and networking. Also extrapolating from their predecessors, the PS5 will run a version of the PS4 OS Orbis, a fork of the Unix flavor FreeBSD, and the new Xbox a version of Windows.

These OSes will run as guest OSes in a lightweight OS called a "hypervisor", making the console approximately a multiboot system. A full-scale game will take over the console, and lobby mode, as it might be called, will also do so. It will contain the media players, the web browser, friend tracking, and likely lightweight games like card games and board games.
 
These things are incredible. PS5 and Xbox Whatever are mammoths of tech for a relatively low start up cost. The Nintendo Switch is remarkable for its size, capabilities, and price. While it is something of a Port-o-Matic, there is a sense of liking to play games we know we like.

I bought the PS3 when Grand Theft Auto came out. And until the next GTA comes ('21 or '22), I won't buy one.
 
So, since the new consoles are coming out I'm assuming the older models will be up on the used market soon. I've never had a game console before, played a few PC games, Quake, Links and a couple others. My favorite was Indycar, which I got really good at because I had a quality Microsoft serial joystick.

So the prime sims I would be interested in playing are racing games. Sims, not the racing games where the cars go flying through the air for city blocks at a time. What used console should i be on the lookout for and any racing game sims you would recommend?
 
ZiprHead said:
So, since the new consoles are coming out I'm assuming the older models will be up on the used market soon. I've never had a game console before, played a few PC games, Quake, Links and a couple others. My favorite was Indycar, which I got really good at because I had a quality Microsoft serial joystick.

So the prime sims I would be interested in playing are racing games. Sims, not the racing games where the cars go flying through the air for city blocks at a time. What used console should i be on the lookout for and any racing game sims you would recommend?
Click to expand...
From what I can tell Forza is the gold standard (Xbox or PC).

I tried Raceroom Racing Engine on the PC which is pretty good. They sell cars and tracks (the real ones). Though they only have Indy's road racing course and they don't have LeMans. But the prices are reasonable if you are selective about what courses you want.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
ZiprHead said:
So, since the new consoles are coming out I'm assuming the older models will be up on the used market soon. I've never had a game console before, played a few PC games, Quake, Links and a couple others. My favorite was Indycar, which I got really good at because I had a quality Microsoft serial joystick.

So the prime sims I would be interested in playing are racing games. Sims, not the racing games where the cars go flying through the air for city blocks at a time. What used console should i be on the lookout for and any racing game sims you would recommend?
Click to expand...
From what I can tell Forza is the gold standard (Xbox or PC).

I tried Raceroom Racing Engine on the PC which is pretty good. They sell cars and tracks (the real ones). Though they only have Indy's road racing course and they don't have LeMans. But the prices are reasonable if you are selective about what courses you want.
Click to expand...

My favorite track on Indycar was Laguna Seca, now called Weathertech Raceway (bleccchhh). The corkscrew was fun.

Thanks for the tip on Forza.
 
FYI, when I said Indy, I meant the Indy Speedway. I think they have several tracks, I think including Laguna Seca.
 
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