Side by side of the new XBOX and Playstation consoles.
Libraries looking to create or update gaming rooms have a new set of consoles peeking just around the corner. The next generation of gaming consoles arrives at the beginning of November (12th for PS and 15th for Xbox) and with it, a new host of questions and concerns for any library looking to break into this new generation. In this article, we will be covering the technical specifications of each console and how libraries need to consider these elements in their space.
The PS5 and the Xbox Series are the next generation consoles each coming with a pair of options for prospective buyers. The PS5 and the PS5 Digital Edition or the Xbox Series X and S, not to be confused with the last generation Xbox One X and S. Make sure your purchasing department understands the distinction between the Xbox One and the Xbox Series or you could be very disappointed with your not-so-new technology.
Both companies sport the same choice, a new console with or without a disk drive. For the Xbox series X, or the version with a disk drive, the price is $499. The S, digital games only, is $299. The PS5 follows a similar route with the PS5 being $499 and the Digital Edition being $399.
Physical or digital
For this console generation it is essential to know how the XBOX Series and PS5 play, store, and access their games. Either system will treat the game the same whether you purchase a physical disk or a digital copy. On each the game will be copied or downloaded to the hard drive and run exclusively from there because game disks access data far too slow for a game to run. Even with the previous generation of consoles discs are effectively only proof of purchase and a way to kickstart the download process.
For libraries a disk can provide versatility allowing play on different machines at different times, and a way to track which patrons are playing which games. For the next generation of gaming, the decision of disk or diskless mostly depends on your preference of how you want to manage your game inventory, and how much your programs or circulation numbers will benefit from the extra flexibility of physical media. From a performance perspective it will make no difference; the storage taken by the game will be exactly the same.
Storage
With games accessing more and more data in a shorter time the next generation of gaming consoles requires a next generation storage solution. Both the Xbox and PS will sport a SSD storage solution. What this means is they both will be utilizing one of the fastest consumer facing storage solutions on the market. Unfortunately this also means the next generation games can ONLY use this storage solution. If you want to pull a little more storage space from your console you will need a proprietary storage expansion, but only kind of. Both the PS5 and Xbox series X/S will come with a sampling of backwards compatibility. Each console sports its own list of compatible games. These games can be optionally stored on an external hard drive using a USB connector. Any games from the next generation can only be stored either on the respective main hard drive or on either console's external expansion solution.
So how much storage do you get out of the box? The PS5 will sport 825GB of storage. This is not as much as it can seem with current generation games routinely taking up 100GB of space, with some notable games taking up as much as 200+ GB of space (looking at you Modern Warfare). Xbox will have two different amounts. The Series X will boast 1TB of storage while the S will only have 512GB (Disk and digital versions, respectively). What this means is any library looking to hold a collection of more than 5 or 6 games is going to need to buy some form of storage expansion.
Launch Version of Xbox Storage Card
For the Xbox, you will be required to buy a specific type of memory card that can only be used by Xbox. It comes in the shape of an old school storage card for the low price of $220 per Terabyte of storage at launch. The idea being if you want to move your games around, you simply need to unplug and re-plug the appropriate memory card. Useful if you want to limit games to a specific type or rating to a specific group.
Standard M.2 Storage usable in PS5
The PS5 will support any NVMe storage card on the market. These cards range in price from $100 to $1400 depending on how much storage you actually want. A comparable 1TB of data for an M.2 (the cheapest NVMe usable on ps5) is priced at about $170 at the time of writing, however these SSDs go on sale all the time for much lower prices. This installation will be less mobile, but these cards will certainly be more accessible at the launch of the PS5.
To Sum Up
The largest takeaway would be that both the Xbox and PS are basically the same system at this point. The only notable differences being access to which games and what services. Games created specifically by Microsoft or Sony typically stay with their respective consoles. Sometimes companies make deals for exclusivity contracts as well. Overall both consoles would be a huge boost to any library looking to pull interest into an activity room especially during launch.
Games in Schools and Libraries is produced in association with Inverse Genius and the Georgetown County Library System.
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