An article on Polygon got me thinking; other than the obvious improvements graphically in games; will the other improvements bought about by the PS5 and the next Xbox be visible in games released on PC or are they already there? I found myself using my PS4 more than my PC over the last few years and I've been trying to decide which way to go for next generation. A big example is load times, a lot is being made of this, especially on the PS5. With most recently-built gaming PCs already having fast PCIe SSDs and processors presumably this is simply consoles catching up a little, or is there a chance that its actually consoles overtaking for a moment? The article claims this is consoles catching up or maybe overtaking PC gaming (multiple storefronts for example is an issue we've all faced, even if having competition when buying games is a good thing), what's your take on this?
The consoles will adopt the new standards very easily because each box is guaranteed to have the hardware, PCs unfortunately a mess, but I do hope that Console game engines that port to PC adopt the tech that makes fast storage useful sooner rather than later.
In terms of graphics yes there will be benefits all around, simply put the old lowest common denominator (base PS4) will no longer have to be catered to. As for load times, that is a big fat maybe. It will depend on whether game publishers are willing to require SSDs as the minimum or not, so you'll probably see huge variation from one game to the next. One thing PC likely won't get is all the extra junk Sony is putting in their controllers as there is no chance of PC gaming switching from Xbox to PS controllers.
We're at that point in the cycle where console are just about caught up with PCs. They'll be less CPU bound, support true 4k output at 30fps or 60fps and they'll have faster SSDs to massively shorten load times, so they've caught up to your average gaming PC from 2017. Being a bit less glib, the new consoles will probably be ahead on price/performance for a bit, they both look like a lot of hardware for £450 and it'll be a while before a £450 PC can do what they can. Certainly a bigger jump than the PS4/Xbone were in 2013. Loading times will be an interesting one. For many games on PC and console there is more to the loading time than just reading data off the drive. Online play in particular a lot of the 'loading' time is actually the server or host organising all the players and waiting long enough to make sure all the various connections and hardware are on the same page. The PS4 can take a SATA SSD and it's loading times improve, but the improvement is variable thanks to the other factors. This and the last console gen's biggest benefit to us is that they're all X86-64 instruction set based and all using PC-like hardware. Compared to the proprietary software and hardware used on older consoles it's brought the cost of PC ports down enormously, as well making crossplay massively simpler. That's been a boon to PC gaming, series that traditionally didn't come to PC at all are getting releases now as the cost is so small.
For me, the only advantage that consoles have over the PC are: Much better price-to-performance ratio Faster/more efficient storage architectures Sleeker more integrated user experience #1 is a revolving door. Right now, you're going to get much better value for money by buying a console than an equivalently priced PC, no doubt. But give it a couple of years and it'll be a different story. Plus consoles will eventually need to fall back on the usual tricks of downgrading quality, or rendering at resolutions lower than the output resolution, in order to keep up. Or they'll just do a hardware refresh like they did with the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X and stratify the customer base even further. #2 is a moot point when technologies like DirectStorage and RTX IO start to get support. #3 is entirely subjective. If you set your PC up to automatically start Steam in Big Picture mode then you're gonna get a pretty sleek and integrated user experience. Plus you'll always have the option of whatever digital storefront you want, you're not limited to the Sony store or the Microsoft store. To me it all comes down to what you value most. If you value upgradeability or being able to have a mutli-purpose system then get a PC; you'll usually pay more and it's much more involved than a console, but you'll get the benefit of being able to do whatever you want with that hardware and a huge amount of flexibility when it comes to the games and software that you can run. If you value the slicker gaming experience of a console then get one; you won't get the flexibility that a PC has, but you'll pay less for relatively high-end hardware and you'll get a gaming system that's much simpler to use. Case in point: I have many games on the PS4 which I haven't even started yet, but over the last week I've dumped every spare moment into a game on the PC that game out 17 years ago. I can get that same game on the Xbox One (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic) but I'd have to buy it again and I wouldn't be able to mod it with more up to date textures, bugfixes, etc.
I go through phases, trawled through a couple of Far Cry's, the Mordor sequel and a couple of others but have restarted The Witcher 3 on pc before finishing Red Dead 2 on ps4 and with AC Odyssey still in its wrapper. However, I still use the PS4 everyday even if not for gaming - it's ideal for Netflix and the like. I'll always have both, a console is versatile, the pc is specifically set up for comfortable gaming. Plus I like to tinker from time to time.
We are at an unusual point where things are getting a little muddy. What the new consoles will bring is a reliance on the SSD. Like yes you can play it on PC, but it will be tuned to run on an SSD and if you don't have one it will be sub-par. Long load times, or no streaming loading while playing. Many of us on PC still load the bulk of our games from spinning rust. Expect games in the coming years to require an SSD for an acceptable playing experience. Also I have no doubt that PC will once again speed ahead in general performance. AMD is kicking ass..Intel won't be idle for long.
