Welcome back to Next-Gen Console Watch, our show following all the news and rumors on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series. I’m Daemon Hatfield, and this week I’m joined by Ryan McCaffrey, host of IGN’s Xbox podcast, Podcast Unlocked, and Max Scoville, host of IGN’s PlayStation podcast, Podcast Beyond.
This week we take a look back at the first two years of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. How did they deliver on their initial promises? How do their launch lineups stack up against their predecessors? All that, and poll results!
0:00 – Intro
01:12 – PlayStation 5 Two Years In
03:37 – Xbox Series Consoles After Two Years
09:10 – Did the DualSense Deliver?
15:44 – Poll Results & Outro
#IGN #Gaming
Foreign [Music] Welcome back to NextGen console watch Our show following all the news and Updates on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X I'm Damon Hadfield and as Always I'm joined by Max Scoville hosted By James PlayStation podcast Podcast Beyond How's it going And Ryan McCaffrey host of Agents Xbox Podcast Podcast Unlocked good to see you Damon you as well and we got big news to Sort of discuss this week over the past Week both of these consoles PS5 and Xbox Series X turned two they're two years Old now they've been out in the wild There for two years well for some people Who have managed to find consoles so It's a good time to sort of reassess see How things are going are these consoles Two years into the this generation are These must-have items for PlayStation And Xbox fans of course they launched Into very unique conditions they Launched during a pandemic that caused With chip shortages both of these Consoles have been very hard to find Until just recently I think things are Starting to improve and uh the work from Home transition slow development on a Lot of games we saw a lot of games Delayed that we were expecting to have Been playing by you know at this point
Games were expected in the first two Years have been delayed into 2023 Beyond Max let's start with you in the PlayStation 5. 25 million ish consoles Sold as reported by Sony by my account There are 10 actual PS5 of exclusives Get 10 games you need a PlayStation 5 to Play How do you think things are going from An exclusive standpoint over on PS5 you Know I'll be honest I'm a little bit a Little bit underwhelmed you know it's uh The two of the the biggest PlayStation Five games of the year world you know Also playable on PS4 which is which is Great because more people get to play Them but at the same time it does kind Of undermine the importance of next-gen Hardware Um you know right now what do we we know About Spider-Man 2 and and Wolverine and Those are somewhere in the distance and There's a handful of other things we're Kind of waiting to hear about but as far As like what's on the immediate Horizon We don't have a ton to go on but I'm Really hoping that we get more PlayStation 5 exclusives because at the End of the day that's what a console is For is for you know playing games and if PS4 can play PS4 games and a PS5 can Play PS4 games then it's kind of like Maybe I want to play some PS5 games How do you think the uh the PS5
Exclusive lineup compares to previous Sony Generations you know I did some Research on that and it's uh I would say It pales you know I think that uh Previous generations the PS3 gets a bad Rap that got off on the wrong foot but Even looking at it that had a pretty Impressive first couple years we're Looking at sort of where where the Console was at in uh you know it came Out 2006 2007 2008 so November 2008 by That point it had two motor storms two Resistances an Uncharted uh a Warhawk a Heavenly sword there was a there was a Handful of decent games there PS4 I feel Like really really Came Out Swinging There was definitely kind of a dip Between a somewhat strong launch lineup And then just a like a pretty good Deluge of things that happened in uh in 2015. yeah 2015 we got I mean we got Like bloodborne uh there were I mean Where it gets a little bit wonky is how Do you qualify a remaster because in 2014 I believe we got The Last of Us Remastered Part part one not part one the game part One but the first time they remastered It we just got that again which is Technically one of the PS5 exclusives But it's kind of you know it's Definitely sort of like you know Exclusive with an Asterix because Chances are you maybe played it on two
Other systems already yeah but yeah you Know it's it's not not the most um Stunning lineup compared to really Anything especially previous previous PlayStation launches and Ryan how are Things looking on the Xbox side first of All yet again we don't know exactly how Many Xbox series X and S units have been Sold Microsoft isn't really open with Those numbers I've seen some guesses 12 15 18 million Maybe Yeah it's definitely better I mean They're on the upward trajectory the Revenue is good it's up year over year And over this time in the Xbox one Generation certainly and uh we know that There was no expectation of them to just Catch Sony instantaneously that was that Was never going to be realistic but You're looking for them to to be heading In the right direction which they are Though I'm not sure I'd say the same About the exclusive lineup so uh I I ran A little thought experiment and and made A list of the notable exclusives as as Max did the in the first two years so on Series X Halo infinite you know great Overall it's not had the legs that they Wanted it to Forza Horizon 5 IGN's 2021 Game of the Year Microsoft flight Simulator you know maybe not for Everybody but it's phenomenal I'm Cheating a little bit with pentiment That's technically in year three because
It came out on November 15th but if you Want to grandfather that's in we did Give that a 10 so I'm already cheating Uh tunic was a great timed exclusive and Then you had stuff like grounded the Final 1.0 version in there uh the ascent Scorn 12 minutes and more more like Short time exclusive so not no real Blockbuster holy cow games outside of Those first couple that I mentioned Halo Infinite Forza Horizon 5 and even uh Those games were playable on an Xbox One To really illuminate this you go back to The 360. the first two years of the 360 Were s tier regardless of what you're Comparing to the first two years Halo 3 Mass Effect Bioshock Dead Rising Gears Of War the Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion Ghost Recon advanced Warfighter Call of Duty 2 was a launch title that was an Exclusive Crackdown one Project Gotham Racing three and four Viva Pinata hey That was a good game Saints Row Inexplicably that actually that was an Xbox 360 exclusive for the first one and Even so was prey the old prey uh which Was also a really good game and just to Kind of bring in a little full circle Here even the Xbox one if you want to Compare the series X to the first two Years of the Xbox one as maligned as the The Xbox One is overall the first two Years were pretty good before the first Party output really plummeted off a
Cliff you had Forza Motorsport 5 great Day one launch title Forza Horizon 2 Came in those first two years The Master Chief Collection okay that Was pretty flawed in those first two Years but it got good Halo 5 great Multiplayer Ori in the blind forest was In the first two years uh Rye son of Rome kind of a cult fan favorite there Uh flawed game but still pretty pretty Loved rise of the Tomb Raider huge uh Very good that was my vote for Game of The Year here at IGN in 2015 it didn't Win but that was a great exclusive for Microsoft uh Dead Rising Three Forza Motorsport 6 Sunset Overdrive the most Probably underrated game of all of last Generation in my opinion Titanfall the Original Titanfall was exclusive to the Xbox One and then uh hey don't forget Peggle 2 and insert your no E3 Stage Dance right here but I never forget Peggleton it's It's uh it's been pretty bleak for the Series X when you compare it you don't Don't even compare it to the PS5 compare It to the the last two Xbox consoles and It's not great Yeah so you say pretty bleak and yet Where you have the Xbox series X is not That it's tanking or a failure it's Still it's doing pretty well it's best Days are still ahead of it it's just Fans are justifiably getting fed up with
Waiting for those big games the hardware Is great the services are great the Those fans should check out game pass Because it's all sorts of great games Every week or so that's on there Somerville's on there which I gave I Reviewed this week so there's good stuff We're just still waiting for those those Big blockbusters You know speaking of Game Pass Max Sony Sort of Uh reconfigured its own PlayStation Plus And PlayStation Now Services into a very Game pass-like new you know all new PlayStation Plus subscription service What's your sort of read on on how That's been received and how that's Going for Sony You know I think it's it's interesting Had the job PlayStation Plus was uh that Put predates Games with Gold you know That was sort of the original give us 10 Bucks a month or whatever and you can Play online it will give you free games Which seemed pretty cool at the time and It seems like Xbox really kind of uh Swooped in and then uh yeah I don't know I I've I think the messaging has been a Little bit muddy you know and there's The different tiers and it's you know I Think on paper it's it's about the same As as Game Pass ultimate or a little bit Cheaper but uh Yeah it hasn't it hasn't been quite as
Good at sort of you know banging that Drum of exclusives that are coming out Like we really uh I feel like x Microsoft has been really good about Like when we have you know a big E3 like Showcase or big summer summer reveal Just having that game pass logo in the Corner on basically every game really Goes a long way to just selling that Service and kind of letting you you know Associate like oh I can play it there That's cool and like we've seen I think There was one state of play that had Like a couple little you know check it Out on PlayStation Plus The middle one and the top one but not The bottom one well speaking of Exclusives Sony also has a an exclusive In their controller in a sense they have The Dual sense controller haptic Feedback Um in two years do you think there are a Lot of games that are really making good Use of the Dual sense controller [Laughter] Like it's kind of a fun gimmick but in The same way that I thought the haptics On the Nintendo switch were really cool When I was playing one two switch and Milk and cows and they went all sorts of Weird stuff in that game I was like this Is great I hope developers utilize it in Interesting ways and we didn't really Get anything like that and it's I don't
Know it's there there are a handful of Games that you know take good advantage Of it um you know Astros uh astrobot Whatever the one that came with the PlayStation uh playroom I got to mix up With the playroom and then there's Astrobot rescue whatever anyway that and Then return all are both like take full Advantage of it but it feels like just Not really a huge priority for a lot of Games and you know with good reason it's It is a the proverbial bells and Whistles I guarantee you there's a There's a Time codes there there's a Receipt of this show where we had this Exact conversation saying dual sense and The haptic stuff seems great but we're Gonna see in two years if if anybody Outside of one or two first party games Has done anything with it is haptic Feedback actually gonna be something That people want in a Developers use I Think it could be there's if Sony Commits to it and it's it's weird all Three console manufacturers have had Similar features over the years Including now uh and and really not Stayed committed to them but I really Hope that more developers would embrace The Dual sense but I agree I mean I felt The same way about the Xbox One Controller yeah the the happy triggers The the I guess Rumble triggers not Technically haptic it's a cool it's a
Cool idea I just think it's it Forza is The only game where you get the you get The pressure on on the brake pedal which Is great but yeah nobody else really did Anything with it All right so what do we think two years In Max do PlayStation fans who own a PlayStation 4 Do they need a PS5 today Not not yet you know like if you haven't Been able to find one then that's okay You're good good for you you saved a Little bit the I would say the only the Only real reason you need to run out and Buy one right now is the looming Possibility of a price hike which has Already happened in many parts of the World which is Not usually the case with usually you Wait two years and the system gets a 50 Or 100 price cut but you know Dark times or what have you that is a Good point what's what do you think's Next with God of War Ragnarok out now we Don't know what you know psvr 2 aside And Horizon called the mountain we don't Know what the next big you know PlayStation Sony first party like PS5 Game is what do you what do you think It's going to be oh man I insomnia I Promise is that Spider-Man 2 is is 2023 Still and I I hope it's sooner rather Than later you know like I could really Just I'd love some some you know new
Exclusives to sink my teeth into uh I I Do worry that the psvr is going to kind Of sort of Side Track that and Sony's Gonna put a big huge push on that and uh You know I already I had my I had my Bout of VR fever with the psvr1 and I'm I think I'm kind of I think I'm kind of Over it I kind of just want to sit on The couch and play regular games without Any crap on my head Foreign Things are a little bit different on the Xbox side because I mean fingers crossed You should be about to finally be Reaping the benefits of some of the Moves that Xbox has been making early Next year right yeah if uh if we now I Don't expect we're gonna get every Single game in Microsoft's summer Showcase where they specifically said Every game in this is going to be out by This time next year meaning June of 2023 Inevitably some of those are gonna push But if we get Diablo 4 which not an Exclusive but hey Game Pass what's up Soon as that you know that that's Another one for Game Pass uh and Obviously the the big boy is Starfield Uh followed by redfall from Arcane uh if We get those those are gonna Forza Motorsport the reboot there is is on That list of games due out in the first Half so it is Hopefully all coming sooner rather than
Later Game Pass is still valuable today I do feel strongly about that I mean we Talked on unlocked this week about There are two notable exclusives that Are out this week on Game Pass uh Pentiment which IGN gave a 10 out of 10 To and Somerville which I reviewed I Gave it a seven but still it's a good Game so you know there's there's Definitely still value in Game Pass uh I Mean plague tale Requiem you got to pay Full full price for that on PlayStation And it's just in game pass on Xbox so uh Game Pass is worthwhile but it's going To get a heck of a lot worthwhile more Worthwhile uh here in the next four to Six months now I'm playing both of those Right now and it's uh I just finished God of War which is a great game it's it Talks a lot it's very chatty and it's Kind of nice to have like a little bit Of the opposite of that where there's Penament which doesn't talk at all still A lot of words but you have to read them A lot of scribbling and scratching and Then Somerville is completely non-verbal Entirely so it's this little you know Change of pace Brian to use anything Xbox fans who have An Xbox One do they need to get a series XRS now no I mean that's it will things Run better absolutely do you have Benefits like quick resume absolutely do You have faster loading times definitely
But uh and what I want what I have Wanted to play Halo infinite on an Xbox One but do you need the Sirius x yet no Do I think it's still a good idea to Grab one yes because even Phil Spencer Also recently said well there's a chance We'll raise the price on Hardware Software And Game Pass you know one or more of Those so do I think Microsoft's going to Raise Hardware prices no because they're They're in third place in this current Console race so I I don't think they can Get away with raising Hardware prices I Think the game pass price will Absolutely go up and software prices Probably will go to 70 bucks which Sony's already done but uh yeah I mean Are are you really missing out if you Haven't been able to get a serious x yet Sadly I think the answer is no Well as ever with these boxes that we Put under our TV it's all about the Games We have the results of the pool from Last episode which I think the results Are actually very surprising to me uh I'll be interested to hear your thoughts We asked what's your most essential Subscription Service you know if you're If you're thinking about saving some Money canceling some subscription Services which is the last one you would Cancel and the winner was perhaps
Unsurprisingly with you know our Audience Xbox game pass We've called it the best deal in gaming For you know for a long long time but I'm just surprised that it beat out much More ubiquitous streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney plus and you know Amazon Prime video We are of course you know primarily a Video game video game website maybe I Shouldn't be surprised uh but I don't Know both of you were you surprised that At least at least viewers of this show Would rather lose Netflix rather watch Rather lose the Mandalorian and Andor Than lose Xbox game pass Uh I think that the key thing there is It's very easy to be on someone else's Netflix or Disney Plus account you know Even if they're trying to really curb That but like currently Game Pass I Think they only have like family plans And like what two territory they're Testing it in two countries yeah yeah so Like that eventually that'll happen I Think people like I don't pay for Game Pass I'm on my cousins or whatever but Like you know Game Pass has a certain Sense of like personal ownership and Obviously also I don't know I think Video games are better than most the Stuff that Netflix has put out over the Last I was gonna say opt I would Optimistically say that I think Game
Pass for for all the lack of Blockbuster Exclusives on on Xbox I do think Game Pass has been pretty consistently good At feeding its subscribers good stuff Like like pentiment like Somerville like Uh plague tale Requiem whereas you know Netflix goes through dry spells we're Like eh there's no real you know my all The shows I like are between Seasons There's nothing on there I really want To watch same Disney plus all all those Uh sort of entertainment you know video Show based uh Services tend to have Those dry spells and I think Microsoft Has done a good job of at least Populating game pass with uh new and new Stuff even if it's not necessarily like The biggest game in town new pool for You to vote on for next episode two Years into the PS5 and Xbox series X Lives we're looking back at previous Console launches which systems do you Think have the best first couple of Years do you think it's either current System PS5 series X or PS4 PS3 Xbox One Xbox 360 maybe Nintendo switch Nintendo Switch had a pretty Banger first year With breath of the wild and Mario Odyssey make sure to vote at ign.com We'll share the results with you next Week and that will do it for this Edition of next-gen console watch thank You to both Max and Ryan thank you to Everyone working behind the scenes in
Our LA and SF Studios to make this all Possible my name is Damon we actually Are going to be taking next week off for The Thanksgiving holiday here in the US So everyone out there if you're Celebrating have a safe and happy Holidays everyone else I hope you have a Safe and happy just regular ass right Friday we'll be back the following week Same time as usual 6 a.m Pacific 9 A.M Eastern with more PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X news we'll see you then [Music]
