2020 hasn’t been a good year, that much is for sure. It’s hard to say what 2021 will hold, whether it will be just 2020, part 2, or if it’ll end up being better. Keep your fingers crossed for that vaccine, ya’ll. Regardless, though, despite the struggles of a global pandemic, both Sony and Microsoft managed to launch brand new systems earlier this month, and TIME has a nod to both.
TIME magazine released their list for best 100 inventions of 2020. Sony’s PS5 made the list with its biggest pluses being its use of the custom SSD as well as the unique tech in the DualSense such as the adaptive trigger and haptic feedback.
“At more than a foot tall and weighing in at just under 10 lb., the PlayStation 5 is among the largest video-game consoles ever made—Sony needed the room to support visually spectacular titles like Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Games load almost instantaneously, thanks to a solid-state hard drive. The graphics processor is almost 10 times faster than that of the PS 4, which allows for beautiful visuals, and a new controller is full of haptic feedback sensors that add a new dimension to play. When a character walks on sand, players feel the grit in the controller; when Spider-Man grips a subway car, players feel the train’s rumble.”
Microsoft wasn’t left out, as the Xbox Series S also got a spot. It’s near silent running, improved processing power from the Xbox One and affordable price point were its key listing points. Xbox Game Pass also got a shoutout.
“The Series S’s secret weapon is Game Pass: a subscription service where new hits like Halo Infinite will appear the same day as their traditional release. And those games will look even sharper—the Series S ($299) can run high-resolution games at 120 frames per second, a 100% increase over its predecessor, the Xbox One. What’s more, because there is no disc drive, the Series S operates almost silently, making it all the easier to concentrate on the action.”
What’s interesting here is that the Xbox Series X did not get a spot at all. There isn’t even mention of the system in the Series S listing. That’s rather odd considering they are essentially sister consoles, but most likely they didn’t want Microsoft to burn two spots, and hey, it’s their list after all.
The PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S and even the Series X are now available on a worldwide basis.
