I think both platforms have been pretty disappointing this generation and I've switched to primarly playing on PC and Switch because of it.
PS5: C-
- Have not delivered the knock-out 1st party games that they've become known for. Horizon and Spider-Man 2 and others are great, but they aren't reaching the heights of the Uncharted/Last of Us/Bloodborne/etc.. games from past generations
- The nickel-and-diming approach to PS4->PS5 upgrades, leading the price increase to $70 games, PS+ tiers being disappointing and overpriced, etc.. etc..
- Slow to the draw with QOL/feature support like VRR, Dolby Atmos, wireless controller updates, Quick Resume, etc... it shouldn't take years for these features to arrive like they have.
- Failed peripherals like PSVR2, and their "committment" to GAAS games followed by massively scaling back on GAAS games show that the powers that be at Playstation have a fragmented vision right now
- Disappointing "slim" SKU that looks and feels really cheap and actually increased the price of the digital console.
Xbox: D
- While they're providing many more 1st party games than last generation, they still haven't reached that 90+ height with any of their titles outside of Forza Horizon.
- Quality/oversight clearly has failed them consistently this generation, whether it's with Halo Infinite, Forza Motorsport, or Redfall. Incomplete and/or undercooked games can NO LONGER fly for this company.
- Despite having the power advantage on paper, their Series X hardware has proven to perform no better than the PS5, and it can be argued that it actually performs slightly worse on the whole.
- They seem to be struggling with their vision, which was very heavy on xCloud/game streaming at the end of last generation and the beginning of this generation, but now seems all but abandoned.
- Game Pass has struggled to grow at the pace that they clearly hoped it would. They've put all of their chips into the Game Pass basket, and if they can't convince more consumers to subscribe, the Xbox brand is trouble.
- Speaking of the Xbox brand, it's grown toxic to consumers after years of mismanagement, poor communication, inconsistent games, unreliable hardware (360 era), etc... At this point, even if they started doing everything right from today on, it would likely take many, many years before consumers started warming to the brand again.
IGN's report card is just for year 3, not the first three years, but I agree. Both have been lacking. it's basically a race to the bottom. Who can be worse. Who can disappoint their fanbase the most. Jim Ryan recently said that he feels accountable to Playstations fanbase. he's shown that with his reversal of the PS vita and PS3 store closing decisions among other reversals, but overall, he's been completely out of touch with the fanbase. We dont want GaaS games, we dont want needless remakes, we dont want cross gen games. This is Sony. They dont do cross gen. They built their name on next gen exclusives. Meanwhile, Philbo is in touch with his fanbase but just lies his ass off to just appease them. Remember at launch when he said that the dualsense is amazing and MS will work on their own verison of it? Well, its been three fucking years and no haptics still. So he just says things to say them.
i was watching the DF direct just now and they were discussing sales of Xbox collapsing in europe. John listed a bunch of MS exclusives in the first three years of that gen and at least in numbers, there were far more games than what Phil has managed.
Launch: Forza 5, Killer Instinct, Ryse, Dead Rising 3
Year 1: Titanfall, Sunset, Forza Horizon 2
year 2: Halo 5 Guardians, Forza 6
year 3: Quantum Break, Forza Horizon 3, Gears 4
XSX:
Launch: Fuck all
Year 1: Flight Sim, Halo infinite, Forza Horizon 5
Year 2: Fuck all
Year 3: Hifi Rush, Redfail, Starfield, Forza 8
It's obvious that Don matrick had lined up a way better line up for the first 3 years than Phil. And it wouldve been even better had Phil not cancelled Scalebound and Fable 4 after taking over. And he didnt have to spend $8 billion on Zenimax to do it either.
Meanwhile Sony didnt have a great first 2 years with PS4, but by year 3, they were back on track with three must have games in BB, U4 and TLG.
Launch: Killzone Shadowfail, resogun
Year 1: infamous, driveclub
Year 2: order, bloodborne, until dawn
year 3: Ratchet remake, uncharted 4, The last guardian
PS5
Launch: Demon Souls remake, Spiderman Miles DLC, Astrobot pack-in
Year 1: Returnal, Ratchet
Year 2: Cross gen Horizon, GT7 and GOW. TLOU remake.
year 3: Forspoken, FF16, Spiderman 2
You put PS5's lineup against the PS4 and even the X1, and i dont think it wins. Remakes, DLCs, cross gen games. What is going on? Why was Astrobot not a full game? Where is the sequel? You remove the cross gen games and remakes, and it becomes almost as barebones as XSX's exclusive lineup. I disliked the order, ryse, and kzsf, but i bought them day one to experience next gen. I havent gotten that moment yet from the PS5. We are three years in.
Whats more insane is that PS4 had a worse first three years than the PS3.
Launch: resistance
Year 1: Motorstorm, Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, Ratchet, Uncharted
Year 2: MGS4, LBP, Socom, Resistance 2, motorstorm pacific rift.
year 3: KZ2, Infamous, Ratchet Crack in Time, uncharted 2
Whats even worse is that next year is barebones for both console makers. We would be lucky to get one exclusive each from them. hellblade 2 and FF7, and FF7 isnt even first party. Both need a kick in the ass from their fanbase and the media. Hopefully sony sees this C from IGN and reevaluates some of their decision making. Fucking Bluepoint, bend and Sucker punch shouldnt be taking 3+ years just to reveal a game. Not every studio from sony needs to take 5 years to release a game. Save that for the big boys like SSM, GG and ND. Some studios should be on 2-3 year cycles like insomniac. Make 15-20 hour games. They still sell well. Same goes for MS. Why is initiative unable to make a game worth showing in 5 years? Whats Coalition been doing for the last 4 years? NOTHING to show in FOUR years??? If its lack of resources, go hire all the devs laid off recently. If they are too expensive then stop wasting time on DLCs, remakes and cross gen games.