Ninth generation of video game consoles

Last updated

The ninth generation of video game consoles began in November 2020 with the releases of Microsoft's Xbox Series X and Series S console family and Sony's PlayStation 5. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Compared to the eighth-gen Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the new consoles add faster computation and graphics processors, support for real-time ray tracing graphics, [4] output for 4K resolution, and in some cases, 8K resolution, with rendering speeds targeting 60 frames per second (FPS) or higher. [5] Internally, both console families introduced new internal solid-state drive (SSD) systems to be used as high-throughput memory and storage systems for games to reduce or eliminate loading times and support in-game streaming. [6] The Xbox Series S and the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition lack an optical drive while retaining support for online distribution and storing games on external USB devices.

Despite much weaker processing power and already previously competing with eighth-generation consoles, the Nintendo Switch has also been noted as a competitor to ninth-generation consoles, particularly with the introduction of the "OLED Model" revision in 2021. [7] [8] Alongside the Switch, new handheld personal computer devices, such as the Steam Deck, introduced means to play Linux games, as well as most Windows games through Proton, on-the-go, further expanding hardware competition in the generation.

Background

The duration from the eighth generation until the start of the ninth was one of the longest in history, having started in 2012 with the release of Nintendo's Wii U. Past generations typically had five-year windows as a result of Moore's law, [9] but Microsoft and Sony instead launched mid-console redesigns, the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro. [10] Microsoft also launched a monthly console lease program, with the option to buy or upgrade. [11] Some analysts believed these factors signaled the first major shift away from the idea of console generations because the potential technical gains of new hardware had become nominal. [12]

Microsoft and Sony had announced their new consoles in 2019 for release by the end of 2020, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. [13] [14] When the pandemic struck in March 2020, it impacted both marketing and production of the consoles. The cancelled E3 2020 had been planned as a major venue to premiere the consoles, and instead both Microsoft and Sony turned to online showcases to highlight the systems and launch games. Both companies acknowledged that the pandemic had strained their production supplies due to hardware manufacturing slowdowns starting in March 2020, but would not impact their console release windows, and they set consumer expectations that console supplies would likely be limited in the launch window and would slowly become more relaxed as the pandemic waned. [15] [16] This created a wave of scalping through online stores, which was countered by manufacturers and vendors. [17] The ongoing global chip shortage continued to affect console shipments through the end of 2021, with Sony warning of lower production numbers during the final calendar quarter of the year and into 2022; this also affected Nintendo's Switch console production rates and Valve's plans to release the portable Steam Deck handheld gaming computer in 2021. [18]

Home consoles

PlayStation 5

The PlayStation 5 was developed by Sony as the successor to the PlayStation 4 and was first released on November 12, 2020. [19] The primary goal of the PlayStation 5's development was to reduce loading times in games, particularly those that use in-game streaming such as when the player moves across an open world. Sony developed a custom solid-state drive (SSD) architecture based on a 12-channel, 825 GB SSD along with a fast software decompression method that enables an input/output speed of up to 8 to 9 GB/s. In most early development tests, this virtually eliminated loading screens and masking loading times for open world games. [20] The main system is backed by an AMD Zen 2 system on a chip running at a variable frequency capped at 3.5 GHz, and a RDNA 2 GPU also running at a variable frequency capped at 2.23 GHz. The GPU has a total potential processing power of 10.28 teraflops. The system comes with 16 GB of memory. [21]

The PlayStation 5 was launched with two models. The base model includes an optical disc reader for most disc formats including Blu-ray, UHD Blu-ray, and retail PlayStation 5 games. A cheaper Digital model lacks the disc reader, but otherwise is equivalent to the base model. Both models support expanded memory options to store games and other data onto external drives, thus allowing players to obtain and store games through online distribution via the PlayStation Store. The PlayStation 5 has mostly complete backward compatibility with PlayStation 4 games, with only a limited number of games not currently supported on the console, [22] while the PlayStation Now cloud service is available for users to play games from the older PlayStation consoles. [23]

Mid-generation revision of both PlayStation 5 models were announced in late 2023, both unofficially considered the PlayStation 5 Slim. The units are to replace the two original PlayStation 5 models; both will have a slimmer design as well as 1 TB of internal storage and additional USB ports. The more expensive model includes an optical disc drive, while the second model, the Digital Edition, will not ship with a drive, though a drive expansion kit will be available to users. [24] [25]

Xbox Series X and Series S

The Xbox Series X/S is the successor to the Xbox One and was released on November 10, 2020, in select regions. [26] [27] Microsoft followed the Xbox One's dual console models: a high-end line (the Series X comparable to the Xbox One X), and a cheaper model (the Series S comparable to the Xbox One S). [28] The performance goal for the Xbox Series X was about four times that of the Xbox One X, [29] but without sacrificing game development for the lower-end Xbox Series S. [28]

Both the Xbox Series X and Series S use an AMD Zen 2 CPU and an RDNA 2 GPU but with different frequencies and compute units. The Series S has lower frequencies with reduced performance, and the Series X has graphics performance estimated at 12.155 teraflops compared to the Series S's 4.006 teraflops. [30] [31] Microsoft developed a Velocity Architecture, which includes an internal SSD system (1 TB on the Series X, 500 GB on the Series S) used for storing games and new DirectX interfaces with improved input/output and in-game texture streaming and rendering. The Series X includes an optical disc reader supporting Blu-ray and UHD media, which is absent in the Series S. [32] Both consoles support external game storage media and online distribution via Xbox Live. Full backward compatibility was announced for all Xbox One games, including previously supported Xbox and Xbox 360 games but excluding Kinect games. [33] [34] Microsoft encouraged third-party developers and publishers to use its Smart Delivery approach to give Xbox One games free performance upgrade patches for Xbox Series X/S. [35]

Comparison

The following table includes only named released models, and does not include minor hardware revisions or redesigns, such as the "slim" model of the PlayStation 5.

Product Line PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X/S
NamePlayStation 5 Digital EditionPlayStation 5PlayStation 5 ProXbox Series SXbox Series X
Logo PlayStation 5 logo and wordmark.svg Xbox Series X S black.svg
Image PS5DigitalEdition.png Black and white Playstation 5 base edition with controller.png Xbox Series S with controller.jpg Xbox Series X 2.jpg
A PS5 Digital Edition with the DualSense controllerA standard PS5 with the DualSense controllerAn Xbox Series S with its controllerAn Xbox Series X with its controller
Manufacturer Sony Interactive Entertainment Microsoft Gaming
Release datesAU/JP/KR/NA/NZ/SGP: November 12, 2020
WW: November 19, 2020 [36]
IND: January 22, 2021
INA: February 2, 2021 [37]
CHN: May 15, 2021 [38] 		WW: November 7, 2024WW: November 10, 2020
CHN: June 10, 2021 [39]
Launch prices US$ 399.99499.99699.99299.99 [a] 499.99 [b]
€ 399.99499.99799.99299.99 [a] 499.99 [b]
GBP 359.99449.99699.99249.99 [a] 449.99 [b]
A$ 599.95749.951,199.95499 [a] 749 [b]
JP¥ 39,98049,980119,98029,980 [a] 49,980 [b]
Current prices
[40] 		US$ 449.99Same as launch priceSame as launch price299 [a] /349.99 [c] 499.99 [b] /449.99 [c] /599.99 [d]
€ 449.99549.99299.99 [a] /349.99 [c] 549.99 [b] /499.99 [c] /649.99 [d]
GBP 389.99479.99249.99 [a] /299.99 [c] 479.99 [b] /429.99 [c] /549.99 [d]
A$ 679.95799.95499 [a] /549 [c] 799 [b] /699 [c] /999 [d]
JP¥ 59,98066,98044,578 [a] /49,978 [c] 66,978 [b] /59,978 [c]
SalesShipped65.5 million (as of 30 June 2024) [41] 28.3 million (as of 30 June 2024) [41]
Sold61.7 million (as of 30 June 2024) [41]
Game media
Media Digital distribution UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, digital distribution Digital distribution Digital distribution UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, CD, digital distribution
Regional lockout Unrestricted
Other UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD with optional disc drive UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD with optional disc drive— UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, CD
Backward compatibility Almost all PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR games—All Xbox One games (excluding Kinect-required games) and Xbox 360 and original Xbox games playable on Xbox One (list)
CPU
TypeCustom AMD 8-core based on Zen 2 architecture
ISA x86-64
Clock speedup to 3.5  GHz (variable) with SMT always onup to 3.85  GHz (variable) with SMT always on3.4 GHz with SMT, 3.6 GHz without SMT3.6 GHz with SMT, 3.8  GHz without SMT
Process 7 nm [e] or 6 nm [f] Unknown 7 nm 7 nm or 6 nm
GPU TypeCustom AMD Radeon RDNA 2 architectureHybrid AMD RDNA 2 architecture with RDNA3 features and future RDNA Raytracing coresCustom AMD Radeon RDNA 2 architecture
Clock speedup to 2.233  GHz (variable)up to 2.35  GHz (variable)1.565 GHz1.825  GHz
TFLOP/s up to 10.28 TFLOPS (variable)up to 18.048 TFLOPS (variable) [42] 4.006 TFLOPS12.155 TFLOPS
Compute units 36 out of 40 CUs (2304 out of 2560 SMs) enabled60 CU20 out of 24 CUs (1280

out of 1536 SMs) enabled

52 out of 56 CUs (3328

out of 3584 SMs) enabled

Process 7 nm [e] or 6 nm [f] Unknown 7 nm 7 nm or 6 nm
Memory Main &
other		16 GB GDDR6 SDRAM; 256-bit (unified)
512 MB DDR4 SDRAM (for background tasks)		16 GB GDDR6 SDRAM
2 GB DDR5 SDRAM 		10 GB GDDR6 SDRAM; 128-bit (semi-unified)16 GB GDDR6 SDRAM; 320-bit (semi-unified)
Bandwidth448 GB/s576 GB/s8 GB (128-bit) (GPU) @ 224 GB/s
2 GB (32-bit) (system) @ 56 GB/s		10 GB (320-bit) (GPU) @ 560 GB/s
6 GB (3.5 GB & 2.5 GB) (192-bit) (system) @ 336 GB/s
Clock speed1.75 GHz (14 GHz effective)2.25 GHz (18 GHz effective)1.75 GHz (14 GHz effective)1.75 GHz (14 GHz effective)
StorageInternal825 GB [g] or 1 TB [h] PCIe Gen 4 custom NVMe SSD 2 TB PCIe Gen 4 custom NVMe SSD 512 GB or 1 TB PCIe Gen 4 custom NVMe SSD 1 TB or 2 TB PCIe Gen 4 custom NVMe SSD
Reserved by OS161 GB200 GB
ExternalM.2 NVMe SSD support (with September 2021 system update), [43] USB 3.2 HDD Support (archive only for PS5 games)Storage Expansion Card (up to 2 TB), USB 3.1 HDD Support (archive only for X/S games) [44]
Bandwidth5.5 GB/s (raw or uncompressed), 8–9 GB/s, up to 22 GB/s (compressed)2.4 GB/s (raw or uncompressed), 4.8 GB/s (compressed)
Game installationUpdates are downloaded and installed automatically in Rest ModeUpdates are downloaded and installed automatically in Instant-on Mode
Network WirelessDual-band Wi-Fi 6 @ 2.4 GHz and 5 GHzTri-band Wi-Fi 7 @ 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHzDual-band Wi-Fi 5 @ 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz
Wired Gigabit Ethernet
Dimensions390 mm × 260 mm × 92 mm
15.4 in × 10.2 in × 3.6 in [g]
358 mm × 216 mm × 80 mm
14.1 in × 8.5 in × 3.1 in [h] 		390 mm × 260 mm × 104 mm
15.4 in × 10.2 in × 4.1 in [g]
358 mm × 216 mm × 96 mm
14.1 in × 8.5 in × 3.8 in [h] 		388 mm × 216 mm × 89 mm
15.3 in × 8.5 in × 3.5 in		151 mm × 65 mm × 275 mm
5.9 in × 2.6 in × 10.8 in		151 mm × 151 mm × 301 mm
5.9 in × 5.9 in × 11.9 in
Weight3.9 kg (8.6 lb) [i]
3.6 kg (7.9 lb) [j]
3.4 kg (7.5 lb) [k]
2.6 kg (5.7 lb) [h] 		4.5 kg (9.9 lb) [i]
4.2 kg (9.3 lb) [j]
3.9 kg (8.6 lb) [k]
3.2 kg (7.1 lb) [h] 		3.1 kg (6.8 lb)1.92 kg (4.2 lb)4.44 kg (9.8 lb)
Power340 W [45] 350 W [45] 390 W165 W [46] 315 W [46]
Included in the box
  • DualSense wireless controller
  • USB Type-C to Type-A charging cable for the DualSense wireless controller
  • HDMI cable (compatible with Ultra High Speed defined by HDMI v2.1)
  • AC power cord
  • Console base
Same as base model, minus console base
Video Output HDMI: 720p, 1080i, 1080p, 4K UHD, 8K UHD HDMI: 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 4K UHD HDMI: 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 4K UHD, 8K UHD
Audio
  • Custom Tempest 3D Engine, supports: Dolby Atmos & DTS:X (Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray disc video when connected to a supported device), Dolby Digital (max 5.1ch), Dolby Digital Plus (max 7.1ch), Dolby TrueHD (max 7.1ch), DTS (max 5.1ch), DTS-HD High Resolution Audio (max 7.1ch), DTS-HD Master Audio (max 7.1ch), AAC (max 5.1ch), Linear PCM (max 7.1ch), up to 7.1 surround sound overall
Peripheral abilities Controller DualSense wireless controller Xbox Wireless Controller
Touch capabilityDualSense controller includes a "touchpad"—
Camera PS5 HD camera—
Online services PlayStation Network, PlayStation Now Xbox network, Xbox Game Pass
Downloads games and automatic updates in the background
Paid PlayStation Plus subscription required for Cloud saves, online multiplayer, except for free-to-play titlesPaid Xbox Live Gold subscription required for online multiplayer, except for free-to-play titles, free cloud saves [47]
Game DVR Image—
Video—
Live streamingFree
List of games List of PlayStation 5 games List of Xbox Series X and Series S games
System software PlayStation 5 System Software Xbox Series X/S System Software
UpdatesUpdates are downloaded and installed automatically in Rest ModeUpdates are downloaded and installed automatically in Instant-on Mode
Sources"Inside PlayStation 5: the specs and the tech that deliver Sony's next-gen vision" [48] "PS5 vs PS5 Pro specs compared: how does the next console match up?" [49] [50] "Inside Xbox Series X: the full specs" [51]

Nintendo Switch

Despite being a holdover from the eighth-generation, the Nintendo Switch has been positioned by sources as a primary competitor to other ninth-generation consoles, due to its continued hardware and software support as of 2024. [7] [8] [52] The financial failure of Nintendo's first eighth-gen console, the Wii U, resulted in the Switch's relatively late release in the eighth-generation, being released in March 2017. [53] [54] An "OLED Model" revision was released on October 8, 2021, introducing an updated design and improved display, though it did not introduce any performance improvements. [55] Additionally, commercial performance of Switch-exclusive titles have remained high during the ninth-generation, with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet (2022) and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023) both achieving 10 million units sold in its first three days after release. [56] [57]

Steam Deck and handheld gaming PCs

On February 25, 2022, Valve released the Steam Deck, a handheld gaming PC that runs SteamOS 3.0, a Linux distribution developed by Valve. The Deck includes Valve's own Proton compatibility layer, allowing nearly all Windows-based games to run on the Deck without modification. The handheld also allows users to install Windows or other software on the device. The Steam Deck was the first handheld to use an RDNA 2 GPU, which is also used on both the home consoles of the ninth generation. [58] The handheld was well received by many outlets, with an overall praising of its extensive game compatibility and portability. [59] [60]

The success of the Steam Deck led to the growth of the handheld gaming PC market and to the creation of direct competitors, such as the Asus ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, MSI Claw A1M, and the Ayaneo running Microsoft Windows. [61]

Cloud gaming platforms

Cloud gaming has become part of the gaming landscape with Stadia and Amazon Luna being introduced in November 2019 and October 2020, respectively, as well as GeForce Now coming out of its four years of beta in February 2020. None of these systems have had any financial breakthrough as home video game consoles, but they are viable for multi platform ninth generation games. [62] Google, having failed to find a large player base, shut down Stadia on January 19, 2023. [63]

Cloud gaming has also been used by Microsoft as part of its gaming subscription service, Xbox Game Pass. This gave Microsoft a head start in what analysts expected to be a major complementary service, supplementing the unprofitable console business and appealing to more entry-level players with better accessibility at a lower price. [64] Microsoft's Phil Spencer said that they believed that they could not compete on the console hardware space as much as Sony or Nintendo, and shifted their strategy towards Xbox Game Pass and cloud gaming. [65] Sony in turn revamped its PlayStation Plus subscription in mid-2022 by merging in PlayStation Now, its cloud-based service for games of past PlayStation generations, as a feature in a higher subscription tier. [66]

The continued growth of cloud gaming services has inspired the development of handhelds like the Logitech G CLOUD Gaming Handheld [67] and Razer Edge, [68] which advertise cloud streaming as a key selling point.

Virtual reality headsets

The ninth generation continued the trend of virtual reality. The previous generation mainly consisted of VR accessories made for mobile games (such as Google's Cardboard/Daydream and Samsung's Gear VR) or computers (HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift). [69] [70] This generation has started to offer standalone headsets dedicated to virtual reality games. The Meta Quest Pro was released in 2022. [71] Additions in 2023 included the PlayStation VR2 (a PS5 accessory serving as a successor to 2016's PlayStation VR) and the Meta Quest 3. [72] 2024 also saw Apple's entry into the market with the release of the Apple Vision Pro. [73] [74]

Retro-focused consoles

Polymega [75] and Atari 2600+ [76] are examples of game consoles released during the timespan of this generation, which focus on retro gaming and re-releases of older games.

While not directly focused on re-releases, Atari VCS is a Linux-based console that is pre-loaded with the compilation, Atari VCS Vault: Vol 1. [77] Additional titles, including a selection of indie games and remakes of classic Atari games, can be purchased from the console's digital storefront. [78]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 512 GB All-Digital
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 TB Disc Drive
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 TB All-Digital
  4. 1 2 3 4 2 TB Disc Drive
  5. 1 2 2020 & 2021 revisions
  6. 1 2 2022 revision or slim
  7. 1 2 3 non-slim
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 slim
  9. 1 2 2020 revision
  10. 1 2 2021 revision
  11. 1 2 2022 revision

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References

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