First Click: What's your next console purchase?
September 9th, 2016
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For the last three years the choice between video game consoles has been simple: do you want a PlayStation 4, an Xbox One, or a Wii U? But in the coming months, that question is going to get a lot harder.
Do you want a thinner version of the PlayStation 4? Or would you prefer one that’s, on paper, more powerful, but offers only a few graphical improvements? Would you like an Xbox One that can actually fit under your TV without looking like a 1980s VCR player? But why not wait until next year, and Microsoft’s promised Project Scorpio, an apparent upgrade whose specs still remain largely the stuff of mystery?
Or are you waiting for the even darker horse in the race — Nintendo’s NX? After the disappointment of the Wii U, the Japanese company has confirmed that its next console is coming, but that’s about it in terms of concrete details. We’re left to scour patent filings and email leaks to scrape tidbits of information about the device, all the while Sony and Microsoft are jumping up and down to get us to part with our cash for new machines that play games our existing PS4s and Xbox Ones can already play.
It’s tricky to make the choice between seven versions of three consoles at the best of times, but the decision’s clouded further by the fact we don’t yet know what they can all do. Scorpio offers VR games, but we’re yet to see Microsoft make a serious move in the field. The PS4 Pro promises 4K-quality gaming, but we don’t know how many games will take advantage of the feature, or if TVs capable of the image quality will drop seriously in price in coming years. And who knows what the NX will end up being, the console sounding currently like a weird hybrid of the Wii U, the 3DS, and a Lego kit.
But, with the Xbox One S already out, preorders available for Sony’s new machines, and both Scorpio and the NX on the horizon, choose we must. If you’re aiming to get a new console, which one are you planning to buy first?
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