I largely agree with the Woolie Madden’s sentiments about the PlayStation 5 simply following up the template of success laid out by the PlayStation 4. What would be good for all of us though is if Microsoft differentiate their next console from Sony’s, in an effort to pull people like myself back to their brand.

I was delighted with the original Xbox, as it felt like a completely different platform to the PlayStation 2. Coming out of the blocks with exclusives such as Halo, Dead Or Alive 3, Jet Set Radio Future, Amped, and Project Gotham Racing, and then following up with the introduction of Xbox Live, MechAssault, Steel Battalion, Unreal Championship, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Splinter Cell, Ninja Gaiden, Fable, and Moto GP. These were some of the happiest gaming years of my life and it was a no-brainer to hop on board with the Xbox 360.

I didn’t regret the decision at all and loved the introduction of Xbox Live Arcade, with the likes of Geometry Wars and Marble Blast Ultra changing the nature of how and when I would play games. And the exclusives were still coming in the form of Gears Of War, Crackdown, and Dead Rising. And then it just seemed to dry up. I don’t remember playing a lot other than multiformat games towards the end, and the introduction of Kinect and the way the dashboard developed from an easy to access clean display to an advert-filled, avatar-focused hell hole left me cold. I was ready for a break.

I moved onto the PlayStation 4 and have loved the exclusives. Bloodborne, The Last of Us, Uncharted, Driveclub, Persona 5, Everybody’s Golf, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last Guardian, MLB: The Show, Nioh, NieR: Automata, No Man’s Sky, Ratchet & Clank, Street Fighter V, Yakuza 0, Journey, and Shadow Of The Colossus are all of great interest to me, and many I’ve not yet got around to playing. The most impressive thing for me is how many of those are standalone adventures and not follow-ups in a franchise.

The Switch clearly offers a fantastic alternative to the PlayStation 4 and I don’t see Microsoft fighting for their market share. They need to somehow take people away from Sony, and as I see it they need to offer something a bit different as well as releasing a whole raft of high quality exclusives early in the next cycle. I’m not convinced that HoloLens is the product to do this, so the question to the readers is what do they next?

Sony for their part need to ensure that complacency doesn’t get the better of them and continue to produce innovative exclusives. I don’t want to be playing Uncharted 6, The Last Of Us 3 (or 2 for that matter), Horizon 2, or Nioh 2 going into the next generation. I want fresh ideas in worlds I’ve yet to see.

AgentCole1981 (PSN ID)