The Nintendo Switch and the Xbox Scorpio are yet to be released but it seems like the two are already waging a war of some sort which somewhat reminds us older people of the days when Nintendo and Sega lorded over the gaming field.
The gaming industry has been dominated by Sony and Microsoft in recent years. In 2016, the consoles that made the most noise and highest sales were the NES Classic Edition and the PlayStation 2, respectively. According to Statista, the PS2 sold more than 157 million units last year. Among the consoles released in 2016, none made Statista's top 20 but the PS4 did sell more units than the Xbox One S according to Amazon's sales figures for the year.
As for the NES Classic Edition, it gained the most attention during the latter part of 2016 because of its rarity and that's not in a good way. The mini NES was notoriously absent during the holidays making hundreds of grownups cry like little children who didn't get what they wanted for Christmas.
But Christmas is over and done with and Nintendo is more likely set on focusing its attention on something else from now on.
And that something else is none other than the Switch.
The Nintendo Switch, however, is not the only console that is worth talking about and poised to change the gaming landscape.
We also have Microsoft's Project Scorpio.
Let's take a look at the Switch first. Nintendo's much hyped hybrid console was an instant hit the moment its official teaser trailer was released.
Now that we're inching closer and closer to its release date, a number of rumors and leaks have surfaced. To quip, here is a breakdown of what we know so far:
- The Switch is a home console which turns into a portable console with some simple switching motions.
- It has two small detachable controllers called Joy-Cons at the console's sides. The Joy-Cons can be used for multiplayer games. Flip the kickstand on the Switch's back to let it stand on its own while two players duke it out.
- The Switch also has a Pro controller similar to the one used with the Nintendo Wii but with buttons and analog sticks mimicking those of a traditional D-pad and Xbox controllers, respectively.
- The 6.2-inch portable display will have a multi-touch screen with 720p (or 1080 depending on the rumor) resolution and 10 touch points.
- Legend of Zelda and Super Mario games will be exclusive to the Switch, according to some rumors. Other games rumored or confirmed to be supported by the Switch include "Just Dance 2017", "Lego City: Undercover", and titles from Unreal Engine 4, and GameCube.
Microsoft has kept its mouth shut for the longest time regarding the intriguing Project Scorpio. Since it was announced, however, gamers all over the world were astonished.
Here are some of the thoughts and features of the Xbox Scorpio that left many with gaping mouths and twinkling eyes:
- The Xbox Scorpio will be the "most powerful console ever". Phil Spencer, Xbox head, boasted that the console will have "six teraflops of power".
- It is a "beast" of a console. Xbox games marketing head, Aaron Greenberg tweeted, "It is 2017, the year of PROJECT SCORPIO, are you ready for the beast!?"
- The Microsoft console will "change the way we think about the future of console gaming" and mark the end of console generations. Greenberg was quoted saying, "the future is without console generations" and that "the ability to build a library, a community, to be able to iterate with the hardware" is the way to go looking forward.
- The Scorpio will feature "true 4K gaming" and will be capable of running games in VR.
- All current Xbox One games will be available on the Scorpio. The company stated before that there will be no platform exclusive games.
- The Scorpio is a premium console and it will be priced like a premium console. That means, it will be worth at least $399.
The Switch will supposedly drop in stores in spring this year while the Scorpio is expected around Christmas 2017.
