PS5 and Xbox launch: “Santa Claus may have problems” to guarantee...

Next month, seven years after the last generation of hardware, new game consoles will be launched.

However, demand for all consoles is very high as most retailers sold out their pre-orders almost immediately when they went online a few weeks ago.

Keep talking Newstalk breakfastOur technology correspondent Jess Kelly said the launch is a big deal with the long wait for the new game consoles.

She explained, “When the official pre-orders became available, there were certain stores [already] oversubscribed – now they had to tell people that not only are the pre-orders gone, we can’t guarantee a console on launch day, we can’t guarantee a console for Christmas, and even Santa may have trouble getting his hands on some of these too.

“Playstation came out and said, ‘this could have been smoother … we’ll do our best to bring more consoles out for pre-order and available’.

„“[But a lot] Stores are now warning that you may not get it on launch day or Christmas.

“I think it was the perfect storm of incredible hype and huge demand … and then there’s a pandemic that will disrupt things like the production and shipping of these devices.”

She added that on the days when the consoles become available, she will expect rugby scrums outside of stores.

New consoles

Sony offers two versions of its fifth Playstation – a standard model for 500 euros and a cheaper model for 400 euros (digital only) without a Blu-Ray drive.

Both machines offer otherwise identical specs, but those who choose the cheaper model won’t be able to buy games on CD.

The situation is a little different on Xbox, although they also offer two models.

Microsoft’s ‘premium’ product is the Xbox Series X, which is available in retail for 500 euros and features powerful technology similar to that of Sony’s consoles.

There is also the $ 300 Xbox Series S, which is only digital but also has lower technical specifications.

In practice, this means that S-Series games don’t deliver the same high-end 4K performance as the more expensive machines, but rather target the lower screen resolutions of 1080p and 1440p.

All new consoles are equipped with extremely fast solid-state drives, which promise far faster loading times than previous consoles.

However, there are times when players frequently delete games to free up space. The additional memory will prove expensive (at least initially) for all machines as new technologies are used.

The new Xbox consoles will be released in Ireland on November 10th and the PS5 on November 19th.

Main image: file photo from Playstation 5 consoles. Picture of: Katie Collins / EMPICS Entertainment