Way back in 1999, George Lucas was busy promoting Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, while figuring out what story Episode II would be telling.
He mentioned in an interview to film-critic Roger Ebert, of just how the PlayStation 2 could be able to render Toy Story graphics. Of course, we only reached that point when Kingdom Hearts III came out last year, showing some impressive graphics when Sora and gang would visit the Toy Story world.
But now, we are heading into that trajectory again of the capability of graphics on a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X; what are games going to truly look like when developers get used to the developer kits for each console.
With that, here's a quick rundown as to whether the graphics will be superior to the Xbox Series X, and even if it will matter for a potential customer.
A GPU Roundabout
"The thing about the PlayStation 2," George Lucas was saying, "is that it works in real time. We didn't make 'Phantom Menace' in real time. Some of the shots in the film took 48 hours to render. We had huge, giant computers cranking every minute of the day. Here they're doing it in real time as you sit there."
George Lucas, talking to Roger Ebert. May 1999
That was George Lucas dreaming about just how a console in someone's bedroom or living room could render a scene from Star Wars. It's really only now that it could be possible.
With the PlayStation 5, it's a fact that it's less powerful than the Xbox Series X overall. Less teraflops, less read speed, even slightly less storage for the SSD. But as I've said before, it's the games that matter.
Just look at the Wii when it was against the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. No DVD playback, no HD, just all about the games, and that's what people remember.
READ MORE: PS5 Reveal: Specs unveiled and explained!
An AMD Battle To Come
When you look at the specs, the GPU on the Xbox clearly outperforms what's on the PlayStation 5, with more 'teraflops' (which means how quick a request by a game can be calculated by the hardware in question) and more memory bandwidth.
But there's a fact that some have missed for now; we don't yet know the full details of the GPU. We know ray-tracing is possible, something that isn't on the Radeon cards available in the stores, and we know 4K at 120FPS is possible, but we haven't really seen someone play a game on a PS5 or Series X, it's only been through trailers.
When it comes to comparisons on paper, the Xbox Series X wins out; no question. But it all depends on how the hardware will be used, otherwise it's pointless.
It all depends on the games that are going to be announced before both consoles are released. We still don't know everything about the PS5 and the Series X; there may still be features that are yet to be announced, that we will be using every time we switch the consoles on.
But right now, if you want a graphics-powerhouse, either buy a PC with all the latest components, or just buy an Xbox Series X, before the full line-up of games are announced. But perhaps in two months time, we may see just why the PlayStation will be the winner once again in the new console-wars.
READ MORE: PS5 Games Revealed; the full line-up so far!
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