TOKYO/CHICAGO/STOCKHOLM: Think Michelangelo vs Da Vinci. Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Batman v Superman. Another epic rivalry is rejoined next week when Sony and Microsoft go head-to-head with the next generation of their blockbuster video-game consoles.
The two consoles - the first to be released by the two companies for seven years - are eagerly awaited; the Xbox will go on sale on Tuesday, and the PS5 two days later in core markets, costing about US$300 to US$500 apiece.The race to order the devices in advance actually began weeks ago, though blink and you might have missed it. Pre-orders of Sony's PS5 sold out within minutes on many retail sites, for example, frustrating fans.
For the other big hardware player, Japan's Nintendo , sticking to consoles is paying off with it hiking forecasts last week following elevated demand for its Switch. Sony's games depth is supported by in-house studios behind exclusives such as"Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales". By contrast the new Xbox, say games experts, will lack killer launch titles, with the latest in its flagship"Halo" series pushed back to next year as the pandemic hits development.
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