Back in 1995 before Adeki was born, his non-existant fetus started a series of editorials for this site celebrating video game consoles and their releases. Today, is the day that Adeki’s formed body finally finishes those editorials with talk of the Sega Dreamcast, Xbox One S, PlayStation 4 Pro, and Nintendo Switch. As of now, the Nintendo Switch has been out for over four days and while stores have yet to burn to ashes and the streets are not yet running red with the blood of innocents, that does not mean that the Switch is without its initial problems. However, the first console this editorial will discuss is actually the Sega Dreamcast since it is technically the most recent console Sega has released.
In the words of Biggie, “It was all a dream!”
The Sega Dreamcast released in North America in September of 1999, for the price of $200 (a little under $300 today), a stark price contrast to the Sega Saturn which launched at $400. Widely regarded as being ahead of its time, the Dreamcast was one of the first consoles to have a build closer to being a smaller computer rather than a dedicated video game console which in turn cheapened the cost of the finished unit. When it first launched the Dreamcast did exceptionally well, selling over 200,000 units within its first 24 hours. This was undoubtedly aided by the heavy hitters the Dreamcast launched with including: Sonic Adventure, Soulcalibur, and TNN Motorsports Hardcore Heat. Unfortunately, the Dreamcast itself did not go on to do well for a variety of reasons including competition from Sony, and the failure of the Sega Saturn, which led to the console being discontinued in 2001 after selling a respectable 9 million units.
There is exactly one S in the name.
Next up on the chopping block is the Xbox One S, the revised version of the Xbox One with a new color, smaller build, 4K support, and a lack of a power brick. Released on August 2nd 2016 in North America, the Xbox One S was announced a couple months earlier during E3 2016. Amazingly enough, the Xbox One S also supports 4K Blu-Rays while the SONY PlayStation 4 does not, and even has the ability to boost the performance of some pre-existing games on the system due to upgraded CPU and GPU components. The Xbox One S also saw the removal of the Kinect port on the console, but an owner still can use a USB adapter provided free of charge by Microsoft. For the 500GB model the Xbox One S cost $300, much cheaper than the original Xbox One’s price of $500 (noting that this launch bundle also included a Kinect). Overall, the Xbox One S is a pretty reasonable deal for those who (ha) want to buy an Xbox One and goes on to show how Microsoft does much better with the revised version of their initial console.
It is like a cake of gaming. A gake.
Third times the charm, the PlayStation 4 Pro released on November 10th, 2016 for the price of $400 after being announced on September 7th, 2016. The device itself stands alone from the PS4 Slim, which was just a redesign of the original PS4 without any noticeable internal upgrades. The PS4 Pro however, contains a more powerful GPU which allows the device to output games in 4K resolution and an increased performance for the poor bastards who want to use PlayStation VR. The PS4 Pro can also run existing titles at a better frame rate thanks to the recent update in February 2017 (SiliconNooB was right all along!) which includes Boost Mode. While this feature is a nice addition, it does not suddenly make the PS4 Pro an immediate purchase for those who already own a functioning PS4, especially if they do not own a 4K TV as the console is mainly geared towards VR and 4K. In the end, the PS4 Pro is a nice middle ground between the PS4 and the eventual PS5 and is in general a very nice console.
And to think Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is not even available on the Switch yet.
Speaking of being unable to play 4K Blu-Rays, this next console can not play any Blu-Rays at all, not even DVDs or Netflix! That is correct, now it is time to talk about the most recently released Nintendo Switch which is in fact a portable cartridge based system. The Nintendo Switch released worldwide on March 3rd, 2017 for the price of $300 and instead of including a pack-in title, it merely included a medley of poor design decisions ranging from the annoyance of being unable to charge the portable unit while it is using its kickstand, to the device literally scratching its own screen due to the dock. The most notable complaint currently aside from less than stellar performance, is the lack of games to play aside from the excellent The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild along with a few others. Most of the games currently on the Switch are titles that can be found elsewhere and the few exclusives it does have range in quality from the abysmal 1 2 Switch to the warmly received Snipperclips. Where the Switch goes from this point on is a mystery, although multiple retailers have been reporting extremely strong sales in both North America and Europe so far. However, with a price of $300 (when compared to the price of the PS4 Slim and Xbox One S), and the lack of a pack-in game, the Nintendo Switch’s sales will most likely drop to a drastic degree until more exclusives hit the system this year.
So that is it, the finale of Adeki’s editorials about the launch of video game consoles. Did you appreciate this series, or did you realize it was merely six easy weeks for Adeki to not come up with a theme for his editorial (and even then he messed that up)? Maybe you own one of these consoles and want to tell us more about it? Make sure you leave a comment below and let us know what you think!
