In the 1990s, the list of game console manufacturers was much wider: Atari, Sega, Neo-Geo, Panasonic, Commodore, TurboGrafx. And that’s not counting the many unofficial clones. But even now, the choice of game consoles is not limited to three pillars – Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft. The development of alternative gaming platforms, especially portable ones, was helped by crowdfunding services Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Standalone virtual reality helmets can also be classified as game consoles.
The article was written with the support of the iSpot online store.
The Playdate is a hurdy-gurdy-shaped prank game console developed by the creators of Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game. Equipped with a black and white screen without backlight, a processor with a frequency of 180 MHz and only 16 MB of RAM. Management is implemented by a cross and two buttons, as well as a rotating handle. The latter is also used for fast forwarding and rewinding when watching a video. Every week, a couple of free new games arrive via Wi-Fi.
Learn how to develop web interfaces to suit your clients
REGISTER!
Analogue Pocket is not just another software emulator, but a hardware clone of Game Boy, Color and Advanced with support for original cartridges. Corrects the main shortcomings of the creation of Nintendo: the screen glows with a brightness of 600 nits, and the pixel density here is 600 PPI. Implemented image upscaling, saving game progress anywhere and creating screenshots. There are adapters for cartridges of other old school portables: Sega Game Gear and Neo Geo Pocket.
The Sega Genesis Mini 2 is the second official re-release of Sega’s 16-bit desktop console, better known locally as the Mega Drive. The hardware has become more powerful, and the catalog of pre-installed games is larger – fifty titles. Moreover, the release of even one new game is promised: either a remake specifically for the Genesis Mini 2, or a rarity that has not previously been in circulation. The gamepad is familiar to a domestic gamer – with six action buttons (there was also an American four-button one).
GPD Win Max 2 is a 2-in-1 handheld game console and netbook with a QWERTY keyboard, touchpad and built-in gamepad. It has a 10-inch screen with a resolution of 2.5K, and with support for a stylus for drawing. There are two processors to choose from: Core i7-1260P with 4 high-performance and 8 energy-efficient cores, or Ryzen 7 6800U with the most powerful Radeon 680M iGPU at the moment. Up to 32GB of RAM, two M.2 SSD slots and an optional 4G modem.
Xbox Series S is perhaps the best solution for those who are just joining the world of console gaming. Relatively inexpensive and very compact stationary prefix. We immediately recommend purchasing a subscription to a catalog of 300+ Game Pass games, as well as a second controller and an external USB drive. There is only 360 GB of free space on the built-in SSD, and only one Call of Duty Warzone weighs 250 GB. True, you can only run games from the previous generation from a USB drive.
The PlayStation 5 is probably the most coveted console, which, fortunately, is gradually ceasing to be scarce, and therefore overpriced. The Digital Edition version without an optical drive is probably not worth taking. Swapping Blu-ray discs with friends and buying used ones on OLX and eBay will save you a lot of money. Moreover, among the stationary consoles, it is the PlayStation that has the largest number of exclusive games, even if some of them are ported to the PC with a delay. We are waiting for the second generation of the PS VR helmet.
Nintendo Switch OLED – and among modern portables, it is she who has the most exclusives. At least one new exclusive game is released per quarter, the next release is Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Alas, the Switch does not shine with teraflops, it’s good at least in the OLED revision, in addition to the screen, they improved battery life. And compared to the Lite version, the Joy-Con manipulators remained easily removable, which is in demand in games with motion control.
Xbox Series X is the most powerful, and therefore, in theory, the longest-lived stationary game console. Its raw performance is approximately 12 TFLOPS. For comparison, the Xbox Series S and PS5 only have 4 and 10 TFLOPS, respectively. At the same time, Series X is quieter and cooler, thanks to a thoughtful bottom-up exhaust cooling system. It comes with a gamepad with a rough “peach” texture and high-precision sticks, but archaic AA batteries.
Steam Deck is the most omnivorous portable console. In fact, this is an x86 computer based on an 8-thread Zen 2 processor with an integrated RDNA graphics card with 8 microcore clusters. Runs under the operating system SteamOS on the Linux kernel. Some games run natively, and the rest through the Proton interpreter, which is a fork of Wine. But if you wish, you can install Windows, third-party game stores (EGS, Origin, Battle.net, GoG) and even game console emulators.
Oculus Quest 2 is a standalone VR headset created by Doom creator John Carmack and funded by Facebook. If desired, Quest can be connected to a PC to play, for example, Half-Life Alyx, but you can also run games directly on the helmet itself. The Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor provides a resolution of 1920×1800 pixels per eye with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The kit comes with a couple of motion controllers that read even individual fingers.
