This week in gaming: reviews for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X dominate the news cycle, and Pokemon Go has its best year yet following a shift to embrace real-world gaming from home.
GameSpot Review Roundups for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X
In these Review Roundups, Jeremy Winslow from GameSpot aggregates the reviews from the major games media outlets.
PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 is almost here, dropping on November 12 in most regions and November 19 worldwide. Sony’s next-gen console landed in the hands of critics ahead of its global release, so those eager to know what PS5 has to offer may be curious about what reviewers think. We’ve compiled review excerpts below to give you an idea of the PlayStation 5’s consensus.
Jeremy Winslow – GameSpot: November 6, 2020
The reviews for PS5 are generally positive, with particularly high ratings for the DualSense controller and the Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales game.
Xbox Series X
With Xbox Series X launching next week, the first full reviews have now been published, including GameSpot’s. As fans await the chance to get their hands on one on its November 10 release date, one question stands out: How powerful is this thing? We’ve compiled a few review excerpts below to give you an idea of what critics think about the next-gen console.
Jeremy Winslow – GameSpot: November 5, 2020
The reviews for Xbox Series X are generally positive, with high praise for the technological power and consistent feel from previous generations.
Can I Play That? Accessibility Reviews for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X
I highly suggest you follow Can I Play That? and the staff on Twitter if you don’t already. In their own terms they are “an award winning games media outlet for disabled gamers, by disabled gamers.” They provide a critical perspective for accessibility in gaming.
Xbox Series X
What’s New? Not much. At least not from an accessibility perspective. And that’s a good thing! For me, this nothing shiny and new approach is the full realization of true inclusive gaming. Moving accessibility and inclusion beyond how it pertains to disabled users, not having to learn a new controller, a new UI and UX, and being able to continue to access all of our favorite games feels like coming home to a clean house.
Courtney Craven – Can I Play That? : November 5, 2020
PlayStation 5
Accessibility and PlayStation are not two words that feel like a natural pairing in my mind. Not because Sony isn’t making gains in creating accessible experiences—one need only look at The Last of Us Part 2 to see that—but because Sony doesn’t do the PR work to tout their accessibility innovations. It is for this reason that my first several hours with the PS5 left me shocked to see just how much work they’d put into making the newest console an inclusive platform for disabled users.
Courtney Craven – Can I Play That? : November 6, 2020
Pokemon Go has its best year ever with more than $1 billion in revenue
The figure comes from app data site Sensor Tower which credits developer Niantic for adapting the game to the stay-at-home market.
Andrew Gebhart – CNET: November 3, 2020
This is an excellent showcase of successfully pivoting game mechanics to adapt to current events. When Pokemon Go first came out in 2016, the appeal centered strongly on hitting the pavement and exploring your real-life surroundings to find Pokemon. The encouragement to be active resulted in many stories of health benefits.
How could a game with emphasis on “getting outside” continue to be successful amidst a pandemic? Niantic’s blog post on embracing real-world gaming from home is a great example of how to pivot strategy to meet the needs of your players, and the financial results validate the shift.
Weekly Reads is a weekly Friday post sharing game industry articles I read throughout the week. Each post is a 5-minute read that covers no more than 5 articles (except today where I cheated and curated 6 articles). Subscribe to this blog on the Home page or follow me on Twitter to receive notifications of new posts!
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