Hardware
Surprisingly enough, even though the current generation of consoles is still relatively young when compared to past hardware, we saw quite a bit of new hardware this year. On the Xbox side of things we got the Xbox One S. Microsoft took the standard Xbox One, added HDR support, an UHD Blu-ray drive, and 4K streaming all in a much smaller form than the original release. Naturally, this meant that Sony needed to bring something to the table as well, so the company brought two new versions of the PS4 console in 2016 (one of which replaced the original standard model). The PS4 Slim is a smaller PS4 (if you can believe that) with all of the same features as the original system. The PS4 Pro is a more powerful iteration of the eight gen console, allowing for 4K gaming, 4K streaming, HDR support, a better VR experience, and more power for developers to adjust things like framerates, load times, and even resolution in their games. While each has its own supporters and detractors, it was cool to see the companies step it up in the middle of the generation to offer something fresh.
The new hardware didn’t stop at home consoles either. 2016 saw gaming officially dive into VR with the release of the Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive, and the PSVR headsets. While all three are still light on huge experiences, they’re slowly proving that this is a viable platform that can offer games that we’d only dreamed of up until now. Hopefully, 2017 pushes these new platforms even further and develops upon the foundation laid this year.
We also received some announcements for hardware that isn’t due out until next year. Nintendo finally broke the silence on its secret project, the Nintendo Switch. It’s a home console that is also completely portable, allowing players to enjoy their games anywhere on the planet as long as they can get a charge. Before Nintendo broke the silence, though, Microsoft came clean about a secret as well during E3 2016 when they formally announced Project Scorpio, the most powerful gaming console ever. There aren’t a lot of details on either platform, but it was a full year as everyone started revealing the aces up their sleeves.
