PS5 — and Not Google Stadia or Microsoft's Project xCloud — Is the Future of Gaming. Here’s Why.

gadgets.ndtv.com:

Earlier this week, Sony lifted the lid on what we can expect from the PS5. Be it the PS5 specifications, the welcome return of backwards compatibility, or the inclusion of a solid state drive, Sony's reveal left little to the imagination aside from a concrete PS5 price that will almost surely be on the higher side compared to the PS4. The PS5 reveal is in stark contrast from the grand, thumping gestures we've seen from Google and Microsoft with Stadia and Project xCloud respectively.

While some may consider the surprise PS5 reveal as not being forward looking, what with no mention of cloud streaming or cross-platform style play on devices other than a PS5, Sony's approach tells us a lot about the state of the games market as a whole.

Despite sections of the games industry claiming Netflix-styled streaming services will be the future, it's far from tangible at the moment. Even Google admitted that you'd need at least a rather high speed Internet connection for Stadia. With fair usage policies (data caps) being what they are, there probably won't be many takers for a service that consumes 30MB per second for 4K 60fps gaming, at least in select markets. More so when alternatives like PCs and consoles exist.

It's admirable that Google and Microsoft are pushing the message of inclusivity with Stadia and xCloud, but their vision of it is heavily dependent on Internet connectivity and, possibly, 5G adoption. These aren't factors that are necessarily in the control of its audience and don't have easy workarounds either.

So while they're pushing an agenda of gaming for everybody, it's essentially gaming for everyone that can get access to the speeds needed for it.

While the industry would love to compare it to the likes of