It’s hard to believe weꦦ’re ending the sixth year of the current generation’s life cycle and there are already new consoles on the horizon. If the rumors are true, which they most likely are considering how much of a downturn these past few months have been, next year will see the announcements for both the PS5 and Microsoft’s poorly named Xbox One successor. Six years doesn’t seem like quite a lot of time, but it’s important to remember that last generation was longer than usual. This is the typical life cycle for a console generation and it’s about time we moved into the future.

With the prospect of technological advancement on the mind, what better way to celebrate the future than by looking back at the past? Specifically, all the past mistakes Sony and Microsoft made with their consoles. For as active as this generation has been, neither company had done a particularly stellar jo꧟b all throughout. Where one started strong, the other started weak. Where one is ending weak, the other is ending strong. It’s been a strange six years full of bizarre changes and “evolutions” that’ll more than likely shape the landscape for the next generation of gaming. For better and for worse.

25 💞 PS4: No Backwards Compatibility

Backwards Compatibility has always been, and will always be, a major selling point when it comes to hardware. No one waꦐnts to have to get rid of an entire collection of games when jumping into a new gen, and this is something Sony seemed to understand with both the PS2 and PS3, consoles that featured backwards compatibility at launch.

PS2 for PS4 doesn't count. 

With the PS4, however, Sony decided to strip away backwards compatibility entirely. Where bo𝔍th the PS2 and PS3 could run PS1 games- and early versions of the PS3 could run PS2- the PS4 is a PS4 exclusive console, barring players from playing their own games. The PS4 even aband🔯oned the highly popular Classics line that had kept so many old games relevant.

24 𝓀 Xbox One🍒: The UI

The Xbox One’s UI might very well be the single most embarrassing thing to come out of this generation. While the Xbox 360’s UI wasn’t spectacular by any🍌 means, it was both clean and organized. Coming into the next gen, though, Microsoft chose to opt for a mor❀e… marketer friendly approach.

In favor of a home space dedicated to making the user comfortable, the Xbox One’s UI is a cluttered mess fi🧜lled with moreꦡ ads than actual, reasonable content. It’s a bizarre holdover that serves as a reminder to what Microsoft’s priorities were at the start of the generation: pure, unadulterated profit.

23 PS4: PlaꦛyStation Now

In response to the alarming lack of backwards compatibility on the PS4, Sony decided to r🍌emedy the solution with the inception of PlayStation Now: a streaming service where you can stream PS3 games and play them on your PS4. Think of it like Netflix ꧟for games. Except, you know, horrible.

Game streaming will never be viable. 

You just cannot stream video games in the same way you can stream movies or television. Not only is technology simply not there yet, it’s just not practical when it comes down to it. Games are so much more interactive that streaming need💝s to be pitch perfect in order for it to work properly. Naturally, PlayStation Now doesn’t work properly.

22 Xbox One♛: The Marꩵketplace

In the same ๊way, the Xbox One’s UI is a mess for no real reason other than to appease advertisers looking for prime real estate, the Microsoft Marketplace has suffered the same fate this gen. Hard to navigate, unappealingly ugly, and just a downgrade in every respect, it’s hard to imagine that Microsoft once boasted the best of the online marketplaces last gen. This time around, they’re easily the worst of the bunch, hopelessly bodied by both PSN and Nintendo’s eShop.

21 ♛ PS4: PlayStation Vue ☂

On the subject of streaming with Sony, the PS4 actually do𒅌es have its own proper streaming service: PlayStation Vue. With over 65 different channels, PlayStation Vue is the PS4’s answer to Netflix, Hulu, and the ever handy Roku Box. As was the case with PlayStation Now, Vue is a waste of money that never quite lives up to its rivals.

Why wouldn't you just buy cable at that point? 

Unlike Now which had no real competition for years, Vue w🌃as basically DOA, failing to live up to the popular streaming services. If you’re using PlaySta🌟tion Vue, chances are you have an expendable income and just really like having everything handy on your PS4. Which, you know, more power to you.

20 🧜 Xbox One: Cortana

When it comes down to it, Cortana is just the next step in Microsoft’s master plan to evolve the human r𒈔ace far enough to control technology with our minds. What began ꦇwith the Kinect has evolved into Cortana, a feature to control your Xbox One By simply speaking to it. It’s also totally unnecessary.

That’s the thing about Microsoft; while they💖 come out with some genuinely impressive 🥃ideas, they’re never practical. The Kinect was cool, but basically had no software to make use of it. Cortana is cool, but is totally worthless because voice control is inarguably more cumbersome than just using a controller.

19 PS4: The Controller’s Light 🐻

Speaking of controllers, why in the world does the Dualshock 4 has such an overwhelmingly bright light attached to it? It is completely worthless in terms of practicality and basically throttled the controller’s battery life. The fact yo𓆏u can dim🎃 it down, but not turn it off, is a surprising oversight.

Because every controller needs a bright light you can't turn off. 

Except it isn’t an oversig🔯ht at all! Rather, it’s considered a proper feature! The Dualshock 4 was designed w𝔍ith the light in mind. The light is meant to be there, it is meant to serve a purpose from a design perspective. Too bad no developer in their right mind is going to design a game around such a worthless gimmick.

18 Xbox One: The One X Is Still Stupidly Expensiv�🎐�e

The Xbox One X is currently the single strongest console on the market, and therefore the 🦩strongest console ever created. On one hand, it makes s🍸ense that it would be so expensive. After all, it’s basically a luxury version of the Xbox One. On the other hand, it’s been out for years and is a remodel.

In no world should a remodel of a preexisting console cost more than a brand new piece of hardware. The🐻 Xbox One X, as is, is considerably more expensive t🐻han the Nintendo Switch. It’s a stronger console, of course, but it’s not newer nor does it actually offer new games. There is no reason for it to be so expensive.

17 ꦐ PS4: The Downlo⛎ad Library

On the PS3, it was always easy enough to find your downloads list. Simply go to PSN and reap your rewards. The interface was so simple and user friendly that Sony decided to use it for both the PSP and the PS Vita. Worth noting, the latter of which still used a version of the PS3’s PSN ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚdespite featuring a massive remodel.

You should be able to see your download library immediately. 

Going into the PS4, the downloads list has been replaced with the download library. While the library itself is a bit more pleasing on an aesthetic level, it’s awkwardly tucked out of the way and something users actively need to look for whereas the downloads list was once in your face.🔯 Why does Sony change what they change?

16 Xbox One: The Fact There Are Two Remodels ♏On The Maꦍrket

What is most perplexing about the Xbox One X is not the fact it is so expensive, it is the fact that it exists alongside another remodel: the Xbox One S. In no world should a console have two remodels of such varying degrees. This isn’t a DS Lit�♛�e/DSi situation, either, it’s a beast in its own right.

The thing is, the differences between the Xbox One S and the Xbℱox One X aren’t actually all that impressive. They’re just weaker and stronger versions of themselves respectively. Of the two, the One S is the more affordable and reliable option, but the One X advertises itself so well. Either way, it’s more money in Microsoft’s pocket.