Gaming Giants: Xbox One Or PS4?

Xbox and PlayStation are household names, and invariably you either bat for one or the other, with the upcoming release of Microsoft and Sony’s latest consoles.

For what seems like a generation, Microsoft and Sony have fought side by side in their quest to deliver us a complete and unique gaming experience. A lesser known fact is that they are actually corporate rivals.

With the imminent releases of the Xbox One and the PS4, perhaps the biggest event in the history of gaming, every corner has a different opinion on the consoles’ relative merits. Here we briefly consider just a few factors to get the juices flowing. Happy gaming!

Xbox One Or PS4

The Hardware

In terms of graphics, the PS4 will provide more bang for your buck. To be fair, it will probably knock your socks off. This will be clearest when playing platform exclusives, as it is doubtful that cross-platform titles will be treated to the full range of the PS4’s graphics arsenal.

While the Xbox One will undoubtedly bring a lot to the table in this area, it is hard to imagine a console delivering more on the screen than a state-of-the-art PlayStation console.

Games

Both consoles look to consolidate their legacies in the games department, with Microsoft announcing new Halo and Forza titles, and Sony going with numerous fresh titles like Drive Club and The Order: 1886.

Cross-platform favorites such as FIFA and Call Of Duty will not be likely to split hairs between the two consoles – Xbox fans will use the Xbox, and likewise for PS devotees. Prices will be similarly expensive, which is to be expected for such highly-anticipated releases.

Overall, when it comes to games there is no clear winner: as already suggested, even swinging voters will have most of their entertainment expectations met by cross-platform allowances.

The Eye

The Xbox Kinect has generated some controversy in its time, somewhat unnecessarily. The fact that the Kinect is always “on” has allowed some consumers to be spooked by horror stories and accusations of a cynical commercial spy ring being orchestrated by Microsoft.

This is pretty obviously not the case, however such grievances inevitably placed the onus on the Xbox One to deliver with the Kinect’s capabilities – if it’s going to be such a dominant feature of the console, it has to earn its keep. At this stage, no extensive extra usage of the Kinect appears to be being made, which may damage the Xbox’s stakes against the PS4 as a console with camera functionality.

While the PlayStation Camera remains somewhat unproven as well, Sony’s PR department has been a lot more careful and clever in how they’ve sold the idea to the public – after all, this is an exciting innovation, not a privacy raid. Isn’t it? Yes, it is.

The Damage

So many factors come into consideration in a debate such as this, however there is one which is especially powerful and telling: the price.

Remarkably, there is a difference of approximately $130 between the Xbox One and the PS4. Of course, the Kinect is included in the price of the Xbox while the PlayStation Camera must be bough separately, however this still remains a victory for Sony.

Verdict?

While the Xbox has done well to establish itself as a family entertainment hub, there is no getting in the way of the PS4’s ascendancy in this race.

Funnily enough, it is primarily the result of good PR rather than actual technical superiority which is delivering Sony much of its momentum. It appears we will have to wait for the release to get a real sense of the match-up.

Read more about:

• Two Ways To Put Media Contents From iTunes To Xbox 360 For Playing
• How to make the best out of your Xbox 360