OT: PS4 vs. XBOX One

Submitted by Darker Blue on

This has probably been discussed on the board before, but its the offseason and I'm bored. And curious. 

So I'm going to buy either a XBOX One, or a PS4 today. I'm leaning towards Sony, mostly due to my immense hatred of Microsoft. But maybe you can change my mind. 

I'm your standard gamer. I play a lot of sports games. I like some shooters. I'm probably going to buy Watch Dogs with whatever system I do buy. 

So what do you own, why do you own it, and why should I buy it?

elaydin

June 3rd, 2014 at 12:52 PM ^

Agree on the crappy roll out.  Fortunately, those people have been forced out (Don Mattrick).  There were actually some good ideas there, just not well executed.  I personally would prefer to have some of those back (discless DRM, game sharing, etc.).

mvp

June 3rd, 2014 at 2:07 PM ^

I agree with you about the XBox roll-out and how Microsoft negatively impacted PC gaming.  But PC Gaming is far from dead.

I'm no longer a hard-core gamer because I have a wife, 3 kids, a dog, and a job.  But my experience with Steam has been amazing.  There are so many good titles to play and if you're willing to be patient, you can get them inexpensively on Steam.  The longer you're willing to wait, the more you save.

I disagree that only small and indie games are out there.  There are tons and tons of A-List titles out there, and MMORPGs are still best on a PC.  Between high quality multi player experiences, top games in the genres I want to play, and TONS of variety, the PC is, in my opinion, the best gaming value.

Hannibal.

June 3rd, 2014 at 3:29 PM ^

I agree with you about Steam, but Valve takes all the credit for that.  I will say that I have experienced a resurgence in my PC gaming the past two years thanks to Steam.  Even with Steam in place though, the FPS genre is no longer PC-centric and the Western RPG (i.e. Bioware territory) never recovered.  Dragon Age was the last decent isometric party-based RPG and it came out five years ago.  That genre was as dead as a doornail until Kickstarter revived it.  The FPS genre in particular bothers me.  I can't believe how badly FPS's suck nowadays compared to the Serious Sam/NOLF/F.E.A.R./Painkiller/Half-Life 2 glory days.  I hate that an entire generation has basically grown up without experiencing the FPS genre the way that it was meant to be played (i.e. with mouse and keyboard and high frame rates). 

Voltron is Handsome

June 3rd, 2014 at 12:18 PM ^

BINGO

I'm so tired of the "you're too old for video games" bull shit. As you said, there is absolutely no difference (other than actually being involved with games as opposed to just watching TV) between games and TV. Both require staring at a TV. There are too many awful reality shows on TV these days and I fucking hate that genre, so I prefer to watch movies and play video games instead. I watch no more than ten shows religiously and a few of those are Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, and Vikings. Playing video games is just another mode of entertainment, as are watching TV and reading books. As I stated, though, I'll take video games over the other two any day because not only are they fun, but I'm actually involved and doing it myself. There are so many video games that have stories that are far superior to many books and shit on TV.

ixcuincle

June 3rd, 2014 at 6:06 PM ^

My Michigan dynasty in NCAA 14 is ridiculously fun. There's this sense that you get with sports games and building a super power that you can't get from watching sports. In sports games, you are the GM. You can build your team the way you see fit and then control them on the field. I've never once seen a major glitch in NCAA 14, contrary to complaints about LB or something something option something defense. The same thing in NBA 2k14 with the Detroit Pistons. Sign a 4 year 96 mil deal for Carmelo Anthony once he hits free agency, Pistons 23-12, coming off their 2nd straight Eastern Conference Championship and one title run (lost to Pelicans in 7 games) 

The point is sports video games do what a lot of us can't do in real life, build a winning franchise. And when you win the title, it feels absolutely great. 

I largely play NBA 2k14 , FIFA 14, with the occasional NCAA 14 and NHL 15. That's why I don't really care that PS4 has less games. I barely have enough time for games as is. 

DrunkOnHiggins

June 3rd, 2014 at 11:53 AM ^

It really depends on whether you will be playing online with friends. If that's the case then go with the console they have. If you are going to play online you won't want to be sitting there with a PS4 when they all have a One. 

If it's exclusives you are after then determine what exclusives you want to play and make the decision from there. I was really looking forward to inFAMOUS Second Son and MLB The Show, thefeore I bought a PS4.

Another determining factor for me was that neither system is backwards compatible. I wanted to be able to play my 360 games on the One but once I heard neither was backward compable it made my decision that much easier. 

I love my PS4. Pure gaming. Right now I'm currently playing Watch Dogs, Wolfenstein, The Show, Tomb Raider and Trials Fusion.

Really looking forward to NHL 15 this fall.

gbdub

June 3rd, 2014 at 3:47 PM ^

Failing to offer backwards compatibility seems like a huge miss for both companies. Most gamers have a significant investment in legacy games, and offering backwards compatibility would lock you into a system. Instead, basically everyone I know who is buying a new system is giving serious thought to both systems regardless of which one they used previously.

And I'd by a PS4 today if I could play my PS3 library on it. Instead I'll hang on to my PS3 till it dies or I run out of interesting titles, and see what's out there at that time.

 

Hannibal.

June 3rd, 2014 at 3:54 PM ^

This does seem to be the conventional wisdom.  Both the X-Box 360 and the PS3 had some backwards compatibility (I don't remember details but it wasn't complete) and they were supposedly expensive to implement and gamers didn't end up using it much.  I have kind of wondered myself why backwards compativility isn't more common, but they apparently have data that says that you and I don't really care about it enough to buy a console because of it. 

elaydin

June 3rd, 2014 at 4:04 PM ^

This is true.  I've been on both sides of this and both companies have come to the same conclusion.  The cost of offering backwards compatibility is not worth the gain.  Not only is it not worth the gain, it also offers diminishing returns over time as fewer people use it.

From a technical standpoint, this generation didn't provide enough of a performance boost to be able to easily emulate something like Cell (1 3.2 GHZ PPC core and 3.2 GHz 7 "SPU"s) with the new x86 architecture.

The good news is, I suspect all future generations will be backwards compatible, assuming they all stay on the x86 architecture.

teamangel

June 3rd, 2014 at 12:05 PM ^

I have two boys and so I've always owned gaming systems.  They both have great graphics (PS4 is supposed to have better graphics - but I can't tell the difference as they're both amazing).  The Kinect on the Xbox One is incredibly accurate and scary.  :)  We have multiple profiles that can be matched via face recognition so if either of the boys are playing or myself and they accidentally walk in front of me, it changes the profile (can be a bit annoying).

In all honesty, it comes down to the exclusives.  Are you a die-hard Halo/Titanfall fan?  I know my boys are so that's why I got the Xbox One for them.  And the Final Fantasy RPG's are the games I like, hence the PS4.  I like playing football games on them and have Madden 25 for the PS4.  You can't go wrong with either.  Just comes down to personal gaming preference on titles.  Good luck!!! :)

nogit

June 3rd, 2014 at 12:23 PM ^

As has been said, comes down to the games.

You mentioned shooters, planetside 2 is coming out on ps4. best game I've played in a long time.

Hannibal.

June 3rd, 2014 at 12:28 PM ^

PS4 at this point probably.  Kinect is bloatware that is a waste of an extra $100. When $100 comes off the XBox One price, it will be a more favorable comparison and then it will come down to which franchises you like better.  If you ask me, Sony's franchises in the past three years or so have been way better and Microsoft's have been dogshit. 

With that said, the only decent game that I have played on my PS4 is Infamous: Second Son, and even that one is an 8/10 for me but not a masterpiece.  The exclusives on both platforms kind of suck ass at this point and I'm not seeing a ton to get excited about on the horizon for either one. 

Watch_Dogs is an absolute turd.  You will regret that purchase if you make it.  Get Infamous: Second Son instead if you want the shiny "wow" factor with your new machine. 

moxiechicago

June 3rd, 2014 at 12:38 PM ^

I went with PS4, mainly because Microsoft was being very difficult about DRM and other issues at the time.  The PS4 has been great, you can't go wrong with it.  Watch Dogs is fantastic.  The driving is not as good as GTAV and the dialogue isn't as funny, but the overall game has more to it.

 

 

bakerblue9

June 3rd, 2014 at 12:49 PM ^

Get an xbox one the plate form sony uses isn't that great an who out there had a sony product that hasn't falling apart. I use to work for sony. Th

poseidon7902

June 3rd, 2014 at 2:05 PM ^

I'm a nerd.  Always have been, always will be.  I'm also in IT for my job, so this also means I own a whole lot of tech.  I have iPads, Galaxy Note Pro's, Surface's, Gaming PC's, and gaming systems.  I currently have both the PS4 and the Xbox One.  i actually own 2 Xbox Ones.  Here's my analysis of them as well as other tech.  

 

1. Xbox One.  Removing all personal opinions (like what exclusives are better than the other since they are personal opinions and don't matter), the Xbox One delivers on exactly what it advertised itself to be.  It's an all in one entertainment system.  If you're a gamer, you'll enjoy it, if you're a movie fanatic, you'll enjoy it.  If you're a judgemental internet poster who thinks spending any time on a gaming system is indicative of your manliness, you probably need to get laid.  The games on the system that cross over are rarely if ever going to be noticeable in their graphical difference.  while a comparison video will definitely show you a difference, the differences are minute.  In the past Microsoft has required people to pay to be able to do most simple functions including watch netflix, hulu, etc...  They recently changed all that.  Now you do not have to have a gold subscription to access non-multiplayer game related content.  You still obviously have to pay the subscription price for the service you want if it's required, but you don't have to pay extra to be able to do it from your Xbox.  The only thing you have to get a gold account for Xbox for now is to be able to play online multiplayer games.  If you do get a Live Gold account, you will, like with PS, get a free game every month.  

 

2.  PS4.  This is more of a gamers gaming machine in the sense that it doesnt' really focus on the extra apps and features like the Xbox does.  With the PS4, there is now a required payment to play online.  This is a deviation from the past where they allowed online gaming for free.  Both cost about the same per year and if you're a savy shopper you can usually find them for $20 - $30 on sale.  

 

So which system is a better system comes down to personal preferrence.  There's no wrong answer.  Visually speaking they are similar with the PS4 having better numbers, but that doesn't always translate to better visuals or performance as coding of the games is just as important if not moreso.  

From a features standpoint, the Xbox is leaps and bounds ahead.  I personally didn't think I'd care for the features like watching TV through it.  Now, I can't imagine doing it any other way.  There's something satisfying in saying "Xbox, watch ESPN" and the tv channel changes.  This will only work if you buy the one with the Kinect, so that's going to tack an extra $100 on the price.  

That's the next comparison.  Price, they are exactly the same unless you get the Kinect.  That has it's own slew of features, but it's not a game changer.  

Online environment.  I know from my personal experience that I have more friends who play on Xbox, so if I was picking between the two, that would play into it.  Neither Sony nor Microsoft will release numbers of subscribers to their services, but it's generally thought that Xbox Live has the larger number of subscribers.  

Finally exclusives.  There's nothing here that can be stated other than to let you do your own research.  E3 is coming up and a whole new slew of exclusives will be announced for both consoles.  You decide which ones matter to you.  

It takes adding all of that up to make a 'right' decision.  To be brutally honest though, I question if there's really any reason to currently jump into the new consoles yet.  They both have problems and will continue to have problems.  Not all features are turned on for both of them and have a long ways to go before they are turned on.  So make your decision and just realize that there is no best one when it comes down to it.  It's just which one accomplishes your goals the best.  

O S Who

June 3rd, 2014 at 6:43 PM ^

if you are a cord cutter, the xbox one is amazing.  i do not regret buying the xbox one at all (and am very happy i bought it over the ps4 since I debated it pretty hard), and honestly there were quite a few bundles out there to get titanfall and xb1 w/ kinect for 450 (and sometimes less).  That is an amazing deal.  If you do the math, that comes out cheaper than the ps4  The ps4 cannot come close to the feature set of the xb1 if you use the xb1 to its full potential.

here is my xbox one setup:

  • i bought a homeworx $7 antenna off of amazon
  • i bought a homeworx $30 OTA recorder off of amazon
  • I plugged my antenna into the ota recorder and the ota recorder into the xbox ( i am getting around 40 channels)
  • with that setup, I am able to get a tv guide through oneguide on the xbox, it is awesome.  i can use voice commands like "watch NBC" and it works fine with antenna
  • additionally, XB1 has an espn app that has live espn.  I am not talking espn 3, i am talking actual espn.  so pop in my parents comcast id and now i have espn for free
  • If i am waiting for a game to load i can just say "snap tv" and start watching tv split screen with my game and it works instantly.

Also, i am now only using 1hdmi for everything on my tv. netflix, tv, video games, its awesome.  I say "xbox on" and it turns on everything thats connected to it.  When i say off, everything turns off with it.

I also found free steams of T25 on the internet, and I pinned those to my xbox homepage, so all i do is open that favorite and I am working out (you have to put the browser in "mobile" so that the websites default to their mobile page and allow you to watch the videos since most phones dont have flash).

Finally my favorite feature of the xbox is Xbox Fitness.  It is an amazing app.  It gives you insanity, p90x, and a bunch of other beachbody and other company workout videos for FREE (with xbox live of course so kinda free).  Not only that, but kinect tracks your body and rates how well you did.  Then compares how you are doing to other people in your age group (or your friends if they use it) in real time.  I do insanity and it brought my workout to a whole new level because i was competing with other people (and yourself because it tracks previous scores).

ClearEyesFullHart

June 3rd, 2014 at 2:36 PM ^

With all the crap Microsoft tried to pull(Mandatory Live Subscription, mandatory active internet connection, mandatory $100 Kinect premium, Used Game Prohibition) I flat out don't trust them, even if they did change a lot of those policies.

reshp1

June 3rd, 2014 at 2:38 PM ^

I was a 360 owner, switched sides this time around. PS4 seemed the better system spec wise, focused on games instead of an all of the above approach, didn't come out of the gates with a bunch of DRM BS, seemed a better designed system in terms of size and aestetics, and I wanted to try some of the PS exclusives this time around.

If you end up going XBOne, at least wait until the version without Kinect comes out and save yourself $100 bucks.

mach42006

June 3rd, 2014 at 3:34 PM ^

I would also vote for the XB1. Admittedly, Microsoft blew their reveal a year ago with restrictive, confusing, and backwards policies. The Xbox division is under new leadership now, and a lot seems to be changing for the better. Just since Phil Spencer took over earlier this year, they've gotten rid of the Gold paywall, and dropped the kinect (although I think the voice controls are great), and the focus seems to really be about the games now.



I agree with others that the graphical differences are only going to be apparent if you were to view them side by side. The XB1 is compatible with the upcoming DirectX 12 as well, which will further optimize performance.



One of the lesser known features that my friend and I are taking advantage of on the XB1 is the ability to game share with one other person. It does require exchanging our Microsoft account usernames, but after that initial login, any games I buy electronically, he can download and play (online, at the same time) and vice versa. So we split the cost of all of our games. I pretty much only play multiplayer, and we play all the same games, so it works out pretty well. If you have a friend you can do that with that may be a selling point, it's nice only paying $30 each for new releases.

Jamezz23

June 3rd, 2014 at 3:39 PM ^

I've been using and playing Xbox consoles ever since the first one. Just do some research on exclusive titles that each system offers and base your decision on what ones appeal to you more. Multiplatform will be basically the same

dcmaizeandblue

June 3rd, 2014 at 4:33 PM ^

I have a PS4 but have barely used it so far. There's still very little in terms of games to play on either system which is a bummer. I think you'll be happy with either as I don't think there's much of a difference between them. I will say that the new Mario Kart is a lot of fun.

ixcuincle

June 3rd, 2014 at 6:11 PM ^

Coincidentally I've been pondering the exact same question. I've been trying to decide between the One and PS4. I like the PS4 so far because it is a very powerful machine, but the One seems like a very good entertainment device. 

I remember when One was previewed, there was so much controversy over the DRM that it really had a bad effect on Microsoft, regardless of whether they removed it or not. People were already crowning PS4 king. That had a strong effect on me and I was immediately biased towards PS4 towards the start. 

Over the last few days I've been doing some scouting on both devices, including touch tests at the local Target. I noticed the PS4 controller might have some battery issues, but that they did improve their DS4 controller. However, I felt the One controller and it was absolutely amazing. I was not able to feel the DS4 controller out of box because Target doesn't have a PS4 display set up. 

It's too hard to decide between the two right now...but I have to end up getting one of them for NHL 15. 

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Edit: The following is typed after reading what has been said before me here. I noticed PS4 in an overwhelming amount of replies. I would like a gaming machine, but my main concern is time. I don't even touch the 360 that much anymore because of laziness after coming home from work. I dabble in it now and then but I largely fire up the computer and play my games there. 

PS4 seems like a powerful machine and NHL 15 isn't coming out for PC anytime soon, so that looks like the good option. I also like One and I'm aware of all the extra doodads but I have a Smart TV and I don't use the doodads there, so why would I use them for the One? I also refuse to pay 100 extra for Kinect.