PS4 or XBOX One – Which Should You Buy?

It’s the question I have been asking myself for months, and will probably still be asking after I have bought one of them. Which do you go for, the PS4 or the XBOX One? Here is a little comparison between the two, and how they stack up…

Xbox One Release – 22nd November 2013 | PS4 – 29th November 2013 (UK Release dates)
Price – PS4
Power (alleged) – PS4
Games – Draw
Online – XBOX
Media – XBOX
Controller – Draw
Design – Draw

It’s looking pretty close, let’s look at those points individually.

Price

Pretty straight forward, the PS4 is £349 and X1 £429, which is £80 more. It does come with Kinect, which is something I’m not really convinced about yet, so it remains to be seen how good that is. If you were early enough to snap up a day one console, you could have got FIFA 14 for free with your X1, easily worth £40-50.

Power

Most are speculating that the PS4 has more power because Sony are using 8GB GDDR5 memory, whereas Microsoft have gone for 8GB DDR3. Power is almost meaningless. If history has told us anything in the computer games industry it’s that the power of a console means very little in terms of it being popular and deemed a success. Atari Jaguar anyone?

Games

I have to put this one down as a draw, or even edging towards the Xbox. Most games are available on both consoles, with them both having exclusives which you may want. For example Microsoft has Forza, but Sony has Drive Club. Interestingly a few games have been delayed, which include the Sony exclusive Drive Club, as well as the much anticipated Watch_dogs available on both machines. They may share a few titles, but games like Call Of Duty and FIFA will have exclusive content on the Xbox.

Online

Microsoft and Xbox Live is amazing, and the PSN is not. You have always had to pay for Live Gold, so if you’re used to it then there are no problems. PSN on the PS3 was free, but the new version, PS Plus for the PS4 costs money. The online experience will be determined by how many people use it, which will be determined by which is the more successful machine.

Media

MS has made it clear their machine is for games and media too. In terms of discs both now use Blu Ray, great for Xbox guys as the PS3 has this exclusively last time round. They’ve signed deals with lots of media partners, although most the media stuff is only for the U.S at the moment, I am sure SKY will be on board soon if not already as they are on the 360.

Controller

This is down to personal preference. Both have new controllers which look similar to their last, I love the 360 controller, I suspect I’ll love the X1 one too, but the PS version is hardly horrible, so will probably like that too. Draw.

Design

I am not a huge fan of either, I don’t look at either and think what a piece of art. Luckily they are just boxes to sit under your TV or on a shelf, the look really means nothing.

The wrong time to buy?

If you are not an uber geek, gadget lover or you feel like you can live without one when many are talking about this great new technology then you should. It is actually not the greatest time to buy for many reasons. They are expensive and will get cheaper, some are even speculating it could be sooner rather than later. If they don’t then there will sure be offers and bundles in the near future.

There is nothing wrong with the current generation, and have great games such as GTA V, FIFA, COD and whatever you’re currently playing.

There is a limited number of games available at launch for both consoles, only around 20 each. You’ll have to wait until into next year for some other great games to come out. Games like Destiny, Watch_Dogs, The Crew, Metal Gear Solid V, Driveclub, and Infamous: Second Sun are not out until 2014 and beyond.

PS4 – Blue Light Of Death

The PS4 was launched on Friday in the U.S. (29th November here in Europe) and has been met with lots of problems. It seems there is an issue being reported, known as the Blue Light Of Death. The light on the console illuminates blue, leaving your console useless. This has led to many returning their consoles, and reports are suggesting they may not get replacements for months. The problem apparently lies with the HDMI connection/port. It’s currently unknown how widespread the problem is.

Since the Xbox One is not out yet we have no idea how that will do.

Verdict

If you are an uber geek who really wants the latest new toy, then the choice is up to you. I personally have gone for the Xbox One for now, I may change my mind, and I will probably own both later down the line. It’s so early to see which will be better, and we probably will not know for months until the masses get their hands on their choice of console. If you can wait, then wait 🙂