Xbox ONE vs Playstation 4 (PS4)

On February 20th 2013 Sony is calling a press conference to announce the impending release of the new Playstation console already dubbed the PS4. Check out the videos at the bottom of this post to see the YouTube clip they released on their Playstation channel.

Couple this with the rumours about the Xbox One and you have a tech war the likes of which haven’t been seen since David slew Goliath, VHS trounced Betamax and Blueray kicked HD-DVD in the goolies!

So what do we know and who is going to come out winner in the battle of the consoles – welcome to Xbox One vs PS4?

PS4 Tech Specs

AMD has been the processor of choice for Microsoft and now it seems Sony is following suit with the addition of a more powerful graphics card.

Memory is set to be boosted from the measly 256mb to 4GB giving super slick performance, speedy loading times and smooth graphics.

The controller has been touted as being “touch sensitive” which is understandable given the explosion of touch ready smartphones and tablets. Whether this leads to more immersive and intuitive gameplay remains to be seen. Hopes are afoot that the size of the controller will also fit the European hand size as opposed to the pixy like digits of our Japanese cousins.

The PS Eye and Playstation Move will also feature minor upgrades. The success of the Kinect which has been a key hardware addition in the longevity of the Xbox 360 has led to the belief that the Eye will be getting some all over body motion sensing capabilities in the near future.

Xbox One Tech Specs

Was the PS3 more powerful than the 360? On paper yes. Do we the British public buy more copies of Black Ops for the PS3 over the Xbox? NO! The choice of console has never been down to tech specs, most memory, DVD format or reliability. It has always come down to the games!

Not to say the Xbox is lacking in the tech department.

Matching the PS3 with an AMD processor running at 1.6GHZ the Xbox is certain to try and outdo its rival with double the Ram at a massive 8GB.

Even more shocking is the rumour that the One will have a Blu Ray player – after backing HD-DVD and losing and with games getting more sophisticated we cant see any other medium that can deliver the storage needed for the next Call of Duty or Halo. A standard DVD can hold around 8GB of data whereas a Blu Ray disc can hold upto 50GB. Only the cloud can hold more!

Graphics is via an 800mhz processor with the processing grunt of 1.2 teraflops (whatever that means).

The onboard hard drive will remain and prices will again depend on what hard drive size you plump for. Expect casual gamer versions to follow as is Microsofts way.

Ethernet ports, Wi-Fi and dedicated Kinect slot complete what we expect to see from the new console.

On the subject of Kinect recent patent filings from Microsoft have hinted at an immersive Kinect that floods the room with 3D augmented reality graphics but people will be more interested in the Kinect version that will count how many people are in the room in what has been touted as “Pay per person”. It is said that a new Kinect will be able to limit the viewing of a movie if there are more than a defined number of people in the room. We think that its too soon for us to see this anytime soon but what is definite is that the new Kinect will be more responsive and eliminate some of the lag seen on the current model.

Social Integration

Finding out what games your friends are playing is already possible on the Xbox and PS3 but the new iterations will take this further. Social media interaction and commentary set to feature on both consoles as both look to expand their Live and Playstation network channels. Content and media sharing via cloud technologies point to media hub functionality with both wanting to be at the centre of entertainment in the home.

Web browsing, Catchup TV, Apps, Video calling and cross platform integration all set to feature. Start a movie at home and finish it on your Windows or Sony smartphone or tablet. Take a picture at the park and it appears at home.

Consolidating all your activities and the cross selling of related devices has been a strategy successful at Apple and Sony for sure are keen to emulate.

Say What!

Oh so you’ve heard the rumour that the Xbox One will not play second hand games essentially tying one disc to one console. Yeah we heard that too. Is Microsoft that mean? Possibly but it sounds more like a calculated marketing leak to gauge reaction as opposed to fact at this point.

Prices

Expect prices to be around £300 with the PS4 rumoured to be cheaper than the Xbox One.

Release Dates

History tells us that if your going to release a console you want it to be in every kids Xmas stocking. Both the PS4 and Xbox One are rumoured to be released this year in time for Santas 2013 outing! What is not certain is whether they will be available in the UK at launch!

Japan’s manufacturing infrastructure has only recently started getting back on its feet after the 2011 tsunami crippled the countries supply network and Sony has always released new tech to its home market of Japan and the USA before rolling out to the rest of the world.

Microsoft has no such worries, with the current Xbox 360 being manufactured in China. E3 in June looks like the likeliest announcement date for the console with most expecting it to hit the shelves shortly after.

The general consensus is that Sony will release the PS4 before Microsoft and try to gain first traction.

So which should you choose

If you don’t currently own a console then firstly what’s the matter with you? If your an Xboxer then you will generally stick with what you know as you’ve already shelled out for this years Xbox Live subscription. You already own a PS3 just to see what the fuss was about and only use it as a Blu Ray player so you’ll probably stick with the One as you will never be able to play Halo on a PS3.

Playstation fans tend to be a little more loyal and are not used to paying to playing online and like to gloat about Playstation exclusives like Little Big Planet, God of War, Killzone and Gran Turismo so the PS4 is your likely choice.

Conclusion

Forget the tech specs, brand loyalty, peripherals, reliability and all that nonsense – this battle will come down to one thing – THE GAMES! Immersive play, high definition graphics, 3D, 4K, ultra realism and cloud gaming will determine who wins this war.

I for one cant wait to see who wins!

CHECK BACK FOR MORE UPDATES AS WE HEAR THEM!

Have your say...