XBOX ONE vs. PS4: E3 2013 at its Best
The 2013 E3 Expo came in with a big bang on Monday with the launch of most awaited gaming consoles PS4 and XBOX One. The two giants Sony and Microsoft who are dominating the gaming market for very long time now has put their latest beasts head to head in the arena. Xbox One and PlayStation 4, which are set to be released in time for the holiday season, has left every one in awestruck with their similar configurations. But the major difference of a $499 price tag for the Xbox One and the PS4′s $399 price tag has many leaning towards the Sony product.
Of course, there is a lot more that goes in to choosing the right system than just money, and the $100 must be well thought off by Microsoft, or it might back fire, but that is to be seen. So there is a wide range of opinion about which system is superior.
The systems are neck to neck in terms of technical specifications:
Games
To state the obvious: each company's lineup of first-party (self-published) games will be exclusive to its own console. So, as usual, any new Halo, Gears of War, or Fable titles will remain Xbox only, while future Uncharted, Killzone, or Ratchet and Clank games will only appear on PlayStation.
At its E3 press conference E3, Microsoft showed many exclusive first party titles. Key games included Dead Rising 3, Ryse: Son of Rome, Killer Instinct, Quantum Break, Project Spark, Titanfall, and Forza 5. The company also pledged that all DLC (add-on downloadable content) for Activision's Call of Duty: Ghosts would debut first on the Xbox One.
Controllers
The handheld controllers of the PS4 and the Xbox One are evolutionary descendants of the versions found on each respective platform. The Sony DualShock 4 differentiates itself with a clickable touch pad on the front, giving developers an additional option when designing games, although we've yet to see it in actual application.
Whereas the Xbox One uses Wi-Fi Direct to connect its controller, while the PlayStation 4 relies on Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. On paper, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR's theoretical 3Mbps maximum speed is clearly outclassed by Wi-Fi Direct's 250Mbps theoretical throughput. However, whether this will result in any tangible difference remains to be seen. In the Xbox One's case, the extra bandwidth could end up being important if Microsoft chooses to release add-ons, like a microphone for voice chat, and an updated version of its keyboard pad. It will be interesting to see which wireless standard delivers more efficient battery life.
Winner
Despite the PS4's price advantage, one observer at E3 said it was too soon to assume it would outsell the Xbox One.
"You don't get the Kinect with the PS4 - Sony's Eye camera isn't as powerful and may be sold separately - so Microsoft can push the fact its sensor is worth the extra £80," said Stuart Miles, founder of the Pocket-lint gadget review site.
"The other thing is that the Xbox One games line-up seems to be stronger at launch.
"A lot of the games announced at Sony's event have been given a 2014 date and its Gaikai cloud streaming service won't start offering PS3 titles to the new console until next year as well."
Of course, there is a lot more that goes in to choosing the right system than just money, and the $100 must be well thought off by Microsoft, or it might back fire, but that is to be seen. So there is a wide range of opinion about which system is superior.
The systems are neck to neck in terms of technical specifications:
| XBOX One | PS4 | |
| Price | $499 | $399 |
| Availability | November 2013 | Holiday 2013 |
| Blu-ray | Yes | Yes |
| Hard drive | Built-in (500GB) | Built-in (500GB) |
| Motion control | New Kinect (bundled) | Move controller |
| CPU | 8-core x86 AMD | 8-core x86 AMD |
| RAM | 8GB DDR3 | 8GB GDDR5 |
| USB 3.0 | Yes | Yes |
| Wireless | Yes (802.11n w/Wi-Fi Direct) | Yes (802.11n) |
| Gigabit Ethernet | Yes | Yes |
| HDMI | Yes (in and out) | Yes |
| Suspend/resume game support | Yes | Yes |
| Background downloading | Yes | Yes |
| Native gameplay sharing (video) | Yes | Yes |
| Real-time gameplay steaming | Yes (Twitch) | Yes (Ustream) |
Games
To state the obvious: each company's lineup of first-party (self-published) games will be exclusive to its own console. So, as usual, any new Halo, Gears of War, or Fable titles will remain Xbox only, while future Uncharted, Killzone, or Ratchet and Clank games will only appear on PlayStation.
At its E3 press conference E3, Microsoft showed many exclusive first party titles. Key games included Dead Rising 3, Ryse: Son of Rome, Killer Instinct, Quantum Break, Project Spark, Titanfall, and Forza 5. The company also pledged that all DLC (add-on downloadable content) for Activision's Call of Duty: Ghosts would debut first on the Xbox One.
Controllers
The handheld controllers of the PS4 and the Xbox One are evolutionary descendants of the versions found on each respective platform. The Sony DualShock 4 differentiates itself with a clickable touch pad on the front, giving developers an additional option when designing games, although we've yet to see it in actual application.
Whereas the Xbox One uses Wi-Fi Direct to connect its controller, while the PlayStation 4 relies on Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. On paper, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR's theoretical 3Mbps maximum speed is clearly outclassed by Wi-Fi Direct's 250Mbps theoretical throughput. However, whether this will result in any tangible difference remains to be seen. In the Xbox One's case, the extra bandwidth could end up being important if Microsoft chooses to release add-ons, like a microphone for voice chat, and an updated version of its keyboard pad. It will be interesting to see which wireless standard delivers more efficient battery life.
Winner
Despite the PS4's price advantage, one observer at E3 said it was too soon to assume it would outsell the Xbox One.
"You don't get the Kinect with the PS4 - Sony's Eye camera isn't as powerful and may be sold separately - so Microsoft can push the fact its sensor is worth the extra £80," said Stuart Miles, founder of the Pocket-lint gadget review site.
"The other thing is that the Xbox One games line-up seems to be stronger at launch.
"A lot of the games announced at Sony's event have been given a 2014 date and its Gaikai cloud streaming service won't start offering PS3 titles to the new console until next year as well."
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