My anticipated PS4 titles. The best console coming out in November.
Final Fantasy XV
Lords of the Fallen
Diablo 3 - I own it for PC, and would love single player and free MMORPG play.
Drive Club
PS4 is less expensive ($400) than xbox one ($500).It’s been a long
time since I’ve cared about console gaming. Aside from a few stand out
exceptions the last generation of consoles has been disappointing enough
that I never actually bought any of the consoles; I was given my Wii
for my birthday and my Xbox 360 was a red ringed hunk of plastic when I
got it, albeit a red ringed hunk that was still under warranty. Suffice
to say I wasn’t impressed, and everything I’ve heard thus far about the
“Next Generation” has me convinced that my decision to join the PC
Gaming Master Race was the smartest thing I’ve done since deciding to
forgive Blizzard for World of Warcraft’s Cataclysm expansion. All the
same though it’s impossible to deny the console share of the video game
market, and with Nintendo’s Wii U having been released late last year
the generation of the Console War has begun. Sony and Microsoft have
both announced their next generation console, and with Nintendo marching
to the beat of it’s own drum as always Microsoft and Sony only really
have each other to contend with. From initial reports though it’s
already shaping up to be so one-sided a fight in Sony’s favor it’s
almost embarrassing to write this as if there will be an even fight.
Still, here’s the blow-by-blow based one what we know so far.
1. Technical Specifications
The biggest difference between the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One
thus far is the power each system boasts. The Xbox One boasts 8GB of
DDR3 RAM powered by a custom 8-core AMD CPU (Microsoft is being vague on
the processor details) backed up with a 500GB hard drive. On Sony’s
side the Playstation 4 offers up an 8-core x86-64 AMD “Jaguar” CPU and
8GB of GDDR5 RAM and an unknown amount of hard drive space. Both pack a
modest amount of RAM compared to a decent gaming PC, but it’s 16 times
the amount of RAM the previous generation of consoles offered. Both will
also feature Blu-Ray support as well as online services and 4k support.
The Playstation 4 also has Bluetooth compatibility while the Xbox One
doesn’t.
Overall the graphical fight between the Playstation 4 and Xbox One
will remain neck and neck as it always has, though Sony’s decision to
use GDDR5 as opposed to the slower and more common DDR3 could prove
decisive in the long run, as well as the Xbox One using 3GBs of that RAM
on it’s Operating System and Apps whereas the Playstation 4 will only
use 1GB. Also the 500GB hard drive on the Xbox One can’t be replaced and
won’t be user serviceable (though both consoles will feature external
storage support).
2. Digital Rights Management/Used Games
This is an especially difficult paragraph to write given how even
before the Xbox One was announced the rumors about the One’s always
online requirement and prejudice towards used games have made for some
very potent gamer rage. I even wrote an article about it. All Sony has
had to do is sit back and let Microsoft do all the talking and then say
the exact opposite to win this category. While the Xbox One won’t need
to be online all the time, it will have to connect to the internet at
least once in a 24-hour period (Or so conflicting Microsoft reports have
said).
To throw in another dish of bad decisions, Microsoft has said that
all games will be hard installed to the Xbox One’s hard drive and linked
to a unique Xbox Live account. This would function similar to the Steam
gaming client, except that logging into your Xbox Live account on a
console aside from your own won’t give you access to the games linked to
that account. And should you buy a pre-owned game better get your
wallet ready to pay double: Microsoft plans to charge a fee equal to the
game’s original price for adding a used game to your account.
3. Console Goals
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This is the category where the differences between the consoles
really stand out. For months since the announcement of the Playstation 4
Sony has played itself up as the Anti-Microsoft and let it be known
that while it will have other features, the Playstation 4 will be mostly
about gaming. This contrasts Microsoft’s goals for the Xbox One, which
as the name implies they want to act as an all-in-one media box. In
essence, it comes off that Microsoft’s goal with the Xbox One is to
compete with Smart TVs and computers hooked up to TVs rather than the
Playstation 4 or even the Wii U. In addition to this, Microsoft has
stated that they intend to continue making games for the Xbox 360 even
after the One’s release, which isn’t a very powerful statement of
confidence in the new console.
Ever since the One’s announcement Microsoft has done nothing but
backpedaling and running damage control. If all else fails, the Xbox One
will serve as a terrible warning to future consoles.
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