PS4 vs Xbox One Comparison: Graphics, Specs, Differences

[Dr.Susse]

Lovely balanced review.
I can't imagine the discussions between all the staff over this one and the poor person who typed it all up in the end. But each point was laid out concisely and clearly.

People will no doubt disagree with things in the review but differing opinions pretty much sum up the internet.

I liked the comparisons you weighed in upon ; Top shelf Escapist!

 

[marurder]

Something something favoritism paid off Escapist something something.

Well *obviously!*

It is sad that in today's media to get attention you need to move to some extreme of the spectrum or do something 'radical'.

 

[TJC]

Something something favoritism paid off Escapist something something.

Well, DUH! You got them PS4s as freebies *ramble ramble*

OT: not buying either of them for now because if the first year of being a 3DS owner taught me ANYTHING it's that early adopter get shafted big time. And while I'm glad I kept my 3DS around because it's a beast right now (and I can taunt others with my delicious, delicious ambassador games), I'll never get a console, handheld or stationary, that early again.

I agree with the conclusion though. If pinned down, I'd go for the PS4 because it aligns more with my wishes of a gaming console, namely playing games. That "OMG everything entertainment system" is basically defunct outside the US anyways.

 

[Arawn]

Well done Escapist, you pulled a Solomon. There will be accusations of favoritism from Sony and MS camp, but this article managed to be right down the middle. Promoting and criticizing both units while evaluating their merits. In the end you can say both were successful. PS4 a solid game console with it's streaming and sharing. Xbox One in it's multipurpose unit and interactive controls. Not a complete success on either front by any means. There's always room for improvement. The question is will either of them noticed their mistakes and/or try make their system more efficient. Time will tell. Although you have given all the facts in the end it will come down to opinions; that of the purchaser. The games, the interface, all of it will be experienced and judged in the coming days. Perhaps they will agree with your assessment. Maybe they'll completely disregard it. The point is you gave them a nice starting point.

 

[ImmortalDrifter]

Something something favoritism paid off Escapist something something.

Obviously Microsoft paid off the Escapist to even get the Xbone featured warkwarkBillGateswarkwarkNSAwarkwarkTitanfall on PC. I am forced to question the wisdom of picking a "Winner" in things like this though; it really only leads to trouble down the road.

I'm really tempted to just say fuck it and get a PC. Then I remember all of my friends are fanboys. Most likely scenario is that I'm going to buy both and a gaming PC. I'm going to need some Astroglide for my wallet...

 

[Kahani]

PS4 vs Xbox One Comparison: Graphics, Specs, Differences

I can't help noticing there's no mention of either graphics or specs here. Considering that the hardware specs are one of the most fundamentally important parts of a hardware review and graphics are obviously a very important consideration for many people, that seems a rather odd omission.

 

[Strazdas]

Its strange that you marked Xbox launch library as the winner as there is aboslutely no games of interest in there to begin with. Then again all interesting ones were delayed for PS4 as well so fair enough.
What really made this look bad is the whole smart glass pondering. Didnt WiiU taught you already that having small screen in your lap does not work?

 

[TomWiley]

A mostly fair comparison, but mentions of the PS4's hardware failures, laggy interface and lackluster exclusives seems conspicuously absent in the conclusion.

It seems like these are the kind of things that should definitely factor in when you objectively portray the two consoles' value proposition from a consumer standpoint.

I'm all for subjective opinions in comparisons like this, and the Escapist makes it clear that's really about what you want as a customer, but leaving things like the above mentioned issues out from a comparison that strives to be objective like this feels weird.

 

[Simalacrum]

Truthfully, these sort of comparisons are kinda useless. Consoles are long-term investments and will continue to develop and evolve over time as their game libraries grow and new features added; this is more true than ever with this upcoming (and maybe final?) console generation.

So, yeah. While it's important for people to pick up these consoles for there to be incentive to develop games for them, the average joe (e.g. Me) should really wait it out a few months at least, or even maybe 1-2 years. Me, personally? I'll serious consider getting a next-gen console once Fallout 4 has been released. That's my timeline I've set for myself so maybe late 2014/early 2015?

 

[Jamash]

I was on the fence about which console to get, but now I know the PS4 has the superior cardboard packaging and not the lame, last-gen, slightly difficult to remove, bulky two-tiered packaging the Xbox uses, it looks like Sony will be getting my hard earned £1000s over this upcoming generation.

 

[SilverUchiha]

It's kind of sad (to me anyway) that I skimmed most of the pages because what interested me most was the games, but that got pushed back all the way towards the end. I'm not saying other features aren't appreciated. But I buy a gaming system to play games on primarily and will (more than likely) ignore just about everything else that isn't relevant to that. But that was always my issue with these new consoles is broadening the focus to be more than game machines while also seeming like lesser gaming machines in the process.

Also, kinda of want to see this with WiiU in the comparison table. My personal console of choice and I'd love to see how it compares.

EDIT:

A mostly fair comparison, but mentions of the PS4's hardware failures, laggy interface and lackluster exclusives seems conspicuously absent in the conclusion.

It seems like these are the kind of things that should definitely factor in when you objectively portray the two consoles' value proposition from a consumer standpoint.

I'm all for subjective opinions in comparisons like this, and the Escapist makes it clear that's really about what you want as a customer, but leaving things like the above mentioned issues out from a comparison that strives to be objective like this feels weird.

I'm sure they would have mentioned it IF it was as widespread a problem as you are implying. The PS4 sold 1 million units on day one. And of that million, we only have maybe 10,000 or less reported as breaking or failing. That's less than 1% of the total number of consoles that they sold. While I agree it is an issue to consider, it isn't THAT big an issue in the whole picture. Plus, if the reviewers didn't experience any of those hardware issues, then why bother reporting it? It's like playing Skyrim when it launched and not experiencing any of the weird glitches you see on youtube. It sucks you don't get to see the weird shit, but you get the experience you paid for. Just saying.

 

[Dorian Cornelius Jasper]

A mostly fair comparison, but mentions of the PS4's hardware failures, laggy interface and lackluster exclusives seems conspicuously absent in the conclusion.

Judging by reports of overall PS4 failure rates, and the conspicuous lack of uproar about them, it looks like the PS4 hardware failure issue might really be as minor as Sony claims it to be. They gave the edge to the X1 as far as UI's concerned, though watching various live streams and uncut demonstrations haven't given a very good impression of the X1's performance there either. And the launch lineup page was pretty solidly given to the X1, even though its launch exclusives look about as uninspiring as the PS4's, with the one notable exception of Dead Rising 3.

Frankly, a lot of review sites (many of which are non-gaming, oddly enough) are giving the Xbox One extra leniency out of perceived potential and promised features down the line rather that what it can actually do out of the gate, and it's sort of refreshing to see someone actually hold back on up-rating the X1 based on functionality it doesn't quite yet have.

 

[Th37thTrump3t]

We haven't been able to test Xbox Live on the Xbone much, because of the pre-launch environment, but the PS4 works like a charm in multiplayer. No complaints of lag whatsoever from the console side. Now if your internet is spotty ...

Have you guys been able to test out the party chat feature on the PS4? That was one of the things that kept me away from the PS3 and I would love to know more about how Sony implemented it.

I won't buy either console for a few months, I want the chance to see and play them both before I commit.

I'm waiting until Destiny comes out. By then all of the software bugs should already be ironed out and most of the promised features should be rolled out. Plus there will be more games that I truly care about.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

You forgot to mention several key details. While Sony does indeed have a more seamless experience in terms of uploading videos, you cannot upload any of them to Youtube unless I'm mistaken. The Xbox can. Furthermore, you also missed Forza as a launch title. So the Xbox has Forza, Dead Rising, Ryse, and Killer Instinct.

Also, the battery compartment, believe it or not, has advantages. If you have no spare battery packs, you can just pop in some cheap AA's and be off. Furthermore, you can also use rechargeable AA batteries so I REALLY don't see the problem here with a battery compartment being the default.

 

[Hazy]

I'm sure some people will find the Xbone interesting, but I'm not one of them. My voice box couldn't tolerate shouting at my TV like it's a dog I'm trying to teach a trick.

[sub]That, and because Microsoft should be hemorrhaging money for the shit they've pulled.[/sub]

 

[s0osleepie]

You forgot to mention several key details. While Sony does indeed have a more seamless experience in terms of uploading videos, you cannot upload any of them to Youtube unless I'm mistaken. The Xbox can...

While the PS4 cannot currently upload direct to YouTube, neither can the Xbox One. Xbox One released a SkyDrive app (same day they delayed the Twitch streaming capabilities), allowing you to save your video files to the cloud via your personal SkyDrive account. If you're not familiar with SkyDrive, this is essentially like saving a file to a DropBox. From there, yes, you can technically take that file and share it any where else, but you must do so from a computer, and not your Xbox One. But, if you really want to split hairs, from a PS4 Twitch broadcast or Ustream, you can also technically download your video file to a computer and share it wherever you want as well. Either way, that is not really a feature. It is a workaround for lack of a feature.

 

[Sanunes]

Personally, its an interesting article and cemented that I will be delaying purchasing a console, or even not going to bother at all. Neither console has enough exclusives for me to be interested in, but until I am able to see the exclusives and get access to both controllers to see if either bothers me the way the Sony ones have in the past. It seems that both consoles are fairly close and with development aiming for lowest common denominator anymore I can't see one having an advantage over the other besides personal preference.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Sigh...This is all quite depressing really. None of them feel or look truly next gen, the creativity for design just seems to have been thrown out the window...i mean, come on...some curves at least would be appreciated!! It all feels like they are made so you can buy all the other technologies that connect with them and become part of a particular 'modern' group. But only the specified group the companies allow. Which family will you choose?? Plus, aren't they both just trying to one up nintendo's wii U by sneakily robbing their ideas and tarnishing it with higher specs and apps?

Fck it! I'm just going to get a wii u i guess. Or hope valve can bring some hope with their fabled steam-box

 

[BaronVH]

I am about to put on my flame proof outfit. So now that many reviews are in, it seems that they are fairly well matched and, if you have to get just one, it comes down to simple personal preference. I am glad the PS4 has improved their controller, as I hated the PS3 one. I am glad they both have things that distinguish each other to allow people to choose. This is the first time in console history that I look forward to owning both and can clearly see the benefits.

However, and here is where my flame outfit will come in handy, I find the reviews that criticize either console by their appearance as amazingly stupid. I could care less that the One is big and square (although it makes me less apprehensive about overheating). I could care less that the PS4 wobbles. I don't intend to repeatedly push the corner over and over. The most awesome gaming PC I owned looked like Megatron's rear end. There are certainly valid points: one is more expensive, one might have better games, one has a processing edge, even that one can stand on its side. I think it is cool that one eliminates the need for an HDMI splitter, but who care what their shape and size are? Clearly, it is good to know to determine if it will fit in the area you want it to, but to actually notch a review due to appearance? Maybe my priorities are off.