Ps4 vs. Xbox One – Which to Buy?
With the initial frenzy and hype for the launch of these two consoles now died down and being widely available to buy once more, the big question put in front of you is, which do I buy? We aim to take a look at the pros and cons for both and give you an idea of where to put your money for the best gaming experience.
With the initial frenzy and hype for the launch of these two consoles now died down and being widely available to buy once more, the big question put in front of you is, which do I buy? We aim to take a look at the pros and cons for both and give you an idea of where to put your money for the best gaming experience.
Sales to Date
Both consoles launched with all the usual hype, leading to demand much out weighing supply. This led to most people not being able to get their hands on a console until January 2014, which is now common place in tech launch days. Both Sony and Microsoft reported over one million units of their console being sold on launch day. This doesn’t give much insight into who is doing best. If you look at the latest sales figures released, Microsoft say the Xbox One has sold 3.9 million units. This compares to Sony, who released sales figures on 4.2 million units. That’s a difference of only 300,000, so not a lot to compare here. Both companies, unsurprisingly, are predicting increased sales will continue for a time to come.
Price
The basic Xbox One unit has been priced at £429 and the PlayStation 4 at £349. That’s quite a difference in starting prices, but what do you actually get for your money? Both come with the basics to get you started – console, power cable, HDMI cable, controller and a headset. The Xbox comes with the Kinect 2 bar; the PlayStation’s alternative Camera is going to cost around £55. The question over both of these additional devices is will I use them? Only time will tell, but at least there is an option to buy at a later date with the PS4, whereas you have to pay the extra regardless with the Xbox.
Games
Both machines launched with a poor variety of games. Since the launch the games released have been very similar. This does not look likely to change at the moment, with only the Xbox being able to boast Halo above anything the PlayStation will release.
A big problem with the PlayStation 3 was the price of the software needed to develop games for the machine. This meant that games were proving costly to develop compared to the Xbox 360. Sony has identified this as an issue and has been affectively lending out the software to developers in the hope of more games being developed for their machine. Microsoft has not changed their policy on this and do not divulge the cost of their software. Sony’s approach may prove a long term winner, but we will have to wait and see.
