This
year will see the two biggest Next-Gen consoles released; the PlayStation 4 and
the Xbox One.Scheduled to be released November 15th and December 31st,
respectively. These two new consoles
will both include extensive boosts to the technology of their predecessors and
hold plenty of new games to play. The
current announced prices are approximately $400 for the PS4 and $500 for the
Xbox One.
The Xbox One is going to operate on the same system of
Xbox Live as the 360, and has a large focus on a few aspects of multi-player
gaming. First off, sharing moments in
games is going to be made easier with a built-in system for game replays. Secondly, the consoles will be utilizing
cloud-based games. This will improve the
connection quality of most members of the game, decreasing lag time and allow
for “persistent games”, in which game elements would remain constant (for example,
if an object is destroyed, it stays destroyed even if the person leaves the
game and returns later). One of the most
publicized features on the Xbox site is the addition of an improved matchmaking
system, which will place players with people with whom they will enjoy a
game. And perhaps the most risky new
feature is an advanced Artificial Intelligence that could allegedly act as a
“mirror player”, imitating a human player that leaves a game to avoid
interruption.
With
few hands-on reviews and the release still a while away, all of these features
have yet to pass the public trial, so the Xbox One may fail, but if it works up
to the rumors and reports, it will be a truly amazing gaming console.
One hundred dollars cheaper and released a
month earlier, the PS4 already has a distinct advantage. One of the most notable features of the PS4
is the new controller. The new
controller, like the PS3 and Xbox 360 controllers, will be wireless and fitted
for an easy grip. But that is just the
tip of the iceberg. The controller now comes with a touchpad, six-axis sensor,
a light bar that games could use for information display (such as mission
progress perhaps, or the team of the player), as well as a new and improved
rumble pack and even its own built-in speakers and headphone jack. The major downside of the controllers is that
they cost $60. Much like the Xbox One,
the PS4 has few hands-on reviews and has yet to be released, so it still has to
stand up to complete testing in public.
However, things look quite good for the new PlayStation, certainly
better than the last.
The two are at a virtual tie in terms of specs, with both
featuring 8-core processors and top of the line graphics cards. So what about the games that could be played
on them? After all, a gaming console is fairly useless without a good
game. Both will be continuing the
popular Call of Duty franchise, as well as featuring the Bethesda games
MMO, The Elder Scrolls Online.
But there are clear differences everywhere else in their titles. The PS4 will be sporting Assassins Creed
Four: Black Flag, as well as numerous PC ported titles, a number of them
free to play, and will likely have many hit indie games, such as Transistor
(from the creators of Bastion) and Don’t Starve. The Xbox One is planning mostly to continue
producing titles for the Halo, Battlefield, DeadRising,
and Forzaseries. So with PC ports
and indie games in addition to big titles, as well as a lower price tag and
earlier release date, the PS4 could beat the Xbox One in profits, but with a
somewhat larger fan base the Xbox One still has good chance to win out in the
long run, as has been seen in the past with the 360.
By: Duncan McLeod
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