EXTROVERT WINTER 2017

Which One Is Right For You?
Xbox One V PlayStation 4
Ed and Kameren discuss the pros and cons of two of the biggest gaming consolses out.
We are now three years into the current versions of
generations of consoles and the battle between
Sony’s ps4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One is bigger than
ever.
What started as a simple battle between the two pieces of
hardware has now become a war, with the companies adding
more complicated new features to their products.
In terms of sales, the PS4 is in the lead with 45.3 million
consoles sold over the past few years, compared to 23.5 million
Xbox One consoles sold as of November 2016, although
Xbox has beaten PlayStation in sales monthly for the past four
months with their new console the Xbox One S being released,
according to TechRadar.
The prices of the consoles on release was a big factor on
the number of sales. The standard PS4 500gb model that was
released in 2013 for just £349.99 compared to the Xbox One
which was going for £429.99, however that price for the Xbox
One did include a Kinect, its interactive camera whereas Sony’s
equivalent the PS4 camera was available separately for £50.
Over the years the two companies have upgraded the original
Xbox One and PS4, as well as releasing new consoles: The
Xbox One S (slim), PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro. The PS4 Pro is most
expensive currently at £332 on Amazon, with the PS4 Slim and
the Xbox One S both being around the £225 price tag.
One big product that Sony released to use with the Play-
Station 4 is ‘PlayStation Virtual Reality’ (currently available
for £349.99). Virtual reality has been a big hit in the gaming
industry, a product that you wear over your eyes which generates
realistic images and sounds replicating a real environment.
Simulating a person’s movements and presence in the game was
something the industry has been waiting for. The very popular
‘Rift’ by Oculus sold over 3.6million units worldwide as of 2016,
22
but what made this differ from other VR products was that they
managed to make a handful of other popular games such as
Batman: Arkham compatible with the piece.
The features of each console is definitely important with Xbox
One S and PS4 Pro now featuring 4k video and gameplay on a
4K TV, faster processors and better performance. One advantage
that the PS4 had over the original Xbox One when they
were first released was the PS4 had no fan and no power brick,
which resulted in a much neater and tidier package for
consumers.
The original Xbox one had a large power brick and a large
fan and grills, which made the product make a lot more noise
and left you with less room in your entertainment centre. That
however is not the case now as Microsoft scrapped the fan and
power brick with the Xbox One S, making for a much more
comfortable experience while also upgrading the interior and
adding 4K capability.
On the other hand, one advantage of owning an Xbox One is
backwards compatibility, where you are now able to play certain
Xbox 360 games on your Xbox One console by simply inserting
the disc, including the popular Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Sony has released something similar to backwards compatibility
with the introduction of PlayStation Now and a few PS2
classics available to play on the system, but you can’t simply
throw in your old PS3, PS2 and PS1 games in and hit play,
which makes this less ideal.
At this time however, Microsoft is on the verge of releasing
its new console and biggest and best console yet, the ‘Xbox
Project Scorpio’. The release date is yet to be announced, but it
is believed to be in the first half of the year 2017. It is said that
the console is aimed at gamers who don’t have the time or the