Sony and Microsoft due to release their newest gaming consoles soon
By Staff Writer: Logan Tesmer
The eighth generation of gaming consoles is upon us. With the Xbox One (Microsoft) and the PlayStation 4 (Sony) announce to the public during this year’s E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), the expectations are high and consumers have their hands on their wallets awaiting the release.
If you planned on getting either of the consoles on day one of the release which is set for November, both consoles pre-orders sold out on day one of the announcements, so consumers will not be able to find either of them for a while. Similar to the release of Nintendo’s Wii, stores will be out of stock due to too many online pre-order purchases.
When it comes down to which console to purchase, the consoles have many similarities and some differences that may sway anyone’s decision.
The Xbox One is the successor to Microsoft’s Xbox 360. The Xbox one doesn’t come cheap, with a retail price of $499.99, compared to Sony’s successor to the PS3, the PS4, which has a retail price of $399.99.
With both companies adding new features to their new generation of consoles, each company has added features similar to each other.
The Xbox One now has a Blu-ray drive that was not on the consoles predecessor, where the PS4’s predecessor already had a Blu-ray drive that has moved to the PS4.
Both consoles bring a 500GB storage space to the new generation, however, the Xbox One’s storage device is non-customizable by users, where the PS4’s storage device is.
Every time a console moves to a new generation, the question always is, “Will I be able to play my old games on the new console?” In both new consoles cases, the system will be non-compatible to the old systems games. However, Sony has confirmed that they are working on a “cloud based unit” that will allow game transferring.
Sony has introduced a new feature called “Sleep-Mode” which allows for your PS4 to not use as much power, but your system is still on so it can keep your hard drives downloads running while you are away from home. The new feature is also compatible with mobile devices, allowing consumers to purchase and download items onto the console without being in their home. Xbox One also has a similar feature for mobile devices that they used in the previous generation.
Each console comes with newly designed controllers, each with new looks and features. The new controller for Xbox One is designed with a directional pulse function. This allows the controller to send a vibration to sections of the controller in relation to actions in-game. The PS4 controller is designed with a touch screen in the top-middle of the controller with compatibility to functions in-game menus and actions.
Both consoles have motion sensing devices previously compatible with old generation consoles, the Xbox One with the Kinect and the PS4 with the PS Move. PS Move is not a device that comes with the console on purchase, whereas the Kinect is in the packaging with every purchase of the Xbox One. The Kinect has an improvement of the voice control function, now allowing the user to control console functions such as turning the console off and on using their own voices. The Kinect coming with the Xbox One is the reason for its $100 increase in price and there is no plan for ever being able to purchase the console without the Kinect.
The gaming consoles are being released relatively close to each other, the Xbox One on Nov. 22 and the PS4 on Nov. 15, a full week before its competitor. No matter which gaming console you decide to purchase, each of them have many features and capabilities to satisfy any consumer’s wants, no matter the opinion.
