Sony PlayStation 4 sells 22 million, but Microsoft has backward compatibility
Our incredibly in-depth Xbox One vs PS4 comparison is more meaningful than ever after heading into the holidays. It considers Microsoft's backward compatibility news and previous price drops, and how it all contrasts with Sony's powerful specs, exclusive games and graphics power.
Now almost two years since the consoles launched, Sony's sales numbers prove that PS4 is more popular with early adopters of the next-generation of video games. Fact.
PlayStation 4 is outselling Xbox One 2-to-1 right now, surpassing 22.3 million systems sold worldwide, while Microsoft's sales numbers are at 12.8 million. That'll continue if this week's US price drop in reflected in the UK and Australia.
Who cares? Those are overall sales statistics - all meaningless, as multiple Xbox One price drops and surge in popularity are starting to make the debate a little more even. Being able to play Xbox 360 games on your Xbox One starting next month is going to guarantee that trend will continue.
Both consoles are getting Fallout 4 and Star Wars: Battlefront, as is the ever-popular PC, and both are rumored to be getting a 4K hardware refresh for the coming months, with HDMI 2.0 able to deliver 4K resolution at 60fps. For now, we have to settle for 1TB refreshes.
"We have have the advantage in powering gamers through the next decade," say both companies. To see if that's true, our Xbox One vs PS4 comparison needs another update.
Xbox One vs PS4 hardware design
Deciding between PS4 and Xbox One is like peeling back an onion, and it starts with the outermost layer, the hardware design.
Xbox One's dimensions make it a menacing gaming beast that measures 13.5 in x 10.4 in x 3.2 in. It's also riddled with vents, a design decision to avoid another Red Ring of Death overheating scenario.
Xbox One is a monster console with lots of vents, but at least it won't overheat
It towers over every other device (though Microsoft advises not to stand it up vertically), and completely dwarfs our smallest home theater gadget, the app-filled Chromecast.
PS4 has a more distinctive angular shape with an overall stylish design. This half-matte half-gloss console measures a slimmer 10.8 in x 12 in x 2 in at its widest regions.
These dimensions make Sony's machine more media cabinet-friendly, at least next to Xbox One. The new Xbox also weighs a heftier 3.56 kg vs PS4's 2.75 kg.
PS4 is smaller and a little more stylish
PS4 has the advantage of hiding ports too, though as we illustrated in our video comparison, this can actually make it harder to plug cables into the back of the system.
In this way, Xbox One represents functionality over form. A lot of the internal specs are comparable, but Microsoft and Sony really diverged when it came to the designs of Xbox One and PS4.
That may matter since you're buying into an expensive console that's going to sit front and center in your living room entertainment system for the next ten years.
Xbox One vs PS4 front and rear ports
More clear cut is the wireless connectivity situation. PS4 makes room for gigabit ethernet and 802.11 WiFi bands b/g/n, while Xbox One includes all of that plus the older 802.11a band.
Xbox One also supports both the 2.4GHz and newer 5GHz channels that are compatible with dual band routers. PS4 limits connections to 2.4GHz, which is likely to have more interference.
Both systems launched with 500GB hard drives and now have 1TB variants, but only PS4 allows user-replaceable internal drives. An Xbox One teardown found a standard-looking drive inside, but replacing it voids the warranty. Be careful.
Instead, the Xbox One June update finally allowed gamers to add external storage to the monster-sized system. There are strings attached. The drive needs to be 256GB or larger and USB 3.0 compatible.
External storage isn't an option that Sony supports in its "go big or go home" internal approach.
PS4 vs Xbox One rear ports
PS4 and Xbox One are void of remarkable characteristics on the front. There's a Blu-ray/DVD combo drive to the left and their respective, muted-color logos to the right. PS4 has a pair of USB ports tucked between its sandwich-like halves next to where the disc drive is located.
It's party in the back Xbox One connections. That's where it has two USB ports, HDMI in, HDMI out, S/PDIF for digital audio, a proprietary Xbox One Kinect port, an IR blaster connection and an Ethernet port. To the far right is a K-lock in case you want to lug this system around to LAN parties.
Sony went with a minimalist approach when it came to PS4's rear ports. You'll only find an HDMI out, S/PDIF, Ethernet and PS4 camera port (marked "AUX") around back.
Xbox One is more feature-packed in this area thanks to its HDMI in and IR blaster connections used for its TV cable or satellite box functionality. But are you really going to use this feature? PS4 lacks this passthrough technology, opting to stick with gaming as its top priority.
Among the announcements made during Diablo III's BlizzCon panel
were the details of a new bonus for the Legacy of Nightmares set. It
sounded incredibly powerful, and not long after going live on the Public
Test Realm, Blizzard has announced it's reducing the bonus by a large
amount. A Set Dungeon, another new feature coming in 2.4.0As outlined in our story on the 2.4.0 patch last week,
the redesigned version of Legacy of Nightmares is intended as an
alternative to using other sets (which tend to provide some of the best
possible bonuses). Provided you aren't receiving any other set bonuses,
equipping this set's two rings would increase your damage by 800 percent
and reduce damage taken by 4 percent for each Ancient item you have
equipped. Suffice it to say, that's a significant bonus, and one that's
dramatically more attractive than the existing version (more gold, a
better chance to find magical items, and the occasional skeleton
companion).
The next update for the PTR version
of the game will tone this done significantly--the damage bonus will
drop to 100 percent. That's closer to the 75 percent bonus that Blizzard
had originally envisioned, but it wanted to try something much higher
to see how it would go.
"One of the things that
we use the Public Test Realm for is to test ideas out--sometimes even
crazy ideas," senior technical game designer Wyatt Cheng wrote on the Diablo forums
today. "In our original images and communication, we had listed the
bonus at a decidedly not-crazy 75 percent. But in the spirit of crazy
ideas, we went live with 800 percent to give us a chance to gather data
at radically different values and, eventually, find the value that’s
best for the greatest number of our players.
"We
need a lot of creative players testing the limits and the best way we
could accomplish this was to turn it way overboard. Of course, drastic
changes like this are inherent to what a PTR is used for, and players
need to be prepared for these outcomes."
There's
a technical explanation in the post that explains how the change
compares with scaling in Greater Rifts if you're interested in the math.
But the bottom line is Blizzard didn't "want Legacy of Nightmares to
become required for top-tier builds."
"We want
it to be a viable option among many," Cheng said. "We think Legacy of
Nightmares is really going to shine in allowing lots of build variety
for 'fun' builds. The last few patch cycles have seen a massive number
of builds emerge that are focused on activities other than pushing
Greater Rifts."
There's not yet a date for when the 2.4.0
patch--which adds new areas, among many other things--goes live, but
you can try the in-development version of it now on the PTR.
Street Fighter V may
draw inspiration from contemporaries such as NetherRealm Studios'
recent Mortal Kombat titles to present its story in a completely new
way.
In an interview with HipHopGamer,
producer Matt Dahlgren was asked whether Capcom intends to change the
way it delivers story in light of the positive reception to Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat X's cinematic approach to storytelling.
"I
can't reveal specifics on our story, but I can say we are going to be
doing things differently this time around," Dahlgren replied. "We're
definitely paying attention to what our competitors are doing and want
to raise the bar."
He continued: "Our story content is going to be unique and different from any previous Street Fighter game."
Street Fighter V does not currently have a confirmed release date, but Capcom has said that the game will be out during its current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2016.
Capcom has announced the next Street Fighter V beta will begin later this month. This second beta will support cross-platform play between PlayStation 4 and PC.
Laura
Matsuda, a Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu user, was announced recently for the
game. As the heir to the famed Matsuda Jiu-Jitsu fighting style, she
travels the world seeking out strong opponents to defeat, building a
legendary name for her style.
Capcom previously confirmed that there will be four brand new characters coming to Street Fighter V. In addition to Laura, the studio has already revealed Necalli and Rashid. One more completely new character announcement is still left.
Take a look at a gallery of Laura screenshots below.
If you're an Xbox One owner with a subscription to EA Access, you've probably already been trying out Star Wars Battlefront.
For everyone else, we've put together some gameplay clips showing you
each and every one of Battlefront's competitive multiplayer modes to
tide you over until the game's launch date on Tuesday November 17. Check
them out below.
Fighter Squadron
Fighter Squadron allows you to take to the skies in iconic Star Wars ships and partake in massive aerial battles.
Cargo
A capture-the-flag mode where teams are trying to steal each other's cargo and carry it into their own drop zone.
Hero Hunt
This
one's simple: you play as a hero and everyone else is gunning to take
you out. Whoever deals the killing shot then becomes a new hero and the
cycle renews.
Supremacy
Supremacy
is a tug-of-war, zone control game type where you win by capturing the
enemy's home base. But you'll need to have captured (and retained) all
previous points before you can take on home base.
Walker Assault
As
one of the modes available during the beta, many players may already be
familiar with Walker Assault. Simply put, Imperial Walkers need to be
stopped, with this game type offering asymmetrical attack and defend
gameplay. Blast Blast is Star Wars Battlefront's straight-up team deathmatch mode.
Drop Zone
Two teams battle to take control of escape pods dropping from space.
Droid Run
Droid Run feels a little like a traditional domination mode, but the zones here are droids that wander around the map.
Heroes vs Villains
This mode allows you to play as the heroes or villains of Star Wars Battlefront, with other players acting as "bodyguards."
