Friday, November 22, 2013

Xbox One vs. PS4: My 2 Cents on the 8th Generation Console War

I was inspired to write this article after watching an episode of South Park entitled "A Song of Ass and Fire."

After backlash, Microsoft says users can play offline, share games on Xbox One @757Live
Xbox One
The 8th Generation of Video Game consoles have arrived! All the excitement is upon us! What console will win the war? Is it the PS4 with it's awesome new controller? Or is it the Xbox One, the all-in-one entertainment unit that will give me ever reason to never leave my couch again? Who will be the first amongst my friends to own one? Can I get to the stores early enough to buy one on Black Friday?

My answer to all of the above questions is, "WHO CARES!?".

"플레이 스테이션4(PS4)가 12월 한국에서 출시됩니다. ":http://ruliweb.daum.net/news/view/55159.daum  게이머로서 PS4는 정말 놓치기 아까운 아이템일것 같습니다. 하지만 난 돈이 없어서 놓치고 말겠지.
Playstation 4
Honestly, the 8th Generation is here, and while Microsoft and Sony are shoving it down our throats, from a gamers perspective, I'm personally underwhelmed. As technology advances, and the capabilities of home gaming consoles continue to exceed our expectations, software developers continue to produce sub par games all the while getting greedier. All the glamor, glitter, and lights mean nothing if the gaming experience leaves us yawning in the end.

No matter what new features are thrown into the Xbox One and the PS4, the underlining truth is that they are still video game systems. Nothing else really matters if quality games fail to exist on either system. Both systems are flying out of the starting gate with a disappointing offering of launch titles. The PS4 titles are just enhanced versions of PS3 games. I stopped by Gamespot one night and played the FIFA 2014 and  Knack PS4 demos. If you had told me I was playing them on a PS3, I would have believed it. I didn't see any noticeable graphic differences.


0215_KNACK_Trailer (0;00;49;16)
Knack on the PS4
Sure the above two are just enhanced 7th generation ports, but Xbox One's exclusive launch titles aren't fairing any betters. Most have gotten just average reviews, and while Forza 5 looks amazing, exactly how many hardcore gamers actually enjoy play racing games? Realistically, the graphics should improve down the line as software companies grasp the true capabilities of each console. In 2 or 3 years, we'll hopefully begin to see exciting innovative games that will truly blow us away. Until then, I suggest you save yout money. By next Christmas, there should even be new versions of the consoles that will feature even larger hard drives sold at cheaper prices.

Resident Evil 6
Resident Evil 6 is one of the most disappointing video game
releases of the 7th generation consoles.
The quality of video games in the industry has really taken a nose dive of late. It's not just with the 8 generation launch titles, but the last 2 years of the 7th generation has seen several huge failures. 2 failures of note are Dead Space 3 and Resident Evil 6. Even flagship Xbox titles such as Gears of War 3 and Dead Rising 2 were extremely disappointing to me. Gears of War 3's campaigns were short considering I paid $56 for a title that required another $30 of DLC to continue playing. And Dead Rising 2, while fun, just felt like the "Same Old Shit" when compared to the awesome first game.

I feel that Microsoft and Sony just need to take a look at Nintendo's marketing and gaming models. While the Wii-U is looked upon as a toy by the most serious gamers, the core existence of their console is still gaming. They're not trying to sell you a DVR or the ability to watch TV while simultaneously playing games and talking on skype with your cousin 2000 miles away. They're simply giving you a traditional gaming experience. I feel that Sony has seen the light a bit by not including MP3 and Blu-Ray movie playback in their console. Both features should be offered at some point on the new console, but there is a strong commitment to keep these features secondary to the video game experience.

Only time will tell what the defining success of the 8th Generation will be. I have enough unplayed Xbox 360, Playstation 2, and Wii games on my shelf to keep me busy for a long time until I'm finally ready to  upgrade to a new console. Personally. I'm currently leaning towards a PS4 because of it's price and the hope that they will have good enough games in their library to relive the success of the PS2, But who knows? By this time next year we could all be playing on Valve's Steam Box.

Notable Links:
Polygon's review of the Xbox One

Polygon's review of the Playstation 4

The official website of the Steam OS

4 comments:

Jim said...

8th generation? Christ, I've missed a lot of generations... but I get what you're saying. Even going back as far as a lot of the PS2 games I played, I felt like story and gameplay were falling behind pure appearance as being more important, and that's where games started losing me. I'd rather play an old-school Final Fantasy game that looks just like it did in the 90s but takes 100 hours to beat than something shiny and sparkly with no enrossing story that gets old after 8 hours.

Unknown said...

Agreed. It's too much about the graphics and not about story telling. That's why I recently added a Sega Genesis to my collection. I rather have that than an Xbox One

Jim said...

Me too... I've got emulators with every Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, and Genesis games. So whenever I feel like gaming I'd rather go to them.

Anonymous said...

i would agree that the older consoles are the best and have more playability. i will always love retro video games over the newer stuff.