Xbox 1 or PS4?

[LedRush]

I don't get your math on how I'm saving money buying a PC that I don't need and tricking it out as opposed to getting a console.

 

It takes 2-3 years for a AAA title to drop below $40. $50 now because ever since the value of the dollar dropped they jacked up the price of a new game from $59.99 to $69.99. Meanwhile on steam, games that are a year old will typically drop to at least 50% off during the next major sale. I got Bioshock Infinite for $12 10 months after launch (so say $15 canadian). Assassin's Creed IV was $10 recently.

 

And I'll leave out the argument on what a pain in the ass it is to game on a PC when you want to do it on a large TV with surround sound.

 

It's not? I hook up my PC to a receiver via HDMI which then goes to the TV by using the same cable as my xbox. Usually it's hooked up to the TV directly because PC/game console -> receiver -> TV is horrible for input lag and I like playing fighting games. It's fine for everything else because the input doesn't need to be that accurate (and rock band can compensate for it).

 

For most homes that I see, putting a tower next to your main receiver would be beyond inconvenient, and moving it every time you want to play doesn't make sense.

[USB Connector]

Here in Canada, I've never heard of or seen anything close to that happen. This is the first time I'm hearing of getting $10 gift card for a preorder. Amazon rarely cuts $20 off the sticker price (maybe twice a year) and the deals you get won't ship internationally...but we can take advantage of the insane price cuts on amazon PC games because they're keys.

 

If a console is better for you, great. My friends and I have been much more satisfied by switching to PC. After trying shooters with a mouse and keyboard I find it difficult to go back. I love customizing my games with mods. I love playing grand strategy games on my PC which would never come to console because you can't possibly play them properly on a mouse. One of my friends has a $600 laptop to play games because he plays games that aren't graphically intensive (AAA games don't interest him). Furthermore, most of us are perfectly happy with playing games on a 20-30 inch screen and 2.1 sound. The setup you describe is really cool but ultimately isn't that huge of a difference (this would be different if Rock Band were on PC but I digress...).

 

Platform always comes down to preference. The WiiU appeals to the family, children and people who want to play the Nintendo games they grew up with (I have to admit the tablet controller is really cool and has potential...where's my D&D game where the tablet controller is for the dungeon master?!), the XBone caters to people who switch between games and TV constantly or want to do both at the same time and the PS4 is marketed more to the people who just want to play games.

 

A PC is exactly that. A personal computer. It has the most versatility and can be tailored to anyone's needs. It's a special case because you can tailor it to anyone. It's not super clear cut if it's right for a given person but if you want to get the most out of a game, play older/indie games, make your own or just relive the glorious RPGs of the 90s, this is usually the way to go.

 

Also: see the steam machines currently in development which address your concerns. They will by no means cut into console markets nor do they try, but they are designed to address your space concerns.

[LedRush]

Here in Canada, I've never heard of or seen anything close to that happen. This is the first time I'm hearing of getting $10 gift card for a preorder. Amazon rarely cuts $20 off the sticker price (maybe twice a year) and the deals you get won't ship internationally...but we can take advantage of the insane price cuts on amazon PC games because they're keys.

 

If a console is better for you, great. My friends and I have been much more satisfied by switching to PC. After trying shooters with a mouse and keyboard I find it difficult to go back. I love customizing my games with mods. I love playing grand strategy games on my PC which would never come to console because you can't possibly play them properly on a mouse. One of my friends has a $600 laptop to play games because he plays games that aren't graphically intensive (AAA games don't interest him). Furthermore, most of us are perfectly happy with playing games on a 20-30 inch screen and 2.1 sound. The setup you describe is really cool but ultimately isn't that huge of a difference (this would be different if Rock Band were on PC but I digress...).

 

Platform always comes down to preference. The WiiU appeals to the family, children and people who want to play the Nintendo games they grew up with (I have to admit the tablet controller is really cool and has potential...where's my D&D game where the tablet controller is for the dungeon master?!), the XBone caters to people who switch between games and TV constantly or want to do both at the same time and the PS4 is marketed more to the people who just want to play games.

 

A PC is exactly that. A personal computer. It has the most versatility and can be tailored to anyone's needs. It's a special case because you can tailor it to anyone. It's not super clear cut if it's right for a given person but if you want to get the most out of a game, play older/indie games, make your own or just relive the glorious RPGs of the 90s, this is usually the way to go.

 

Also: see the steam machines currently in development which address your concerns. They will by no means cut into console markets nor do they try, but they are designed to address your space concerns.

 

You're right that it always comes down to what's right for the individual. I was merely disputing that everyone has a desktop (I don't know anyone in my age group that does) or that getting a PC would necessarily be a cheaper option (it's so much more expensive out of the gate, and if you're playing legally the games aren't that much cheaper with how fast everything is discounted and then given deeper discounts (or even freely) in digital form).

 

For me, there's nothing like sitting on my couch in front of my 65 inch plasma and 5.1 sound system and getting totally immersed in a game while actually being comfortable. Perhaps some people can do this setup from their PC, but I suspect that they are very few and far between due to standard living room layouts and traditional desktop placements.

 

I've looked into the steam machines, but MS and Sony have already given me a ton of free games that I don't have time to play, and I've bought another bunch at discounts I couldn't pass up and then never played them. So why do I need another system on which to collect games I don't have time to play?

[Steel Rat]

I guess desktops are gradually leveling off. I didn't really fathom that.

 

But I will stick in a few more points.

PCs have an enormous customization factor; every hardware component can be adjusted to meet the individual's desires, as opposed to consoles which come in a few different choices for storage space. PCs have the freedom to be comically luxurious, delivering multiple times the power of the most powerful consoles, or to be humbly inexpensive.

 

And you connect a PC to your TV and sound system in exactly as many cords as you connect a console to your TV and sound system. It is literally the same thing, assuming you have a relatively new TV and PC.

[LedRush]

I guess desktops are gradually leveling off. I didn't really fathom that.

 

But I will stick in a few more points.

PCs have an enormous customization factor; every hardware component can be adjusted to meet the individual's desires, as opposed to consoles which come in a few different choices for storage space. PCs have the freedom to be comically luxurious, delivering multiple times the power of the most powerful consoles, or to be humbly inexpensive.

 

And you connect a PC to your TV and sound system in exactly as many cords as you connect a console to your TV and sound system. It is literally the same thing, assuming you have a relatively new TV and PC.

 

You can do it, but who wants to put a desktop next to the living room TV? Also, customization is both a good and a bad thing.

[USB Connector]

Believe it or not, the PC market is actually growing. If you simply google "PC gaming market" you'll get tons of articles about how it's more profitable than consoles and how sales have been growing in leaps and bounds over the last few years. People have been saying PC gaming is dead for years and yet the numbers contradict them time and again. The only market PC gaming is potentially bad for is the AAA games industry who spend their budgets on marketing and shiny graphics while actual gameplay takes a back seat.

 

One thing I love about the PC market is that if you're going to sell a game based on graphics alone it has to be well optimised to sell well, which is insanely hard because devs can't rely on the hacky tricks they use on consoles because there is no longer any unified hardware. As a result, PC games often rely on having nice aesthetics (which to me beats out great graphics any day) and gameplay.

 

Again LedRush, just because this is mandatory for you to enjoy a video game, does not mean this is how most people enjoy video games. I find that kind of setup is really for cinematic shooters for the added immersion. This added immersion is by not means necessary for people to enjoy a game.

 

It's actually a pain in the ass to play strategy games on such a massive screen, fighting games and platformers don't really benefit, racing games are often better played with one or more smaller screens that you sit closer to in order to emulate driving the car.

 

Customization a bad thing? You're going to have to elaborate on this. The only people I see that don't like customization are those who can't be bothered to do a quick google search.

[LedRush]

Believe it or not, the PC market is actually growing. If you simply google "PC gaming market" you'll get tons of articles about how it's more profitable than consoles and how sales have been growing in leaps and bounds over the last few years. People have been saying PC gaming is dead for years and yet the numbers contradict them time and again. The only market PC gaming is potentially bad for is the AAA games industry who spend their budgets on marketing and shiny graphics while actual gameplay takes a back seat.

 

One thing I love about the PC market is that if you're going to sell a game based on graphics alone it has to be well optimised to sell well, which is insanely hard because devs can't rely on the hacky tricks they use on consoles because there is no longer any unified hardware. As a result, PC games often rely on having nice aesthetics (which to me beats out great graphics any day) and gameplay.

 

Again LedRush, just because this is mandatory for you to enjoy a video game, does not mean this is how most people enjoy video games. I find that kind of setup is really for cinematic shooters for the added immersion. This added immersion is by not means necessary for people to enjoy a game.

 

It's actually a pain in the ass to play strategy games on such a massive screen, fighting games and platformers don't really benefit, racing games are often better played with one or more smaller screens that you sit closer to in order to emulate driving the car.

 

Customization a bad thing? You're going to have to elaborate on this. The only people I see that don't like customization are those who can't be bothered to do a quick google search.

 

I've been hearing since 1996 about how PC gaming will kill console gaming. I've never heard the opposite.

 

And I haven't been the one arguing that everyone does things my way...I was arguing that not everyone does it your (or Steel Rat's) way. And racing games are much better on a big screen for me, and everything else is better when I can sit on a couch and play it comfortably. You don't need that,? Great!

 

Customization is bad for the reasons you and I have already stated. It is expensive as hell to keep up a top-gaming rig, and the developers can't optimize performance because there isn't one set of specifications they can follow.

[USB Connector]

Maintaining a high end gaming rig is impractical and a silly notion. You invest in an above average gaming rig a year or two into a console generation and you'll be able to run nearly every game released on at least normal for most of the generation. One of my friends built a tower the year halo 3 was released with $800 and it can run watch dogs and assassin's creed 4 just fine. This is actually impressive because all Ubisoft games are optimised like complete garbage. He has yet to find a game that won't run on his PC at a decent settings. By the looks of it he might need to buy a new graphics card in a few years if he wants to keep playing most games with all of the particle effects, but that amounts to a $200 upgrade.

 

For the most part, console games run at the medium or lower settings on PC (and so far, only a very select few console games actually run at 1080p and above 30 FPS (most not doing either -- they render at a lower resolution and upscale to 1080p), most dropping to 18-20 when things get crazy -- so understand that when I say decent, I mean running at 1080p and a frame rate consistently above 20). Anything above that is usually the things they had to scale down because it's always good to overdevelop assets and then scale down to fit consoles. All of the games running on my PC are at 1080p and average 50 FPS.

 

Now that the consoles themselves are actually very close to the architecture of PCs, developers have come out saying that it's easier to make PC ports. So I expect the quality of PC ports to increase over time (except Ubisoft because they actively hate the platform).

Edited September 18, 2014 by USB Connector

[JimboWTF]

If I were getting one for free, I would get the PS4. Reason - I can sell it for more than an xBox 1

[LedRush]

If I were getting one for free, I would get the PS4. Reason - I can sell it for more than an xBox 1

 

That's not true...both are in stock, and the XB1 retails for $100 more (assuming we are talking about the models available when the OP started.

[USB Connector]

I think he meant second hand. Odds are you'll get haggled down quite a bit for an XBone on kijiji and eBay + paypal will take a sizeable chunk online, not to mention you'll have to lower the price a bit for shipping so it probably isn't worth selling a new system there. Edited September 22, 2014 by USB Connector

[adace1]

Well I'm probably the only one in this thread who prefers the XB1 to the PS4. Yeah, the PS4 has a slightly more powerful graphics processor, but for me it comes down to the exclusive games. There's no way I'd miss out on Halo 5 and buy a PS4 (and I can't afford to buy both systems). Plus I've never really liked Playstation's controller design which is why I haven't had a PS system in over 10 years.

 

The only thing PS4 really has going for it in terms of games is No Man's Sky which looks utterly amazing. Really hope they put out an Xbox version at some point.

 

Anyways, still waiting on my XB1 to arrive. Also planning on getting the Wii U Super Mario 3d World bundle later this month.

[LedRush]

Well I'm probably the only one in this thread who prefers the XB1 to the PS4. Yeah, the PS4 has a slightly more powerful graphics processor, but for me it comes down to the exclusive games. There's no way I'd miss out on Halo 5 and buy a PS4 (and I can't afford to buy both systems). Plus I've never really liked Playstation's controller design which is why I haven't had a PS system in over 10 years.

 

The only thing PS4 really has going for it in terms of games is No Man's Sky which looks utterly amazing. Really hope they put out an Xbox version at some point.

 

Anyways, still waiting on my XB1 to arrive. Also planning on getting the Wii U Super Mario 3d World bundle later this month.

 

The PS4 controller is far better than the PS1-3 ones, though I still prefer the XB1's. I love Halo and generally prefer the XB1 because it has shooters, but games like Uncharted, Last of Us, and LBP can't be ignored, PS+ is now a better value than Xbox live (more and better free games), and it looks like PS4 is going to be the dominant system (so if you want to play with friends and full servers, the PS4 might be the place).

 

Despite all this, if the question is close on which system to buy a game, I prefer the XB1 for some reason.

[CygnusX-1Bk2]

Just got an Xbone. Sony has been in major financial trouble for a while. As a game developer myself I know that they restrict access to some functionality to developers until later in the life cycle of the console so a technically more powerful graphics processor does not get used to its ability. This was true of both PS2 and PS3. As for the Xbox I am not crazy about the user interface but I am getting used to it. Cutscenes are particularly stunning to look at so far. Definitely like the game experience.

[Super25Smasher]

PS4

[Disembodied Spirit]

I've had my PS4 for about 6 months now.

 

I think both systems are good, just always used the PS format