2014 is undoubtedly a terrific year to be a gamer. Since its release in November 2013, the Playstation 4 has been dominating the living rooms of over 9 million people, almost double the sales of its main competitor, the Xbox One. But a lot has changed for both consoles since launch day and having played with both from Day 1; I think it’s important to recognize exactly why the PS4 has reigned superior in the 8th generation of gaming.
The Playstation 4 is a dramatic improvement from its decade-old brother, the Playstation 3, most notably in the controller. The PS3 received a lot of criticism for its small, weak-feeling controller. This controller, the Dualshock 3, felt almost like a child’s toy with its uncomfortably weak plastic body and convex triggers. The Dualshock 4 on the other hand is worlds better in every way. Redesigned from the ground-up, the Dualshock 4 boasts a larger, sleeker, more comfortable body as well as many new touches including: a touch pad to navigate menus and add extra depth to games, a light bar to identify players and react to in-game events, easier-to-grip analog sticks, a headphone jack, and completely revitalized concave triggers. But with all these incredible improvements came a few setbacks. One you’ll notice very soon is its battery life, only 7-8 hours compared to the Dualshock 3’s 30 hour battery life. But these aside, the greatest improvement to the Dualshock 4 was Sony’s gamble to include a “Share” button. This button allows users to capture screenshots and record game-play anywhere on their console as well as instantly broadcast a livestream to Twitch or Ustream. Ultimately, the controller is very comfortable and it’s plethora of new features adds an incredible sense of depth for anyone who uses them.
The Playstation has another key advantage over its competition; it’s network. To the dismay of many, playing online multiplayer is not free for PS4 users. Although the mandatory Playstation Plus subscription for most online multiplayer games seems like a burden to most, I’ve learned its more like a blessing in disguise. Xbox users are not strangers to the idea of paying a monthly fee to access online services in the form of Xbox Live. Fortunately, PS Plus differs from this model dramatically. PS Plus subscribers not only have access to online multiplayer but they are also given 2 free games a month as well as sales and discounts for almost everything available on the PS Store. Not to mention that every other online service on the PS4 does not require a PS Plus subscription, which means services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, social features, and live streaming are fully accessible without PS Plus. With all this being said, I have no problem paying 50 dollars a year for PS Plus. The critically acclaimed free games I get every month are usually valued around 20-30 dollars each and they add lots of variety to my gaming library. Livestreaming runs at 720p and it’s fun to put the controller down occasionally to watch other people games I don’t have.
Now let’s focus on what’s really important: the games. With the PS4 boasting a massive bandwidth advantage over the Xbox One – 176GB/sec to 68.3GB/sec to be exact – it comes as no surprise that the PS4’s games will perform better and have higher graphical quality than the Xbox One’s games. Games like Battlefield 4 and other multiplatform titles look much better on the PS4 than on the Xbox One. But despite the PS4’s superiority in multiplatform titles, it falls a little short on exclusive titles. A majority of the PS4’s exclusives are acquired from investing in various indie developers, which is in no way a bad thing; it just means the PS4 lacks in its number of blockbuster titles. Whereas the PS4 has games like Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Deep Down, the Xbox One boasts Halo 5 and Sunset Overdrive. But the PS4’s sheer amount of available indie titles to choose from more than makes up for this. Games like Outlast, Towerfall Ascension, War Thunder, Flower, and Resogun really show how much indie developers can do and with Let it Die, Road Not Taken, Abzu, and No Man’s Sky coming in the near future, the PS4 has a lot to look forward to.
Ultimately, the PS4 has done what the Xbox One has not: offer the best gaming console experience on the market. Sony has blown expectations away with its gamer oriented business model and its remarkable console. The PS4 operates beautifully, intuitively, smoothly, easily and most importantly; it is truly earned its title as THE next generation console. The Playstation 4 will cost you $399. The Xbox One sits at $499 when bundled with its camera peripheral, the Kinect, which is required for a huge majority of the Xbox One’s features so although it is $399 without the Kinect included, the Kinect alone is $199. So if you’re a gamer; the value, the experience, the fun, and the future is in the PS4… 9.5/10