PS4 Vs Xbox One: the state of play

[wraggster]

http://media.edge-online.com/wp-content/uploads/edgeonline/2013/01/nextgen_web_pic.jpg (http://media.edge-online.com/wp-content/uploads/edgeonline/2013/01/nextgen_web_pic.jpg)After E3, the picture couldn’t be clearer. PS4 is your next console (http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/e256-why-ps4-is-your-next-console-and-the-titanic-errors-on-xbox-ones-road-to-ruin/), we declared, but several months and Microsoft u-turns later, the next gen console race looks very different.Yesterday, Microsoft confirmed that Xbox One will launch in 13 key territories on November 22. Now we can look to November’s face off with a far more detailed view of the contenders, their strengths, weaknesses and how each platform holder sees the next generation.Firstly, let’s not read too much into those dates. PS4 will arrive before Xbox One in the US and Xbox One will debut first in Europe, but both will likely be sold out by then anyway. It’s difficult to imagine anyone basing their purchasing decision on something as arbitrary as which one comes out a few days before the other – they are each expensive pieces of technology and the proliferation of cross-gen games have blurred the line between the existing boxes and the successors. Greater competition from PC and mobile, plus broader problems with the economy mean that this generational shift will be slower than any we’ve encountered before.Hardcore players will be the ones with a new Xbox or PlayStation underneath their televisions this Christmas, and these early adopters will likely have made their decision long before the end of November – and many will simply be buying the new version of the console they have already.“This console transition differs from previous generations due to the fact that users are now far more connected and engaged with their Microsoft and Sony consoles,” says director and head of games at analyst IHS Piers Harding-Rolls. “That suggests that there will be less consumers sitting on the fence ready to change allegiance this time round.”

http://www.edge-online.com/features/ps4-vs-xbox-one-the-state-of-play/