With all the major E3 press conferences in the books, we have a more clear picture of the two consoles that dominated this year's E3, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. These two machines seem to have reignited the rivalry between Sony and Microsoft, as each company tries to outdo the other. We compare the two consoles, including new information revealed about the systems earlier this week.
The big reveal concerning both systems was the price of both consoles. The Xbox One will retail for $499, while the PlayStation 4 will cost $399 at launch. The Xbox One was expected to sell for more, due to it's higher manufacturing costs and the mandatory Kinect peripheral, which must be plugged into the console in order to function. This price difference may become the big deciding factor between the two consoles.
Both consoles will come with 500GB of internal storage, as well as an unknown amount of cloud storage for both consoles. Microsoft has emphasized the use of cloud storage, so expect more cloud storage from the Xbox One over the PlayStation 4. Expect mandatory game installs and a required internet connection with the Xbox One, but not with the PlayStation 4. The Xbox One will also have a fee attached to used games, something Sony mocked during their press conference. Neither system will be backwards compatible. The PlayStation 4 will have an ethernet IEEE 802.11 b/g/n we connection, while Microsoft is going with gigabit ethernet IEEE 802.11 b/g/n WiFi for the Xbox One.
Both systems will have their own method of second screen/tablet gameplay. The PlayStation 4 will use the Vita, and the Xbox One will use Smartglass. Both achievements and trophies will be ported on to the new consoles. The Xbox One will have extensive voice commands, something the PlayStation 4 will not have. Finally, the PlayStation 4 will not be region locked, while the Xbox One will do so.
Neither system has a set release date, though Microsoft indicated that the Xbox One would be available in November of 2013.