Xbox One vs PS4 News: Consoles Can Hook up, Share Features

Many video game fans have been debating the various merits of the upcoming next gen consoles, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Both consoles have various advantages and disadvantages, but a new report indicates that the consoles may be able to come together and share features and take advantage of different features each console will have.

In a new report from Gamestop it was speculated that the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 can potentially hook up via their HDMI ports, which would allow both consoles to do some interesting things. The Xbox One has a HDMI port and video port for other devices, such as cable boxes. This allows users of the Xbox One to run their cable programs through the Xbox One and allow different features such as Snap that will let users watch television while using the Xbox One's social and video game features. But this HDMI port would allow any HDMI device to work for on the console, including the PlayStation 4. During the Tokyo Game Show, Xbox senior director of product management and planning Albert Panello did not confirm directly that the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 could connect, but then later he did drop this hint that it would work:

"any application can be snapped to a game...this could be the live TV feed, so if you wanted to be playing Ryse and Killzone at the same time, you could snap that."

As many gamers know, Killzone is a PlayStation exclusive franchise, and Killzone Shadow Fall will be a launch title for the PlayStation 4, indicating that Microsoft will allow the connection to come through between the consoles. In addition, Sony has confirmed that they will not block HDMI video capture devices for the PlayStation 4. This means that if users connect the PlayStation 4 to the Xbox One through the HDMI port the PlayStation 4 will not block the video feed coming from the PlayStation 4.

If users do complete this set up then they can take advantage of the Xbox One's Snap features such as having a game and television feed going at the same time as well as having games operating at the same time as a Skype video call while using the PlayStation 4. This would be interesting to see, and may be the preferred setup for hardcore gamers who buy both consoles and want the best of both worlds from the next gen consoles.