The Xbox One - Mini Review & Comparison to Xbox 360/PS4
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 20, 2013 8:00 AM ESTFinal Words
More so than last time, it seems like this next generation of console wars will boil down to a few key questions: exclusives, online, extra features and personal preference.
If there’s an exclusive IP that you will sink a ton of time into, the rest really doesn’t matter. For Microsoft that could be Halo, for Sony that could be Uncharted. I feel like Microsoft might have the stronger lineup out of the gate this generation, but that’s not saying much as neither platform appears to have anything that’s a must have at this point. I can’t help but wonder how different this launch would’ve been had there been a Halo 5 or Uncharted 4 (or Last of Us 2) available on day one.
The online story is going to take some time to flesh out. Microsoft held the clear advantage there last generation for online multiplayer, but Sony is intent on closing the gap this round. I’m going to say it’s still wait and see on this one as neither console is going to have enough users to make for a great online experience for a while to come.
In the extra features category, Microsoft is really hoping to win users over with things like their TV integration and Kinect. I couldn’t be further from the right demographic to talk about the former so I’m going to avoid saying much there. On the Kinect front, I know people who are interested in the Xbox One solely because of Kinect. I’m not one of those people but I can definitely see the appeal there. If Sony’s price tag didn’t nerf the PS3 last round, it’s entirely possible that Microsoft’s Kinect bundle and resulting price hike won’t do the same for the Xbox One this time.
Finally, there’s an element of personal preference in all of this. Look, feel, ecosystem, company loyalty all fall into this category. There are also things like controller preference that fit here as well. I can’t help much in this department.
If you’re looking at the Xbox One as a successor to the Xbox 360, I think you’ll be very pleased. It’s a much better console in every way and a long overdue upgrade.
It's interesting to me that the performance/image quality differences that exist between the Xbox One and PS4 ultimately boil down to a difference in memory interface rather than an interest in optimizing down silicon cost. In this case Microsoft has the bigger die, but the smaller GPU in order to accommodate enough eSRAM to offset the use of DDR3 memory.
If all you play are cross-platform games, then the PS4 will give you better looking titles at a lower console cost. For those of you that are particularly bothered by aliasing, the PS4 will definitely reduce (not eliminate) that. However I would argue that if all you play are cross-platform games then you might want to look into buying/building a PC instead. I’m also unsure about how much cross shopping actually happens between these two platforms. I can understand for first time gamers (e.g. parents buying the first console for their kids), but otherwise I feel like your friend group and prior experience is going to ultimately determine whether you end up with a Xbox One or PS4.
I need a Halo box, but I also like to play Uncharted. Unfortunately I don’t know that there’s a good recommendation one way or another, other than to wait for a bit. Being an early adopter of a next-gen console is rarely a fun thing. Literally all of my friends are on Xbox 360s or PS3s, meaning online multiplayer with people I know is pretty much out of the question for at least a year or so. The launch lineup for both platforms is reasonable but could be a lot better. Having just played Grand Theft Auto V and the Last of Us, I’m going to need more than CoD or NBA 2K14 to really draw me in to the Xbox One or PS4. This is how the story goes with any new console launch.
One thing is for sure - this generation was long overdue. I remember being at E3 in 2005 and wondering what the Xbox 360 and PS3 would do to the future of PC gaming given how well specced both systems were. This time around I’m less concerned. Everyone seems to have gone more conservative with GPU choices, even though the resulting APUs are anything but small. If anything the arrival of both consoles, targeted the way they are, is likely going to make things better industry wide. As both sell in good quantities we’ll see developers target a higher class of system, which will be good for everyone.
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JDG1980 - Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - link
So, based on the numbers shown here, it looks like the PS4's GPU is roughly on par with a Radeon HD 7850 (more shaders, but slightly lower clock). Meanwhile, the XB1's GPU is considerably weaker, with performance falling somewhere between a 7770 and 7790. Considering that this is a game console we're talking about (notwithstanding Microsoft's attempt to position it as a do-everything set-top box), that's going to hurt the XB1 a lot.I just don't see any real advantage to the *consumer* in Microsoft's design decisions here, regardless of supply chain considerations, and I think Anandtech should have been more pro-active in calling them out on this.
mikeisfly - Thursday, November 21, 2013 - link
The right question to ask is can both cards do 1080p gaming. Remeber these aren't PC where people are running games at much higher resolutions than 1920x180 on multiple monitors.douglord - Thursday, November 21, 2013 - link
Take a 7850 and 7770 and put them next to each other with FOR locked to 60 fps. Sit back 6 feet and play a fps. Tell me which is which. Maybe a 5% difference in visual fidelity.Revdarian - Sunday, November 24, 2013 - link
Lol no, by the way, what will you do if a game is heavy enough to run at 720p 30 on the ps4, at which resolution will you run it on the xb1?... yeap, it will be notoriously different.jeffrey - Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - link
With the PS4 offering-up such a more powerful system, the arguement turned to Xbox One's eSRAM and "cloud power" to equalize things. Even with Microsoft boosting clocks, the Xbox One simply does not deliver game play graphics the way the PS4 has now been demonstrated to do.The PS4 graphics look much better. In COD Ghosts it almost looks like the PS4 is a half-generation ahead of the Xbox One. This actually makes sense with the the PS4 offering 50% more GPU cores and 100% more ROPs.
Considering the PS4 is $100 cheaper and with the bundled Kinect being a non-starter, the decision seems easy.
The troubling piece is that both systems are dropping featues that previous gen systems had, like Blu-ray 3D.
bill5 - Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - link
heh, half generation? Do you have visual problems?Looking at all the Anand evidence, pics and yt's, you're quibbling over a 1% visual difference, seriously. It's shocking how little difference there is in COD for example, and that's a full 720 vs 1080 split! I expect in the future Xone will close that gap to 900 vs 1080 and the like.
I would say even the average *gamer* wont be able to tell much difference, let alone your mom.
Hell, half the time it's hard to spot much different between "current" and "next" gen versions at a glance, let alone between the PS4/Xone versions.
I'd say that, sad as it is, MS won that war. Their box will be perceived as "good enough". I've already seen reviews today touting Forza 5 as the best looking next gen title on any console, and the like.
All you really need is ports. Mult plat devs are already showing all effects and textures will be the same, the only difference might be resolution (even then games like NFS Rivals and NBA 2K are 1080P on Xone).
Then you'll get to exclusives, where PS4 could stretch it's lead if it has one. However these are the vast vast minority of games (and even then I'd argue early exclusives prove nothing)
I hate what Ms did going low power, it was stupid. But they'll probably get away with it because, Sony.
Philthelegend - Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - link
You trolling?You are the visually impaired if you don't see the difference! Just look at the screenshots and if you have a low resolution screen zoom them in and see the difference. The difference is like playing a game on very high settings(ps4) to medium(xbone) on PC.
"MS won that war. Their box will be perceived as "good enough"." hehehehe you're an obvious troll or a blind fanboy, no one says that the loser won a battle because he was good enough
You say the Forza 5 is the best looking next gen title, then you go on talking about ps4 exclusives prove nothing?
The actual graphics are not the top priority, xbone could have the same graphics as the ps4 but the most important thing is to keep the framerates above and atleast 60 at all times.
TEAMSWITCHER - Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - link
You and I must have watched the different videos. There is a pronounced "Shimmering" effect on the Xbox One - caused by weaker anti-aliasing. It's far more distracting than a mere 1%. In every video the PS4 image looks more solid and consistent. I'm less than an average Gamer and I can see the difference immediately.Microsoft simply didn't "Bring It" this time and when your in a tough competitive situation like game consoles you really can't afford not to. I really don't want to buy a "Good Enough" console. Thank you, but no thanks.
Hubb1e - Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - link
I really didn't see much difference between the two. If I tried really hard I could see some more detail in the PS4 and it had a little less "shimmering" effect. In actual use on a standard 50" TV sitting the normal 8-10 feet away I doubt there will be much difference. Shit, most people don't even realize their TV is set to stretch 4:3 content and they have it set to torch mode because the "colors pop" better. It's probably going to come down to price and Kinect and in this case an extra $100 is a lot of extra money to pay. $449 would have a better a better price, but we'll see since there is plenty of time for MS to lower prices for their console after first adopters have paid the premium price.Kurge - Wednesday, November 20, 2013 - link
Fail. All of that has more to do with the developers than the hardware.