By Logan French
With all the new platforms on the market for the holidays, which console are you most interested in picking up? With all the choices, how do you decide?
Now, first acknowledging that we are all responsible young men and women in college to pursue our respective majors, we all enjoy taking a few minutes of our day and grabbing a controller and transporting ourselves into a land where we can step away from our lives and become anyone that we wish without repercussions.
In other words, who doesn’t enjoy playing video games?
We game on traditional platform devices, mobile platforms, even on our cell phones.
The real quandary is that we all realize that with the weather changing, the holidays are coming up.
Holidays bring out new devices and games from all the major players in the gaming industry.
The main three seem to be Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.
It seems that all gaming companies make the best shopping deals and bundles with their new and existing products around the time that Santa comes.
With this being said, which one of these products is the right one for you?
The wonderful people at Imagine Gaming Network or IGN have done the research on all aspects of each of the three aforementioned systems and have compiled it for your viewing pleasure.
Enjoy the chart down below and hopefully this helps you attain the best product that will provide the best bang for your buck!
Just don’t forget about or fall behind in your academic career!
Hardware Feature Comparison
Feature |
PlayStation 4 |
Xbox One |
Wii U |
Price |
$399.99 [1] |
$499.99 [2] |
$349.99 / 299.99 |
Release Date |
US: 11.15.2013 |
11.22.2013 [4] |
11.18.2012 |
Optical Drive |
Blu-ray/DVD [5] |
Blu-ray/DVD [6] |
25GB Optical Disc (Proprietary) |
Game DVR |
Yes, PS+ subscription not required [7] |
Yes, with subscription to Xbox Live Gold [8] |
No |
RAM |
8GB GDDR5 [9] |
8GB DDR3 [10] |
2GB DDR3 [11] |
CPU |
Single-chip x86 AMD “Jaguar” processor, 8 cores [12] |
8 Core Microsoft custom CPU [13] |
Tri-Core PowerPC “Espresso” CPU [14] |
GPU |
AMD Radeon Graphics Core Next engine w/ 1152 shaders [15] |
853 MHz AMD Radeon GPU w/ 768 shaders[16] |
AMD “Latte” 550 MHz GPU w/ 320 shaders[17] |
Peak GPU Shader Throughput |
1.84 TeraFLOPS/s [18] |
1.31 TeraFLOPS/s (estimate)[19] |
0.352 TeraFLOPS/s[20] |
Storage |
500 GB Hard Drive (user removeable)[21] |
500 GB Hard Drive (non-removeable) [22] |
8GB or 32GB Flash |
External Storage |
TBA |
Yes, USB [23] |
Yes, USB |
Cloud Storage |
Yes [24] |
Yes [25] |
No |
Play As You Download |
Yes [26] |
Yes [27] |
No |
Remote Download |
Yes [28] |
Yes [29] |
No |
Account Access from Multiple Consoles |
Yes [30] |
Yes |
No |
Mandatory Game Installs |
No [31] |
Yes [32] |
No |
Required Internet Connection |
No [33] |
No |
|
Used Game Fee |
No [36] |
No [37] |
No |
Digital game sharing or gifting |
No |
No |
No |
Feature |
PlayStation 4 |
Xbox One |
Wii U |
Backwards Compatibility |
None [38] |
None [39] |
Yes, Wii |
Cross Game Chat |
Yes [40] |
Yes [41] |
No |
Controllers |
PS4 Dual Shock (1 included) |
Xbox One Wireless Controller (1 included) |
Wii U GamePad (included), Wii Remote + Nunchuk (sold separately), Pro Controller (sold separately) |
Controller Batteries |
Rechargable (built-in) |
AA (2). Rechargable battery packs (sold separately) |
GP & Pro: Rechargable (built-in). Wii Remote: AA (2). |
Motion Control |
DualShock 4, PlayStation 4 Eye (not included), PlayStation Move (not included) |
Wii Remote (sold separately), Wii U GamePad (included) |
|
Second Screen |
SmartGlass (devices not included) [44] |
Wii U GamePad (included) |
|
Voice Commands |
Yes (scope, TBA) [45] |
Yes [46] |
No |
Subscription Service |
PlayStation Plus [47] |
Xbox Live [48] |
No |
USB |
USB 3.0 (2 ports)[49] |
USB 3.0 (3 ports)[50] |
USB 2.0 (4 ports) |
Live Streaming |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Reputation Preservation |
Trophies will be ported |
Achievements will be ported [51] |
N/A |
Web Connection |
Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi [52] |
Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 & 5Ghz) [53] |
Gigabit IEEE 802.11 b/g/n dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 & 5Ghz, LAN via USB dongle |
BlueTooth |
Bluetooth 2.1 (EDR)[54] |
No* |
Bluetooth 4.0 [55] |
Wi-Fi Direct (for Device Connection) |
No |
Yes |
Yes (for GamePad video streaming) |
A/V Hookups |
HDMI input and output (4K support), Optical output [58] |
HDMI out, Component/ Composite out |
|
IR |
No |
IR out, IR Blaster (Kinect) |
IR Transceiver (GamePad) |
Power Supply (PSU) |
Internal |
External (power brick) |
External (power bricks) |
Near Field Communication (NFC) |
No |
No |
Yes (GamePad) |
Region Locked |
No |
No [59] |
Yes |
*Confirmed to IGN by a Microsoft representative.
Online Feature Comparison Chart
Online Services |
PlayStation 4 |
Xbox One |
Wii U |
Online Game Play |
Paid Access Via PS+ Subscription |
Paid Access Via Xbox Live Gold Subscription [60] |
Free |
Netflix |
Free Access to Application [61] |
Paid Access to Application Via Xbox Live Gold Subscription* |
Free Access to Application |
HBO Go |
None |
TBA |
None |
Skype |
Possible[62] |
Paid Access to Application Via Xbox Live Gold Subscription [63] |
None |
ESPN |
None |
TBA |
None |
Hulu Plus |
Free Access to Application [64] |
Paid Access to Application Via Xbox Live Gold Subscription* |
Free Access to Application |
IGN App |
Yes |
TBA |
TBA |
Game DVR |
Free Access to Application |
Paid Access to Application Via Xbox Live Gold Subscription [65] |
None |
Streaming Game Video |
Free Access to Application |
TBA |
None |
Web Browser |
Yes[66] |
Paid Access to Application Via Xbox Live Gold Subscription [67] |
Free Access to Application |
NFL Application |
None |
Paid Access to Application Via Xbox Live Gold Subscription [68] |
None |
*Based on current Xbox Live Gold requirements
Console Bundle Comparison Chart
This chart compares the physical contents of the launch day bundles of the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Wii U. Other console comparison features are outlined above.
Feature |
PlayStation 4 |
Xbox One |
Wii U |
Pack-In Game |
Playroom (Requires PlayStation Eye, sold seperately) [69] |
None [70] |
Nintendo Land (included in Deluxe bundle) |
Controllers |
DualShock 4 Wireless Controller |
Wii U GamePad |
|
Headset |
Wired Mono Earbud [72] |
Wired Mono Headset [73] |
Not included |
AV Cables |
HDMI Cable [74] |
HDMI Cable (Cat2) [75] |
HDMI Cable |
Charging Cables |
USB Charging Cable [76] |
Not included [77] |
Wii U GamePad Charging Cable |
Camera |
Not included [78] |
Kinect [79] |
Wii U GamePad Camera |
Trial Subscription |
All PS4 owners get 14 days of PS+[80] |
All Xbox One owners get 14 days of free Xbox Live[81] |
N/A |
Colors |
Black |
Black |
Black, White |
Games
A console is not just the sum of its tech specs and features. Games matter too!
Source: http://www.ign.com/wikis/xbox-one/PS4_vs._Xbox_One_vs._Wii_U_Comparison_Chart
Categories: Health