Just how similar are the PS4 and XBOne?

SMH: It was something of a relief the other week to read that John Carmack, co-founder of Id Software and creator of the seminal Doom and Quake engines, regarded the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 as "essentially identical".

I had been thinking the same thing for months, and it was nice to hear someone else echoing my thoughts.

The two upcoming consoles from Sony and Microsoft are both powerful machines, and both look set to be excellent investments for avid gamers. The only problem is that they are so similar in so many ways that there is little to differentiate between them for those whose budget will only allow them to buy one.

[ABeastNamedTariq]

"Now both systems will require a paid service to play online. XB1 gets a slight advantage here, as Xbox Live Gold subscriptions will carry over to the new console, meaning gamers will keep their achievement points and friend lists."

One PS+ subscription covers PS3, 4, and Vita, so what advantage does it have again?

Oh...yeah.

[NewMonday]

John Carmack was talking about the architecture, because for developers this means they mostly just have to re-scale the engines and do fewer re-coding for the different platforms. this is very good for the industry because it will save lots of time and money and give games a better chance of success.

[DrRobotnik]

Plus every thing on live is behind a pay wall. If you don't have PS+ you can't play online multiplayer(except F2P games). If you don't have live...you can't play.

[FanboyCrusher]

Well there's no Xbox mobile gaming device, and yes your Gold membership also covers your account on 360. That's not much of an argument considering most players on the PS4 won't even have a Vita.

Both systems are practically identical now. It's all up to what exclusives you want, and what UI you want to deal with.

[slivery]

Most PS4 players will be thoroughly enjoying their PS3's, PS4's and PS Vita's. A lot of people on N4G alone plan on getting a PS Vita just for remote play.

[DrRobotnik]

Got my vita. Typing this comment on it right now, while on the toilet.

[BLAKHOODe]

Just reading that quote, I don't see how that's a slight advantage to Xbox One.. if anything, they are the SAME in that way. Your PSN account (trophies, friends, etc.) will carry over to the PS4, as well.

[slivery]

PS+ also carries over to the PS4, what on earth are they talking about? This was already stated a lot by Sony at their first PS4 showing and considering PS+ works across PS3, PS4 and PS Vita. It would only make sense that it does.

So no, there is no advantage to Xbox Live Gold because PS+ does the same exact thing and without almost everything being behind a pay wall.

http://operationrainfall.co...

http://www.destructoid.com/...

http://www.engadget.com/201...

http://www.joystiq.com/2013...

http://kotaku.com/good-news...

http://www.egmnow.com/artic...

http://www.playstationlifes...

http://www.ps3trophies.org/...

Amazing how they somehow missed all that. Do these people even use the internet? Trophies and friends list carry over on the PS4 also, it uses PSN just like the PS3 and PS Vita. Trophies and friends are all tied to your PSN account.

Talk about grasping at straws here.

[McScroggz]

That quote is actually factually incorrect. For one, PlayStation Plus subscriptions carry over to the PS4 while also still being valid for the PS3 and PS Vita. Also, trophies and the friends list will carry over.

Another thing, Microsoft has stated that the friends list on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 are separate. Exactly what that means I don't know, but it's certainly possible that the friends list won't automatically carry over (though I doubt it).

I smh at the author's lack of research.

[Mkai28]

It means that Xbox 360 players won't be able to chat with X1 players..

[corvusmd]

Well the advantage is that it's just an all around much more powerful online service....Period...hands down..even trying to argue this point is ridiculous as it stands now. PSN's "Upgrade" puts it on par or slightly behind CURRENT XBL...the new XBL will be 20x's more powerful than that as far as dedicated servers alone (yes I know some of those servers will be used for storage, but that goes both ways...and the MS Cloud Servers compared to the Gakai ones are much much more powerful...even individually there is no comparison). MP, MMOs, and Large Sandbox games will fare MUCH MUCH better on XBL...this is why games like Titanfall have no plans to go to PSN as it currently sits. In the beginning cloud computing is a real thing, it will help with AI and Lighting, and is able to provide 500,000 updates to the console per second if needed...this will only get better as internet gets faster...but it's already an amazing start.

So in short, the answer to what advantage does it have.....Uh, the only ACTUAL advantage...and by a ton...this is the ONE area where one system crushes the other, which is why PS fanboys NEVER want to talk about it, or they just completely dismiss it because it kills their argument.

http://www.respawn.com/news...

http://www.digitaltrends.co...

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[NatureOfLogic]

From the article, "In terms of raw numbers, they are almost the same machine. Both have 8GB of memory, shared between the operating system, the graphics hardware, and general tasks. They even use the memory similarly, with the PS4 reported to be reserving 3GB for its OS, while the XB1 reserves 1GB for the OS and 2GB for the Kinect. This leaves 5GB free for other functions on both systems."

Yeah, Ok.

[Rimeskeem]

Sony has yet to say how much memory is reserved for the OS

[ShabbaRanks]

I wouldn’t be too worried anyway. Naughty Dog and Guerrilla games made epic games with only 128mbs of XDDR3. Imagine what they can do with 2Gbs, 3Gbs or even 5 of GDDR5 :P

[Thepharaoh]

Flamebait on N4G.What a brand new concept

[guitarded77]

Flame bait is not exclusive to n4g.

[Thepharaoh]

Yes. This site however is titled N4G News for gamers. Not FB4G flame bait for gamers

[guitarded77]

On an architectural level... very similar. On a network level... that remains to be seen. On a policy level they were world apart, but a big similar after MS reverted their policies. Oh... and they're both black :D

[gamepostlet]

I getting both and will still have my pc and 3ds, vita. The more thing we have to plays games on the better I say.

[maniacmayhem]

Very good article. I think this gen it really will come down to the features of each console, especially with so many of the games being multiplat.

It's going to be very exciting to see both systems out in the wild after a year or two and seeing what will change or take off. Especially on the Xbox side, they always made a lot of changes to their XMB. I wonder if Sony will go this route too.

[BLAKHOODe]

Those changes Xbox made to it's XMB weren't always great changes, though. I hate the Kinect friendly, Windows 8 UI it's currently using. And I hate how they buried things that were easy to find before. A lot of those themes I bought back in the day can't even be used now.

The PS3's could definitely use an updated look.. and I hope the PS4's is something special, but I get the philosophy of not fixing what isn't broken.

[Hicken]

Good article? It's full of inaccuracies and vague equivalencies. How can it be a good article when it gets do much wrong?

[XboxFun]

Where are the inaccuracies and vague equivalences? What did it get wrong Hicken (besides the PS+ carrying over)...please explain.

Or did the article not praise the overwhelming dominance of the PS4 to Xbox One as I am sure you were looking for it to do.

[Hicken]

PS+ is the start.

The OS allocations are both off AND supposition, depending.

The HDD is a laptop drive in the PS4, unless I'm mistaken.

Under "Exclusive Games," the difference in first party studios isn't even discussed.

Perhaps more jarring than being inaccurate or vague is that it does attempt to make the differences negligible. The differences in the RAM are glossed over, for example. It briefly mentions the XB1 getting upclocked, but doesn't go into detail about the numbers involved there. It downplays the amount of HDD space people can and will use over the course of a generation, especially with the upcoming gen having a heavier push on digital. And besides being black, they look nothing alike: no one is gonna mistake one for the other.

There's no need to PRAISE the overwhelming dominance. But if it's there, it should be noted, don't you think?

[XboxFun]

Really?

Everything you have mentioned are minor, VERY minor inaccuracies. And it didn't get "so much wrong" besides the actual PS+ part.

Face it Hicken, the two system are a lot alike with very minor differences. Almost every subjective DEV including your Kojima has said this. You keep using buzz words like RAM, but PS3 had lower RAM than 360 correct. But now all of a sudden RAM is so important and even still both systems have had a significant increase from their predecessors.

Downplay HDD space? 500 gigs isn't enough? Are you kidding? unless you plan on buying every single game and downloading every piece of media then maybe 500 won't be enough but that was already stated in the article.

The difference in first party games? See this is why I said this article isn't to your liking because they didn't take the dominant stance you wanted them to for Sony's first party games. No, they avoided the "fan bias" garbage and laid it out for you the reader to decide.

Which was the whole point of the article.

So unfortunately there is no dominance and there never was and honestly there really won't be. Both systems will be turning out gorgeous games and the launch titles for each system has already proven that.

[Lionalliance]

One of them is cheaper.

[FanboyCrusher]

One also has more in the box, no pun intended.

[aaron5829]

yuppp.. add batteries and the power brick...

[FanboyCrusher]

@aaron5829

Really? Batteries, and a power prick? I'm talking hardware here. Both consoles are practically identical, most developers are admitting it, even Carmack. On the hardware side we get Kinect in the box, that's more hardware, and worth more than $100. The power brick is a safety precaution, somethings wrong with that now too? Please find one valid complaint of the power brick. "oh but it's a brick" I'm imagining that's the best thing you could say back.

It's exclusives, and what UI you want at this point, no argument could prove otherwise.

[aaron5829]

dude.. just poking fun..

But since you're so serious... ok then.

Power brick... while i agree its a safety precaution. The complain i have is where do i hide that god damn thing in my living room...? My bluray player, dvr, ps3 dont have it. Before someone say what about laptops and stuff. well... i dont own a laptop

Kinect for $100 .... i say.. MS can take that stupid thing and shove it into their own asses.
Same goes to PSeye and move... Dont want it, dont need it, and never will.

[madpuppy]

"Kinect for $100 .... i say.. MS can take that stupid thing and shove it into their own asses."

When I read that all I can think of is Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer double ending a kinect sensor.

[Indo]

Both consoles are very similiar from the basics look of things. Except if you want to know the specifics, then that's were they differ.

[Krosis]

I'm just waiting for the compulsory "MS paid Carmack!" fanboy blither. Christ this site needs a makeover. I don't understand how people think one console will be drastically more powerful than the other when they both have an identical cost cap and subsequently a hardware cap--nevermind the fact it's spelled out in the specs. '50% more powerful gpu!!". Have a look at equivalent gpu benchmarks and see how much of a difference that makes in the world of lower end gpus....I guess the tech is impressive when compared to their decade-old predecessors.

[Bathyj]

Dont really care how similar PS4 and XBOne are.

I care how different Sony and Microsoft are.

[cootdog123]

If Microsoft drops the price down 100.00 dollars it will be damn close lol.

[McScroggz]

So it seems like this site doesn't care about facts. No reason to give them clicks then.

[MatriXcian]

It really comes down to the games and the fact is Sony beats Microsoft hands down in this department. This generation Sony has had by far more and better exclusives from games like Little Big Planet to Starhawk. Microsoft just cant compare. Ive never even seen games like Warhawk, Starhawk and The last of Us on the Xbox and thats just to name a few of the MANY innovative exclusives on the Sony platform. Hell look at Motorstorm alone the way the terrain and vehicle types had effects on the courses is more innovative than any Xbox game.

[MRMagoo123]

Hey guys lets compare other stuff this way too, lets go with cares a datsun 120y is exactly the same as the bugatti veyron , they both have engines they both use petrol and they both have wheels. lol this guy is stupid, they are exactly the same if you dont use facts but so is the wiiu so whats that got to do with it. I know i'll get disagrees from the xbone fan tards but thats all they can do lol the ps4 HAS the better performing hardware no matter what they think, its just sad that they have to lie like this just to feel better.

And lets leave the fact carmack said no benchmarks where made and he was saying they where the same architecture as well, thats pretty convenient lol I smell desperation.

[aaron5829]

lol.. its unfair to refer any of the two console as a datsun..

458 Italia to an F430

Both are super hot sexy cars.. one just performs and handle better than the other.

[MRMagoo123]

i get what you mean but that wasnt my point , my point was it doesnt matter how big the gap is if you leave out the facts anything can look the same, it wasnt a dig at xbone or anything just more at the guys defense being completely BS lol.

[aaron5829]

I understood you perfectly.

[ghostrider32]

Both will be great in their own way. Both will have crazy fans.

[NeloAnjelo]

How exactly has gold have an advantage? Your friends list and trophies remain on PS+ as well. This also applies for Vita, and PS3. No adds, or play walls. Oh wait, just recently I got a message from MS while I was in game... I thought it was a Live renewal reminder... Instead it was an advert to download some crappy film... So much for what I'm paying for. PS plus offers value for money. No one can deny that.

[solidboss07]

Ha ha ha. Ha, very funny. PS4 is half the size but nearly twice as powerfull, only has one operating system which, together with the unified memory (GDDR5) makes for a smoother experience all round, PS4 is cheaper, and finally the track record of playstation consoles tells me as a gamer that Playstation 4 is the only way to go!!