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RE: PlayStation 4 or Xbox One: Which game console to buy this holiday

Today, Ben Gilbert posted on article in which he gives his opinion on which console to buy this holiday season. I realize that everyone has their opinion and since Ben shared his, I would like to share mine.

To be quite frank, the PS4 and the Xbox One are not worth the money right now. Here's why I believe so:
  • Both consoles are missing out key features that were promised and are waiting on updates in the "future" . In some cases, these "next-gen" consoles lack basic functionality that their predecessors had . For instance, the PS4's lack of support for external hard drives. Microsoft also announced is streaming service is coming in 2014.
  • Secondly, as it stands , the best games on these consoles are the multi platform ones like FIFA 14, Battlefield 4 and Assassin's Creed 4. All of these are available on Ps3/Xbox360/PC. Face it, with Forza 5 being the only exception, all the exclusives out right now suck and it could be awhile until we see a decent amount of exclusives worth purchasing these consoles for.
  • Additionally, to play online the PS4 requires you to have an PS+ account, where as the PS3 doesn't. Why pay an extra $50 to pay online for like 3 games at most right now which you could have done for free if you owned a PS3. $450 just for prettier graphics? I'll pass
  • Lastly, Sony and Microsoft purposely made lass generation accessories not compatible with this generation consoles. I think it's complete BS that the PS4 and Xbox One do not support previous generation controllers when they could have. Wanna play FIFA with your friends? Want to use your PS3/Xbox 360 controllers? Well that's too bad. You either run out to Best Buy and spend $60 on each additional controller. Had you bought FIFA 14 for Xbox 360/PS3 instead, chances are you or your friends would have extra controllers readily available.
The fact is, you'd be better off holding onto that $400+ for now until the consoles are actually worth buying. That'll be when they have exclusives worth while in addition to the services they promised. Want to satisfy your gaming itch right now? Buy AC4, BF 4, FIFA 14 etc for the console or PC you already own. You'll feel a lot better once you realize you just saved yourself at least $400. One could even argue that you should use a portion of that $400 saved to buy any games for this gen which you never got around to trying . Retailers have a huge selection of used games and Steam, Amazon , Humble Bundle and other online services have really great sales for this holiday season in case you've got a capable computer.

Ben Gilbert, I respect you and your opinion but I also hope you see where I'm coming from. I think the advice you should be pushing to the readers is to be prudent with their money. It's sad to know that there are people out there who will go into debt for these things when a little bit of guidance could have helped them out to make smarter shopping decision. There shouldn't be a rush for this next generation of consoles. Instead consumers should wait on the sidelines when the time is right.

If anyone else would like to say anything feel free to share. I'd like to know what you think.

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10 replies

I don't see prices decreasing on these consoles until the next 2 years. Of course both of these consoles don't have key features at this stage of their release. Have we forgotten that that was the case with every console release?

Besides, If I am investing for the future, I would back the company that has the most money behind it (unless you care about certain exclusives......hello Halo!). This matters because the company with the most money can do more to make sure that console has the latest and greatest. Microsoft has more money than Sony so i'm going with the Xbox One.
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Buy both if you can. But I like the XBOX one. I am extremely satisfied with it. I currently have one in my game room but I also want to purchase a second one for my living room. After that then I will buy a PS4 if there is an exclusive game I really want to play. I already played both systems and XBOX won the first round.
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Im not getting either one. As a matter of fact Im selling off my xBox360 elite due to Microsoft's shenanigans and charging me to to be able to watch Netflix which I pay for and over my internet which again I already pay for Both of these so called "next gen" consoles barely stack up when compared to a mid level gaming PC. Then there is the issues reported by both PS4 and xBox one owners of drive issues (xbox) and pulsing blue light of doom (PS4) Finally I have over $2500 worth of games that I wouldnt be able to play on either new console and that my friends is a total deal breaker, either provide me with updated versions I can play on the new console or Im not buyng either. and oh yeah there isnt a single title at launch on either console that I would want to play.
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I think you missed the point of his article. He is coming at the perspective of if you had to pick one which would you pick? Though I understand your point in that neither are worth the money yet which may be true for now. I picked up the ps4 personally because well let's face it, I'm an early adopter. I like the tech and I'm taking advantage of the best buy $100 minimum for a console Guarantee as long as it works. By the time the ps4 becomes "worth it" the ps3 is worthless and the ps4 may not have gotten any cheaper or maybe cut like $50 at most. I like the future prospects of the consoles. I never understood why people are always looking backwards when it comes to the new Gen. New gen consoles want you to look forward! Things change over time and moving forward is more important than being able to play things from the past. And you do realize that the new consoles are x86 instead of ppc based so they would have to add extra components to be backwards compatible and make it cost a rediculous amount like the ps3 on launch with that whole debacle with crazy price for new gen console. I prefer cheaper and no backwards compatibility. If you want to play your ps3 games or Xbox 360 games then keep your old system.
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To add one thing, I do understand and agree with your point about not allowing ps3 controllers to work on the ps4, but how would you get the compatibility to work if you need the touchpad for a certain feature in the game? I would like to not have to fork out for more controllers but hey it is what it is.
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Sony should have taken notes from Nintendo. The WiiU allows you to use the previous generation WiiMotes without an issue. If a game require the "MotionPlus" controllers, you get a message saying you need the MotionPlus WiiMotes to play.

Don't tell anyone I have a WiiU :D
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But the touchpad seems more "optional" than anything. I can understand not having dualshock 3 work for some games that do use but not supporting DS3 at all?

I'm pretty sure FIFA 14 on the Ps4 could support DS3...
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I absolutely agree with you. I do plan on getting a new console (not sure which yet) but the launch for both is underwhelming. To pay full price for a console that doesn't have all of the promised features on day one just doesn't make sense to me.
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For me, I didn't have any of the last generation consoles, so I had no controllers or other accessories that would be incompatible. Sony's message that their console was about the games spoke to me more than Microsoft's message about a complete entertainment system. So I opted for a PS4, preordered it early in June when the preorders first went up, and got mine day one.

There may not be many retail games worth much time now, but I know there will be a few digital titles available throughout the holidays, so I'm counting on those to hold me over until a retail game really grabs my attention.

I do plan on getting an extra controller for it, but I want that Magma Red one when that finally hits the shelves, so I'm waiting for that. I may eventually get a headset, but for now, I can make due with the cheapy one that came in the box.
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I think that either way you're going to end up buying one or the other. especially if you dont have the money to invest in a pc. i know i can get an OK pc for around 600 bucks but in real life. id need a monitor keyboard all that jazz. and my house is crammed. to get a pc setup equal to what one of these consoles can dish out *though they are more dedicated* i can do just about all i really want*for now* one the xbox one. like browse. facebook. whatnot. though id like to do some programming ill have to wait till this summer when i have mooore money to blow. where i am more stuck to console i think id have to pick the xbox. for the larger amount of servers, better *my opinion* controller, titanfall, and the kinect. i dont really love the kinect but it lets me browse and multitask easily and that sounds great to me. i feel the xbox would make me happier so considering the circumstances i think i will go with xbox
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