PS4 vs XBOX 720 - Who Wins

PS4 vs XBox which is better?
Ever since the dawn of man, if you give humanity an option there will be competition. Whether that is choosing what deity you bow to or selecting your favorite brand of booze at the bar, people’s opinions and choices will always create competition. There are few competitors on the market that can create the following of the big name consoles; the passion and dedication of the fans can be seen in rant form on any gaming community website, including this one.

This has been true with consoles ever since Nintendo and Sega; did you prefer bouncing across the heads of mushrooms in the slightly trippy land of the Mario Brothers, or were you a fan of our speedy, blue haired friend on the Sega? From console to game to accessory, everyone has their preference and as people start to line up the next generation of consoles, arguments are already heated.

Although we can only guess at most of it, we can look back at the Playstation 3 and the Xbox360 for some rough ideas on the technology and pricing. The Playstation 3 was backed with the Cell processor developed by Sony, IBM and Toshiba while the Xbox360 was powered with the Xenon created by IBM. With both Sony and Microsoft doing well, and the companies that produced the technology behind the consoles still booming, we could be looking at a much larger leap to the next generation than was felt in previous years.

I never really pay much attention to the technology behind the consoles; I'm more interested in what new ways they can invent for me to blow someone’s head off. I look back at my time in the gaming world and my fondest memories all involve something a little new, from running around in Soldier of Fortune dismembering people to finding out how many ways I can kill someone in the ludicrously tasty Manhunt. With the current generation putting a heavy focus on the way we interact with games, is it fair to expect this as standard in the next generation?

Personally, I've always been a Playstation guy so I already know that the Playstation 4 will knock the socks off the next generation of Xbox. I wouldn't care what I heard about the console prior to release, I know that when the day comes, it will be Sony and not Microsoft that will get my money. I don't really consider myself a fan boy or anything close, I enjoyed the Playstation, the PS2 and I'm still enjoying the PS3, I can't help but think many other gamers out there are the same. Could either company release something that would actually sway the gaming audience or are people so set in their ways that it would take something catastrophic to change your loyalties?

I considered the Xbox famous RROD to be pretty catastrophic but people still dedicate their loyalties to that very console, even if the next generation produced something worse, people feel safe when they're loyal and for that reason alone I think both next generation consoles will thrive.

Who Will Get In Front?
The console market is a competitive one and with more and more companies trying to push out the best of the next generation, what kind of tactics and methods can we hope to see?

Currently consoles can offer different methods of interacting with games, exclusive titles and various add-ons, such as the browser on the PS3, but what areas with the big guns aim for next round? The Wii is popular for its user friendly approach and the Wii-U is expected to be huge, already dominating the casual gaming market, what could Nintendo do to broaden their player-base? Making the console compatible with the latest titles would be a step in the right direction, not only allowing players the interaction levels of Wii games but also giving them all the benefits of the top titles from other consoles.

Assuming the Wii-U did attempt something along those lines, what could Sony and Microsoft do to help the Playstation 4 and Xbox 720 compete? This is where the real problem starts as both companies and consoles offer pretty much the same thing. Both know the recipe for success when it comes to launching a games console so it's inevitable both companies will mimic ideas from the other, leaving two consoles with very little between them and players buying through loyalty rather than choice.

It would be great for one of them to take a real big step, similar to the drastic change from the Nintendo Gamecube to the Wii. Maybe Sony will raise the bar and offer all DLC content at half the price of its competitors? Maybe Microsoft will be able to buy dozens more exclusive titles that Sony can get their hands on, one thing is for sure, both companies are fighting and uphill struggle as the release of the Wii-U approaches.

Hardware Wars
I know I said I didn’t pay much attention to the technology behind the next generation consoles, but the technology behind the Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 is so close that even I had to take notice. I’ve compiled a chart that lists all of the information that is rumored for each system so we can compare the two. Keep in mind that all of this information is rumor and hearsay so far, and that I’ve only compiled the information I’ve seen or heard into the chart:

I know what you’re thinking upon looking at this chart; the statistics of both systems look the same. I know I previously guessed that both systems would have quite a difference between them; after all, looking at the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, both systems use extremely different hardware. However, it seems with the next generation, this isn’t the case, as both systems are close in terms of specifications and rely heavily on AMD.

Looking at the GPU, which is commonly referred to as the graphics card, you’ll notice a slight difference; the PlayStation 4’s graphics card is a bigger number, possibly referencing the fact that the graphics card is a better model. Sadly, this isn’t the case; the Radeon 7670 is, by all accounts, a rebranded 6670 and both cards feature the same specifications. Both cards feature DirectX 11 support in addition to 1 Gigabyte of VRAM, which is going to blow the current generation of consoles away. I previously didn’t think we’d see a big jump in graphics, but I was definitely wrong.

In terms of CPU, the Xbox 720 is rumored to feature an impressive 16 core CPU. However, the PlayStation 4’s A8-3850 APU is a beefy 2.9 GHz quad-core and is rumored to be specifically designed to work with the 7670. This reminds me of how the PlayStation 3 components were designed to work together and how it produced better PlayStation 3 exclusive games, so color me excited.

As for the rest of the specs, both systems are rumored to be using at least 2 GB of RAM, though many developers, including Crytek, Epic and Electronic Arts, are asking for at least 8 GB of RAM in either console. If the PlayStation 4 can meet this demand, we’ll see a large increase in visuals and objects on-screen, making the PS4 the go-to console for many gamers. The PS4 will use Blu-ray again, as this is Sony’s proprietary technology, while it’s rumored Microsoft will make the jump to Blu-ray as well; any gamer will tell you that sticking with DVD technology was a bad idea for the 360. Both systems will definitely use a hard drive, though much larger than the current systems, as we’ll likely see a larger push to digital gaming on both consoles.

Looking at these statistics, I think it’ll be a close race for both systems going solely by hardware. But I think Sony, with its large stable of first party games such as God of War, Infamous and Killzone, will prove to Microsoft that hardware can only take you so far; you need the games and franchises to utilize the hardware, which any gamer knows that Sony has.

PS4 VS XBOX 720 Update: April 4th, 2013
A senior developer at Ubisoft recently revealed his thoughts on the next-generation console wars. According to Yannis Mallat the Xbox 720 will take a similar approach to social integration that Sony have taken with the Playstation 4.

"It's going to be connected. It's going to be social. It's going to be immersive. It's going to be interactive."

To give more credit to his comments is the recent leak of the Xbox 720 developer kit. It's obvious the big name developers are working on next-generation consoles and Ubisoft were one of the most successful in 2012. Could Mr. Mallat's comments be taken more from experience than anything else? After all, he's probably involved in the development of Xbox 720 games as we speak.

Update by - Blaine Smith
Insert Date: 4/4/2013

PS4 VS XBOX 720 Update: February 24th, 2013

At the PlayStation event on February 20th, Sony not only announced the new PlayStation 4 but also mentioned that the device would be far more powerful than its predecessor. Since then, the company has released the specific hardware specs that power the device internally.

In particular, the PlayStation 4 will use an AMD 8-core x64 CPU coupled with a Radeon GPU. This setup means that televisions can get 1.84 TFLOPS for speedy gaming without compromising the graphic quality of the upcoming games to be released. In addition, the PlayStation 4 will sport 8 GB of GDDR5 RAM, which is a huge increase from the PlayStation 3 that only uses 256 MB of GDDR3 RAM.

Sony also shed some light on the rest of the hardware specs, such as 802.11n Wi-Fi capability, Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity and some USB 3.0 ports and ports for HDMI, analog AV and optical audio. In addition, fans can rejoice at the return of an optical drive as Sony will include a Blu-ray drive capable of running discs at 6X and 8X speeds.

Internal storage will also be available, but there is no word yet on how much Sony will provide. Considering Sony's push to create a network that will automatically download games based on the user's preference, it seems likely that the internal storage space will be considerably large; having just 20 GB on a system that automatically downloads large games simply would not be sufficient.

As of this writing, there is no additional information on what else fans can expect from the console. This includes a lack of information on whether the hardware will accept any kind of disc-based backwards compatibility, though all signs are pointing to Sony not including any hardware compatibility due to the mention of working on a cloud-based compatibility initiative at the Feb. 20th event.

Currently, there is still no word on either the price or the date that Sony intends to release the PlayStation 4. At the moment, the only release window provided is during the holiday season this year, most likely around October or November 2013.

PS4 VS XBOX 720 Update: December 28th, 2012
A number of industry experts have expressed their concerns that the PlayStation 4 may avoid Cell-based technology in their CPU's entirely. Although no official statements have been made, the industry as a whole is suggesting that the main reason for avoiding the use of this technology is due to the difficulty it poses for developers.

Many have stated, including developers themselves, that the Playstation 3 still hasn't released it's full power under current CPU technology, while others have said it has taken way too long to get there. Why is this? Well to make it brief, it's just too complex a system to support the rapid development cycles we see nowadays.

Cell-based CPUs are a heterogeneous technology, consisting of two different kinds of processing cores, each with different capabilities and responsibilities. The PPE core hands generic processing while the SPE code handles multimedia processing. The PS3 equivalent offers 7-8 SPE with a clock speed of 3.2ghz with rough operation performance of over 200GFLOPS.

Way back at E3, during the time of Playstation 3 propaganda Sony stated that the reason for choosing Cell-based technologies was to offer users the ability to loan CPU power to other similar devices, although that idea never came to light and sometime later Sony sold the patent rights to Toshiba, prompting rumors even back then that the next generation would avoid Cell-based tech.

Even still, developers have had a long time working with Cell now, don't you think that experience would go a long way in removing development problems with the Playstation 4? Well from a player standpoint the only real reason for a Cell is the fact that it would be vital for backwards compatibility. Without using a similar Cell structure, it would be extremely difficult, meaning you'd see a few million PS3 games suddenly hitting the pre-owned shelves shortly after the launch of the Playstation 4.

PS4 VS XBOX 720 Update: December 27th, 2012
Although players continuously argue about the popularity of current generation consoles, there can't be any debate regarding the popularity of the next generation of these bad boys. The image below contains figures based on search terms used on Google, in the millions over the last 11 months.

What does this mean for the battle between the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720? Well, we can't tell you for sure that every single person that searched for each product will buy their console of choice but when you're 50 million people behind in searches, that's a pretty huge deficit. Many are saying that the Playstation 4 will boast better hardware, some are saying that the inevitable adaptation of Windows 8 on the XBOX 720 will deter gamers, what I'm saying is that the facts speak for themselves.

Are you surprised by the huge differences between the searches over the last 11 months? Does this sway your intentions to buy your console of choice?

Article by - Blaine Smith

See Also:

• PC vs PS4
• Xbox 720 - New Xbox | A happy home for future xbox 720 addicts!
• Ultimate XBox Destruction
• Playstation 3 Games - PS3 Game Reviews
• PS4 Game Series
• PS4 Release Date
• PS4 Specs
• Just how powerful will the PS4 be? - Join the discussion
• PS3 End Date - PS4 Release?