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5 Reasons to Buy a PS4 Over an Xbox One or PS3

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In short order, the PS4 has taken the gaming world by storm, selling millions of consoles and tons of games to go along with those consoles. Since introducing the PS4, Sony has seen interest in PlayStation grow in ways it hasn’t since the PS2. Understandably, there’s some confusion. Many PS3 users are wondering what all the fuss is about, and why they should be thinking about spending $399 on the PS4 instead of Microsoft’s Xbox One.

Really, there are five major advantages of purchasing the PS4 over Microsoft’s Xbox One or keeping the PS3. Of course, the PS4 is newer than the PS3 and has upgraded hardware already. As that’s a given, users should take it into consideration, along with what’s listed here, before deciding to purchase the console.

A PS4 or Xbox One Will Be Required For More & More New Games

Scenes from the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight

Scenes from the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight

The PS4 is a very competent gaming console and delivers all of the power game developers need to create titles with the best graphics and resolutions ever seen in the living room. Games launched on the PS3 and PS4 are always going to look better on the latter, that much just makes sense and goes without saying.

What users who are thinking about upgrading from the PS3 should remember is that we’re comfortably into the next console generation now. In short, they should expect fewer and fewer high-profile titles to make it to their PS3 going forward.

Take the Batman: Arkham series for example. Since 2010 Warner Brothers and developer Rocksteady have delivered evolving versions of that game for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Early this year the publisher announced that Batman: Arkham Knight would only be for users who have a decent PC, an Xbox One or a PS4. The PS4 and Xbox One will get their own copies of Assassin’s Creed this year, dubbed Assassin’s Creed: Unity. PS3 users should expect new games for the foreseeable future, but at some point all the new Sony exclusive titles everyone gets excited about will only be available on the PS4, and not the PS3.

Sony Nailed Digital Games with the PS4

More PS4 games are coming including big name titles that may make it worth owning.

More PS4 games are coming including big name titles that may make it worth owning.

We’ve now reached the point where digital media just makes sense. With earlier consoles like the PS3, digital games were an afterthought. The capability for users to purchase games digitally was there, but there wasn’t a lot to make the experience as convenient as picking up a physical copy of the game.

The PS4 changes all of that and takes the digital download capabilities of the PS3 and makes them even better than what’s available on the Xbox One. Today, PS4 users can pre-order their favorite games before they’re available for purchase. Users who choose to pre-order can have their PS4 download their titles automatically. That title will then unlock on release night.

This, coupled with the fact that users can begin playing digital downloads before they’re finished, makes for one compelling reason to pick up a PS4 instead of keeping the PS3 or purchasing the Xbox One. Users who are ready to let go of physical games and embrace digital media are in for a treat with the PS4. Of course, users can still purchase disc-based games as well.

Backwards Compatibility is Coming with PS Now

PS4 What to Know 2014

One of the few obstacles that remain in the path of the PS4 and Xbox One is how users access games they already own. Today, the answer to backwards compatibility is simple. Both Microsoft and Sony expect users to hang on to their older consoles to play older titles like Grand Theft Auto: V.

Unlike Microsoft, Sony’s roadmap includes a service that should address this issue. It’s called PlayStation Now, and it lets users play their PS3 games on the PS4 by streaming gameplay from Sony’s servers. The service is currently in beta and we don’t yet know how much it will cost. What we do know is that users upgrading from the PS3 will be able to play older titles on their PS4 and still get all the benefits of having a next-generation console. Meanwhile, Xbox One owners will still have to keep their older console in the living room taking up space.

Remote Play

PS4 on the PS Vita.

PS4 on the PS Vita.

Remote Play, the system that allows users to play their games on a PS Vita handheld instead of staying in front of their console, isn’t unique to the PS4. The PS3 has it too. Still, it’s something the Xbox One doesn’t offer.

Users simply drop in their favorite titles and connect their PlayStation Vita to a PSP or PS Vita wireless. After doing so, users can play their favorite games wherever they are in the house. For example, while a significant other is watching television, users can continue their game on the handheld itself while surrendering the television remote. Including Remote Play was optional on the PS3. On the PS4 it’s been made mandatory, unless a game relies on the PlayStation Move or PlayStation Camera.

The PS4 Controller

The PS4 DualShock 4 controller is a major improvement.

The PS4 DualShock 4 controller is a major improvement.

There may be cameras that offer motion control and voice integration, but today users still interact with their gaming console the best way they know how: with a controller. Thankfully, the PS4 controller is a godsend.

It’s ridiculously light so that smaller hands don’t get tired holding it up, and the gripped tips at the end of the controller keep it firmly planted in the player’s hands. The light bar at the front of the controller indicates that at some point Sony might have had plans to include the PlayStation Camera that needs those light bars for motion gaming.

All of those things are great to have but it’s the headphone jack at the bottom of every PS4 controller that really makes the controller better than anything else seen in console gaming. Users can simply plug-in a favorite pair of headphones and get game audio and chat. There are no accessories or adapters to purchase, and using the feature saves users from disturbing family members during late night gaming sessions.

Overall, these things don’t make choosing the PS4 over the Xbox One an instant decision. However, they do make the PS4 worth upgrading to for PS3 users.

The PS4 is on sale now for $399. That price doesn’t include a critically acclaimed game, like MLB 14: The Show. However, users do get access to a library of free games with a PlayStation Plus subscription for $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year.

22 Comments

22 Comments

  1. lucienkblog

    05/24/2014 at 3:17 pm

    And there’s not a single reason to buy the Xbox One over the PS4?
    Maybe readup on ign.com to see full list of both pro/cons instead of one sided story.

    • Jeff Klinney

      03/22/2017 at 6:07 am

      hello my name is jeff
      and im doijg this as my school project

  2. Duerango

    05/24/2014 at 5:38 pm

    The only reason I would buy an Xbox is it’s exclusives, but then Sony has better exclusives sooo… I don’t know If I ever have money to buy an Xbox then that would be the time cause by then Xbox one would have had another price cut and the games will be cheaper. For now PS4 is my main source of gaming entertainment.

  3. david b.

    05/24/2014 at 5:51 pm

    Sorry…i had a ps4 and traded it in for an xbox one. Ps4 was completely unsatisfying for me because it has no goos exclusives. Xbox one is by far the better machine simply because its games are more fun. The xbox one is devoting serious effort to perfecting the system with regular system updates and their improved software development kit is now resulting in better multiplat games as well like wolfenstein. I have had both trust me…xbox one is the better machine.

  4. BackDraft

    05/24/2014 at 5:51 pm

    This is literally the mosy pointless article ever bar showing another PS4 fan boy perspective. The controller is cheap and the sticks wear quickly with phenomenally short battery life partly due to a function yet to be used for morpheous.
    The same download feature is coming to the XB1.
    And backwards compatibility..? Doesn’t mean you’ll get to use your discs in your console..
    Most importantly though, VITA? A dead handheld with a weaker game line up in the YEARS its been out possibly second only to the Wii U? Good choice and reason to buy a £350 console then a £129 handheld..

    I own a Ps4 and I also own and XB1 and honestly Titanfall has had me coming back while the PS4 gathered dust with its Lack luster Infamous S.S and Killzone genericfall.. and don’t even talk about Knack. Yeah they all look amazing and truly show off the PS4s power output, but the new Wolfenstein title runs at 1080p/60fps on both systems albeit dynamically on the XB1.

    Fan boy comparisons, get informed.

  5. armyjoe

    05/24/2014 at 6:13 pm

    5 real reasons to buy xbox one over ps4
    1. It has significantly better games out right now (forza, titanfall, dead rising, plants vs zombies and more) and a much stronger future game lineup (sunset overdrive, quantum break, halo 5, gears of war and much more)
    2.its a fantastic multimedia machine…you can play a game while watching a baseball or football game on screen at the same time…it is fantastic !
    3.its software development kit has vastly improved and the coming of directx12 will result in graphical and performance quality that ps4 cannot achieve.
    4.microsofts vast resources are serious about perfecting the system based on fan feedback. Already 4 major system updates adding features like a better quality twitch app than ps4 and multitudes if other awesome enhancements. Ps4 has has one update that actually did anything of any value.
    5.Cloud power will be a gamechanger moving forward. Microsofts massive investment in cloud infrastructure will bring true next gen games.
    Oh yeah and 6. Sony will be bankrupt in 2 years.

  6. chris678

    05/24/2014 at 9:23 pm

    Agree with BackDraft..except to me the best looking games on either system are titanfall, ryse, forza, plants vs zombies and infamous. Most are xbox one games impressing me with graphics.

    But i agree 100%, titanfall is extremely impressive. Crazy rampages that never get old and bring back the chills you love to get when you go on a surreal frenzy. Truly a fantastic game…bout the only one that feels like next gen to me.

  7. Jon

    05/25/2014 at 12:10 am

    The Xbox One had a price cut to match the PS4. There is only one reason now and that is backward compatibility to play PS3 games using PSN Now. But even that will be coming to other devices like PC and smart TV. The only real reason to pick one system over another are exclusives, content and online multiplayer. All the other reasons are mute, Digital games are available for Xbox One, the controller in my opinion is better on Xbox One specially for shooters, and PS Vita is dead! even Sony are abandoning AAA games for it. The Xbox One has better smart phone support and integrates into games like Dead Rising.

  8. leeman321

    05/25/2014 at 12:50 am

    Im no fanboy, and i like both consoles. You buy the one which has the games you like best for that console, its that simple or get both. Why would i want a xb1- Titanfall and gears of war for me. Why ps4- driveclub, uncharted, last of us for me. All this crap about games looks better on one console over the other , shadows better, lighting better. I had last of us on ps3 and its far better than any game thats come out for ps4 and xb1 as yet.

  9. rick

    05/25/2014 at 4:40 am

    Dear travis,
    Although I appreciate you writing an article about the new consoles (love reading them) I feel as though you might not be the type to do it. Your research is sloppy and your obviously biased opinion bleeds through your work like solid snake bleeding on cheese paper because master chief just kicked his ass.
    Both consoles have an audio jack on the bottom of the new controllers (xbox 360 did it first), the PS camera can’t recognize your dog from you in a seated position, and all new consoles are capable of pre-downloading new release titles before the release date.
    The only reason that was ACTUALLY given for purchasing a ps4 over an XB1 was the p’s vita… which was a joke from the launch date unless your trying to play pokemon on the pooper (have fun with that).
    Get your facts straight dude. I own both consoles and the only thing I hate about either one of them is that ps4 doesn’t have voice commands.
    Good luck on future articles.
    Your friend,
    Rick

  10. Alan

    05/25/2014 at 6:43 am

    lol you sure pissed off a lot of Xboners!
    I’m having fun reading their hilarious replies about cloud power and plans vs zombies and how much commitment Microsoft has :+P this is good stuff. Their lives would be so much easier with a PS4 ;-)

  11. Tony

    05/25/2014 at 6:53 am

    I own both consoles,but find myself using Xbox One most of the time.I believe the average gamer will enjoy Xbox more for these reasons: Kinect is awesome! It feels so futuristic to give orders to your console and for it to respond like you expect(Kinect has improved a lot with updates),even though it’s the” weaker console” it has better looking exclusives now and upcoming(quantum break),Skype will soon work while gaming which means y can see my friend or cousin’s face reaction when he’s losing to me not just hear him(awesome).70% of of console owners are avarage gamers with families and don’t care to play a game 24/7 everywhere they go(vita) and If I want to play last gen games I just keep my PS3 Instead of paying again for a digital copy through PS Now.PS4 has good exclusives coming out as well and that’s the only reason I own it but I prefer the One.Last gen I only owned PS3 and all my family’s kids where having a blast with Kinect games on the 360, I do see the Xbox One as more family oriented in the near future.

  12. monkeyofthefunk

    05/25/2014 at 7:18 am

    I’ve owned both and yes the Xbox One has more features such as TV, Upload and YouTube but the PS4 is much more powerful and you can see that in the exclusives out so far.

    Killzone and Second Son are better than Ryse and Dead Rising 3. Titanfall is not an exclusive remember. The graphics are much better on PS4 and the UI works perfectly.

    Add in the fact that you can use any headset without the need for an adaptor and that you can swap out your hardrive and you’ve got, in my opinion, the perfect games console out there.

  13. monkeyofthefunk

    05/25/2014 at 7:25 am

    @Rick the PS4 has voice control via the headset. Don’t forget MS have dumped Kinect as well so they’ll stop supporting it very soon.

  14. monkeyofthefunk

    05/25/2014 at 7:25 am

    @Rick the PS4 has voice control via the headset. Don’t forget MS have dumped Kinect as well so they’ll stop supporting it very soon.

  15. Mark

    05/25/2014 at 9:58 am

    The PS4 is simply the better console. Better exclusives, more powerful hardware, more mature gamers. Better controller, PS+ seals the deal

  16. BackDraft

    05/25/2014 at 11:12 am

    You have to love how die hard Sony fans stick to their guns on system power when that’s the only indisputable fact that’s not purely opinion based.
    Microsoft brought weaksauce to the table with the Xbox One, the whole world knows that. But when you need Digital Foundry to point out these differences so you have ammunition in your E-gun to fire at Microsoft fan boys? It clearly isn’t that obvious of a difference. Side by side with The New Order the consoles are on a par by the difference of a dynamic resolution on the Xbox One? You wouldn’t notice a difference during your gameplay experience.
    You don’t have to be a ‘fan boy’ to appreciate the positives of one machine over another, but you do have to be to blindly ignorant to the fact that the underdog is catching ground and still putting it down..
    And just how am I being a fanboy Saturn? When you’ve owned both consoles from launch, I kinda don’t see the application of that dig :’)
    The Ps4 has power. The GDDR5 is the given there and that’s a hard fact. But the Xbox One has what Xbox Live has always had over the PSN, a community and fun multiplayer titles to go with it. The Last of Us and Uncharted are fantastic titles in their own right, but realistically how many times are you going to play the same title over and over again. If Sony has a line up of decent Multiplayer titles coming our way, maybe it’ll swing a bit more, but with Second Son being short and Killzone being uninteresting? The amount of entertainment you can pull from the PS4 at current is finite. Cross platform/Generation titles aside, there’s no real reason to purchase either console unless you just feel the need to move with the times that I did. I still go back to Ghosts on the 360 and GT on my PS3 with the exception of Titanfall on my Xbox One. But hey, that’s just me.

  17. Russell

    05/26/2014 at 8:23 pm

    Oh I get it now why half of PS4 owners have a year subscription to PS+ who the hell is gonna pay $10 a month when it’s $50 for a year

  18. I don’t see how you can tout PlayStation Now as a reason to buy a PS4 when you have no idea when or how it will be delivered, and whether it will really work any better than the dreadful OnLive (which went bust).

    Most of my PS3 collection is digital downloads – will these all be available free via PlayStation Now? Who knows. Far too early to list this as a feature.

    Similarly Remote Play is only of benefit to those who already own a PS Vita. If you don’t own one, then this is hardly a benefit.

    And as for your first reasons – most of the games available for the PS4 right now are also available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 too.

    I will buy a PS4 eventually (when it can play 3D Blu-rays), but currently it has no “killer app”.

  19. KennyB123

    06/25/2016 at 12:33 am

    Why Xbox is better (2016):

    1. Xbox caters to their fans, not to their console and financial base. Where PS4 is trying to force you to buy their console by making everything exclusive to itself, Xbox is dissolving the wall between PC and Xbox, making it possible to play with a keyboard and mouse on the Xbox and play your Xbox games on the PC WITH PC gamers. Xbox is constantly updating their OS, their apps, and the functionality of their features. They truly strive for a better experience. PS4’s OS runs smoothly, but it doesn’t tread any new waters. It is just boring.

    2. The Kinect is actually usable and advanced.

    3. The Xbox controllers aren’t crap. “Lightweight” means “low in structural reinforcement,” and I bave seen an embarassing amount of two month old PS4 controllers whose joysticks have lost their rubber coating. The Xbox sticks stay intact, and they have the 3.5mm jack now, and soon, there will be bluetooth compatible controllers. Not to mention, the triggers actually feel like triggers, whereas the PS4’s feel like buttons that are collapsing on themselves. Not to mention the PS4 controller looks like a bar with knobs on it, where the Xbox controller looks like a stealth jet.

    3. There honestly aren’t any impressive exclusives out there other than Halo, Titanfall, and Uncharted (I would say Last of Us, but no sequels) and Uncharted is done being produced. So exclusives aren’t a good reason to get PS4 at all.

    4. Xbox Scorpio Project. Xbox will be releasing a new console in 2017 that will have 6 terraflops of GPU power compared to the One’s (and PS4’s) current 1.4 tf. PS4 will be producing a new console as well, but with only 4. This Scorpio will support 4K gaming at a generally consistent 60 fps, and will aupport high-end VR gameplay.

    5. Xbox is smart. PS4 fans kept rubbing it in Xbox fans’ faces when they finally got dibs on early access to Call of Duty. But then Call of Duty flopped. Guess what the next big thing is? Battlefield… And who has early access to that? Xbox owners…

    6. Xbox has all the features of the PS4, or is going to, excluding mobile play devices, which have proven to suck for Sony. In other words, Xbox was smart again and didn’t invest in creating a mobile device that they knew would fail.

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