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| Now you're playing with power. |
My main reason behind buying the PS4 was to satisfy my curiosity. Is it really better than the Xbox One? Well after being treated to heavily cluttered UI(Now greatly fixed thanks to NXOE), issues with the controllers suddenly not working, and having to unplug and hard reset the bastard more times than I've ever had to do on my 360(Which was never), I was willing to think even a Wii U could offer a smoother experience than the One did.
So this is what our little box of power looks like. Yeah, it's a somewhat unorthodox looking design at first glance but it's definitely better looking than Microsoft's Betamax player. Smaller too, like way smaller than the Xbox One. The PS4 is about the size of the PS3 Slim compared to the One which was slightly bigger than the old fat PS3. With the fact that these consoles use very similar hardware, it's funny how the Xbox got significantly fatter while the PlayStation stayed on it's diet. It has two USB ports on the front, this is important because on the Xbox One, the only front mounted USB port is on the side of the console, a place where there is usually only a few inches of clearance if you have an entertainment center like mine. The system runs fairly quiet although I did find it a bit louder than the One at full blast and Sony didn't go overkill with fingerprint magnet gloss black on this console like on the One and the fat PS3, which is nice.
I typically love how simple to set up the PlayStation consoles are and this is no exception. Just an HDMI, a power cable and you are set. Just to attack the One for being so overweight again, the PS4's power supply is actually in the console, not some giant ass black box daisy chained to the power cable. There is also the fiber optical out for people with more sophisticated audio setups and the AUX port for the optional PlayStation Camera. Also note the lack of an HDMI Out slot, this means that there is no TV mode. Then again, according to my earlier tests that feature was so broken on the Xbox One anyways that I could care less about it being absent on the PS4. Good job not wasting hardware Sony.
However like the One, it lacks much support for previous accessories and controllers(Other than PlayStation Move, and you probably wouldn't want to use a DualShock 3 after picking up its far more evolved successor) Which again, means that most of my headsets and my gaming chair are completely useless with the PS4 without aftermarket adapters. This comes as an even bigger issue for racing wheel owners; my old Logitech G27 is totally incompatible with the PS4 and my new Thrustmaster T500RS only works with a handful of games that support it like Driveclub and Project Cars. Hopefully full support will come out for these wheels so people don't have to resort to buying the insanely overpriced G29. However the PS4 is Bluetooth compatible. So if most of your devices are Bluetooth enabled, no problem.
The DualShock controller has remained pretty much the same since the late 1990s with a few minor additions. When the DualShock 3, the latest edition for use with the PS3, compared to the 360 controller however is like comparing an old Ferrari to a new Ferrari, it was good for it's time but by 2006 it was an old relic. I loved the 360 controller in general but griped at how it still took AA batteries and recharge packs were optional extras, and I loved the DualShock for it's built in rechargeable pack but it's ergonomics paled in comparison to the 360 controller.
But Sony decided it was time to give it's dated controller a face lift, and boy oh boy is it something else. The new DualShock 4 has little to share with the old controller other than it's general layout. The new pad is very comfortable thanks to it's larger grips, like as good as the 360 controller, let alone the One controller comfortable. The triggers are reshaped to curve outwards and the inclusion of the touch pad and speaker is pretty nifty. The neat thing about the controller is you can plug any headset with a mic into it and use it for gaming which is very handy. In general the whole pad just feels absolutely excellent. They took everything the old controller did right, blended a bit of what the 360 controller did right with it, and you have damn near perfection.
The PlayStation Camera is similar to the Kinect in many aspects but it's not as "forced" upon the user as the Kinect was, especially considering how much of the Xbox One's UI revolved around the Kinect. The nice thing about the PS Camera is that it's touted as an accessory and not a vital part of the console like Microsoft used to say about the Kinect. Sure, the Kinect is more powerful than the PS Camera but it does not really matter since the consumer base for motion capture devices has pretty much gone the way of the Dodo. The amount of games that support it at the moment is lackluster and there just isn't any real practical use for it, at least as of now.
Easily one of the coolest features is the new and improved Remote Play function and it makes SmartGlass look like a tech demo. While with SmartGlass you were only able to do basic dashboard functions with your mobile device and run pretty useless ties ins for games with it, Remote play on the PS4 allows you to run your entire system ANYWHERE. Yeah, like playing Gran Turismo or GTA 5 miles from your house on your phone or PSVita provided you got WiFi. Unfortunately Sony only supports remote play for Sony branded devices but hey, I bet you want to get a Vita now. I sure as hell do. But actually, there is a third party conversion of the Remote Play APK for other Android devices so if you want to play your PS4 on your Galaxy, just Google it up and install the app.
Sony decided to dump the old XrossMediaBar dashboard for a new UI that's a bit better. While I didn't mind the XMB all that much, this new layout is pretty easy to navigate and quite smooth, especially compared to the cluttered mess that was Xbox One's Metro UI. Compared to the much improved NXOE dashboard, they are basically on par in ease of navigation now. Like the One, it features background downloads and a Share function to show off to your friends that latest 360 quickscope claymore cancel dropshot from across the map. Very versatile system in general.
The PS4 has virtually the same third party lineup as the One, but to point another thing out, I found it's free PlayStation Plus games slightly better than XBL Gold's. While I still didn't find the PS4's exclusive lineup as strong as the One as of yet, it still has some very good titles and it's growing at a steady pace. Expect games like Gran Turismo 7 and Uncharted 4 later on. One thing I can gripe about is it's lack of backwards compatibility unlike the One. Instead we're stuck with the overpriced PlayStation Now rental service. PS2 backwards compatibility is coming at least so you can finally get rid of that hulking 60 GB model PS3 you've been holding onto for all these years but this really needs to be compatible with the full PlayStation lineup to really hit the nail on the head.
The console, like the One is 500 gigabytes, and with the size of the games in account, it chews through data like nobody's business. However the drive is upgradeable without voiding your warranty, so chuck a 2 TB drive in it and enjoy your masses of free space. Thank you very much Sony.
The graphical leap from the PS3 is definitely noticeable and the games look absolutely great. Like I said before, graphical difference between this console and the One is slim, so both consoles are on par graphically.
The PlayStation 4 is definitely the deserving successor of the PS3. As you would expect, the games look great and run smooth and the UI is easy to navigate and use. Compared to the current state of the Xbox One, it's a very close call. Both have good UI's and are pretty similar in terms of graphical power and overall usability in general. Most things that you can do one the One you can do one PS4 just as well. An area where the One wins out is the backwards compatibility obviously but the PS4 feels less geared toward pushing out gimmicky features, although Microsoft has been turning this around at an alarming rate. It does bother too me that the system, as well as the One are incompatible with a lot of old hardware but being a new console, this is somewhat excusable. The bottom line is that the PS4 is a very solid system all around but the One has pretty much leveled the playing field with it's full reversal of most of it's fatal flaws. It's mostly a matter of what games you want to play, what controller you like more, and brand loyalty. Either way you go, you'll wind up with a solid gaming machine and the PlayStation 4 is an excellent choice.
The PlayStation 4 currently costs $399.99.
Is It Better Than?
Xbox One- Depends, at first the Xbox One was a system plagued by a ton of poor decisions. Now with it's fresh new UI, and plethora of new features, it puts itself right up there with the PS4. Like I said earlier, it's mostly a matter of what games you want to play, what controller you like more, and brand loyalty. Don't feel guilty if you buy an Xbox One over the PS4 now, it's changed for the better and it's changed a lot.
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