Console warfare has been raging ever since Xbox One and PS4 were mere ideas. Now that the two are a few years into their life cycle, is it time to declare a winner? And if so, is the winner a clear and decisive one?
The answer: absolutely.
PS4 has seemingly been two steps ahead of the Xbox One ever since the consoles were announced. The price was lower, the design was (and still is) smoother, and people seemed to gravitate toward the PS4. News of the Xbox One being $100 more than PS4 was the tipping point. Along with that came news that Xbox One was focusing more on being an entertainment system rather than a game console.
The signs for Xbox One were troubling from day one. They have not gotten much better now that it is a couple years down the line, and the hope is for it to be more competitive in the future. But the lead PS4 has created is vast.
Sales Dominance
See the title of this section? By dominance, I mean slaughter. PS4 has reportedly outsold Xbox One by nearly 89%. Sony has been very open about their success with PS4. When announcing its financial report, Sony claimed that 37.7 million PS4 units have been sold. While Microsoft has not released the sales numbers for Xbox One, an EA executive let it slip that PS4 is well ahead.
Blake Jorgensen, EA CFO, revealed that the estimate of consoles in homes was at ‘about 55 million’. Do the math and the numbers are not kind to Xbox One. If the number Sony put out is correct, and in all likelihood it is, then Xbox One has sold around 18-19 million units. As you can see, the console war has so far been very one-sided.
What can Xbox One do to catch up? Well, that is also part of the problem.
Xbox One is updating to ‘catch up’
There is nothing wrong at all with updates that to make the console better, but Xbox One is playing catch up. Xbox has had to overhaul the home screen layout, but it is still a mess. It is nearly impossible to find anything and it is always snapping and unsnapping (personal complaint).
Here is the problem — why is Xbox One relying on these updates? Because they are trying to save the system. Let’s face it — Xbox One was an unfinished product when it was released. The layout was a mess and the games were lackluster.
PS4, on the other hand, is very easy to access and has had minimal noteworthy updates. Why do you think that is? It is because the PS4 was finished when it was released, unlike the Xbox One.
PS4 just feels right
As an owner of both systems, PS4 is hands-down my favorite. It’s easier to use, has better home screen layout, and better exclusive games. But that category is a wash. If it wasn’t for Bloodborne and Uncharted, then maybe Xbox One would look a little better in the eyes of gamers — but it doesn’t. In my personal opinion, Halo 5 was horrible.
That was the one game Xbox One had to redeem itself, and it flopped on its face. Microsoft should be kissing the feet of the developers of Rise of the Tomb Raider, because that is the only exclusive game worth playing on that console.
The Future
Does Xbox One have ground to make up? Absolutely, but they can definitely do it. Microsoft is doing a lot right now in order to catch up with the PS4, and they realize that progress starts with the most important factor — the games! There are indeed some pretty impressive exclusives coming to Xbox One, not to mention their layout gets better and better by the week.
Maybe you disagree with me and maybe you are a sucker for the entertainment aspect that Xbox One brings to the table. However, the gamer in me has declared a winner — and that winner is PS4.
